Adjust your Spam filter

It’s amazing how fast an entire season can pass, and seemingly turn, overnight. I initially wrote this column a few weeks ago, working ahead of schedule because of a trip, and I commented on how cold it was at the end of August, but that summer was back again. Well, I don’t know what to predict now, as my garden darn near frosted on me just a day after my return.

But I’ll guess that we’ll still get some of those Indian summer days that you can take advantage of to extend the season. In that spirit, it’s still a good time to talk about cheap meat, cooked a long time, at low temperature, with smoke, until fork-tender-falling-apart good. In other words: barbecue.

Also, Spam. But let’s do barbecue first. I recently sent my wife out for a Boston Butt, which confused her, arguing with the good fellow at the meat counter, “He said ‘butt,’ not ‘shoulder.’ ” By whatever name, a pork shoulder roast is a cheap, fatty hunk-o-junk, unless you throw it in a smoker for a good workday, in which case it turns to gold.

A word about barbecue again, for the uninitiated: The thing you do with your Weber over hot coals is grilling, not barbecue. You can (kind of, sort of) arrange your coals to approximate cooking with a smoker, but I don’t recommend it. An electric kettle water smoker doesn’t cost too much and hauling it out is definitely a manly sort of thing to do. The best part, though, is that for so little work – though you should absolutely exaggerate the (hot, sweaty) effort – you turn out such good grub.

I think it’s also worth it to read up, at least a bit, on the history of barbecue. You can then (snootily) tell people that real barbecue doesn’t depend on a sauce, in fact, too heavy a sauce overwhelms all that good smoke flavor you worked so hard (wink, wink) to create.

Further, that for a purist, a ketchup-based sauce would never come near the ‘cue. You can remind people that the early American settlers thought that tomatoes were poisonous, that the first sauces (“finishing” sauces, as they’re called, because they’re added after cooking, or on the side) used oysters, and that that’s why many vinegar sauces call for the addition of a little fish sauce. And that the bread is more just to hold the barbecue together, rather than to add flavor, and that’s why cheap white bread buns are preferred.

Finally, you can describe the joys of Spam, smoked for three hours, until it turns a gorgeous brown. And, no kidding, it’s nearly as good as the real deal.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

For the rub:

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon hot paprika powder (preferably Spanish)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon fresh ground chipotle chili powder

1 5- to 6-pound pork shoulder roast (sometimes called Boston Butt)

A day ahead, coat the roast with the rub, pressing it in firmly all over. Cover and refrigerate. Remove from fridge when you get up, pre-warm your smoker, and let the roast come to room temperature. Add a cup of alder (or your preference) chips just before putting the roast in, and more chips, as desired, every couple of hours. Smoke the roast until very tender (cooking time varies with temperature etc.), at least 6 to 8 hours. Pull apart with two forks or your fingers. Add a finishing sauce, if desired, and serve on cheap white bread buns with dipping sauces on the side.

Yield: 10 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving (without buns or sauce): 360 calories, 21 grams fat (7.4 grams saturated, 54 percent fat calories), 39 grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrate, 138 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 351 milligrams sodium.

Eastern North Carolina-Style Barbecue Sauce

From “The Thrill of the Grill,” Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, (William Morrow & Company, 1990)

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients together.

Yield: About 2 cups sauce

Approximate nutrition per 2-ounce serving: 14 calories, no fat, less than 1 gram protein, 3.5 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, no dietary fiber, 75 milligrams sodium.

Simple Colonial Virginia Barbecue Sauce

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients together.

Yield: About 2 cups sauce

Approximate nutrition per 2-ounce serving: 8 calories, no fat, less than 1 gram protein, 1 gram carbohydrate, no cholesterol no dietary fiber, 128 milligrams sodium.

South Carolina-Style Mustard Sauce

1 cup cider vinegar

6 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons maple syrup

4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Fresh-cracked black pepper, to taste

Optional: 1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil

Again, just mix all ingredients together. If your ‘cue turns out a bit dry, I’d include the oil and mix the sauce with the pork before serving, not on the side.

A note on the last two sauces: I’ve jotted down – or made up – so many of these that I have no idea who to credit. But here’s to everyone who’s helped me out.

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups sauce

Approximate nutrition per 2-ounce serving: 38 calories, 1 gram fat (no saturated fat, 23 percent fat calories), less than 1 gram protein, 8 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 693 milligrams sodium.