Sides of barbecue

Elle Harrow and Terry Markowitz

Barbecuing may be America’s oldest competitive outdoor sport. Rivals

spar over the proper technique: wet versus dry, direct versus

indirect, hickory versus mesquite, Texas versus Kansas. The battles

are endless. Since that day lightning struck a wooly mammoth -- and

men in animal miniskirts grunted their appreciation of the superior

taste of the meat -- to today’s pork ribs cooked by the all-American

male dressed in a printed apron, a stylish hat and long gloves, men

have debated the nature of “true” barbecue.

The history of barbecue in the United States traces its roots back

to pioneer days and poverty. Smoking was a cooking method that

preserved meat, and slow cooking tenderized it for those early

settlers with no dentists. Americans spend more than $400 million a

year on charcoal briquettes. Did you know that the inventor of the

briquette was none other than Henry Ford, using wood scraps leftover

from the manufacture of wooden automobile parts? The factory to

produce them was designed by his friend Thomas Edison.

Every great competitor has a support staff and every great

barbecuer must have a o7sous chef f7to fetch and carry the stuff

they forget and to make the side dishes. This article is dedicated to

those flunkies who usually get short shrift in the world of barbecue.

To you we say, “Leave the cooking to your natural born griller and

whip up some of these great seasonal side dishes that can all be made

in the cool of the morning. They’re so good, your guests won’t even

notice whether the rub was wet or dry!”