Patrice and I prepared for our BBQ course by going to a restaurant we previously visited on our BBQ tour last May, the Blues City Cafe. The place is nothing special to look at but the ribs are great (see below).
With that great experience from last night still fresh in our guts, I mean our minds, we attended the BBQ seminar and received our Ph.B. (Doctor of Philosophy in Barbecue). There were about 100 people attending the training (which is a prerequisite to becoming a judge at the Memphis in May BBQ Festival). They honor the people who come from the longest distance to attend. Seminar organizer, Mike Davis, announced “I thought my people from California where going to take the honor but today a man came in from Australia”. Damn Aussies!
Most of our classmates were from Memphis or the surrounding area. Many have already been certified by the KCBS. I thought that was our local Los Angeles TV station but it stands for Kansas City Barbecue Society. A couple of ladies sitting behind us, who are KCBS certified, recognized us as a couple of newbies. “You are much too thin to be regulars.” They shared that they judge some sort of competition almost every weekend (“We do steaks in Texas!”). They also confessed that they had each gained about 25 lbs since starting to judge food competitions.
The course involved a pretest followed by a review of the syllabus. We also had a demonstration of both “On Site” and “Blind” judging. The “Californians” were honored by being permitted to be the “Judges” for the Blind Judging demonstration.
Then came the final exam. The pressure was taken off when the organizers said if you don’t pass the test you will take it again until you pass. Patrice finished first and when she returned with both her and my certificate I knew I was okay. We both did quite well but I did manage to miss two questions that I previously answered correctly on the pretest. I guess I didn’t get as much as I could have from the training.
Training accomplished, now it is time to get to working out. We can’t come here next year unless we’ve done some serious exercising prior to arrival. They don’t encourage health around here. They even have a run called the Big Hog Run during the Festival. Male entrants have to be over 175 lbs and females over 150. The run is a 0.2K (200 meters) and I am told it is all downhill.
Fun times ahead.
Robert
Baby back ribs from The Blues City Cafe on Beale Street
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 