MEMPHIS, Tennessee—More than 250 teams compete at the annual "World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest" in Memphis Tennessee from May 15 to May 17, and make it not only the largest barbecue contest in the United States but also in the world. The contest at Tom Lee Park on the bank of the Mississippi River has pork barbecue teams from 17 States in America and foreign teams from as far as Estonia, Norway and Belgium.
Organized by Memphis In May, this annual contest has a long history and some teams have passed their tradition of participation on to their next generation.
"This is my mom dancing, and this is my father," David Scully said as he pointed to photos hanging in his booth. Scully and his team members were the second generation who kept the tradition going and inherited their parents' team name, Chi-Town Cookers.
The name of the team has a story too. It was 25 years ago when their parents first submitted an application to World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest with a mundane name, "they were rejected the first time." said Scully, "The next year, they changed the name to Chi-Town Cookers that made it sounded like coming down from Chicago but actually they were all local guys. This time, the application was accepted and they came back every year since then."
Time passes fast. As of this time, it is the seventh year for young David Scully to lead his team of the second generation to compete in it. "Our secret recipe is a southern charm." said Matt Chandler, one of the three cookers.
Even though Scully's team has a few dozen members, after finishing the booth construction project, most of them were just chatting and drinking on Friday evening, leaving three serious cookers, Matt Chandler, Wes Turner and Michael Steele busy working in front of the grill.
Team Sweet Jems has only three members. Without a big crowd playing inside his simply decorated booth, Mr. Gene Johnson put his hat on the table and sat on a chair, looking quietly at the people passing his booth. To Johnson, with his son Jeff and a friend J. Holland from Louisiana, three cookers are enough.
"I used to be in a team called Sweetness of Hog for a long time. This year I retired from that team." Johnson said and then smiled, "but my friend talked me into this again."
To set up a new team, he picked a new name, Sweet Jems and borrowed a griller from a friend he worked with in a team 18 years ago. "I am 64 years old. We used this griller 18 years ago." He pointed to the black griller behind him.
After some warm-up cooking, he put the 154-pound whole hog in the griller at 1PM Friday and haven't seen it since then. But he has to check the temperature every 30 minutes, adding more charcoal from time to time.
"Tonight, my son will come here and keep an eye on it." Johnson said, "Yes, he won't be able to sleep. By noon tomorrow, it will be ready."
Gene had once won 5th place in the whole hog section and has been in the top 20 many times. "The judges change every year, but I never change my cooking style, you can't appease all people with one taste." he continued, "It is very hard to win here. The competition is hard. But the fun is how you try very hard to beat them." He laughed at his own idea. Certainly, this is the reason why his friend could talk him into it again after he retired from the 'cue competition.
By the evening on Friday, the Norwegian Team in the rib contest is still lingering at the main stage, enjoying the moment of awarding best booth, best sauce and best T-shirt designs.
"We will put the rib into (griller) 5 o'clock tomorrow morning," said Steve Westerby, one of the nine member Norwegian team "100 Degree Celsius". He continued, "it takes about 7 hours, low temperature grill."
The team makes their own tomato based sauce, and adds apple juice and onion to the rib flavor. "Last year, we were every European style, they (judges) thought it was too salty. This time, we change to more Memphis style." said Westerby.
Come as a team member is Mr. Bjorn T. Teigen, a consultant/Master Butcher and a member of The Norwegien Meat Marketing Board. He is expecting a better place this year after the team acquired more experience and adjusted to American Southern style cooking.
Winners of 2008 World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest:
Grand Champion
Natural Born Grillers, Olive Branch, Mississippi
Whole Hog
First: Natural Born Grillers, Olive Branch, Mississippi
Second: Gwatney Championship BBQ Team, Cordova, Tennessee
Third: Yazoo's Delta Q, Nesbit, Mississippi
Shoulder
First: Sweet Swine o' Mine from Olive Branch, Mississippi
Second: Southeastern Smokers from Cumming, Georgia
Third: The Ques Brothers from Memphis, Tennessee
Rib
First: Rib Ticklers from Batesville, Arkansas
Second: Sassay Sows, Brandon, Mississippi
Third: Smokin' Razorbacks, Little Rock, Arkansas
People's Choice
First: Rhoda Brown's Smokie Fatties (#31), Monroe, Louisiana
Second: Rock 'n' Roll BBQ (#55), Lakeland, Florida
Third: Wizards of Que (#14), Hot Springs, Arkansas
Patio Porkers
First: Got Pig?, Memphis, Tennessee
Second: Smokin Spiders, Memphis, Tennessee
Third: Here for the Beer, Little Rock, Arkansas
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