A farm bureau cookout in 1955 became a name shouted mid-flip, a charity fundraiser staple, and eventually a trademark fight. The sauce, the word, and why it followed me from a lakeside restaurant in Austin to hotel deliveries in Oakland.

A sticky red sauce born on Chicago's South Side became the unofficial taste of Washington, DC. The carryout password, the light-vs-dark debate, and the trademark war over BBQ sauce's best-traveled cousin.