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The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, May 20, 2010
Eye Street
Index Kern River Parkway Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Billy Haynes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Arts Alive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 The Lowdown with Matt Munoz . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Brains of Bakersfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Battle of the Salons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27-29
Editor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | e-mail jself@bakersfield.com
Which grill will thrill? Eat your way through best barbecue in town BY SUSAN SCAFFIDI Contributing writer
T
he spring calendar is crowded with barbecues — mostly fundraisers — making the month of May a Season of Meat. But nothing can top this weekend’s barbecue extravaganza, as 56 teams (and counting) of grillers gather at Stramler Park to compete in Bakersfield’s second annual Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned competition. KCBS Kern chapter president Mike George predicts this year’s event will be the largest on the West Coast, and prepared for the event by training local judges in March. “We wanted to make sure we had 100 percent certified judges for the competition,” George said. “We trained 39 judges locally. “Since (the competitors) put so much effort into this, we thought we’d reciprocate by having professional judges. The reason the (grillers) like this is they know they’re being judged fairly.” According to KCBS co-founder and executive director Carolyn Wells, there are more than 15,000 KCBS-certified judges nationwide, and 4,611 competing teams traveling to some 300 events around the United States each year. Teams compete for prize money ranging from a few thousand dollars — the Bakersfield purse is $5,000 this year — to as much as $100,000. “Nobody ever envisioned that it would get to this point,” said Wells, who added the organization has chapters in 25 countries. “We just wanted to drink beer and cook some meat.” As a former railhead for Texas cattle on the way to Chicago stockyards, Kansas City is famous for its barbecue tradition, which mixes Western cooking with rural Southern style barbecue. “It’s the melting pot of barbecue,” Wells said. Wells said competitive grilling is serious business. It’s considered a team sport, and one in which you get to eat the playing equipment. Wells said it’s also something people feel passionate about. “Barbecue is about taking a lowly cut of meat and turning it into a work of art,” Wells said. Under KCBS rules, competitive barbecue includes four categories: chicken, pork ribs (with the bone), pork shoulder and beef brisket — what used to be con-
GO & DO What: Bakersfield Biggest Baddest Barbecue Championships When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, with live music and entertainment from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Friday Where: Stramler Park, 3805 Chester Ave. Admission: $10 Saturday, which includes one tasting ticket good for a 2-oz. sample of meat; additional tasting tickets are $2 each. Admission free for children 12 and under; Friday’s event is free Information: bakobbq.com.
sidered throwaway meats. Cooked entries are judged first on taste, then tenderness and, finally, appearance. “Taste is very subjective,” said KCBS master judge Gene Goycochea, who trained the local judges. Goycochea is not only a judge but also a seasoned griller. Goycochea said judges learned their job by tasting samples, ranking them, and then justifying the decisions — just what they’ll be doing at this weekend’s event. “By the time you get through with the class, you’re all pretty close,” Goycochea said. The event is open to the public. George said Friday evening features a free preview that includes live music, children’s activities and food vendors. The competition begins in earnest on Saturday morning starting at 10 a.m., with public tasting starting at 1 p.m. “We have to make sure we allow the teams adequate time to submit authentic product for judging,” George said. Tickets for Saturday are $10 and include a tasting ticket good for a 2 oz. sample of meat. Additional tasting tickets are $2 each. Children under 12 are free. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Children’s Medical Center at Memorial Hospital, a part of the Children’s Miracle Network, which George said is the top priority of the event. In fact, it was during a meeting of the business committee, where George’s wife serves as a member, that the idea for the competition originated as a way to raise money for the hospital. “My wife knows I love grilling, so she roped me in to be on the committee for barbecue. We just connected with the right people. It just mushroomed and went crazy. We’ve had overwhelming support.”
FELIX ADAMO / THE CALIFORNIAN
Master griller Chris Papion with his trifecta of meats: pork ribs, tri-tip and chicken. They were all coming along nicely Tuesday.
Kern County’s teams hope to smoke rivals But it’s really about having fun, say two competitors BY SUSAN SCAFFIDI Contributing writer
Of the 56 teams grilling in this weekend’s Kansas City Barbecue Society competition, 16 are coming from Bakersfield. Local competitors Chris Papion and Dave Trillo both participated last year, and hope to do better Saturday against the bigger field. You would think grilling for a living would be enough for a person, but Papion cooks for the love of it as well. Papion, who owns Pappy’s Down South BBQ at Panama Lane and Stine Road, won the brisket category and placed seventh overall in a field of 35 grill teams in last year’s competition — the top finisher among the local entrants. But Papion said he’s not really thinking about the other teams he’ll compete against this year. “I’m a competitive person, but whenever we do something it’s because we love it,”
That flavor-inducing smoke rolls from the mobile barbecue as champion griller Chris Papion opens the lid to turn his ribs, tri-tip and chicken.
Papion said. “It’s the passion of the thing.” Papion said he and his wife, Brittney, built their own barbecue smoker trailer for com-
IS YOUR BARBECUE GOOD ENOUGH? Mike George, KCBS Kern chapter president, said he’ll accept barbecue teams up to the last minute Saturday. The entry fee is $250, and teams usually consist of two to five people. But, if like a slow-cooked brisket, it takes you a little longer to get ready, you can always enter next year. The local group usually starts promoting the event at least three months in advance. George advises any barbecue competition newbies to come out Saturday to get the lay of the land
and talk to the pros. And though there will be some elaborate custom-built grills at the competition, George said an expensive rig isn’t necessary. Last year’s reserve grand champion team, Slap Your Daddy Barbecue from Diamond Bar, showed up in a pickup with a Weber and a couple of smokers. Since his fame here in Bakersfield, the leader of that team has been featured on the Discovery Channel series “BBQ Pitmasters.” Not bad for a weekend Weber warrior.