Name: Barbecued Spareribs, Languedoc Style (Coustelou au Feu de Bois)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons sugar; ½ cup extra virgin olive oil; 1 teaspoon Herbes de la Garrigue or herbes de Provence, or a mix of thyme, imported bay leaf, rosemary, and sage; ½ cup finely diced ham fat, or substitute 3 ounces finely diced pancetta and 2 ounces dried country ham, cubed medium; 2 sprigs of fresh mint; Salt and freshly ground pepper; 3 pounds pork loin rib ends for barbecue, or 2 sides of meaty country-style spareribs (about 4 pounds), divided into 8 serving pieces (do not substitute ordinary spareribs), trimmed of fat; Sweet and Sour Onion and Raisin Relish (below); 1 tablespoons balsamic or Banyuls vinegar

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Cooking of South West France

By Paula Wolfert

Published 1987

About

When you prepare these ribs in the oven, you will find them a unique eating experience and a welcome change from the sweet, glazed effects of standard Chinese rib barbecue. This is not minimalist pork but robust and pure tasting ribs, dressed with herbs and sizzling ham fat.

The old recipes for this dish call for a special implement, the flambadou, a perforated wrought-iron cup fastened to a long rod. (In Albi this instrument is called a capucin, the word for monk, a r