Palmetto State 'stands on its own for beauty. Our barbecue sauce does the same'
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South Carolina barbecue sauce blazes bright like a Low Country sunrise.
Made from yellow mustard, "South Carolina gold," as it's often called, boasts a sunny burst of color and flavor unique among regional American barbecue sauces.
Most others are made from vinegar, molasses or ketchup.
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"It just presents so beautifully," Don Bailey, owner of Blues Coastal Bar & Grill in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, told Fox News Digital.
"South Carolina stands on its own for beauty. Our barbecue sauce does the same."
Bright, sunny South Carolina barbecue sauce is made from mustard. Also known as South Carolina gold, it arose from the state's German immigrant community in the 18th century. Here, a dish from the restaurant Q on Bay in Beaufort, South Carolina. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
South Carolina barbecue sauce is super-tangy and acidic with the natural spiciness of yellow mustard, blended with vinegar and other spices unique to each bar, restaurant or bottler.
It's remarkably versatile, pairing well with chicken, seafood and, of course, smoked pork.
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It's definitely not meant to be served with barbecued beef, which is rare in the Palmetto State.
Blues Coastal Bar & Grill serves its own housemade South Carolina gold with its chicken wings and on its chicken sandwich.
"It's definitely a way more balanced sauce," said Bailey.
The sun rises over Parris Island, South Carolina, with a palmetto tree standing in the foreground. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
"It hits with the perfect balance of sweetness, spiciness and saltiness and just has that umami quality that tastes so good."
South Carolina supermarkets are stocked with bottles of the local flavor. Bailey is partial to Congaree Gold from The Palmetto Sauce Co.
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South Carolina mustard sauce reportedly traces its roots to a wave of German immigration in the colonial era.
"Starting in the 1730s and continuing into the 1750s, the British colony of South Carolina encouraged, recruited, and even paid the ocean passage for thousands of German families so they could take up residence in South Carolina," Lake E. High Jr., founder of the South Carolina Barbeque Association, wrote on the group's website.
South Carolina barbecue sauce is super-tangy and acidic with the natural spiciness of yellow mustard, blended with vinegar and other spices unique to each bar, restaurant or bottler. It's remarkably versatile, pairing well with chicken, seafood and, of course, smoked pork. Left, on a dish at the restaurant Q on Bay in Beaufort, South Carolina; at right, a bowl of sauce. (Kerry Byrne/Fox News Digital)
"These German settlers brought with them, in addition to their European farming style and the Lutheran Church, the common use of mustard."
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South Carolina gold emerged as the immigrants brought their own traditions and tastes to the emerging American culinary art of slow-smoked barbecue.
German names are still prominent in South Carolina barbecue, High noted.
Among them: Bessinger, Hite, Meyer, Kiser and Zeigler.
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Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.
