What’s wrong with mustard? Mayo is a heresy, but mustard? Mustard and smoked porked sausages have a long history, so I don’t see why it should be considered heretical. The flavors work exceptionally well together.
Just seems…wrong to me. I like mustard, and I slather it all over ham sandwiches and put it on sausages, but put on pulled pork and the like makes me feel all oogy.
“Tomato or ketchup based barbecue sauces rule most parts of the country. But in the Southern part of North Carolina (and in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida), barbecue simply isn’t barbecue unless it’s served with a bright yellow made from mustard, honey and vinegar. If you haven’t grown up with such a sauce, the very notion may seem revolting. But even if you come from tomato sauce country, mustard barbecue sauce rapidly becomes addictive.”
-Raichlen, Steven, The Barbecue Bible.
I’m in Houston ,or thereabouts, and while brisket is king There are great pork and chicken BBQ to be had. BBQ chicken is very common in backyard outings, but pork is less common. I love them all, but far and away my personal favorite is Beef. But I’m biased toward red meat to begin with, so it should’t be a suprise there.
My favorite is slow cooked, smoked, trimmed brisket. Tender enough to fall apart in your mouth, tough enough to be able to be cut by a knife, and juicy all the way through with a nice smoke-ring about 1/2" all the way around. Even cold, this brisket will not last very long. This masterpeice is the very definition of succulent.
Unfortunately, like so many things, you have trouble finding anyone who sells something near this quality. There are only a couple of people I know who can make it so well.
Pardon my hyperbole. Raichlen mentions smoked beef brisket as being the primary barbecue in Texas. I had brisket at the Corky’s here in Little Rock, a franchise from Memphis, dry rub, and it was good, but Texas brisket sounds better.
Sims here does a form of Carolina, and The Shack, around in various incarnations since the depression did a wonderful tomato and pepper, but there was an incident with rats dragging a rack of ribs across the floor and the health department.
I love all the types of BBQ I’ve tried, and I’ve tried most of 'em, although I’ve not tried the white sauce.
My favorite is the home team: baby back ribs with sticky sweet red molassesey Chicago style sauce, with just a hint of spice. Low and slow and sticky and sweet and spicy…mmmmm…sexy ribs!
Texas BBQ is mainly beef. Not exclusively. The hot links in Elgin are to die for, and they are pure pork. Kreuz Market has BBQ ham, pork chops, spare ribs, and the like.
Texans have also been known to BBQ the occasional armadillo.
I did cheat and have a pork rib at Sim’s. It paled in comparison to the beef ribs I grill at home. I was quite surprised. These guys have a pit for crying out loud. Their pulled beef dinner is out standing. Their “sandwich” is slaw/beans/potato salad/fries and a plateful of pulled beef in the kinda sort Carolina sauce with two pieces of white bread to soak up the sauce.
I don’t know how Georgia has gotten this reputation for mustard-based sauces. I’ve lived here my whole life and never have I encountered mustard sauce. The only time I’ve ever seen it is in SC.
I second the white sauce, but only for chicken. Otherwise, it’s pulled pork with a not-too-spicy vinegar-based sauce.