Okay. Here goes. My favorites are Bodacious Bar-B-Que in Kilgore, Texas, my hometown, and Ayden, North Carolina's Skylight Inn. Reared on brisket, I also savor the purity of eastern Carolina style.

I think back to North Carolina's Pete Jones. Indeed, the barbecue of our youth has "stayed to the house" of our memory. It is the food of home that feeds the heart, but we can still love other styles. "My favorite," says Charles, cleaning his sauce-spattered cameras, "is what's in front of me right now."

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