A tale of two piggies
Next on Southern chef: Memorial Day Rib Battle. Chef C. vs. Chef my Dad.
What better time than Memorial Day weekend to light the grill and prepare some holiday food? For the beginning of summertime, the classic dish is, of course, ribs. Here in the south, that generally means ribs of the pig (Sorry, there, B., but the pig? He is tasty.), slathered in a sweet and/or tomato-y sauce and slow-smoked over coal or gas.
In my case this year, both fuels. With two different pig preparation plans. Back-to-back BBQ. On Saturday night (as I mentioned earlier), we grilled out at Robust’s place, where C. did the honors, over charcoal. Sunday afternoon I celebrated my dad’s 60th with a pair of racks over gas. And some beer. And some gingerbread. Both places.
C. picked a good sauce, a slightly sweet tomato-based concoction. He marinated the meat in the sauce, then cooked it over a fairly hot grill. I’m not exactly sure how long they were on–maybe 45 minutes, maybe an hour, depending on the thickness of the slab. Some stayed longer than others in Robust’s lovely Kettle, and for a good portion of that time, I was too busy playing with the cats to pay attention.
For starters, we had chicken wings and cheese and crackers. The side for the ribs was a very fine potato salad and plainly delicious corn grilled in its own jacket. I ate mine with the briefest smidge of butter. It was all very very excellent.
The next day, Dad threw me off with a change in prep. Though my parents generally par-boil ribs, Pop was feeling adventurous, and so cranked the gas grill down to low and slow-roasted 2 racks instead. The racks were wrapped in foil and dusted with a spice rub mixture he made. He’d had them on for a couple 3 hours when I got there, and once we’d sat and chatted and munched on some cold boiled shrimp, he unwrapped the ribs and turned the fire up just a bit. We hung out on the porch while he basted with 2 sauces he’d gotten from some BBQ contest he’d judged. Ah, the perks of a small-town newspaper editor.
One was much like the sauce from the previous day–a slightly sweet tomato-based red sauce. Usually my choice when I have one. The other sauce was a vinegar-based offering, with mustard and cayenne. The final result? Both were quite delicious, though one was expectedly so (the red) and the other a bit surprising.
The vinegar sauce was thin and sharp in the bowl. It was quite spicy, and I was expecting the rib to taste like hot, red-pepper and vinegar-spiked NC chopped pork barbecue when coated in it. But not at all. The vinegar tenderized the meat, but with the heat had mellowed out and sweetened. The vinegar ribs were the ones that tasted most like the meat, with no sugars or bright tomato flavor to hide it. Quite good.
So, who wins the rib battle?
Well, first off… points to C. for being a first-timer. The quick-cooked ribs were juicier than the slow-cooked ones, but a bit less tender. The sauce was a great choice, the speed of prep a serious plus. The smoked flavor from charcoal makes that that the way to go.
Dad? Well, he’s my dad. He gets points for experience, and for manning the station for the 4 hours it took to slow-cook the ribs. He loses one or two for not bothering with the wood chips. I’ve had this dish done with the wood chips, and they definitely add something.
However, he comes back strong with the homemade rub underneath the delicious gourmet sauces. Dad’s what one could call a sauce-man…you know, the kind of guy whose wife lets him have an entire cabinet to collect his hot sauces and special mustards? And his sauce and spice-fu did not disappoint.
Not bad, grillmasters. Not bad at all.
Whose cuisine reined supreme?
Dude, he’s my DAD. Dads make the best ribs. That’s just the way it works.
May 30th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
Yum! Both sound really good.
Dammit, I am going to be making some ribs this weekend. I’ll be serving them up by cutting them into individual ribs and piling them up for people but I will be making ribs regardless.
My method: slow cook over low heat, charcoal with wood chips. Charcoal is pushed to the sides with the ribs in the center of the grate. Ribs cook up, and when there’s about 30 minutes left of cooking, sauce. Sauce is usually homemade. I am thinking of changing this up this weekend by doing a rub before I put it on, then finishing in the same method.
Regardless, I want to cook ribs with everyone sometime!
May 30th, 2006 at 11:23 pm
Yes! We are totally on for a rib-stravaganza next time you’re in town. If we have to combine grills to contain the meatiness, we will. ;)