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To Make BBQ Special, Get A Little Sauced

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As publicly as you will cook the meat, you privately prepare the sauce.

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By TONY "FATSO" SICILIANO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 29, 2008

Updated: 07/29/2008 09:11 pm

I was barbecuing a couple of pork shoulders for guests my wife and I had over for dinner a few weeks ago. I smoked the two chunks of pork over temperatures in the 200-degree range for almost 24 hours with plenty of sweet hardwood smoke. The shoulder blade slipped right out of the meat.

I wanted to make a large plate of pulled pork to serve to the guests, but the meat was so tender that it fell apart all by itself. Our guests made pork plates and pork sandwiches.

I humbly thanked them all for enjoying the meal when one of my guests asked me, what my secret was. I told him that the secret to making good barbecue meat is to put your heart into it.

Then he asked, "If you put your heart into the meat, then what do I put into my sauce?"

I thought about the question, and instead of a answering, I told him it was a secret. He said awkwardly, and loudly, "The secret is in the sauce, huh?" I just smirked and went back inside.

I didn't want to give him the answer he was looking for, even though he probably didn't care what the answer would have been. His question about my sauce and what I put into it was deeply personal.

I don't know if you have ever noticed, but a lot of barbecue chefs and pit masters will gladly talk about how they prepare the meat, but when the conversation moves to the sauce, they clam up. They usually give you the same answer that I gave to my friend - "It's a secret" - but that is a lie. It isn't a secret. If you ever had a great barbecue meal, whether in a restaurant or in a buddy's backyard, the cook will always put his heart into the meat, but they put their soul into the sauce.
Cooking meat is easy, really. You can practice and perfect your cooking ability and you can compare your tips and tricks and try new things to make the perfect piece of meat. But as publicly as you will cook the meat, you privately prepare the sauce.

The perfect sauce is tinkered with for years; sometimes the sauce isn't perfected over an entire lifetime.

We give our hearts away all the time. Think of how casually you use the term "love." Sure I love my family, and I love my dog, but I also love ice cream and statues of pirates and off-color jokes. I mean, I use the same word to describe my feelings toward my wife as I do Neapolitan ice cream.

But the soul is much more personal than the heart; it is the difference between a soul mate and a lover. So when you are casually caught off-guard and asked about something so private and so deeply personal as barbecue sauce, you can only give one answer: It is a secret.

The sauce I served that night was thick and rich, sweet and a little tangy, packed with flavor and only a little bit of a bite. It was me; it was my soul, in the form of a red tomato-based condiment slapped on top of a pulled pork sandwich.

Now, if you like, you can use this recipe as a launching pad to change and alter and create something completely different, something that is absolutely perfect to you and you can give this sauce a new life in a different form.

Or if you like, you can try the following recipe as it is written. I hope that you and your family will enjoy it, but it will never be exactly like mine. You see, of all the ingredients that I have prepared for you., I left one out.

TONY FATSO'S "NOT SO SECRET" BARBECUE SAUCE

2 cups of water

3/4 cup of light corn syrup

1/2 cup of tomato paste

1/2 cup of vinegar

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of Liquid Smoke

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of onion powder

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

1/4 teaspoon of paprika

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Mix everything in order into a saucepan on high heat and stir everything until everything that can dissolve is dissolved.

Bring the mixture to a boil and keep it there for about a minute, then lower the heat and let it simmer for about an hour; you can stir it a couple of times while it's simmering if you like.

The sauce will reduce while it is simmering, making it nice and thick. Once it cools down, store it in the refrigerator in a covered glass or plastic bowl overnight so the flavors can mingle and get to know each other.

Tony "Fatso" Siciliano is the host of "On the Grill Radio" from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays on WFLA, 970 AM, or www.onthegrillradio.com.

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