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Some claim Kansas City “Barbecue Capital of the World,” or at least the United States, and you’ll find pork and beef seasoned with a dry rub and cooked long and slow. The sauce is usually composed of brown sugar, ketchup and molasses, and the side is typically French fries. Texas barbecue usually offers beef brisket that is cooked long and slow, and uses dry rub, and if there is a sauce, it’s flavored with chili powder, hot sauce and cumin. Pitmasters use oak, hickory and mesquite for their fires. And in Alabama, they have a variety of barbecues, but their favorite is barbecued chicken brushed with a white sauce made of mayonnaise, black pepper and vinegar.

Pork is one non-debatable component and is a cherished heritage of the South. Cooking styles, servingmethods, side dishes and sauces show differences throughout the Southern states and cities. In Memphis, the choice of meat is pork, usually in the form of ribs or pulled pork sandwiches. The meat is usually seasoned with a dry rub, and if there is a sauce, it’s typically red, sweet and tangy. In Eastern North Carolina, you will likely be offered shredded pork from a whole hog cooked over a wood fire and served with a vinegar-based sauce. A pork shoulder is the choice for barbecue pit masters in Western North Carolina, where the meat is chopped rather than pulled. The standard sauce is a base of ketchup and vinegar, sweetened with apple

juice, hot sauce, brown sugar, crushed red pepper and ground black pepper. The side is usually a slaw that contains no mayon- naise, but is instead dressed with vinegar and ketchup. In South Carolina, you’ll find what is known as “Pee Dee” barbecue, named after its home region in the northeastern part of the state. Pee Dee is most often a whole hog cooked in an open pit over hardwood coals, skin-side up and mopped with a tangy, spicy, vinegar-based sauce. The meat is “pulled” from the hog and served with white bread, coleslaw and beans. Around the state’s capital city of Columbia, you’ll find a yellow mustard- based sauce. Usually, the choice of meat is shoulder and, more often than not, served with hash and rice.

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

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