Good article in NY Times by stephen raichlen


 
Stephen is a bright man! Glad I read this thanks for posting. As a bright man said "their's lots of ways to skin a cat."
 
I still prefer to skin my cats,,,,or should I say smoke my ribs the old fashion way, with my WSM and apple wood.

Mike
 
The article was sent to me last night for commentary. I found it somewhat off-putting, written in the breathless tones of so much food writing. To this end I found it interesting: wherever has he been for the past, oh, twenty-five years or more? He writes as if braised or otherwise oven-cooked ribs is some new thing on restaurant menus. "The chefs who are now rescuing oven ribs from their lowly reputation...". Only now? Hardly. Many chains have "made matters worse when they slathered boiled or baked ribs with barbecue sauces pumped up with artificial smoke to compensate for lackluster flavor." Still do. But restaurant chefs have been braising ribs in a flavorful fashion for quite a while.

I've always had problems with Raichlen. I never noticed the by-line last night.
 
yea, i agree that its not a new thing. i also think that q'n ribs the way we do is fun and has great results. but the rest of the world doesn't do it that way so we become the oddballs. most is done by plain old grilling or in a pot. whatever way is chosen, as long as its good, i'm gonna dig in !
 
That's nothing new lol. Does not take a rocket scientist to know you cannot bbq in the oven. Sometimes i wonder about these so called bbq gurus, imo they are full of hot air.
 
Interesting article, but I don't think it will change my way of life. At least not when it comes to ribs.

This part, on the other hand, could leave quite an impression on me if I knew how it was made:

In 1991, Dr. Myhrvold was a guest member on one of the most decorated barbecue teams in American history, steering the team to victory in the meatless “Anything But” category, for smoked fettuccine noodles paired with cream sauce flavored with Vidalia onions and barbecue rub.
 
Things have come full circle. Pretty funny; I grew up with my mom oven-baking ribs all the time. Delicious. Not Q'd but good eating.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gary H. NJ:
Things have come full circle. Pretty funny; I grew up with my mom oven-baking ribs all the time. Delicious. Not Q'd but good eating. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Gary's right on. Growing up inn an apartment in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, Q'ing wasn't an option, but the oven sure was.
 
I find it hard not to like raichlen. How can you not admire someone that travels the world, including many third world countries, eats bbq at stalls, food carts and dives and brings back the recipes (or approximations thereof) for a book? Most of his recipes have worked beautifully for me. Having said that, I believe I've read statements in his books like: "I've heard rumors that some people are cooking pork shoulders for 14 hours" which leads me to believe that he's not really in touch with bbq (as opposed to grilling).

I don't have the same problems kevin did with the article. Specifically, the style is the NYT house style and I'd guess the article was heavily edited to reflect that style. "The chefs who are now rescuing oven ribs from their lowly reputation...". He set the context of the lowly reputation earlier in the article: "Until recently, barbecue connoisseurs in places like Kansas City would have considered ribs cooked in the oven little short of blasphemy. In barbecue country and elsewhere, the technique had a miserable reputation that, in truth, was often deserved." I think this statement is true and if we did a poll here, I'd guess most people would not order oven baked ribs in a restaurant.

Finally, I appreciated the restaurant recommendations and next time I'm in LA, I'll definitely try the ribs at Animal. Thanks to phil for posting the link
 
I've had some very good ribs that have been braised, but nothing can replace the unmistakable flavor that real smoke adds. To me this is a pre-requisite for ribs...as Pete B so eloquently stated above, "Uhh, no smoke, no eat." That is just my personal opinion, but one I see is shared amongst some of us on this board.
 
I didn't have problems with that line, jeff. But from the very opening of the article - "CONVENTIONAL wisdom holds that pork ribs taste best when cooked outdoors on a grill or smoker." (I'd dispute that 'conventional wisdom' holds anything of the kind.) - to "Animal’s owners are among the growing number of chefs..." to "The chefs who are now rescuing oven ribs from their lowly reputation take a profoundly different approach." betrays an utter lack of understanding of history regarding chefs (in the US and elsewhere) and their food. Some simple fact checking and research would have nipped this stuff in the bud. Maybe this is new for Raichlen - but it certainly isn't new at all. He could have written that many chefs were resurrecting oven ribs - which would be true, and which would have shown that he actually knew what he was talking about.

But this is standard for many 'celebrity' chefs and food writers. Their first books or articles can often be rather good. When they do well and if 'celebrity' status is achieved, careful research and editing fly right out the window. Subsequent books and articles seem to sell and get published on the name alone, editing is poor or spotty, 'facts' are not, etc., and one nearly always senses a similar breathless (read: lazy) style. Raichlen is far from the first to fall into this hole and I'm sure will not be the last.
 
kevin, I hear you on lazy. I've noticed many of his recipes are repeated book-to-book. Perhaps our difference of opinion stems from our respective views of his audience. The article is not written for a kevin kruger or the denizens of this forum. Instead, it's written for the readers of the ny times and read from that perspective, I think the article makes sense. For example, I'd guess conventional wisdom among nyt's readers is that ribs taste best when cooked outdoors. anyhow, I don't want really want to defend raichlen as I agree with your basic premise that he seems to be resting on his laurels.

Which bbq books have you enjoyed?

best,
jd
 
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