Cultural exchange
South American barbecue, I’m told, is one of the wonders of the world. And I look forward to finding out about it; I’m a patron of those arts in North America as well. Today, for example, my mother, J, prepared a farewell rack of ribs in honor of my impending departure.
After 1997, when our family started shrinking, ribs overtook pork shoulder (also known as Boston Butt) as our barbecue course of choice. The current favorite recipe is one discovered and refined by my brother, B. For purposes of comparison, it’s documented below.
You start with pork loin ribs, which are meaty and tender, if relatively low on fat. For the first stage of cooking, you wrap each rack into foil packets with onion and several top secret spices.
The packet preserves the meat’s moisture, but allows for better smoke flavoring than stove top parboiling methods. It also saves you the trouble of doing a separate marinade step. You cook these over charcoal, of course.
When the ribs are approaching completion, you add vegetables (pictured here, sweet corn and vidalia onions) and place the meat directly over the fire to get a good sear on.
Serve with good beer, maybe some baked beans, and garlic bread.
Now how do you do yours?
May 29th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Yum ribs, my favorite food. I can’t cook them myself, but I sure can eat them. I prefer the Texas style ribs, but I have a fond place in my stomach for Memphis style. You will definitely have to keep us informed on the validity of the statement on the South American BBQ.
May 29th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Good news from my staging coordinator (who’s also the first person I’ve met who has actually been to Paraguay). She says that Paraguayans eat prodigious amounts of red meat, particularly beef.
I believe that means that while pork spareribs are off the menu for the next little while, I should definitely refine my brisket recipes. I can live with that.