Southeast of the Midwest: Finger lickin'

I L-O-V-E barbecue. Smoke it, braise it, grill it, bake it, sauce it up. There are so many reasons I love barbecue, I wish the food pyramid would replace grains with pulled pork, that would be the best day ever. There are regional and national associations and competitions with crazy people and wet naps that smell like sweet lemons when it's all over with. And, whenever there is barbecue, beer is usually not far away.

Forget about grilled cheese or chicken fingers, I've been ordering baby back (baby back, baby back, baby back) ribs and steaks off the menu since I learned how to read. Baby back ribs are one of those foods that the last bite is just as good as the first. I'm going to pull in the reigns here because I could blog about nothing but ketchup-based barbecue sauce.

But, one of the other things I love so much is that all the meats and sides have a lot of history and love in them. Long hours over a fire pit surrounded by secret sauces and family recipes, there's nothing like it. And each style is so unique to its region and the people that have perfected it.

There are four main regional styles of barbecue in the US:

Kansas City: My favorite. Known for smokey meats and thick and sweet sauces. I hate to say it's my favorite out of bias, but... it's the best. My parents' house is a long 5 minute drive from Jack Stack, and I've celebrated many a birthday drinking their sauces. This is the kind of food you want to eat if you could have only one thing on a deserted island.

Texas: My second favorite. Known for "cowboy style" meats cooked over mesquite. The first time I ever had Texas barbecue was when my sister was a freshman at UT. She took us to Salt Lick in Austin and my life has never been the same. Their sauce is inexplicable, buttery but sweet and salty and served with these magical slices of bread.

Carolinas (5 regional styles between the two states): My third favorite. Known for pulled or chopped pork and mustard or vinegar-based sauces. The only reason it's my third favorite is because it's not what I was raised on. I love it, because it's barbecue, but I couldn't eat it as often as I could Kansas City style. Doc's is where we always return to. It's a little out of the way, but there's always a line at lunchtime. That's a good sign.

Memphis: My other third favorite. Known for barbecue sandwiches and wet (brushed with sauce) and dry (seasoned with dry rub) ribs. In college, Rhett and I went to the Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Contest and it was like an underground cult of the friendliest people in the world all organized to smoke meats in trucks converted to livestock and drink all day off of pig ice luges.

My family is the kind that when we go on vacation, after breakfast we talk about where we're going to lunch and after lunch we talk about where we're going to dinner (we also exercise regularly and eat fairly healthy during the work week). Before you think we're completely obsessed, it is important to remember that there are four stages for enjoying a happy event: anticipation, savoring, expression, and reflection. We just happen to take the first two stages very seriously.

And now, I give you a visual: