While I have yet to visit the new Porky Pine Pete’s, a weekend trip to Durham, N.C., allowed me to sample some Carolina BBQ. In that region, you’ll encounter chopped pork from the entire pig (called “Chopped BBQ”) with a side of vinegar-based sauce. I tried it at two different restaurants (the Pit in Raleigh and the Backyard BBQ Pit in Durham; both were featured on the Travel Channel’s “Man vs. Food”), and I had mixed feelings. I did like the meat itself, but I wouldn’t make the vineger-based sauces my first choice.

I guess it’s because I’m more accustomed to the Kansas City-style BBQ, which uses a tomato and molasses-based sauce. Think of any local restaurant at which you may order BBQ sauce with your food (chicken tenders, pulled pork sandwich, chicken McNuggets, etc.), and you’ll remember that it’s always a KC-style sauce.

Let’s not forget about Texas-style (mostly beef ribs and brisket and no sauce) and Memphis-style (50-50 between dry rub and wet rub) as alternatives.

Which style of BBQ is your favorite?

Tags: BBQ

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 9:00 pm and is filed under News and Observations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.