Serious Stuff

     The 22nd Annual Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival was a lot of fun.  But it was also serious business for the nearly 80 teams that participated.  They came from near and far to compete for $20,000 in cash prizes.  The Serial Grillers arrived from Virginia and the Hoggy Bottom Boys wheeled over from neighboring Tennessee.  Pigs in Heat motored up from Georgia and the Texas Rib Rangers came from, where else?  Texas!  My favorite, however, was Buttrub.com led by "Bad Byron" Chisolm who pulled his trailer from the Sunshine State.  His motto is "Everything's better with a little butt rub."



     The two day event was sponsored by the Carolina Foothills Chamber of Commerce and the Blue Ridge Barbecue Festival Steering Committee and sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, the largest of its kind in the world with over 19,000 members.  They oversee events like the one held in Tryon, NC in over 44 states nationwide.  Their mission statement reads as follows:

Recognizing barbeque as America's Cuisine, the mission of the KCBS is to celebrate, teach, preserve and promote barbeque as a culinary technique, sport and art form.

     To promote fairness in the judging process they issue a 2 page list of rules that must be strictly adhered to by all the contestants.  Among the listing are rules that state

     Shoes and a shirt must be worn at all times...no excessive drinking...no smoking around the food...and chronic complaining will lead to expulsion from the competition.  These are all outlined in the KCBS's newsletter, The Bullsheet.



     More serious rules state that judging will be conducted by a team of 6 and will score from a high of 9 to a low of 2 for appearance, taste and tenderness in each of the 5 categories for the festival:  chicken, ribs, pulled pork, brisket, and whole hog.  It also stated that it is forbidden to lick fingers after handling the entries.  Each entry is to be delivered to the judges receiving table in an unmarked, approved KCBS container at a specified time for the blind judging.  

 

    
     The meat is to be cooked only over a wood fired appliance, no gas, charcoal or electricity.  Each team will have a chief cook and as many assistants as required.  All styles of barbecue are judged impartially.  They include: St. Louis, Texas, Memphis and Carolina.  Oh, and sauce like tomato base, mustard, and vinegar-salt & pepper are all optional.  One South Carolina judge confided to me that when sauce is used it is usually to hide something not enhance it.



     And all the while the judges were doing their work the crowd of over 25,000 was enjoying the sounds of some mighty fine bluegrass music from the likes of "Buncombe Turnpike."

     It was quite an experience for me.  I'm hoping to return next month when the town of Saluda holds its Coon Dog Day.