“Nothing like smoked pig in the morning!”

We stood there, at the edge of the field, Saturday morning and inhaled deeply. Ummm, ummm, ummm! The air was filled with wood smoke - a whiff of hickory there, a tinge of mesquite from the left, a hint of apple wood and, yes, the subtle nuance of cherry floating by from another direction. Oh, what a beautiful morning!!

This was the 7th Annual Pork in the Park BBQ Competition in Salisbury, Maryland this past weekend. A Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) sanctioned event, this competition featured 134 cook teams and is the second largest KCBS State competition in the country. For many teams, this was the first event of 2010 and they were ready and raring to cook their best. A contest this size needs at least 160 judges and, in an amazing organizational feat, judges of the four official KCBS categories were 100% Certified.

At 7:30 a.m., Whole Hog judging was just two hours away and we were there as Pig Police, Pork Cops or Pig Patrol. Pick a title. The name varies from contest to contest but the job’s the same. We observe the preparation of each team’s Whole Hog contest entry from the smoker to the turn-in table.

When competing in whole hog, a cook team must cook the hog in one piece and then submit samples of five specific cuts. (Specific lists of cuts vary slightly from contest to contest.) All samples must come from that one pig. It takes skill to be able to cook all areas to perfection. If the loin is perfect, the shoulder may not be quite done and the ribs could be dry.

You must also be able to cut with precision to obtain six comparable samples of each of those five cuts. (All judging is done using six samples.) Whole Hog competitions are not the place to start your competitive career. (This is not to say newbies haven’t tried. A few have even been quite successful.)

The team I observed this time is a young team in terms of competing. They have only tried a few contests and this was their first whole hog. It was an all round learning experience but they stuck with it and turned in a very reputable entry.

As Pig Police, we did not judge the Whole Hog category. A separate batch of judges had that pleasure. In an exit poll, we found most were very pleased with the quality of all of the entries.

At noon, judging of the official KCBS categories of chicken, ribs, pork and brisket began. ALL KCBS contests must include these four categories and they are judged in that order. All other categories such as Whole Hog, and the Friday events for Anything Butt (Chef’s choice) and Seafood, are optional for the cook teams. Specific guidelines for those competitions are determined by the event organizers and not by KCBS. The four official categories are strictly regulated by KCBS and are judged exactly alike, whether here on the East Coast, in the Mid-West or even in California. (The same rules are applied to contests held in Germany, Ireland and other overseas KCBS events.) Only these four scores are used to determine Grand Champion and for national rankings. I did, personally, judge the KCBS categories as well as Friday’s events.

We spent the next two hours, viewing and tasting the entries in the chicken, ribs, pork and brisket competitions. ALL KCBS judging is blind judging, meaning we have no way of knowing whose entries we are tasting. Teams are given number codes before submission which are changed again at the turn-in table. Even after judging, we cannot find out whose food we tasted no matter why we might want to know. All samples in a category are first graded on appearance. Then samples are distributed and graded on taste and texture. Each table of six judges judge the entries of six teams.

Each sample is graded separately on a scale from 2 to 9 with 6 being “average”. A 2 denotes “inedible” and a 9 is “outstanding“. Scores are then tallied and ranked using a computer program. There is a tie-breaker system in place. Cash awards and trophies are awarded in each separate category and for the overall winning teams (Grand Champion) with the highest total scores. Total numerical scores are kept by KCBS to determine the top team of the year, announced at the American Royal in Kansas City in October.

I can say I think this may have been the best overall selection I’ve had in a long time. All of the chicken samples I judged were above average or excellent, however, none were outstanding in my opinion. Only one rib was not of excellent or outstanding quality among the samples at my table. I would have been happy with a rack of any one of those entries. Only one pork sample was disappointing and only one slice of brisket was tough.

Just for the record, we do not eat the entire sampling at that seating. Two maybe three bites of each sample is enough to score with. We bag up our half-eaten leftovers and carry them home for some excellent leftovers. I’ve only met one judge that has eaten everything presented to him at a judging session - easily over 2 pounds of meat!! This is why we, personally, do not judge Whole Hog on the same day as regular judging. I believe I would explode even using a 1 bite system!

Over the years, I have become a whiz at “recreating” with the left-overs. Pork enchiladas are on tomorrow’s menu.

Are you a FOODIE, too?

I'm a FOODIE ! I hang out with other foodies, too.

This is the crowd I was with this weekend.A crowd of 165 or so Certified BBQ judges gathered
for the 2010 Pork In The Park BBQ competition and I was,
as usual, among them.

So, what exactly IS a "FOODIE" ?

We are folks who enjoy food with all of our senses. We love to eat it, of course, but we also study it, talk about it, read about all kinds of foods, prepare it and experiment with different flavors, cooking methods and presentations and such. We follow food news, trends and fads. New restaurants catch our attention. We watch food oriented TV shows, films and documentaries, often while paging through a culinary magazine or book. You'll find us at food festivals, wine tastings, brewery tours, cooking demonstrations and competitions - anywhere other food aficionados gather. We are quite literally obsessed with all things culinary, and we're not searching for a cure.

That's how I see the direction of this blog - an information and discussion outlet for all things culinary. If it has to do with food, it will be fair game for this site!

I hope you'll join us for this magical mystery tour through all things edible !!!

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I guess you're wondering just who I am.

For over twenty years, my husband was the chief cook in our house. I've always liked to cook but he's the one who had time on week nights. He got home hours before me and was literally chomping at the bit by the time I came in each evening. He always says he learned to cook in self defense - he was hungry!!

His skill and expertise came as quite a surprise even to him. While he started out doing simple meals, he quickly learned to add a spice or two or to try a different preparation method. He gleaned tips from the Food Network and felt a kindred spirit with Rachael Ray. (They both like fast meals.)

When I stopped working in the legal field and became a housewife (by choice) a few years ago, I took over the daily cooking. (He now claims to have forgotten how.) I'm not a big fan of measuring cups and tend to just throw a "splash of this" or a "splish of that" into my dishes (Yes, there IS a difference between a "splish" and a "splash" .) and so, evolved the name of this blog!

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Sneak Peeks at things to come...

In the first year I was at home, I put together a 250 page family cookbook featuring recipes from 5 generations on both sides of our families. I tried to make it a very special publication by including family stories (about food), essays about those family cooks before us who are no longer with us and those I called the "Cooking Divas" who are still with us today. I included loads of old and new family photos, humorous cooking quotes and anecdotes and even some food-oriented cartoons. I used a basic word processing system and printed all 36 copies on our little old home printer. I'm planning to get started on a supplement in the near future. I think every family deserves a journal of this sort and encourage all of you to record those recipes for posterity in one form or another. In the weeks and months to come, I'll bring you stories of other families' efforts in this endeavor and give you some guidelines for producing one of your own.


As mentioned above, I am a Certified Judge for the Kansas City Barbecue Society. My husband and I are part of a hearty and brave troop of happy eaters who trudge from one competition to the next where we are forced to sample some of the best slow-cooked, wood smoked meat known to mankind. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. In the next few days, I'll tell you a bit about the very special world of competitive barbecuing. Later, I'll bring you some interviews with some of the cook teams and maybe even convince some of them to share a guest blog with us.

I am part of the Etsy world (an online marketplace) and have discovered some fantastic craftspeople there that do crafts related to or inspired by food. I'm working on some feature articles about some of these folks and their fantastic creations.

Of course, there is news of food festivals and events coming this way, too!

There's a lot more, too - book reviews, recipes, food trivia, and more...

Y'all come back now, ye'hear!

We're not ready!!!!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

This is the new home of Ramblin Mama's culinary adventures. Right now, we're still in the drafting stages and it may take us a week or two, but we'll get there (eventually)!! Watch my other blog, Random Splashes of Thought, for news of our grand opening here.