Blue Ridge Country November/December 2023 - 63

flavor is different. If you know barbecue, you can tell. "
Whereas
joints-in North Carolina, for example-have converted
from wood to gas for convenience, Josh and
Courtney are committed to making barbecue the traditional,
time-honored, smoky way.
But Josh has developed his own methods, based on
years of experience smoking meat for church groups
and little league baseball teams.
" There's something I do way different from most
barbecue places, " he tells us. " I trim down all of my
meats. "
In the case of pork shoulder, that means removing
the entire fat cap, then seasoning the meat, which
smokes for about 12 hours and then rests for 12. When
it's time to pull and chop the meat, Josh is careful to
remove the internal fat but to keep the flavorful juice.
The process and the smoking time are similar for
beef brisket. Josh says that cut of meat is gaining in
popularity in Southwest Virginia. But he doesn't serve
it in slices as many barbecue restaurants do. Instead, at
Kane Street, it's chopped.
" Sliced doesn't hold as well, " he says. " In fact, a lot
of people who liked it sliced now prefer it chopped. "
At Kane Street, " long cooks " take place on Tuesdays
and Fridays, meaning those are the days for pork
shoulder and beef brisket. Meats that require shorter
cooking times, such as chicken, ribs, turkey and sausage,
are smoked on Mondays and Thursdays.
As former Floridians, Josh and Courtney know all
about Cuban sandwiches and their history. At Kane
Street, they have modified the Tampa version, using
smoked pork shoulder instead of citrus-marinated
mojo pork. But their bread comes from Tampa's La
Segunda Bakery, established in 1915.
While Josh is smoking meat, Courtney is making
sauces and sides. Baked beans, coleslaw and potato
salad are barbecue restaurant essentials in this region,
but jalapeño corn casserole is Kane Street's most popular
smoked meat accompaniment. Expanding on their
childhood love for church supper corn pudding, Josh
and Courtney add fresh, seeded jalapeño peppers, and
they can't make enough of the hearty casserole.
Kane Street serves five different barbecue sauces:
original, Texas sweet heat, North Carolina vinegar,
Kansas City sweet and Alabama white. In an area
dominated by tomato-based, slightly sweet sauces, the
Alabama version gets by far the most attention and
elicits the most questions.
Big Bob Gibson first served a white sauce at his Decatur,
Alabama, barbecue restaurant in the 1920s. At
Kane Street, the mayonnaise-based white sauce contains
horseradish, making it ideal for beef brisket.
even some well-established barbecue
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT:
At Kane Street, smoked
brisket is chopped, not
sliced.
Josh and Courtney Cress
rely on hickory wood to
create their barbecue at
Kane Street Smokehouse
in Gate City, Virginia.
Using skills from his
construction background,
Josh Cress built his own
smokers at Kane Street.
Kane Street's barbecue
sauces encompass styles
from several states.
PHOTO COURTESY KANE STREET
For dessert, Courtney says
barbecue and banana pudding
just go together. " Ours
has cream cheese, and we
layer the pudding and the
cookies to serve it and then
cut up bananas fresh for the
top so they don't get brown
and mushy. "
Another dessert that
is
always on the menu is patterned
after one served for dinners on the ground at
Kathleen Baptist Church near Lakeland, Florida. It's
called Oreo Fluff. " People at that church would run to
get it first, " recalls Courtney. " My children wanted it for
their birthdays. "
For Courtney, there is a clear connection between
being a registered nurse and operating a successful barbecue
restaurant.
" It definitely helps with cleanliness and following
health department regulations. And for employees taking
their first job, we teach the proper way to wash hands
and explain the importance of wiping down tables. "
So many barbecue stories are laments for the death
of the old ways. That's not the case at Kane Street,
where old-fashioned hard work is valued. Tradition
means something there. Almost every dish on the menu
is rooted in the past, yet those dishes are served by a
young family with their eyes on the future.
Just recently, Josh and Courtney acquired the vacant
lot next door. And they say it will be the perfect spot for
an occasional whole hog dinner.
Fred and Jill Sauceman study and celebrate the foodways of
Appalachia and the South from their home base in Johnson City,
Tennessee.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 63
PHOTO COURTESY KANE STREET
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2023

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