People go on quests for the perfect type of food all the time. America's best burger, the most extravagant red velvet cupcakes Venus has to offer, the types of things that reality television shows and type 2 diabetes are made of. I have some staples that I find always need improvement, but when it comes to barbecue sauce, I'm a closeted settler. I find that in most cases, it's so slanted toward the mediocre that finding a sauce that doesn't send me into a Tazmanian devil-esque frenzy makes my pants tent.
I thought it was crazy to want more out of barbecue sauce, and had been perfectly happy with either ignoring it or using it as an industrial-strength paste for my wallpaper, until I found this. Buyer's Best Friend sent this summery sauce over by Pig of the Month. Initially, I looked at it and could almost taste the sugar and molasses-heavy flavors through the glass, like a useless sixth sense. However, since my father was coming by, we decided to throw caution to the grill and use it as a marinade and glaze for chicken, and boy, are we glad we did that.
Pig of the Month specializes in cutting out the middleman and sending dismembered animal parts right to your door, fresh for consumption and ritual sacrifice over fire pits. In addition to controlling the meat racket, they also sell bottles of their homemade sauces. We tried the Key West Citrus sauce and it was divine. I think I've used this on no less than three dishes in the last two days. Dumplings. An omlet sandwich. Grilled chicken. Turkey burgers.
Holy cow. BB-who, now? This sauce is silky. This sauce is sweet, but nowhere near unctuous. It has a spicy, bold pepper kick. Exceptional really isn't a strong enough word for this sauce. Stupendous? Finger lickin' good? Doesn't hold a candle to how it really tastes. Instead, I'll casually mention that by accident- I cannot stress that enough, a few drops of this made it onto a spoonful of peanut butter I was eating. And I kept eating it. And it was freaking awesome. That good enough for you?
Point is, this has the best balance and fruitiness of any barbecue sauce I've had. It eschews the unwritten philosophy that meat needs copious amounts of sugar, salt, and bland spices to handle a six-hour ride in a smoker and instead, soaks a bright, clean set of fruit juices (grapefruit comes out especially well here) and bold cayenne and cumin into the meat. It's both a wonderful marinade and glaze as well as a drizzled sauce. If you've tried any other sauces from Pig of the Month (or any of their delectable porky products) let us know how you like them!
Labels: 10, condiment, hot, sauce
