By Tim A. Rutherford

- “Barbeque,” by Robert Earl Keen

Barbeque. Bar-b-que. BBQ.
Regardless of the spelling, – I prefer barbecue – the mere hint at the word sets mouths to watering and noses sniffing for telltale hints of delicious hickory smoke.
In our beloved South, barbecue means one thing – slow cooking pork over low heat with plenty of smoke. Blasphemers confuse barbecuing with “grilling out,” which means high, searing heat for a brief period of time – suitable for steaks and hot dogs.
Barbecuing requires patience, practice and shaman-like skills that recognize how to bring the trinity – heat, smoke and meat – together is such a way that moistness and tenderness prevail.
Southerners are devoted to their pork. Prior to the Civil War, it was estimated that Southerners ate around five pounds of pork for every one pound of beef. Prevalence helped – hogs in the form of wild or feral beasts ran wild – you don’t run across many feral herds of cattle.
And every part of the pig was eaten, including the ears, feet, and other organs. Hog slaughtering was a time for celebration, neighborhood feasts referred to as “pig-pickin’s.” These affairs were the beginnings of the traditional Southern barbecue.
Today, USDA reports indicate that Southerners eat just over 52 pounds of pork per person a year – but we now consume more beef than pork. Most of our pork consumption comes in the form of convenience cuts – like the chop or bacon – but the remainder simply must be delicious, smoky, miraculous barbecue.

In our part of the South, we usually enjoy our barbecue as a pulled pork sandwich on a bun. A sweet, tomato-based sauce is served on the side. When Georgians eat ribs, we’re “double seasoners” – a spicy dry rub infuses the ribs while smoking and a mopping of sauce is applied to form a glaze in the final stages of cooking.
We like our barbecue tender and moist. Pulling away from the bone is too tender for ribs. Perfect ribs allow a clean bite – and then final cleaning of the bone should be easy.
Each Southern region has its own particular variety of barbecue and sauce. Carolinians favor tangier vinegar based sauces. Memphis barbecue is best known for tomato- and vinegar-based sauces. South Carolina is the only state that includes all four recognized barbecue sauces, including mustard based, vinegar based, light and heavy tomato based. North Carolina diners often find their pulled pork sandwich topped with cole slaw.
Barbecue smoking is done in a pit, which calls for another stroll into the history books.
If we define barbecue as a process of cooking meat in pits then the inventors of this process are probably the Polynesians, who have been masters of slow, pit cooked pork for thousands of years. Today’s “pits” are usually highly sophisticated smokers on wheels that come with five-figure price tags and powered rotisseries.
While the etymology of the word “barbecue” is somewhat shrouded in debate, a similar word surfaced in the 17th century. On the West Indian island of Hispaniola, Arawakan Indians had a method of erecting a frame of wooden sticks over a fire in order to dry meat. In their language, they called it a barbac