It’s not that Texas doesn’t do pork; but rather, that it does beef. BBQ, like espresso, is a product of a specific process with specific, indispensable ingredients. Beef isn’t one of them. And if you don’t believe it, then by all means let me suggest the superiority of our BBQ salmon.
What’s a Connecticut boy doing in Holly Hill? I’m sorry Grimm, but even though I grew up in Charleston (around 50 miles from said Holly Hill), I never fully embraced the mustard sauce. I’d eat it, and might even let a smile creep to my face, but the smile would be because it reminded me of something far better. I’m thinking this is like going to graduate school in the Ivy League and watching a football game. Yeah, its football so let’s watch it, but dammit, these pansies can’t play like they do in the SEC.
Dry Rub on a Tri-Tip is Sordik.
You just can’t beat it.
I don’t understand the question. BBQ is smoked pork shoulder. What’s all this talk about sauce? BBQ needs no sauce.
This man, his state of abode notwithstanding, is correctemundo.
Sauce is to cover up inferior product.
I’m partial to eastern Carolina, but refuse to vote for “Carolinas” because it captures not only western NC but also SC’s mustard based BBQ. If not pulled pork, I have to go with Memphis ribs.
Andy Nelson’s in Baltimore (ok, Cockeysville) is the shiznit, too. Proclaimed to be Alabama style, but it’s not really any one style. They do Texas brisket, Memphis ribs, and pulled pork, beef, and chicken. And very well.
And what’s wrong with sauce? I can do with or without, but sauce almost always has a place in cuisine for me, especially BBQ.
I was on a trip through western Kentucky, around the Owensboro area and tried the BBQ mutton and pork. Hickory smoked,savory, and incredible! Beats Memphis and the Carolinas by a long stretch. Wish I could find bbq mutton like that elsewhere!
I was wondering about that. Who’s got a great whole hog barbecue?
Wow. Clearly you know nothing about BBQ. Check us out some time. Unless you’re really as provincial as this post suggests.
Scott, I admire your enthusiasm, and since you’re relatively new to NC I’ll cut you some slack. But Lexington-style BBQ is neither whole hog nor Eastern. It’s (1) all shoulders, and (2) there’s tomato in the sauce. Both are anathema to the Eastern NC style. Lexington is synonymous with Western.
Ha, well i do stand corrected on that…I went to this festival a month after moving here…
http://www.beerandbourbon.com/north-carolina/show-info (going again in a few weeks!)
…and the presenter brought a hog he had been working on all night and it was awesome! (I have pics I was going to post but it seems we can no longer upload from our computers to this site).
The gentleman speaking mentioned Lexington BBQ a few times, so I made the assumption they did things the same as he. My bad.
But on the sauce…not sure what the rules are on calling it vinegar sauce or tomato sauce…but I have a bottle of their sauce in my fridge (picked up on our visit), and the ingredients say: vinegar, spices, ketchup, sugar, salt, and xanthan gum. It is quite tangy and runny, and the tomato flavor is very light. Does it become Western because there is a some ketchup in it?
Anyway, I like sauce with a lot of vinegar in it. Quite good.
Holly Hill, huh? Might have to stop on my way to Charleston next time.
Oh, just remembered that Maurice’s in Columbia, SC makes a heck of a brisket. Too bad it is in that dump of a town. 
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Just make sure you are passing through on a Friday or Saturday - the only days they are open.
What you describe is the archetypical Lexington sauce: tangy, relatively thin, not too sweet, mostly vinegar and ketchup. Lexington, as you know, is in the middle of the state. As a general rule, the farther west you travel the thicker and sweeter the sauce becomes.
It definitely becomes non-Eastern. If it has any tomato of any kind, it’s not Eastern.
As Dennis Rogers, food writer for the Raleigh News & Observer once wrote: “People who would put ketchup in the sauce they feed to innocent children are capable of most anything.”
Excellent tips, thanks for sharing! So for my tastes it is “anything East of West” - because thicker and sweeter are not my preferences.
Scott,
If you find yourself in the Eastern part of the state, anywhere within striking distance of Greenville, go here, without fail: http://hkentcraig.com/BBQ38.html
Thank me later.
Bob
As much as I love most of the styles mentioned (except for mustard based sauces - just wrong ![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
), the best BBQ I’ve had has been in Mississippi. Especially Leatha’s in Hattiesburg. But I also need to give a special shout out to LC’s in Kansas City - best burnt ends anywhere ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
Beef Brisket: Texas
Pork Ribs: Memphis
Pulled Pork Shoulder: Memphis
Nothing else matters - I don’t know what the heck you guys are arguing about.
To whoever mentioned Salmon – what? Get the hell out of this thread.
And Cali Tri-tip? Please, that’s grilling – IT’S NOT BBQ!
Pulled Pork could be a whole new thread.