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Never heard of pickles on a barbecue sandwich?! Then honestly there's simply no possible way you have had THAT much barbecue in your life. Growing up in Alabama, I have never heard of a sandwich NOT coming with pickles on it. I always ask for no pickles, but a BBQ sandwich is served with pickles normally. Also, I find NC barbecue to be a pretty bad version of what we make in Alabama, so I guess it's all relative, huh? By the way, whoever mentioned "mayo-based sauce", it's called "white sauce", and that actually WAS invented in Alabama, at Big Bob Gibson's. I don't eat a BBQ sandwich without it. Moe's is good, and it somewhat represents "Alabama barbecue", but there is much better barbecue to be had in AL. I just think it's laughable for you to say that NC "invented" BBQ. That's like saying Canada invented snow.
Also, for the record, mustard-based barbecue sauce is, IMO, an abomination. I find it completely horrible.
Last edited by ShipOfFools42; 03-14-2011 at 10:30 PM..
Never heard of pickles on a barbecue sandwich?! Then honestly there's simply no possible way you have had THAT much barbecue in your life. Growing up in Alabama, I have never heard of a sandwich NOT coming with pickles on it. I always ask for no pickles, but a BBQ sandwich is served with pickles normally.
Ha! I've had it in NC (of course), SC, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia, and I've never encountered pickles on a barbecue sandwich.
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Also, I find NC barbecue to be a pretty bad version of what we make in Alabama, so I guess it's all relative, huh?
Sorry, but we were doing it first. Everything else is simply an imitation. Y'all are way too infatuated with the sauce. It's all about the flavor of the meat.
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By the way, whoever mentioned "mayo-based sauce", it's called "white sauce", and that actually WAS invented in Alabama, at Big Bob Gibson's. I don't eat a BBQ sandwich without it.
Again, y'all care way too much about sauce, rather than the actual flavor of the meat. When you use that much sauce, then it's just a substitute for the flavor of meat that you've not been able to achieve.
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Moe's is good, and it somewhat represents "Alabama barbecue", but there is much better barbecue to be had in AL. I just think it's laughable for you to say that NC "invented" BBQ. That's like saying Canada invented snow.
Look it up. We did create Southern barbecue. We've been doing it longer and better than anyone else.
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Also, for the record, mustard-based barbecue sauce is, IMO, an abomination. I find it completely horrible.
I'll agree with you, there. South Carolina tends to get most things wrong.
Can't wait to read it! Do it soon, 'cause we'll be in Asheville on Tuesday!
If you check this while you're here, definitely make sure to go to 12 Bones. Just be warned that you may have to wait in line, because tourists are constantly clogging it up (the one downside of the place). And seeing how it's pouring the rain today, you might just wanna call in your order and pick it up.
Barbecue Inn is a long-time local place. It's pretty good, but not great. Little Pigs is pretty good, too.
I've not been to Ruby's, but I've heard good things. I'd probably steer you away from Luella's, though.
Josh is right about the BBQ sauce being an add on. Most true BBQ masters feel that the flavor of the meat and the smoke is all that is needed and the sauce can mask the true flavor.
As for various BBQ sauces I must admit to favoring tomato based sauces but I did develop a taste for Maurice's Piggy Park BBQ and his Carolina Gold mustard based sauce. I used to have a friend in Columbia ship me a case of it regularly but now I'm in Asheville I can buy it at Ingles. The stuff I can't stomach is the vinegar sauce that they use a lot in Eastern NC.
I've never had a pickle on a BBQ sandwich--cole slaw yes but no pickles. I do like a big dill pickle spear on the side though. And where did they come up with deep fried pickles?
I won't get into the debate over where it originated, most historians seem to agree it was invented by slaves having to cook their poor quality meat low and slow to get it tender enough to eat which would could mean anywhere in the South. However I did have some excellent pulled pork BBQ in Iowa one time--they raise a lot of hogs up there and know how to cook it.
Yes, he is correct about the sauce being an add-on. And you will find that in good, honest-to-goodness Alabama barbecue, the sauce is not overpowering like that. I grew up asking for "no sauce, no pickle" because I like to put my own sauce on, and I just don't like pickles very much. But I am shocked about the pickle thing; I would never have thought there would be people who had never heard of pickles on BBQ. That's the norm in AL instead of slaw. Well, sort of... but I don't care to explain all that. Basically Josh, you don't know everything there is to know about BBQ, and others have their own opinions which are totally valid. I love the taste of the pork, but I prefer it with white sauce. Get over it. "Y'all" didn't invent barbecue either, bud.
See, I could go on and on about this, but what's weird is that over the years, I have lost my taste for barbecue to the point that all I really want now is ribs. And let me tell ya, 12 Bones has got the ribs DOWN PAT! (Just make sure you get the dry rub, those weird sauces are, well, weird.)
Yes, he is correct about the sauce being an add-on. And you will find that in good, honest-to-goodness Alabama barbecue, the sauce is not overpowering like that. I grew up asking for "no sauce, no pickle" because I like to put my own sauce on, and I just don't like pickles very much. But I am shocked about the pickle thing; I would never have thought there would be people who had never heard of pickles on BBQ. That's the norm in AL instead of slaw. Well, sort of... but I don't care to explain all that.
Sounds like it's a regional thing, is all. Honestly, I don't care for slaw, either, haha. I'm all about the meat, itself.
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Basically Josh, you don't know everything there is to know about BBQ, and others have their own opinions which are totally valid.
Uh, pretty sure I do. And other people's opinions are wrong.
LOL, I'm just kidding, of course. I'm just imposing my NC bias onto you. :P
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I love the taste of the pork, but I prefer it with white sauce. Get over it. "Y'all" didn't invent barbecue either, bud.
I still haven't ever encountered the white sauce before, so I'll have to try it when I do. Annnd, no comment to that last sentence.
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See, I could go on and on about this, but what's weird is that over the years, I have lost my taste for barbecue to the point that all I really want now is ribs. And let me tell ya, 12 Bones has got the ribs DOWN PAT! (Just make sure you get the dry rub, those weird sauces are, well, weird.)
I love ribs, but I loooooove pulled pork. Just about anything at 12 Bones is great, though I wasn't a big fan of the pumpkin glaze on the ribs during fall.
I'm not trying to sound combative if I do. I'm just kinda straightforward about things really. So sorry if I'm coming across the wrong way. I too have pretty deeply set ideas of what good barbecue means. But I will certainly agree that the meat is the most important part. That's what so great about white sauce, it's way less overpowering to the meat than tomato based sauces (which I also like). What I have always done for sauce is to take some tomato based sauce that I make from scratch and add vinegar-based sauce from a place called Ollie's that used to be the authority in Birmingham. I don't know if they still have a physical restaurant location, but they still sell their vinegar sauce, which is the best I've ever found. It has great spice to it, and it won't totally destroy you with heartburn like some vinegar sauce. If you get the proportions right on the mixture, you can make a really awesome barbecue sauce that is just the best.
As far as white sauce, I can't recommend a brand because it is something that I make myself. Big Bob Gibson's sells their white sauce, but it's not that great. I got my recipe from my mother, and it's very simple. Just mayonnaise, some vinegar, some lemon juice, and some salt and pepper and one secret spice ingredient. The amounts of each are a family secret though. But anyone who has had my family's white sauce will attest to its quality. The beauty of it is in its simplicity, and in its ability to add to the flavor of the pork without masking it.
Now, the 12 Bones blueberry chipotle rib sauce is actually quite good, weird as it is, but to me the brown sugar dry rub is the way to go. The ribs there are VERY meaty, not much bone, and they are cooked perfectly so that the meat just falls right off the bone. Ever since I tried their ribs, I have not ordered anything else from there. The ribs just make the pulled pork irrelevant to me.
Also, one thing that's interesting is I haven't seen any mentioned of CHOPPED pork barbecue. That's how my favorite places down in AL do it, they take the meat out of the pit and put it on a cutting board and chop it up with a big ole knife. It's very loud, but very delicious when you eat it. Unfortunately, the place that used to have the best chopped pork in Birmingham has become a big chain and their quality has suffered significantly. It's called Golden Rule BBQ. If you go to the original location in Irondale, AL, it's still very good there, but still, I think the expansion has even hurt their quality a tiny bit. Every once in a while I will get a sandwich with rather dry meat on it, when that NEVER used to happen before they expanded. It's a damn shame, really.
I know it isn't NC BBQ, but if you're ever in Alabama, go to Jasper and go to the Green Top Barbecue. It's some of the best barbecue on the planet. And as far as aesthetics go, in my opinion, generally the uglier the restaurant is, the better their barbecue is going to be. That's almost a rule of thumb in my book.
When I want pulled pork, I go to Big J's Bubba Q on Sweeten Creek. They also have a place attached to the BP station by the airport.
They have pulled pork, ribs and fried chicken. The pulled pork is served with the sauce on the side, and it is great without sauce. I've had the fried chicken and it is equally good. They make it to order, so you need to either call or place the order and come back 30 minutes later. I've not had the ribs there, but I hear they are equally good.
Now that I mention that, Mrs. Mule is out tonight and I may have just figured out what I'm having for dinner.
Skylight is gross as hell and they use Texas Pete (sacrilege!)
The last proper and good eastern style restaurant, Simp's, closed down a long time ago. The only way to get proper eastern style any more is to either attend a pig pickin or make it yourself. Because the balance of sauce (more of a baste than a sauce, and not meant to be added at the table) and meat is more important than other styles, it's the most unforgiving to make, and there's way more terrible eastern bbq than there is good. Vinegar based sauces have so few ingredients because it's meant to enhance the natural flavor of the meat, not cover it up.
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But anyone who has had my family's white sauce will attest to its quality. The beauty of it is in its simplicity, and in its ability to add to the flavor of the pork without masking it.
