Different areas of the country have different meat priorities and preparations. For example, in the Southeast, pork is the preferred meat to BBQ. Digging a pit (to concentrate cooking heat and smoke) goes back to European culture. Then it was forgotten until the Jamestown colonists arrived. Since pigs were running around freely to fatten themselves up, (only to be captured and eaten later) pork became the sustenance meat of Virginia and later the southern states. This also was a blessing when crops didn't produce as they should for whatever
