Rudy's

They say Texas barbecue is some of the best, and according to Eric Lolis Elie author of Smokestack Lightning - the best. No kidding.

On our way down to Austin my wife and I had Uncle Dan's Barbecue in Waco. Faced with two options, Rudy's or Uncle Dan's, we decided to try the latter. It wasn't great. I thought I'd missed Rudy's for good because the odds of me rolling through Waco again are about as good as a snowball's chance in hell. To say I was surprised to hear there was a Rudy's in Laredo is an understatement. I had no idea Rudy's was a chain - a rather large chain apparently. And to have one here, in my temporary new home was a dream. Today I made that dream come true.



Not particularly hankering for barbecue, not any more than usual anyway, I thought what the hell why not? It's Sunday, a nice sunny day off from boot camp. Brandon and I walked in and lined up beside the trough of ice cold beer. You order barbecue by the 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4lb. You have a choice of the staples; sliced, chopped, moist or lean brisket, pulled pork, turkey breast, ribs and sausage. All the usual sides and deserts too. I settled on 1/4lb. of sliced brisket, 1/4lb. of pulled pork and coleslaw. Free white bread, jalapeños, pickles, onions and barbecue sause. Yes, sause.

Oh, what exceptional barbecue they sling down there at Rudy's! The brisket is salty, very smokey and fork tender. The fat melts in your mouth and the sweet, spicy rub stands along - but why not squart somma that thar sause on thar? It's also pretty damn good. The pulled pork was tender but I'd happily skip it to have a bit more brisket next time. The coleslaw was creamy, a little watery and not as nice as The Stockyards back home in Toronto. Again, come for the brisket and stay for the brisket.

If Rudy's is any indication of what good work is done in the business of barbecue down here I'm in for a long, delicious couple of months.

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Serious Eats: Ribs & Beer

Here's a handy little article about beer & ribs. I personally think the crisp flavour-backward PBR goes pretty well with any barbecue, but hey - I'm all for new beer pairings. The logic is certainly there, I'll have to try a few of these (provided they're available in the LCBO.)

Read it here: Serious Eats: What to Drink with Ribs

The Grid: Phil Nyman talks about Toronto's BBQ scene

Toronto's newest street paper interviews Phil of Phil's Original BBQ. The article ain't much but he's kinda like the grandfather of barbecue in Toronto. It's a quick read.

Read it here: The Grid: Phil Nyman talks about Toronto's BBQ scene

Competition Barbecue: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch

I found my way into this by the promise of a free lunch, or really a series of free lunches. After a trip down to sunny Syracuse, NY, home of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, I found myself wondering how the hell their barbecue was so good. So good I couldn't stop thinking about it. Where do I find some more of this? Do they even have barbecue like that in Toronto? Google: Barbecue Competition Canada. Turns out there was a competition in Barrie, ON and they were looking for 'qualified' judges. No prob.

Chosen by the clandestine committee who-knows-who I would be one of these judges! Along side of many other qualified ladies and gentlemen I filled my boots - three times a day, every two hours for two days straight. I even went out for wings after the first night (mistake.) One of the oldest judges mused on this idea of the free lunch: "We spend about $6,000 a year traveling around the country to barbecue competitions for about $300 worth of free meat. I should have chosen a cheaper hobby." Clearly he and his wife love it, so no harm no foul. But, free it ain't.

After my first year judging I was pretty stoked and thought I might try my hand at it. $50 later I was signed up for the next year's amateur competition up there in Barrie. I placed 8th out of 13, it poured rain nearly all day and I cooked the living shit out of my ribs. Think bone-in jerky. I was fortunate enough to share drink with the youngest member of Team Cedar Grilling, the overall champs. I got a few good tips* but remained pretty dejected and didn't compete or even judge the next year. If I was going to compete ever again, I'd better get my shit together.

By the summer of 2010 the competition had changed names, moved venues and become what is now the Beach BBQ and Brews Festival in Toronto. I paid my $50 with that near complete failure in the back of my mind. But hey, this was my 'hood and I wasn't about to take this lying down, right? I bought a new smoker, tried out different woods, new rubs and all sorts of sauces and honed my craft. No more failures. (Spoiler alert: No more wins either.)

The event had become smaller by at least half and there was no longer a pro competition. The am comp was a small group of probably 12 or so, set up off to the side of the much larger rib fest. I set up my sawhorse and my smoker behind one of the vendors who swore by peach wood. His name escapes me. He has a peach wood guy. Secret contact. If I wanted some, I'd have to get it through him, you know how it is. He was kind enough to share a styrofoam takeout tray of his stellar ribs (esp. considering they were from the night before!) and a nice chunk of peach wood for my fire. I have no idea if the peach wood did anything for me at all, but who can say for sure?

My ribs turned out about 1,000 times better than my previous attempt. Maybe my best ever, but again - who can say for sure? I turned 'em in along with my friend Dave Laing who'd never competed, or even really made real barbecue ribs before. He dragged a friend's propane grill from a good kilometre away and set it up for indirect cooking. Well, his ribs were pretty damn good! So good he took 4th place - no prize but a great showing for his first time out. I took 3rd, another no prize placing but better than my first time. Confidence somewhat restored, I will compete again this year and god damn it I'll do my best to take home the big prize - a brand new grill I probably don't need or have room for.

There's something about competition barbecue, something about doing your best and making those five or six perfect ribs for the judges. I know they're just regular people with regular palates, likes and dislikes, but on competition day they're more. They sit in the great pantheon of barbecue and critically inspect the offerings. Elevated, if only for an afternoon. Win or lose, a barbecue competition is a great place to meet like-minded folk, people who obsess about barbecue and shoot the shit with 'em. It's a great time and I'd recommend it to anyone who's tasted real barbecue because if you're lookin' to find it, that's where it's going to be.

*If you're looking for that fall-off-the-bone rib (or if you've overcooked them as I had) you can foil your ribs. Just before they're done, pour a bit of beer, or whiskey and apple juice (they were sponsored by Forty Creek) in the foil packet. Give 'em 20 min. or so. Take them out of the foil, sauce 'em and toss 'em on high heat just long enough to caramelize that sauce. I reckon this saved me from a last place finish.

The Economist: Fire in the hole

A great man, an appreciator of good barbecue and and friend of mine sent me this link. It's nothing short of an excellent treatise on barbecue in America today. It's worth a read, so educate yourself. Thanks Jer, and thank you whoever wrote it.

Read it here: Barbecue navigates the twin perils of mass appeal and nostalgia

Homemade Bacon!

Is there any pork product so widely lauded as bacon? Hell no! And guess what? It's dead simple to make, no shit...

This is appropriately the second post for two reasons: 1) Bacon is by far the most popular smoked meat and 2) I just made some, and took this picture of what's in store for you brave souls should you take up this charge.

Bacon, in it's purest form (and that's what I'll deal with here) is but four ingredients:

The first, and of foremost importance is pork belly. You're going to get out what you put in, so buy the best belly you can find. As a fortunate Torontonian, I have no problem getting my hands on a good one. I like to buy my bellies from Wayne's Meats or Town & Country Farms Inc. at the St. Lawrence North Market (Saturdays only.) It kind of works out perfect because it takes about seven days to cure a belly and in seven days it'll be Saturday again, leaving you with ample time to get that smoker smokin'.

The second is salt. Plain old sea salt or Kosher salt - not table salt (none of us in the fine First World need to worry about an iodine deficiency.)

The third is sugar. I'm not picky about this one. Some like to use dextrose (like Michael Rhulman, the author of the original recipe.) Others, well I don't know. I just know that brown sugar gives it a sweeter taste, which is not to my liking. Pure Quebecois sirop d'erable makes maple bacon, so that's cool.

Forth, and I'd say second most important is pink salt. You know why they call it pink salt? Because it's pink sometimes, and the rest of the time it's white. Chemically, it's comprised of 93.75% salt and 6.25% sodium nitrite. The sodium nitrite is what gives cured meats that nice pink hue (think corned beef or salami) and it helps prevent botulism. It goes by a few names; Prague Powder #1, Curing Salt, Ready Cure and I'm sure a few more. It's not easy to track down with all the 'ask your local pharmacist' bullshit floating around on the internet. I asked three separate pharmacies about this and not one knew what the hell I was talking about. So, I suggest tracking down a meat processing supply company, like Canada Compound. I picked up a bag that will last me a lifetime for about $6.

That's it. Oh, and you have to smoke it. Well, you don't have to but you really should. I use apple wood because I find it's smokey but not overpowering. Stay away from mesquite and go easy on the hickory. Personally, I think a nice fruit wood is best. I'm not going to get into the actual recipe because an abridged version can be found here, on The Paupered Chef. The original recipe can be found in Michael Rhulman's book Charcuterie.

The only thing I have to stress is don't just bake it in the oven, it's not much more work to smoke it and god-damn does it ever taste better. How do I know? I don't. It's a bold assumption based on this simple fact: Slow-smoked barbecue ribs are much better than braised ribs. Amen.

Barbecue is Important

Barbecue never does get it's due. Most people don't even know what barbecue is. It is almost always misrepresented, misappropriated and mislabeled. 'Throwin' some burgs on the Q' is not barbecue. You can't barbecue a burger, or a steak or hotdog (but a sausage, yes!) So I suppose the point of this is to bring barbecue to a wider, younger audience in hopes it will be appreciated and better understood.
The true masters of this craft are notoriously absent from the internet. They don't tweet, or get 'likes' on facebook, they probably don't even regularly check their email, if they have email at all. Those who have waded into this endless shallow pool of information seem to have done so years ago - and not updated since.
There is an shortage of information on barbecue in the beautiful and accessible way you might find it in other industries such as fashion, design and food (porn.) I love barbecue, but like most everyone north of the Mason-Dixon Line, and even worse, north of the Canada-US border - I misunderstood it.

I'm going to find what's good out there,

James Kennedy

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