Pork Sandwich Showdown: Nouveau Yankee Que vs. Classic Southern Sandwiches

Check out these pics from the Boston Globe of the barbecue sandwiches at the Beantown barbecue joint called Tremont 467. Then, head over to Garden & Gun and peruse their photo lineup of the Top 21 BBQ Sandwiches in the South.  Notice any differences between North and South? (Ignore that one G&G pic of the Korean pork sandwich: it's "fusion" to begin with and comes from Atlanta, no less.)

Now, don't get me wrong. Those Boston boys probably cook up some pretty tasty barbecue. But what's up with the massive haystack of meat, the groaning bun, and drizzles of sauce on the plate.  And is that slaw or kimchi cascading out of the bun? It looks like someone might have dropped the damn thing.

Some time ago I weighed in on how to create a great barbecue sandwich, noting that it's "an exercise in balance, with just the right ratio of meat to sauce to bun."  And, you have to add in a little slaw or pickle to add crunch and tang. The picks from Garden & Gun are bear this out. Check out the spartan simplicity of Jackie Hite's entry from Leesville, SC; the balance of bun, meat, pickle, and onion from the Old Hickory Pitt Bar-B-Q in Owensboro, KY; and, the controlled heft of the sandwich from Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby, NC.

There's a reason these are classics.