North Carolina BBQ Sauce: East and West massage oils for Pork

North Carolina BBQ Sauce recipes can be divided into Eastern North Carolina BBQ Sauce and Western (or the Piedmont region.)

Both are simple to the point of being ridiculous. But simplicity often rules in cooking and the world of BBQ!

A brief history and explanation of North Carolina BBQ Sauce Recipes: if you have a very short attention span, scroll down to the recipes below...

1. As tomatoes were thought by early settlers to be poisonous (!) they are noticeably absent in the Easternmost sauces, but become apparent as settlers and BBQ moved West. Indeed Piedmont sauces feature some tomato based products.

2. Vinegar- the main act in North Carolina bbq sauce recipes- is a nataural preservative- really handy before refrigeration!- and a nice "cover-up" for, shall we say, gamier or older meat?

3. The humble pig, easy to round up and easy to turn out for foraging, is the meat of choice.

4. The meat was(is) slow smoked over native hardwood, and the resulting divine bbq, was cut up or shredded, possibly to make it easier to eat, as dental hygiene was not what it is today.

So- in a nutshell, North Carolina BBQ is purely pork based- shoulder or whole hog- shredded and served with a sharp vinegar based sauce, or as they say there, a "dip."

The beauty and genius of these sauces- more of a condiment really than what most of us know as BBQ sauce- is that their high acid amount complements the pork while at the same time cutting through the natural fatty porkiness...

Recipe #1: Classic East North Carolina Sauce:

2 Cups Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tb Red pepper flakes

2 Tb hot sauce- Texas Pete, Tabasco, Frank's Red Hot (my favorite)

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and allow flavors to develop for a few hours. Due to the high acid content, this sauce will keep 'til Jesus comes back.

Recipe #2: Western or Piedmont Style Sauce:

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup ketchup

2 TB hot sauce

1 Tb sugar

1 Tb red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix all ingredients and allow flavors to develop for a few hours.

Note: These are the classic ingredients for these sauces (mostly.) The only differences between recipes will likely lie in the proportions called for.

These are the proportions I like personally, but if you like more spice or sweet or sour- Go for it!

For pulled pork, these sauces are typically sprinkled in with the "pulled" (hand shredded) pork shoulder, with a container of sauce placed table side as a dip.

Bon Porketite

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