The Pik N Pig, Carthage, North Carolina

I bid a fond farewell until next time to Allan Parnell after our breakfast at Flo’s and lunch at Stephenson’s.Then John (Shelton Reed) drove him up to Apex where they had dropped Allan’s car, and John and I reconnected at Pik N Pig,

a family-owned place located at 194 Gilliam McConnell Road in Carthage, about 11 or 12 miles north of the golf and occasionally hunt country (Yoiks!) around Pinehurst. Pik N Pig has been around for over 40 years, with an interruption a few of years ago caused by a fire. It’s an unusual barbecue place that has long intrigued me. First, it sits right next to tiny Gilliam McConnell airport, appropriately designated as BQ-1, so you can fly there in your small plane or, if you really want to make an impression, your P-40. 

You also can mosey over to the Gilliam McConnell museum, named in part after James McConnell, one of the founders of the Lafayette Escadrille. Pik N Pig is also next to a small RV/trailer campground filled with RVs and big hitch campers with tags from California, Illinois, and New York, and from as far away as Washington (the state). It’s odd. I don’t know if they’re golfers, flyers, or refugees from high taxes.

The interior of Pik N Pig is large, open, and busy, with a view of the kitchen,

and there’s a waiting room with curiously solid furniture and an antique cashier’s station.

John and I both ordered barbecue plates, John’s with slaw and applesauce,

and mine with slaw and green beans.

Now that pork is very unlike other North Carolina pork barbecue I’ve had. Both east and west, the meat is chopped pretty fine, but as you can see if you’ll take your eyes off the hushpuppies for a minute (I’ll wait), the pork at Pik N Pig comes in big chunks. You’ll also note that the pork is pink in places, a fact that may call to mind the visitor who, not realizing that wood smoke usually tinges an outer ring of pork with a pink color, called the police on Clyde Cooper’s in Raleigh for trying to serve her rare pork. 

The Pik N Pig still serves pork butts cooked exclusively with wood — in the screened area off to the left in the first photo — and the pork has a delicious flavor of smoke underlying that good rich pork flavor. The tender, moist pork comes from the kitchen unsauced. Their sauce is thick but not sweet, and it has an interesting flavor from, among other seasonings and some vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and celery seeds. It’s good sauce, although I prefer more vinegar and more pepper. I tried a little of the sauce in the interest of science, but the pork didn’t need any.

The slaw, roughly chopped by North Carolina standards, came flecked with celery seeds and was lightly dressed. I enjoyed it, as I did the hushpuppies. Pik N Pig offers a choice of rolls or hushpuppies, and our friendly server, Diana, allowed that some people actually choose rolls. Imagine! Did you notice the little plastic cup by my plate? That’s jalapeño butter to go with the hushpuppies. I disapprove of messing with hushpuppies. I regard it as painting the lily. I did test the jalapeño butter on a hushpuppy in the interest of science, and it’s one of the better compound butters I’ve tried. It went well with the green beans and pretty well on the pork. Maybe that’s why people choose rolls — and then get a side of hushpuppies. They really are good, and not to be missed.

John and I parted ways, John to return to Chapel Hill and me to go on to see family in Charlotte. Discussions have commenced about a spring barbecue trip either to the Piedmont or South Carolina. This was a great one, and we both were pleased with our first trip to Pik N Pig. I can’t say that it’s a classic place, but the barbecue tastes great, and it’s an interesting place. You should stop by after a round at Pinehurst or perhaps fly in. You could pull your camper in and stay for a while, or gallop over after the fox hunt. Go as you prefer, but you really should get a barbecue plate at Pik N Pig.

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