“Understanding how the human sense of taste operates can help hosts pick the right thirst quencher to accompany their barbecue. Just as food changes the way wine tastes, one bite of food affects how the next mouthful tastes, said Corriher. Salt tends to suppress bitterness. Similarly, eating or drinking something sweet intensifies the taste of the next mouthful. So, she noted, serving a bitter beer with food swaddled in a sweet barbecue sauce might not work out too well.”
“The flavor chemistry of barbecue varies from region to region. One of the biggest debates among barbecue connoisseurs, for example, involves sauce. Across large swaths of the Midwest, cooks prefer ketchup-based sauces. But in some locales, such as North Carolina, people mix sauces using only vinegar, salt and pepper “and they think it’s an outrage to do anything else,” Corriher said. In some parts of the Southeast, heaven forfend, grillers add mustard to their barbecue sauces.”
Mustard-based sauces are the best.
