New York, NY: Ecco (June 2023)

Hardback. First Edition. Signed.

As new in decorated boards.

A celebration of the history and tradition of whole-hog barbeque from the “most famous” pitmaster in North Carolina

Ed Mitchell’s journey in the barbeque business began in 1991 with a lunch for his mama, who was grieving the loss of Ed’s father. Ed drove to the nearby Piggly Wiggly to buy a thirty-five-pound pig—that’s a small one—and fired up the coals. As smoke filled the air and the pork skin started to crackle, the few customers at the family bodega started to inquire about lunch and what smelled so good. More than thirty years later, Ed is known simply as “The Pitmaster” in barbeque circles and is widely considered one of the best at what he does.

In his first cookbook, a collaboration with his son, Ryan, and written with Zella Palmer, Ed explores the tradition of whole-hog barbeque that has made him famous. It’s a method passed down through generations over the course of 125 years and hearkens back even further than that, to his ancestors who were plantation sharecroppers and, before that, enslaved. Ed is one of the few remaining pitmasters to keep this barbeque tradition alive, and in Ed Mitchell’s BBQ, he will share his methods for the first time and fill in the unwritten chapters of the rich and complex history of North Carolina whole-hog barbeque.

From cracklin to hush puppies, fried green tomatoes to deviled eggs, okra poppers, skillet cornbread, potato salad, and pickled pigs’ feet, Ed Mitchell’s BBQ is filled with delicious and essential recipes honed over decades. And, of course, there is the barbeque—mouth-watering baby back ribs, smoked pork chops, backyard brisket, and barbequed chicken—all paired with lively and warmly told stories from the Mitchell family. Ed Mitchell’s BBQ is rich with the history of Wilson, North Carolina, and yet promises to bring barbeque to the next level.

Ed Mitchell has been cooking whole-hog barbeque the traditional way since he was a teenager in Wilson, North Carolina. Thanks to a chance launch and Ed’s habit-forming barbecue, Mitchell’s Grocery—a family business—morphed into Mitchell’s Ribs, Chicken & B-B-Q. Ed has been featured in the Netflix film Cooked, shadowed by Michael Pollan, and invited to cook at the James Beard House in New York City, and has hosted a barbeque master class at the twentieth annual International Food & Wine Festival in Melbourne. Ed’s family’s restaurant has transitioned to an upscale barbeque concept, The Preserve, opening in summer 2023 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ed Mitchell enthusiasts can find his famous sauces and rubs made with zero processed sugar by True Made Foods at Whole Foods, Kroger, and Sprouts grocery stores nationwide. Ed was inducted into the Black Barbeque Hall of Fame in 2022 and the National Barbeque Hall of Fame.