So, on Friday night I was fortunate enough to be an assistant to table captain (Oh man do I have that title right?) It was totally not what I was thinking… but don’t ask me what I thought it was going to be like because I don’t think I had a clear vision… I just wasn’t expecting this… While I was told what the process would be, seeing it made it so much clearer.

So, the teams brought the sauce (this was the first side contest) to the turn in table (this process I explained in the post for the traditional contest) and then we brought it to the table. The table captain first reads out the number on the dish and the judges write it down on their score card AND their “plate”. Their “plate” is a large piece of paper with 6 big squares. The judges are each given the dish of sauce. They stir it and smell it for their first score and then pass it on. This is done with all 6 sauces. Then they are given the first sauce again and they use the spoon to put some on the “plate”. This happens with all six and then the testing begins. The judges dip their fingers and taste and clean their palette with crackers and water. One of the ones I tasted… mmm so good.. honey and chilli I think… YUM

And then… the coveted seafood… and who wouldn’t want to judge this contest? Oh man… seafood like I have never tasted it before… heads and shoulders above what I was expecting… above what I have had in 90% of restaurants I have been to… Fish tacos with mango, cheese grits (and boy do I like grits this way) with a spicy shrimp, seafood gumbo, rice with what tasted like nutmeg shrimp, stuffed jalapeno peppers, seafood chowder, crab in a vinaigrette with onions on crackers – sounds so simple and it was so good… prawns and scallops and of course fried fish on a chowder of sorts… Where do these people learn to cook like this? There are pictures of these fabulous dishes on the picture blog… drooling is optional!!!

There was a judges potluck but we didn’t stay for that, and I don’t think I could have handled any more food!

On a positive note the seafood factories are built up again and fishermen are still fishing, the ship building is going well – we saw the next Pirates of the Caribbean partially built – and homes are being rebuilt.

Today we went to the Flea market and I had roasted corn… mmm so good… and what a great business… Wow… the profit margin is unreal!

Carl made me some jambalaya which was very good… all in all it’s been a great food trip! I am sure I have gained 20 lbs but it’s been worth it!!!

I am heading back to Nanaimo tomorrow bight and early and with a little luck will be home for dinner… oh no… I am gauging my time by meals…

Well y’all… this completes my time in Mobile Alabama with terrific hospitality… I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Wow… where to begin… what a fabulous day…

Carl and I arrived at the site about 715am and started doing our rounds making sure everything was going smoothly… and it was! What an amazing group of volunteers they have… if we can be half as lucky we will be blessed! I helped set up the bark yard BBQ judging tent and took part in the team meeting where I introduced the Nanaimo BBQ Festival and then again with the Judges meeting. Wild Hogs has unique way of doing things… their backyard teams are the ones who hand out people’s choice samples and they have their own separate category for judging, but that is not what makes them unique… they also have a tasters choice award where judges go around to their sites and taste whatever the team is preparing the way they want to serve it. KCBS judging has certain rules… for example the meat has to be attached to the bone for ribs but if the backyard teams for tasters choice wants to serve their falling off the bone they can… the only rule that I could tell was the meat had to be cooked!!! The backyard teams also had a chance to enter a second entry that would be judges by KCBS professional standards so they could see how they would rank against the professional teams as the judging between backyard and pro’s are different. This allows the backyard a chance to see if they could compete at the professional level and change their status for their next competition.

I then went to the pro tent where I would working turn in… I was first point of contact with the teams as they brought in their entry… this was a lot of fun… the teams were SO humble hoping that their meat was good enough and so generous with their statements of “good luck” to whatever team was around… the sense of family was evident. Fortunately no team was late… KCBS has a rule that if turn in time is noon then teams can hand their entries in between 11:55 and 12:05. At 12:05 the official clock gets turned over and no more entries are permitted and the team defaults in that category if they are late. There have been times when the clock hits the table seconds before an entry lands and it can’t count… I would be heartbroken and I am so glad it didn’t happen…

It is at the urn in table that the double blind part of judging occurs. Each team is given a number when they arrive. This number must appear on any turn in they have and all packaging is exactly the same (With the exception of desserts… they can be handed in any way they want). KCBS reps have issued a second number to each team and at turn in each entry’s number is now covered by their new number and then put on a tray with 5 other entries before going to the judges who are not able to see the turn in tables or the teams… and the teams never get to see their new number. It’s pretty slick! And none of the photos taken in the judges tent are allowed to include the numbers.

Between turn ins I got to go around and see the teams getting ready, watch KCBS reps start to tally the scores (more on this later) and got to visit the grazing tables. The grazing tables were where the left over entries went after the judges had taken their portions… I got to try all levels of quality… and let me tell you the good stuff… oh my… was SO good… totally ruined any future dining experience I will have!

So now the 4 categories are done – chicken, ribs (which I totally missed out tasting), butt and brisket… and now onto desserts… Desserts is an optional side contest and again… have ruined any future dessert experiences I may have. I would have to say that 75% of what I tasted was so far beyond anything I have had… My favourite was the tiramisu… I am pretty sure I can die happy knowing I have had the best tiramisu!!! In all honestly everything was really good… I just love a good tiramisu but I could just have easily picked any of the entries… there was not one I didn’t think was worthy of being there… and they were all so pretty…

So onto the score tally… this takes a while… each judge is given a score card and typically each score card scores 6 entries (so any give judge will have tried 6 entries in each of the 4  categories) then the score cards are taken by the reps and put into a computer program which calculates the scores. Now this sounds simple enough but there were 60-ish pro judges and 40-ish backyard judges… each with 24 scores… plus dessert… plus the sauce and seafood from the night before… So the reps enter the scores and then audit the scores and then print the scores… they don’t have a long time to do this… they start right after first turn and then have under 4 hours to get it all finished… they really hustle to make this happen.

Meanwhile in the rest of the fair grounds (there were about 12,000 people there and fortunately the rain held off)… backyard teams are handing out people’s choice samples, kids are playing in bouncy castles, young performers are in the family area putting on shows, food vendors are busy (the line up for homemade ice cream was about 60 people long and showing no signs of slowing down), non food vendors were selling their wares, bands were playing on the main stage and everyone have a great time… there was one tent which was drawing a big crowd so I stopped to see what was happening and it was a pro vs joe wrestling match… brave souls from the crowd would agree to wrestle a trained wrestler to see if they could win… the “joe” I watched put up a really good fight but in the end was pinned…

And the day would not be complete without a visit with Dan… I bumped into him when looking for the ladies room and he made of point of distinguishing the “pointers” from the “sitters” bathroom doors for me in typical southern assistance!! It took me a second to cypher his accent and understand his humour while he sat there with his anticipatory grin waiting for the light to go off!!

Then it was time for the awards and everyone gathered around the main stage… It was fun to watch the teams come up for their awards… they all displayed different levels of excitement but the pride came shining through… Grand Master was John and Kathy Swift with Kathy sporting her infamous big hat! There was also an award given in the name of Carolyn’s late husband who co-founded the KCBS. The award was given to John Swift in recognition of all he does for the BBQ community…

Overall, this experience was well worth the trip… of course the BBQ was fun but what I found to have the most impact for me was the kindness, generosity and support… the good parts of human nature. The world of BBQ has a camaraderie that is so inspiring and is indicative of what we are trying to achieve with the Nanaimo Barbecue Festival… the sense of community… There was a team from the north who had flown down to pick up a food vending van that had been custom made for them and were driving home when they passed a team on the highway they knew. So they pulled over to have a quick visit and were told that another team’s grandfather had just passed and were now short help for the contest… graciously the food vendors, who knew the team that was short help, turned around and spent the weekend assisting… I have been told this is a normal gesture of kindness that exists in this world… it makes me smile and warms my heart… we should all be so kind…

Carl introduced me to quite a few teams… wow some of their rigs are pretty impressive. I met John Swift in his beautiful motor home… he was busy cutting up chicken. I tell you his trailer was colder than Canada!!! When I commented on that he explained it was to keep the chicken fresh… YIKES… I needed a scarf… but really great to see how serious these competitors take their meat.

I also met David… oh boy what a character he is… He is a KCBS judge and he used do tours for the Jack Daniels distillery and by all accounts he gave the absolute best tours ever… and he has quite an attachment to forks!!! He found that it isn’t unusual to run out of forks so he keeps a spare in the bib of his Dickie bib overalls but any time he hugged a beautiful women or bumped up again something his fork would snap… so… he contacted Dickies and explained to them how he needs a spot for his fork and now there is a slot in the bib of Dickies especially for David’s fork… urban legend???

Got to see some of the organizers from the other day like Ed, we had done measurements together the day before… he sure is a spunky man dedicated to this event and Lance, who let me paint the numbers on his back yard areas…

Met the redneck teams that are going to give me my first introduction to moonshine tonite! I was warned to not ride the saddle… not quite sure what that means but I think I will heed that advice!

And then we went to the meet and greet… Wow what a spread.. I got to try cheese grits… hmmm jury is still out on grits! and hush puppies… yep pretty sure I love them… there were around 300 people there, a silent auction and a really great floor show done by the kids with cystic fibrosis (who is the charity of this event). And met so many other people I wish I could remember all their names… I am beginning to think my name is no longer Alison but is now Alison from Canada! Everyone who is told why I am here are so quick to give me tips about the event or tell me stories of when they were in Canada or how they would love to come. I am meeting people who don’t even BBQ that want to know the dates because they would like to have a reason to come to Nanaimo… This event will be really good for tourism in Nanaimo! And tourism brings dollars and dollars spikes the economy… I just keep bumping up against more and more reasons why hosting this event is such a good idea for us.

I also met Carolyn who founded KCBS (Kansas City BBQ Society). What an interesting lady who takes no credit for this wonderful world of BBQ she has created. It is remarkable how one woman’s idea has led to all this… one person really can make a difference and create change in this world of ours.

Today I am going to meet Alex who has one of the most successful downtown BBQ festivals in the USA and he has a TRAIN that runs down the middle of his event every 1 – 2 hours and doesn’t slow down! His city is really behind his event and it just keeps getting better…

I forgot my USB for my camera but I am going to post this anyway and add pictures later… I am off to see how the event starts and witness the side contests…

The first day here Carl and Carol drove me around the area showing me some beautiful spots. This is really an amazing city and so much history in the area. Lucky for me Carl is a history buff!!! We went to Gulf Shore (I think that’s what it’s called) to the beaches… Wow the sand here is perhaps the best I have ever sunk my toes into! We went to Floramaba  which is a bar, yep you guessed it, that sits on the border of Florida and Alabama and it was when there were restrictions on alcohol in Alabama people could just step over the line into Florida and order drinks. It’s an icon! We also went to Florida to meet Wayne and Maria and Bill and Debby at Flounders and had a great time with them. When they say people in the south are friendly, they are telling the truth!

So now, back to BBQ… yesterday I watched the team do all the preliminary set up… plotting the spots on the grounds where the teams go. I got to spray paint numbers!!! I think that makes me pretty important… however I did feel a bit foolish when I kept wanting to print 9′s instead of p’s… damn dyslexic brain! But I got it figured out and they forgave me! They work so hard at accommodating each of the teams… trying to give them their favourite spots and get them next to the people they want to be close to and away from the teams they want to be away from (I don’t think there was much of that but if there was.. this team would make it happen)

A couple of teams showed up. I got to meet Butt Rub… yep that’s his name.. well his name is Byron but his company name is Butt Rub! And in case you didn’t know a little butt rub makes everything better! He is a one man team with a huge trailer and the back opens up as storage for his BBQ. Apparently he is a top notch bbq champ… competing, some years, in up to  40 events… he is a mad man!!! He also has his own Butt Rub… rub! He was generous enough to give me a jar of it AND a butt rub apron… I am serious… these people are so nice! He is even entertaining the thought of coming to our event to compete… his calendar is clear and he will be back from Holland (yes they have a competition there too) and back from England (that one is in June)… so with a little luck our little ol’ city of Nanaimo may get some Butt Rub of it’s own!!!

Then we went out for dinner and met former presidential candidate Herman Cain and judicial candidate Eaton Barnard and a bunch of Carl and Carol’s friends. It was a really nice evening… even if  Dan the surgeon doesn’t like our health care system!! We agreed to disagree!!!

The agenda for today… I am going to get to go to the Mardi Gras Museum (did you know that Mardi Gras began in Mobile Alabama?) and then return to the grounds to help where ever I can and the tonite is the big meet and greet, silent auction, seafood dinner and music party… I am looking forward to meeting so many people although how I am going to keep names straight is beyond me!!! I am willing to give it a go though!