South Carolina's golden mustard barbecue sauce — tangy yellow mustard, vinegar, and a touch of sweetness mopped over slow-smoked pork. The 'Carolina Gold' that sets the Midlands apart from every other barbecue region.
Mustard barbecue is the signature of the South Carolina Midlands, where Black pitmasters have smoked whole hog and shoulder for generations. The gold sauce is a regional Black barbecue tradition as distinct as the vinegar mops of eastern North Carolina.
Of the barbecue sauces, the Carolina mustard gold is the most health-forward. Its base is prepared yellow mustard and vinegar rather than the sugar-and-tomato of thick red sauces, so it carries mustard-seed selenium and glucosinolates, the turmeric (curcumin) that colors yellow mustard, and acetic acid that blunts glucose — all on a much lower sugar load than a Kansas City-style sauce. Lean the recipe toward mustard and vinegar and away from added sugar and honey, and you have a barbecue mop that genuinely earns its place. Sodium is the one thing to watch.
Whisk yellow mustard with cider vinegar, a little brown sugar or honey, Worcestershire, hot sauce, black pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. Simmer gently to meld, then mop over smoked pork or chicken in the last stretch of cooking, or serve on the side. Cutting the sweetener and adding more vinegar keeps it tangy and low-sugar.
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