Food Wars: Barbecue

I watched a great show over the weekend on The Learning Channel called "Food Wars: Barbecue". The hour long show focused on the different types of barbecue from the 4 major BBQ regions: North Carolina, Memphis, Texas, and Kansas City. Here is a brief recap of each region (according to the show):

North Carolina
As we know already from our very own Jo-Be-Wan, North Carolina BBQ is all about the pork. The only debate in town is how to make it. Some restaurants cook the whole pig and then chop all the cuts together whereas others will only use the shoulder for their chopped pork.

Memphis
In Memphis it's all about the ribs. And their main claim to fame is their dry rub ribs. No need to cover the ribs with sauce there since the smoke flavor is all you need.

Texas
There's only kind type of BBQ in Texas and that's brisket. Whether it's sliced or chopped on sandwhiches, brisket is the boss in the Lone Star State.

Kansas City
Kansas City was described as mix of all of the above regions but with one difference...sauce is king in K.C. K.C. Masterpiece originated in Kansas City and has one of the most popular restaraunts in the region.

So which region has the best BBQ? At the end of the show they had 14 "cowboys" take a blind taste test. They sat down and tried food from each region but were not told which food was from which region. They then gave the region a score from 1 to 5 (5 being the best) with the best possible score being 70 points. Here's how it turned out (or at least the best I can remember):

Memphis - 40 points
Texas - 26 points
Kansas City - 26 points
North Carolina - 15 points (even got a few makeshift 0 scorecards from the cowboys)

Sorry Jo-Be-Wan. I guess some people just cant appreciate vinegar soaked pork!

I can't find anything online about the show but if you happen to come across it it is worth a watch.