Pigs on Fire

In his “Dissertation on Roast Pig,” English essayist Charles Lamb painted a vision of the ancient Chinese burning down houses just to have roast pork. In my own life, I’ve seen many a conflagrational contact between pig and fire.

In the ‘70s, some friends of mine decided they wanted to barbecue a suckling pig. A news photographer who’d been famous during the Vietnam War for wading into the goriest part of the fighting offered to build the fire for us, “the way we did it in ‘Nam.” He stayed up all night lovingly tending a bed of coals.

In the morning, when we put the pig on those coals, they turned out to be so hot its skin practically burst into flame. As I recall, we ended up having to divide the scorched porker into chops and grill them all separately. And way off to the edges of the coal bed.

One weekend in the ‘80s, I was up in Bishop recovering from one of the hideous flus that were going around at the time. There was a move to have a barbecue party, and when the question came up of what sauce to use on the ribs, two brothers urged us to try their father’s recipe, which was simply an emulsion of rum and melted butter, applied via ketchup dispensers.

So in my flu-weakened state, I had to watch helplessly as these cackling pyromaniacs squirted their inflammable mixture over and over onto the grill, starting one roaring flare-up after another. You could just about read a book by the light of them.

The truth is, pork likes rather gentle heat. Sufficient to cook it, of course; but pork chops, in particular, overcook easily. If you don’t want chops to come out dry, cook them just until they stiffen. Take one off the grill and slice it. The flesh should still be very faintly pink inside.

Pork can be pretty mild tasting, but marinades can be used to add flavor. Yogurt is an effective marinade for any meat; it’s a common chicken and lamb marinade in Afghanistan and India. Of course, pork is rare to nonexistent in those countries, but that needn’t stop us from swiping the idea. Yogurt has the additional benefit of being one of the few marinades that actually tenderizes; scientists speculate that it has something to do with the nature of lactic acid. Pork is not a tough meat, anyhow--unless you somehow come across free-range pork, otherwise known as wild boar.

With ribs, the question is scarcely ever toughness. The meat is well basted with fat by nature, and gnawing the last tasty morsel off the bones is one of the great attractions of eating ribs. More than chops, ribs cry out for a sweet-sour sauce to play against the rich meat flavor, even a bit more sweet than sour.

The usual American rib sauce is tomato sauce simmered with vinegar, hot pepper, a sweet ingredient and other flavorings until thick and flavorful. Most supermarket barbecue sauces use molasses as the sweetener, but the secret ingredient of many a homemade barbecue sauce is grape jelly or peach preserves. Apricot-pineapple preserves work beautifully too, and apple butter will enrich a molasses-based sauce.

Not every fruit suits barbecue sauce, though. Ask the man who hoped to invent the world’s first blackberry barbecue sauce. Blackberries are for serving on ice cream--they don’t agree with pork, much less tomato sauce. Based on this experience, I’ve also given up my plan to invent blueberry and strawberry barbecue sauces.

There are lots of ways to put the pig to the grill. Pork is a generous, easygoing meat and terrific party food--if you practice safe fire, that is.

Sausage Burger (Frita Cubana)

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Spicy aged sausages like pepperoni and Spanish-style chorizo have wonderful flavor, but they’re a bit too strong to grill by themselves, so dilute the sausage with beef. You could make this using supermarket ground beef in place of chuck, but the texture will not be as good. This recipe is based on one served at El Burrito Loco, a Cuban Mexican restaurant in Burbank.

1 (2 1/2-ounce) link pepperoni or Spanish-style chorizo

1 pound boneless chuck, trimmed of fat

4 hamburger buns

Ketchup

Chopped onions

1/4 cup shoestring potatoes

* Grind sausage or process in food processor to size of peppercorns or smaller. Add chuck and process until mixture stands up on blade.

* Remove meat and pick through to remove connective tissue. Form into 4 patties. Grill over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve on buns with ketchup and onions to taste and enough shoestring potatoes to give sandwich some crunch.

4 burgers. Each burger:

387 calories; 526 mg sodium; 66 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 33 grams carbohydrates; 27 grams protein; 0 fiber.

Black Bean and Bok Choy Salad

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 10 minutes plus 1 hour chilling

Here’s a salad that doesn’t mind a bit being carried to a picnic. You could leave out the bok choy, but it adds a little sweetness to balance the other strong flavors.

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, thoroughly drained

4 stalks celery, diced

2 bunches green onions, white parts only, chopped

2 small heads baby bok choy, chopped

3 to 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 to 3 tablespoons whole-seed mustard

Salt, pepper

* Mix beans, celery, onions and bok choy.

* Whisk together vinegar, oil and mustard and toss beans in dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

4 servings. Each serving: 435 calories; 314 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 28 grams fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 13 grams protein; 3.73 grams fiber.

Yogurt Chops

Active Work Time: 5 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 20 minutes plus 2 hours marinating

The lactic acid in yogurt is a better tenderizer than the acetic acid in vinegar. Chicken responds best to it, but pork also improves in texture and flavor.

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 pint plain yogurt

2 to 3 pounds thin-cut pork chops

* Stir garlic into yogurt. Place chops in glass baking dish, pour yogurt mixture over to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Marinate at room temperature 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

* Remove chops from yogurt mixture and grill over medium-high heat, 3 minutes per side.

6 servings. Each serving: 383 calories; 134 mg sodium; 89 mg cholesterol; 28 grams fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 25 grams protein; 0.01 gram fiber.

Sour Cream Chipotle Sauce

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 5 minutes

This utterly non-classic sauce gives the impression of a Thousand Island dressing with a delayed attack of smoky heat.

1 pint sour cream

3 canned chipotle peppers

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sugar

* Place sour cream, peppers, garlic, vinegar and sugar in food processor and process until smooth, 1 minute. Serve with pork chops.

2 1/2 cups. Each of 2 tablespoons: 50X calories; 17 mg sodium; 10 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0 fiber.

Apricot-Pineapple Barbecue Sauce

Active Work Time: 10 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

This is a sweet and tangy sauce for ribs. Pineapple goes particularly well with ham, but you could leave out the pineapple juice if you don’t want the retro ‘50s effect.

1 onion, minced

2 tablespoons oil

1 (18-ounce) jar apricot-pineapple preserves

1/4 cup pineapple juice

1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt

* Fry onion in oil over medium-high heat until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add preserves, pineapple juice, tomato sauce, vinegar, garlic and Worcestershire and bring to boil. Simmer until thick and flavors have melded, 1 hour. Add salt to taste. Serve with pork chops or ribs. 3 cups. Each of 2 tablespoons: 83 calories; 124 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 19 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.38 gram fiber.

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Cool Grilling

Grilling can bring out the best in pork, especially cuts such as chops and tenderloins. Use this heat chart as a guideline when cooking over fire. Keep in mind that pork can dry out quickly if overcooked, and you want the surface to be crusty and browned, not burned or charred.

Medium Heat:

Chops (Loin, rib or sirloin--not blade)

Ribs (spare or country-style)

Steaks (cut from loin, butt or smoked ham)

Tenderloin

Indirect Heat:

Loin

Ham