A standard smoked pork chop wouldn’t cut it for Chef Leonard Botello IV (
@leo_botello_iv ). At Truth BBQ (
@truth_bbq ), he brines Duroc chops in sweet tea for eight days, cold-smokes them low and slow, and flash-fries each one to order in cornmeal. A sweet-spicy pepper jelly relish, made from escabeche brine and syrup, adds color and brightness. Botello wanted a dish that stood out on the tray and on camera—clean lines, bold color, and layered technique. “I use smoke like salt,” he says, quoting Tuffy Stone. “It should be subtle.” And here, it is.
