Jump to content

Barbecue sauce: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m reverting incompletely fixed vandalism
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Image:Pork steaks cooking-1.jpg|thumb|The [[St. Louis-style barbecue|St. Louis barbecue style]] of preparation involves slow open grilling until done, then simmering in a pan of '''barbecue sauce''' that is placed on the grill.'']]
[[Image:Pork steaks cooking-1.jpg|thumb|The [[St. Louis-style barbecue|St. Louis barbecue style]] of preparation involves slow open grilling until done, then simmering in a pan of '''barbecue sauce''' that is placed on the grill.'']]
'''Barbecue sauce''' (also abbreviated '''BBQ sauce''') is a [[liquid]] flavoring [[sauce]] or [[condiment]] ranging from watery to quite thick. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to [[barbecue]]d foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops [[meat]] after cooking or during barbecuing, [[grilling]], or [[baking]]. Traditionally it has been a favored sauce for [[Ribs (food)|ribs]] and [[chicken]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gourmetretailer.com/gourmetretailer/magazine/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000827762 | title=Category Analysis: Condiments | accessdate=2006-11-01 | author=Michelle Moran, The Gourmet Retailer | date=2005-03-01}}</ref> On rarer occasions, it is used for dipping items like fries, as well as a replacement for tomato sauce in barbecue-style [[pizza]]s. In some barbecue circles, it is frowned upon to add any condiment, including barbecue sauce, to barbecued food,<ref>{{cite book | author=DeWitt and Gerlach | title=Barbecue Inferno: Cooking with Chile Peppers on the Grill | year=2001 | id=ISBN 1-58008-154-1|pages=24}}</ref> while others argue that barbecue sauce is central to the barbecue experience.
'''Barbecue sauce''' (also abbreviated '''BBQ sauce''') is a [[liquid]] flavoring [[sauce]] or [[condiment]] ranging from watery to quite thick. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to [[barbecue]]d foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops [[meat]] after cooking or during barbecuing, [[grilling]], or [[baking]]. Traditionally it has been a favored sauce for pork or beef [[Ribs (food)|ribs]] and [[chicken]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gourmetretailer.com/gourmetretailer/magazine/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000827762 | title=Category Analysis: Condiments | accessdate=2006-11-01 | author=Michelle Moran, The Gourmet Retailer | date=2005-03-01}}</ref> On rarer occasions, it is used for dipping items like fries, as well as a replacement for tomato sauce in barbecue-style [[pizza]]s. In some barbecue circles, it is frowned upon to add any condiment, including barbecue sauce, to barbecued food,<ref>{{cite book | author=DeWitt and Gerlach | title=Barbecue Inferno: Cooking with Chile Peppers on the Grill | year=2001 | id=ISBN 1-58008-154-1|pages=24}}</ref> while others argue that barbecue sauce is central to the barbecue experience.


Barbecue sauces may combine sour, sweet, spicy, and tangy ingredients or focus on a particular flavor alone. It sometimes carries with it a smokey flavor. The ingredients vary, but some commonplace items are [[tomato paste]], [[vinegar]], [[spice]]s, and [[sugar|sweetener]]s. These variations are often due to regional traditions and recipes.
Barbecue sauces may combine sour, sweet, spicy, and tangy ingredients or focus on a particular flavor alone. It sometimes carries with it a smokey flavor. The ingredients vary, but some commonplace items are [[tomato paste]], [[vinegar]], [[spice]]s, and [[sugar|sweetener]]s. These variations are often due to regional traditions and recipes.

Revision as of 08:45, 29 January 2008

The St. Louis barbecue style of preparation involves slow open grilling until done, then simmering in a pan of barbecue sauce that is placed on the grill.

Barbecue sauce (also abbreviated BBQ sauce) is a liquid flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to quite thick. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking. Traditionally it has been a favored sauce for pork or beef ribs and chicken.[1] On rarer occasions, it is used for dipping items like fries, as well as a replacement for tomato sauce in barbecue-style pizzas. In some barbecue circles, it is frowned upon to add any condiment, including barbecue sauce, to barbecued food,[2] while others argue that barbecue sauce is central to the barbecue experience.

Barbecue sauces may combine sour, sweet, spicy, and tangy ingredients or focus on a particular flavor alone. It sometimes carries with it a smokey flavor. The ingredients vary, but some commonplace items are tomato paste, vinegar, spices, and sweeteners. These variations are often due to regional traditions and recipes.

History

The precise origin of barbecue sauce is unclear. Some put back its history hundreds of years to the formation of the first American colonies in the 17th century[3]. References to the substance start occurring in both English and French literature over the next two hundred years. South Carolina mustard sauce, a type of barbecue sauce, can be traced to German settlers in the 18th century.[4]

Early cookbooks did not tend to include recipes for barbecue sauce. The first commercially-produced barbecue sauce was made by the Louis Maull co. in 1926, but the first nationally distributed barbecue sauce did not appear until 1948, when Heinz released a product in the United States.[5] Kraft Foods also started making cooking oils with bags of spices attached, supplying another market entrance of barbecue sauce.[6]

Many restaurants have speciality barbecue sauces.

Variations

Bottles of a tomato based barbecue sauce from the American Mid-West: Maull's

Different geographical regions have allegiances to their particular styles and variations for barbecue sauce. For example, vinegar and mustard-based barbecue sauces are popular in certain areas of the southern United States, while in Asian countries a ketchup and corn syrup-based sauce is common. Mexican salsa can also used as a base for barbecue sauces.

Australia

In Australia, barbecue sauce can be simply a blend of tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce. There are various sauces in the market from fruity to brown sauce.

United States

File:Hunts-Barbecue-Sauce.jpg
Hunt's barbecue sauce. A nationally distributed sauce brand, of standardized flavor.

The U.S. has a wide variety of differing barbecue sauce tastes:

  • Memphis - The center of Southern pork barbecue, Memphis sauces occupy the middle ground between other styles. Based on tomatoes, vinegar, brown sugar and spices, but not too thick, these blends provide moderate amounts of sweet, heat, and tang, with a lot of flavor.[7][8]
  • Kansas City – thick, reddish-brown, tomato-based with molasses[9]
  • St. Louis – generally tomato-based, thinned with vinegar, sweet and spicy; it is not as sweet and thick as Kansas City-style barbecue sauce, nor as spicy-hot and thin as Texas-style
  • North Carolina – three major types corresponding to region: Eastern (vinegar with pepper flakes), Piedmont (tomato-based with vinegar), and Western (tomato-based and thicker)
  • South Carolinamustard-based (central, Low Country regions of state), vinegar and black pepper (Pee Dee region), light or thick tomato (Upstate region)[10]
  • Alabama – vinegar and pepper base in the northern counties; tomato/ketchup base with Mediterranean influences in the Birmingham area; sharper, unsweetened tomato/vinegar blend in the western counties around Tuscaloosa; mustard-based in the Chattahoochee River valley in the eastern part of the state; a special white mayonnaise and black pepper-based sauce is used on chicken in the area around Decatur
  • Georgia – much of the state favors a ketchup base flavored with the likes of garlic, onion, black pepper, brown sugar, and occasionally bourbon; South Carolina-like mustard sauce found in areas around Savannah and Columbus
  • Arkansas – thin vinegar and tomato base, spiced with pepper and slightly sweetened by molasses
  • Texas – tomato-based with hot chiles, cumin, less sweet

Asia

Hoisin sauce, a type of Chinese style barbecue sauce, serves as a base ingredient in many other recipes for Chinese barbecue sauces.

Tandoori Chicken is an Indian dish which uses a spicy, yogurt-based barbecue sauce.

See also

References

  1. ^ Michelle Moran, The Gourmet Retailer (2005-03-01). "Category Analysis: Condiments". Retrieved 2006-11-01.
  2. ^ DeWitt and Gerlach (2001). Barbecue Inferno: Cooking with Chile Peppers on the Grill. p. 24. ISBN 1-58008-154-1.
  3. ^ Bob Garner (1996). North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored by Time. p. 160. ISBN 0-89587-152-1.
  4. ^ Lake E. High, Jr. "A Very Brief History of the Four Types of Barbeque Found In the USA" (HTML). Associated Content. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  5. ^ "A Market Evaluation of Barbecue Sauces ([[PDF]])" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-10-11. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  6. ^ Bruce Bjorkman (1996). The Great Barbecue Companion: Mops, Sops, Sauces, and Rubs. p. 112. ISBN 0-89594-806-0.
  7. ^ Memphis Style Barbecue
  8. ^ Memphis Style Barbecue Sauce
  9. ^ "Different Regional Styles of Barbeque Sauce Converge in the Midwest" (HTML 4.01). Associated Content. June 28, 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  10. ^ "Barbeque joints can be found across state" (HTML). Gwinett Daily Post. November 11,2006. Retrieved 2006-11-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)