THE SUPER BOWL OF SWINE World Champion Barbecue at Memphis in May
By Belly Buddies David Lauterbach and Brian Bailey
The 2008 Memphis in May Barbecue Cooking Contest is May 15-17. Don't miss it!
A few years back- when we were just a tiny little 5 page website- an unknown BBQ lover from Memphis, Tennessee named Ceylon Blackwell invited the Belly Buddies down to his home town for a cookout. As it turns out, what sounded like a small hometown backyard BBQ was in fact the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, part of the Memphis in May International Festival held annually at Tom Lee Park on the banks of the mighty and magestic Mississippi river.
We said no.
It wasn't that we didn't want to accept a complete strangers offer to spend a weekend in the south; and it wasn't that we weren't gracious for the opportunity to don our aloha shirts and get the hell out of New York for some succulent southern swine- we just couldn't make it.
This year (2002), with some time to kill and a budget of over $37 we imposed upon our Southern Ambassador and headed down to Tennessee for the weekend to get a first hand view of the cook off that we have since heard so much about on Food TV and several other news outlets. Dubbed the Super Bowl of Swine, the contest took place over three days in which 54 tons of pork were processed, marinated, chilled and grilled. It is the largest pork barbecue contest on planet Earth.
The festival was indeed an impressive site. The competition gathers over 260 teams doing their best to earn the bragging rights of "world champion." The three major competitions are whole hog, shoulder and rib. There are also several ancillary contests that are judged including "anything but" (pork), sauce and more including a Ms. Piggie contest (note the untrademarked spelling). An estimated 90,000 people attend to see these teams compete for over $60,000 in cash prizes with the "Grand Champion" walking away with $19,000. As we made our way over the grounds and checked out the booths, we could tell that these people meant business.
Well, most of these people meant business. A good deal of them are there purely to eat, drink and have a good time with their buddies. We spent most of our time with Ambassador Ceylon's buddies from Pigs In Zen. This very friendly (and very drunk) bunch of guys took us ingnorant yankees in, fed us beer and pork, and made us feel welcome in their two level tent. We thought we knew barbecue until we met them.
Pictured (l-r): Ambassador Ceylon Blackwell, Dan Mann, Staci Blackwell
P.I.Z. were officially entered in the rib competition, but we quickly found that although these guys were serious about barbecue, they weren't serious about competing. They were there to have a good old fashioned BBQ blowout, and that was fine with us. We are very grateful not only to Ambasador Ceylon Blackwell, but to Dan Mann, Shea Flinn, Jon McCrary, Joey Russell and the other 15 or so P.I.Z. members for their southern hospitality.
Thursday is a big party night for almost every team whereas Friday night separates the competitors from the carousers. The competitors get serious for the next days judging since they often spend well over $2,000 to compete. Not all the teams enter a contest and some simply pull the grill out of their backyard so they can be a part of the festival. These teams are known as the "Patio Porkers" and some consider being there a step towards competing seriously a year or two down the road. We were told by one team member that the late into-the-night traditions started because someone would have to stay up all night to watch the meat- someone... and 199 assistants.
When we weren't drinking their beer and eating their food, we roamed the festival trying to sink our teeth into a few other teams. We found the folks at Mack Daddy Meats to be very friendly... but not as friendly as the Pink Ladies BBQ team. What could be more inviting than women in tight pink tee-shirts cooking up ribs? A few of the other teams that we visited were the World Famous Larry Williams Barbecue Team, the Gassed Cookers, and Right On Q.
Do you find the names amusing? Most of the teams seem to follow an unwritten rule that the team name must include an awful BBQ or pig-related pun. Some of our favorites were Aporkalypse Now, Swinefeld, South Pork, The Hogfather, The Beverly Pigbillies, Barefoot in the Pork, Pork Fiction, Natural Born Grillers, Highway Ribbery, Notorious P.I.G. (formerly Piggie Smalls) and Gettin' Piggy With It.
Another highlight of the weekend was getting to sit in on a cooking demonstration hosted by portly NBC celebrity weatherman and Food Network personality Al Roker. He was there to hawk his cook book, Al Roker's Big, Bad Book of Barbecue- and between telling some risque jokes and burning the hell out of a huge porterhouse he shared some of his personal grilling stories and techniques. There is also a main stage that features local bands, ceremonies, and contests. And we found a wrestling ring were a giant hairy mound of a man beat up on a helpless midget for half an hour. An entertaining sight, only made funnier by the beer-bellied referee spilling his drink all over the ring.
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Well, most of these people meant business. A good deal of them are there purely to eat, drink and have a good time with their buddies. We spent most of our time with Ambassador Ceylon's buddies from Pigs In Zen. This very friendly (and very drunk) bunch of guys took us ingnorant yankees in, fed us beer and pork, and made us feel welcome in their two level tent. We thought we knew barbecue until we met them.
