Uniquely Alabama: What Makes The State's Barbecue Special?

"Uniquely Alabama" is an occasional series where Patch tries to find the answers to questions about life in Alabama. Have a question about the Yellowhammer State that needs answering? Send it to michael.seale@patch.com.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — In Alabama, eating barbecue is almost like enjoying fine art, and those who prepare the meals are considered artists. Sure, barbecue is cooked and eaten all over the country, but in Alabama, we have a valid claim that we do it right.

Whether heading to your favorite barbecue joint in town or smoking the meat yourself, Alabama has its own way of preparing barbecue, and native Alabama folks will harshly defend the excellence of Alabama barbecue, just as those from Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas might defend theirs. Barbecue — an art of cooking that combines fire, smoke, wood and meat — is delicious in a variety of forms, but what does typical "Alabama barbecue" entail?

A friend of mine who moved here from North Carolina asked me a few years ago why barbecue restaurants in Alabama don't automatically put slaw on their sandwiches. When I was in Chicago several summers ago on the Fourth of July, I noticed that the barbecue sauce was sweet and thick — much different from what I was used to.

In Kansas City for a wedding about 15 years ago, a guy bragged about how much better Kansas City barbecue was compared to anywhere else in the country. It was darn good. But it wasn't Alabama. In Texas, moist brisket is the norm, which is delicious, but not what defines Alabama barbecue.

Look, I am not saying I don't like slaw on my barbecue sandwich or a molasses-based sweet sauce — I'll eat it — but that is not how I grew up eating barbecue, and it is not the typical Alabama way.

The specific region of Alabama makes a difference in how we enjoy barbecue. In Huntsville, one may find that white sauce on a smoked chicken sandwich is the way to go (Big Bob Gibson's white sauce is hard to beat). In Mobile, one may be more inclined to enjoy pulled pork shoulder with a vinegar-based red sauce (I'm partial to the Brick Pit if I'm down in Mobile). In central Alabama, we pride ourselves on our ribs, whether it's the famous Dreamland BBQ or Archibald's based in Tuscaloosa or Golden Rule in Birmingham (the best ribs, in my opinion, can be found at Rusty's in Leeds).

White barbecue sauce is an Alabama invention — I will swear to that — and those who come here from out of town and try it are dazzled by it. It is a combination of mayonnaise, vinegar, apple juice and cayenne pepper, and is now being used in barbecue restaurants nationwide.

A vinegar-based sauce is the most common approach to barbecue in Alabama, with pork the meat of choice. Typically, I would say an Alabama barbecue dinner would consist of a pulled pork sandwich with a vinegar-based sauce (white or red) with a pickle on a hamburger bun.

Seems simple enough, but there's a purism to preparing barbecue. We smoke our meat with pecan or hickory wood, although oak is acceptable. And, yes a Boston butt can be prepared in a crock pot and ribs can be cooked in an oven. And I have eaten meat prepared that way and enjoyed it. But it's not barbecue.

Is there a "wrong way" to enjoy barbecue? Of course not. That would be like saying there is a wrong way to enjoy music or a wrong way to look at a painting. But there is an Alabama way to enjoy barbecue, and then there's everyone else's.