# Curious Aardvark Brand - world famous rib rub



## curious aardvark (Sep 21, 2008)

Okay I've broken the strict vow of silence that's been the code of the aardvarks for centuries. 
And I can now bring you the best kept secret since the revelation that mickey mouse was really a vole in a costume (what ? you didn't know ;-)

No waiting, no money parted with, no secret special offers known to the entire world (but only valid from this email). 

This spice mix is pretty much a universal concoction, useful as and addition to just about everything where you want abit of flavour. World famous since last friday :-)
This amount makes a small jar full. Works great as a rub for any meat, or a flavourign for fatty innards (got some serious comments on that score yesterday lol)

 Curious Aardvark's famous rib rub.

4 teaspoons sea salt
2 tsp darkbrown sugar
1 level tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
3 tsp dried lemon peel
2 tsp dried mixed peppers (NOT chillis)
1 tsp dried oinion
2 tsp white sugar
1 tsp coriander
1/3 tsp umami (msg) - or a second rate choice (lol) 2 tsps powdered/dried mushroom pieces

whizz the crap out of it till it's thoroughly mixed powder. I suppose you could do it in a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder as well. I used my magic bullet clone which ground it down to a fine powder.

Use for just about everything :-)

This is the first in a series of homemade combination spice mixes I'll be developing :-)
We all do it - the trick is to write it down and then work out after what else you should have included.
Enjoy.


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## chef_boy812 (Sep 21, 2008)

Nice!
I always like to try other peoples concauctions to see a different view of a flavor. I will skip the msg, but I will try without it, and I will try it with my almost famous msg replacer; powdered pocini mushrooms. similar compounds with out the health concerns.

cheers.


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## motorhedd (Sep 21, 2008)

You are a credit to aardvarks all over the world.


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## werdwolf (Sep 21, 2008)

Thanks for sharing, I'm going to give it a try minus the MSG.  Any suggestions for replacing the MSG?


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## curious aardvark (Sep 21, 2008)

okay what's with the msg thing ? 
Salt is bad for you, fat is bad for you, the crap you guys use in the tenderquick salt is REALLY bad for you. 
MSG is an artificial flavour created by a japanese scientist who had identified a gap in the taste zones on the human tongue. He christened it umami and created a compound to mimic the tongues receptors. 
MSG is not a flavour enhancer - it is a whole seperate flavour by itself. 
What it adds to any dish is a hit of meaty savouryness that you can't easily get with anything else. 
The taste map goes: salt, sweet, sour, bitter, umami. 

As a substitute you need something really savoury with a touch of earthy. Yep powdered mushrooms are a good idea. Porcini have a fairly mild flavour, but add 2 tsps powdered wild mushroom to the mix - should do the trick. 
Possibly 1 tsp powdered kelp might do the job as well - you try it :-) 

But seriously try the umami. Lowest cancer count in the world ? china & japan. Highest umami consumption - yep china and japan. 
It's got bad press for a lot of reasons. Primarily I reckon is that it's commonly used in high salt high fat foods. Where the umami is blamed 'cos salt and fat is cheap so manufactuers can't cut that :-) 

OR simply do what I do - don't tell people you use it.
You only need very small amounts anyway.

want to know more - the page is here: http://www.livescience.com/health/06...ad_tongue.html


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## werdwolf (Sep 21, 2008)

I get migraines.  This is one of the known migraine triggers,  so it just ain't worth it.  Nothing personal against it.


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## bbqgoddess (Sep 21, 2008)

CA,
Thanks for that post, extremely interesting...


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## curious aardvark (Sep 21, 2008)

lol Well I'm a recent convert. 
heard all the hype and media babble over the years and only actually made an effort to find out what msg actually was this year. 
I don't use a lot of msg, but sometimes it adds just that right hint of savoury that you just can't find anywhere else. 

But seriously think: what foods are msg most often used in in the west ? Cheap junk food. It's there to try and add some flavour to the crap. But I'll bet you a dime to a dollar that the worst damage is done by the rest of the crap in the food. Excess salt raises blood pressure, high cholesterol fat clogs the arteries: the combined effect:- strokes and heart attacks.
I love eating - it's near enough my only vice. I'd like to keep doing it as long as possible - if that means working out what I eat and coming up with solutions to problems like how to make top quality low fat sausages - then fine, that's the sort of thing I really enjoy.  
In the societies where msg is widely used the foods are generally a lot healthier than the western equivalents. 
Now if it was msg causing all the problems there would be a definite correlation in food related conditions. That correlation does not exist. You do the math :-) 

I figure most of the people on this forum are bright enough and interested enough to look a little deeper into food issues than most. 
It never hurts to do a little research :-)


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## curious aardvark (Sep 26, 2008)

Right quick addendum . 
As I mentioned the above rub recipe was created in ten minutes over generations ;-) 
As an addition to a somewhat lacklustre stew it's great. Works well for fatty stuffings to. 
But it's crap as a rib rub - too salty for my money. I blame great grand pappy aardvark (he had a little honey ant problem we don't like to talk about) nuff said. 
I'll work up something better :-)


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## fritz (Sep 26, 2008)

Well said aardvark....I like the flavor that msg adds....just has gotton a bad name?


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## jond (Sep 26, 2008)

CA, any advice on where i can source the umami in the UK?

Just look fwd to trying your mix but i don't do shrooms ;)

Cheers,

Jon.


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## curious aardvark (Sep 27, 2008)

find yourself a chinese or indonesian supermarket. It's dirt cheap and they sell loads. 
A small bag lasts ages. The recommended dosage is something like 1/4 tsp per pound of meat. I tend to use less than that. But you if you taste before and after you know it's there. 
I've slavered that spice mix liberally on the outside of some biggish trout I've got in the smoker at the moment. So we'll see if it's any good for fish :-)


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## gnubee (Oct 7, 2008)

I can't quite believe that someone from the proud family of Aardvark would forget to put in His already more than two weeks old famous family ancient top secret rub recipe just a touch of _*powdered ant*_. I thought aardvarks loved that stuff. 

I was going to try your rub on some ribs untill you said; "quote" But it's crap as a rib rub - too salty for my money."unquote" 

Thanks for the heads up, which luckily came before I made some ribs with the stuff. 

As for MSG , isn't Accent 100% MSG? you can still find it in stores up here in Canada.


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## bbq bubba (Oct 7, 2008)

Is this the same rub you used on your famous boiled ribs?


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## richtee (Oct 7, 2008)

a-Hmm  maybe it's not the rub??


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## cheapchalee (Oct 9, 2008)

My ex wife had celiac sprue diease (sic).  She couldn't have msg, she was alergic to gluten.


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