“Charles Hursey started the present Hursey’s Barbecue in 1960. Charles Hursey’s grandfather started the Hursey men in the direction of cooking hogs many years ago. It was originally a hobby and part of festive occasions for the family.  Charles’ father, Sylvester, whom everyone I met described as “character,” learned to cook hogs from his father as a child. The hog cooking remained pretty much a family event until Sylvester reached his 30s. Most in the area have heard the stories of the party that Sylvester and some of his friends had in the backyard, at which time a little drinking and some coincidental successful hog cooking launched Sylvester into the commercial barbecue business.

I found their chopped barbecue to be medium coarse, slightly sweet, slightly peppery, slightly vinegary with an Eastern North Carolina taste. It has a slightly hot taste, but not too much so. It is tender, moist and sauced just right. It is very, very good – one of the very best. The sliced ham was very moist and not overcooked as you sometimes find. It was slightly peppery and absolutely wonderful with Hursey’s original sauce.

The meat is cooked over open pits with approximately 75 percent hickory wood and 25 percent oak. They cook about 80 percent shoulders and mix with 20 percent hams. The coleslaw is white, crisp, crunchy and juicy with light mayo. It’s good stuff.”

Excepts from The Best Tar Heel Barbecue Manteo to Murphy pages 174-176.