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I know, February is not what most of us in the Northwest think of as the best month for barbecue.
But it’s Black History Month, so for this week’s recipe I sought inspiration in “The Advocate,” Oregon’s second-oldest Black newspaper, founded by civil rights leader Beatrice Morrow Cannady in 1903.
It’s also Super Bowl Sunday this weekend, so my interest was piqued by a 1924 article on barbecues. I saw that it’d originally appeared in the magazine “Women’s Home Companion,” and as I read it I realized it was probably not written by a Black person.*
Even a century ago, barbecue in Portland came with white cladding and today, the city’s barbecue joints are still predominantly owned and operated by white transplants from Texas. As of last summer, none of the spots on local “best BBQ” lists are Black-owned (though one on this Portland Monthly list is at least from Kansas City). However, the earliest barbecue restaurants in Portland were opened by Black cooks who’d come for hotel and railway jobs in the early 1900s.
By the 1910s, former dining car cook Benjamin “B. J.” Johnson had begun running his own barbecue restaurant in the Park Hotel (now the Harlow) on Northwest 7th and Glisan. It was successful enough that a decade later Johnson partnered with fellow restaurateur C. O. Coffey to run the grocery store side of a new joint venture.
Located in the Albina neighborhood, their Barbecue Restaurant, Ice Cream Parlor and Grocery Store had its grand opening on Jul. 1, 1925. By the 4th, the proprietors were already fending off a nasty rumor: They didn’t want to serve their own community.
The restaurant denied the allegations, and The Advocate continued its support, running the restaurant’s ads and urging readers to patronize the establishment, which they dubbed “a monumental credit” to Portland’s Black community. The support was withdrawn just a few weeks later, when Johnson publicly announced that he’d only be catering to whites.
Coffey quickly severed business ties with Johnson, who was “read out of the race” by the local chapter of the NAACP. (Johnson retaliated by canceling his subscription to the paper; they replied with a “bye, Felicia” of their own). Before the year was over, the Barbecue Restaurant had shuttered. Its gleaming neon sign was listed for sale in The Oregonian’s want ads a few months later.
Today, Black-owned barbecue joints like Cason’s Fine Meats and Reo’s Ribs are still alive and well in Portland. Though Campbell’s is long gone, Tory Campbell carries on the family barbecue legacy with the sauces and rubs created decades ago by his grandparents Felton and Mary. This recipe comes pretty close. Makes about 1 ½ pints of sauce
Ingredients
1 ½ cups ketchup
½ cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
½ cup sugar
½ cup honey
¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon cayenne or hot paprika
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients until smooth, then simmer over low heat until thick and sticky, about 15-20 minutes.
*“How can you be so sure??” I can hear you asking. For one, the article suggests that square dancing and dressing in the “colorful togs” of Indigenous people would keep with the “Western” vibe of a barbecue, and it includes a recipe for “cowboy sauce.” White people threw barbecues, of course, but until the backyard cookers that became commonplace in the 1950s, barbecues took sufficient planning and effort that they were mostly reserved for special occasions and camping trips.