A Southern Barbecue

It is, of course, possible to prepare one main dish of any given meal and call it authentic. When it comes to a Southern barbecue, however, I feel it essential that you also offer your guests all the “fixin’s” as well. The barbecue recipe offered here is one that I created after a lengthy visit to numerous barbecue pits in North Carolina. My version is not made in a pit, but it is cooked for several hours in the oven and then, briefly, smoked in a home barbecue grill to give it more flavor. You serve it chopped or sliced (I prefer it chopped) on barbecue buns with coleslaw and a “dip” made with vinegar and spices. The dip is actually spooned onto the meat after it is placed on half a bun. You can either spoon on coleslaw or serve it separately, along with potato salad. I might add that, for the sake of “down-home” authenticity, you should use bottled mayonnaise rather than homemade.