AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 • COOK’S COUNTRY 11South Carolina
Barbecue Hash
This local favorite requires a leap of faith.
by Morgan BollingTHE TERM “HASH” comes from
the English word “haslet,” which
refers to the entrails (such as the heart,
liver, and lungs) and/or the head of a
hog. Don’t worry. Stay with me.
As Southern food historian Robert
Moss explains, “Hash comes out of tra-
ditions from probably as far back as the
colonial days.” When a hog was killed
in a time before refrigeration, it was
imperative to use as much of the ani-
mal as possible. Hams and shoulders
were preserved with salt and smoke,
fat was rendered into lard for cooking,
and any other cuts were pickled and
cured. Everything else got thrown into
a big cast-iron pot, seasoned heavily,
and cooked down for hours. The ined-
ible bits were skimmed off, and the rest
was served as hash.
Times have changed: Modern-day
hash features ultratender shreds of
pork butt, sometimes bolstered with
pork livers or other offal, simmered in
a tangy barbecue sauce. It falls some-
where between stew and gravy and is
served as a side to barbecue.
Many restaurants flavor their hash
with a tangy, often mustard-based
sauce that is ideal for cutting through
the richness of pork. The hash is
simmered for hours, making for meat
that’s more finely shredded than stan-
dard pulled pork. It isn’t pretty, but it
sops into rice really well.
For my version, I cut a 3-poundboneless pork butt into chunks and
seasoned it with salt, black pepper,
and cayenne. I transferred the meat
to a Dutch oven with some water and
braised it in a 300-degree oven, which
I prefer to the stovetop for its con-
trolled heat. Two hours later the pork
was fall-apart tender. I shredded it us-
ing two forks and stirred in a favorite
mustard-based barbecue sauce.
But this first batch of hash was
soupy and bland. Plus, the pork was
still in relatively large shreds, not the
fine pieces that are typical of this dish,
so I returned the pot to the heat and
simmered the hash, uncovered, until it
thickened and the flavors intensified.
This helped break down the meat, but
the hash was still missing something.
After some brainstorming and
research, I added 8 ounces of chopped
chicken livers (which are easier to find
than pork livers) to my next batch and
switched from water to chicken broth.
This hash had the deep, soul-warming
flavor I’d envisioned. And it gave a
nod to the original version (without
my having to use a pig head).
Moss told me, “[Hash] is an essen-
tial part of South Carolina barbecue.
You really can’t go to Midlands or
Lowcountry and not get hash. It’s just
part of the deal.” After my final batch,
I knew that from then on, hash would
be just part of the deal in the test
kitchen, too.- FOR THE SANDWICH: Line
rimmed baking sheet with parch-
ment paper and grease parchment.
Place dough on prepared sheet. Cover
loosely with greased plastic wrap and
let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. - Adjust oven rack to upper-middle
position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
Keeping dough on sheet, use your
hands to shape dough into rough
7-inch square (edges may be rounded;
this is OK). Brush top of dough with
oil. Bake until light golden brown,
13 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely
on sheet, about 1 hour. - FOR THE SPREAD: Meanwhile,
process tomatoes, almonds, capers,
lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper
flakes in food processor until finely
chopped, about 20 seconds, scraping
down sides of bowl as needed. Trans-
fer to bowl and stir in oil. - Slice bread in half horizontally.
Spread tomato mixture on cut sides of
bread, about ½ cup per piece (use all
of it). Layer Muenster, turkey, parsley,
and red peppers on bread bottom. Cap
with bread top and wrap sandwich
tightly in double layer of plastic. - Place Dutch oven on top of sand-
wich and let sit at room temperature
for 1 hour. (Pressed sandwich can be
refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Let
come to room temperature before
serving.) Unwrap sandwich, cut into
quarters, and serve. (Sandwich can be
kept unrefrigerated for up to 2 hours.)
CAPICOLA PICNIC SANDWICH
WITH ARTICHOKE SPREAD
Substitute provolone for Muenster,
hot capicola for turkey, and 1 thinly
sliced small fennel bulb for roasted red
peppers. For spread, substitute
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts,
drained and patted dry, for sun-dried
tomatoes; chopped jarred hot cherry
peppers for almonds; and 1 teaspoon
chopped fresh thyme for capers.HAM PICNIC SANDWICH
WITH OLIVE SPREAD
Substitute mozzarella for Muenster,
Black Forest ham for turkey, and
1 cup shredded carrots for red peppers.
For spread, substitute pitted kalamata
olives for sun-dried tomatoes and
½ cup fresh parsley leaves for almonds.SOUTH CAROLINA BARBECUE HASH
Serves 8 to 10
Instead of chopping the chicken livers
by hand, you can use a food processor;
it will take about six pulses to get them
finely chopped.3 pounds boneless pork butt roast,
trimmed and cut into 1½-inch
chunks
4 cups chicken broth
8 ounces chicken livers, trimmed
and chopped fine
1 large onion, chopped coarse
6 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon pepper
2 teaspoons table salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup yellow mustard
1⁄3 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Cooked white rice- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle
position and heat oven to 300 degrees.
Combine pork, broth, livers, onion,
scallions, garlic, pepper, salt, and cay-
enne in Dutch oven. Bring to boil over
high heat. Transfer to oven and cook,
uncovered, until fork inserted into pork
meets little resistance, 2 to 2½ hours. - Transfer pot to stovetop. Using
potato masher, mash pork until finely
shredded. Stir in mustard, vinegar,
sugar, hot sauce, and Worcestershire.
Bring to boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat to medium-low and sim-
mer until slightly thickened, about
10 minutes. Season with salt and pep-
per to taste. Serve over rice.
ON THE ROAD
Standing in his home kitchen in Columbia, South
Carolina, Garland Hudgins pulls eight varieties of
barbecue hash from his oven for my personal tasting.
He and his wife, Rebecca May, frequently stop at barbecue
joints across the Palmetto State,
even at places they’ve never heard
of, just to sample the hash. Garland
prefers a beef and liver hash that’s
heavy on the butter and light on
the liver flavor. He presents me with
an array of beef and pork versions
with varying strengths of liver flavor
and ranging from deep, sweet red
to bright, mustard-tinged yellow. He
tells me, “Hash can go in so many
different directions. I won’t say one
is better than the other; you just like
Illu some more than others.”
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