![[Holt Lake]](http://whenchemistsattack.com/blogfiles/holtlakelogo.png)
The last time I visited Holt Lake Seafood and BBQ, I got the seafood. This time, however, I decided to bite the bullet and get a BBQ plate. There’s no buffet line (so no seconds), but I’d had a big lunch already.
I got the small BBQ plate ($5.25, with an extra $1.15 for tea) and two sides: baked potato and potato salad. (This makes me a potato addict, or so Patty says. What can I say, though? The potato salad here is really good.)
![[BBQ plate]](http://whenchemistsattack.com/blogfiles/holtlake2bbq.jpg)
The small BBQ plate at Holt Lake
As you can see, the small plate has a decent amount of meat on it. I’m not sure how much larger the “large” plate is.
BBQ at Holt Lake is (of course) pork, but this BBQ is cooked in a vinegar and pepper sauce. If you’re used to the smoked BBQ you find in many parts of South Carolina, this will be a bit of a culture shock. It’s the same style of BBQ you would find in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina.
I’m not a big vinegar fan, and I find some vinegar-cooked BBQ to be almost inedible. Holt Lake’s BBQ is slightly spicy, but the vinegar isn’t overbearing. (At some places in the Pee Dee, I’ve been tempted to bring pH paper to test the acidity of the BBQ!) If you are a vinegar fan, though, don’t worry. You can pour on more spicy vinegar sauce at the table, and Holt Lake offers their sauce for sale for $2.50 a bottle.
One other thing I should mention is the Brunswick stew.
![[Brunswick stew]](http://whenchemistsattack.com/blogfiles/holtlakebrunswick.jpg)
The Brunswick stew at Holt Lake
There is a controversy over the origins of Brunswick stew – which I’m not going to get into in this post. Several states claim to be the first to make it. If you’re looking for something to substitute for hash and rice, though, this Brunswick stew is what you should get. While it doesn’t look exactly like the hash you’d get from a typical South Carolina BBQ place, it tastes almost the same.
So pig out!
Holts Lake BBQ is the real thing. This is the identical favor my father achieved when he was head deacon at Willard Baptist Church 30 miles north of Wilmington N.C. in the 1950’s. In late fall my father would either breed or buy 16 baby pigs. We raised them all year until early fall when they were slaughtered and turned into BBQ. It was a full Church event made up of cookers, choppers, and servers. The local school(Penderlea) would lone us there cafeteria for one Sunday per year. The BBQ was placed in large wooden wash tubs and covered with bed sheets by late Saturday night. Sunday lunch was served by heating up the BBQ in large cast iron frying pans and accompanied by cole slaw and freshly cooked hush puppies. A basket was placed and the end of the table for people who could afford to contribute but not required. We made enough money to run the Church for an entire year with this one event. People came from all directions and we never had any left overs. It was considered the social event of the year for this small area. By the way this is the favor the slaves invented when the slave owners only gave them the parts of the pig they didn’t consider prime including the ribs for there consumption. I hate it when we white folks try to take credit for eventing BBQ. I love there invention and Holts Lake does a great job continuing there CLASSIC.