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Different Variations And Flavors Of Barbecue Sauce

By Gerald Hipps


Nice weather simply is not the same without firing up the grill for a barbecue. Whether you like to cook pork, chicken, beef, shrimp, or any other number of meats, there is no arguing that the barbecue sauce is what makes the dish. Whether it is homemade or store-bought, there are so many variations of the condiment, and everyone seems to have a favorite. Out of the hundreds of varieties, though, there seem to be a few consistent favorites.

One extremely popular variation for grilled foods is Kansas City sauce. It is thick with ingredients of tomato or ketchup, brown sugar, and molasses. This is certainly the choice sauce of the lover of sweet and savory flavors. Brush some on after the meat has been cooking over an open flame for the perfect combination of char-grilled flavor and mouth-watering, savory sauce. This is not good as a marinade, though, because all the sugar will burn during cooking, distorting the flavor.

East Carolina mop sauce seems to be another favorite and suits taste buds privy to the tangy. It has a vinegar base that makes it thinner and more like a marinade. This sauce is more appropriate for using during cooking instead of after. The two main ingredients, which are simply hot sauce and vinegar, marry well with the flavors of beef and pork because their acidity is a great for cutting the richness of the fats found in these meats.

A variation known as the Lexington Dip, like the mop sauce, starts with vinegar and hot sauce as well. However, this has more ingredients--a tomato product and sugar, like in Kansas City sauce, are added in to cut the acidity with some sweetness. Many have nicknamed this concoction "sweet n' sour" sauce because of the contrasting flavors. A popular way to serve sweet n' sour is to simply place it on the side for dipping after the dish is served.

Most traditional, perhaps, of all the favorites is Texas-style barbecue sauce. This is another option that goes great as a finishing-touch topping, and it is very versatile because it tastes great on almost any type of meat. This is a great sauce upon which one could take a homemade approach because it merely starts with a base of tomato, and then is spiced up with various seasonings, such as cumin, chili powder, and any other "secret ingredients" the chef might sneak.

Barbecue sauce comes in many different variations and it seems that everyone is partial to a particular kind. They vary from spicy to sweet and from tangy to mild, so the combinations are endless. In addition, some thinner, less sugary sauces are added to the meat during the cooking process while thicker sauces are added just before serving or served on the side. Every particular meat has a certain sauce that will best complement its flavors as well.




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