BBQ in US

choi

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Barbecue and American Culture l  Fire in the hole; Barbecue navigates the twin perils of mass appeal and nostalgia. Economist, Dec 16, 2010.
http://www.economist.com/node/17722664?story_id=17722664

My comment:
(a) The takeaway is

"American barbecue falls into four broad geographic categories * * * [a] In North Carolina pork, either whole hog or shoulder, is seasoned minimally if at all. The sauce, applied at table, varies. In the eastern part of the state it is usually nothing more than cider vinegar, salt and red pepper flakes. In the west it may include a bit of tomato. North Carolina barbecue at its best is as austere and perfect as a bowl of properly cooked Japanese rice.

" Memphis is known for ribs and shoulder, the former often served 'dry,' with just a rub of spices, and the latter often served pulled, on a sandwich, with coleslaw as an essential element rather than an option. [c] Unsurprisingly, the ranching state of Texas prefers beef to pork. The brisket is cooked 'low and slow' and often served with nothing more than Saltine crackers or white bread, raw onions and pickles. Texas also displays strong German influences, seen in the prevalence of barbecued sausage in the region just east of Austin, as well as Mexican ones, seen in covered-pit barbacoa, traditionally made from cows’ heads.

"[d] Kansas City barbecue slathers both beef and pork in a sweet, tomato-based sauce: this style of barbecue, probably because it is easiest to do tolerably well and because people always love a sweet sauce, has become the default broad American style. If you order ribs in a chain restaurant in Buffalo or Minneapolis, say, you will probably get them doused in sweet tomato sauce. There are regional quirks throughout the country—western Kentucky prefers mutton to beef or pork, South Carolina’s sauce is mustard-based while northern Alabama’s is an abomination based on mayonnaise, and Chicagoans display a fondness for rib tips (unwieldy, delicious bits of meat, bone and cartilage). But those are the four main categories.

(b) barbacoa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbacoa
(originated in the Caribbean with the Taíno people, from which the term "barbecue" derives; traditionally, in a hole dug in the ground covered with maguey leaves)

(c) Regarding covered-pit barbacoa.
(i) pit barbecue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_barbecue
(a method and constructed item for barbecue cooking meat and root vegetables buried below the surface of the earth)
(ii) George Campbell, Deep Pit Barbeque -- Minnesota Style. O So Minnesota!, undated.
http://www.osomin.com/Eating.htm

(iii) Regarding "a hole dug in the ground covered with maguey leaves." See (b) above.

* Perry P Perkins, Traditional Mexican Barbacoa. Aug. 13, 2010.
http://burninlovebbq.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/traditional-mexican-barbacoa/
(photo No. 2)

* Adam Wiseman, Food Tour Patricia Quitana, Hidalgo. Undated.
http://adamwiseman.photoshelter.com/image/I0000jMPoeHn68ro

* "Tales of LA Addict," Baja Food and Wine Culinary Tour - Day 3: Tijuana. Barbacoa “Ermita”: Lamb barbacoa cooked in a pit overnight wrapped in maguey spines. July 18, 2009.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/3756386054/

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