Barbecue sauce or BBQ sauce is a liquid flavoring, ranging from watery to quite thick, that is poured onto meat while being grilled, baked, barbecued, or eaten. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods, although generally its often intense flavor is reserved for solely for barbecued meats.
Barbecue sauces may combine sour, sweet, and spicy ingredients or focus on a particular flavor alone. It sometimes carries with it a smokey flavour. The ingredients vary, but some commonplace items are tomato paste, vinegar and Worcester sauce. These variations are often due to regional traditions and recipes, history driving each to be more distinct from the next.
History
The precise origin of barbecue sauces is unclear. Early cookbooks did not tend to include recipies for them, and the first commercially-produced barbeque sauce did not appear until 1948, when Heinz released a product in the United States.[1] Some put back its history hundreds of years, back to the formation of the first American colonies in the 17th century[2]. References to the substance start occurring in both English and French literature for the next two hundred years. Barbecuing as a medium for preparing food itself is thought to have been invented by Native Americans and subsequently observed by Spanish explorers; South Carolina mustard sauce, a type of barbecue sauce, can be traced to German settlers in the 18th century. [3]
Variations
Different geographical regions have strong allegiances to their particular styles and recipes for barbeque sauce as well as strong allegiances to their variations. For example, vinegar and mustard-based barbeque sauces are popular in certain areas of the southern United States, while in Asian countries a ketchup and corn syrup-based sauce is common[4]. Hoisin sauce is also known as "Chinese barbecue sauce" and also serves as a base ingredient in many other recipes for Chinese barbecue sauces. Mexican salsa is also used as a base for barbecue sauces.
United States
Vinegar and mustard-based barbecue sauces are popular in certain areas of the southern United States. Popular U.S. varieties of barbeque sauce include:
- Kansas City – thick, red-brown, tomato, molasses[5]
- North Carolina – liquidy vinegar, pepper flakes
- South Carolina – mustard, vinegar, black pepper
- Alabama – traditionally mustard and vinegar based and seasoned with roasted or smoked chile peppers, although a white, mayonnaise based sauce is equally popular in the Northwest regions of the state
- Georgia – a tremendous variety exists within the state, but "traditional" Georgia barbecue sauce features a ketchup base flavored with garlic, onion, black pepper, brown sugar, and occasionally bourbon
- Arkansas – thin vinegar and tomato base, spiced with pepper and slightly sweetened by molasses
- Texas – tomato based with hot chiles, cumin, less sweet
Asia
In Asian countries a ketchup and corn syrup-based sauce is common[6]. Hoisin sauce is also known as "Chinese barbecue sauce" and also serves as a base ingredient in many other recipes for Chinese barbecue sauces.
See also
References
- ^ "A Market Evaluation of Barbecue Sauces ([[PDF]])" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-10-11.
{{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ Garner, Bob (1996). North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored by Time.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|chapterurl=(help) - ^ Lake E. High, Jr. "A Very Brief History of the Four Types of Barbeque Found In the USA" (HTML). Associated Content. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
- ^ "Essortment barbecue sauce recipes". Retrieved 2006-10-11.
- ^ "Different Regional Styles of Barbeque Sauce Converge in the Midwest" (HTML 4.01). Associated Content. 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
- ^ "Essortment barbecue sauce recipes". Retrieved 2006-10-11.
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See also
References
| | This condiment-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |