Most people know that us Texan's love our BBQ. I BBQ for my family several times a week and never get any complaints!
Barbecuing was first introduced in Europe by the native tribes of North & South America. No one knows for sure where BBQ sauce originated but there is evidence that Christopher Columbus found a sauce for cooking Alpaca, (small llama), in Hispanola around the 15th century.
In the U.S. , BBQ sauce originated in South Carolina. There were many Germans in South Carolina and they were the ones who introduced mustard. German settlers opened mustard factories and sold their mustard to the public. In the 1900's South Carolinians started using light tomato, vinegar, pepper and ketchup along with other various spices to create their first BBQ sauce which has only grown in popularity.
Having the history of being known as the originator of preparing the first BBQ sauce goes to South Carolina.
The first BBQ sauce to be produced commercially was made by Louis Maull Co. in 1923 but the first to distribute worldwide was Heinz in 1951. Today there are hundreds of brands and types to choose from today.
In reality you can start with ketchup, mix it with just about anything else and call it BBQ sauce!
Being a Texan, I've tried nearly all of them and my personal favorite is one I recently, accidentally discovered named, " C.W.'s Sweet Sauce". It's actually manufactured in Dallas, Texas and without question the best I've ever had. It's exactly what the name say's...Sweet & Spicey. I'm not sure if it's in the grocery stores or not but I stumbled across it at a place in Arlington, Texas called County Fair Foods. The owner of the small business told me C.W.'s Sweet & Spicey was his personal favorite. and after trying it, I have to agree. They also carried a lot of unique sauces and various food products I've never seen or even heard of before.
If you're a pioneer and like to experiment here are a few sources for various BBQ sauce recipes.
www.foodnetwork.com
www.allrecipes.com
www.southernliving.com
www.bonappetite.com
www.seriouseaters.com
www.epicurious.com
www.kingshawiian.com
Happy Barbecuing from Texas :)
