BBQ Recipes: South Carolina Finishing Sauce

Up here in Yankee Territory where we don't know chit about barbecue we like our barbeque meat sweet and swimming in sauce. To many of us, eating barbecue meat without sauce is simply not done.

But in the South, where barbeque is as important as religion, the sauce is secondary to the meat. It some areas they eschew sauce altogether. Heathens.

But in South Carolina, where pork is king, barbeque sauce is a thin, mustard/vinegar concoction that works miracles on pork. It's put on at the table to finish the meat. Here's a couple of recipes from the Qman of the BBQ-Brethren for South Carolina finishing sauce.

Basic South Carolina Sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup yellow mustard
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Crystal hot sauce-or your favorite
• Salt and pepper to your taste-I use a lot

Toss the butter into a saucepan, over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until you can smell them, then toss in all the rest and simmer a few minutes. Let it cool to room temp, and serve as a finishing sauce. You can use it to baste with if you want.

Fancy South Carolina Finishing Sauce

• 1 big jar mustard [1.5 pounds]
• 1 cup mayonaisse
• ½ cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 stick butter
• ½ cup water

Put everything in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes or so, until everythinghing is combined.