Different smokes for different folks
The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, LA
Thursday July 25, 2002
By Dale Curry, Food Editor

What's the secret to the perfect barbecue? That depends on what part
of the country you're in when you do the grilling.

“In Memphis, the ticket to great barbecue is dry rubs, thin vinegar-based sauces
and slow-smoked, hickory-flavored pork shoulder and pork ribs.
To the west in Texas, it's beef brisket, mesquite flavor, beef and baby back pork
ribs, and thickly slathered tomato-based sauces.
East to the Carolinas, you'll find a pulled-pork devotion similar to Tennessee's
with a thin sauce of hot pepper vinegar. Cuts of choice for pit cooking are pork shoulder and whole hog.
Up in Kansas City, ribs of all kinds dominate the ‘cue’ scene with thin, sweet
sauces, used not only in the cooking but as marinades as well.
In Hawaii, an Asian-influenced sweet sauce contains ingredients such as soy,
ginger, garlic, brown sugar and pineapple, usually applied to pork (especially
wild boar), fish and chicken.
And, in New Orleans, well . . . the closest chef Brack May of Cobalt could come
to an indigenous barbecue dish was barbecued shrimp (a dish traditionally done
in the oven). [Cobalt is closed, and we have been unable to locate Chef May!]
"I want to grill it," he said of his plan to include Louisiana in serving six styles
of barbecue during the hot summer months.
Because this new Susan Spicer-created restaurant turns out "regional American food," May, its executive chef, thought it a natural to include barbecue on an otherwise upscale menu.
This probably had everything to do with the fact that May recently came here
from North Carolina, where he honed his skills under some master barbecuers
and the bug for barbecue bit him hard.
‘I think it's the best way to cook at home all year-round,’ he said. ‘It's a very
healthy way to eat because you cook the fat right out of it.’
But, most of all, May sees barbecue as a good time.
‘You've got to take your time and have fun with it,’ he said. ‘It's sort of a
ceremony. You don't have to have 50 side dishes, maybe a salad. You light
the fire, pour a glass of wine or beer and slowly barbecue.’
May literally made his bones under Ben Barker, owner of Magnolia Grill and
Pops in Durham, N.C., where he worked for five years.
‘I did a lot of pig picking,’ he said, explaining that he frequently cooked and
pulled the smoked meat off hogs weighing 40 to 70 pounds.
…And yes, New Orleans will be represented with shrimp cooked on a barbecue
grill, not in the oven, he said.
Meanwhile, he shares his recipes for home barbecue enthusiasts:
 

Carolina Pulled Pork Barbecue

This rub will help you mimic smoke in your home oven, but if you can,
 cook slowly over wood (hickory is preferred) at 180 to 200 degrees [F].

1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 pork butt (4 to 6 pounds), cut into
6 equal pieces in a bowl
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon dark chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves chopped fine

Combine canola oil with molasses and coat the pork, then rub with the dry spices. Roast on a rack at 275 to 300 degrees [F] until tender, around 2 to
2 1/2 hours. Check periodically with a fork until the meat is tender enough
to shred or pull. Let stand for 15 minutes before shredding.

Note: Meat should be cooked with all of the fat on it.
Remove any excess fat before chopping or shredding.

Carolina Barbecue Sauce

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 pint white or apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar (this is purely optional)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce (this should
be adjusted to taste)
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 cup of ketchup

In oil, sauté onions until transparent. Add garlic and cook for three to
four minutes. Add vinegar. Add all ingredients except ketchup, bring to
a simmer and make sure the sugar is dissolved. Stir in ketchup and cool.
Coat meat with the sauce and serve with a sweet, creamy cole slaw.

Fontina and Poblano Cornbread

3/4 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons melted warm butter
2 tablespoons minced poblanos
1/4 cup shredded fontina cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees [F]. Sift the dry ingredients and mix. Add milk, egg and butter and combine until just mixed. Fold in the cheese and peppers
at the end and pour into a greased 8-by-4-inch loaf pan and bake for about
10 minutes. Slather butter on top of the loaf and cook for about 15 minutes longer. Cool on a rack.

Midwestern-Style Barbecue Sauce

Makes 1 quart

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, medium diced
1 1/2 inch slice of slab bacon (to be
removed after sauce simmers) *
3 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 cup cider vinegar
5 pounds fresh peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped dill pickle or cornichon
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon dry oregano
1/2 tablespoon dry tarragon
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a non-reactive pan until hot and add the onions and
cook for about eight minutes, stirring constantly. Add the slab of bacon
and cook the bacon and onions for about 10 more minutes, until onions
begin to get very dark. Add the garlic and stir. Next add the vinegar and
reduce until the pan is almost dry again. Add the tomatoes and cook for
about 4 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients and cook for about
an hour on low to medium heat, stirring to avoid scorching. Remove the
bacon and eat or discard. Puree half of the mixture and recombine. Cool
and store in the refrigerator. This sauce can be used on a variety of meats;
it can be thinned out and used as a marinade as well.

*Brack May uses Neuske-brand slab bacon. Other hickory-
smoked bacon, slab or sliced, may be substituted.

Memphis Dry Rub for Barbecued Spareribs

“When we dry rub ribs, we want to cook them over wood heat at
190 to 200 degrees F for about 3 1/2 hours, until the meat is soft
but not falling off the bone.”
- Brack May

1/4 cup paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons onion powder
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons dry basil, finely ground
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons course ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Rub on spareribs before smoking.
Note: If you would prefer cooking ribs in the oven with the approximate temperature and timing as above, you will not get a smoky flavor. But it
is much easier, still tastes great and is almost foolproof.

Slow-Cooked Brisket with
Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

One 4- to 7-pound whole brisket

Prepare the brisket with rub as described below. Over medium-hot coals, smoke the brisket at about 180 degrees for 10 to 12 hours. (This can be
done ahead of time and reheated when ready to serve.) In Texas they
mostly use mesquite wood. May suggests a blend of mesquite and
hickory. Serve with chipotle barbecue sauce and buns, if desired.

Southwestern Rub
1 cup ground ancho powder
1 cup toasted cumin, ground
1 cup toasted coriander, ground
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 1/2 ounces kosher salt

Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container. This is quite a bit of
rub, but it lasts forever. If you want to make less, change the cups to two tablespoons, the salt to one tablespoon and use pinches of cinnamon and cayenne. Rub this on a four- to seven-pound whole brisket with the fat
left on and bring the meat to room temperature before cooking.

Cobalt's Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

Makes 1 quart

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, medium diced
1 1/2 inch slice of slab bacon (to be
removed after sauce simmers)*
3 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 cup cider vinegar
5 pounds fresh peeled, seeded
and chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup cane vinegar or molasses
1/4 cup chipotle in adobo, pureed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon dry oregano
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a non-reactive pan until hot and add the onions and
cook for about eight minutes, stirring constantly. Add the slab of bacon
and cook the bacon and onions for about 10 more minutes, until the
onions begin to get very dark. Add the garlic and stir. Next add the
vinegar and reduce until the pan is almost dry again.
Add the tomatoes and cook for about four minutes, then add the rest of
the ingredients and cook for about an hour on low to medium heat, stir-
ring to avoid scorching. Take the bacon out and eat or discard. Purée
half of the mixture and re-combine. Cool and store in the refrigerator.
This sauce can be thinned out and used as a marinade as well.

*Brack May uses Neuske-brand slab bacon. Other hickory-
smoked bacon, slab or sliced, may be substituted.
© The Times-Picayune. Used with permission.
 

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