GARDEN CITY, Ga. (WSAV) – In honor of Black History Month, we have had the tremendous task of combing the Coastal Empire to learn more about traditional and modern African-American cuisine. This week, we went to Smokey’s in Garden City to talk about the art of BBQ.
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If you’ve driven through Garden City, chances are you’ve passed by a shack on the side of Highway 21 with billows of pit smoke hovering above the shanty roof.
You found , and it’s worth pulling over because this place is the real deal. It’s been in business since 1992, and it’s easy to taste why.
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Owner Tammy Woodard says their secret to success is the marriage between technique and flavoring.
“Here at Smokies BBQ, we do have a closed pit where we cook our barbecue on,” she explained. “It’s smoked, smoked for hours and hours and hours. So, if I would have to say that would be the art to it. For us, it’s not necessarily all of smoking and all of rotisserie, it is the combination of both.”
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When it comes to flavoring the meat, it boils down to their famous sauce. Their recipe has been the same for 28 years, and won’t be bottled anytime soon. However, Tammy was kind enough to share a vague description of how her father came up with his sauce recipe:
“Marinating ketchup and mustard, mayonnaise, and honeys together, and it just that’s how it came together.”
If you want to sample Smokey’s, you should probably just go to Smokey’s. I mean, you can try to smoke your own ribs, Boston butts, briskets or chicken and you can try to recreate her father’s famous sauce, but there is one ingredient you won’t find at the store — and that is love.
“I love to cook,” Woodward said. “I get to talk to my customers, they get to talk to me, and they get love from me… and they get good food from me.”
I managed to finagle her cabbage recipe and how to make it a family meal.
Enjoy!