When you think of barbequed meat it is hard not to be inspired by the low and slow delights cooked in the Southern United States.
We’re talking finger-lickin’ good ribs, brisket and steaks that melt in the mouth and can be cut with a fork. Let’s embark on the ultimate road trip through America’s Barbeque Belt:
Central Texas:
Brisket is King in this part of the world. In Austin, hunks of brisket are given a simple dry rub treatment with salt and pepper before being smoked over mesquite, oak and hickory for up to 24 hours. The meat is full of flavour despite the simple preparation because of the low and slow cook-time and natural fattiness of the brisket – each bite has a crisp outside and juicy interior.
Kansas City:
This city has a long history with barbequing and Kansas pitmasters have a strong influence on barbeque across the country. There are more than 100 barbeque restaurants in Kansas City and it is the home of the American Royal World Series of Barbeque.
Slow-cooked beef covered in a thick, sweet molasses-based sauce is the dish of choice, along with pork, chicken, sausage, turkey and fish. Be sure to order the burnt ends, which are the charred bits at the end of a slab of brisket.
Memphis:
Here the focus is on pork – slow-cooked pork ribs and pork shoulder sandwiches. The traditional style in Memphis is to either serve the ribs dry (with a dry rub) or wet (slathered in sauce). Sandwiches typically are chopped pork shoulder.
North Alabama:
While red meat dominates barbeques in the South, here the classic barbeque dish is slow-cooked chicken, smothered with mayonnaise-based Alabama white sauce. Made with mayo, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and black pepper, Big Bob Gibson created in sauce in 1925 in Decatur as a way of keeping his chicken moist when cooking alongside pork. His great-grandchildren are keeping the Alabama white sauce tradition alive in the restaurant’s original location, making Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Que a must-stop on any road trip.
South Carolina:
The Palmetto State is considered by some to be the original home of American barbeque. Pork is the primary protein — usually a whole hog that’s slow-cooked and chopped or shredded. The two main styles in the State are centred around Columbia (known as the Midlands), where pitmasters use a mustard-based sauce and in the Northern region of Peedee, where a vinegar and pepper sauce is preferred.
Eastern Carolina:
One of two popular barbeque styles in North Carolina, Eastern-style barbeque is defined by a whole smoked pig that’s brushed with a tangy vinegar and red pepper sauce. After 12 hours or more, the pig is chopped up with more of the vinegar sauce and served by the plate or with a bun.
Lexington-style:
Stay in North Carolina for the next barbeque pit stop. The State is split both by geography and by barbeque preferences. In the Western part of the state in the Piedmont region, pitmasters add ketchup or tomato paste to the vinegar sauce as both a seasoning and in the coleslaw. This is called Western-style or Lexington-style after the town where you’ll find many of the joints making this type of barbeque. The ketchup sauce divide has caused State legislature battles and countless passionate arguments.
