Page 12 - FEB 2021 Digial Edition

bbq love
Ardie Davis
aka Remus Powers BBQ Hall of Famer ardiedavis@kc.rr.com
Is “Love” the secret ingredient in your barbecue?
You’ve heard others say it. Maybe you say it too. Somebody tells you, “These ribs knock my socks off! Absolutely the best ever! What’s your secret?” You reply, “It’s the love. I put love in my bar- becue.”
There’s no knocking love, especially during Valentine’s Month. You’re in good company with many of the best pitmasters on the planet if love is the secret to your barbecue. Since Cupid hasn’t whispered the barbecue love secret in my ear, I posed the follow- ing question to an expert panel of barbecue pitmasters and judges: When someone tells you, “Love is the secret to my barbe- cue,” what do you think they mean?
Now, at last, the secret is out!
The question you pose is a good one and it is a line that I have heard from many a BBQ cook over the years both amateur and professional. However, I truly believe that love IS the secret to great BBQ and here’s why. When you love something or someone you give it your all. You pour your heart and soul into that thing or that person. Love brings out the best in everything and every- one. That’s why it should be no secret that truly great BBQ NEEDS LOVE and so does our world right now...and some great BBQ would help too.
- Ron Childers, Certified Barbecue Judge, international bar- becue ambassador & Memphis pitmasters’ go-to weatherman on WMC Action News 5
When I hear that, I think the cook doesn't really want me to know
her or his recipe!
- Adrian Miller, food writer, James Beard Award winner, at- torney, and Certified Barbecue Judge who lives in Denver, Colorado. Adrian’s third book, Black Smoke: African Ameri- cans and the United States of Barbecue, will be published Spring 2021.
If I’m in a cynical mood, I assume it’s just a quick comeback so the pitmaster can avoid sharing a sauce or technique secret! But if I feel the pitmaster is sincere and not trying to dodge, I think it means they are passionate about the art and romance of barbecue and their love for it comes through in their cooking.
- Jill Silva, Former food editor/restaurant critic for The Kansas City Star, a member of the food and restaurant fo- cused PR Team Silva + Stern and a freelance food writer
If someone tells me they put all their love into their BBQ, well then my expectations go way up, and I expect a great plate of cue.
Love of BBQ is passion, a personal expression of how much someone cares about putting out the absolute best they can, heart and soul, for you and everyone to enjoy. Secret Love in their BBQ is Aaron Franklin in Austin, or Tyler Harp in Kansas City, doing what they do best....you know it when you taste it.
- Brian Nowotny, parks expert, Certified Barbecue Judge, bar- becue ambassador
The best barbecue is made by people who love what they're doing and want other people to love the result. And the best barbecue memories are of the meals you eat in the company of people you love. Food lives in memory, and memory feeds on affection. - Jim Auchmutey, Atlanta journalist and author of Smokelore: A Short History of Barbecue in America.
When it comes to que, love doesn’t mean red roses, and cloying sentiment, rather a passion for doing things right, an obsession with detail, a pride in your final result. It’s the hours spent per- fecting that perfect baste, that beautiful rub, that impeccable ring of smoke. Love, in short, is the joy great barbecue brings us all.
- Tom Parker Bowles, Certified Barbecue Judge, restaurant critic, author, food editor Esquire magazine/UK
I think it means the care, compassion and time that they put into making their barbeque, particularly to share with friends, family or a special loved one.
- Emily Detwiler, CEO, Kansas City Barbeque Society
BarbecueNews.com - 12
FEBRUARY 2021