It's the weekend, baby! For me, this means kicking back, seeing friends, catching up on reading, and of course, making something delicious to nom. This weekend I made these sticky bbq ribs, and they were REALLY good.

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It's quite a simple recipe, and doesn't take too much work. It's a bit time consuming, so you can also slow cook the ribs overnight. I made a simple green salad with lentils and roasted baby potatoes to accompany my ribs, and it was sooo good!

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🌻🌻 HISTORY OF SPARE RIBS 🌻🌻

When I told my work colleague about the delicious ribs we had made on Friday night, he told me a story about his uncle who was a butcher. Apparently, this butcher considered spare ribs a waste, and would throw them out. SACRILEGE!!!

This so called butcher story got me thinking... Where do ribs originate, and why do we love them so much?! Of course, here in South Africa, we have the chain restaurant Spur to thank. They were one of the first restaurants to flame grill steaks and ribs here, and the entire restaurant chain is inspired by the American Indians... A bit strange in today's day and age, but hey - South Africa is weird place.

So whoever started up Spur back in the '70's had obviously travelled to the States and visited some of their BBQ restaurants. But who brought ribs to 'Murica?

In my research, I read that Queen Isabella (queen of Castile, Spain from 1474 - 1504) had commanded (her spare rib craving was kinda hectic, I hear 😂😂) good ol' Christopher Columbus to take some pigs with him to Cuba, and in the next few years, the flock became 700 strong. These piggies were then taken to Tampa, Florida by another explorer a little later. Inspired by the native people of the Caribbean and their slow and low method of cooking food over a wooden platform, American's slowly but surely perfected the art of the barbeque.

an original artwork by moi

Here in Cape Town, if you really want to eat some great ribs, you have to go to Lefty's. They smoke all their meat right on the premises, and their ribs literally fall off the bones. It's a super cool, dive bar with incredibly good food.

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🌻🌻 ETYMOLOGY OF THE TERM "SPARE RIBS" 🌻🌻

The term spareribs does not refer to extra ribs. The term actually comes from the German Rippenspeer which literally translates to "spear ribs," as this cut was traditionally roasted on a spit or spear. In English, it became ribspare and eventually sparerib. This term not only refers to the practice of roasting the meat on a spear or spit, but it is a perfectly reasonable description of the cut itself, being spare of meat.

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INGREDIENTS

• a few racks of pork ribs (we bought some in a marinade, about 1,5kg, which probably equate to 300g of actual meat per person)
• beef stock
• bay leaves
• chili flakes
• oreganum
• chinese 7 spice
• soy sauce
• barbeque sauce of your choice
• two cloves of garlic

METHOD

Place your ribs neatly in a slow cooker. Add salt, pepper, chili flakes, chinese 7 spice, bay leaves, oreganum, crushed garlic and then cover with the beef stock and soy sauce. I added a squirt of Sriracha, cuz I'm just so obsessed with the stuff. 😆😆

Cook on low for four to six hours. The smell will be incredible. After the six hours has passed, and the meat looks like it may flake, place the ribs on a slotted baking tray, and baste with your barbeque sauce. I always salt the ribs a bit at this stage, but this will come down to personal preference.

Bake at 180'C for about 30 minutes a side, turning once, basting every ten minutes. Once the ribs are crispy, serve with your sides, and enjoy!

This is a great recipe for a weekend, and you can even slow cook the ribs overnight, to be grilled that evening.

One day when I am big, I will have a smoker to smoke my meat in. 😍😍

Thank you for reading - hope you enjoyed this week's instalment of Mew Mew's Food Porn

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