Great American Barbecue - Match the City Quiz

Answer: Decatur, Alabama

The Alabama white sauce is iconic to Northern Alabama, although it now can be found occasionally outside of the region. It is a tangy mayonnaise based sauce that provides a change to some more well known sauce varieties. While recipes certainly vary for white sauce it generally contains mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar and pepper with other ingredients added to the taste of the chef.

Answer: Owensboro, Kentucky

Although local stories do vary on how mutton became so popular in this region, one story has it that during the Great Depression of the 1930's mutton from local sheep farms was the cheapest meat available and local churches prepared mutton barbecue to feed the hungry. I provided another clue in this question by mentioning burgoo, which is an often spicy, tomato based stew with meat that is well known in Kentucky and surrounding locales.

Answer: Santa Barbara, California

Both the Tri Tip and the Santa Maria style cooker are associated with California cookery. The tri tip is a cut derived from the beef bottom sirloin. It is typically marinated and then grilled rather than slow cooked in the style of most other barbecue.

The tri tip first came to popularity along the west coast of the United States and although it has spread somewhat throughout the U.S. it is still much more common on the west coast. Because recipes for tri tip can be executed extremely well on most home grills it has become very popular with home chefs.

Answer: Memphis, Tennessee

Several barbecue chains and independent restaurants have spread this once uniquely Memphis tradition throughout the United States. Memphis style dry ribs have a dry rub that varies between restaurants but usually does contain salt, garlic and oregano.

The wet variety is, as it's name suggests, slathered in a tomato based barbecue sauce. Which one is better is a purely personal decision (but I like them dry).

Answer: Lockhart

Although I have eaten great barbecue in Henderson and Silsbee and once had a truly memorable country fried steak in Hereford, Lockhart was the recipient of this honor. The town of Lockhart had a population of under 13,000 in the 2010 census but has 4 iconic barbecue restaurants that serve an estimated 250,000 barbecue meals per year. Beef brisket is certainly the meat of choice in Lockhart but you can find great other barbecue items as well.

Answer: Columbia, South Carolina

Mustard based barbecue sauce is occasionally known as "Carolina Gold" and is most widely known in central South Carolina around the Columbia area. Like all regional barbecue traditions, what was once just found in this area can now be found certainly throughout the South as well as ordered online.

Answer: Both of these

Both of these claim to be the originator of this iconic Southern food. Brunswick Stew varies greatly throughout the South. Many traditional recipes call for the addition of squirrel or other game meats but that is certainly not the case in restaurants where chicken, ham, smoked pork or occasionally beef (or combination thereof) would be typical.

While in some regions of the South creamed corn, lima beans and tomato would be required components of Brunswick Stew,that is certainly not universal.

The origination of Brunswick Stew is widely debated between Southern areas but its origin may not be southern at all. In her 1942 book "Cross Creek Cookery" Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings claimed that this was brought to the US. by German settlers from Braunschweig and was a favorite of the English queen Victoria.

Answer: Honolulu, Hawaii

Hawaiian barbecue is certainly a distinct regional style that is truly a culinary fusion incorporating several Asian and Polynesian food approaches with the unique ingredients available in the islands.

Answer: Greenville, North Carolina

The description of the barbecue style in the question is for Eastern North Carolina barbecue which would be native to Greenville and other cities and towns of Eastern North Carolina. Lexington, North Carolina is the home of Lexington style which is typically smoked pork shoulder with a tomato based vinegar sauce. Kansas City barbecue is famous for burnt ends. If you go to a backyard barbecue in St Louis, expect to see pork steaks on the menu.

Answer: Tompkinsville, Kentucky

This is also called Monroe County Barbecue although it is the predominant style in a five county area of Southern Kentucky and the bordering counties in Middle Tennessee. Lone Rock, Iowa is too small of a community for even one barbecue restaurant, although I have had great sliced boneless pork loin in churches and homes in the area. Short Pump, Virginia is a suburb of Richmond and several local restaurants offer either "Virginia style" or "North Carolina style" pulled pork on the menu. Bowden, Georgia boasts several great barbecue restaurants in the surrounding area but with more universal offerings than the unique Monroe county style.