Oddly enough, I've never stopped in North Carolina long enough to eat there, so I can't vouch for the authenticity of this product as a representative of NC-style barbecue.
But I can say is it's the best barbecue I've ever eaten out of a plastic tub.
Buying the BBQ
Harris Teeter is a Matthews, NC-based supermarket chain, so arguably they should know something about North Carolina barbecue.
More than that though, many people were honestly excited when they heard that Harris Teeter would be opening a store in Columbia. It's hard for me to get too worked up about a grocery store, but I have to admit it's a large, modern store with lots of products to select from, and it's open 24 hours.
I had forgotten the name of the barbecue brand and I wasn't able to find it using my iPhone (unfortunately, Chowhound now defaults to a mobile version where the search capability doesn't work, and I couldn't force it to go to the full site).
So I think I stared at the refrigerated case with the prepared meat products for 10 minutes before I finally noticed the small white tubs sitting discreetly at the bottom.
The Taste
Once I got home I spooned out a heaping portion of the barbecue into a bowl and heated it in the microwave. The pulled pork, slow-cooked in an open pit over coals at Brookwood Farms, was really good, even without bread or sides.
Though the barbecue sauce is mixed right in with the meat and has a very strong, tangy flavor in a vinegar-and-red-pepper-flakes way, the taste of the meat still comes through. The pork has a strong smoky aroma.
The pork has nice texture too, as the meat is pulled apart loosely into irregular-sized pieces rather than finely shredded, and some hunks retain their barbecued-meat consistency with even a hint of crispness. A few hunks of fat are included in the tub but don't have a strong flavor in themselves.
Overall Brookwood Farms makes very good barbecue that's much better than what's normally in a grocery store, and it's a definite change of pace from the usual Southern- or Memphis-style sauces in this area. I'll be dropping by to get some more.
About Harris Teeter in Columbia
The Harris Teeter store is in Columbia's King's Contrivance Village Center, and is much larger than the Safeway that they demolished to build it. It's on the south side of Columbia just a couple of blocks away from MD32 if you take the Shaker Road exit.
They have an enormous fresh fruits and vegetables section and even a slice-to-order island for freshly-baked breads.
Otherwise, though it's at least twice the size of most grocery stores in this area, I mostly didn't see anything too different than the super-sized groceries you'll find in other parts of the country.
But the staff seemed to be well-trained and friendly, and there were a few smart little touches throughout the store:
They have mini-grocery carts about the right size for a 5-year-old for their "customers in training." This is smart business as it not only keeps the kids happy but probably directly results in some extra sales.
Here's a bin full of enormous bones for the family pooch. It's an interesting gimmick and the bones have to go somewhere, though I think I'd feel like one of the Flintstones carrying one.
Finally, they had some unusual product line-ups, such as their wall of gourmet cooking oils:
And then here's a cult brand that I'd heard of but never seen, Jones Soda. (I tried a pack and though it's nice that they use cane sugar, I found it to be too much dominated by the taste of the sugar. I think they're mostly a marketing phenomenon, as they're known for letting customers design the labels.)
harris teeter cuts ther own meat lowes foods does not outourced from hickery n c advantage meat processing plant ask meat dept at lowes foods if they cut meat in store if they say yes they are lying ground meat also
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