The thread about cole slaw on a hot dog and the question of whether it’s ever proper to put ketchup on a hot dog brought to mind an incident that happened to me a few years ago. In a town and tavern that shall remain nameless, I went in to get a sandwich. Seeing that the barbecue beef sandwich was the daily special, I decided to order it and expected to get beef simmered in BBQ sauce on a large bun. When I received my sandwich, however, I discovered a thick slathering of mayonnaise all over it. Now, unlike some SDMB posters who refer to mayonnaise as the “jelly of the Devil”, I don’t dislike (or like) mayo for the simple reason that I’m allergic to it and can’t eat it at all. That’s why whenever I order any other type of sandwich I tell them to hold the mayo. Yet, in this case, because I’ve never heard of anyone (beyond a few ignorant teenage fast food workers) ever putting mayonnaise on a BBQ beef sandwich, I didn’t ask for it to be left off. So, I told the waitress that I couldn’t eat a sandwich with mayo and she took it back. However, next thing I know, the owner of the tavern is angrily giving me my money back and telling me that’s the way he makes his BBQ beef sandwiches and that if I don’t like it, I should take my money and leave. Since his body language indicated he was about to throttle me, that’s what I did but not before I heard him call me a “piece of shit” as I went out the door.
Now, aside from the unexpectedly nasty turn this incident took, what gave this guy the idea to put mayonnaise on a BBQ beef sandwich (and have a defensive attitude about it as well)? I once told someone from Texas about what happened to me at the tavern and he said putting mayonnaise on a BBQ beef sandwich was a hanging offense down there. So, beyond the individual preferences of a few people, is this an accepted and common practice anywhere?
For the record, the tavern was in Washington State and it’s not a regional variation. Every other BBQ joint I’ve ever patronized here in the Pacific Northwest (i.e., Washington, Oregon, and Idaho) has NEVER automatically put mayonnaise on a BBQ beef sandwich.
samclem: thanks for the link. I now have some idea where this insidious practice might have originated. Still, at least that place had the courtesy to warn people in advance on the menu. The guy at the tavern where I was didn’t provide any notice whatsoever and turned into a freakin’ fascist when you said something about it.
Trust Max on this one…Cole Slaw and bit of Mayo on a barbecue sandwich is great, if it’s from Whitt’s. This is a pulled pork barbecue sandwich, of course, although the pulled beef one is good to.
So, are people going to run away screaming when I confess to eating it with mayo and ketchup? Wait, the beef in my sandwiches isn’t barbecued, so I guess it’s not exactly the same.
Well I’m from Nashville and I will say Whitt’s BBQ is pretty decent for a chain, I however stick with their pulled pork (aka REAL BBQ ;>). To me BBQ beef means sliced slow cooked and smoked brisket, and I would never ever put mayonaise on a brisket sandwich. I just went to the Wilson Co fair and sampled several different BBQs at their BBQ cookoff… excellent.
I like mayonaise, and I still wouldn’t put it on a BBQ sandwich. I will put tomatoes, onions, cheese, and maybe hot pepper sauce on a BBQ sandwich (unless someone who knows that particular recipe advises against it), but mayonaise? That just doesn’t make sense.
After all, mayo is mostly vinegar, and there’s already plenty of vinegar in well-made barbecue sauce. So all mayo would be adding is the egg. And even degenerates who claim that, okay, yes, maybe mayonaisse is acceptable on a BBQ sandwich, would clearly see that egg is not. Q.E.D.
I think the run-in with the tavern owner proves that the man was dangerously unstable, and probably even a satanist.
The thought of mayo on barbecue makes me want to throw up. That Yankee and/or Foreign cook up there in Washington State needs to be put in the electric chair, plain and simple.
Bad barbecue joints are one of the forgotten battlefields of American culture. I went to a barbecue joint one time, this place was way out on a country road with smoke billowing and chickens walking around in the dirt parking lot etc. Everything looks right, right? The first sign of trouble upon walking in the door was the sound of Lebanese pop music coming out of the kitchen.
Now certainly we welcome all colors and creeds here in America but I would no sooner let a foreigner make my barbecue than a Frenchman would let an American make his brie. But I didn’t leave that day, I was Inclusive. I was Diversified. I stayed and ordered the half rack of ribs.
One word: bo - oh I can’t even type it, but it’s what you do with a pot of water.
It is ALWAYS appropriate. It’s that delicious melange, that amazing potpourri, that sublime mes en scene. ( grin ). You gotcher BBQ Beef, right? It’s oozey, hot and spicey. Then, you’ve gotcher Mayo, right? It’s cool, smooth, tasty.
The two compliment each other better than …uh…better than Huntley and Brinkley !!!
I don’t CARE that it’s not Kosher. I still love it to bits. It is a lovely thing.
Cartooniverse, who adores a nice Lee’s Hoagie Cheltenham now and again, WITH mayo !!!
No. Absolutely not normal. These people are deviants. There are also people who think slathering “BBQ sauce” on anything will make the final product “barbecue.” These people are also deviants. So are people who order a filet mignon well-done and slather it in A1 sauce. Blasphemers, the lot of 'em!
