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Sunday, August 15, 2010

Memphis Dry Rub

The iconic Charles Vergos' Rendezvous restaurant in Tennessee built the foundation for Memphis style barbecue.  Along with Texas, this style of barbecue is all about not being all about sauce.


Charcoal cooked ribs at Rendezvous are famously slow cooked until tender, mopped with a thin, vinegary baste, then sprinkled with an extra dose of their signature, Greek-inspired dry rub.  Herbs are rarely used in American barbecue rubs, but no one told Charles Vergos when he first started selling ribs out of his restaurant.  Mr. Vergos used the spices he knew best, including generous amounts of garlic and oregano.

Sizzle Grove pays homage to Mr. Vergos with our own Memphis style dry rub.  Next time you make ribs, start with this rub as usual, cook as usual, baste at the end, and then apply a generous dusting at the end of cooking.  Since our version has ten ingredients, we broke it down into approximate percentages for you.  How convenient, no stupid measuring spoons.


INGREDIENTS:
10% Garlic powder
10% Oregano
10% Chili powder (standard American style, which is a blend of spices)
10% Black pepper
20% Kosher salt
20% Paprika
5% Onion powder
5% Ground mustard
5% Cumin
5% Coriander

(Photo by Charles Vergos' Rendezvous)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

measuring spoons are for old ladies...

Nick said...

Yeah, we at Sizzle Grove never ACTUALLY measure when we cook. We include measurements on the site just to give people a general idea, but by NO means do we think you should all really measure! The spice rub and sauce recipes aren't nearly as much of a science as the actual cooking process is.