America’s barbecue capitals primarily consist of North Carolina, Texas, Kansas City and Memphis. However, other areas still have contributions that deserve to be in the smoky conversation. In Los Angeles, a city that primarily consists of transplants, Kenneth “Hambone” Hamilton is manning a smoker for Mississippi at Hambone’s BBQ Smokehouse. The affable man means meaty business. Hambone debuted his namesake restaurant in Bellflower in April 2011. His ‘cue adheres to traditions from the southern Mississippi town of Brookhaven, along with some California accents.

For instance, they sure don’t use avocado wood in Mississippi. Hambone fuels his smoker with that particularly California product to smoke brisket and tri-tip behind his restaurant. For pork products, Hambone’s BBQ Smokehouse opts for smoldering red oak. My 2 Meat Dinner ($17.25) featured red oak smoke buffeted baby back ribs and pork, resulting in tender hog with considerable bark. Describing the pork as “pulled” was a misnomer, since the meat was clearly sliced, but it did flake at the touch of a fork, and the tangy tomato based sauce was of course welcome.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.