Page 12 - The Wave Holistic and Metaphysical Journal July/Aug 2016

Culinary Arts
It’s SUMMER! Time to Barbecue!
During the 14 years I lived in the Midwest, I learned a thing or two about barbecuing. First off,
here in California, we refer to cooking over a charcoal or gas grill as barbecuing. But in the heart
of barbecue country, this type of cooking is called “grilling out”, and “barbecue” refers to the sauce or rub used on the meat one grills. This brings us to the great BARBECUE CONTROVERSY: Sauce v Rub. Cities, counties, and whole regions are divided by their preference for using a sauce or a rub to season grilled meat, with each geographic location - sometimes just a county, sometimes a whole region - championing their own unique and delicious recipe for spice rub or BBQ sauce.
I grew up in the BBQ sauce camp. In my family, all grilled ribs were smothered in sweet, sticky sauce. But when I moved out to the Midwest, and adopted regional cooking styles, I learned to love spice rubbed ribs, and now prefer them to the BBQ sauced ribs. The very best recipe I have ever tasted is the America’s Test Kitchen recipe below. Trust me, Californians, when I tell you that you don’t need any sauce on these ribs!
These ribs are best cooked over charcoal, with indirect heat. You can, however, achieve satisfactory results with a gas grill. I give instructions for cooking over a gas grill at the end of this recipe.
BBQ Ribs for the Charcoal Grill
Recipe from America’s Test Kitchen
BRINE
• 1/2 cup table salt or 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 racks baby back or St. Louis
Style ribs, or loin back ribs
Ingredients
SPICE RUB
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• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika, plus additional 1/2 teaspoon • 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 3/4 teaspoons ground cumin • 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar • 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper