The city of Memphis in Tennessee is known primarily for two things: music and BBQ. Its iconic Beale Street is the official home of the Blues, where legends such as B. B. King, and Louis Armstrong helped develop this musical genre. Memphis itself is considered the birthplace of Rock and Roll, as it's where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis started their recording careers. Elvis' former home, Graceland, is still a pilgrimage site for the aging baby boomers who worshiped Elvis.

I've never been to Memphis myself, but I've known it as the home of the University of Memphis, one of the few non-elite institutions in the country which offers a program in Ancient Egyptian History. This is in honor of the Old Kingdom Egyptian capital for which the city was named.

Memphis is also nationally known for its BBQ style, which features dry rubs and (usually) slow cooking. BBQ became popular in Memphis after WWII, when BBQ joints started to proliferate. Its most famous joint, Rendezvous, dates from this period - though its method of "quickly" cooking BBQ at moderate, rather than low, temperatures makes it anathema to the Memphis style.

For my quick sojourn into Memphis BBQ, I made:

Memphis-Style Ribs

Memphis-Style Ribs are characteristic by having a savory rub (though brown sugar is still a main ingredient, as it's essential to form the crust) that is moistened during the cooking process by a "mop," a sauce usually made of vinegar, water, or a combination of those. Ribs can be served either "wet," slathered in BBQ sauce, or "dry," without any sauce. Each BBQ joint has their own version of both the rub and the sauce.

Most rubs tend to be paprika heavy, and contain some Mediterranean herbs like oregano and/or thyme. Another essential ingredient seems to be celery seeds or salt - I didn't have any at home, so I substituted with nigella seeds, which have a similar flavor profile. Sauces tend to be more vinegary than sweet. Personally, I prefer the Kansas City style, but it's good to try new things.

I used baby back ribs for this recipe, but you can use St. Louis style spare ribs as well. Memphis-Style ribs are usually hickory smoked, and I got a lot of smoke going by using a smoker box, but the ribs had no discernible smoke flavor. Some recipes for Memphis-style ribs have you cook them "naked" and only apply the rub at the end, perhaps if I'd done that the smoke flavor would have penetrated. As it was, I felt I wasted the chips.

I made one rack of ribs dry and another one with the sauce. We all preferred the ones with the sauce, I'm guessing because we are used to sweeter flavors on our BBQ. The ones with just the rub were fairly savory - they were good, but now what we think of when we think BBQ.

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Memphis-Style BBQ Ribs Ingredients For the Ribs 2 racks of pork back ribs 2 tsp kosher salt For the rub 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup sweet paprika 2 Tbsp garlic powder 1 Tbsp onion powder 1 Tbsp ground black pepper 1 Tbsp chili powder 1 Tbsp ground ginger (optional) 1 tsp dry oregano 1 tsp dry thyme 1 tsp celery seeds or celery salt 1 tsp ground mustard or mustard seeds 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper For the mop 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar 2 Tbsp apple cider or juice 1 1/2 tsp prepared yellow mustard For the BBQ sauce 1 cup ketchup 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 Tbsp yellow mustard 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 Tbsp rub 1 Tbsp onion powder 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/4 tsp kosher salt For the Gas Grill cooking oil 1 1/2 cups hickory wood chips Directions Prepare the ribs Pat dry the ribs. Using a knife, remove the thin skin from the back of each rack of ribs. Sprinkle Kosher salt on the ribs. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. Meanwhile Prepare the rub by mixing all ingredients for the rub together. Prepare the mop by mixing all ingredient for the mop together. Put into a food-safe spray bottle. Prepare the BBQ sauce by putting all sauce ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Whisk over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Let cool. Prepare the gas grill by oiling the grilling grates. Fill a smoker box with hickory wood chips and place on one side of the grill. Turn that side of the gas grill to high heat until the wood starts smoking. Turn down the heat to low and preheat the grill to about 250°F. Ready the ribs by brushing each rack with a little bit of oil or water on both sides. Spread a thin layer of rub over both sides. Place the prepared ribs on the cool part of the grill. Cook covered for one hour, adjusting the burners so the grill stays at around 225-250°F. Turn and baste with mop. Continue cooking for 3 more hours, turning and spraying with mop every 30 to 45 minutes. When the ribs are fork tender, brush with more spice rub (if you want dry ribs) or with BBQ sauce (if you want wet ribs). Turn heat under the ribs to medium and cook for a few minutes. Turn and repeat. Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting/eating.

Adapted from several recipes.

Recipes for the Grill

American Regional Cuisines: American, Alaskan, Appalachian, Alabamian, Angeleno, Arizonan, Arkansas, Baltimore, Californian, Coloradoan, Connecticuter, Delawarean, Floridian, Georgian, Hawaiian, Hoosier, Idahoan, Illinoisan, Iowan, Kansan, Kansas City, Kentuckian, Lowcountry, Mainer, Marylander, Massachusetts, Michigander, Minnesotan, Mississippian, Missourian, Montanan

Other Ethnic American cuisines: American, Acadians, African-American, Amish, Appalachian, Cal-Mex, Cajun, Creole, Cuban-American, Floribbean, German-American, Hungarian-American, Irish-American, Italian-American, Jewish American, K-Mex, Korean-American

American Indigenous cuisines (add when we catch up to M) Choctaw, Iroquoian, Kiowa

Historical American Cuisines: Ante Bellum, Colonial, Cowboy

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