"Mop sauce" not in revised OED?

Tue Oct 16 21:49:04 UTC 2007

Barry quotes:

"Today you can buy a miniature tool that looks like a kitchen mop to
mop your meat."

There is nothing "today" about this tool. As long as i've been living,
there has been available at any well-stocked grocery store, at least
as far north as Missouri, a dish-washing tool known as a "dish mop."
The dish mop, as noted above, looks like a miniature kitchen(-floor)
mop. In my experience, it is the dish mop that is the mop of choice
WRT cooking, especially WRT barbecue. Since the dish mop is primarily
used as a tool with which to wash dishes - I myself have personally
used many dish mops in the course of my life, both in washing dishes
and in barbecuing - it is a only newly-bought dish mop is used in
cooking.

WRT the LBJ barbegue story, under the conditions described, Jetton may
very well have used an actual kitchen mop. But the claim that this is
the origin of the cooking term "mop" is laughable.

-Wilson

On 10/16/07, Barry Popik <bapopik at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Barry Popik <bapopik at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      "Mop sauce" not in revised OED?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> MOP SAUCE--14,800 Google hits
> MOPPING SAUCE--2,880 Google hits
> MOPPIN SAUCE--1,350 Google hits
>
> I just added "mop sauce" to my website. OED started its revision at
> the letter "M," but doesn't have "mop sauce." This is insane.
>
> Jesse and Ben and y'all must fly down to Austin at once...I'll
> probably get to "soppin' sauce" later today. Any moppin' & soppin'
> comments appreciated.
> ...
> ...
> ...
> http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/mop_sauce_mopping_sauce_moppin_sauce/
> ...
> Entry from October 16, 2007
> Mop Sauce (Mopping Sauce; Moppin' Sauce)
> Mop sauce (also "mopping sauce" or "moppin' sauce") is also known as
> basting sauce. It's "mopped" on to barbecue while the food is turned.
> President Lyndon B. Johnson's barbecue master, Walter Jetton
> (1906-1968), popularized "mop sauce" in a 1965 book on Texas barbecue,
> but Jetton didn't invent "mop."
>
> The mop sauce often contains ingredients such as beef stock, vinegar,
> Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, dry mustard, black pepper, and
> salt.
>
>
> About.com: Barbecues & Grilling
> Mop from Derrick Riches
> The baste of Barbecue
> When President Johnson threw a barbecue he called upon is favorite
> Pitmaster Walter Jetton to cook up a meal that often feed hundreds of
> people. This meal would be cooked on an open air fire pit that
> measured about 40 square feet. Walter would cover every square inch of
> this surface in ribs, roasts and meats of every variety. To keep the
> meat moist he mopped it, with a real mop. Hence the barbecue term,
> "mop".
>
> Today you can buy a miniature tool that looks like a kitchen mop to
> mop your meat. The cotton fibers hold the thin mop sauce and make it
> easy to dash large amounts on at once. But a mop isn't just another
> kind of barbecue sauce. It is a thin, watery solution that drips over
> meat adding moisture to combat the drying of an open fire. Think of it
> this way; a sauce is applied with a brush, like a paint brush.
>
> A mop, sometimes called a sop, is applied with, well a mop. Sauces are
> thicker than mops. Mops should have a consistency close to water.
>
> Food Network
> Austin, Texas Style Mop Sauce Recipe courtesy Captain Shawn Newsom
> Show:  FoodNation With Bobby Flay
> Episode:  Austin (Texas)
>
> During a barbecue, venison or game should be mopped with a real Texas
> Style Mop Sauce.
>
> 2 cans (12 ounces) beer, no malt liquors or dark beers
> 6 ounces yellow mustard
> 8 ounces Worcestershire sauce
> 12 ounces hickory-flavored barbecue sauce
> 4 ounces honey
> Pinch hot chile flakes
> 4 ounces wine vinegar
> 1 white onion chopped
> 2 lemons, sliced
>
> Mix all the above ingredients in a pan and cook at medium heat for 30
> minutes. This will be the sauce that is mopped on every few minutes
> during cooking.
>
> Cooks.com
> TEXAS MOP SAUCE
> 1/2 c. tomato sauce
> 1 c. strong black coffee
> 1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
> 1 tbsp. sugar
> 1 tbsp. salt
> 1/2 c. butter
>
> Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer just until butter
> is melted. Use as a marinade for any meat. (It's especially good for
> flank steak) or brush on meat as a BBQ sauce.
>
> Cooks.com
> TEXAS MOP BBQ BASTE
> 2 c. beef stock
> 1 1/2 tsp. powdered mustard
> 1/3 c. apple cider vinegar
> 1 1/2 tsp. Tabasco
> Black pepper
> 1 tsp. chili powder
> 1 1/2 tsp. salt
> 3/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
> 1/3 c. oil
> 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
> 1 tsp. paprika
> Crushed red pepper (to taste)
>
> Mix all ingredients together. Baste meat every 20 minutes. Great on pork!
>
> About.com: Barbecues & Grilling
> Texas Hillbilly Mop Sauce
> From Paul Williams
> Paul Williams sent me this fantastic mop recipe that works well on
> beef and pretty much anything else. This mop has no sugar so you don't
> have to worry about it burning.
>
> INGREDIENTS:
> 2 cups vinegar
> 1 cup olive oil
> 2/3 cup worcestershire sauce
> 1/2 cup water
> 2 lemons, pulped and cut in half
> 2 tablespoons hot sauce
> 6 bay leaves, crushed
> 2 cloves garlic, minced
> 1 tablespoon paprika
> 1 tablespoon chili powder
>
> PREPARATION:
> Place all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Remove from
> heat, but keep warm. Mop every hour.
>
> Free Cooking Recipes
> Name: Texas Mopping Sauce For Barbecue
> Category: Sauces
>
> Ingredients and Directions
> 1 c Strong black coffee
> 1 c Tomato catsup
> 1 tb Freshly ground black pepper
> 1 tb Salt
> 1/2 c Worcestershire sauce
> 1/4 c Butter or margerine
> 1 tb Sugar
>
> Combine all ingredients and simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring
> frequently. Store in a tightly covered jar in refrigerator. Heat
> before using. For ribs, I dunk the ribs in the sauce each time I turn
> them. This sauce is very spicy and some people think it's too strong
> for poultry; I disagree. The coarser the pepper is ground, the better
> it is. Warning: if this is used on country style pork ribs it will
> make you throw rocks at steak!
>
> The BBQ Report
> Recipe: Dr. Pepper Mop Sauce
>
> Here's a sweet mop sauce good for basting ribs or brisket.
>
> The Dr. Pepper adds a touch of sweetness and that mystic something
> that only Dr. Pepper has that you just can't put your finger on. The
> oil adds some stick-um power. Don't worry, the taste isn't so obvious
> that anyone will guess your secret.
>
> Ingredients
> 3 cups of Dr. Pepper
> 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
> Mix well with a whisk, heat and baste while warm.
>
> Associated Content: The People's Media Company
> Perfect Texas Style BBQ Ribs Part 1 Moppin' Sauce (Video)
>
> 29 March 1959, Corpus Christi (TX) Caller-Times, pg. 41F, col. 1:
> COWBOY BARBECUE SAUCE
> 1/4 pound fat bacon chopped fine
> 1/2 pound butter
> 1/34 stalk celery including tops cut fine
> 2 large white onions chopped fine
> 1/2 gallon catsup-4 bottles
> 1 large bottle Worcestershire sauce
> 1/2 dozen lemons
> 4 tablespoons salt
> 3 tablespoons black pepper
> 2 tablespoons chile powder
> 1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
> 2 tablespoons dry mustard
> 3 cloves garlic
>
> Fry bacon, add onions and cook until onions are transparent. Boil
> garlic in 1 cup of water and add garlic water only to celery, catsup
> and spices.
> Combine all ingredients and let simmer 1 hour.
>
> For mop sauce:
> 2 cups above sauce
> 2 cups water
> 2 cups cooking oil
> 1 cup vinegar
>
> Mop this sauce on meat before and after each turning.—Ralph M. Coble,
> 3559 Lawnview.
>
> 6 June 1965, Syracuse (NY) Herald-American, "The LBJ Barbecue Cook
> Book" by Walter Jetton with Arthur Whitman, This Week magazine, pg.
> 10, col. 4:
> MOP FOR ALL BARBECUE MEATS
> Use this to rub over meats or to baste them while they are cooking.
> Put it on with a little dish mop of the kind that you see in the dime
> store. As you use it, the flavor will change and improve, for you are
> constantly transferring smoke and grease from the meat back to the mop
> concoction. If you have any left over, keep it in the refrigerator.
>
> 4 quarts bone stock
> 3 tablespoons salt
> 3 tablespoons dry mustard
> 2 tablespoons garlic powder
> 1 tablespoon ground bay leaf
> 2 tablespoons chili powder
> 3 tablespoons paprika
> 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
> 2 pints Worcestershire sauce
> 1 pint vinegar
> 1 pint oil
> 3 tablespoons monosodium glutamate
>
> Make the bone stock just the way you would start a soup—buy good stout
> beef bones from the butcher and boil them. Add all the other
> ingredients and let stand overnight before using. About 6 quarts.
>
> (Pg. 11, cols. 1-2 --ed.)
> TEXAS BEEF BARBECUE
> This is made out of beef brisket, which is one of the tastiest cuts
> but the least thought of by the average housewife, unless she buys it
> as corned beef. It starts out pretty tough, but if you nurse it right,
> it's delicious.
>
> 3 bay leaves
> Salt and pepper
> 2 quarts bone stock
> 6 pounds beef brisket
> Mop Sauce
>
> Put the bay leaves in about a cup of water and bring to a boil. Let is
> simmer 10 minutes or so, then remove the leaves and add the bay tea to
> the bone stock, along with the salt and pepper. Put the brisket in
> your Dutch oven and add the stock mixture to cover it about a quarter
> of the way. Cover and cook over the fire, turning the brisket about
> every half hour until it's nearly done. (This can be determined by
> forking.) Mop it and lay it on the grill to finish cooking, being sure
> to turn it and to mop it every 20 minutes or so. To make a good
> natural gravy, add a little Worcestershire sauce and maybe a dash of
> chili powder to the liquid you cooked the brisket in. You can also
> serve this with Barbecue Sauce.
> (...)
> Recipes above are samples of the 97 contained in the new "Walter
> Jetton's LBJ Barbecue Cook Book," just published by THIS WEEK Magazine
> in association with Pocket Books.
>
> (More on website -- B.P.)
>
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