The mystery begins with the name. Some think it may come from the French in Louisiana: "barbe a queue" translated as "from whiskers to tail," which is neat description of a whole roasted beast. (And seconded by the Oxford English Dictionary, which credits the origin of the word to French-speaking Haiti). Others feel that the Spanish "barbacoa" is more likely. Yet others look to early advertisements for bar, beer, and pool establishments--bar-beer-cue. Some name a Texas ranch, with the brand --BQ on their cattle, legendary for their hospitality. Who knows?

Throughout the Southeast, pork is the favored meat. This preference likely goes back to the colonial period, when pigs were let loose to grow fat on apples, nuts, and then captured and eaten later, saving the farmer effort and expense in sheltering and feeding the livestock.

Texas is known for its beef barbecue, and method of dry-rubbing the meat prior to smoking it. Beef ribs are the favorite dish, with a hot and sweet sauces served alongside, combining the tastes of the Southwest and Southeast. The Southwest goes along with Texas in the theory of the spicy dry rub, without a thought to sauce.

Mid western style barbecue is much like the kind found in the Southeast, and was brought by the migration of African-Americans to the area, along with the blues. Sauces are heavy and sweet, livened up by generous application of pepper and are the focus of the dish.

One word of advice, eat at barbecue joints, and BBQ shacks, but don't venture into the BarBQ places--they don't know what they're serving, and are best left to themselves while they figure it out.

There are generally considered to be four types of barbeque in our country. Those four, in order of historical emergence, are Vinegar & Pepper, Mustard, Light Tomato, and Heavy Tomato. While there is always disagreement on the varieties of preparation, such as whether one should use a dry rub or a wet rub and various other culinary arguments, all of the many sauces used in America generally will fall into one of those four basic groups.

The "original" barbeque sauce, dating back hundreds of years is Vinegar and Pepper, the first and simplest of the four. It is found on the coastal plains of both North and South Carolina and to a slight degree in Virginia and Georgia.

The second of the four sauces is the one that is distinct to the South and the one that people most often think of as South Carolina style - Mustard Sauce. That sauce is the product of the large German heritage found in South Carolina.

The third type of sauce found in the South, in terms of the evolution of sauces, is Light Tomato sauce. This sauce is little more than Vinegar and Pepper with tomato ketchup added. This occurred after tomato ketchup became a readily available condiment around 1900.

The fourth sauce in the South and, for that matter, the rest of the nation, is Heavy Tomato sauce. This sauce has evolved only recently, that is, in the last sixty or so years, and it's the last of the four major types. It has spread rapidly over the majority of the nation due to modern transportation, and insatiable “sweet tooth” of the modern America.