Spice of Life: July 4th big day for grillin’
Last Modified: Tuesday, July 03, 2012 7:44 PM
By Eric Cormier / American Press
Today is the day millions of Americans celebrate July 4th by standing over grills loaded with delicious meats.
Pork spareribs will be one of the choice items devoured by meat lovers.
Interestingly, during this national holiday, hard-edged grill masters will debate a deep and probing culinary question.
Which rub is better for ribs: wet or dry?
Personally, I am a little partial to a dry rub, especially if it is made using Memphis barbecue techniques.
Memphis ribs are messy, but in a clean way. Minus a heavy basting sauce — the hallmark of a wet rub — dry rubbed spareribs allow for the flavors of paprika, oregano, garlic powder and other spices to join with the natural juices of the pork.
When you lick your fingers, you get seasoning, not sauce ... messy but clean.
What follows is a Memphis-styled dry rub.
As you fire up the grill today, consider these words from famed food writer James Beard.
“Grilling, broiling, barbecuing — whatever you want to call it — is an art, not just a matter of building a pyre and throwing on a piece of meat as a sacrifice to the gods of the stomach.”
Memphis-Style Dry Ribs
Ingredients
• 6 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 2 racks St. Louis-cut pork spareribs (about 3 pounds each)
• 3/4 cup apple juice
Directions
• Mix together 2 tablespoon salt, sugar, paprika, black pepper, oregano, garlic, onion, thyme, marjoram, parsley, cumin, mustard, celery, cayenne, fennel and white pepper in a bowl. Rub pork all over with all but 2 tablespoon of spice mixture. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour or chill overnight. Whisk together remaining salt and spice mixture with apple juice and 3⁄4 cup water in a bowl; set basting sauce aside.• Prepare grill. Place ribs, top side down, on grate. Maintaining temperature of 225 F to 275 F. cook, turning once and basting with sauce every 20 minutes, until the tip of a small knife slips easily in and out of the meat, 2 to 4 hours.
From www.saveur.com
Eric Cormier writes about food every Wednesday. Contact him at ecormier@americanpress.com or 494-4090.
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