With regards to beef... a couple of years ago we were out camping and my cousin did what he called "Rock Salt" cooking. I had never seen this technique before so I was a little intersested in what he was doing. He took a roast (Tri-Tip I believe) and basically covered the whole thing in yellow mustard and some seasoning. When that was completed, he had an aluminum roasting pan that was filled with rock salt. He placed the roast in the salt and covered it liberally.
Now here is where it got interesting... all the while we had a pretty good campfire going. When he had a big bed of red hot coals, he placed the salt covered roast directly on the coals!! No protection or anything! I must admit that rock salt puts out some interesting colors when it gets hot! After about 20 minutes, he flips the roast over and I am absolutly sure that this once fine piece of meat it now ruined beyond repair. The charred side just looked all black, burnt and nasty. All the while, the roast is making some pretty amazing hissing and popping noises.
After 20 more minutes, he removes this black looking rock... lets it stand for 10-15 minutes, and then he proceeds to break of the black bark like he is peeling an oversized egg. The "Salt Bark" as I called it actually peeled of easily and underneath it all was probably one of the most amazing looking roast I have seen.
It was moist, not to salty, and the best part it was so tender that it just melted in your mouth! My cousin proceeded to tell me that this is the way a lot of the early settlers as well as indians did a lot of their cooking.
Who would of guessed??
