24/06/2016
The
Barbecue season is most definitely upon us and the secret to all
good barbecue sauces is the quality of the cider vinegar
they are based upon.
In
American, North Carolina Cider Vinegar Sauce is
considered to be the mother of all barbeque sauces and it can be
traced back several centuries.
North Carolina
sauce used no tomato but combines cider vinegar with cayenne, black
pepper, crushed peppers, crushed chilli and salt. The meat of choice
is pork and the vinegar wash is constantly applied to the meat as
it cooks over the coals.
The
tradition of adding spices to meat that is slowly cooked over charcoal
was originally borrowed from the indigenous people of the Caribbean,
the Arawak. Their banquets were called babacots,
which became barbacoa after the Spanish invasions and finally
barbecue in English.
The arrival
of Heinz Ketchup and Worcestershire Sauce in the mid-nineteenth
century changed many of America’s traditional sauces but most
regions of the USA claim allegiance to one recipe or another.
In
Britain the original ‘Great British Rib Champions’ were
BBQWhiskyBeer. Their Mesquite-smoked Black Angus
beef rib with Texas rub & BBQ Whisky Beer sauce was named at
the Ribstock 2013 Barbecue Festival. Their secret
being that all their meat is marinated for several days in Somerset
Cider Vinegar!
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