Food & Drink | Styles of Barbecue :: By Cherie Rasmussen ...

To the purist, the barbecue is ?the method of cooking tougher meats very, very slowly at low temperatures with the heat source away from the food.? Roughly translated, this amounts to meat cooked at slow temperatures in the indirect heat of wood coals. To the average American, however, a barbecue is anything coked outdoors, mostly on a grill.

There is much more to the barbecue than simply taking the grill out on a summer day. In fact, if you want to know more about the American barbecue tradition, there are four distinct styles of barbecue in the country. Experts have defined the four major barbecue regions as: Carolina, Memphis, Texas, and Kansas City.

You can tell you?re at a Carolina type barbecue when there is shredded or pulled lamb in the menu accompanied by a vinegar-based barbecue sauce. The pork comes from the shoulder cuts of or hams of pig or indeed the pit-roasted ?whole hog?. Typically in a Carolina barbecue, the meat, when done, is shredded, never sliced, then sauced, and almost always served as a sandwich, along with coleslaw. In addition, in the Eastern North Carolina tradition, the meal will be complete only with a glass of iced tea and hushpuppies.

The Kansas City barbecue is not so much distinguished by the way the meat is cooked or even by the kind of meat it is, but by the sweet, sticky, tomato-based barbecue sauce that defines this particular barbecue style. Rarely used on beef dishes, the sauce is commonplace on pork and poultry, leading us to surmise that the Kansas City barbecue meats are mostly chicken and sticky smoked ribs.

The Memphis barbecue, which traditionally features classic pork ribs, is slow-cooked in the smoke of a wood fire, similar to the Carolina barbecue. Some prevalent recipes call for braising the ribs till they are tender, then heating them quickly on a grill. The specialty of this style of barbecue is that the ribs may be served ?dry? as they come out of the grill or ?wet? brushed with barbecue sauce before serving.

Finally, the Texas barbecue. This will almost always use the smoked brisket, the tough muscle that is around the cow?s chest. Barbecuing the brisket in the Texas style depends on the right rub, consisting of a mixture of salt, spices, and sugar, which is kneaded into the meat before smoking it. Other must haves include a good smoker and a long, long cooking time, perhaps even overnight.

Recent studies have suggested that there may be a cancer risk associated with eating food cooked on high temperatures. Other research indicates that eating moderate quantities of such foods is not hazardous, provided it is not charred. So while you barbecue, take care to remove visible fat that may flare up. Precooking food in the microwave to release some of the fluids also helps. Cook food in the center of the grill, moving coals to the side so that fats do not drip on them. Always cut off charred portions of the food.

So the next time you barbecue with family or friends, go traditional and try out the one style of barbecuing. It?s part of the great American tradition!

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Article Added on Sunday, August 21, 2011

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