BBQ Sauces

Barbecue sauce (also abbreviated BBQ sauce) is a liquid flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to quite thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. more...

While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking. Traditionally it has been a favored sauce for pork or beef ribs and chicken. Less often, it is used for dipping items like fries, as well as a replacement for tomato sauce in barbecue-style pizzas. In some barbecue circles, it is frowned upon to add any condiment, including barbecue sauce, to barbecued food, while others argue that barbecue sauce is central to the barbecue experience.

Barbecue sauces may combine sour, sweet, spicy, and tangy ingredients or focus on a particular flavor alone. It sometimes carries with it a smokey flavor. The ingredients vary, but some commonplace items are tomato paste, vinegar, spices, and sweeteners. These variations are often due to regional traditions and recipes.

History

The precise origin of barbecue sauce is unclear. Some put back its history hundreds of years to the formation of the first American colonies in the 17th century. References to the substance start occurring in both English and French literature over the next two hundred years. South Carolina mustard sauce, a type of barbecue sauce, can be traced to German settlers in the 18th century.

Early cookbooks did not tend to include recipes for barbecue sauce. The first commercially-produced barbecue sauce was made by the Louis Maull co. in 1926, but the first nationally distributed barbecue sauce did not appear until 1948, when Heinz released a product in the United States. Kraft Foods also started making cooking oils with bags of spices attached, supplying another market entrance of barbecue sauce.

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