The sacred fire pit.

Today it is 18 Celcius here in London.  This of course heralds only one thing:  barbecue season is imminent.  I wager it will be less than 24 hours before I detect the carbonized odour of a cremated sausage wafting over my garden fence.  I am no exception to this - every Englishman's yearning for the advent of the summer period.  I love a good barbecue, it's just, in my opinion I actually can operate one without disseminating some kind of food poisoning to all my guests.

It is said that the word barbecue originates from the Caribbean, specifically from the Taino people.  The word, "barabicu" means sacred fire pit.  The word transgressed into the European languages by way of the word "barbecoa", and in England, in 1756 as a term to define the whole roasting of a hog.

It will come as no surprise to you, that I have very specific opinions regarding how to and how not to barbecue:

•   I am not going to even mention Gas barbecue's.
•   Barbecues are fuelled by wood, briquettes or some kind of solid combustible material.
•   There are alternatives to sausages, burgers and chicken wings to put on a barbecue.
•   Shop-bought pre-marinaded products are over-expensive and under-flavoured.
•   Pre-cooking of some kind of meats is optimal - for example chicken thighs and pork ribs.
•   Banana's with chocolate buttons in them should never be anywhere near a barbecue.

One of my favourite things to cook on a barbecue are pork ribs.  They are inexpensive, truly flavoursome and can feed a whole lot of guests.  As mentioned above, I part-cook them and then pretty much finish them off on the barbie (thats the charcoal-fire grilling station, not the plastic doll).  Here's how I make my ribs:

•   Get your largest boiling pot and put the ribs in (usually I snip the ribs in two sections).  If you are using 2 racks, then you might need to use 2 pots.
•   Fill the pots with water so that it covers the ribs completely.  Add 1 tablespoon of white wine, or spirit vinegar.
•   Boil for 1.5 hours, removing the scum at opportune moments.
•   During this time make the marinade
•   In a small pan add a few good squirts of tomato ketchup
•   Add a few good squirts of american style mustard (Frenches for example).
•   Add a few glugs of worcestershire sauce.
•   Add a few glugs of tabasco sauce.
•   Add a teaspoon of sweet, smoked paprika.
•   Add a teaspoon of ground cumin.
•   Add a good pinch of dried oregano.
•   Add a few good glugs of cider vinegar.
•   A teaspoon of molasses.
•   Some black pepper.
•   Heat the pan up slowly, allowing all the ingredients to mix and for the sugar to melt.  This should only take 2-3 minutes on a medium heat.  
•   Allow to cool.

•   When the grill is ready - not too hot, not burned out, liberally brush the ribs with your marinade.
•   Grill on the barbecue until ready
•   Om nom nom!