Before Smoke and Spice revolutionised backyard home cooking, many believed that smoke-cooked barbecue was best left to pitmasters and Southern barbecue joints. But with these two outdoor-cooking experts at their side, barbecue rookies and seasoned professionals alike can serve up the real barbecue everyone craves, right in their own backyards. Over 400 recipes cover everything from Memphis ribs to Carolina pork to Texas brisket, plus a huge variety of rubs, mops, marinades, sauces, appetisers, sides, desserts, and drinks. To spice things up even more, the Jamisons offer plenty of stories of barbecue lore and pit-side antics, the perfect reminder that good times are as much a part of Q as good food.

About the Author

Cheryl & Bill Jamison are America's most respected authorities on regional American cooking. They have written seven cookbooks, three of which ("Smoke & Spice", "The Border Cookbook", and "American Home Cooking") have won James Beard Book Awards. The Jamisons live just outside Santa Fe in a converted adobe barn shaded by fruit trees.

Reviews

Nine years and a half million copies after its first edition, this handy resource for barbecue done the right way returns in an expanded volume. The Jamisons have added an extra 100 recipes as well as 20 new recipe variations. Classics like a Humble Hot Dog, which demands a bun of "squishy white bread," and Cajun County Ribs sopped in cider vinegar and Worcestershire share the pages with Jerked Salmon done Jamaican style in a sauce of tamarind, honey and ginger. Sometimes worlds collide as with Southwest Stew on a Stick, chili-powdered sirloin glazed in beer and molasses and served as a kebob. Given the proper amount of smoke and time, even the lowliest of meats find dignity, as with the Triple Play Tube Steak, wherein a two-pound chunk of bologna is draped in sauce and smoked for two hours; the sauce caramelizes, making for a sticky-sweet sandwich. An at-first-surprising inclusion is the Kentucky Burgoo, but it turns out to be merely a mix of chicken, beef and lamb, forgoing the possum and squirrel that sometimes turn up in the stew. The authors end the book with a selection of chilly desserts, such as Peach Melba Ice Cream, and cool drinks like Cold Buttered Rum. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

"We don't want to pick sides but it's hard to imagine barbecue better than this."

The first edition of Smoke & Spice has sold more than 500,000 copies since it was published in 1994. Yet at the time, real barbecue, as opposed to simply grilling, seemed a much more esoteric subject than it does today, when so many people have backyard (or indoor) smokers and outdoor cooking is popular year-round in many parts of the country. The Jamisons have updated their text (including Internet resources and the like), revised some of the original recipes, and added 100 new ones, for a total of more than 400 in all. Some of the new recipes are for quicker dishes, while others reflect influences from ethnic cuisines that were little known ten years ago. Many of the recipes include serving suggestions, variations, and/or tips, and there are dozens of sidebars devoted to barbecue legends and lore. For most collections. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.