- Barbecue Nation is a culinary mosaic of what 14 million Americans like to do most when it comes to cooking - make dinner at the grill. Author Fred Thompson has searched across the U.S. for America"s best backyard cooks and their favorite recipes - not chefs" fancy interpretations of barbecue classics or pitmasters" ways with barbecue that the reader can"t reproduce at home, but 350 recipes that are easy to recreate in anybody"s backyard. The book will reflect America"s ever-changing populations, with recipeswith the flavors of Cuba from South Florida, or Brooklyn-born Jamaican jerk, or the taste of Vietnam from the coast of Texas, as well as the country"s regional bounties, including grilled salmon recipes from the Pacific Northwest, brats from the Midwest, and Delta Grilled Catfish.For Barbecue Nation, Fred Thompson travelled to 40 states with the exceptions being: Nebraska, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Idaho, Alaska, North Dakota, and Hawaii.