Americans take their BBQ very seriously; so seriously
that large BBQ networks across the country,
including the International Barbeque Cookers
Association, the Memphis Barbecue Network, the
Kansas City Barbeque Society, and the Northeast
Barbecue Society, put on numerous competitions
each year.
Cooking exemplary BBQ is a fine art; with factors
ranging from the kind of meat — pork, beef,
chicken, or other — wood, charcoal, or smoke
cooking methods; and rubs and sauces. While some
make this quest for piquant perfection their every-
weekend project, the rest of us simply search out
the best BBQ joints on a special occasion, like travel.
Three of the USA’s top cities to find world-class
BBQ are Charlotte, Memphis, and St. Louis, where
distinctly different styles hold sway. St. Louis is
known for its spare ribs: large pork ribs trimmed
into a rectangle and grilled, then covered in
Missouri-style sauce — a thick, tangy, sweet-spicy
tomato-based concoction.
In Memphis, ribs, pork shoulder and other meats
are very slowly smoked in a pit cooker, often using
special wood varieties to imbue a specific flavor. In
Charlotte, which has come onto the BBQ scene a bit
more recently (catching up with the rest of North
Carolina), it’s all about the slow-smoked, pulled pork
shoulder. That juicy BBQ is done in either Lexington
style, with a ketchup-vinegar-spicy sauce, or Eastern
style, using a vinegar-pepper sauce (and more cuts
of the pig beyond the shoulder).
Take a trip to each city with us, to sample the best
BBQ each has to offer. No cooking is required on
your part, just a big appetite and love of the Q.
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