Pork Ribs Recipe ~ "Play with your food" ❤️

➤ by Oma Gerhild Fulson

This pork ribs recipe is the ultimate Play with your Food dish. It was traditional in our German house and not only delicious, but FUN too.  

Check below for how we PLAYED with our food and the rules for it!

Although Mutti used to cook this on the stove, I like using my way how to cook ribs much better. I use a slow cooker as I find it so easy to get it ready in the morning, set it, and leave it. 

How to Play with your Food ...

• Mutti served the ribs in a 'lake' of broth that was contained within the mashed potato 'dikes/walls'.
• We then ate the meat off the bones, the broth, and the mashed potatoes being careful not to let the broth 'break' through the potato dikes.
• The winner was the one who could eat the most without letting the broth leak out!

And, the winner wasn't always me! So much fun!

Cooking tips ...

The sparerib recipe below is a sure way how to cook ribs with meat that is 'falling off the bones'. If you want to remove the excess grease from the broth, you can always cook this ahead of time and put the slow cooker insert into the fridge to cool the broth. 

When cold, the fat will have risen and hardened on the top and you can remove it. Bring the slow cooker back to boil to heat the ribs and then serve.

Dishing this out ...

I was looking into the actual name for this recipe and after searching and searching came up blank! It seems to just be a method of plating the food that makes this dinner so unique.

Or so I thought.

I came across an interesting page, Uncle Phaedrus. He is a consulting detective for lost recipes. Here's his answer and a reader's answer to my question about this sparerib recipe.

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Oma says,

Were you looking for a spare ribs recipe and ever wondered where the term "spare ribs" came from?

Well, the actual German word for this cut is "Rippenspeer" which translates as "spear ribs" since these were often roasted on a spear.

A few years down the road of history and the term was used in English as "spare ribs". 

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