Barbecue Sauce and a Good Haircut

First of all, I would like to thank Dan Rubenstein for the inspiration for this post that resulted from a tweet via Andy Staples. Here is the tweet:

@Andy_Staples the “good bbq doesn’t need sauce” thing always confused me, like “an attractive person doesn’t need a flattering haircut."

— Dan Rubenstein (@DanRubenstein) May 12, 2015

I quoted and replied to this tweet saying this was the most clueless thing I had read today and that I've read many tweets. My reply was made in good fun because I know that Andy Staples is a huge opponent of sauce on BBQ just for the sake of sauce.

I wouldn't know Dan Rubenstein if he walked up and punched me in the face. But his reply to my tweet got me to thinking. And here is the reply:

@TheCheapSeats_ don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with being simple folk! some people like good meat and small amount of good sauce!

— Dan Rubenstein (@DanRubenstein) May 13, 2015

Of course the "simple folk" part of that tweet was not cool coming from a NYC resident, but I let that slide.

Here's the deal, good barbecue does not need sauce. Just like an an attractive person does not need a flattering haircut. But they are not parallel comparisons.

Good barbecue should be able to stand alone. If it needs sauce, then it's not good barbecue. Now if you start out with good barbecue, a small amount of a good sauce can enhance it. Conversely, a slathering of even mediocre sauce can ruin good barbecue.

While a flattering haircut may enhance the attractiveness of a person, a bad haircut does not completely ruin that attractiveness. "Well she was good looking, but with haircut all her beauty is gone. Forever." That doesn't happen. "The barbecue was good until it got drowned in that awful sauce, now it's inedible." That can happen.

Don't hate me Mr. Rubenstein. It's barbecue and haircuts.