PORTRAIT AND BOOK: LAUREY W. GLENN; COCKTAILS: OXMOOR HOUSEJUNE 2017 / SOUTHERNLIVING.COM
10Time To Pig Out
If you’re looking for an excuse to cook some ribs, we’re here to helpWHEN I WAS A SUBURBAN KID in Memphis,
there were a few dads on our block who
got together one year to cook a whole hog
for the Fourth of July. This was the single
most exciting thing that had ever happened
in our neighborhood. They dug a pit in
someone’s front yard, filled it with sand, and
then built an oven with cinder blocks, rebar,
and corrugated-steel paneling. Every step of
the process was an event, from the arrival
of the hog to the all-night fire tending to the
party the next day. Red T-shirts were made,
people brought potato salad and peach
cobbler, and we had a ramshackle parade
with banana seat bikes and Big Wheel trikes
decorated with streamers. It’s one of my
favorite memories of summer.Recently, a few dads in my neighborhood
tried to do something similar, and the
technology hasn’t changed much. We built a
pit out of cinder blocks and rebar, stayed up
all night cooking a 180-pound Alabama hog
(and playing about 50 rounds of corn hole),
and invited all our friends over for a backyard
party, complete with a mechanical bull I’d
rather forget. Our friend Pat Martin, proprietor
of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint in Nashville,
coached us through the process by phone,
and the barbecue was exactly what we’d
hoped for: fall-off-the-bone tender, smoky,
and just a little bit crunchy on the edges. We
served it with a peppery coleslaw, buns, and
some barbecue potato chips, though a lot of
people just stood around the pit picking meat
right off the bones. The entire pig was gone
within two hours.
I’m not going to suggest that you cook a
whole hog this summer, because it’s not for
everyone. There are reasons the neighborhood
pig-outs of my childhood lasted for only two
or three years, starting with the cleanup. But
summer in the South is all about cooking in
the backyard, and there’s nothing more fun
to cook outside than a rack of ribs. It was
in that spirit that our Test Kitchen produced
“Stick to the Ribs,” a guide to mastering the
most Southern and delicious of all summer
recipes. You don’t need a cinder block pit or
even a grill to get these on the table. All you
need is a little inspiration, a few neighborhood
friends, and the recipes on page 98. Enjoy.COCKTAILS
AT THE BEACH
OUR FRIENDS at Coastal
Living have just published
a delicious guide to the
cocktails (and mocktails)
of summer. Beach
Cocktails has more than
125 refreshingly simple
drink recipes, plus bar
snacks and appetizers.
It’s as fun and festive
as a day on the coast.
Available wherever books
are sold, $@sidmemphis
[email protected]SID EVANS
EDITOR IN CHIEFMint Julep Iced Tea
SERVES 6|Combine 8 fresh mint
leaves, 1 sliced lemon,
and 1 sliced lime in a
2-qt. pitcher. Crush with
a spoon until mint is
bruised. Stir in 1 cup
(8 oz.) bourbon and
3 cups (24 oz.) cold
sweetened tea. Serve over
ice. Garnish with fresh
mint sprigs and lemon
and lime slices, if desired.