Posted by Smoky on June 01, 1996 at 11:44:42:
In Reply to: Lookin' for KC barbeque experts! posted by Betty Duran, Colorado on May 31, 1996 at 12:39:55:
:
: I'm a writer and I'm looking for information on what makes Kansas City
: barbecue so special (I'm originally from southwestern Missouri so I
: KNOW that it's special!). Here's the deal: I write romance novels
: for Harlequin. In the b
ook I'm about to begin, the lifelong dream of
: my main character (who lives in L.A.) is to return to Kansas City and
: open up a barbecue restaurant.
: OK, I've found a lot of information on the 'net but I have little, if
: any, personal insi
ght into what makes KC barbecue tops. Is it the
: sauce? Cooking techniques? All of the above? If I give my character
: his own "secret sauce," what might the secret ingredient be? If
: another character challenges him to defend KC barbecue
, what would his
: response be?
: By the way, the book will be light-hearted (I hope funny) and will in
: no way denigrate the greatness of K.C. barbecue.
: Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
: Betty Duran (writing for Harl equin as Ruth Jean Dale)
Hi, Betty aka Ruth Jean Dale,
With your skill at writing fiction and lack of information about
barbecue, you would be an ideal candidate to become a magazine food
editor. On second thought, you have tasted real barbecu
e. That instantly,
disqualifies you.
Kansas City barbecue is a distinct branch on the barbecue tree. Having
been exposed, more than most, to the complete spectrum of barbecue,
perhaps I can better explain the distinctions of the KC style barb
ecue.
Barbecue developed as a way to cook whole hogs with a minimum of effort
yet deliver a maximum of taste. KC barbecue, being central to cow
traffic, includes as much beef as pork, but does not ignore any edible
meat. Visit Smoky at barbec
ue@nottingham.com for deep background of
barbecue lore
Modern barbecue was probably introduced to Kansas City by African-
Americans migrating northward in the '20s and bringing the arts they
had learned in the south. They opened barbecue joi
nts that mostly featured pork
ribs. As the taste of barbecue spread, so did their bill of fare and
the backyard barbecuing binge. Although, most of what was cooked in
the backyard was grilling not barbecuing, some folk (like the group
that fo
rmed the Kansas City Barbecue Society) actually learned to
barbecue.
Somewhere between Memphis,TN and KC,MO folks started using dry seasonings,
which they called "dry rub" to season the meat before it was put on
the grill. Most southern barbe
cuers, original barbecuers, used a mixture
of water, vinegar and peppers and other seasonings called a basting
sauce aka in the KC area as a "baste" to season the meat before and
during cooking.
Partially as a result of the dry rub, KC barbec
ue is probably a little
drier in the external part of the meat. Some KC barbecuers also upped
the temperature beyond the classic 210-215*F cooking temperatures.
A part of the reason for this is the Webber kettle grill, which is very
popul
ar in the area. No old time experienced southern barbecuer would
waste his time trying to barbecue on a small kettle grill. Also,
restaurants tend to cook their meat faster (at a higher temperature)
which sometimes results in burnt ends." Famou
s in the KC area but, to
an old purist southern barbecuer, burnt is a grievous fault that would only
be admitted to under extreme duress and would not be shown, much less
offered, to guests.
Another peculiarity of KC barbecue is the penchant
for barbecuing
brisket - a Texas joke that backfired on Texans. (see deep background)
KC barbecuers also added chili type (the dish rather than the pepper)
seasonings to the original array of barbecue seasonings. That includes,
cumin, cilan
tro and chili peppers.
If it has been a few years since the KC barbecue flavor was firmly,
fixed upon your palate, you weren't exposed to the invasion of mesquite,
a noxious weed, exported by fun-loving Texans to naive newcomers, or
to the
promiscuous use of the buzzy, fuzzy word,"smoking,"
erroneously used to describe what was intended to be barbecuing. The
buzziness of the word, leads many embryonic type outdoor cooks to
ruin their tasty, expensive meat by oversmoking.
To w
rite about barbecue accurately, the tone must, as you plan, be light.
A basic tenent of barbecuing, is that it must be fun. The long cooking
period presents the opportunity and a skilled barbecuer excels in
enjoying life.
As for your plot, th
e competitor (bad guy) might use monosodium glutamate
or papain to artificially tenderize his meat, he might use liquid smoke
to disguise his taudry technique or he might steam his meat to cook it
faster, yet preserve some moisture. The discerni
ng palate of an experienced
barbecuer would, however, immediately detect such callous chicanery.
As for a secret ingredient, your hero might discover, by serious
research or, as frequently happens in novels, a propitious happenstance
type m
eeting with an old baster with whom he shares a cold six pack on a hot
and humid day, traditional seasonings which have been forgotten by all but the few old
basters remaining. Among those you could choose mace, allspice, juniper
berries or nutm
eg for starters.
The "sauce" by the way, is added after the meat is done or almost done.
That is what is commonly known as barbecue sauce. The basting sauce
- a real secret ingredient to most folk - is applied before and during
the cooking pr
ocess. An insider type novelist would put the secret in
the basting sauce. You might throw in an exotic wood, say small
sweetgum branches and a few crumbled bay leaves (lauris nobilis not
California bay) into the coals, occasionally.
Good luc
k. There is already more fiction written, and passed as fact,
about barbecue than all other types of cooking combined. Maybe you can
start a new trend - accurate information about barbecue in fiction.
You could get come serious discussion, if not
down right arguments,
however, if you present KC type as the ultimate barbecue.
Good eating and good writing,
Smoky