Beer Can Chicken

Beer Can Chicken

Beer can chicken is the dish that defies its own science. The most credible American barbecue scientists tested it and concluded the beer in the can does almost nothing the cook thinks. Backyard chefs from Memorial Day to Labor Day have kept doing it anyway — and so will we. Today, we dig into the contested origins — including a 1993 Houston Chronicle article that puts the technique in former President George H.W. Bush's kitchen — the science that quietly buried it, the geometry that actually makes the bird crisp, and a thought experiment about a Mexican spirit at the right strength. We pair it with Coq au Can — a beer-cocktail highball in light and dark. Follow us on Instagram: @sauced.pod [https://www.instagram.com/sauced.pod/] Thanks to all of this week’s partners: Asil Raicilla de la Sierra: https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands/ [https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands/] Underberg: https://underbergamerica.com/ [https://underbergamerica.com/]

Clams Casino

Clams Casino has a paperwork problem. A Rhode Island maître d' named Julius Keller claimed to invent the dish at the Narragansett Pier Casino in 1917 — but a January 1900 menu from the Central Park Casino in New York City, held in the New York Public Library, predates him by 17 years. And neither one was a gambling house. We dig into both origin claims, the Portuguese-American "stuffies" tradition in Rhode Island that may pre-date both, and how to take a working man's ingredient and dress it up — a three-way move on the pork, a strong opinion on breadcrumbs, and a rethink of which booze actually belongs in the topping. We pair it with the Central Park Casino — an aquavit dirty Martini with a pureed olive brine, named for the 1900 menu that started the argument. For the full recipes and more, become a premium subscriber at https://sauced.supercast.com/ [https://sauced.supercast.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @sauced.pod [https://www.instagram.com/sauced.pod/] Thanks to all of this week's partners: Mezcal Ultramundo: https://pkgdgroup.com/post/ultramundo/ [https://pkgdgroup.com/post/ultramundo/] Underberg: https://underbergamerica.com/ [https://underbergamerica.com/]

Tiramisu

Tiramisu's origin is contested. One claim puts it in a Treviso restaurant in 1972. Another places it in Friuli, more than a decade earlier. But zabaglione — the dish's direct ancestor — has always been defined by sweet Marsala. The booze was the family inheritance dropped at Tiramisu's birth, and added back by everyone since. This week: the 1972 Le Beccherie story, the rival Friuli claim that pre-dates it, why the original was kept deliberately sober, egg-safety concerns, and where we actually land on the booze. The cocktail: The Red Hook — Vincenzo Errico's 2003 Manhattan variation from Milk & Honey NYC, with a coffee-bitters thumbprint that ties it back to the dessert. For the full recipes and more, become a premium subscriber at https://sauced.supercast.com/ [https://sauced.supercast.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @sauced.pod [https://www.instagram.com/sauced.pod/] Thanks to all of this week's partners: Arriesgado Ancestral Tequila: https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands/ [https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands/] Underberg: https://underbergamerica.com/ [https://underbergamerica.com/]

BBQ Ribs

Nobody agrees on barbecue. Memphis wants a dry rub, the Carolinas want vinegar, Kansas City wants a thick sweet sauce, and Texas thinks the conversation should be about beef. This week we listened to every region, picked apart what each one gets right, and then did the one thing two New Yorkers could honestly do: we poured a Manhattan into the sauce. We also trace how ribs went from a discarded cut in 1850s Cincinnati to one of America's defining dishes, with the story running through the Black pit masters who built the canon. Henry Perry opened the door in 1908 Kansas City, Charlie Vergos defined Memphis style starting in 1948, and Aaron Franklin and Rodney Scott carry the torch today. We also settle some home-cook arguments along the way. The membrane comes off, the wrap stays off, you cook by temperature not time, and hickory is the wood for the job. The drink is a Mint Julep made the proper way, with high-proof bourbon, demerara syrup, plenty of crushed ice, and a mint plume tall enough that your nose touches it on every sip. For the full recipes and more, become a premium subscriber at https://sauced.supercast.com/ [https://sauced.supercast.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @sauced.pod [https://www.instagram.com/sauced.pod/] Thanks to all of this week's partners: El Acabo Raicilla: https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands [https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands] Underberg: https://underbergamerica.com/ [https://underbergamerica.com/]

Jerk Chicken

Most cooking woods are fuel. For Jerk Chicken, pimento is the seasoning — it's the smoke, not just the marinade, that gives this dish its defining flavor. This week, we dig into the Maroon origin in smokeless underground pits to evade British patrols, the scotch bonnet vs habanero deep-dive, the Boston Bay tradition that dates to the 1940s, and why Red Stripe — not rum — earns its spot in the marinade. The rum we save for the cocktails. Speaking of which: The Jamaican Jerk Daiquiri — Wray & Nephew Overproof, Allspice Dram, lime, demerara, pimento bitters, rimmed with the leftover dry rub. And the Lion's Tail — a 1930s classic: bourbon, Allspice Dram, lime, demerara, Angostura. For the full recipes and more, become a premium subscriber at https://sauced.supercast.com/ [https://sauced.supercast.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @sauced.pod [https://www.instagram.com/sauced.pod/] Thanks to all of this week's partners: Tequila El Viejito: https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands [https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands] Underberg: https://underbergamerica.com/ [https://underbergamerica.com/]