Note: The informant is from Connecticut but she has family in the Midwest.

Barb-Q Recipe

This recipe has been passed down from the informant’s grandmother to her mom to the informant.

Ingredients

4lbs of spare ribs

1 cup of sliced onions

1 cup ketchup

1 cup water (the informant’s mother doesn’t use water)

1 tsp of salt

2 tbsp worcheshire

¼ cup of vinegar (the informant uses apple vinegar instead)

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp paprika

Instructions

Cut spare ribs into serving pieces and brown. Combine ingredients and pour over ribs. Place the ribs in a pan and bake 350 F° 1 ¾ hours. Some of the sauce will drip onto the pan, spoon the sauce over the ribs three or four times to prevent the food from drying out.

The informant collects recipes that have been passed down generations. She has scans of the recipes in her computer. She says it helps maintain family traditions so maybe the hand written version feels more authentic version.

I find it interesting that the informant scanned recipes into her computer instead of just typing them out. She did state that she likes collecting the recipes because it makes her feel connected to her family traditions. Maybe looking at the handwritten version of the recipes make the recipes feel more authentic then looking at generic typeface.