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.
It's been said that BBQ in the South is like cheese in France, you travel 5 miles and it is different...
I think they forgot Texas. The best BBQ I've ever eaten was in Texas. It was beef brisket, Mesquite cooked with a mustard based sauce. Hmmmmm
While I enjoy brisket, I cannot consider it BBQ. I think it is written in Leviticus that only pork can be called BBQ....
Our host in Spartanburg told us we'd be having barbeque for dinner. This kid from Jersey figured he'd be lighting the grille...
Nope. We got in the car and headed to... I wish I could remember the name of the place.
We opened the containers and started spooning it on soft hamburger buns. It was this stringy looking meat in a red sauce.
It was delicious.
We moved back to New Jersey in '71, and I didn't get to enjoy this culinary delight 'til I visited my uncle in Lakeland, FL many years later when we went to "Jimbos."
Barbeque is one of the last truly regional foods. Excellent barbeque is available only below the Mason-Dixon Line.
Of course, the best pizza is only available in the New York Metro area...
Ever have Taylor Ham, egg, and cheese on a hard roll?
***Strictly a northeast gastronomical delight***
(A hard roll is not a three day-old hamburger bun.)
Vinegar & pepper trounces all mere impostors!
Aomagrat, you are welcome to visit eastern North Carolina and re-educate yourself on proper barbecue at one or more of the following locations:
Cherry's BBQ - Wilson, NC
Parker's BBQ - Wilson & Greenville, NC
"B's" Barbecue - Greenville, NC
Bob Melton's BBQ - Rocky Mount, NC
You can thank me later.
And ketchup is for french fries, and vinegar and pepper is for salads.
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.
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