So I’m from North Carolina, for the uninitiated this is one out of fifty of the United States of America, which is a nation located on the continent of North America bordered by Canada to the North and Mexico to the South. If you were paying close enough attention you might have heard of us in the news recently. North Carolina is located on the Eastern coast, that’s adjacent to the Atlantic ocean, you’ll find it just across the Northern border of South Carolina, to the South of Virginia, and to the East of Tennessee. We also share a relatively short stretch of border with Georgia to the Southwest. You might find us after a few hours examining a globe.

North Carolina is almost as famous for our barbecue as we are for our barbecue. Two distinct styles of pork barbecue emerged in North Carolina, the Eastern style characterized by smoking a whole hog prepared with a dry rub and served with a spicy, thin, vinegar-based sauce, and the Western style characterized by smoking pork shoulders basted with and served at the table with a sweeter tomato based sauce.

In both cases, shoulder meat will be coarsely shredded simply by pulling it apart with forks or bare hands, done right it’s more tender than cooked hamburger. Piled high on an inch roll slathered in barbecue sauce and topped with coleslaw and you’ve got a pulled pork sandwich, serve it with a side of hushpuppies.

Fun fact: A candidate for North Carolina governor once lost the race because he was heard saying he was getting sick of barbecue. Nope, you don’t get to be chief executive Tarheel like that. That ain’t gonna work.