I grew up there! I use a recipe printed in a Cincinnati paper decades ago. Why add sugar? OR barbecue sauce?? There is so much variability in barbecue sauces that it could totally cancel the other subtle flavor combinations. The secret ingredients are really the cinnamon and chocolate (mine calls for 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate, but I'm sure cocoa would work out OK). Couple other minor differences but those are the biggies.
Oh, and if you get tired of eating it over spaghetti, it makes a killer chili dog too :-)
I grew up there! I use a recipe printed in a Cincinnati paper decades ago. Why add sugar? OR barbecue sauce?? There is so much variability in barbecue sauces that it could totally cancel the other subtle flavor combinations. The secret ingredients are really the cinnamon and chocolate (mine calls for 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate, but I'm sure cocoa would work out OK). Couple other minor differences but those are the biggies.
Oh, and if you get tired of eating it over spaghetti, it makes a killer chili dog too :-)