3.2: The Geography of Barbecue (BBQ)

Local food traditions are affected by the specificities of place and geographers have done a great job exploring many foodways. Barbeque (BBQ), a favorite American dish that involves cooking meat, very slowly, over indirect heat (it’s not the same as grilling meat over an open flame) is a great example of how geography affects diet. Worldwide, there are many dozens of BBQ styles. Jamaica, Mexico, and South Africa each have well-known practices, and within the US there are a dozen or more distinct practices. BBQ was probably introduced to the Americas in the 1600s by the Spanish, who may have learned how to BBQ from Caribbean Indians.

BBQ restaurants can be found in most of the US, but it is most popular in the US South where a warm climate and poverty combined to encourage the adoption of BBQ. Before the invention of refrigeration, fresh meat had to be eaten quickly, or otherwise preserved to avoid spoiling or rancidification. BBQ offered a solution.

There are several ways to preserve meat: salting, pickling, and drying are popular methods, but the one that gained favor in the US South was smoking meat in a pit or some other container. Using the pit BBQ method, anyone who slaughtered a pig or a cow could cook the entire animal in a few hours. This style of cooking also makes some of the less desirable cuts of meat easier to eat while improving the flavor. Most importantly, smoking meat extends the length of time before it turns rancid. Because poor people often have little protein in their diet, any strategy to prevent spoilage was embraced. Southerners 100 years ago often had too much starch (carbohydrates) in their diet and too little protein.

Figure 3-4: Nashville, TN- Pork Barbeque is a the most popular type of BBQ in much of the South and Appalachian. This restaurant is on Music Row – which invites us to think of connections between music and food

Other areas of the US copied the process, but as the practice diffused, adopters were forced to alter the practice to fit local conditions (stimulus diffusion). As a result, more than a dozen recognizable BBQ styles emerged in the US alone, each with a unique combination of meat preference, cut of meat, smoking wood, and flavoring strategies. In the Carolinas alone, there are more than a half-dozen variations on the basic recipe for BBQ sauce or marinade.

Meat

The meat used in BBQ varies by region. Mostly this is because different regions have different agricultural potential. So for example, in Appalachia, the Piedmont region, and much of the piney-woods South, there is a strong preference for pork BBQ. In these heavily forested regions, Anglo settlers raised hogs for meat because it was easy to free-range hogs in nearby woodlands. Pigs will wander within a forest where they eat acorns, tree nuts and whatever else they could forage - at no cost to the farmer. Hogs only needed to be trained so they could be “called” back to the farm. Sometimes pork BBQ is served as ribs, but in the Carolinas, it is often served “off-the-bone” or “whole hog” served chopped or “pulled” into little pieces and served on a bun.

Figure 3-5: Hutto, TX - This restaurant featured beef, which is the most commonly used meat for BBQ in Texas where the climate favors cattle ranching.

Where the land is flat and grassy, like most of Texas, the Great Plains, and parts of California, grazing cattle evolved as the prevalent agricultural practice, beef became the most popular BBQ meat. In some places, beef ribs are preferred, in other regions, brisket or rumps are preferred. Californians often serve a cut called tri-tip, which is typically used to make hamburger outside the West Coast. Other regions of the US prefer chicken, turkey, or fish, depending on local availability.

Wood

The type of wood that is most locally available is another critical ingredient in differentiating American BBQ regions. Hickory, a hardwood tree common to the forests of the Eastern US is a favored wood for smoking pork BBQ in Appalachia. Oak or Pecan wood is popular in eastern Texas, but out in West Texas, they use the wood of mesquite trees. In West Texas and the other parts of the dry southwestern US, mesquite is plentiful. Most mesquite trees are shrubby, but their wood is hard, burns slowly, and has a unique flavor, making it great for BBQ. In California, Spanish/Mexican settlers invented Santa Maria-style BBQ. There, they roast tri-tip over the wood of Coast Live Oak trees. Maple and Apple trees furnish wood for smoking chicken and flavoring pork in other parts of the US, particularly in New England, where BBQ is not as popular.

Flavorings

The last, and perhaps most geographically random, element of the geography of BBQ is the flavoring technique. Many regions apply a wet sauce. The most widely known and copied sauce comes from Kansas City. Variations on the sweet, dark Kansas City BBQ sauce are available at most supermarkets in the US alongside ketchup. Many South Carolinians favor a mustard-based sauce, perhaps an innovation introduced by Germans who migrated there a century or more ago. Many East Carolinians pour a vinegar-and-hot pepper sauce on their BBQ. In the more mountainous areas of the Carolinas, they add a tomato sauce to that mixture. In Louisiana, of course, the Cajun influence means that their BBQ sauce is going to contain their special cayenne pepper flavored hot-sauce (like Tabasco brand). Cooks in Memphis, Tennessee; another city famous for its BBQ, tends not to use BBQ sauce at all. Instead, they flavor their meats with a dry rub mixture of spices, like paprika, pepper, chili powder, garlic, etc. Santa Maria-style BBQ in California also uses a simple “dry rub”. Even the side dishes vary regionally – again based on the local availability of beans, bread, and greens. For example, Santa Maria BBQ in California always features pinquitos, a type of small pink or white bean, grown in the Santa Maria Valley. Hushpuppies, a kind of deep-fried corn cakes are often served with spicy cole-slaw in parts of the Carolinas.

Figure 3-6: North Carolina - This plate features pulled pork and red coleslaw combo flavored with vinegar. It is commonly served with beans and hush puppies. Source: Wikimedia