May 9, 2025<\/time><\/p>\nFrances Miller Raichlen (right)<\/small><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grilling Was My Mom\u2019s Unexpected Superpower<\/h2>\n Despite her crazy dancer\u2019s diets and conflicted attitudes towards food, my mother did make a few dishes I still hunger for. One of them had an eerie foreshadowing of the activity I\u2019m best known for today. <\/p>\n
My mother was the family grill master, and she brought to this activity an impetuousness that characterized her dancing\u2014and her life. <\/p>\n
Our grill was one of the open brazier types with a grate that lowered and raised with the turn of a crank. She\u2019d load it with charcoal briquets and douse it with gasoline. (Do not try this at home!) That lit the grill in a hurry, imparting a subtle, but not completely unpleasant petroleum aftertaste to the food. For many years, that\u2019s what I thought barbecue was supposed to taste like! <\/p>\n
Usually, she poured on the gasoline first, then tossed on a lit match. But one time she lit the match first, then poured on the gas. The resulting conflagration almost took the siding off our house. Luckily, our neighbor Pete was standing nearby. He knocked the flaming gas can out of her hand before it could explode, saving dinner and quite likely my mother\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
The Steak That Started It All: Pittsburgh Rare<\/h2>\n I remember only one of my mom\u2019s grilled dishes, but it was a killer: a sirloin steak which she seared charcoal black on the outside, while leaving the center blood red and virtually still mooing. She called it \u201cPittsburgh rare,\u201d mindful of the coal-fed blast furnaces in Steel Town (See recipe below). I can still taste that charred exterior and the sweet sanguine tang of the bloody beef in the middle. <\/p>\n
My mother never made a sauce I can remember. Her idea of a condiment was an astringent relish of raw cranberries and kumquats. Extreme cuisine before it was fashionable.<\/p>\n
No, I didn\u2019t get my passion for food from my mother. In the end, I learned something far more important\u2014an unwavering dedication to one\u2019s craft. <\/p>\n
My mother died young (at the age of 38)\u2014long before I became a food writer and TV host. I suspect she would have regarded my career with no small amazement. In our family, the apple fell very far from the tree.<\/p>\n
Check out our 1000+ Recipes section<\/a><\/strong> here on Barbecue Bible.Com
Also, sign up for our Up in Smoke newsletter<\/a> so you don’t miss any blogs and receive some special offers! PLUS get Raichlen’s Burgers! PDF for free!<\/p>\n
Follow Steven on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, Reddit<\/a>, and Pinterest<\/a>!<\/p>\n
Check out our store<\/a> powered by BBQGuys! <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t
![\"Steven](\"https:\/\/d21klxpge3tttg.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/SR-and-Frances-630x407.jpg\")