“You a combat food reporter?”
That’s what one busy barbecue cook asked me Saturday afternoon at the Blue Ridge Babecue Festival in Tryon after I moved in to get some closeups of him and his buddies stirring the beans and flipping the rack of ribs they had on the grill. What caught my eye was a flare-up as the fat juices dripped down onto the coals.
“Yep. That’s me,” I told him with a laugh.
Combat food preparer, and reporter, and survivor, is what you’ve got to be when you’re dealing with barbecue, I think. The battlefield is strewn with lots of dead flesh. The cooks use big-time firepower to feed their smokers. They break out power saws and other sharp implements to work the carcasses.
Separate armies fight to be number one. It’s a war, and there are all kinds of tactics. Selecting the pig, picking the right wood to create the smoke, finding all kinds of ways to add that extra flavor. There’s secret intelligence sought out for key ingredients to make the sauce or rubs just right.
It’s not hand-to-hand battle – it’s hand-to-mouth. And there are casualties.
There’s collateral damage. Dropped plates, sticky sauce everywhere, a stomach-ache from over-eating are all hazards that go with the territory if you’re a civilian just entering this world. Innocents can fall prey to the less talented armies. Bad food can lead to bad times on the toilet.
There’s smoke, fire, and plenty of mind-numbing drinks to make you forget it all.
But if you’re smart, and careful, there are great rewards to be reaped. Funnel cake and peach cobbler are two that should be noted. (For more photos, click on the flickr badge on the left.)