There’s no denying the Great British Public appreciates a barbecue, we’ve all gone to the supermarket on a sunny summer’s day and found that all the burgers and baps have mysteriously sold out! Nothing beats a good grilling in the back garden with a couple of beers to wash it down with. But it has come to our attention that the business of barbecuing is a very serious one indeed especially amongst our transatlantic cousins. So, bearing in mind last week was National Barbecue Week we thought we’d find out what it means to have a barbecue: American Style.
The first thing to take note of is what we consider a barbecue is completely different to the traditional style in the United States. In the Southern States where it is most popular, meat isn’t simply cooked over an outdoor grill, it is cooked over a long period of time at low temperatures with smoke from a wood fire. This is called pit barbecue and is actually a form of cooking seen all over the world dating back to many ancient civilisations.
To get that unique barbecue flavour the type of wood in the pit is crucial. Hard woods like hickory, mesquite, oak or pecan are typically used for pork and beef because they give an extra strong smoky flavour. If you prefer a sweeter taste fruit woods like apple, cherry and pear create a milder flavour more suitable to fish or poultry. You can actually buy these quite easily online from amazon or find them in DIY stores such as Homebase and B&Q under barbecue accessories. Otherwise specialist barbecue sites like Landmann have chips in Apple wood, cherry, juniper and alder for as little as £5.99.
In America there are four styles of barbecue called Memphis, Carolinas, Kansas City and Texas. Memphis barbecue is mainly pork ribs and shoulders, slow cooked and prepared either ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ which means with a sauce or a spice rub. The Carolinas specialise in pulled pork with the East preferring the whole hog and the West using the shoulder. Kansas City use a wide variety of meat, with an accompanying thick and sweet sticky sauce made from tomato and molasses preferably served with fries. Whereas Texas is most famous for ‘cowboy style’ cooking steak over mesquite. There are loads of recipes online and sauces available in stores if you want to create the authentic taste.
Lastly you want to look for the special ‘smoke ring’ that forms around the edge of the meat. It’s the result of a chemical reaction between the muscle tissue in the meat and the carbon dioxide in the smoke and forms a pink ring you can see after slicing.
So now you know what it really means to have an American Barbecue. In the United States it’s practically considered its own food group, and is a cherished national past time. Check out some of those special wood chips, make yourself a sticky sauce and have yourself a a barbecue next time it’s a beautiful day!
