Regional variations of barbecue Totally Explained

Barbecue has many regional variations, based on several factors:

the type of meat used
the sauce or other flavoring added to the meat
when the flavoring is added during preparation
the role that smoke plays in preparation
the equipment and fuel used to cook the meat
how much time is spent cooking the meat At its most generic, any source of protein may be used, including beef, pork, poultry, and fish. The meat could be ground, as with hamburger, processed into sausage or kebabs, and/or accompanied by vegetables. Sometimes the cut of meat (for example brisket or ribs) matters; sometimes the cut is irrelevant. The meat may be marinated or rubbed with spices before cooking, basted with a sauce or oil before and/or during cooking, and/or flavored in numerous ways after being removed from the heat. Occasionally, vegetarian alternatives to meat, such as soyburgers and mushroom caps, are prepared similarly.

Typically meat is covered with barbecue sauce. Vinegar-base sauce is typical of Southern United States barbecue, while tomato-based sauce is Western United States style.
Many forms of barbecuing involve tough cuts of meat that require hours of cooking over low heat that barely exceeds the boiling point of water. Some forms of barbecue use rapid cooking over high heat, being barely distinguishable from grilled meats to those who would make such a distinction. With high heat barbecuing (often called grilling), the food is placed directly above the flame or other source of heat. With low heat barbecuing, the food is off to the side and almost always under a cover, frequently with added smoke for additional flavor. It is generally agreed among the many regions of North America that indirect heat constitutes "barbecuing," while direct heat is the mark of "grilling." Outside of the US this distinction is rarely observed.
Sometimes an open flame is required, with the fuel source irrelevant. In other cases, the fuel source is critical to the end result, as when wood chips from particular kinds of trees are used as fuel.

Australasia

In Australia and New Zealand, barbecues are a popular summer pastime. Coin-operated, and increasingly free, public electric barbecues are common in city parks. Australasian barbecues don't usually involve the smoking or sugary sauces of an American barbecue; instead, plain or marinated meat, sausages or Lamb chops are cooked on a grill or hot plate. Barbecuing chicken has become very popular in recent years. The barbecuing of prawns ('shrimp' in the USA) has become increasingly popular in Australia but wasn't popular at the time of the American TV commercial featuring Australian actor Paul Hogan.

Caribbean

Jamaican jerk chicken is an example of barbecue. So is the Taíno method of slowly cooking meat over a wooden mesh of sticks.

China

In southern China, pork barbecue is made with a marinade of honey and soy sauce, and cooked in long, narrow strips. This form of barbecue is known as char siu. Outdoor barbecues (usually known simply as BBQ) are popular among Hong Kong residents on short trips to the countryside. These are invariably coal-fired, with meat (usually beef, pork, sausage, or chicken wing) simply marinated with honey, then cooked using long, hand-held forks. In these sense, the style and atmosphere is closer to fondue and hot pot.

Korea

Bulgogi (불고기) is thinly sliced beef (and sometimes pork or chicken) marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and chili pepper, cooked on a grill at the table. It is a main course, and is therefore served with rice and side dishes such as Kimchi. Bulgogi literally means "fire meat." The more common "Korean BBQ" is called kalbi, which is marinated ribs.

Middle East

Al tazaj Israeli mangal sorts of beef steaks, chicken parts, middle eastern kebab made from beef and lamb, hot dogs and beef burger and the known Shish Lik the mangal is the act of grilling meat on coal's outdoors and also known as "On the fire" - על האש
the meat is eaten with pita bread, Tehini paste, Hummus, israeli salad and all kinds of salads

South Asia

The tandoor is a form of barbecue common in Afghanistan, Pakistan and north India.

Southeast Asia

Satay is popular in several Southeast Asian countries: Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It consists of pieces of meat skewered on a bamboo stick. The meat is marinated in a mixture of spices similar to a curry mix and pulverised peanut. Most common meats are chicken, lamb and beef. In non-muslim enclaves, you'll also find pork and various other satay made from animal offal.
After the meat has been cooked over a charcoal flame, it's served with a thick gooey dipping sauce made from the same mixture as the marinate for the meat(a peanuty tasting curry like mixture). Borneo. In the mountainous regions of North Borneo, the local Kadazan people's specialities are chicken butt satay and snake meat satay (as of 2007 this is only available under exceptional circumstances). Before 1990 it was possible to get satay of animals like tapir, elephants, flying fox, goannas and wild boar. Unfortunately, these animals are now rare and/or endangered.

Mongolian

Nomadic Mongolians have several barbecue methods, one of them called 'Khorkhog'. They first heat palm-sized stones to a high temperature over the fire and sandwich several layers of lamb and stone in a pot. The cooking time depends on the amount of lamb used. It is believed that it's good for your health if you hold the stone used for cooking.
Another way of cooking is a "boodog" ("boo" means wrap in Mongolian). Usually marmot (black tail prairie dog) or goats are cooked in this way. There is no pot needed for cooking "boodog", after slaughter and dressing, the innards are put back inside through a small hole and the whole carcass is cooked over the fire.
The Mongolian barbecue often found in restaurants is a style of cooking falsely attributed to the mobile lifestyle of nomadic Mongolians. Having its origins in Taiwan in the mid to late 20th century, "Mongolian" barbecue consists of thinly sliced lamb, beef, chicken, pork, or other meat, seasonings, vegetables, and noodles, or a combination thereof, that are quickly cooked over a flat circular metal surface that has been heated. See also: Mongolian cuisine

South Africa

The braai (abbreviation of braaivleis, Afrikaans "meat grill") started out as a major social tradition amongst the Afrikaner people of Southern Africa, though the tradition has since been adopted by South Africans of all ethnic backgrounds. The word braai is very popular in South Africa; it replaces the standard English word barbecue, which is almost never used in South Africa, except on chips packages. One won't find barbecue wood or wood for the barbecue in the supermarket; instead one will find braaiwood.

South Pacific

Every country has its own version of cuisine a la pit but some of the most legendary and continuously-practiced examples can be found in the South Pacific. In Hawaii, it’s the luau. New Zealand’s Maori have the hangi. Tahitians call it hima’a. And a thousand miles away in the Marquesas Islands, there’s the umu.

United Kingdom

Barbecuing is a popular al fresco cooking and eating style, common in the UK. Many British homes have a barbecue, usually located in the home's back garden. Most popular are steel-built "kettle" and range-style barbecues, with wheels to facilitate moving the barbecue. Due to the typically wet British weather during the autumn and winter, many Britons store their barbecues in a garden shed or garage, although permanent brick barbecues are also common.
The most common foods cooked on a British barbecue are chicken, burgers, sausages, beef steaks, kebabs and vegetarian soya or quorn based products. Such vegetarian products require extra attention due to their lower fat content and thus tendency to stick, as well as their weaker structure due to the manufacturing process of such foods. Less common food items include fish, prawns, halloumi (cheese), corn-on-the-cob, pork fillets and pork or beef ribs. All the major supermarket chains now offer a range of barbecue products, although availability is usually limited to the duration of the "barbecue season" (late spring to early autumn). As Modern British cuisine is heavily influenced by its multi-ethnic communities, Middle Eastern, Asian and Oriental cuisine now influence the food cooked at the British barbecue. For example, highly spiced chicken served with chappatis (rotis) would now not be unusual.
The barbecue food items are usually served with a varied selection of salads and relishes.

United States

Although regional differences in barbecue are blurring, as are many other aspects of U.S. regional culture, variations still exist, and it's still possible to get into heated discussions of the superiority or inferiority of particular regional barbecue variants.

Alabama

In Alabama, there are currently more barbecue restaurants, per capita, than in any other US state. Alabama barbecue most often consists of pork ribs or pork shoulder, slowly cooked over hickory smoke. Pork shoulder may be served either chopped or sliced; some diners also specify a preference for either "inside" or "outside" meat. Alabama barbecue is typically served with a spicy, tomato-based sauce. Two documentary films have been made concerning the Alabama barbecue phenomenon, "Holy Smoke over Birmingham"

and "A Taste of Hog Heaven,"

Famous Alabama barbecue restaurants include:
Dreamland Bar-B-Que

Founded in 1958 in Tuscaloosa, there are now nine locations statewide. In the original restaurant in Tuscaloosa, there are no side dishes, only ribs, bread, and sauce served on paper plates. Big Bob Gibson's BBQ

Founded in 1925 in Decatur, the people from Big Bob's have won many world championships in pork and chicken; they've also won awards for their sauces. They are particularly famous for their unique "white" sauce with a mayonnaise and vinegar base. This style of barbecue was well-documented in Fannie Flagg's bestselling book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

Arkansas

Arkansas is in some ways the crossroads of American barbecue. This is largely due to its location -- firmly rooted in the Deep South but close enough to the Midwest and Texas to incorporate Kansas City and Texas-style barbecue traits.
   Like all true southern barbecue, meat is never exposed to high or direct heat. Instead it's smoked at low temperatures for long periods of time (over 24 hours for many cuts of pork).
   Pork and beef appear on almost all menus, although pork is more popular in the Delta than in the Ozarks. Arkansas-style ribs are a key attraction and similar to those had in Memphis, which lies across the Mississippi River from Arkansas.
   A unique feature of barbecue in Arkansas is prevalence of chicken. Barbecue chicken, Arkansas-style, is always marinated with a "dry rub", smoked, and divided into edible portions only after it's completely cooked. Barbecue sauce is only applied by the eater.
   Another characteristic of Arkansas barbecue is that a barbecued pork or beef sandwich is always served with a thin layer of cole slaw atop and/or underneath the meat. Arkansas cole slaw, which isn't as sweet or creamy as found in other states, provides a toothsome crunch and prevents the sauce from soaking into the bread. Barbecue sandwiches are traditionally served on slices of white bread. Additional cole slaw and potato salad are traditional side dishes. Unlike in other states, onion rings appear frequently as an accompaniment to an Arkansas barbecue sandwich.
   The best illustration of the confluence of culinary influences that come together to make Arkansas barbecue is the sauce. Most restaurant have a thin tomato base sauce that's vinegary and peppery, much like its Deep South ancestors, but incorporates some of the sweetness found in Kansas City-style sauces. To varying degree, Arkansas sauces contain a sweetener (usually sorghum molasses), but they're never thick and never taste syrupy. They are, however, noticeably smoother (for example, less acidic) than eastern sauces, particularly those from eastern Carolina.
   Arkansas sauces tend to be spicier than those found in other states. Most restaurants serve at least two different sorts of sauce -- “regular” and “hot”. The “hot” variety incorporates more pepper into the already spicy “regular” sauce.
   Notable barbecue establishments include McClards

in Hot Springs, which developed a national reputation decades before one of its most loyal patrons, Bill Clinton, was elected president. Whole Hog Cafe

in Little Rock also has developed a national following in recent years, winning dozens of national competitions.

California

Barbecued oysters are served at the Arcata Bay Oyster Festival, near Eureka, California, at the beginning of every summer.
   In northern California many BBQ restaurants serve tofu, tempeh and Portobello mushrooms for vegetarians, in addition to barbecue. Oakland is a center for traditional BBQ and other soul food side dishes.
   The most famous California barbecue is Santa Maria style, in the central part of the state, with its unique 2-3 inch cut of top sirloin or Tri-tip steak, pinquito pink beans and salsa. The tri-tip is rolled in garlic salt and pepper just prior to cooking over red oak wood or coals. Some old timers soak their tri-tip in flat beer the night before cooking it, others use a red wine vinegar and oil basting sauce during the cooking process.
   An example recipe can be found at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_28099,00.html
   Tri-tip is the triangular shaped tips of a sirloin portion that many butchers consider waste and cut up into stew meat or grind into burger. It can be a tough piece of meat if you make the mistake of taking all the fat off or of cutting it into individual steaks for cooking. Cook it whole! If you put the fat side of the tri-tip on the fire first, the moisture will come up through the meat and make it tender. The tried and true cooking procedure is to sear the lean part of the meat over the fire for 5-10 minutes to seal in the juices, then flip over to the fat side for 20-25 minutes, depending on degree of doneness expected. When juice appears at the top of the meat, it's time to flip for another 25 minutes.The fat can easily be trimmed after cooking.

Florida

Both pork and seafood are barbecued in Florida, with butter and lemon or lime juice as the base for the sauce. Some restaurants are even known to barbecue alligator with a smoker.

Georgia

A state with a long and storied barbecue tradition, Georgia barbecue has become famous in many fictional and anecdotal representations of life within the state, ranging from Margaret Mitchell's epic Gone with the Wind to the more biographical (and humorous) reminiscences of Lewis Grizzard. The state's "barbecue reputation" has also been solidified by the fact that many Georgia-based food manufacturers (such as Castleberry's Foods, based in Augusta) introduced mass-market "BBQ pork" to grocery stores throughout the United States in the mid-1980s.
   In general, it can be said that Georgia barbecue is based on pork, which is slow-cooked over an open pit stoked with oak and/or hickory and served with a sauce based on ketchup, molasses, bourbon, garlic, cayenne pepper, and other ingredients. However, the reality is that barbecue culture in Georgia represents an enormous range of styles, traditions, and influences. As such, Georgia can be accurately assessed as a melting pot of regional variations where almost any sauce or cooking style can be found.
   Barbecue in the Eastern part of the state (from Savannah to Augusta) is somewhat unique in that it consists almost universally of finely chopped pork - usually from a shoulder or ham cut - served with a side of hash (a thick, tomato-based stew often flavored with meat drippings and other vegetables) over long grain white rice. Occasionally, ribs, chicken, and/or beef brisket accompanies pork on the menu, but all meats are slow cooked "bare" (for example without the addition of spice rubs or sauces) over wood coals and served accompanied by "hash and rice" and sweet pickles. Mustard-based potato salad or traditional mayonaise-dressing coleslaw often completes the meal as a side dish, and many of the most famous purveyors of this style of barbecue offer almost nothing else on the menu. Sauces typical of East Georgia barbecue consist of a ketchup and/or vinegar base with exotic flavors like worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, honey, and even clove sometimes added.
   Middle Georgia barbecue restaurants (from Macon to Atlanta) most often serve Brunswick stew instead of hash, and are more apt to offer additional side items, including (but not limited to) french fries, onion rings, baked beans, and potato chips. The meat in "middle Georgia barbecue" shows similar diversity, as restaurants in this area regularly offer beef brisket, ribs, chicken, and sometimes smoked sausage in addition to the traditional shoulder-cut chipped pork. Accompanying sauces are often in the vein of the "bourbon and ketchup"-based styles described above.
   Northeast Georgia barbecue - centered around the city of Athens and its neighboring counties, but extending upward along Interstate 85 into South Carolina - has much in common with the style of barbecue typically found in eastern South Carolina (see below.) Most restaurants in the region serve a more finely-chopped pork most often taken from a slow roasted whole hog, rather than just a pork shoulder. Meat is served with a thinner, vinegar-based sauce, and pulled pork sandwiches are especially popular.
   West Georgia barbecue, centered in the city of Columbus, holds a great deal in common with Alabama-style barbecue. Restaurants in this area of the state typically serve a mustard and vinegar based barbecue sauce which often features the addition of jalapenos or other hot peppers. Meats in West Georgia barbecue are more typically cooked over oak (particularly White Oak) coals, and are often served along with dill (rather than sweet) pickles and/or grilled slices of Vidalia onion. The West Georgia style also typically features the greatest variety of side dish offerings, often including "country vegetables" such as sweet potatoes, collard greens, lima beans, and corn. West Georgia barbecue is sometimes served with cornbread, although the more traditional offering of white bread as an accompanying starch is still most common.
   Barbecue of North Georgia, particularly those counties around Chattanooga shares many traits with the typical "smokey" Tennessee style, while South Georgia Barbecue, centered in and around Albany, Thomasville & Valdosta, shares qualities with its North Florida neighbors, including the use of dry spice rubs and a hickory-based smoke for cooking. Vienna, Georgia is notable as the home of Big Pig Jig

, one of the Southeast's largest pork barbecue cook-offs, which has been featured on the Food Network. Atlanta truly epitomizes the reputation of Georgia as a "melting pot" of barbecue styles, as virtually every style found within the state - as well as those typical of Kansas City, St. Louis, Texas, Chicago and the Caribbean - are not only present but commonplace. Yet despite the tremendous diversity of barbecue styles present in Georgia, one factor remains constant throughout the entire state, the presence of "sweet tea" as the perpetual accompanying beverage to a barbecue meal.
Arguably, Georgia's most famous original contribution to the barbecue world is Brunswick stew, named after Brunswick, Georgia where tradition holds that it originated. Famous (but not necessarily the best) Georgia barbecue restaurants include Twin Oaks in Brunswick, Sconyer's

in Augusta, Smokey Pig, Country's and Fat Freddie's in Columbus, Wall's Barbecue in Savannah, Fincher's Barbecue in Macon, Carithers (now Carithers 'N Scott Barbecue) in Athens, Melear's in Fayetteville, Sprayberry's Barbecue

in Newnan, Leroy's Barbecue in Valdosta, Williamson Brothers Barbecue in Marietta, Rib City BBQ

in Marietta, Vandys Barbecue in Statesboro, Daddy D'z BBQ Joynt

in Atlanta, Jack's Old South in Vienna and Cordele, and Fat Matt's Rib Shack Fat Matt's Rib Shack

in Atlanta.

Kentucky

In Kentucky, barbecue also has a long and rich tradition. Mutton is the most notable specialty in Western Kentucky, where there were once large populations of sheep. However, mutton is virtually unknown in The Purchase of the extreme west, where "barbecue" without any other qualifier refers specifically to smoked pork shoulder. A vinegar- and tomato-based sauce with a mixture of spice and sweet is traditionally served with the meat, though not always used in cooking. The Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn in Owensboro is the most famous of all Kentucky BBQ places, and Owensboro hosts an International Bar-B-Q Festival every year during the second weekend in May. Western Kentucky BBQ (more specifically, Purchase BBQ) has also been transplanted to Lexington by way of Billy's BBQ near downtown, a favorite among University of Kentucky basketball and football fans. A great deal of "Kentucky barbecue" has found its way into southern Indiana, where it has earned widespread favor.

Mississippi

Like its neighbor Alabama, Mississippians prefer pork to other meats, usually pork shoulder, or whole hog. Most restaurants serve only pulled pork, though some also serve chicken halves. Unlike the surrounding states, a purely vinegar-based sauce is preferred; in fact, many sauciers take a great deal of pride in using absolutely no tomato in their creations.
Though most barbecue in Mississippi is pork shoulder slow-cooked in a smoker (either a drum, or a converted shed), special events call for open-pit barbecue, which is still common practice in some parts of Mississippi. A whole, freshly slaughtered hog is brought to the site very early in the morning while a pit, generally half a foot deep by several feet wide and broad, is filled with hickory wood. The wood is allowed to burn to coals before a grill is laid down, and the hog is smoked whole over the embers. The process usually takes an entire day, and if begun early enough, is ready for dinner. There are numerous pig-cooking competitions throughout Mississippi each year, one of which is the "Pig Cookoff" at April's Super Bulldog Weekend at Mississippi State University.
Famous barbecue joints include Leatha's Bar-B-Que Inn

in Hattiesburg, The Little Dooey

in Columbus and Starkville, Sonny's in Starkville (both favorites of Mississippi State University students), and Sonny's Real Pit BBQ (no relation) in Jackson.

Missouri

In Missouri, beef is the dominant meat for barbecue, especially in St. Louis and the Ozarks. Often the beef is sliced and a tomato-based sauce is added after cooking. About half of the supply of charcoal briquets in the USA is produced from Ozark forests (for example, Kingsford brand), with hickory "flavor" being very popular. St. Louis-style barbecue features a sauce that's typically tangier and thinner than its Kansas City cousin, with less vinegar taste. It somewhat resembles the Memphis style sauce. Maull's barbecue sauce is representative of the St. Louis style. The most famous barbecue competition in St. Louis is held annually during the July 4th holiday at Fair St. Louis.
A quick and easy Missouri-style barbecue sauce can be made from mostly ketchup, some brown sugar, a little mustard, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

Kansas City

Kansas City calls itself the "world capital of barbecue." There are more than 100 barbecue restaurants in the city and the American Royal each fall claims to host the world's biggest barbecue contest.
   Kansas City barbecue typically consists of brisket and burnt ends, ribs, pork, chicken, and turkey. Meat is more often sliced than shredded. Kansas City barbecue is served with the sauce on the side, rather than mixed onto the meat before serving. Kansas City style uses a sweet, spicy sauce with a tomato base.
   The classic Kansas City-style barbecue was an inner city phenomenon that evolved from the pit of Henry Perry from the Memphis, Tennessee area in the early 1900s and blossomed in the 18th and Vine neighborhood. Arthur Bryant's was to take over the Perry restaurant and added molasses to sweeten the recipe. In 1946 Gates and Sons Bar-B-Q was opened by one of Perry's cooks. The Gates recipe added even more molasses. Although Bryant's and Gates are the two definitive Kansas City barbecue restaurants they've had little or no luck exporting the barbecue beyond the Kansas City metropolitan area.
   In 1977 Rich Davis, a child psychologist, test marketed his own concoction called K.C. Soul Style Barbecue Sauce. He renamed it KC Masterpiece and in 1986 he sold the sauce to the Kingsford division of Clorox. Davis retained rights to operate restaurants using the name and sauce. Only one of the restaurants remains in the suburb of Overland Park, Kansas.

Nevada

The city of Sparks plays host each Labor Day weekend to the Best of the West Rib Cook-off in Victorian Square. To denizens of the Reno/Sparks area, this is an event of quasi-religious significance and proves that when it comes to BBQ in Nevada, ribs are king.

North Carolina

Within North Carolina, there are two regional barbecue traditions, both based on the slow-cooking of pork, served pulled, chopped, or sliced. In eastern North Carolina, typically the whole hog is used, and the dominant ingredients in the sauce are vinegar and hot peppers. From the Piedmont westward, Lexington-style barbecue is the norm. It is prepared from primarily pork shoulder and served with either a vinegar-based or tomato-based sauce. The tomato-based sauce, called "dip" by some, can be made with ketchup and is thinner and less sweet than most bottled barbecue sauces available nationwide. Except for the "whole hog" preparation, hams are not generally barbecued.
   Throughout the State, the term "barbecue" refers to slow cooked pork. It is almost never used to refer to a backyard cookout. Any meat basted in a barbecue sauce and cooked over heat can be called "barbecued," for example, "barbecued chicken" or "barbecued ribs." A common home preparation called "chicken barbecue" is oven-braised chicken pieces with a sauce, usually thin and slightly spicy.
   Barbecue is prepared by placing a pork shoulder or half a hog (that is, a side) in a "hog cooker" over prepared wood coals and cooking very slowly, usually overnight. Which wood to use is subject to debate -- often oak or hickory, but never pine. For convenience, gas, electric, or charcoal heat may be used, alone, or in combination with a wood, although most will agree that regardless of primary heat source, long exposure to hardwood smoke produces the most flavorful barbecue. Other variations involve cooking times, turning frequency, and basting methods.
   When the meat is finished, it may be cut up or chopped by the cook, or diners at a pig pickin' may pull the desired quantity directly off the bone. A "Pig pickin'" is a popular type of gathering centered on the consuming, and possibly cooking, of barbecue. Pig pickin's are popular for church gatherings, family celebrations, reunions, weddings, funerals, and pre-game parties.
   Common side dishes include hushpuppies, barbecue slaw, french fries, boiled potatoes, corn sticks, Brunswick stew, and collard greens. In the popular NC State Legislative Building cafeteria, accompaniments include deep-fried dill pickle slices. Also popular is the "barbecue sandwich," consisting of barbecue, vinegar/pepper sauce, sweet cole slaw served on a hamburger bun. A "barbecue tray" is a thick paper rectangular bowl with barbecue and french fries or hushpuppies served side-by-side. The meat may already have sauce mixed in, or the diner may add his own.
   Lexington's well-known annual Barbecue Festival is normally held on one of the last two Saturdays in October. Some North Carolinians deny that real barbecue exists outside the State. Attesting to its popularity, Carolina-style barbecue restaurants are scattered along the Eastern seaboard and tubs of NC chopped barbecue can be found in many grocers.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma barbecue reflects the state's geographic location. Located south of Kansas City, north of Texas and west of Memphis, Oklahomans like the beef brisket favored by their neighbors in Texas, the sweet spicy sauce typical of Kansas City and the pork ribs that are found in Memphis. However, Oklahoma barbecue also includes pork, chicken, sausage, and bologna. In Oklahoma, barbecue refers to meat that has been slowly cooked over wood smoke at a very low temperature, for a very long time. The woods most commonly used for smoking meat include hickory, oak, and pecan. Some of the most popular barbecue joints in Oklahoma include Bad Brad's in Stillwater & Pawhuska, Smokehouse Bob's in Muskogee, Elmer's, Stutt's House of BBQ, and the Knotty Pine in Tulsa, Head Country in Ponca City, Earl's Rib Palace in Oklahoma City,Van's Pig Stands

in Shawnee, Norman and Moore and Hopkins Barbecue Company in Eufaula.

Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, 'barbecue' refers to various sweet and mild concoctions in the tradition of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) cooking techniques. Especially in central PA, barbecue is generally a mixture of browned ground beef, or in some cases shredded roast beef, with varying combinations of ketchup, mustard, molasses, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, pepper, pickle relish, and vinegar. This dish is reminiscent of the meat on a Sloppy joe sandwich and can be used as a hot dog topping. As served at most any type of event in central PA, a 'barbecue sandwich' consists of ground beef barbecue on an inexpensive white hamburger bun.

South Carolina

South Carolina is the only state to have four types of barbecue sauces: mustard, vinegar, heavy tomato, and light tomato. The meat used in South Carolina is consistent throughout the state, slow-cooked pulled pork. In the Pee Dee and Lowcountry coastal region, a vinegar and pepper sauce is prevalent, though the region is home to Sticky Fingers, a rib house who uses all four sauces. In the Midlands area around Columbia, a mustard-based sauce sometimes referred to as "Carolina Gold" is the predominant style. Such establishments as Melvin's

(2 locations in Charleston, SC), Maurice Bessinger's "Piggie Park"

, Shealy's

and Jackie Hites* (both located in Batesburg-Leesville) and Dukes BBQ (3 locations in Orangeburg, SC) use gold sauce made from mustard, apple juice, pear juice, and other ingredients. In upcountry around Rock Hill, one finds the light tomato and the rest of the upcountry stretching down past Aiken is home to the heavy tomato sauce. In addition to pork, other popular BBQ dishes include hash and ribs.

Tennessee

While Memphis dominates the culture of Tennessee barbecue, some other restaurants in other cities have achieved some notoriety outside of their local markets. Ridgewood Barbeque in Elizabethton has been featured in national publications and network television for its smoked sliced pork, drenched in a light, spicy tomato-based sauce. Still in its original location, Ridgewood has served a variety of notable clientèle over the past six decades, including country music stars and NASCAR drivers who race in nearby Bristol. Bar-B-Cutie Bar-B-Que in Nashville is a popular destination for tourists, and Sticky Fingers, a chain based in Charleston, South Carolina, but whose founders hail from Chattanooga, has overcome the stigma that hardcore barbecue fans tend to attach to chains and is widely regarded throughout the southeast for its ribs. Traditional Tennessee "barbeque" (the preferred spelling) is saucy, slow-cooked pork ribs or pulled/sliced pork shoulder, though beef brisket (and sometimes sliced roast beef served with sauce) is also popular. The molasses content in the sauce usually becomes less pronounced in middle and east Tennessee, causing the sauces there to be thinner and less sweet. These eastern varieties more frequently use ketchup as a base, sometimes adding small amounts of Tabasco sauce or jalapeño for flavor.
In recent years it has become increasingly common for restaurants in the far eastern part of the state to serve the meat "dry" and offer customers a choice of either tomato or "Eastern Carolina-style" vinegar-based sauces. The use of cole slaw as a condiment on sandwiches varies from location to location. Typical side dishes include french fries, baked potatoes, potato salad, corn on the cob, barbecue beans, cole slaw, green beans, white beans, dinner rolls, and collard greens. Most barbecue restaurants are locally owned, no-frills establishments, though a handful of fast food chains (such as Buddy's BBQ in the Knoxville area) and several more upscale "rib houses" have proven popular regionally.

Memphis

Memphis-style barbecue is known for

wet ribs, made with a mild, sweet barbecue sauce that's basted on the ribs before and after smoking;

dry-rub ribs, made with a spice rub applied during or right after they've been cooked; and

pulled or chopped pork sandwich topped with sweet, finely chopped coleslaw and served on hamburger buns, which some locals insist is Memphis barbecue's highest form. For people who simply can't get enough barbecue, there's also barbecue spaghetti, barbecue pizza, and barbecue nachos. Memphis is also home to the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest (WCBCC), an annual event which regularly draws over 90,000 pork lovers from around the globe. The title of "the largest pork barbecue cooking contest in the world" was bestowed on the WCBCC in the 1990 Guinness Book of World Records (External Link

).
It is also home to over 100 barbecue restaurants, including Corky's

, Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous

, the Germantown Commissary

, Interstate Barbecue

, Gridley's, Three Little Pigs, Tops Barbecue, and Cozy Corner. Several have been so successful that they've branches dedicated to shipping barbecue overnight via FedEx (especially convenient for these restaurants, as the primary hub for FedEx is Memphis International Airport).

Texas

Sliced brisket, sausage, and pork ribs are the most popular meats in Texas barbecue. Central Texans often refer to these three meats as The Holy Trinity. Chicken, beef ribs, and chopped beef are also often found. Even more exotic variants such as turkey, pork loin, pork chops, prime rib, mutton, and cabrito are sometimes available. The Mexican name often seen on signs is barbacoa and is most often barbacoa de cabeza--barbecued head(cow). This is very popular to eat on Sundays in the Hispanic community.
   In Texas, barbecuing refers to what others call "hot smoking"—cooking with both smoke and low heat for hours over woods such as oak, mesquite, or pecan. Cooking with direct heat, such as a propane-fueled flame, isn't referred to as barbecuing, but is instead known as grilling. Meat prepared by Texas barbecue often has a red tinge even when fully cooked, and a pink smoke ring around the edges of the meat. This is caused by myoglobin in the meat reacting with carbon monoxide in the smoke to form a heat stable pigment. The pink smoke ring is very tasty and a major focus of fans of this style.
   If used, traditional sauce consists of tomatoes with a vinegar base. It can be sweet or spicy and thick or thin, depending on the chef. At barbecue cookoffs in Texas, however, meat is generally judged without sauce, as sauce can cover up for poor-quality meats and cooking. Commercially available sauces usually bear little resemblance to traditional barbecue sauce, and are frequently made from tomatoes and corn syrup.
   Since creating proper barbecue requires considerable expense of money and time, in that one needs a specialized smoker and has to start smoking many hours before the meat is ready, most Texans simply visit a local restaurant known as a barbecue joint. Such establishments typically serve the meat in a no-frills manner, on a plastic tray and butcher paper with white bread or crackers, or, to-go, in a brown paper sack. Traditional side dishes include potato salad, coleslaw (mustard or vinegar), pinto beans, which are often spicy. Banana pudding, peach cobbler and Blue Bell ice cream are popular dessert options. However, they're not always available—the film Kreuz Market: No Sauce, No Sides, No Silverware

depicts a popular barbecue joint in Lockhart that lacks the three items mentioned in the title.
Slight regional variations in Texas barbecue exist. In Central Texas barbecue is more likely to consist of leaner meats, while East Texans prefer more fatty cuts. It is possible, however, to find both kinds of meats all over the state. In South Texas, beef fajitas, beef briskets, beef ribs and chicken are probably the most popular, along with small cuts of pork called 'carnitas', of course all cooked over a mesquite fire. Side dishes include flour tortillas, pinto beans, Mexican rice, potato salad, and of course pico de gallo (a garnish made with cilantro, jalapenos, onions and tomatoes.)
In Texas, barbecue, and the best barbecue joints, are popular topics both in individual discussions and the media. The documentary film Barbecue: A Texas Love Story

depicts the culture associated with Texas barbecue. Texas Monthly

magazine periodically performs roundups where they rate scores of barbecue joints across the state. The most recent roundup

was in 2003.

Upper Midwest

In northern Illinois (including Chicago), Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, and Michigan, barbecue typically means a cut of meat with bone-in, either slow-cooked or cooked over an open flame. No-bone cuts of meat are usually said to be grilled, and are almost exclusively seared using dry direct heat. Fire, in the Upper Midwestern style, is necessary for barbecue; similar slow-cooked meat dishes prepared in an oven or a Crock-Pot are quite tasty, but not barbecue. Most of these bone-in meat cuts are beef and pork spareribs, and chicken quarters (thigh and drumstick together). Beef brisket has become increasingly popular in recent years. Restaurant chains named "Carson's Ribs", "Famous Dave's", and "Robinson's" use these meats with a variety of sauce styles. Michiganders, particularly in Western Michigan, use the term "barbecue" loosely, allowing the consumption of beef ribs and stewed meat. They also allow the designation of Famous Dave's and Tony Roma's as authentic (or add the prefix "Texas style-" to appeal to ethos). In portions of Michigan barbecue is also a name for a sloppy joe sandwich.
   Upper-Midwesterners typically serve barbecued meat with corn on the cob and baked potato (with butter, sour cream and chives) as side dishes, and sometimes baked beans and potato chips.
   Chicago is an exception to the rule in the Midwest. It has a very large population of African Americans who migrated from the Mississippi Delta in the middle of the 20th century. The million or so African Americans who live in Chicago today inherited the food, music, and religion of their parents and grandparents. The barbecue described in the Memphis, Arkansas, and Mississippi sections of this entry has become a part of the Chicago landscape and has evolved since leaving the South. South- and West-side Chicago is noted for smoked ribs and Deep South style rib sauce.
   Many of the migrants to Chicago came for jobs in the meatpacking industry at the time Chicago was still known as the hogbutcher to the world. Pork spare ribs served with hot or mild sauce are a product of this happy cultural confluence. While barbecue is typically associated with tough cuts of meat, barbecue ribs in Chicago tend to be from very good cuts of pork, perhaps because of the abundance of good meat and resulting higher expectations in this meat industry town.

Virginia

It is arguable whether Virginia has a BBQ tradition of its own--other than to realize that BBQ is a noun, never a verb. Much of the BBQ that exists in Virginia is found near the Tidewater region. Pork is the main offering, but chicken is often available, as are pork ribs. Meat from pork shoulders--"Boston butts"--is pit or smoker cooked. The more North Carolina-inclined places serve the meat dry and offer vinegar-based and tomato-based vinegary sauces. Some places offer smoked, minced pork in a light tomato/vinegar sauce, perhaps best fitting the appellation "Virginia BBQ" although very similar to some North Carolina BBQ. Most will, however, serve cole slaw on the sandwich as part of the deal. Given how many restaurants and stands offer "North Carolina BBQ" it's permissible to let the reader decide for himself whether there's a genuine variation or not.

Washington State

In the Pacific Northwest, barbecue is approached using different smoking techniques and is primarily used for cooking salmon. In early spring, Native Americans living near the Columbia River celebrate the first appearance of returning Chinook salmon with outdoor feasts, which are repeated, in backyards and restaurants, until the middle of fall.
   Through the summer, when silver and pink salmon can be cheaper than hamburger in the market, grills are crowded with the tender flesh of salmon. A few places in Seattle cook salmon the ancient way (on cedar sticks), while others add twists of their own.
   Traditionally, the salmon are cut in long, wide strips along either side of the backbone. Then the fillets should be speared on skinny cedar sticks, while smaller twigs are used to stretch the fish sideways. When completed, this looks like a rib system, but it keeps the salmon from curling while cooking.
   The fish-on-a-stick is then placed upright, about three feet from the firepit, and cooked slowly for about half an hour. This method keeps the juices intact; placing the fish any closer to the fire dries it out. When finished, the meat will break away in moist layers.

External results

Click here for more details on Regional Variations Of Barbecue

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://regional_variations_of_barbecue.totallyexplained.com">Regional variations of barbecue Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.