Credit: Photo by Paul Cheney / Bravo
The foods we’re willing to defend most fiercely are often the hallmark bites of our hometowns and states. Whether that’s lobster rolls enjoyed on the coast of Maine or deep dish pizza in Chicago, local specialties tend to have devoted followings — and Southern cuisine is no exception.
In the latest video on the Food & Wine YouTube channel, we asked the Top Chef judges — Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and Kristen Kish — to taste and review quintessential Southern foods. As professional judges, they naturally expressed strong opinions, and their feedback might even help you decide which treats to try first next time you’re in the South.
Southern cuisine is far from homogenous. States and even specific towns have their own signature dishes or cooking styles that locals will defend to the death. One of the most famous examples you’ll encounter is the wide range of barbecue sauce styles across the region, from mustard-based Carolina Gold in South Carolina to Alabama’s creamy white barbecue sauce.
Passions for certain bites can even get as granular as the stores and brands you shop at when searching for Southern specialties. To see if we could settle any debates, or perhaps stoke some more, we asked the Top Chef judges to taste two different options for each of six separate Southern delights and tell us which one they loved the most.
The trio tasted boiled peanuts from an artisanal producer and a canned grocery brand, pecan pies made with a classic recipe and in a not-so-traditional format, and cheese straws from companies beloved in Alabama versus Florida, among other comparisons that pitted two popular versions of a food against each other.
In some cases, the judges reached a decision easily. Their favorite barbecue sauce comes courtesy of Stubb’s, a national brand that nails the expected flavor profile of a Texas-style sauce and even convinced Simmons to choose it over her usual preference for a mustard-based condiment.
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Stubb’s Sweet Heat was compared to Mrs. Griffin’s mustard-based barbecue sauce. Although the former is notably sweeter, with a tomato, apple cider vinegar, and molasses base, it won over the judges with its zing of heat and ability to brighten anything they dunked into it. As Colicchio points out, its hit of spice and depth of flavor would work well on ribs, pulled pork, or sausage.
When it came to comparing biscuits, the Top Chef judges found it difficult to decide which they liked best. The three culinary experts tasted a small-batch rendition of the buttery baked good from Clinton St. Baking Company and one from restaurant chain Sweet Chick.
Simmons explains that “I thought I’d like [Sweet Chick] more; it looks more golden, more baked, but it feels very bready.” The other judges agreed, praising Clinton St. Baking Company’s tender crumb and distinct, buttermilk-forward aroma while still giving kudos to the golden brown hue of its opponent. After sampling both options solo and with accoutrements, the trio determined that the results were a tie.
When it comes to biscuits, perhaps it’s pretty difficult to choose a bad option, but at least now we know which barbecue sauce we’ll be picking up the next time we’re strolling through the grocery store.
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