| #ffffff;" /> | | | | is typically a sweet and sour combination. Many |
| You're sitting in a nice little family restaurant | | | | recipes claim to be official Memphis style pulled pork |
| somewhere in the South. Voices raise just a tad | | | | specifically because they use vinegar in their sauce. |
| from across the room. You can tell something is | | | | However, just about any pulled pork sandwich that |
| being hotly debated. Is it rival teams? Politics? | | | | has homemade barbecue sauce will have vinegar as |
| Religion? No, nothing as mundane as that. We're | | | | an ingredient, regardless of the region. |
| talking about who's got the best pulled pork crockpot | | | | Brown Sugar - Both barbecue sauces and dry rubs |
| recipes in the South. | | | | may contain brown sugar which gives the sweet |
| There seems to be no end to this debate. We have | | | | flavor to the whole sweet-and-sour balance that a |
| to consider a wide variety of recipes, including | | | | pulled pork sandwich should have. A simple concoction |
| classics like Memphis style, Southern style, North | | | | of brown sugar, vinegar, and a pinch of any hot |
| Carolina style, and South Carolina style. You'll also hear | | | | sauce or spicy seasoning is often found in barbecue |
| from pulled pork aficionados in Texas, Georgia, | | | | places in Florida and Alabama. Whether this simple |
| Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, just to name a few. | | | | recipe originated in those states is something we'll |
| It seems most Southern folks claim to have the | | | | never know. I can't say I've ever seen a pulled pork |
| original, official, and the very best recipes for these | | | | sandwich seasoned like this in Memphis, but that |
| sandwiches in the South, if not the world. | | | | doesn't mean it doesn't exist there. |
| What I've found is that no one agrees on which | | | | Dry Rubs - Even though dry rubs have been around |
| pulled pork recipe officially belongs to which region. | | | | forever, and used in all regions of the country, a dry |
| There are literally hundreds if not thousands of these | | | | rub used for pulled pork sandwiches contains certain |
| recipes that can belong to any region in the South. | | | | standard ingredients. You'll basically find cayenne |
| For as many variations of sauce and dry rubs you | | | | pepper, black pepper, salt, and paprika in a dry rub |
| can find, there are that many and more variations of | | | | for pulled pork. Anything added after that is an |
| methods for cooking and serving pulled pork | | | | individual cook's unique take on this basic recipe. |
| sandwiches. | | | | Different regions of the country can lay claim to |
| I won't attempt to figure out which ingredients for | | | | using only dry rubs, never liquid barbecue sauce, but |
| sauces and dry rubs definitely belong to which region. | | | | this method is so widespread that it seems |
| Nor will I try to firmly establish which cooking method | | | | impossible to pin down the original creator. Then, of |
| belongs to which region. What I will do is lay out a | | | | course, you can use both a dry rub and barbecue |
| few common methods for cooking and serving this | | | | sauce, so it just gets more confusing. |
| popular sandwich, and suggest where these methods | | | | Condiments - Barbecue sauce as a condiment is |
| are most typically found. If a method sounds like | | | | widely regarded as a standard in every region. Even |
| your hometown original, it probably is... just like it | | | | when the pulled pork never gets a dose of barbecue |
| might be someone else's! In other words, the debate | | | | sauce mixed in with it, there is usually a bottle on the |
| lives on. Let's look at some of the ingredients and | | | | table. You'll also usually find pepper vinegar, mustard, |
| cooking methods that make a pulled pork sandwich | | | | and even a little Tabasco in most regions. What you'll |
| what it is: | | | | hopefully never find is ketchup on the table. That |
| Vinegar - You may use white vinegar, apple cider | | | | would not go over well in any region. One thing many |
| vinegar, red wine vinegar, or any of a wide variety | | | | of us believe is that adding cole slaw on top of a |
| of vinegars available. The idea in using vinegar, no | | | | pulled pork sandwich is most decidedly a Memphis |
| matter what kind, is the same. Sauce for pulled pork | | | | touch. |