Part of traditional Old Florida Bar-B-Q is the ritual simmering of a balanced mustard based Bar-B-Q sauce that perfectly compliments the blackjack oak and pecan wood fire Bar-B-Q of Old Florida. Some barbecue "experts" may tell you that this is actually South Carolina style sauce; they would be mistaken. The yellow lower Carolina sauces generally have a pointed mustard-dominant flavor, while Old Florida sauces have a more rounded balanced flavor, are generally darker yellow to orange in color, a tad  Growing up in Jacksonville I got to enjoy many great varieties of Old Florida Bar-B-Q sauce. Cotten's, Jenkin's, The Pig, Lou Bono's, and countless roadside vendors all made great sauce, but just west of Jacksonville, there was a Friday-only roadside Bar-B-Q consisting of a rusty old Merita Bread truck pulling an even older Bar-B-Q cooker. Miss Linda's blackjack oak and pecan wood fire cooked pig and goat were hands down the absolute best Bar-B-Q I've ever had, and that's without any sauce. But for good measure, Miss Linda simmered a traditional Old FLA Bar-B-Q sauce for her pig and goat that was just indescribably awesome. A simple but exquisitely balanced combination of gently simmered ingredients perfectly integrated with one another to yield a subtle yet unabashedly euphoric taste, it was the holy grail of Bar-B-Q sauce. Every Friday for years thereafter, I drove over to Marietta for Bar-B-Q, and would always seek insight from Miss Linda as I attempted for many years to replicate her sauce. I eventually got pretty close, and would sometimes bring a sample of my latest batch to Miss Linda to get her feedback, which usually consisted of her saying "Not bad, not bad. You know, you're making too much fuss over a simple family recipe for Old Florida Bar-B-Q sauce." The years rolled by, Miss Linda eventually retired from commercial Bar-B-Q, and I kept simmering the sauce at Bar-B-Qs with family and friends. It was a great sauce and everyone loved it, but I never felt its flavor truely matched the soul grabbing euphoric quality of Miss Linda's. I continued to toil in pursuit of Bar-B-Q sauce perfection; then one day, seventeen years after first tasting her sauce, I had an epiphany about what Miss Linda had hinted at for years. So vexing and elusive for so long, I had finally figured out the missing link to the ultimate Old Florida Bar-B-Q sauce. The simple answer was there all along in hindsight. So in the spirit of the greatest Old FLA Bar-B-Q master [or mistress in this case], and with unending gratitude for her inspiration, I proudly offer you this Old FLA Bar-B-Q sauce. While intended as the final component in the creation of true Old Florida Bar-B-Q, this sauce also greatly enhances all other styles of barbecue, as well as anything off the grill, and is great on everything from fries to thighs. |
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