[h1]Did a quick Google search for pit beef. Seeing that this is from Steven Raichlen this should be a good answer.[/h1][h1] [/h1][h1]How to Say Barbecue in Baltimore[/h1]
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Module starts: article-byline (ArticleByline) By STEVEN RAICHLEN
Published: June 28, 2000 Module ends: article-byline
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I SPENT the first 18 years of my life in Baltimore, and not once did I eat pit beef. I am not particularly proud of this fact, but it does reflect the parochialism of the region's food. I grew up in the suburb of Pikesville, Md., and the foods of my childhood embraced the four C's of Baltimore gastronomy: crab, corned beef, coddies (leaden cakes of codfish and potatoes) and chocolate tops (cookies crowned with a rosette of chocolate icing).
Pit beef came from a working-class neighborhood on the east side of town, which for me might as well have been another planet.
Pit beef is Baltimore's version of barbecue: beef grilled crusty on the outside, rare and juicy inside and heaped high on a sandwich. Several things make it distinctive in the realm of American barbecue.
For starters, pit beef is grilled, not smoked, so it lacks the heavy hickory or mesquite flavor characteristic of Texas- or Kansas City-style barbecue. It is also ideally served rare, which would be unthinkable for a Texas-style brisket. Baltimore pit bosses use top round, not brisket, and to make this flavorful but tough cut of beef tender, they shave it paper-thin on a meat slicer.
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