The ultimate guide to regional American barbecue

Barbecue in North Carolina is contentious, with loyalties split down the middle of the state. Eastern-style barbecue is the oldest in the country, with roots that stretch way back to the early days of US independence. Like in South Carolina, only whole hog barbecue will do in the east, but instead of mustard they use a minimalist sauce of vinegar and chilli flakes to cut through the fatty pork and crunchy crackling. Most other barbecue sauces across the USA use tomato in some form, but tomatoes weren’t readily available when barbecue started in eastern North Carolina, so they never made it as far as the sauce. There’s a simplistic beauty to eastern-style barbecue – the old ways reign supreme here, and you’ll have a hard time convincing any pitmaster otherwise.

Western NC (also known as ‘Lexington-style barbecue’) does things a bit differently – it’s almost an evolution of the original eastern-style North Carolina barbecue. Rather than smoking whole hogs, Lexington-style pitmasters cook shoulders of pork slathered with ‘red sauce’ – essentially a riff on eastern-style barbecue sauce but with tomato or tomato ketchup added. Red slaw is also a hallmark of western North Carolina – a simple cabbage coleslaw with red sauce mixed through instead of mayo. Oh and get a few ‘hush puppies’ – deep-fried cornbread balls – on the side too.

Whilst other states are fiercely defensive of their barbecue traditions, Kansas City is special for its inclusivity – it’s a melting pot of barbecue traditions from all over the Deep South. Pitmasters in Kansas City cook everything from brisket to ribs, to chicken, turkey and fish. If you had to pick one item as typical of real Kansas City barbecue though, it would be the ‘burnt ends’. These are in essence chunks of caramelised, smoked beef brisket taken from the fattier ‘point’ end of the cut – they take longer to cook because of their higher fat content, so pitmasters will remove them once the brisket is cooked and return them to the smoker, hence the name ‘burnt ends’.

If that already seems like a lot of choices to make, well, the options don’t stop there. Sides like fries, slaw and baked beans are one of the most important parts of Kansas City barbecue, and pitmasters often smoke their sides, letting the meat juices drip into them. ‘If someone goes to a Kansas City barbecue joint and doesn’t order the beans, they haven’t really experienced Kansas City barbecue,’ says Ed Levine of Serious Eats. And that’s before we get to the sauce – a thick melange of molasses and tomato sauce that gives the sweet and sour tang we often associate with barbecue. Turns out, we have a lot to be thankful for in Kansas City.

If Carolina is the home of whole hog and pulled pork shoulder barbecue, Memphis holds the crown when it comes to pork ribs. Authentic Memphis barbecue is a ‘dry rib’ – that is, pork ribs barbecued and smoked with a dry spice rub that includes salt, sugar and any combination of things like cumin, paprika, onion and garlic powders and dried herbs. ‘Wet ribs’ are becoming increasingly common now, where the ribs are brushed with a marinade during and after cooking, and lots of barbecue joints and smoke houses like to combine the two for a fuller flavour.

Memphis has its roots in dry rubs rather than sauces, so the only polarising factor here is whether you even need barbecue sauce – purists will say no, but most places will offer you the full gamut of options regardless. Pulled pork sandwiches are also a classic Tennessee barbecue staple, often served with a mustard and vinegar slaw that, like in South Carolina, has German immigrant roots.

Like Kansas City, Kentucky barbecue is pretty inclusive, and the state is better known for fried chicken than it is for smoked meats. Although there isn’t quite the same long-standing barbecue tradition as exists further south, Kentucky is famous for one thing – barbecue mutton. Centred around Owensboro in the north-west, Kentucky mutton is usually smoked over hickory and served with a famous thin, peppery Worcestershire-based sauce.

Although Kentucky barbecue is famous for mutton, it’s very much limited to the Owensboro area. Pork is far more common across the state, particularly in east Kentucky where pitmasters have taken inspiration from North Carolina barbecue, serving up hefty pulled pork rolls with tangy barbecue sauce.