Barbecue Styles

by Ray Leard

(Editor’s Note: It is impossible here to list every regional barbecue sauce, so Ray has given as examples some of his personal favorites.)

Americans love to barbecue. They did it more than three billion times in 1999, according to the Barbecue Industry Association.

That’s a lot of black pepper. And a lot of vinegar, tomato sauce, chiles, salt, molasses and many other ingredients that, blended together, put the zing in backyard cooking mostly during the warmer months but increasingly year-long.

Barbecued food fits right in with the way Americans live: It’s casual, easy to prepare and lends itself to the great outdoors. And barbecue sauces have all the diversity of the land that perfected the art and science of barbecuing.

The history of barbecue sauce goes back to the 1600s, the century that marked the founding of America’s first colonies. Bob Garner, in his book, North Carolina Barbecue, says the art of slow-cooking game was taught to the colonists by Native Americans, who may have learned it from people of the Caribbean. During the early years of this country, barbecues were the foundation of many major political, social, and religious events. The original sauce used to tenderize and flavor barbecued meat was based on a very simple recipe: Carolina style, with vinegar, salt and a variety of black and hot peppers. Most Americans think of barbecue sauce as being tomato-based, but it was not until the early 1800s that people got over their misconception that tomatoes were a poisonous vegetable! Nationally known brands such as Kraft came into the barbecue sauce retailing picture in the mid-1900s and have dominated ever since.

Today, literally hundreds of different barbecue sauces are available commercially besides the national brands, and experts generally categorize them by the characteristics and ingredients that mark them as being from a specific region. Here is how they break down.