-Isms: Views on life in rural America

Katie Lee, a cookbook author, cooked up the perfect essence of summer when she said, “If summer had one defining scent, it’d definitely be the smell of barbecue.”

Oh, so true.

Summertime takes me back to days gone by, recreating visions of Dad grilling steak or pork chops on a charcoal grill in the backyard. The waft of barbecue reminds me of burgers on the grill and neighborhood get-togethers.

And, since I’m writing this three days before my favorite holiday, I’m craving a juicy, stuffed burger, hot off the Traeger, on the Fourth of July.

It’s possible I wouldn’t have given much thought to barbecue if I hadn’t seen a USA Today infographic listing the most searched “how to grill” food item, by state, this year. Data was gathered from Google.

Overall, the barbecue chicken ranks at number one, with ribs, pork chops, meatballs, shrimp, pulled pork, brisket, baked beans, salmon and meatloaf filling the top 10.

According to the data, Nebraskans searched how to grill corn on the cob.

Hmm.

What about our neighbors? South Dakotans searched how to grill burgers; Iowegians, asparagus; Kansans, salmon; Colorado, chicken breast and Wyomingites, shrimp.

What about Hawaiians? They search for grilling Ahi tuna. Virginians? Portabello mushrooms. Oregonians? Lamb chops.

Color me in barbecue sauce, but I find it difficult to believe that our northern neighbors look up how to grill a hamburger. Somehow, I imagine it’s been seared into their DNA, kind of like how Nebraskans know several ways how to grill corn on the cob ... and burgers ... and ribs ... and ...

You get the point.

In case you don’t know how to grill an ear, here are a few tips, based on my experience:

• Soak the ears in water for a hour before placing on the grill, if you are grilling with the husk on.

• Remove the silk or don’t. Your choice.

• Brush a bit of olive oil on each piece.

• Grill on medium heat, 10 minutes per side.

Perfection.

The infographic also noted that between June 14 to 21, Nebraskans searched for homemade barbecue sauce recipes, while our neighbors to the north and south looked up directions for Japanese barbecue sauce. Fairly certain my mom covered how to make this condiment when I was about six and I’ve used the same recipe ever since Doesn’t matter if it’s sweet or even spicy, barbecue sauce is the “soul of all barbecues.”

If you aren’t a grill master and need to search how to cook corn, no worries. It’s better to have burned corn, then never to have barbecued at all.