The Very Best Of Barbeque
Burnt Ends – LC’s Bar-B-Q – Kansas City, MO, originally uploaded by theeatenpath.
The Very Best of Barbeque
by Kerri Buckley
The early 1900’s fostered some sophistication in the muddy cowtown of Kansas City. There was a refinement – in both music and cuisine. In 1908 Henry Perry bought an old trolley barn at 19th and Highland and turned it into a barbeque shack, selling slabs of ribs on newsprint for a quarter out of the back of an old trolley car. The smoky cuisine fared well with the hot and sultry notes of jazz and the blues pulsing all over the city…it was the new sound and the new cuisine.
One of Perry’s apprentices, Charlie Bryant, purchased “Old Man Perry’s” and together with his brother Arthur “King Arthur” Bryant, perfected the recipes, covered the sawdust floor with linoleum, and eventually had columnist and Kansas City native Calvin Trillin proclaiming their restaurant to be the “best in the world”. That restaurant is still located in the historic 18th and Vine district, and has seen the likes of President Truman and President Carter, in addition to other famous and worldly diners. Barbeque didn’t get it’s start in Kansas City, though. The Carolina’s can take credit for that, and there are other regions well-known for its barbeque – Texas, Memphis and Arizona. It has been refined and perfected to such an extent that around the world Kansas City means barbeque and barbeque means Kansas City.
Much controversy exists over the exact meaning of barbeque; it can be defined as a method of roasting or smoking meat slowly over hardwoods or charcoal at a temperature range of 200 to 375 from 4 to 15 hours. Hickory smoke imparts a reddish color to the meat. Barbeque sauces are of extreme importance and they vary across regions. In the Carolinas the sauce for barbeque is a mix of peppers in a bottle of vinegar, in Texas the sauce is a tomato base with vinegar, Worcestershire and hot peppers. Kansas City’s sauce is also a tomato-based sauce with a smoky blend of molasses and brown sugar for character and body. The type of meat varies, also, from region to region. Texas barbeque means beef, and the cut is distinctly brisket. In the South, barbeque means pork, as in the popular pulled pork from Memphis. In Kansas City barbeque can mean anything from pork to beef to chicken, and also vegetables.
It is helpful to know other definitions important to barbeque. Baby Back Ribs are the ribs of a pork loin and are usually about 2 pounds per slab. Burnt ends are the charred ends of a brisket-they cannot be sliced. In the food industry they are sometimes referred to as “brownies”. A pit is a closed container, a smoker, a grill, a brick or cement enclosure or a hole in the ground, where the roasting and smoking takes place. In addition to sauces, there are marinades, glazes as finishing sauces, and mops – sauces mopped on with a small, cotton rag mop. Then there are the rubs-dry marinades of aromatic and smokey spices. The variations of rubs are endless. Memphis is known for it’s dry rubbed Baby Back Ribs.
Other famous barbeque tycoons from Kansas City have been George Gates and his son Ollie; Otis Boyd, who went to culinary school in the 1940’s in Chicago and then brought his expertise to Kansas City; Rich Davis who made KC Masterpiece a household name and Paul Kirk, Kansas City’s Baron of Beef. Paul runs a barbeque school and travels around the country teaching people the art of perfect barbeque. There is a Kansas City Barbeque Society with 2500 worldwide members, regular barbeque contests in and around the city, and the American Royal hosts the largest barbeque contest in the world each October. Below you’ll find recipes for your family barbeque experience that are so hot you’ll be crooning the blues. Enjoy!
Perfect Baby Back Ribs
2 slabs of ribs, cut in half
1 cup dry rub
1 cup barbeque sauce, plus extra for serving at the table
1 pound of wood chips, soaked for 2 hours, apple, hickory or mesquite
On a cutting board, turn the ribs over and with a sharp knife, cut the membrane that covers the bone of each rib. Pull the membrane to each side, exposing the bone. Cut each slab in half to equal 4 half slabs. Cover each slab with 1/4 the dry rub. Cover in plastic and refrigerate overnight. Heat the grill, smoker or oven to 250°. Place the wood chip either on the hot coals or on the lower rack in the oven. Place ribs directly over the coals or wood chips. Roast for 2 1/2 hours. Mop the sauce and roast for an additional 30 minutes. Remove from grill, smoker or oven and serve with additional sauce.
Maple Barbeque Sauce
1 28 oz. bottle of ketchup
1 12 oz. bottle chili sauce
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
2 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup Liquid Smoke
2 dashes Tabasco
2 Tb. Worcestershire sauce
2 peppers, seeded and diced
Combine all ingredients. Use as a mop during grilling and as a sauce served on the side. Refrigerate any leftover sauce.
Basic Dry Rub
1 T cracked black pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. Cayenne pepper 2 T chili powder
1 T cumin
1 T garlic powder
1 T Thyme
1 tsp. oregano
4 T paprika
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 T celery salt
1 T salt
Thoroughly combine all ingredients. Rub mixture into the meat, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Then prepare as desired.
Great Books on Barbeque
Championship Barbecue Sauces: 175 Make Your Own Sauces, Marinades, Dry Rubs, Wet Rubs, Mops and Salsas by Paul Kirk
The Kansas City Barbeque Society Cookbook: Barbeque….It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore by
The Kansas City Barbeque Society
All About Bar-B-Q, Kansas City Style by Shifra Stein
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