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Q tips: Mustard vs the rest (BBQ)
The State ^ | September 2, 2001 | CAROL J.G. WARD

Posted on 01/03/2002 5:04:58 AM PST by aomagrat

You heard it here first: Mustard-based sauce is best for barbecue. No, ketchup-based — no, vinegar-and-pepper . . . In S.C., the debate never ends. But here are some places to eat while you argue.

If you enjoy fireworks, just say the word “barbecue” in a crowd of Southerners and sit back and enjoy the show.

Barbecue rouses unshakable convictions about what’s the best, and most folks are more than happy to voice an opinion.

Yet, despite all the passion it arouses, the debate really isn’t even about barbecue, said Chuck Kovacik, a professor in USC’s Department of Geography and author of the “Barbecue Map of South Carolina.”

“This will never be about barbecue. The passion is about place. Wherever I’m from, it’s obviously the best. ... You’re not arguing about the quality of the barbecue. You’re arguing about the quality of the place,” he said.

The owners of local barbecue restaurants agree barbecue is about much more than food.

It’s also about family ties, said Fred Mathias, co-owner of Four Oaks Farm in Lexington. “We were all kind of raised on it. When families get together, it’s just a tradition,” Mathias said.

For Carolyn Myers, co-owner of Myers Barbeque House in Blythewood, barbecue represents a way of life. “(It’s popularity) has to do with the country-time atmosphere we’re in,” she said. “Lots of South Carolinians, in particular, are country at heart.”

The styles of barbecue are numerous. What someone likes often depends on where he grew up. Here in what’s known as the Barbecue Belt — North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas — the meat of choice is pork.

But travel the Carolinas and you’ll find a range of sauces. Toward the eastern shore of North Carolina, they finish their Q with vinegar sauce, while their neighbors on the western border favor a thick, sweet-sour, ketchup-based sauce.

In South Carolina, there are at least four barbecue regions, Kovacik said.

“The (barbecue) debate is even greater here than what we’ve been led to believe by our neighbors to the north,” he said.

“You hear so much about North Carolina barbecue. æ.æ.æ. They like to say that North Carolina is a valley of humility between two mountains of conceit. When it comes to barbecue, North Carolina is an incredible mountain of conceit.”

In South Carolina, vinegar-and-pepper sauces are popular in the northeastern corner of the state. In the Upstate along the border with North Carolina, tomato-based sauce combining sweet and sour flavors is the standard, while along the western border with Georgia, ketchup-like sauces reign.

Here in the middle part of the state running to the southern coast, mustard-based sauces rule, an observation borne out by the notes and e-mails we received when we asked for readers’ favorite barbecue restaurants.

“Mustard base is the way to go. ... (It) takes my vote for the best that there is,” wrote Marti Olivarri of Columbia in a note that summed up many of the recommendations we received.

But it takes more than good sauce to make a restaurant special. Many readers mentioned a family atmosphere, friendly service and touches such as checkered tablecloths.

“The country setting and friendly atmosphere, plus the great barbecue, combine for a winning combination,” Stacey Charles of Saluda said of Wise Bar-B-Q House in Newberry.

Please note the above statements are simply examples — and are not meant to be interpreted as any type of barbecue resolution. This debate will never be settled, so perhaps it’s best to heed one reader’s philosophical approach.

“Sauce is everything ... (but) different sauces for different sections,” said James Alford of Dillon, who prefers the “red gravy” at Country Cousins in Scranton.

Besides, if you don’t like the sauce where you live, drive a few miles, and it will change.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: bbq
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To: aomagrat;Gamecock
"I think it is written in Leviticus that only pork can be called BBQ...."

"Brisket isn't BBQ, it's roast beef."

Y'all are killin' me!! LOL!

101 posted on 01/03/2002 10:14:29 AM PST by sweetliberty
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To: chezjohn
Hey chezjohn, I've hear of your team, Swine Of The Times, probably from the Lenexa cookoff. I bet you didn't get there by putting mustard or vinegar aside your slabs. LOL.

I'm in OP. Check your FReepMail.

TS

102 posted on 01/03/2002 10:15:15 AM PST by TroutStalker
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To: Rebelbase
I hate when that bookmark button disappears!
103 posted on 01/03/2002 10:15:44 AM PST by stainlessbanner
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To: jdub
LOL! No, what I am saying is that, if you want to eliminate personal bias based on loyalty to the type of barbecue you grew up with, then find 100 people NOT from Texas or SC or NC (or somebody said Virginia, but I don't know why) or other locales that brag on their barbecue and let them take a taste test. Based on taste alone, Eastern NC will win in a walk. Hell, we even took some ENC barbecue to a Lexington (ketchup crap) hosted barbecue cookoff and THEY voted it the best!
104 posted on 01/03/2002 10:20:51 AM PST by Lee'sGhost
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To: Ol' Sox
"You've discovered the defense I use when confronted with a bunch of southern guys talking about "yankees". Just say barbecue and watch the fun. Its like tossing a salmon into a bear pit. hehehe."

ROTFL! You're a yankee ain't ya?

105 posted on 01/03/2002 10:21:01 AM PST by sweetliberty
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To: TroutStalker
Hey chezjohn, I've hear of your team, Swine Of The Times, probably from the Lenexa cookoff. I bet you didn't get there by putting mustard or vinegar aside your slabs. LOL

TS - If yer in OP...you prolly been to the new Jack Stack @ 95th & Metcalf...or lemme see...what's dat one @ about College & Antioch??? Not Boardroom BBQ...

Anywhoo...I don't compete anymore...haven't for several years. One of my buddies took the name of my team...and is carrying on the tradition....

I actually like a vinegar/tomato based sauce...much like Arthur Bryants sauce. Most of them are too thick & sweet for my taste....like Rich Davis' KC MASTERPIECE (glorified catsup, IMHO)

106 posted on 01/03/2002 10:30:15 AM PST by chezjohn
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To: aomagrat
Any brands sold in stores that are mustard based?

I have been trying out a plethora of sauces on beef ribs for the last 16 months.

107 posted on 01/03/2002 10:33:39 AM PST by jla
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To: jla
Just saw this new thread: Houston is America's "fattest" city

Probably all that sickly sweet "BBQ" sauce.

108 posted on 01/03/2002 10:40:57 AM PST by Lee'sGhost
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To: laotzu;aomagrat;Gamecock;blackdog;Peter W. Kessler;shuckmaster;FreedomPoster;Arkinsaw;Ol' Sox...
"There are only three places in the universe where true BBQ is available: Chicago, Kansas City, Texas. Although there are many very fine imitations and wannabes, they are not the real-deal. BBQ is both a noun and verb. The noun always refers to beef."

The question was recently asked about the difference between a Yankee and a damn Yankee. A damn yankee is cluless and arrogant about it!

109 posted on 01/03/2002 10:41:19 AM PST by sweetliberty
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To: jla
Any brands sold in stores that are mustard based? I have been trying out a plethora of sauces on beef ribs for the last 16 months.

We can buy Maurice's , a mustard base. I don't like mustard base, at least none I've tried.

A sauce I really like , haven't found it lately, 'Texas Best'. Tomato based, not too hot and water based ( instead of oil). Brush it on, it thickens, brush on more, etc. So many oil based just slide off.

110 posted on 01/03/2002 10:43:05 AM PST by Vinnie
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To: chezjohn
TS - If yer in OP...you prolly been to the new Jack Stack @ 95th & Metcalf...or lemme see...what's dat one @ about College & Antioch??? Not Boardroom BBQ...

Yes, been to Jack Stack on Metcalf about a year ago, and enjoyed it. The one at College and Antioch is Haywards. It's been about ten years since I've been there, but it was sure fine at that time.

111 posted on 01/03/2002 10:43:53 AM PST by TroutStalker
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To: okie01
"McRib?"...mmm, and don't forget arbyqs.
112 posted on 01/03/2002 10:52:35 AM PST by Rustynailww
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To: aomagrat
Mustard gets my vote as long as it is not Maurice Bessinger's. Besides not being very good, he makes a mockery of the south. Now Bessinger- he is Taliban material.
113 posted on 01/03/2002 10:54:16 AM PST by dogcatch
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To: jla
Check out the link in post 32 for mustard based BBQ sauce. Maurice's sauce is great. And ignore the PC'er who are boycotting it because of the Confederate flag.
114 posted on 01/03/2002 10:57:13 AM PST by aomagrat
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To: sweetliberty
You got it! Real barbeque is a noun. It's mustard based, yellow in color and made of pork. Anything else is just meat with some kind of sauce on it.
115 posted on 01/03/2002 11:03:25 AM PST by aomagrat
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To: aomagrat
"Mustard is only fit for hot dogs & sausage biscuits."

When you say mustard, I assume that you mean Gulden's Brown mustard. Not that yellow stuff.

116 posted on 01/03/2002 11:05:20 AM PST by TOMH1
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To: sweetliberty; Askel5
If it ain't PORK it ain't BBQ!

Well you're as clueless as you were the other night. Better go run to the Moderators now. I've put you in the Askel5 school on Free Republic... BB material...

That aside, Paul Kirk and John Willinghan the 2 most famous people in the world when it comes to BBQ would say the same thing I do ... You're clueless.

117 posted on 01/03/2002 11:10:18 AM PST by VinnyTex
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To: jla
Watchin' that 32" waist are ye? *L*
118 posted on 01/03/2002 11:15:25 AM PST by Happygal
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To: sweetliberty
The question was recently asked about the difference between a Yankee and a damn Yankee. A damn yankee is cluless and arrogant about it!

The team was now a legend. The following day, the headline of the Memphis newspaper, the Commercial Appeal, read: "What?s the World Coming To When a Bunch of Yankees Beat You at Your Own Game in Your Own BackYard?"

Yankees come down south and kick ass in Memphis

119 posted on 01/03/2002 11:16:55 AM PST by VinnyTex
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To: Rustynailww
"McRib?"...mmm, and don't forget arbyqs.

I'm reminded of the "Simpsons" episode where the kids are stranded on an island.

"I'm hungry enough to eat at Arby's."

"Eeyyuuu!"

120 posted on 01/03/2002 11:18:41 AM PST by aomagrat
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