LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 20 Barbecue dates back hundreds of years, with cred- it given to those Caribbean, Native American, and Southern Black innovators who worked with what they had to create something truly unique. Cooking on a raised platform of sticks over green wood that kept smoke-infused flames low, this early method was known as barbacoa. Spanish explorers brought this method to the shores of North America, where it became an essential method used by Black American cooks. Southern barbecue centered around pigs, since the animals were prevalent and matured much more quickly than cattle. As pigs grew strong enough, they were allowed to free-graze in the forest, saving on feed. This freedom made the animals lean and mean, requiring cooks to use slower methods to tenderize the tough meat. Different styles of barbecue have evolved to be- come the hallmark of the cuisine of its origin. Kansas City, Carolina, Memphis, and Texas are the core play- ers. In Kansas City, whether it's pork, beef, or poultry, the meat is dry-rubbed with brown sugar and paprika, sometimes with the addition of garlic, chili powder, and salt, depending on the pitmaster's approach. The basting or mopping sauce is a concoction with a ketch- up base, but is predominantly focused on the sweet- ness of sugar and molasses. Memphis-style lifts pork up to the throne as king. The shoulder and baby-back ribs take the lead, begin- ning with a dry rub similar to Kansas City-style, but the basting sauce is vinegar- or mustard-centric. Carolina is whole hog-focused, with more attention paid to a vinegar- (or mustard-) based mopping sauce and less focused on a dry rub. Texas is all about beef. Brisket and meaty beef ribs find a home in the smoker for 18 or more hours and form that wonderful exterior "bark" or crust, and a juicy interior that defines fork tender yet is still able to hold together as a slice. The Texas rub is dry mus- tard and chili powder, while the mop sauce will likely include Worcestershire, cumin, and some type of hot sauce. So many others come onto the barbecue trail from Alabama to St. Louis and Santa Maria to Kentucky. The difference-makers include everything from mayo and cider vinegar to grilling rather than closed smoking, and even using mutton instead of the traditional pork, beef, or poultry. Could it be that an Adirondack style is next? LOW AND SLOW: BARBEQUE IN THE ADIRONDACKS by Paul Sorgule Living in the Adirondacks, we're accustomed to seeing something unusual when driving on mountain roads through its villages and towns- -deer crossing curvy roads, snapping turtles meandering without a care in the world, maybe an occasional black bear, certainly an abundance of hunters, hikers, and in the winter, ice climb- ers. But what caught my eye a few months back was something foreign to this part of the world. As I rounded the corner of Whiteface Inn Lane in Lake Placid, I saw what appeared to be two mammoth railroad tanker cars. Jet black, bolted to concrete slabs, and surrounded by stacks of split logs with billowing smoke coming out their vertical stacks, these strange-looking additions to the Olympic-region skyline were, in fact, wood-fired smokers. Rolling down the window, I immediately recognized that familiar, intoxicating aroma that has come to define one of America's most treasured foods: barbecue. BBQ: a global and national love story

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