By Jason FryeFor the StarNews
Barbecue is rooted in the history – and taste buds – of North Carolina.
"Went in to Alexandria to a barbecue and stayed all night" – from the diary of George Washington, May 27, 1769
If George Washington's diary entry read, "went down to North Carolina to a barbecue," I'm sure he'd have stayed the weekend. And a weekend wouldn't have been long enough. There's more than enough barbecue to keep old George busy for a fortnight (that's two weeks to you and me). With three distinct styles; a hundred schools of thought on proper barbecue methodology; and thousands of family recipes for sauce, slaw and sides, North Carolina's barbecue tradition is deep and wide.
You'll hear it said that North Carolina is the birthplace of barbecue, and if countless pitmasters, barbecue lovers, and food historians are to be believed, it's true. In the Eastern third of the state, the tradition is as old as the first permanent settlements, and as our state expanded westward toward the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, barbecue moved with it and evolved to encapsulate each region's particular tastes.
In the East, barbecue is whole hog, cooked over wood coals, then pulled or chopped and dressed with a thin sauce of vinegar, red pepper flakes and a dash of black pepper. In the Piedmont, it's Lexington-style, that is: shoulders served with the distinct Lexington Dip – a sauce that builds on the Eastern vinegar, but adds ketchup for some body and sweetness – into which you dip your 'cue. In the mountains, the Western style uses shoulders and ribs, and the sauce is sweeter, with brown sugar or molasses added to a vinegar base to make a thicker sauce more akin to what many folks consider barbecue sauce.
No matter which sauce you prefer or whether you like whole hog, shoulders, ribs or even smoked chicken, barbecue is one of those foods that we can talk about for hours. But talking is only half the fun; the other half is eating. Let this list serve as a roadmap to your North Carolina Barbecue Tour. Follow it and you'll head all across the state, eating some of the finest 'cue each region has to offer
http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20150619/tour-of-the-best-barbecue-joints-in-north-carolina
The Eastern style uses a whole hog cooked low and slow, chopped and topped with a vinegar and pepper based sauce with no ketchup to be found. Both are typically served with slaw on a soft bun. If you're from North Carolina you might have to pick your favorite but visitors are free to enjoy both styles.