North Carolina pulled pork barbecue

Eastern North Carolina barbecue uses the whole hog with a vinegar-and-pepper sauce. The western or Lexington tradition uses pork shoulder and adds tomato to a vinegar-based sauce. North Carolina’s cultural department describes barbecue as part of family, community and political gatherings.^[1]

In Lexington, the shoulder meat may be chopped or sliced and served with a sauce known as dip, made with vinegar, salt, pepper and a small amount of ketchup or tomato paste. Lexington Barbecue cooks its pork shoulders slowly over oak and hickory coals. This shoulder-based preparation differs from the eastern tradition’s combination of meat from the whole animal.^[2][3]