Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-06-24)

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For pitmasters and barbecue pros, sauce is the coup de grâce
on a long, slow cooking process. Sure, it highlights the quali-
ties of the meat they’ve been sweating over all day (and some-
times all night). But it’s also a powerful expression of regional
identity—whether a tomato-based Kansas City glaze, a sweet-
but-sharp mustardy elixir from central South Carolina, or a
splash of North Carolina-style vinegar to cut the richness of
whole-hog cooking.
Even within the bounds of tradition, there’s room for cre-
ativity. Barbecue lore is filled with secret, and not-so-secret,
ingredients. Some, such as the Southern sweetener sorghum,
have a long history in their region; others, like pineapple or
coconut, might make a traditionalist shudder. After an exten-
sive round of testing with brisket, Hawaiian rolls, and more
than 30 barbecue enthusiasts here at Bloomberg HQ, we’ve
selected a few favorites that will make you say, in the words
ILLUSTRATION BY JACI KESSLER LUBLINERof one of our sauce tasters, “Awww, hell yeah!”

Five bottles that will

inspire you to rethink your

regional allegiance

By Matthew Kronsberg

Be Your Own

Sauce Boss

LEWISORIGINALRED

Charleston,S.C.,wasn’tbrisket

countryuntilthearrivalof

John Lewis, a pitmaster with

Texas bona fides that include

Austin’s Franklin Barbecue

and La Barbecue. This tomato-

based sauce works beautifully

with his beef brisket, which

is available online and arrives

fully cooked, frozen, and

Cryovaced, ready for reheating.

“Very traditional, and just the

right amount of sweet” was

the consensus from our taste

testers. $8.95 for 12 oz.

THE SHACK SORGHUM

YELLOW MUSTARD Beloved

in Staunton, Va., the Shack is

known for its ambitious use of

Southern ingredients. Sorghum

syrup, with a rich, rounded,

molasseslike sweetness,

balances out the yellow mustard

in this sophisticated sauce,

which “could double as a really

good salad dressing,” according

to one of our judges. It’s equally

at home on duck breast or baby

back ribs. $15 for 16 oz.

JONES COCONUT

PINEAPPLE SAUCE

If you watched the Kansas

City-based episode of Queer

Eye where the gang transforms

DeborahandMaryJones

(“Shorty”and“Little”)and their

restaurant,JonesBar-B-Q,

you’ll know that getting their

classic sauce bottled was a

highlight of the season. The

tropically tinged version was

eyed with suspicion, but even

skeptics fell hard for it. “Could

go on everything that’s edible,”

one observed. $7 for 15 oz.

17TH STREET LITTLE KICK

If there’s a competition that Mike

Mills and his daughter Amy, of

barbecue legend 17th Street in

Murphysboro, Ill., haven’t won,

it’s probably not worth winning.

“Yes, vinegar! Definitely hits

you,” an aficionado wrote. Little

Kick expands on its Mike’s

Original sauce—savory with

ketchup, mustard, and vinegar—

with a boost of cayenne pepper.

$18 for three 16-oz. bottles

SAM JONES EAST N.C.

SWEET HEAT Another Jones—

Sam, a third-generation

pitmaster who excels at North

Carolina whole-hog barbecue—

designed this extremely thin

but zingy vinegar sauce to add

to chopped pork after cooking.

“Whoa!” was the reaction at our

test. “Spicy. Tangy. Amazing.”

$7 for 17.25 oz.

LEWISORIGINALRED D b h dM J

SUMMER FOOD SPECIAL June 24, 2019