What is tomato sauce?

To make a short story long.

I stayed in NC for a few years and got hooked on BBQ, pulled pork, something we do not have here in Sweden. I finally took the plunge and got me a WSM, first cook yesterday.

Now I want to make a western NC sauce. The problem I have is that I'm not quite sure what the tomato sauce is that is called for in the recipe. I find that a lot of times ingredients that sound obvious does not translate well to what we find in the stores here.

To me a tomato sauce is sold in a glass yar and is used as a base for an italian pasta sauce or as the tomato sauce on pizza. It is a fairly thin sauce but not quite liquid that has allready been seasoned.

I did a check on wiki to see if this matches what you call a tomato sauce in the US and found that it could be, but it could also be a tomato puree.

So what do I use when the western NC sauce calls for tomato sauce?

Use ketchup.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
Use ketchup. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Even if the recipe has both ketchup and tomato sauce in it?

I'm sure it would work for me as I'm both a sweet tooth and like ketchup in general, but if possible I would like to try the recipes as written before I go the all ketchup route

I can't say that I've seen recipes with both. That's not standard.

Here in the US, tomato sauces that are jarred tend to be used for pasta. They are finished, i.e., they are meant to be used pretty much as is. Canned tomato sauce is used more as a base. It is usually sweetened a bit with sugar and contains some aromatics (onion, garlic -- usually granulated or dehydrated) and an herb or two (often oregano, maybe basil).

Thanks!

I found the recipe on this forum when looking for a western NC sauce.

I will just make it easier on myself and either skip recipes with tomato sauce or substitute ketchup.

I know nothing about nothing but my fav. sauce recipie uses both tomatoe sauce and ketchup in it... beats me.