AUTHENTIC SOUTHERN BARBECUE!?!?
Have you eaten Southern Barbecue before???
Is the first thought that comes to mind at the mention of the word barbecue..an event?...a type of food?...or a cooking process? Did you know that it can be an Art, Hobby and Sport too?
Barbecue can mean so many things and be spelled so many different ways it is hard to know just what to think. Let's see if we can help make sense of it all with the help of the California barbecue association, from their website www.cbbqa.com
"The low 'n slow method of barbecue was developed in the Southern U.S. It requires wood (or wood charcoal) to cook meat (or fish and vegetables) at a low temperature (usually between 212º to 250º) for a long period. This method of cooking, with indirect heat and wood smoke, will produce an appearance, taste and texture in meat that is unmatched by any other cooking method."
Real Southern Barbecue is the way it is because the meat is cooked at a lower temperature and for a longer time than grilling, conventional oven baking or stove-top cooking. We call this type of cooking 'low 'n slow'.
" What is the 'correct' way to spell it? [I've seen it spelled 'barbecue', 'barbeque', Bar-b-que, Bar-B-Que, 'BBQ'. 'Q', and 'Que'. Which way is correct?]
"Darned if we know. It tastes the same to us no matter how we spell it. For this FAQ, we will try to use the spelling: 'barbecue', from Mr. Webster's big book and the abbreviation 'BBQ'.
1) not all BBQ is created equal...2) What people in the south call barbecuing, people in California call smoking (or more correctly, smokin'), and what we in California call bbq'n in the south it is refered to as "Grillin'".....3) The low and slow bbq'n with indirect heat and smoke from hard woods and charcoal produces a more flavorful, tender and more moist barbecue product than any "grill" will put out.
Now as far as barbecue being a hobby and a sport, every weekend in the southern states (texas thru the Carolinas, and south) there are avid barbecue fanatics competing in bbq competitions. BBQ Hobbiests practice for The competitions take place over night allowing the contestants to cook all night, with some entries cooking for 12-14hours or more. Then they turn in the finished products to a panel of judges during a 10 minutes timeframe. The bbq is judge typically for apperance, taste and texture/tenderness. California (as well as other western states)has established it's self on the competition map the last few years, with more and more competitions being held every year. For a current calander of up coming bbq events go to http://www.cbbqa.com/Competitions/tabid/171/Default.aspx
