According to the Wikipedia entry on barbecue, there are dozens of regional styles of grilling, smoking, rubbing and saucing (or not saucing) beef, pork and so on. What the article doesn’t dwell on, though, are the fierce allegiances that each part of the U.S. feels for its particular ‘cue. In North Carolina alone, whether you prefer ribs slathered in a sauce with a vinegar base or a ketchup base is almost enough to start (another) war with your neighbors.
Arguably (and please – don’t all attack me at once!), the St. Louis-style barbecue comes with a mustard-based sauce.
“Blasphemy!” I can hear you screaming through the Inter-tubes.
Well, fierce devotee of the smoker, consider this: Bandana’s Bar-B-Q just opened its 30th rib joint.
The St. Louis-based empire of Midwestern barbecue restaurants actually makes sure that each table has no less than six sauces, representing a bunch of regional preferences. But the one called Original (a recipe that hails from Florida, apparently), a tangy mustard-based sauce, has been known to dominate. So, St. Louis’ predilection for sweet and smoky sauces simply ain’t the whole story.
Bandana’s new Creve Coeur location, at 10923 Olive Blvd., is not only the 30th in the chain but also the first to offer a full-service bar. In the back, three large smokers operate in repertory, so that at least one of them is slow-smoking meat at every hour of the day.
Y’all can commence to fightin’ now, if you must.
– Byron Kerman
This article appears in Mar 1-31, 2010.