Barbecue sauce (also abbreviated BBQ sauce) is a flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to very thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually topsmeat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking. Traditionally it has been a favored sauce for pork or beef ribs and chicken.[1]
It sometimes carries with it a smoky flavor. The ingredients vary, but some commonplace items are vinegar, tomato paste, liquid smoke, spices, and sweeteners. These variations are often due to regional traditions and recipes.
Although there are several distinctly different
regional styles of barbecue sauce in the US, the thick red stuff is what
most of us reach for when our spouse says "pick up some barbecue sauce,
willya?"
If you are no longer living with your
parents, you really should have a house sauce made without
preservatives, additives, stabilizers, and emulsifiers, so that when
your guests ask "what brand of sauce is that?" you can plunk a hand
labeled bottle on the table. When they beg you for the recipe, you can
then tell them "It's a family secret" and mumble the old saw that ends
in "and then I'd have to kill you."
Traditional KC style sauces are always tomato based,
and there are a lot of ingredients, but they are easy to assemble and
each contributes complexity. The best have multiple sources of sweetness
(brown sugar, molasses, honey, and onion - which gets sweet when it is
cooked); multiple sources of tartness (vinegar, lemon juice, hot sauce,
and steak sauce); multiple sources of heat (American chili powder, black
pepper, mustard, and hot sauce); and it gets layers of flavor from all
the above as well as ketchup, Worcestershire, garlic, and salt. It's not
a KC Masterpiece, but it is a KC Classic. Try it and you'll never use the bottled stuff again.
