Barbecue Event Roundup: Contests, Cookouts, and Festivals in the United States

[ Photograph: Adam Kuban ] I am on an eternal quest for the next great smoke house, tracking barbecue’s many variations across a scattered landscape of small restaurants handed the burden of preserving culinary history. The United States of Barbecue, however, represents more than just billows of smoke rising from a brick-and-mortar joint. My first trip to Memphis in May taught me that lesson, exposing me to the world of barbecue events, a vast expanse of competitions and festivals rooted in the social aspects of this gastronomic tradition. In its new season, The Learning Channel’s “BBQ Pit Masters” places a heavy focus on the competitive element of barbecue culture. Media coverage tends to focus on the competitive barbecue circuit, where cash prizes and championship narratives sometimes steal the spotlight from the spirit of community that underscores every good cookout. In fact, the sanctioning of competition barbecue, undertaken most prominently by the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) , is a recent development in the history of such gatherings, which— as noted in the diary of George Washington —date back to the birth of our barbecue nation and beyond. The competitive circuit was established not only so pimasters could gather on a smoking battlefield, but …

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Chocolate bacon cupcakes!

Chocolate bacon cupcakes from Hill Country BBQ Market, via Twitpic by @KELLYCHOI.

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Condiments in … Puerto Rico: Mayoketchup

Serious Eats’ Culinary Ambassadors check in from time to time with reports on food fare in their homeland or countries of residence. Here’s the latest! —The Mgmt. [ Photograph: MadelynRodriguez ] The typical condiment of Puerto Rico is mayoketchup —a mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup. Everyone has their recipe for it, and you use it to dunk fried foods like tostones and sorullitos de maíz . — MadelynRodriguez of Karma-Free Cooking Want to tell us about a condiment from your country? Go here!

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Recap: Next Food Network Star, Season 6, Finale!

Well, folks, it’s been a good run. Weeks of breathless anticipation, cut-throat camera challenges, and emotional breakdowns have led us to this, our final week together. Who made it through the drama and emerged victorious as the champion of The Next Food Network Star ? Read on to find out! [Warning: Spoilers ahead.] Final Challenge For their final episode, the contestants had only one challenge— shoot their own three-minute pilot , to be screened before the selection committee and a focus group. The three finalists— Herb Mesa, Aarti Sequeira , and Tom Pizzica —were appropriately terrified. But then they found out that Food Network megastar Rachael Ray would be there to provide guidance and nasal advice. Herb had this to say: Herb’s pretty freakin’ happy to see Rachael. [ Photographs: Leah Douglas ] After a brief consultation with Ms. Ray, the three move on to shooting their pilot. Herb starts out nervous and awkward, and I was afraid he might lapse into his old days of weight-conscious, family-missing blubbery. But no! He craftily taped pictures of his kids and wife onto the camera, and then became much more comfortable before the lens. His …

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Tags: aarti-sequeira, breakdowns, breathless, camera, country, cut, final, final-challenge, food, gold, indian, network, star, time

2010 Sonoma Wine Country Weekend, September 3-5, Healdsburg

Most people, when they come visit me in San Francisco and ask to be taken to wine country, assume that they’re going to Napa. But at least half the time, that’s definitely not where we end up. My well meaning friends aren’t the only ones who seem to forget that Northern California has many different “wine countries.” Napa casts a long shadow, as it were. I’ve got a bit of love for every piece of wine country we’ve got here in California, but there’s a special place in my heart for Sonoma County, both because it is the place of my birth, but also because I think sometimes it gets short shrift compared to its more famous neighbor. Sonoma County is several different wine regions rolled up into one — from the chilly fog of the Sonoma Coast and Carneros, to the cool Green Valley and Russian River Valley, to the warmer climes of Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Mountain, Alexander Valley, and the Sonoma Valley — many different micro-climates and many different wines, from sparkling to Pinot Noir to Zinfandel to Cabernet. The main problem, however, is that all these regions lay spread out over a wide area, much wider than the relatively (in comparison) compact Napa Valley. So experiencing the breadth of …

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Time for a Drink: the Hurricane

From Recipes [ Flickr: nikkiaden ] Oh, how good drinks can go bad. But in some cases, they can be rescued. Here’s one drink that took a wrong turn somewhere, devolving into noxious pre-mix land, but which can be re-created in its flavorful original form: the Hurricane . Here’s the story, cribbed heavily from Beachbum Berry Remixed , from the go-to authority on all things exotic-drinking related, Jeff Berry . During the 1940s, the owners of the now-famous Pat O’Brien’s bar in New Orleans were required by their distributors to purchase cases of rum (considered cheap in both price and reputation) in order to obtain the whisky they actually wanted to sell. In order to move this much rum, head bartender Louis Culligan came up with a simple and, as it turns out, immensely popular preparation, a citrusy relative of the Planter’s Punch sweetened with the tropical flavor of passion fruit syrup. As can happen with such popular drinks, the recipe soon went off the rails . Today Pat O’Brien’s is one of the most popular bars in New Orleans (especially among tourists), and the Hurricane remains one of the city’s iconic drinks. Unfortunately, the glowing red drink you’ll be served in the glass that bears its name is made with a weird-tasting fruity premix, packages…

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How to Make a Quick Pizza with Slow-Rise Flavor

From Slice [Photograph: Cameron Mattis] Trying to decide whether to simply dispose of some old, unused, naturally leavened pizza dough or to incorporate it into my starter, I chose option three: adding the old dough to a yeasted pizza crust. You don’t need dmcavanagh to tell you that slow-rise dough has a superior taste; the difference in flavor is evident from the first bite. As dough ferments, yeast converts starches to sugars, building a complex flavor and priming the crust for caramelization. By adding mature dough to the usual suspects (flour, water, salt, and yeast), however, you can achieve similar results relatively quickly. After a few hours of rising, I had a wonderfully puffy and elastic dough that baked to a beautiful golden brown. Both the old dough and the spelt flour I had used contributed a rustic, country flavor that I hadn’t yet achieved in any yeasted dough. If you plan ahead, you can make this dough with a longer rise by reducing the ambient ferment to a half hour and refrigerating the dough at least overnight. Either way, this crust is reliable and delicious . I…

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Introducing Photographer Matt Wilson

One of my little side projects around here is to bring you beautiful images of vineyard and wine country landscapes on a fairly regular basis under the banner ” Vinography Images .” I’ve had year-long partnerships with some of the best wine photographers in the world, and I’m thrilled to introduce my latest partnership with photographer Matt Wilson . I first encountered Wilson through his portraits of some of Chile’s youngest winemakers, and went on to enjoy his excellent landscapes of South American vineyards. Matt lives in Chile and has photographed all over Chile and Argentina, as well as other wine regions around the world. Matt was born in the U.K. and he studied at the International Centre of Photography in N.Y. in the early nineties, going on to become a touring music photographer in the USA, working notably in the Hip Hop scene, with artists such as Mos Def, The Roots, Method Man, Redman, and Common. After moving to Chile 7 years ago he began working in the wine industry, photographing vineyards, landscapes, wine personalities including many portraits of wine professionals, from workers to owners. Matt’s …

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The United States of Pizza: Connecticut

From Slice If you are only a casual pizza fan, you’d be excused for underestimating Connecticut’s contributions to the slice-o-sphere. After all, isn’t it NYC and Chicago that get all the attention from TV shows and food writers too lazy to go beyond the tired Big Apple–Windy City rivalry? In fact, parts of Connecticut have had world-class pizza operations for upwards of 85 years. That’s not to mention all the relative newcomers (emphasis on relative ) that have opened in the nearly nine decades of Nutmeg State pizza ascendancy. Let’s take a look at some of the options for those unfamiliar with the state’s crusty, cheesy, saucy offerings. What Makes It Different Where Slice’rs Recommend Willington Pizza House, Willington CT Luna Pizza, West Hartford CT Harry’s Pizza, West Hartford CT Barbara’s Pizza, West Hartford CT Park Lane Pizza, West Hartford CT Fat Cat Pie Co., Norwalk CT Little City Pizza, Simsbury CT Marco Polo, New Haven CT Carminuccio’s, Newtown CT Yanni’s Pizza, Newington CT Harry’s, Bishop’s Corner CT Most of the pizza journalism that touches on Connecticut pizza focuses on the New Haven area. Why? There are at least five well-regarded pizzerias in or around what is the…

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Bartenders Rediscover ‘Fun’ at Tales of the Cocktail

I’m home from Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans and deep into muffaletta withdrawal, but as Jason Wilson wrote in Wednesday’s Washington Post , last week was full of previews of what’s to come in spirits and cocktails. Last week I wrote about a few of the rare and upcoming spirits that were being trotted out at Tales; Wilson adds to this list with a preview of Zucca , an Italian amaro flavored with Chinese rhubarb; and a Damson gin produced by Scott Krahn, founder of DH Krahn gin , that is made at Finger Lakes Distilling in New York. I ran into Scott at one of the event’s tasting sessions, and he gave me a taste of the product, dubbed Averell’s Damson Gin, which will be available starting October 1. Bottled at 33 percent alcohol, the liquor is infused with a sour, knobby variety of plum that gives the drink a bright tartness akin to that of sloe gin, without the syrupy sweetness that often plagues that style of spirit. Other new releases include Redemption Rye , a relatively young (2 1/2-years old) whiskey with a whopping 95 percent rye mashbill, made in Indiana; and the full…

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