By Jim ZografosWe Americans love our barbeques! As a matter of fact, 82% of all UShouseholds own a grill and 56% of grill owners use them year-round!Not surprisingly, there are a couple of times per year that the salessee an extra spike – Super Bowl, Memorial Day, July 4th, and LaborDay. And, interestingly enough 58% of the total category sales aredone during the summer season – I guess that’s why summer isconsidered grilling season.96 OnTREND May/August 2013
Regional DifferencesYes we love our barbeque; and based on where we live herein the States, the styles are uniquely different. Barbeque firsttook root in the southeast, generally accomplished by digginga pit for a fire, or using some sort of wide, shallow container,and placing a rack on top. Through the years, differentparts of the country developed distinctive styles. Three aregenerally recognized: Southern, Kansas City and Texas –each with its own preferred meats, approaches to roastingand applied seasonings and sauces. But, as I’ve traveled thecountry and met with suppliers from different regions, we canreally say there are six distinctive barbeque styles from aroundthe country. Let’s take a look.The CarolinasI say “the Carolinas” because thereare a couple of different stylesfound in these southern states,but the predominant one is fromeastern North Carolina. This styletraces its roots back to the earliestforms that I mentioned earlier, with a whole hog roasted, thenchopped to make pulled pork and topped with a sauce ofvinegar and cayenne pepper. I include a chart at the end ofthis article that shows the different styles of barbeque saucesavailable through the <strong>KeHE</strong> enterprise.Another style of “Carolina” sauce is Carolina Gold. It ismustard-based sauce that has a nice healthy dose of vinegar.Georgia StyleGeorgia is heavily influenced bythe Carolinas. It is a hog-nationwhen it comes to the meats; stopin to just about any barbequerestaurant or tail-gate party inGeorgia and you’re sure to findplenty of pork! There will be whole hogs, hams, shoulders andribs; you may even stumble upon a whole chicken or two, justto mix things up. When you slather on the sauce, you may beconfused and think you are still in the Carolinas. There will besauces featuring tomatoes, vinegar and/or mustard.Vinegar is the key!Kansas CityOn my “tour” I found that manystates, including Mississippi,Oklahoma and Alabama; and allthe way up to Chicago, employ theKansas City style of barbequing.Ribs rule. Beef ribs that is. And thesauce; yeah, the sauce is what is so distinctive. It’s thick andtomato-based, with equal parts sweetness and spicy. There’salso a hint of vinegar (just for a little twang) and then it isrounded out with molasses and/or brown sugar. Makes mymouth water just thinking about it!Memphis StyleMemphis style barbeque saucesare very similar to the KansasCity style, except they are alittle thinner and with a bit morevinegar, which equals a little moretang to it. What I really like aboutMemphis style is that it is just as good without the sauce– it’s the rub! Sometimes, you want to have the barbequeexperience without all the sauce, that’s when you should turnto the Memphis style. You get all the flavor, but without all themess. Don’t worry, you always have the option of having thesauce on the side.KentuckyWant a break from the pork, beef and chicken, thenKentucky is where you should go. The meat du jour is lamb.Yes, lamb. Not the first thing that comes to mind when I thinkof barbeque, but tasty none-the-less. I’m told it’s a “throwback”to the Basque ancestry of the region. Interesting huh,I’m giving you some insights into barbequing and throwingin a little history along the way. Well, the western part ofKentucky was settled by Basque sheep ranchers; so of course,sheep is the primary choice as meat when grilling. There arealso the staples of pork, beef and chicken. Wow, and I thoughtKentucky was horse country. Oh yeah, we don’t eat horses!Jan 2, 2011Jan 16, 2011Jan 30, 2011Feb 13, 2011Feb 27, 2011Mar 13, 2011Mar 27, 2011Apr 10, 2011Apr 24, 2011May 8, 2011May 22, 2011Jun 5,, 2011Jun 19, 2011Jul 3, 2011Jul 17, 2011Jul 31, 2011Aug 14, 2011Aug 28, 2011Sep 12, 2011Sep 26, 2011Oct 10, 2011Oct 24, 2011Nov 7, 2011Nov 21, 2011Dec 5, 2011Dec19, 2011May/August 2013 ONTREND 97
Change language