Recipe: North Carolina Chopped Barbecued Pork

NORTH CAROLINA CHOPPED BARBECUED PORK

1 1/2 lb pork shoulder roast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/16 tsp ground cinnamon
3/16 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup catsup
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
cider vinegar (to taste)
Tabasco sauce (to taste)

Brown roast in a small amount of fat and place in a Dutch oven.

Mix the next 9 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour over roast and cover.

Bake in a preheated 325 degree F oven, 40 minutes to the pound, until done, basting occasionally with drippings.

Transfer roast to a chopping board. Remove meat from the bone and chop into fairly fine pieces. Season to taste with additional vinegar and hot sauce.

Serve hot with coleslaw and corn bread.

Sylvia's comments:
I found some stew pork marked WAY down, bought several packages ($.99/lb!) and stuck them in the freezer. Then I put all the ingredients, including the still-frozen pork, in the crockpot this morning. Tonight it was done, I just mashed up the meat with a fork and knife and served it over rice. The vinegar produces a very interesting taste. However, it came out kind of soupy; next time I'll leave out the water and increase the catsup.

This is the most popular barbecue dish in North Carolina, and, as far as we know, it is indigenous to that state.

Source: Spoonbread & Strawberry Wine: Recipes and Reminiscences of a Family by Norma Jean Darden, Carole Darden