Reflection Of The Flame
Touching a place in our heart, the enchanting flame calls us back to the kitchen and beyond.
Last time we talked about the World's BBQ Belt and some of its background history,
and word usage in our language.
Just to remind you BBQ is our starting place in our culinary travels.
This is not just a BBQ blog so prepare for lots of other tasty things to come.
I think it is best to start out simple and close to home before reaching to some of the more world's exteme BBQ cooking situations.
I also want to say that this is only a guideline to follow for your own cooking exploration.
I will add a few options but always feel free to make changes and be creative.
First tip is to always document your recipes just in case you hit the "ONE" it is good to have it scribbled down on a napkin at least.
The origins of American barbecue date back to colonial times, with the first recorded mention in 1610, and George Washington mentions attending a "barbicue" in Alexandria, VA in 1769
"taken from wikipedia"
The Four BBQ Kings
Our country only has one president but when it comes to BBQ four places wear the crown of BBQ.
I am not saying you can't get great BBQ all over the U.S. but I am talking about the birthplace of our modern day choices.
I do not prefer one over the other or consider any variables to be right or wrong or better than the other in anyway. I love all the great choices and being able to test the flavors that other people love depending on where they live.
Introducing the Four BBQ Kings....
The Carolinas, Texas, Kansas City and Memphis.
Now we can all agree if go to any of these places and get great BBQ.
What people consider BBQ in these places is a bit more complicated.
East of the Mississippi we are talking pork and then across the mighty river, mostly in texas we are talking about beef.
Kansas City pit masters specialize in pork ribs.
Texas is kicking out brisket and beef ribs.
The Carolina's are turning out pork shoulder "pulled pork"
Last but not least Memphis with fork tender pork shoulder and "dry rubbed" ribs.
To confuse matters worse chicken is also available now on the menu due to our change in diet around the nation.
The Carolina's
In the Carolina's BBQ means pork or to be more specific pork shoulder a.k.a. boston butt - sometimes rubbed and then smoke cooked over oak or hickory wood for six to eight hours, or until tender enough to pull apart with your fingers. This is what people call "pulled pork". In this part of the country it is rarely served sliced. Some cooks use vinegar based mop sauces to keep the meat moist during the long cooking process and others just let time and wood smoke do the job on it's own. At times they have been known to go hog wild and smoke entire pigs in this fashion in a process called pig pickling. One point that also stands out for Carolina BBQ is the sauces they use. The three main styles are very different than the red BBQ sauce most people are used to seeing,the first from northeastern North Carolina is a thin, clear sauce made of distilled white or cider vinegar with salt, red pepper flakes and a little sugar. In the western part of the state you have the addition of ketchup or tomato sauce to this mixture. The result is a peppery, tart red sauce unlike anything else in the country. In southern North Carolina and South Carolina they choose a yellow sauce made with mustard, sweetners (sugar, honey, & molasses), & vinegar. This is the sweetest you will find in the style but it is not overly sweet. To eat Carolina style barbeque in the traditional way put the pulled pork on a bun with coleslaw and vinegar sauce.
Memphis has a deep understanding of BBQ and it hosts one of the world's largest barbecue cooking contests with teams from all over the country and half a dozen other countries to compete for big prize money. Two cuts are king in Memphis, pork shoulder and ribs. The pork shoulder is slowly smoked until fork tender and then sliced thin and served with barbecue sauce. The ribs are really what sets Memphis apart from the rest of the BBQ kings. Memphis is the home to the "dry rib", a rack of baby back or spare ribs thickly crusted with a dry rub, then smoked and sprinkled with more rub just before serving. The rub backs up the flavor and texture of the ribs without overpowering it the way barbecue sauce sometimes does.
Kansas City
KC Masterpiece Barbecue sauce is named after this BBQ king setting us right in one of the epicenters of barbecue. Kansas city, it was a huge meat packing center up until the 60's and those stockyards supplied bbq buffs with the cuts needed to perfect their skills in being true pit masters. Some using complex dry rubs before cooking they don't often use mop sauces. The defining note of KC BBQ is the attention paid to the sauce. In Kansas City the barbecue sauce is thick and sweet. A complex blend of ketchup or tomato sauce, brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, vinegar, onion, garlic, liquid smoke, hot red pepper flakes, and don't forget a little apple juice. The most typical of these and the best selling is the above mentioned KC masterpiece. It was created by a child pyschiatrist turned BBQ mogul Rich Davis. Another popular sauce is Arthur Bryant's a sharp chaulky sauce that is not at all sweet made with a blend of vinegar and paprika.
One other gem this BBQ king has to offer is the meaty delicacy they call burnt edges. They are made from the crisp charred ends of briskets. Arthur Bryant claims to have the world's best burnt edges.
Texas
There is no end to the places in texas to get amazing BBQ as it hosts thousands and thousands across the great state to choose from. Texas barbecue beef brisket is said to be as smokey as a fireplace, savory as a stew and tender enough to pull apart with your fingers.
As we looked closer at just the four BBQ kings in our country, I realize again how vast just one fragment of a flavor and cooking method like BBQ can become when trying to share it with others. I will just try and hover over as much area as possible and point out the interesting details as we go. Kind of like a helicopter tour instead of the walking tour ?
I think this way also I can help you gather information about what is out there, and if you want to search further into things that draw your interest from my suggestions here I have done my job.
I thought about a month of BBQ related posts would get me through the summer and I realized it is a lot harder to sit down and create content then I thought it would be.
One good post a month seems to be about where I am at now and that means I only have one more left after this one before summer is over.
I wanted to move on as fall moves in so maybe I can just return to the Quest for Fire series as my blog moves forward. I will conclude this series with some recipes I promise.
