JEFF TIEDEMAN: The best ribs
Opinions vary on top method to prepare this barbecue favorite
- Jeff Tiedeman
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What constitutes good barbecued ribs?
Well, that depends on what part of the country you call home and whether you like a sauce or a rub.
If you ask someone from Memphis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Texas, the Carolinas or other areas across the United States, you’ll probably get a different answer from all of them.
And if you don’t believe me, check out the recipes for barbecued ribs in these cookbooks:
— “Grill It” by Bobby Flay (Crown Publishing, $35, 288 pages).
— “Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book” by Chris Lilly (Clarkson Potter, $24.99, 256 pages).
— “Planet Barbecue!” by Steven Raichlen (Workman, $22.95, 638 pages).
— “The Barbecue America Cookbook” by Rick Browne and Jack Bettridge (Lyons, $19.95, 216 pages)
— “Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue” by John Shelton Reed, Dale Volberg Reed and William McKinney (UNC Press, $32, 328 pages).
— “America’s Best BBQ: 100 Recipes from America’s Best Smokehouses, Pits, Shacks, Rib Joints, Roadhouses, and Restaurants” by Ardie A. Davis and Chef Paul Kirk (Andrews McMeel, $24.50, 240 pages).
But the bottom line is that texture, aroma and flavor play a role in any lip-smacking, mouth-watering, finger-licking-good barbecued ribs — no matter how they’re prepared.
While I have a distinct preference to cooking ribs in sauce, some of the finest-tastings ones that have crossed my palate were prepared with rubs.
And I’ll get a chance to sample both styles of cooking this weekend as a judge at Johnny Bravoz’s Second Annual Rib Fest and Barbecue Cook-Off in Oslo, Minn.
John Kirkeby, owner of Johnny Bravoz, is expecting more than 15 entries in the contest, which starts at 5 p.m. Some of the ribs will be grilled, while others will be prepared in smokers. The public is invited and will be allowed to sample the ribs for a nominal fee, which will help determine the People’s Choice.
Contestants will be vying for prizes up to $500 for the best pork ribs. For information on entering, call (218) 695-5000.
John said locals are pretty excited about the contest. “I thought I heard one of them say, ‘Bring on Bobby Flay.’”
To prepare myself for the contest,I fixed some country-style pork ribs the other night in a homemade barbecue sauce and received overwhelming approval from Therese and two of my grandchildren, Naomi and Rakeem. (See recipe at www.grandforks herald.com/ event/tag/group/ Life/tag/food/.)
Maybe I should enter the contest next year.
Tiedeman is food editor at the Herald. Reach him at (701) 780-1136 or toll-free at (800) 477-6572, or e-mail at jtiedeman@gfherald.com.
Tags: jeff tiedeman, barbecued ribs, life, updates, food, columns
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