Fresh Air Barbeque - Jackson, Georgia

I was leaving Jackson, Georgia, heading south on highway 42, when I drove past what I can only describe as the quintessential barbeque joint, at least in terms of the building and facade. This place is called Fresh Air Barbeque, and given I had been hankering for some ribs for a good couple of weeks, I was sufficiently intrigued and motivated to turn around and give this place a try. Smoke was billowing out of its chimney, and written on the signage on the door was the fact that Fresh Air had been serving its fare since 1929, both good omens. Further, the building itself, contructed of wood and covered with a tin roof, and the interior, full of dark wood panelling and a dining room full of long refectory tables, all added up to an almost sacred ambiance, a veritable shrine to the religion of barbeque. You don't find places like this every day.

Now, about the ribs I had been craving . . . Fresh air doesn't serve ribs. I was standing in line, as you can see in the picture, and I kept noticing that there were no ribs listed on the menu signage. When I got to the counter girl, a super-cute young lady who listened to me as if what I was saying was the most interesting thing she'd ever heard, I posed the question, are there ribs? Nope, she said. At Fresh Air, your choices are pulled pork or pulled pork. Sides are Brunswick stew, slaw, pickle, white bread, bag of potato chips. That's it. In the picture, you can see your options, which come to three. Regular. Special. Deluxe. Okay, I thought to myself, I shall remain rib-deprived, but I can get on board with simplicity and the knowledge that is is going to be the best pulled pork I've ever tasted. How could it be otherwise? I ordered the deluxe plate and they had it ready in about 30 seconds.

It was good. They do a vinegar-based sauce that is quite nice, especially the hot version. The pork is moist and tender and even delicate. My lone criticism is that the smoke was also quite delicate, and I like a few hairs more smoke flavor in my pork. I've found everyone is different in this regard.

The Brunswick stew was good, too, for Bruswick stew, which I still don't understand all that well. An old timer told me that it originates as a exercise in old Southern hog-killing frugality as they used to make it with the hog's head. I respect that quite a lot. But ultimately, when I've sampled Brunwick stew at the various places that serve it, and believe me they serve it all over the place in this state, I'm always underwhelmed. It is an oversweet barbeque soup with corn and sometimes butterbeans and little bits of meat, usually pork. It just isn't much to write about.

My favorite item on the plate was the slaw, which was just a dressed minced cabbage, maybe a touch oversweetened, but I really enjoy the minced consistency in a slaw and that they kept it simple.

So, I would say, if you are looking for a solid pork sandwich, Fresh Air serves a good one. To boot, the Jackson locale is a tabernacle, a wooden cathedral of Old Southern pit smoke.