When I started this column a few months ago, I had no idea it
could become a vehicle for social change. It all started in a
conversation, very simple and innocent, with a member of my family
about grilling and barbecue.
When I started this column a few months ago, I had no idea it could become a vehicle for social change. It all started in a conversation, very simple and innocent, with a member of my family about grilling and barbecue. This person, who happens to be male (I will keep him anonymous), clued me in to what he thought makes a griller adept and a barbecuer great.
With wide-eyed anticipation, I waited for the secret he had. What could it be that I may not have known already? Was it the exact cooking temperature for optimum quality? Was there some sort of secret seasoning I never thought of using?
Nope, it wasn’t a huge secret – or a very nice one, to say the least. In his opinion, the huge secret that makes a griller good and a barbecuer great: Drink beer when you grill or barbecue, and you have to be a man.
Well, let’s just say that I was absolutely appalled by the sexist comment. I don’t share these opinions, nor do I think like that at all!
The family member told me that my opinion differs from his because I grew up during the time of the women’s liberation movement. I disagree. My opinion is a result of some influence from a line of women on both sides of my family who are strong and independent.
My mother has been a huge influence on my accomplishments as a griller. My father is the one who taught me about building the fire and turning the meat.
However, in addition to what I learned on my own, it was my mother who taught me about balancing the seasonings and marinades for the meat that would eventually be on the grill. She also grills on many occasions.
Let’s face it, if it wasn’t for those seasonings on the meat, it wouldn’t taste all that great! She is the one who influenced me to add vegetables to the grill in recent years. All in all, my mother is just as great of a griller and barbecuer as my father.
So, the conversation with my male family member turned back to grilling and barbecue. Then came another question to attempt to add proof to his theory.
“Why is it that all the grillers and barbecue teams you hear about are all men? There aren’t any women teams,” he argued. I highly doubted this, so I had to do my own research on the subject.
Although a majority of grillers and barbecuers in the competition circuit are men, there are a few teams comprised of women. I must add that these teams have won numerous awards as well.
When searching for proof, I came across no other names as often as Karen Adler and Judith Fertig, the “BBQ Queens” of Kansas City, Mo. Keeping stylish in their tiaras, both women have taken the grilling and barbecue world by storm. They have won many more “battle of the sexes” barbecue competitions then they have lost.
According to their biographies at www.-bbqqueens.com, both women have accomplished many things in their grilling and barbecue careers. In addition to being the founder of the BBQ Queens, Adler has also been a member of the Hearth Patio & Barbecue Association, chairman of the Awards of Excellence, past vice president of the National Barbecue Association and board member of the National Barbecue Hall of Fame and Museum.
Adler’s training in the culinary arts is similar to mine, but her partnership with Fertig gives the duo’s cookbooks the classically trained touch. Fertig trained at La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine and the Cordon Bleu in London.
Adler and Fertig wrote numerous cookbooks independently on grilling and barbecue. Their most recent publication, released in spring 2005, is called “The BBQ Queens Big Book of Barbecue.” Three more BBQ Queen titles are scheduled to be released by 2008.
I say that it is time for women to take hold of the tongs, forks and spatulas that are used in grilling. Grilling and barbecue is a genderless pursuit in today’s society. I can only hope that my thoughts this week are an inspiration to those who think great grillers and barbecuers are only men – and also an inspiration to any woman who just needed the encouragement.
What are your thoughts on this subject? Contact me, share your ideas and I will write a follow-up column in the future.
My recipe this week is from one of the BBQ Queens’ earlier cookbooks. I didn’t try it, but the recipe is simple. It’s very easy to adapt the instruction for use on a charcoal or gas grill. Keep the heat low and indirect.
BBQ Queens’ Prize-Winning Barbecued Ribs
From “Easy Grilling & Simple Smoking with the BBQ Queens” by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig
Serves 6
4 pounds loin of baby back pork ribs (about 3 whole slabs)
4 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. garlic salt
2 Tbs. ground black pepper
2 Tbs. paprika
2 Tbs. celery salt
1 (12-ounce) can of beer
1 bottle spicy tomato barbecue sauce
Step 1: The day before cooking, use needle-nose pliers to grab the membrane on the underside of each slab of ribs, and pull off in one motion.
Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients and rub onto entire surface of the meat. Cover and let the flavors blend overnight in the refrigerator.
Step 3: In a smoker, build an indirect charcoal fire with a water pan to the other side. When the fire is hot, add about three chunks of water-soaked hickory and/or apple wood. Maintain a 250 degree temperature.
Step 4: Place the ribs in the cooker on a rack above the water pan (indirect heat) and smoke for around two hours or until the meat pulls back from the bone about a 1/2 inch.
Step 5: Turn the ribs over, baste with the beer and cook for one hour more, continually basting every 10 to 15 minutes. The more moisture, the better the ribs.
Step 6: Finally, baste the ribs with a spicy barbecue sauce for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
