Where there's smoke, there's food. At least in the summer.
Slow-cooked and fire-kissed meals are as much a part of the warm-weather months as Coppertone and cold beer.
You can lift your nose to the air and sniff, or just check out these places:
Greenwood Volunteer Fire Company, U.S. 13 near Del. 16; 349-4529. When the weekend traffic snarl on Del. 1 gets too much, swing onto U.S. 13 and drive until you reach Greenwood. Stop when you see gray smoke, smell the tantalizing barbecue aroma and spy the "Chicken is ready" sign. Chicken barbecue has been a summer tradition at the Greenwood pit for nearly 50 years. The seasonal stand is open Fridays through Sundays. It is one of those true-blue Delaware experiences, kind of like Punkin Chunkin, the Apple-Scrapple Festival and the Point-to-Point festivities. Get there early. (Sometimes chicken is available by 8:30 a.m.) Nothing is sadder than seeing the "Sorry, sold out" sign.
Durham's Best Barbeque, 90 Fletchwood Road, Elkton, Md.; (410) 620-6250. Smoked meats -- including whole and boneless turkey breasts and hams -- are the name of the game at this log -cabin barbecue joint. The meats are cooked over hickory in a stainless-steel smoker outside of the eatery off Elkton Road, not far from the Delaware state line.
Pit master Byron Pollard is the man behind Mista B's Barbecue at 1575 Red Lion Road (Del. 71), southwest of Del. 7, in the parking lot of Red Lion Inn, at the railroad crossing. (Pollard's seasonal stand, which reopens May 29, is a favorite of News Journal food critic Eric Ruth.) Hours are 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Call 218-1048.
