Western North Carolina (Piedmont) Pulled Pork Sauce

The defining Piedmont and Western North Carolina-style barbecue sauce, which basically takes an Eastern-style sauce and adds just enough ketchup (or ketchup-like ingredients) for a little sweetness and body, came into use after the Heinz company began mass-producing what we today know of as American-style ketchup around the turn of the 20th century. Most writers and historians credit German influence for this sauce; German immigrants were influential in the region and preferred to cook with pork shoulders over whole hogs (another defining feature of Lexington-style barbecue), and they are said to have created the sauce to mimic the sweet and sour flavor of dishes from Germany.

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Western North Carolina (Piedmont) Pulled Pork Sauce

Cooking Method: Simmering Cuisine: American Cuisine, Carolina Style Cuisine Catagory: Condiments Recipe Keys: Behrmann Meats

Difficulty: Beginner

Description

This pulled pork sauce originates from the Piedmont region of western North Carolina. Born out of a state-wide barbecue divide, this tangy, vinegar-based sauce adds a touch of tomato paste for sweetness and color.

Ingredients

Scale

1/2x 1x 2x 3x

• 1 Cup ketchup (Spicy hot type)

• 1 Cup water

• ¹⁄₄ Cup apple cider vinegar

• 1 Medium onion chopped fine

• 3 Cloves crushed garlic

• 2 Tbs. brown sugar

• 2 Tbs. molasses

• 2 Tbs. dry mustard

• 1 tsp. cayenne or one fresh cut into ringlets seeds and all.

Instructions

1. Place in a pot

   Combine all ingredients in a pot

2. Simmer

   Simmer for twenty minutes over low heat.