Family heirlooms…
October 16th, 2009 by HHG
The word ¨heirloom¨ is defined as a valued possession that has been passed down through the generations. Heirloom also applies to the seeds of cultivated crop varieties saved by farmers which have been cherished over many generations. With implications of preserving family traditions, food and agricultural traditions, I can´t imagine a more appropriate word for the title of our company. This past week I was reminded once again of the importance of family heirlooms, particularly those pertaining to food. The women in the Button-Liddell-Makemson families are famous for their love of cooking (well for the moment merely famous amongst our close family and friends). Putting delicious food on the table for the entire family to enjoy has always been of utmost importance. The most important aspect of a family gathering, or family vacation, is the food that is going to be prepared and who´s going to prepare it. Although, I, Katie, was never able to meet my great grandmother, Florence Makemson, affectionately known as ¨Tillie,¨ I know her cooking through her much loved recipes.
When Mateu Cassanas, pastry chef at El Bulli, asked me if I had a barbecue sauce recipe that I could prepare for their research on the many different styles of barbecue sauce, I immediately thought of all of the family vacations at Litchfield Beach in South Carolina, cooking barbecue ribs with great grandma´s recipe. I called my mother that very night to email me the recipe so I could go into work early the next day. Anticipating the lack of horseradish, required in the recipe, I got up extra early and searched 3 different grocery stores before finding some. I was NOT willing to leave the horseradish out. With horseradish, measuring cups and teaspoons (totally foreign and confusing tools to the Europeans) in tow. I carefully measured every ingredient then weighed them on a scale to convert the to grams. I tasted the sauce 20 times adjusting the amount of black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, and salt. Then I cautiously presented my great grandmother´s barbecue sauce to the top chefs at El Bulli. They loved it!! I only wish my great grandmother were alive to know that her famous barbecue recipe, her own creation, made it into the archives of the number one restaurant in the world. I´m excited to see what El Bulli will do with it!
So for all of you to enjoy, here is the original recipe, in her own handwriting, for Barbecued Spareribs from Tillie´s Kitchen.
Posted in Chapter One: The Four Corners of the World | Comments (3)
April 7th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Upon request, here are the detailed instructions of my Great Grandmother’s recipe since it is a little difficult to read:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 to 3/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 clove garlic, mashed
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/3 cup chili sauce (Heinz)
3 tablespoons horseradish
3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper, paprika to taste and a dash of cayenne
This recipe is for 5 lbs of pork spareribs. Here is where we deviate a little bit from her traditional recipe. Mix all of the above ingredients together and marinate the meat in the sauce for approximately 2 hours. Reserve the sauce. Cook the spareribs on the grill slowly, over indirect heat, basting with the bbq sauce until tender. Enjoy!
April 7th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
My brother, Shane Liddell aka Grill Master, says that Great Grandma’s bbq recipe is best if you marinate the meat in the bbq sauce overnight, grill it for 30 minutes, then bake it in the oven at 250 for 3 to 4 hours, basting periodically with more bbq sauce. The meat falls right off the bone!
August 21st, 2010 at 12:41 am
I hope you will keep updating your content constantly as you have one dedicated reader here.