I remember buying Craig Claiborne’s New York Times Cookbook from a second hand store (after we had moved back to Canada in the 1980s). Many of the recipes had fallen out of fashion, but some were so classic that the book became a great reference work in my kitchen. So has this sauce for pork ribs. It comes from my mother-in-law, Grace Murchie, who cut it out of the Vancouver Sun newspaper sometime in the 1990s. It also appears in Five Star Food. Over the years I’ve adapted it to my own taste…

This amount of sauce is good for two slabs of baby back ribs. It can easily be doubled (and you might even reduce the sugar by 1/3).

Remove the membrane from the back side of the ribs (if there is one – it’s really hit or miss these days). Salt and pepper the ribs slabs and wrap them in tinfoil. Cook in the oven at 275 degrees for about 3 hours. Remove from the oven and let cool.

While the ribs are cooling mix the sauce:

• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1 bottle of Heinz Chili Sauce (I usually get the chunky with sweet peppers version)
• 1/2 cup of dark rum (I’m partial to Havana Club 7 year old)
• 1/4 cup of soya sauce
• A big splash of worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of dry mustard
• 2 garlic cloves (put them through a garlic press)
• A big dash of black pepper

Cut the pork into individual ribs and place them in an ovenproof casserole dish. Pour the sauce over the ribs and cover the casserole with tinfoil.

You can let them sit for a while or they can be put in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 325 or 350 and put the ribs in when it reaches your temperature. After about 30 minutes remove the tinfoil and give them another 30 minutes or so to finish.

When they are ready, take them out and serve, making sure to get some of the sauce added over top!