Barbecue Class

Nicholas Gavin is the Culinary Creative Director of ChefSteps, where he develops recipes and is responsible for making all the food look beautiful. Nick has worked at ChefSteps for over a decade; he and ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly worked together at Modernist Cuisine. Nick has worked in professional kitchens both in the United States and abroad, most notably at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain.

Nicholas Gavin

Deep in the heart of South Carolina, between Columbia and Charleston, where German immigrants settled in the eighteenth century, there is a pocket of barbecue connoisseurs who pair barbecue pork with a bright mustard-based sauce rather than the vinegary stuff favored by their North Carolina neighbors. These South Carolinians can thank their German heritage for that: pairing pork and mustard is an age-old Bavarian tradition that has stood the test of time. Our Carolina Gold is sweet and tangy, with a bit of heat. It’s delicious on a pulled or chopped barbecue pork sandwich, as a dressing for slaw, or slathered on a ham sandwich—honestly, it’s delicious on damn near everything. Just make a big batch and thank us later.EDITORS’ NOTE: We’ve updated this recipe to add freshly cooked onion and garlic, as well as brown sugar, and we’ve switched out the Dijon mustard for a more traditional yellow American mustard. If you prefer to use the original recipe, we’ve included it as a tip at the end of the recipe before the make-ahead and storage instructions.

Carolina Gold Barbecue Sauce