Why Make This
As a North Carolinian by birth, I have a clear understanding of what “barbecue” means in my home state and where it fits into the larger barbecue canon.
In Kansas City, pitmasters slather pork, chicken, and beef barbecue (though it’s the pork ribs that are most famous) with a sweet, tomato-based sauce. In Texas, they painstakingly slow-smoke brisket. In Alabama, they dip smoked chicken in a thin mayonnaise-based sauce. In North Carolina, they hickory-smoke pork shoulder or whole hogs and serve the meat with a super-tart vinegar sauce…