Calvin Trillin is by all measures a great writer, one of our finest humorists, and he frequently aims his pen and funnybone at food. Since he comes from Kansas City, barbecue is a favorite topic. Some of Trillin's best food writing can be found in The Tummy Trilogy which is actually three books in one.
After only six or eight meals of barbecued mutton, I had prepared the report I would give to the first internationally influential eater I ran across. "They serve it just about every way," I would say. "Sliced, chopped, ribs, hidden in burgoo."
"Is it good?"
"It's not bad at all."
"Just not bad?"
"I believe I prefer it to Greek Chili," I would say. "Also, as far as I know, it is not illegal in its most authentic form." Barbecued mutton is, as the saying goes, not Kansas City, but there were reasons not to apply such standards.
In Posh & Pat's, after all, the restaurant gossip going on when I walked in was not about someone's secret sauce formula but about the Burger Farm franchise just down the interstate being replaced by a Wiener King. A local restaurant man who happened to be at Posh & Pat's counter downing a sliced-mutton sandwich said he was thinking of opening a new steak restaurant with an "old depot" décor. "It's all Western or Barn here now," he told me. With the franchisers and décor-mongers closing in, any authentic local specialty obviously needs celebrating.
Did I want a nice river city like Owensboro - a city that, according to my calculations, has a barbecued-mutton restaurant for every fifty-one hundred and eighty-eight residents - to be known as the Ex-Tube Capital of the World? Was it fair to serious eaters like the Chaneys that foreigners should believe their state to be nothing but a jungle of fast-food franchises? "Kentucky is the Barbecued-Mutton Capital of the World," I would tell the first eater of influence I could find. "Spread the word."
Sunlite Kentucky Black Barbecue Sauce & Dip For Lamb And Mutton
"Mary Had a Little Lamb. Won't You Have Some, Too?" Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn
The most obscure of the regional American barbecue sauces is the Kentucky Black Barbecue Sauce & Dip because it can be found in only a small area of Western Kentucky just east of Louisville around Owensboro. This fascinating blend is mostly vinegar and Worcestershire sauce and it is designed to go with the specialty of the region, slow smoked mutton.
The first sheep came over with Columbus on his second voyage and were grown more for their fleece than their meat. Demand for wool kept the US herd up near 60 million head through WWII, and it has been on a steady decline since then, down to about 6 million head today. Tender young lamb is still a popular meat, but far less popular than beef, pork, and chicken.
When a lamb is no longer producing enough wool, more than 1 year old, it is slaughtered for food and the meat is called mutton. It has a distinctive and gamier taste than younger, more succulent lamb. As with so many other barbecue meats such as pork ribs and beef brisket, mutton found its way to the low slow smoker because it is tough, full of connective tissue, and less desireable than lamb.
And why Western Kentucky? Once upon a time, in the 1800s, Kentucky was the largest lamb producing state. It has now fallen to number 34. But the tradition of barbecue mutton lives on in dozens of barbecue joints and church socials. The cuts of choice are shoulder and rear leg.
Black Barbecue Sauce sounds wierd, but it is remarably effective. I was pretty skeptical, but once I tasted it, I understood. Sweet sauce would be all wrong. This thin tart sauce cuts the rich fat, which is more intensely flavored than beef, pork, and chicken by far. The sauce is used as a baste, called a dip, because it is thin and penetrates. It is also used as a finishing sauce.
The meat is prepared in a similar fashion to pulled pork, but it is usually not shredded, it is sliced. It is then doused with the thin sauce that enters all its pores.
Some places, like the Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn, the most famous of all the Western Kentucky barbecue joints, have two slightly different recipes, one for basting, and one for serving. Moonlite published some of their recipes in a cookbook, Family Favorites from Moonlite, which I tried, and frankly, wasn't impressed. So I studied their published recipes, ordered a bottle from their website, set about trying to reverse engineer it, and then I amped it up a notch. In head to head blind tasting, everyone liked mine better. So I canlled it Sunlite just to make sure there is no confusion.
Makes. 3 cups Preparation time. 25 minutes.
Ingredients
2 cups water
1/2 cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
7 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
1 1/4 teaspoons lemon juice
Do this
1) Mix all the ingredients in a pot and simmer for 10 minutes.
2) Prepare a leg of lamb or a shoulder by smoking it low and slow as you would a pork shoulder for pulled pork. Cut the meat off the bone in 1/8 to 1/4" thick slices and douse with warm sauce just before serving.
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GrillGrates Take You To The Infrared Zone
GrillGrates are the best new product I have tested in years and the best thing to happen to beef since salt and pepper. The base superheats, eliminates hot spots, and blocks flareups. This is the concept behind the expensive new infrared grills. A must for gas grills. Click here for more about GrillGrates.
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ThermoWorks Pocket Thermometer - No More Guessing
A good thermometer is why I never serve overcooked or undercooked food. This one has a very thin tip with a tiny thermocouple so it gives an accurate reading in just six seconds. I cannot recommend it more highly. It will improve your cooking overnight and pay for itself in a hurry. And it is inexpensive. Click here for more about thermometers.
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Calvin Trillin is by all measures a great writer, one of our finest humorists, and he frequently aims his pen and funnybone at food. Since he comes from Kansas City, barbecue is a favorite topic. Some of Trillin's best food writing can be found in 
which is actually three books in one.
, which I tried, and frankly, wasn't impressed. So I studied their published recipes, ordered a bottle from their website, set about trying to reverse engineer it, and then I amped it up a notch. In head to head blind tasting, everyone liked mine better. So I canlled it Sunlite just to make sure there is no confusion.
AmazingRibs.com is all about the science and zen of barbecue, grilling, and outdoor cooking, with great BBQ recipes and techniques: Baby back ribs, spareribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, steak, burgers, chicken, smoked turkey, lamb, barbecue sauces, burgers, steaks, rubs, and side dishes, with the world's best buying guide to barbecue smokers, grills, and accessories. It is edited by 
About Product Reviews and Best Value Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals. These are highly recommended products based on features, quality, and especially value. Rest assured that when we recommend a product, it is really because we like it, not because someone has paid us to say so because we do not accept advertising from products we review. We purchase many products we review although occasionally suppliers send us samples. We have always been transparent about when we are reviewing a product sample, even before 
The prize for Best BBQ Tool at the 2012 The National Barbecue Association conference went to a simple inexpensive fridge magnet by Meathead. It includes the latest USDA recommendations as well as chef recommendations (and they often differ) as well as color photos of the different stages of doneness for red meats. The temperatures are the same for both indoor and outdoor cooks. 
With a $30 donation you'll get a 100% cotton brushed twill adjustable low profile cap with the AmazingRibs patch sewn on. I'll even toss in a small bag of BBQ'rs Delight wood smoke pellets. Click here for 
