Print this story |
E-mail story |
This story has 9 comments Add your own |
iPod friendly | Bookmark this
What is this?
photo by Ben Hillyer
Adam Kaiser enjoys tasting the winning entry in this weekend’s amateur barbecue rib competition at the Jim Bowie Festival. The ribs were cooked by Greg and Lisa Whitam.
Barbecue masters compete at Bowie
Published Sunday, September 20, 2009
NATCHEZ — While some locals watched a re-enactment of Jim Bowie’s famous knife fight at the Bowie Festival Saturday, other festival-goers had a much different way of participating in the festivities.
Standing over massive pits of smoldering wood and grilled meats, participants in the barbecue contest all had one goal in mind — winning.
While Saturday’s barbecue event was a larger contest for professional participants in the Memphis Barbecue Network, others were simply there to cook.
“The cooking’s great,” Jane Greer said as she plotted with her husband Kyle about their cooking ribs.
Last year the Greers won the best ribs contest in the amateur competition and were hoping to repeat the winning recipe for the judges again Saturday.
For Jane Greer, cooking ribs takes more than just a big barbecue pit.
“It takes a lot of patience,” she said.
By Saturday afternoon her ribs had already been cooking for more than five hours.
And Saturday’s dreary weather wasn’t helping.
“The rain can cool your fire so you have to be able to maintain a constant temperature,” she said. “It’s critical for cooking. And of course they have to taste good.”
Greer said her favorite flavoring combination for the ribs are a balance between sweet and salty.
Donna Sessions coordinates the amateur competition and said it’s a good opportunity for local cooks to have their food judged by professional judges at the event for the professional competition.
“It’s a great chance for our local cooks,” Sessions said.
And the idea is gaining popularity in the completive cooking community.
“We have more people competing in the amateur ribs contest,” Sessions said. “Our cooks really love it.”
And for some cooks at the event, while the competition is important, there are more trophies to be had.
Neal Laws from St. Amant, La., said while he usually places in the amateur contests he enters, winning isn’t that important.
“It’s about being out here with your family and friends and having some good food,” Laws said. “You can’t take it too seriously, it’s too fun.”
Comments
Posted by crackbaby (anonymous) on September 20, 2009 at 1:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why have I not been able to find one mention of the DARE tournament that's annually held in conjunction with the Bowie Fest. The Humane Society has bark in the park, 50 dogs dressed up like people, licking kids in the mouth and gets a 3 day media blitz from the Natchez Democrat. DARE has hundreds of kids and parents involved in a local fishing tournament with the emphasis being drug education and awareness for our local youth, without even a mention. Am I the only person in this community that notices such "shameless bias"? Not one single picture of a child holding his/her trophy, with a million dollar smile!!!! SHAMELESS!!
Posted by steve_o (anonymous) on September 20, 2009 at 1:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If it were not for the photo caption of Mr. Kaiser tasting the winning entry of the Whitams we would not know who won!
The article goes on and on about last years winner though.(Not belittling the Greers)
Maybe next year it will be the Whitams turn to talk.
Congratulations Lisa and Greg!
Posted by consider_reason (anonymous) on September 20, 2009 at 6:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Look up facts and figures on DARE.
It does one thing for sure, bring in money to the agencies that push it.
As far as an actual deterrent?
Not so much...
Posted by dovechase (anonymous) on September 21, 2009 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The reporters were on the scene long before the ribs were submitted. When the awards were given, I don't think they were around.
Posted by uneekofficerbrod (anonymous) on September 21, 2009 at 12:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
for anyone who filled out a bright yellow form for the D.A.R.E. fishing tounament i find it very sad that even the sheriffs office didnt know the meaning of D.A.R.E. the paper stated drug ABUSE resistance education??? hummmmmm I really wonder what happened to the AWARENESS, i bet all the local teenagers was wondering the same thing,hahahaha somebody made a very bad typo... wouldn't you say?
Posted by crackbaby (anonymous) on September 21, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
OK "consider-reason", so being my question asked; Why the apparent bias? Your response is; The DARE activities did not receive newspaper coverage due to a reported "cost/effective" analysis. I would have never guessed that one!!! lol
Posted by JW (anonymous) on September 22, 2009 at 4:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
uneekofficerbrod, I don't understand your post. D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Where did "awareness" come from?
Ref: www.dare.com
Posted by freedom42 (anonymous) on September 22, 2009 at 9:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If DARE can keep one kid off drugs and out of gangs, don't you think it is worth it? Or are ribs with the perfect sauce more important?
Posted by crackbaby (anonymous) on September 22, 2009 at 10:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm with you freedom, If just one childs participation can result in a positive and drug free lifetime, due in part to the efforts of the DARE program. Nothing else happened over the past weekend that "dares" to compare, or is more worthy of celebration and media. LOL
Post a comment (Terms of Use Policy)
(Requires free registration.)