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Vinegar-based barbecue sauce is a popular marinade in the southeastern United States, with origins traced back to plantation slaves. The sauce is used to tenderize meat and enhance its taste, and can contain a variety of ingredients. It is also popular in Brazil and the Caribbean.
Vinegar barbecue sauce is the most popular type of marinade for grilled pork, beef, chicken, and some fish in the southeastern region of the United States. Unlike its popular cousins, Texas-style barbecue and Kansas City barbecue, most vinegar-based barbecue sauce is unsweetened and does not contain tomato sauce, tomato paste or ketchup. In general, vinegar sauces seep into the marinating meat, drenching it with a subtle flavor that gains rich layers during the barbecue process.
Historically, Southern vinegar marinades are believed to have originated with plantation slaves, who soaked meats in vinegar, chili, and black pepper before roasting the pork, beef, goat, or chicken on a hearth. The vinegar served two functions in addition to the aromatic cuts of meat which were often substandard. The mild acetic acid in the vinegar helped tenderize the meat, attacking the rust and connective tissue. Vinegar marinades also have the added benefit of helping minimize any bacteria that may have infiltrated unrefrigerated meat.
Popular in Georgia and the Carolinas, vinegary barbecue sauce recipes typically favor apple cider vinegar over distilled white vinegar or those made from other fruits. The sauce is used as a pre-cooked marinade to tenderize meat and enhance its taste, as a basting liquid when roasting, and in the dipping sauces some diners apply after the meat is cooked. In parts of North and South Carolina, vinegar sauces might contain brown sugar, cayenne pepper, red pepper, or other hot peppers; yellow mustard or a dab of tomato sauce might also find its way into the recipe. While some purists object, others insist that adding a variety of chopped herbs, ground spices, pureed olives, or other ingredients can make a vinegary barbecue sauce unique.
Home cooks have used vinegar-based marinades and dipping sauces for hundreds of years. Despite this, the first barbecue sauce made for commercial sale didn’t appear until 1909, when the Georgia Barbeque Sauce Company produced a bottled sauce. Thirty years later, Heinz jumped on board with his version.
The Southeastern United States isn’t the only place where vinegary barbecue sauce is popular. Brazilians add parsley and onions to a thin sauce made from olive oil, vinegar and tomatoes to create vinaigrette, a meat marinade. Caribbean jerk sauce is another popular variation that gets its flavor from vinegar, usually made from red wine, and the smoke from burning allspice wood, as well as allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Some versions include Scotch bonnet peppers, which are extremely hot.
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