Different Regional Styles of Barbeque Sauce Converge in the Midwest

Though its origins may be as murky as the Mississippi, some say that barbeque originated in North Carolina. They say that it started with the slaves on plantations getting the cheaper and left over cuts of meat, primarily pork. To make it more palatable, they smoked it for a long time to make it tender and added their own spice preferences to make it tasty. There are basically four major regional styles of barbeque in the United States, and each is unique. There is the original North Carolina style, there’s Texas, Memphis, and Kansas City. In North Carolina, they sometimes roast the entire pig or major parts of it, and then the different parts are chopped up and mixed together before adding the sauce. In Texas, beef is the meat of choice, brisket in particular, and slow smoking and spicy sauce is the order of the day. Memphis has its own style too, and the ribs are king. In Kansas City it’s all about the sauce.

At one time St Louis, (which is not all that far from Kansas City), led the country in per capita barbeque sauce consumption. I’m not sure who holds the record nowadays, but the reason we were first may have had something to do with the fact that St. Louis was the home of the Maul’s Barbeque Sauce Company, which at one time was the world’s largest. In St. Louis the humble pork steak was the grilling choice with ribs sometimes coming in a close second. The pork steak was great barbeque material because they contained so much fat it was hard to overcook them and dry them out. Dad could have one to many beers, fall asleep next to the pit, and still salvage an edible steak when he woke up. I remember a time when the supermarket shelf had just two or three brands of sauce: there was Maul’s, of course, Kraft, (was there anything food wise that they didn’t make?) and a sauce called Open Pit. That was about it. In some ways the sauces were like beer in America, two or three dominant brands in the 70’s that pretty much all tasted the same, until the microbreweries came into the picture. Now it seems that everybody and his cousin Jeb has their own brand of special barbeque sauce. As far as I’m concerned though, it’s still better to make your own, even if you cheat like I do and make one of the name brands your base.

St. Louis-style barbeque sauce is sort of a convergence of many different styles across the country. Kansas City sauces are generally sweeter and thicker, Texas sauce is spicier, while the sauces in Memphis and the Southeast are thinner and have more vinegar. Most barbeque sauces have a base of ketchup, tomato paste, vinegar, and mustard. After this point it is time to get creative. Some folks add beef or chicken stock, onions, garlic, beer or bourbon, pepper sauce, lemon, lime or ginger. One local barbeque establishment here in St. Louis has pumpkin pie spice as their secret ingredient and it works pretty well. One thing that varies in most of the sauces, but is still an essential ingredient, is some kind of sweetener like brown sugar, or molasses. Some people go as far as to use honey or maple syrup. Another restaurant here in the city bastes the meat with apple juice before adding the sauce.

The conventional wisdom is that the sauce should go onto the meat towards the end of the cooking process. Since most of the sauces have a certain amount of sugar, if you put the sauce on too soon, it could caramelize and blacken. Some folks I know heat up the sauce in a separate pot and simmer the barbeque after it comes off the grill. One thing for certain is that you will find as many barbeque styles and sauces as there are barbeques.