The War of North Carolina BBQ: Western vs. Eastern and Where You Can Eat It

Eastern North Carolina BBQ – The Original Gangsters of BBQ

As a Yankee myself, I will not lend my opinion either way. While I made it to the South as fast as I could, I don’t have roots here; thus, I have no pig in the pit. However, while this statement may offend some in the Western camp, it is based on fact. Eastern North Carolina BBQ is the original form of BBQ in not only North Carolina, but also the United States. Or, in modern day lingo, it’s the original gangster of BBQ.

While Donald Trump may disagree with me, BBQ does not have its origins in the United States. According to John Shelton Reed, co-author of Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue, there are descriptions of today’s BBQ dating back to the 1500s in the Caribbean. While the islanders weren’t slow cooking pigs in these early depictions, they were slow cooking alligators, fish, and anything else they could catch. The sauce? An acidic lemon juice with red peppers.

Lori Bee

By the time BBQ arrived on the shores of the United States in the 19^th century during the slave trade, the Spaniards had introduced the beauty of pig to the island pit-masters. Thus, the only adaption that Americans made to BBQ was the substitution of vinegar for lemon juice since lemons weren’t available outside of Florida. That tradition of vinegar laced with salt, black pepper, and red pepper still lives on today in Eastern BBQ.