Pork

While the Chinese get to celebrate the Year of the Pig only once a decade, happily for most citizens of Planet Barbecue a celebration of the hog comes around daily. If grilled, smoked, or spit-roasted pork is your idea of barbecue heaven, you’ll find paradise literally all around the world. The short list of iconic pork dishes includes Mexico’s poc chuc (grilled pork with grilled pickled onions); Brazil’s wine-marinated spit-roasted baby back ribs; Serbia’s punjena vešalica (cheese- and bacon-stuffed grilled pork tenderloin); and Greece’s kandosouvle (hot pepper spit-roasted pork chunks). And that doesn’t begin to address the central role pork plays in traditional American barbecue, from North Carolina’s pulled pork to Kansas City’s barbecued ribs.