While the origins of the barbecue probably go back to the Stone Age, the beginnings of the barbecue sauce are likely to be closer to the times we live in. Food historians trace the use of barbecue sauce to America in the 1600s, from where it possibly spread to Europe over the next two centuries. The sauce varied, and still does vary from the watery to a very thick consistency. Today, it is usually applied to meat after cooking or during the process of grilling.
Some sources claim that Christopher Columbus brought the sauce back from the Caribbean Islands. Whatever its origin, the sauce was most likely used to mask the gamy flavors in the meats that were foreign and unpleasant to the colonial settlers in America. Several literary texts of the 16th and 17th centuries refer to the sauce, indicating that it increased in usage and gained currency in the period.
The first commercially produced barbecue sauce was made by the Louis Maull Co. in 1923, but the sauce was nationally distributed only almost two decades later, when Heinz released it commercially.
From then on, many supermarket chains and regional restaurants started to market their own brands of barbecue sauce, so much so that regional differences in sauce flavors and preparations were taken into account. Barbecue sauces today are big business. They line the shelves in the supermarkets and gourmet shops and can be brought online as well. The burgeoning packaged food industry today has a vast variety of barbecue sauces, with flavors ranging from the molasses flavored Kansas City sauce to the ketchup and brown sugar laced Georgia specialty to the mustard based North Carolina sauce.
While the barbecue sauce is mostly a mixture of garlic, herbs, tomatoes, vinegar, and spices in different proportions, sauces have now moved to include global flavors. Typical sauces now have added agents like soy sauce and honey to throw up an Asian or teriyaki sauce. Other varieties use Jamaican jerk flavorings to conjure up creations with a Caribbean flavor.
Today, there are as many varieties and flavors of barbecue sauces as there are cooks. While some grillers swear by the store bought sauce, others prepare the concoctions themselves, in some cases holding the recipes as closely-guarded secrets.
Whatever the ingredients or the methods of preparation, the barbecue sauce remains the one element that can make or mar the outcome of your grilling experience. So whatever may be the food that you grill, pick your sauce carefully for that sumptuous meal.
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