Proper Ribs

I hadn’t tasted proper ribs – the real, bone-sucking beauties, rather than those dried-up, mealy-mouthed twigs that pass for ribs over here – until about seven years ago. I was a judge, one of many, at the Jack Daniel’s Invitational Barbecue competition in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Two days were spent learning the ins and outs of professional pit judging – what garnishes were acceptable (green-leaf lettuce, common curly parsley and coriander), how to tell if ribs were perfectly