Here comes American Thanksgiving, a day set aside to be thankful for what you’ve got… and eat way too much food. As an American, it’s an occasion I take seriously, the giving of thanks (and, of course, the eating part). Speaking of food, this year I’m feeling especially thankful for that most American of traditions, barbecue, and the opportunity to have a lot of it back in October.

Yep, I’m still rubbing my belly in satisfaction several days after returning from a 2,500-mile, three-week road trip across the American South. From the Hill Country of Central Texas to Pitt County in coastal North Carolina, I made as many stops as I could in a low ‘n’ slow sojourn to experience the best barbecue in America.

Most of the meat I enjoyed during my trip was beef and pork, but there were some exceptions here and there. One notable contender for best bite was the smoked turkey at Hillsborough BBQ Company in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Super moist and tender with a subtle smoky flavour of hickory and oak, it was an especially fine version of everybody’s favourite seasonal meat. Like a number of restaurants I visited, Hillsborough BBQ Company does advanced orders of whole turkeys along with ‘all the fixin’s’ for T-Day.

BBQ for breakfast? It didn’t seem to be such a farfetched idea in Dallas, Texas. At chef Dean Fearing’s eponymous eatery at the sumptuous Ritz-Carlton, the ‘Pig and grits’ (pulled pork, jalapeño, cheddar grits, poached egg and tomato gravy) was fiercely flavoursome, evidence that breakfast isn’t only the most important meal of the day, but also the most scrumptious.

I enjoyed another awesome barbecued brekkie during my few night’s stay-over in Dallas at chef Tim Byre’s outpost Smoke, at the stylish Belmont Hotel. His smoked brisket, cornbread hash with poached egg, green chilli rajas and onions did me right and ensured I was satiated and set for the day!