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I wouldn't say that (comparing Eastern NC and Lexington style BBQ).
Lexington Style BBQ is sweet and tomato based with a ketchupy flavor.
Eatern NC BBQ is spicy and tart with a vinegar base.
That equals a pretty big difference in the flavor.
I disagree. They are both vinegar based (i.e. vinegar is the primary ingredient), Lexington style has a relatively small amount of ketchup. Its NOT tomato based. I just looked up a recipe; it calls for 1 and 1/2 of vinegar and 1/2 cup ketchup, plus 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. Plus, ketchup already has vinegar in it.
Craig Claiborne, the Missiissippi born food critic for the the New York Times described the difference between the two as "slight and subtle...vinegar is the key factor in both of them."
^^ Taste buds may differ and I'm sure Mr. Claiborne has impressive credentials, but the difference in flavors is pretty significant to me. The spiciness/peppery flavor of Eastern NC BBQ is more noticeable and so is the vinegary taste to my palate, even if there is vinegar in Lexington style BBQ.
Also, to the stragglers reading this thread of the first time, I would recommend trying Lexington style BBQ for the first time during an occasion other than the BBQ festival. Come to the festival for the people watching, music, craft booths, etc., but my experience with the actual BBQ fell short of what you would get at a typical Lexington BBQ restaurant outside of the event: a sandwich with an inflated price, that was lukewarm in temperature, sloppily presented due to having to make them so quickly to keep the line moving, and for some reason just not as tasty as you'd get from one of the area BBQ restaurants on a regular day.
^^ Taste buds may differ and I'm sure Mr. Claiborne has impressive credentials, but the difference in flavors is pretty significant to me. The spiciness/peppery flavor of Eastern NC BBQ is more noticeable and so is the vinegary taste to my palate, even if there is vinegar in Lexington style BBQ.
Yeah, I just can't taste a huge difference. The ketchup adds a bit of a umami flavor that I like, but I'm happy with either style, as long as the pork is cooked over wood or charcoal. Thats much more important to me than the type of sauce.
And Lexington style has the pepper ingredients of eastern style; basically Lexington style is just eastern with a bit of ketchup and touch of brown sugar added.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jowel
Also, to the stragglers reading this thread of the first time, I would recommend trying Lexington style BBQ for the first time during an occasion other than the BBQ festival. Come to the festival for the people watching, music, craft booths, etc., but my experience with the actual BBQ fell short of what you would get at a typical Lexington BBQ restaurant outside of the event: a sandwich with an inflated price, that was lukewarm in temperature, sloppily presented due to having to make them so quickly to keep the line moving, and for some reason just not as tasty as you'd get from one of the area BBQ restaurants on a regular day.
Very true. In order to serve the huge crowds that attend the festival, most of the bbq is cooked in advance. Its not as good as what you get day in and day out at the local restaurants.
The east/west divide in NC bbq is exacerbated by the use of the phrase “tomato based,” or even just the word “tomato.” It’s a shorthand people steeped in NC ‘cue get, but the idea of ketchup based sauce conjures images of sticky KC style sauce or some other thick sauce of the Heinz/Sweet Baby Ray’s variety. (Which, for the record, I’m not knocking. Love it on chicken.)
And that’s not what Lexington style sauce is. It has a touch of ketchup sweetness, but if you were to set up a continuum with ENC vinegar sauce on one end and Bullseye or some other thick ketchup sauce on the other end, Lexington style sauce would be much closer to the vinegar end of the spectrum than the ketchup end.
Folks not familiar with the distinction regularly confuse the two.
The east/west divide in NC bbq is exacerbated by the use of the phrase “tomato based,” or even just the word “tomato.” It’s a shorthand people steeped in NC ‘cue get, but the idea of ketchup based sauce conjures images of sticky KC style sauce or some other thick sauce of the Heinz/Sweet Baby Ray’s variety. (Which, for the record, I’m not knocking. Love it on chicken.)
And that’s not what Lexington style sauce is. It has a touch of ketchup sweetness, but if you were to set up a continuum with ENC vinegar sauce on one end and Bullseye or some other thick ketchup sauce on the other end, Lexington style sauce would be much closer to the vinegar end of the spectrum than the ketchup end.
Folks not familiar with the distinction regularly confuse the two.
True, and thats why "tomato based" should never be applied to Lexington style sauce. Its vinegar based.
Most people unfamiliar with the difference between the two styles don't even make a distinction.
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