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Thursday 19 September 2013

BBQ In Detroit Uniquely Different

By Dawn Williams


The United States is chocked full of delicious flavors and unique regional recipes. These wonderful tastes are largely based on the local area's produce and livestock, as well as the predominant ethnic and cultural influences. BBQ in Detroit is based on a mixture of several of the most popular styles of the Southern states.

This type of cooking is popular throughout the country and there are dozens of variations that result from individuals putting their own personal twist on things. The recipes are as distinctive as the chefs who create them and some are as tightly guarded as national secrets. While there is a vast variation in detail, all can find their basis in one or more of the four basic regional styles.

In Memphis, pork is the meat of choice, primarily the butt, ribs and shoulders, that are cooked over Hickory, Oak, Pecan, Apple or Cherry wood. This style features a dry style, which is where the meat is rubbed down with seasonings and then placed in the smoker, and a wet, which is where the cuts are slathered with a marinade throughout and after the cooking. Their sauce of choice is a tomato and vinegar base that is both sweet and spicy.

In Texas, it is all about the beef being slowly smoked over Oak. They prefer their roasts, brisket and ribs naked, meaning cooked with a dry rub that has a savory smoky taste with their sauces served on the side. Their dips are both spicy and tangy, being tomato based, thinned with either vinegar or Worcestershire and containing very little sweetness when compared to the other styles.

Kansas City is the most versatile style, using turkey, chicken, pork, beef and mutton with equal enthusiasm. The sauces in this region are tomato based but have a thick consistency with a tangy sweet taste that comes from adding Molasses to the recipe along with other spices. They like the meat cooked in a pit, slowly, while being regularly coated in generous layers of savory rubs and smothered in delicious marinades.

Perhaps the most distinctive flavors of southern barbecue culture are found in The Carolina regions. Because the people here are big on secret recipes, they have sauce based on three different staples, but the meat of choice for the whole area is most definitely pork that has been slow smoked over Oak or Hickory. Cooking an entire pig in the pit is common here and also where the term "going whole hog" was originated.

The Western region follows a tomato staple, while those in the East are more partial to vinegar. These sauces have so much variety because family recipes are rampant in this zone with so many having secret blends containing cayenne, red and black pepper, salt, onion powder, nutmeg, garlic, other spices, brown sugar, molasses and a dash of whiskey. The more Southern areas tend to lean more towards a base of mustard, an homage to their German ancestry.

The BBQ in Detroit is most heavily influenced by the Kansas City style though it also has a bit of Memphis, Texas and The Carolinas mixed in as well. This eclectic combination results in a rather unique taste experience. In this area of Michigan, one is likely to find any flavor barbecue they could desire.




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