Thought I was in South Carolina, except for the brisket

[Gore]

Was transferring through DFW, mainly because my flight through Houston was cancelled -- I prefer going through Houston because the airport food is better, or at least I have better luck. I have completely sworn off Dickey's and would actually prefer McDonalds. I was a bit bummed about getting lunch, until I found an outlet of The Salt Lick in Terminal A. Overall, it was well above average for airport BBQ, but what struck me was the sauce. Turned out to be a mustard-based sauce, not unlike what I've had in South Carolina. Was wondering if anyone can elaborate on the history of these sauces and the Salt Lick -- if there might be some connection, or if this is just coincidence. Of course, if you just want to wax poetic about South Carolina BBQ or The Salt Lick, that would be fine too. :thumb:

 

[16Adams]

Make Shack Sauce. If you want it sweeter add molasses or honey. The Carolina mustard based sauces are even great as a salad dressing, in deviled eggs, dipping sauce for any imaginable fried food. Versatile. I usually eat my ribs dry if eaten the same day. Warmed up I prefer a Carolina sauce

 

[cowgirl]

No help here... :redface:
I brought home a bottle of Salt Lick original from a recent trip to Dallas. Haven't even given it the pinky finger taste test yet.
Looks good though! :becky:

 

[cats49er]

Make Shack Sauce. If you want it sweeter add molasses or honey. The Carolina mustard based sauces are even great as a salad dressing, in deviled eggs, dipping sauce for any imaginable fried food. Versatile. I usually eat my ribs dry if eaten the same day. Warmed up I prefer a Carolina sauce

It goes well with lots of food,even a slice of bread at times.I know with my recipe minor changes in ingredients can make a big difference.But it can be tailored to your taste fairly easy. I've always heard that the sauce came from the German emigrates years ago that came to South Carolina.

 

[guero_gordo]

IIRC Salt Lick started outside Austin, but they did have a stall in the "new" Austin airport 17 years ago, guess they jumped to the big hub.
I do recall Austin folks having animated discussions about whether it was "real TX bbq" because of the vinegar based sauce. They did drive out to the airport just to have lunch though.

 

[Joe Black]

South Carolina folks are always eager to share the finer things in life with others. It's hard for some folks to get to the original home of good BBQ. SC, the only state that uses all 4 sauces.

 

[Gore]

Make Shack Sauce. If you want it sweeter add molasses or honey. The Carolina mustard based sauces are even great as a salad dressing, in deviled eggs, dipping sauce for any imaginable fried food. Versatile. I usually eat my ribs dry if eaten the same day. Warmed up I prefer a Carolina sauce

Last time I was in SC, I picked up a few bottles in the store. I grabbed some of Maurice's, Shealy's, and a bottle of Sweet Baby Rays (the horror). What surprised me was how different they were. I'd only sampled Maurice's and really liked the spicy complexity. The bottled stuff was extremely runny. I'm thinking it is only used as a topping after the meat. Shealy's sauce had a thicker consistency, one more like I'm used to, but I found it has a much stronger vinegar taste. I'm not a big fan of vinegar, makes me cough. Sweet Baby Rays had the spicier complexity of Maurice's, but was thicker. I put these on ribs (probably my first mistake) and cooked to set. The sauces definitely lost their ooomph and we liked the results, but definitely different from what I had. Any comments on how these are used?

 

[16Adams]

No sir Im sorry. I'm a long way from the Carolinas. I do know that with basic Shack Sauce you can adjust everything is: thick thin (oil versus water) sugar salt pepper heat and type of heat (cayenne versus Jalapeno versus green chile, and type of vinegar. I make it pretty much by the post card that was floating around in this site a few years back. What I found was, people I fed preferred the known bottled commercial sauces--until I made them taste the home made Shack Sauce- then they'd eat it.

 

[landarc]

It would not surprise me to find a place or two in Texas that serves mustard with beef, lots of Germans, and Germans like mustard with beef.

 

[yakdung]

The reason for the mustard sauce at Saltlick in Texas, the original owner was from North Carolina.
http://www.tmbbq.com/book-profile-the-salt-lick-cookbook/

 

[Gore]

It would not surprise me to find a place or two in Texas that serves mustard with beef, lots of Germans, and Germans like mustard with beef.

I was thinking the same thing. I know up until WWII, there were villages in Texas where German was the main language spoken.

The reason for the mustard sauce at Saltlick in Texas, the original owner was from North Carolina.
http://www.tmbbq.com/book-profile-the-salt-lick-cookbook/

Thanks, that is the connection I was wondering about.

 

[Smith's Pig Pen]

^^^beat me to it. I grew up on SC BBQ. I always make my own but always try something when I see it. The Salt Lick Sauce is a really solid product if you're a mustard fan. I had their que and loved the sauce. Was told there's over 40 ingredients... That's a lot of love to put into a bottled product.

 

[Ertothel]

I was thinking the same thing. I know up until WWII, there were villages in Texas where German was the main language spoken.

I think you could probably go well past WWII and have that be true. I grew up in a German town in central Texas, and well into the 90s you heard German (albeit a somewhat old dialect) spoken regularly, particularly at the grocery store, the auto parts store, the hardware store, and the feedlot. Kind of sad to see it dying out...

 

[Blythewood BBQ'er]

Mustard base sauce is the king of bbq sauces! Yes I'm expecting a beat down now lol! Maurice is the only place I've seen it on ribs. I love mustard base on pulled pork. On chicken and ribs I will mix it 50/50 with some sweet kc or other sweet sauce. That way you get the best of both worlds!

Sorry about the Shealys tip, didn't know you didn't like vinegar. I love that stuff but then again I've been known to drink pickle juice. I once made a sauce out of a garlicky pickle juice, honey and mustard when the local joint didn't extra sauce me. Sounds weird but think about it. Pickle juice has a ton of seasoning in it already and the mustard helps make the bridge to the sweet honey.

 

[Gore]

^^^beat me to it. I grew up on SC BBQ. I always make my own but always try something when I see it. The Salt Lick Sauce is a really solid product if you're a mustard fan. I had their que and loved the sauce. Was told there's over 40 ingredients... That's a lot of love to put into a bottled product.

That was my impression. To me, it was very reminiscent of an SC sauce, more so than just coincidence.

I think you could probably go well past WWII and have that be true. I grew up in a German town in central Texas, and well into the 90s you heard German (albeit a somewhat old dialect) spoken regularly, particularly at the grocery store, the auto parts store, the hardware store, and the feedlot. Kind of sad to see it dying out...

I am just going by friends who grew up in Texas who told me during WWII, there was strong pressure not to speak German. It makes me sad also as languages of immigrants do not change. For instance, the French spoken in Nova Scotia much more closely resembles the 16th and 17th century French than that spoken in France or Quebec. Language evolution occurs much more rapidly in large populations.

Mustard base sauce is the king of bbq sauces! Yes I'm expecting a beat down now lol! Maurice is the only place I've seen it on ribs. I love mustard base on pulled pork. On chicken and ribs I will mix it 50/50 with some sweet kc or other sweet sauce. That way you get the best of both worlds!

Sorry about the Shealys tip, didn't know you didn't like vinegar. I love that stuff but then again I've been known to drink pickle juice. I once made a sauce out of a garlicky pickle juice, honey and mustard when the local joint didn't extra sauce me. Sounds weird but think about it. Pickle juice has a ton of seasoning in it already and the mustard helps make the bridge to the sweet honey.

Don't be sorry, I'm glad I tried it. I can appreciate things I don't like. Unfortunately, it was very difficult for me to get past the vinegar in this case.

 

[guero_gordo]

http://saltlickbbq.com/about-salt-lick/

 

[gtr]

Glad to hear about Salt Lick in DFW. I actually had a good brisket sammich at Cousin's in that airport. The first time I told them no sauce and that was good. The second time I either forgot or they didn't listen (not sure - I was doing the OJ run through the airport) and it was swimming and sauce which made it not good. I think those are in B and D terminals IIRC.

 

[Gore]

http://saltlickbbq.com/about-salt-lick/

Interesting, that's quite a different story than the one linked earlier. Guess the ancestors came from various locales.

 

[Gore]

Glad to hear about Salt Lick in DFW. I actually had a good brisket sammich at Cousin's in that airport. The first time I told them no sauce and that was good. The second time I either forgot or they didn't listen (not sure - I was doing the OJ run through the airport) and it was swimming and sauce which made it not good. I think those are in B and D terminals IIRC.

We came from B terminal and I stopped and looked at Cousin's. The sandwiches I saw had so little meat on them that open-faced I could see at least 1/4 of the lower bun. Probably would have taken three of them to make a "normal" sandwich. For the prices they charged, there was no excuse for that, so I went on. It could have been the help that day as the pictures posted in the yelp reviews have more than twice the meat than when I was there.