By Grace Rivera
Barbeque is a process of slow cooking tough cuts of meat to ensure they are tender and tasty when done. Originally, the process was completed over an open pit in the ground. Today, most restaurants use an indoor pit to hold the fire and provide the heat needed to slow cook tender pieces of pork, beef or chicken. In the USA, the definition of old fashioned BBQ often depends on the region where dining.
Chain restaurants have made Memphis style barbecue common across the states. In Memphis, the barbecue joints slow cook pork shoulders and ribs. A mild, molasses based sauces are used sparingly on the meat just before removing from the grill. When pared with a sweet coleslaw, diners have a meal that may return them many years.
Most of the time, the barbecue joints in Alabama follow the Memphis tradition and use a molasses based sauce. Connoisseurs may notice that the sauce is slathered a little thicker on the ribs. However, when visiting the northern region of Alabama, it is possible to find a special white sauce barbecue sauce. This is made with vinegar and mayonnaise and certainly worth a try.
Kentucky is most famous for the hickory used to create the smoke and heat to cook the meat. It offers a stronger smoke flavor than some other woods and much stronger than you would get at home using briquettes. The meat has a bacon like undertone. When visiting this state, you will not want to miss burgoo, a hearty meat stew served as a side.
In Texas, the barbecue is made of beef. Thanks to the strong earthy flavor of Mesquite wood used to create smoke, the primary way to eat beef brisket is with no sauce at all. If you must have sauce for it to be a barbecue, then you will likely find it sitting in a squirt bottle on the table.
Kansas city was once the end of the cattle drive where beef cattle were loaded onto trains for shipping back east. They provide the Memphis like sauce on beef and other meats using the flavors found in Texas. Look for steak, brisket or ribs, but expect them to be dripping with sauce.
North Carolina is divided into two regions that can never agree on the sauce or best cuts. The East cooks whole hogs and does not include tomato in the vinegar based sauce. In Piedmont, sauce remains thinner than other areas, loaded with vinegar and included tomatoes. This region is also choosier about their meat and prefers pork shoulders that are pulled or chopped when finished.
In South Carolina there are several different traditions. The mustard based sauce is probably the best known variety. Whole hogs are cooked over the coals and diners remove bits of pork to dip in the yellow sauce, that also includes no tomatoes.
Regardless of your own definition of old fashioned BBQ, when visiting different regions, see what they have to offer. If you love good meats with or without sauce, you are not likely to be disappointed. You might even pick up a jar of the local eateries sauce to take home and enjoy.
Chain restaurants have made Memphis style barbecue common across the states. In Memphis, the barbecue joints slow cook pork shoulders and ribs. A mild, molasses based sauces are used sparingly on the meat just before removing from the grill. When pared with a sweet coleslaw, diners have a meal that may return them many years.
Most of the time, the barbecue joints in Alabama follow the Memphis tradition and use a molasses based sauce. Connoisseurs may notice that the sauce is slathered a little thicker on the ribs. However, when visiting the northern region of Alabama, it is possible to find a special white sauce barbecue sauce. This is made with vinegar and mayonnaise and certainly worth a try.
Kentucky is most famous for the hickory used to create the smoke and heat to cook the meat. It offers a stronger smoke flavor than some other woods and much stronger than you would get at home using briquettes. The meat has a bacon like undertone. When visiting this state, you will not want to miss burgoo, a hearty meat stew served as a side.
In Texas, the barbecue is made of beef. Thanks to the strong earthy flavor of Mesquite wood used to create smoke, the primary way to eat beef brisket is with no sauce at all. If you must have sauce for it to be a barbecue, then you will likely find it sitting in a squirt bottle on the table.
Kansas city was once the end of the cattle drive where beef cattle were loaded onto trains for shipping back east. They provide the Memphis like sauce on beef and other meats using the flavors found in Texas. Look for steak, brisket or ribs, but expect them to be dripping with sauce.
North Carolina is divided into two regions that can never agree on the sauce or best cuts. The East cooks whole hogs and does not include tomato in the vinegar based sauce. In Piedmont, sauce remains thinner than other areas, loaded with vinegar and included tomatoes. This region is also choosier about their meat and prefers pork shoulders that are pulled or chopped when finished.
In South Carolina there are several different traditions. The mustard based sauce is probably the best known variety. Whole hogs are cooked over the coals and diners remove bits of pork to dip in the yellow sauce, that also includes no tomatoes.
Regardless of your own definition of old fashioned BBQ, when visiting different regions, see what they have to offer. If you love good meats with or without sauce, you are not likely to be disappointed. You might even pick up a jar of the local eateries sauce to take home and enjoy.
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