Where there’s smoke,
there’s
BBQ STORY BY PAM BURKE PHOTOS BY COLIN THOMPSON
The argument could be made that the way to Steve Parker’s stomach is through his heart. Co-owner with is wife, Jennifer, of the food truck Parker’s BBQ Pit, he learned the love of special foods and quality ingredients while growing up among the cooks in his family on Rocky Boy.
As the pit master for their food truck, Parker prepares the pulled pork, brisket, chicken and ribs that they serve along with seven or eight side dishes, including an original recipe apple coleslaw. Parker said he learned to cook, and learned to love the process of cooking, from his parents and grandparents. One of his favorite memories centers around his family’s birthday tradition. His family didn’t have much money, he said, but when a birthday came around, the celebrant could ask for a special meal of their own choosing, and his mom and grandmother would create that meal no matter what it was. “Over time, I learned to associate food with a form of how you care for somebody. It’s a way for you to express how you care for that person, and we have that tradition now with our kids,” he said. His dad and grandfather cooked,
as well, he added. His dad would pit roast whole pigs — a skill that ended up sparking Parker’s love of barbecue. When the Montana Centennial Cattle Drive was in the area in 1989, Parker said, his dad was asked by the tribe to roast a whole hog, but in honor of the celebration, he pit roasted a buffalo for everyone. “It was fascinating to me,” he said, “so naturally I was drawn to barbecue and outdoor cooking. And from my mom and my grandmother I really learned to care for my ingredients. The better ingredients you use, the better the food you can produce.” But they also stressed that the cook’s attitude, the emotional energy they put into cooking was important, too. “When you cook you should always take your time and make sure that you’re in a good mood. If you
6 | LIVING Havre and the Hi-Line MAGAZINE | October 2020
cook while you’re in a lousy mood your food is going to reflect that. But if you have good thoughts and good energy you’ll be able to transfer that into the food that you’re producing,” he said. “Those key things have stuck with me for a very long time,” he added, including when he was in the military later. As he traveled with the military, he sampled foods from different regions, analyzing what he liked about them and how they were made. “There’s a lot of common spices regardless of what region you’re looking at, but the ratio of those spices and how they’re changed region to region can really change the flavor profile dramatically,” he said. “Just using a different parsley, using a different tomato can give it a different flavor, or the treatment that you give the same produce can turn out to be something totally different.
