ular in the upper middle and upper coastal plain (Pee Dee) regions of South Carolina.
Finally, the fourth sauce found in South Carolina and, for that matter, the rest of the nation, is heavy tomato sauce. This comparatively new sauce, which evolved only in the last 60 years or so, has spread rapidly over the majority of the nation thanks to mod- ern transportation, clever marketing and America’s insatiable sweet tooth.
beque family is the Brown family, own- ers of Mamma Brown’s BBQ in Mount Pleasant, SC.
The second of the four sauces, and the one distinctive to South Carolina, is mustard sauce, a product of the state’s significant German heritage.
Starting in 1735 and continuing into the 1750s, the British colony of South Carolina encouraged, recruited and even paid ocean passage for thou- sands of German families to come to South Carolina. They were hard work- ing, sturdy and resourceful people who embraced an intensive family farm style of agriculture, as opposed to the plantation system favored by English settlers. In addition to their European style of farming and the Lutheran Church, these German set- tlers brought mustard with them.
After 260 years, German-influenced mustard sauce is still abundant, as
72 January February 2014
evidenced by the names of the fami- lies who sell mustard-based sauces and barbeque. Shealy, Hite, Sweatman, Sikes, Price, Lever, Meyer, Kiser and Zeigler are just a few exam- ples of German names that are legion in South Carolina’s barbeque busi- ness.
The third type of sauce found in South Carolina is light tomato sauce. This sauce, little more than vinegar and pepper with tomato ketchup added, was introduced around 1900 when ketchup became a readily available condiment. It was simple to take the tried-and-true vinegar and pepper and add some ketchup, which brought a little sweetness and other spices to the mix.
Light tomato sauce is most famous in North Carolina, particularly in the Piedmont region where the city of Lexington is acknowledged as the state’s barbeque center. It also is pop-
Heavy tomato sauce, popularized by Kraft Foods, is now found on every store shelf, in large part due to the miracle of 20th century motorized transportation. Heavy tomato and its thick, sweet sauce cousins represent the type of sauce that most Americans think of as barbeque sauce.
As the popularity of barbeque spread from the south to the rest of the coun- try, more and more Americans wanted to try it. Without any real understand- ing of the preparation of “true” south- ern barbeque, they were easily sold on the idea that the barbeque sauce they had seen on TV and at the local supermarket was the real deal. And while a heavy tomato sauce is a deli- cious and legitimate type of sauce, it is almost always used by the average American incorrectly - slathered over various meats that have been grilled over high heat.
Those who live far away from South Carolina may not understand the local, historic connection to the earliest bar- beque. In fact, many actually have been misled into thinking “real” bar- beque is cooking on the grill and applying store-bought sauce. As pres- ident of the South Carolina Barbeque
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