Barbecue is an important part of the culture within South Carolina. Aside from it being tasty food, these places are gathering locations for the community. When talking to locals, they would describe large competitions in which they would gather and determine who cooked the best barbecue. We also found out that there are different types of barbecue within the state, each being dominate in certain areas of South Carolina. We had the opportunity to eat a mustard based barbecue, which is dominant in the Midlands. Many of the students got pulled pork sandwiched and were surprised to see it come out in a yellow color. The mustard based sauce was tangy in comparisons to tomato based barbecue sauces, which most of the students were used to. Also served with the meal were hush puppies, which are cornbread balls that are deep-fried. The taste of these were very salty, some students loved them while others did not enjoy the taste. Overall, barbecue seemed to taste a little different in South Carolina, but the main difference was the excitement surrounding the barbecue culture. When brought up in conversation, people would instantly smile and always have something to say.

Student Ken Gibbons eating a pulled pork sandwich