Barbecue sauce

Barbecue sauce is one of those recipes with no definitive recipe. It is subject to more variation than most sauces - some recipes been handed down through generations, others will be taken to their creators' graves.

Barbecue sauces, whether from the supermarket or made at home, usually include the following ingredients:

• Tomato, which is often replaced by ketchup.
• Sugar or honey, molasses, brown sugar, etc.
• Salt. Soy sauce is often used and adds a nice sweet and sour taste.
• Onion, very finely chopped or pureed to stop it blackening on the grill.
• Garlic, same rules as onion - it burns easily and tastes bad when it does.
• "Liquid smoke", which adds a barbecued taste to non-barbecued food.

Combine these ingredients and you will get something like barbecue sauce, no matter how you do it.

Many other ingredients make it in to people's recipes, including whisky, sherry, fennel seeds, coriander, chilli, paprika and black pepper - try a couple yourself and see if you can create your own "secret ingredient" stash.

Here is our recipe for barbecue sauce; it's a little bit spicy, nice and tomatoey, and pretty delicious (if we do say so ourselves). Use it to coat ribs and chicken, or serve it as a side with any grilled meats or vegetables.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 10 coriander seeds
• 10 peppercorns
• 1 clove
• 1 red chilli
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• A small bottle of tomato ketchup
• 2 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the coriander seeds, peppercorns and clove.
   
2. As soon as the coriander seeds start popping, use a spoon to lift them out and put them to one side.
   
3. Add the onion, garlic and chilli to the pan and fry very gently until extremely soft and the onions are golden brown.
   
4. Take the coriander seeds, peppercorns, clove, onion, garlic and chilli, add the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar and blend to a smooth puree.
   
5. Taste it - if it's bitter (this will happen if you've burnt the onion or garlic), add a little more sugar. It should be a little tangy and spicy - think sweet and sour.
   
6. Stir the puree into the ketchup well.