Pickles with Barbecue

[Ndy]

I've been wondering this for awhile. When I visit pretty much any barbecue joint here in Kansas City I always receive a small pile of pickles with my meal. Does anyone know the origin or the reason for this practice? I always eat them, but they never cease to puzzle me.

Edited March 30, 2008 by Ndy (log)

[Lilija]

Because it really really tastes good! There's something about pickles, raw onions and barbecue that taste so incredibly good. To me, it's the texbook definition of "more than a sum of its parts". Why coleslaw? Same reason. I think because it cuts the richness, too. Ya gotta eat something on the side, and pickles work.

Why do any two foods go together? Why peanut butter and jelly?

Edited March 30, 2008 by Lilija (log)

[Ndy]

Because it really really tastes good!  There's something about pickles, raw onions and barbecue that taste so incredibly good.  To me, it's the texbook definition of "more than a sum of its parts".  Why coleslaw?  Same reason. I think because it cuts the richness, too.  Ya gotta eat something on the side, and pickles work.

Why do any two foods go together?  Why peanut butter and jelly?

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I agree. I was just curious if there was some other significance to it.

[Nick Soapdish]

I've been wondering this for awhile. When I visit pretty much any barbecue joint here in Kansas City I always receive a small pile of pickles with my meal. Does anyone know the origin or the reason for this practice? I always eat them, but they never cease to puzzle me.

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it's because pickles and barbeque go together like champagne and doggy-style

ns

[bbqboy]

I've been wondering this for awhile. When I visit pretty much any barbecue joint here in Kansas City I always receive a small pile of pickles with my meal. Does anyone know the origin or the reason for this practice? I always eat them, but they never cease to puzzle me.

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it's because pickles and barbeque go together like champagne and doggy-style

ns

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Can't argue with that logic

[Andrew Fenton]

Pickles go well with barbecue because they make a good contrast with barbecue. While BBQ is hot, pickles are cool; while 'cue is rich, pickles are acidic; while the meat is tender, pickles are crispy and tender. Add in barbecue sauce and you get another contrast, between sweet sauce and sour pickles. Those contrasts are the genius of the combination.

[Toliver]

When you speak of BBQ, usually you are talking about pork. Most pork is commanly served with an acidic partner to cut the richness. Sausages & mustard, pork roast and sauerkraut, pork chops and applesauce, etc. BBQ and pickles seem like just another such pairing.