Fair warning: If you are a recovering barbecue junkie then under absolutely no circumstances should you watch the newest episode of the SEC Network show TrueSouth, in which host John T. Edge explores Alabama’s Black Belt.
It won’t just knock you off the wagon. As you fall, you’ll be wondering if the wood of the wagon is properly seasoned for use in a smoke pit.
The premise is that each episode lets host John T. Edge riff on the food and culture of a particular location, using two restaurants and as many cultural touchstones as he cares to visit. In the very first episode, in 2018, Edge came to the Birmingham region to visit Johnny’s Restaurant and the Bright Star. When he came to the Mobile Bay area, he tasted burgers at Pirates Cove and soul food at Cozy Brown’s Kitchen. But for this trip into the Black Belt, he settled in at two barbecue joints: T-N-T BBQ in York and the Alabama Rib Shack in Gainesville.
Edge touches considerably on art, with a long look at the Gees Bend Quilters and the work of the Coleman Center for the Arts in York. (Of the famed Gees Bend Ferry he says, “to ride this ferry is not just to go back in time, but to begin a conversation between what the past demanded and what a brighter future might promise on the other side.”
The Black Belt episode of “TrueSouth” premieres at 6 p.m. Central on Tuesday, Oct. 24, on the SEC Network. New episodes also become available on demand on SEC Network+ and ESPN+ as they premiere.
