Food Fact Friday: BBQ Part 2

Here is part two of my mini BBQ history. This is just a brief overview of the different styles. I haven't been to Kansas City yet, but the barbecue in Texas is great! I had some great Brisket there...the most tender I have ever had. Hopefully one day I can sample the famous Kansas City ribs.

Kansas City:

Henry Perry, a Tennessee native who moved to Missouri, is said to be the father of KC BBQ. .Perry served slow-cooked ribs on pages of newsprint for 25 cents a slab. Kansas City uses a wide variety of proteins, but the signature ingredient is the sauce. The meat is smoked with a dry rub, and the sauce served as a table sauce. Kansas City style sauce is thick and sweet (with significant exceptions such as Arthur Bryant's, which is significantly less sweet than others in the region) based on tomatoes and molasses. This is perhaps the most widespread of sauces, with the Kansas City recipe K. C. Masterpiece being a top-selling brands.

Kansas City is also known for its ribs. The ribs used are mostly pork, but also come in beef varieties and can come in a number of different cuts. Burnt ends, the flavorful pieces of meat cut from the ends of a smoked beef or pork brisket, are a popular dish in many Kansas City area barbecue restaurants.


Texas:

East Texas barbecue is an extension of traditional southern barbecue, similar to that found in Tennessee and Arkansas. It is primarily pork-based, slow smoked over primarily hickory wood. The sauce is tomato-based, sweet, and thick. This is also the most common urban barbecue in Texas.

Central Texas was settled by German and Czech settlers in the mid 1800s, and they brought with them European-style meat markets, which would smoke leftover cuts of pork and beef, often with high heat, using primarily native oak and pecan. Traditionally this barbecue is served without sauce, and with no sides other than saltine crackers, pickles, and onions. This style is found in the Barbecue Belt southeast of Austin.

West Texas barbecue, sometimes also called "cowboy style", uses a more direct heat method that other styles. The main wood used is mesquite, and in addition to beef, goat and mutton are also cooked.

The border between the South Texas and Mexico has always been blurry, and this area of Texas, as well as its barbecue style, are mostly influenced by Mexican tastes. The area was the birthplace of the Texas ranching tradition, and the Mexican farmhands were often partially paid for their work in less desirable cuts of meat. It is the cow's head which defines South Texas barbecue, called barbacoa. They would wrap the head in wet maguey leaves and bury it in a pit with hot coals for several hours, and then pull off the meat for barbacoa tacos.

Join the Club: The Kansas City BBQ Society (KCBS), with over 10,000 members worldwide, is the world’s largest organization of barbecue and grilling enthusiasts.