Page 18 - August 2021 Barbecue News Magazine

bbq profile
BBQ PROFILES:
Rick and Gayle Dimaggio
T. Michael Garrison
The Flying BBQ Judge mgarrison8@sbcglobal.net
This month I will be profiling a high-quality husband and wife team of judges that have given back to the competi- tion BBQ world in many ways. I really enjoyed interviewing them and learning all the ways they have contributed to this system that we all love. Rick and Gayle Dimaggio are unique. They have contributed so much to BBQ and I feel their story needs to be shared.
Both were born and raised in
Chicago. Rick humorously remem-
bered his first exposure to cooking
over an open fire when his Grandfa-
ther got a slab of ribs. He had a nor-
mal charcoal grill and proceeded to
cook the ribs on the grill in the same
manner he would cook a hamburger.
Using a spatula, he flipped the slab
of ribs several times until he
thought it was done. Rick used some
descriptions that I can’t use here,
but said the ribs were extremely
tough and virtually impossible to get the meat off the bone and there was no flavor at all. Of course he didn’t know any better as this was his first experience with BBQ. After hun- dreds of contests where he has cooked, judged, organized, and rep’d, he looks back at this first experience as exactly what it was, not BBQ.
Gayle’s early experience with BBQ was from her parents and normal backyard cooking over charcoal. Nothing spe- cial but a more pleasant ex-
perience than Rick’s. From
this point forward the experi- ence by each of them was restaurant BBQ and in most cases we all know that is not high-quality Que. Later the two of them met online and developed a long-time rela- tionship.
When they decided to get
married, they did not want a big wedding with a lot of peo- ple, so they decided to get married. They went to Las Vegas in 2001 where only their closest family attended the cere- mony but was livestreamed so their Chicago friends could watch the wedding also. This was the beginning of a long and wonderful relationship that is thriving today.
After returning to Chicago they at- tended a BBQ competition in Naperville, Illinois and this was their first experience with the real BBQ. They were both hooked and wanted to learn all they could about the sport of BBQ cooking. They at- tended several other contests in the upper Midwest and continued to be- come more interested.
Gayle’s work involved a move to Florida so they set out to discover BBQ in Florida upon their arrival.
Their first Florida contest attended was the PigJam in Plant City. This is one of Florida’s top contests and is still an ac- tive event today. Judging looked like the thing to do and Rick recalls taking his judges training in the police station. He didn’t tell me which side of the bars they were on, but I am sure they were on the outside, or not guilty side. Soon after they attended the PigFest in TigerTown, which takes place in Lakeland, Florida. That even could possibly be Florida’s number one BBQ event. The event usually draws
over 100 cook teams and is Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) sanctioned.
Unfortunately, KCBS doesn’t have a lot of contests in Florida, so this found the Dimaggio’s starved to find more events. They continued their KCBS membership and sought out contests to attend and participate. They both
BarbecueNews.com - 18
AUGUST 2021