Georgia
Georgia-style pork is often cooked over an open pit with oak or hickory smoke. The tomato-based sauce, served on the side, has numerous variations that mix sweet, spicy, and sometimes a splash of bourbon.
Tennessee
Pulled pork is the name of the game in Memphis, although you’ll also find slow-cooked pork ribs. Memphis focuses on a dry rub, with sauce on the side. According to a former resident of Memphis, this type of barbecue is the best because the dry rub “lets the meat, the seasoning, and the smoke speak for itself.” The sauces in this region of the south are usually tomato-based, with vinegar and spice and sweetened with molasses. A traditional pulled pork sandwich is served with chopped coleslaw on a hamburger bun.
Memphis also hosts Memphis in May, a huge barbecue festival.
Alabama
Alabama has a huge number of barbecue restaurants and most of them serve pork ribs and chopped or pulled pork. Sauces in Alabama are tomato-based, spicier than those in Tennessee, and are sometimes mixed with mayonnaise for a creamy, spicy, tangy sauce.
Missouri
When people talk about Missouri barbecue they’re usually talking about Kansas City, which along with Memphis, is one of the most well known barbecue spots in the country. Here they have thick sauces that are tomato-based and sweetened with brown sugar or molasses, usually applied liberally on ribs.
Kentucky
Mutton, slow cooked sometimes over a hickory fire, is the barbecue specialty of western Kentucky. But in most parts of Kentucky, especially Owensboro, which hosts the annual International Bar-B-Q Festival in May, you’ll also find smoked pork shoulder, as well as beef and chicken. The sauce in Kentucky is tomato-based with vinegar, spice, and sweetness varying according to the cooking establishment.
Texas
In Texas, most of the barbecue uses beef, since cattle ranching is prevalent. Brisket is the cut of meat most often used, usually grilled, cut thinly, and topped with a tomato-based sauce. Barbecued ribs are also common, which have a dry rub and red sauce served on the side. Farther west, you’ll find sauces that incorporate chilies.
The truth is that in most Southern states, including Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, you’ll find barbecue, and chances are there’ll be as many intrastate variations as there are interstate ones. Pork is the mainstay, some places dry rub while others heavily sauce, and tomato levels rise and fall, making categorizing and typifying barbecue difficult. It could mean sampling them all, which, given a hearty appetite and a long summer, doesn’t sound so bad.
