Here's What Alton Brown Really Thinks About North Carolina Barbecue

Barbecue is a quintessential American food, and many regions produce their own time-honored variation and style. Naturally, this leads to an underlying sense of competition between regions and their barbecue, with most having a preferred state or area within a state for their seasoned, smoked, and sauced meats. North Carolina is one such state divided by its barbecue in an "East versus West" battle.

East and West Carolina barbecue differs in many ways, like the east's tradition of whole-hog roasts and the west's preference for pork shoulder. And, even though vinegar-based barbecue sauce is a tell-tale sign of a Carolina barbecue in general, the east prefers a thin, peppery sauce, and the west adds a sweet flavor with things like ketchup and brown sugar.

But, if you've ever wondered where legendary food scientist, author, and television personality Alton Brown lands on the great North Carolina barbecue debate, prepare to be disappointed. Brown doesn't indulge the idea of a debate at all. He told Yes! Weekly, "I don't understand why there's a fight between them, except that people are always looking for a fight. Completely different schools, each with complete validity." Brown followed that point by sharing that, if posed with the choice to eat barbecue from just one state for the rest of his life, he would choose North Carolina. He explained that the sheer variety in the state alone makes it impossible to pick just one. "Your state has at least 13 different styles of barbecue, not just two, and they're all my preference. It's kind of like saying 'Do you want mashed potatoes or french fries?' and I'm like 'Yes, I want both, and I may even dip one into the other.'"

Barbecue is a communal cuisine often cooked in large batches, especially in eastern North Carolina. Barbecuing an entire pig began as more of a necessity than a preferred style of cooking in the region. Without modern food preservation tools like freezers and refrigeration, animals needed to be used in their entirety to risk being wasted. It's a difficult and potentially dangerous process to do properly, which is why intergenerational recipes and methods that have been honed by time are so valuable. 

Brown touched on whole hog cooking in the same interview, stating, "Whole-hog cooking needs to be protected and passed down more fervently ... I fear whole-hog is starting to decline and there are a lot of reasons for that, like time and skill."

Overall, North Carolina barbecue shares plenty of similarities from end to end of the state. You can usually count on Carolina barbecue from any area to be made using pork and slathered in a vinegar-based sauce. Perhaps it is these similarities that breed such a heated battle between the two. Let Alton Brown tell it, you really can't go wrong either way.