The midwest best: American Royal Barbecue
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
As you may recall, Andrew Houchins and I are enjoying our first season as Certified Kansas City Barbecue Society Judges.
I’m not so sure about our arteries, but our taste buds have been quite pleased
We’ve been to nine competitions since the spring, and each one has just been a blast. From Lenexa to El Dorado, Burlington to McPherson, we’ve enjoyed our little weekend vacations all summer, met some new people, seen places we’ve never seen before and had some excellent smoked meats.
As a child of the Memphis in May International Barbecue Festival, I had heard of the American Royal but never actually been to it. My expectations were high, and I was not disappointed. This was their 29th year, and the organizers seem to have it down to a science, with every square inch of 20 acres put to use.
The Invitational competition was Saturday (open only to teams that have won a state-level grand championship or have won a recognized cook-off of 50 teams or more) and the Open competition was Sunday (open to teams on a first-come basis). The official meat categories are chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. There was also a side dish competition for vegetables, baked beans, potatoes and another for desserts.
We started out on Friday night, where we had an invitation to party with “Pig Newton”. This barbecue team of Mike and Betty Castaneda from Kansas City, Kansas, has served as our mentors this year. They are past Royal Grand Champions, and have been to the Jack Daniel’s Invitational, the “Holy Grail” for barbecue teams across the continent.
Teams had anything from a 20 sq. ft. to a 100 sq. ft space to set up in, and they were in for the weekend. Tents, campers, cookers, hay bales, lounge chairs, couches — satellite dishes, band stages, disco lighting, kegs and wet bars complete with bartenders and stools were the rule. Some teams had multiple projection screen TVs running music videos, some had live deejays and at least 30 out of the approximately 500 teams had live bands, light shows and dance floors. The Golden Ox restaurant set up an open tent with live music for the “plebes” and everyone else had bouncers. I’m serious. I think barbecue team security could rival any airport.
These were all private parties that you could peer into over the hay bale fences. Some were country themed, several were Caribbean themed, and more than one had good old rock-and-roll on the menu. There were groaning boards of barbecue and sides in each tent, and people were having a great old time.
In addition to admiring the set-ups, we had a lot of fun reading the team signs. Barbecuers are creative. “Roadkill BBQ: It’s Kinda Gamey (but at the end of the night, so are we!).” “Pigfoot,” 2008 national rib winners. The Rogue “Q” Smokers of the Serengeti (actually, of Omaha) sported an Indiana Jones look. There was a biracial team with a pink pig and a brown pig called “Bruddas with Different Muddas,” Others I had not seen before included “Smokearitaville,” “Jiggy Piggy,” and “Oink, Moo & Cock-a-doodle-doo.” This last is a direct reference to the competition categories of pork, beef and chicken!
On Saturday Andy and I got there early to do the Invitational. We had four rounds of excellent meats, with the best categories being the chicken and ribs. A table of six judges tastes a group of six entries, ranking them not against each other but against established criteria in appearance, taste and texture/tenderness. (Learn more at www.kcbs.us)
As KCBS certified judges, we have been trained to recognize whether the meat has been cooked properly, and whether the flavor is true to the meat. Sometimes you can get a sauce that completely overwhelms the meat, or a rub that is so spicy you can’t taste anything afterwards. This is frowned upon. A nicely arranged rack of ribs will do better than some chunks of pork tossed into a box. If the brisket is as tough as leather (this happens a lot) the entry doesn’t score as highly, and so forth.
KCBS runs a double-blind competition, and the six scores at a table are averaged together, so a contestant can feel confident he or she has had a fair assessment of their meat.
After the four meats we entered into round two: three side categories and one dessert. The sides at my table were fine, but not fabulous. The desserts, however, looked like something off the Food Network’s Ace of Cakes, or those Las Vegas cooking competitions they whip up.
There were things served on elevated platters, in china bowls, in martini glasses, with spun-caramel sculptures on top, curls of shaved chocolate or little chocolate pigs. Cakes were surrounded with fresh flowers or fall leaves made out of marzipan. One entry was six bright pink baby cakes with whipped marshmallow cream on top in the shape of a cute, smiling piglet.
I watched them sail across the room of about 150 judges and eagerly anticipated the arrival of ours. Andy’s table got chocolate pots of cream, two different cheesecakes and a white chocolate mousse with chocolate covered strawberries. When my table’s turn came (we were last in line and only got two desserts) we got a pecan pie which obviously had not set and was scooped into a shot glass for presentation, and the blandest cheesecake I’ve ever endured. That’s the luck of the draw!
As we rolled out to the car to go take a nap we saw Emporian Roy Mann and family. It’s a small world!
On Sunday, the local KCBS Certified Judge contingent consisted of Dave Azwell from Osage City, Linda and Dennis Polson from Lebo, myself and Andy. There may have been more, but a sea of 470 faces is just that. 470 some-odd judges for 500 some-odd teams. That’s a lot of meat, people.
The Open had the traditional four categories (Andy said he had a piece of brisket that was near-perfect, and I had one of the best ribs I have ever tasted) and a fifth category of sausage. It’s so great to taste and see all the different things people come up with. The sausages were especially entertaining, including one that was flecked with red and yellow bell peppers (very pretty) and another stuffed with what I think was cream cheese, and roasted mild green chiles. That one was great! Just enough heat, interesting to look at.
Pig Newton didn’t do as well on the meats as in years past, but they did get ninth overall in Desserts (A luscious banana pudding with a tropical banana rum smoothie on the side). “There’s always next year!” Betty said with a smile. Andy and I met new people from North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, Mississippi, Indiana and the list goes on. It will be great to see them and all the new friends we’ve made when the next season kicks off in Osage City: “Smoke in the Spring.” And, occasionally, in the snow.
Speaking of ribs: the annual EHS Cross Country fundraiser is just around the corner! Team members will cook and deliver a hot rib meal for the Chiefs vs. Chargers game November 9. You can order barbecued ribs, homemade potato salad and Fanestil’s fabulous baked beans (best I’ve ever had!). Just contact any cross country team member or call 620-342-2872. Ribs are $14 a slab, and the sides are $3 a pound. All orders must be received by November 3.
Oh my! Halloween is next week. I can’t wait! For the next food challenge (you know, this is supposed to be a community-contributing column) I want, I need, I’m begging you for some great pie recipes. The holidays approach, and pies are on the plate. Send that recipe to murphysmenu@yahoo.com or 517 Merchant St. Let’s Get Cooking!