About Us

        
           Pigdude & Rich DiPaolo                                   Pigdude a long time ago.                                               Pigdude Now

Have Pig Will TravelTM  & PorkwizardTM  are our trade marks please do not use them without written permission from me.

Richard G Smith Jr born in New Jersey but spent my high school years in the South.
First learned about pig roasting in the rural hills of Scott County VA. Pig roasts were a 3 day event in those days. Later moved back to my home area of Hunterdon County. Aquiered Have Pig Will Travel and the rest is history.

Have Pig Will Travel is owned and operated by Richard G Smith Jr. I am a professional BBQ chef with over 15 years of pig roasting and smoke cooking experience. I have cooked more pigs personally then I really care to think about, not to mention the amount of ribs, chicken, pork, brisket and so on. Yes I have won cook offs and they are fun but I stick more to catering. I feel more at home in the kitchen I create in the customers back yard, parking lot, alley... where ever the job takes me, and like the old Johnny Cash song "I have been everywhere."
I have cooked at mansions and farms, waterfronts and forests, parking lots in NYC (with drive by shootings and all), NYC bars (the scary ones), at and on the Jersey Shore, for famous people, soon to be famous people, not so famous people, stupid people, incredibly stupid people, smart people like you (because you found my site), and of course I have cooked in  the back yards of countless everyday people like you & I, those jobs are the nicest. 

So rather than give the names of those famous people & fancy places (most are like you & me, they like privacy) I will just say "if it is a country style pig roast or real bbq you are looking for you have found the right website." Whether it be a roasted pig or smoked ribs or even smoked brisket, we do it.

"Real" BBQ is not a fancy food. Never was, never will be. It is a food of the common man. And I must say the common man harbors some of life's greatest treasures, BBQ being one. I use the word "real" a lot. That is because here in the Northeast part of the USA "real BBQ" is hard to find. "Real" BBQ is meat cooked low & slow over a hardwood fire. You know your eating "real" BBQ when you can see the pink smoke ring or the chicken or turkey has a pinkness but yet falls from the bone. So many and I do mean so many BBQ joints here in the New York, New Jersey, Eastern PA area are fake. Yes you may think the food is great. But I ask you, have you ever had the "real" thing? A scooter is an awesome vehicle if you have never in your life seen a car.

Many times I am aked to recommend another pig roaster when I am not available. Sorry. I do not keep track nor do I really care about who else does what. I know there are other guys out there that cook pigs in the NJ area and I have seen some websites of so called BBQ guys that are all full of themselves, but at last check, yes they have there little ovens but they do not cook the "real" stuff. I try not to knock these guys too bad because they for the most part they are trying to do the right thing. But they need to learn the "real" thing, cook low & slow with natural wood and do not get too fancy about the whole thing.

The very beginning, sometime in the 90s.

 

Thai Pig Roast from Richard Smith Jr on Vimeo.
While traveling in Southeast Asia I studied as much about the "street" cooking and the "country" cooking a I could. Yes the restaurants were great but some of the best treasures can be found at a roadside bbq or from a street vendor. I have many hours of raw video but here is just a peek at what I found. The pig was interesting. While walking with friends we happend across this lady cookin a pig for a bar party.

 

A True Thai Meal from Richard Smith Jr on Vimeo.
The clay stove cooking was very interesting to me. This is an art in its self. Many parts of the world use the clay stove. It is widely used in Africa and places where wood is scarce. It is truly amazing to me to be able to see and be taught how to do something like this. Plus the food was awesome. Not bbq but, hey good food is good food. The best part was the freshness.
 

About the "Pork Store" song.

A man by the name of Rich DiPaolo is a professional song writter who I met at a pig roast in the very early days. He had all ready wrote the song and told me I could use it. I love it. It is funny, it is bluesy. And like my BBQ it is real. You can learn more about Rich's music at http://www.booglerizers.com/
Thank you Rich from the bottom of my heart for the song that so many people love.