"Honk if you love barbecue." With these words emblazoned on a bright yellow school bus, I set out on a cross-country promotional tour for my new book, "BBQ USA" (Workman Publishing), with driver-writer, golf fanatic and barbecue roadie, Mike Morganthal. The idea came from Workman commander-in-chief Peter Workman, and when he proposed it last fall it took me about five seconds to agree. Our mission was to celebrate regional American barbecue in all its manifestations, from Memphis ribs and Texas brisket to Rhode Island grilled pizza and Santa Maria, Calif. From the first moment I started writing about live fire cooking in 1994, I realized that barbecue is defined by a sense of place. Like fine wine, it's deeply rooted in local geography. My job is pretty simple: I travel around researching and eating barbecue, cooking with the world's great pit masters and grill jockeys. Then I go home, figure out how they did it and write it up. Yes, someone can actually do this and make a living. (Is America a great place or what?) So a road tour seemed like a great way to live barbecue city by city, state by state, coast to coast. After all, Jack Kerouac chronicled the Beat Generation through his travels in "On the Road." I wanted to do the same for regional American barbecue. After seats were removed, the bus had room for three grills: a 22 1/2-inch Weber kettle, a mighty six-burner Summit gas grill and the formidable Ranch, a charcoal grill that measures more than 3 feet across. We affectionately referred to it as a barbecue grill on steroids. The first day it took us two hours to unload. But by the end of the trip we could do it 35 minutes. Escorts (of the literary sort) purchased our ingredients and made sure we arrived at the various venues on time, but we did all our grilling on the spot from scratch. Appropriately, the tour -- like our great nation itself -- began in Philadelphia, which is famed for its cheese steaks. From there, it was on to Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dayton (inspiration for the Fennel Grilled Shrimp in "BBQ USA"), Columbus (home of a terrific barbecue joint called City Barbeque), Detroit (birthplace of the Car Wash Burgers also in my book), Minneapolis (source of Grilled Chilled Dilled Tomato Soup), St. Louis (renowned for its pork steaks) and the great Mecca of Midwest barbecue, Kansas City. We split up in Denver. I went on to the Aspen Food & Wine Festival, and Mike drove on to Texas. We reconnected in Austin for a four-city swing through the Lone Star State -- eating brisket and hot guts (smoked Texas sausage) until our belts were about to burst. Moving west, we stopped in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Phoenix. We were lucky to arrive on a cool day, the locals pointed out. It was only 97 degrees in the shade. Delayed by a mechanical failure in Phoenix, the bus arrived in San Diego just in time to do a 7 a.m. TV show. (The heroic Mike drove through the desert all night to get us there.) We dipped our toes in the Pacific Ocean exactly four weeks after we left the East Coast. If a book tour sounds glamorous, consider a typical day, such as our visit to Denver. We had a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call for calisthenics and a quadruple espresso. At 6:30 a.m. there was a pickup for my first appearance, an early-morning radio show. Meanwhile, Mike drove the bus to a local TV station for a segment at 7:30 a.m. Next, it was on to the Rocky Mountain News for an interview. Noon found us at a Boulder cookware shop called Peppercorns for a book signing. Mike had hauled the Ranch grill off the bus and grilled about 10 dozen bratwurst. The local rep from Mondavi arrived for a lecture on pairing wine with barbecue. At 3 p.m., we drove to another TV station for the 4 p.m. news, then to a radio station for a drive-time interview. At least I didn't have to travel that night, but often, I'd drag myself onto a plane to fly ahead to the next city. So what did we cook on our trek across America• I tried to pick a menu that would demonstrate the major live fire cooking techniques (direct and indirect grilling and smoking) plus several representative styles of regional American barbecue (St. Louis style ribs, for example, and Seattle planked salmon), as well as every course of a meal, from appetizers (Buffa-Que Wings -- spicy smoked chicken wings) to dessert (Cinnamon Grilled Peaches). Occasionally, our hosts would shake things up. Chuck Martin, of the Cincinnati Inquirer, presented me with a table of mystery ingredients chosen by his readers and gave me 45 minutes to grill a full-course meal. A restaurant critic in St. Louis challenged me to grill the local specialty, pork steaks. The Johnsonville Sausage Company of Wisconsin air freighted us bratwurst to grill at retail events and book signings along the way. As for the high points of the trip, there were far too many to mention. In Aspen, my wife and I chatted with Kevin Costner about barbecued buffalo. In Chicago, I had a 12-course dinner at Charlie Trotter's restaurant, and in Dallas, a smoke-a-holic fan brought us three pounds of brisket from his favorite barbecue joint, Carter's. Driving through Kansas, the bus overheated, and a local barbecue enthusiast drove 20 miles out of his way to get Mike to a garage. Along the way, Howard Stern started talking up the book on his radio show, and we were inundated with calls and e-mail. It sounds grueling. It was grueling. But few experiences in life can beat the intensity of a book tour. Getting home wasn't much of a vacation. The day after I arrived, a Japanese film crew descended on us to experience an American Fourth of July barbecue. In the intervening weeks, the barbecue trail has taken me to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Tampa, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Tokyo. So if you see a bearded, bespectacled guy wearing a denim Barbecue University shirt, looking sleep deprived and reeking of wood smoke, go and give him the official barbecue handshake: gently bump elbows. And if you see a bright yellow school bus with grills and book covers painted on the sides, don't forget to honk. The recipes that follow are all adapted from "BBQ USA."

Buffa-Que Wings

16 whole chicken wings (about 31/2 pounds), cut in half, wing tips discarded 1/2 cup Tabasco or other hot sauce 1/2 cup lemon juice 1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon black pepper Mop sauce 1 stick salted butter, melted 1/2 cup Tabasco or other hot sauce Oil for greasing grill Commercially made blue cheese dip or dressing 4 stalks celery, washed and cut in thirds lengthwise, then crosswise into 3-inch sticks Prepare 1 1/2 cups wood chips (preferably hickory or oak) by soaking in water to cover for 1 hour, then draining. Place chicken wings in a large mixing bowl. Pour mixture of Tabasco or hot sauce, lemon juice, oil, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt and pepper over and stir to combine. Marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours or overnight, turning wings several times to marinate evenly. Just before grilling, make mop sauce. Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in the Tabasco or hot sauce. Set up grill for indirect grilling. If using a gas grill, place wood chips in the smoker box or in a smoker pouch and run the grill on high until you see smoke. If using a charcoal grill, toss chips on the coals just prior to putting wings on the grill. Remove wings from marinade and drain well, discarding the marinade. Brush and oil grill grate. Arrange wings on the grate over the drip pan away from the fire. Indirect grill until skin is crisp and golden brown and meat is cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes. The last 10 minutes, baste wings with some of the mop sauce. Transfer wings to a shallow bowl or platter and pour remaining mop sauce over. Serve with a blue cheese dip or dressing and celery for dipping and, of course, plenty of napkins and cold beer. Makes 32 pieces; allow 2 to 4 per person as an appetizer.

Planked Salmon With Mustard Dill Sauce

1(1 1/2-pound) piece salmon fillet, cut from the head end if possible 1 tablespoon olive oil Salt, freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellman's) 1/3 cup Meaux-style (grainy French) mustard 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest Soak a 6-by-12-inch cedar plank in water to cover for 2 hours, then drain (see Note). Run your fingers over salmon fillet, feeling for bones. Pull out any with a needle-nose pliers or tweezers. Generously brush skin side of the fish with olive oil. Generously season both sides with salt and pepper. Place salmon, skin side down, on cedar plank. Place mayonnaise, mustard, dill and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set up grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium-high. Spread mustard dill sauce evenly over top and sides of salmon. Place plank on grill away from heat. Cover grill and indirect grill salmon until cooked, 15 to 20 minutes. To test for doneness, insert a metal skewer in the side of the fish. It should come out hot to the touch. The mustard dill sauce glaze will turn a deep golden brown. Transfer the plank and fish to a platter and serve it right off the plank. Serves 4. Note: Cedar planks are available at grill and cookware shops or use a cedar shingle purchased from a hardware store. Make sure wood is untreated.

Grilled Corn With Maytag Blue Cheese

8 ears sweet corn in the husks 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) Maytag blue cheese (or other blue cheese), at room temperature 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (if using salted butter, omit the salt) 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley Salt, freshly ground black pepper Strip back corn husks as you would peel a banana, exposing the kernels. Bring husks together beneath the ear of corn to make a sort of handle and tie with string. Place cheese and butter in a food processor and process until smooth. Work in parsley and salt and pepper to taste, running the processor in short bursts. Lightly brush corn with a little of the blue cheese butter and arrange on a grill grate, sliding a sheet of aluminum foil under the husks as a shield. Grill corn until kernels are handsomely browned on all sides, turning as needed and basting with remaining blue cheese butter, 2 to 3 minutes per side, 8 to 12 minutes in all. Serve immediately. Eat corn directly off the cobs. Serves 6 to 8.

Cinnamon Grilled Peaches

4 large ripe freestone peaches 8 cinnamon sticks 8 fresh mint leaves 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup dark rum 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon Pinch of salt Oil for greasing grill Peach or vanilla ice cream, optional Cut peaches in half, running the knife in a circular motion around the peach to the stone. Twist halves in opposite directions to separate. Pop out the stone with a spoon and discard. Cut each peach half in half. Using a pointed chopstick or metal skewer, make a starter hole in the center of each peach quarter (from outside to pit side). Skewer two peach quarters on each cinnamon stick, placing a mint leaf between each. Combine butter, sugar, rum, cinnamon and salt in a saucepan and boil until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Set up grill for direct grilling and preheat to high. Brush and oil grill grate. Grill peaches until nicely browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side, basting with rum butter. Serve immediately. Peach or vanilla ice cream makes a great accompaniment, if desired. Serves 4. Steven Raichlen is author of the award-winning "Barbecue Bible," "How to Grill" and the new "BBQ USA," all published by Workman. His television show, "Barbecue University with Steven Raichlen," appears on PBS. His Web site is www.barbecuebible.com .

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