Finger Lickin' Rib Stickin' Great Tastin' Hot & Spicy Barbecue

In North Carolina the sauce is loaded with vinegar, and hickory smoke is essential. South Carolinians swear by mustard, while Texans insist on tomato sauce and Worcestershire. Author and cook Jane Butel has traveled all across the country to pick up on the passions for America's favorite summertime food: barbecued hamburgers, chicken, ham, duck, ribs and more ribs.

From fast and simple Louisiana Down Home Barbecue to Hawaii's slow and delicious Illahee Pork Chops, Butel's recipes are the best and latest from every region. They have been coaxed from friends and relatives, competitors and restaurateurs, from everyone with a good idea-including barbecue champion Jerry Wood and a chauffeur named Anthony who revealed his own glorious concoction (it relies on plum tomatoes) while driving Butel to a barbecue contest.

Step-by-step instructions explain Basic Sauce and Butel's Super Secret Recipe. The author remarks on spiciness, and considers the pit-smoking versus smokehouse debate. She lists sources for mail-order supplies, and even provides recipes for side dishes: cole slaw, beans, potato salad, and-to finish things off for good-a sumptuous chocolate double fudge cake. Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and Better Homes & Gardens Family Book Service. 274,000 copies in print.

Jane Butel, an internationally recognized authority on the cuisine of the American Southwest, is a cooking teacher, owner of the Pecos Valley Spice Company, and author of more than 15 cookbooks. She owns and manages Jane Butel's Southwestern Cooking School (and its satellites) in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico; Scottsdale, Arizona; and beyond.