being meat-free, gluten-free and dairy intolerant (I refuse to eat plastic cheese) it has never really been an issue for me to find a great or even a mediocre meal to enjoy. Texas has and continues to test that quest/search ..especially given it's high dense love of the B-B-Q - everything. And the small towns cater to the locals, so a salad with more than a tomato slice has been a challenge to find, let alone fruit or gluten-free bread. I digress though...
The competitors start arriving as early as Thursday evening, the entry fee is $100.00, but if you want to be judged on your BBQ "beans"...you'll have to toss in another $10. (Excuse me? vegetables are more??? - being me, I was curious, because that is just <cough>insane<cough>)
So, for that entry fee, on Friday evening 1/2 of a wild hog is delivered to your site and you spend your evening butchering it. Sound like fun, eh ....apparently it takes a while as these beasts are tough and because they are considered a "nuisance pest" these cowboy cooks grinned talking about the prep - apparently they are perfect for the BBQ...the longer they cook, the more tender and tastier they become. Since no samples were available to Mike, we can't verify that here.
The entire block around the county courthouse is surrounded by RV's, trucks and the assorted grills. Mind you, there are no food carts here selling what they are cooking, nope, they are just cooking and about every hour or so, they grab whatever is being judged off the grill and run it over to the judging area. A missed opportunity to pay some expenses, given the anyone can sign up to judge the competitors skill at b-b-q-ing food. At some point in the past a national beer company was a sponsor, no longer....more missed opportunities. Maybe it just got to rowdy, after all it's a competition. There is a small monetary prize, however if you are a serious competitor you would need to win every time to cover expenses.
Mike did, however, get lucky and was given a chicken wing to sample at our very first stop
Categories: Beans, Brisket, Ribs, Chicken, Wild Hog.
Judging based on: It has to "look/smell/taste" like BBQ to be submitted.
During a conversation with one of the contestants we discovered that he started his "competitive" career when his wife wouldn't let him get a sports car - so, he brought a motor home and a grill (photo below) and now spends 40 weekends going to competitions between New Mexico and Florida. (my secret question was "what am I missing here?") .
A wide variety and types of grills can be found....mostly custom built. All with very proud cowboy cooks tending to their vittles, burning a mix of oak, cherry, hickory and mesquite.
a two-sided version
Team Fisher looked like relatives of Duck Dynasty...and were just a tad scary looking, sitting around their grill, drinking beer at noon. We didn't stop.
someone's old furnace?
these two had their own bottled 'special sauce' - til they sold it to Sweet Cream Suds to re-sell in her shop.
Thankfully it was a sunny day and I could wander off ...in search of a Thai fresh salad roll. (not that I found one here, but it was a lovely and educational day.) And you have to admire the passion, dedication and spirit of anyone who makes this a hobby....cuz I think they are nuts.
~Ciao
