Q

One of my favorite new parts of life, thanks to the road, thanks to the South, is a food, moreover a way of life. Barbeque, or "Q" as it's called, is this newfound blessing.

On the west coast, barbeque is an event - like a party, gathering, or get-together. It could also be used to describe the physical grill on which various meats are cooked over an open flame, or that act of cooking in such a fashion.

In the South, barbeque is a specific food, much like spaghetti, tacos, etc. Now while barbeque can come in several different forms, it mostly refers to a barbeque sandwich. The sandwich is constructed thusly: pit-smoked pork shoulder, marinated and basted, then pulled or chopped, topped with slaw, served on a white bun. See what I mean? It's very specific.

Now we (specifically Alex and I) have come to be somewhat of barbeque experts-in-training. We've had so many styles - each city and region has it's own distinct style. We started in Memphis, which is know for dry-rubbed baby back ribs. That's right, no sauce, but lot's of spices and flavor. They also have some good standard sandwiches, nice and saucy.

We then ventured out of bbq country (into Kentucky - which is NOT the South). We were missing our new favorite food until we got to Southern Virginia - where we found Eastern Carolina style bbq. Eastern style is vinegar based, not sauce based - no red bbq sauce. It has a lot of flavor, but a little more natural flavor, letting the pork speak for itself. We don't really like Eastern style much.

As you venture west, more and more sauce is introduced into the picture. We got to Lexington, North Carolina, the self-proclaimed barbeque capital of the world. Lexington style is much like Eastern, but with "dip." Dip is vinegar-based, but has elements of red sauce and spice. It's good, but still, we like the saucey stuff.

We are now in Charlotte, far enough west for sauce. But at this point, the sauce and the Q are still separate - coming in a bottle on the table for self-application. This is satisfactory, nonetheless, because sauce is better than no sauce. It'll only get better from here; we're heading west.