Schmid - Burgoo, barbecue, and bourbon: a Kentucky culinary trinity

Burgoo, Barbecue & Bourbon BURGOO, BARBECUE & BOURBON A KENTUCKY CULINARY TRINITY Albert W. A. Schmid Photos by Jessica Ebelhar Foreword by Loreal Butcher Babe Gavin UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Due to variations in the technical specifications of different electronic reading devices, some elements of this ebook may not appear as they do in the print edition. Readers are encouraged to experiment with user settings for optimum results. Copyright 2017 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Schmid, Albert W. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Schmid, Albert W.

A., author. Title: Burgoo, barbecue, and bourbon : a Kentucky culinary trinity / Albert W. A. Schmid ; photos by Jessica Ebelhar ; foreword by Loreal Butcher Babe Gavin. Description: Lexington, Kentucky : University Press of Kentucky, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index. paper) | ISBN 9780813169903 (pdf) | ISBN 9780813169897 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Barbecuing. | CookingKentucky. | LCGFT: Cookbooks. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX840.B3 S278 2017 | DDC 641.7/6dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017010804 This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. Manufactured in the United States of America.

Member of the Association of American University Presses

This book is dedicated to my Kentucky parents, Richard E. and the late Carolyn S. Dunn. ContentsForeword Theres no place like home. ContentsForeword Theres no place like home.

I cringe at the number of times Ive packed up my life and hit the road. In the midst of chasing my dreams I often had no home. Within a decade of travel I had evolved from thrill-seeking dreamer, to a culinary student, to a suitcase, to a hotel room number, to a TV personality. Red lipstick and white knuckles quickly became part of my signature look. Bourbon is the mash of my signature flavor. Under the blazing lights and rolling cameras I found myself, and thus the Butcher Babe was born.

Id like to attribute my uncanny success to never forgetting where I came from and to the beautiful souls with whom I shared a stiff drink along the way. I can honestly attest that Id never felt at home on this green earth until I sprouted roots in the bluegrass of Louisville, Kentucky. It took me a few months to master the pronunciation of Louisville in its true Kentucky drawl, and once I did I also thoroughly enjoyed teaching others the ways of this remarkable place. From a culinary perspective, the cuisine here is hard to beat. Always has been, always will be. I love the way the people smile with their eyes and cook with their hearts.

I have sensed a new ingredient, tastefully muddled among iconic flavors, that was at first hard to put my finger on. That timeless flavor Im referring to is love. Bourbon also has a similar flavor profile, or at least thats what Albert taught me back in his Beer, Wine, and Spirits class at Sullivan University. Its impossible to deny the lasting impression a passionate man in a bow tie can have. Like an aged spicy rye, memories like this warm my bones and continue to fuel the flavors of my career. Im not alone in this phenomenon.

I am beyond elated to be a part of this timeless culture. If you arent already familiar with this multifaceted man whom I affectionately call chef, I feel it necessary to paint a picture for you. Albert is essentially the Alton Brown of the alcoholic beverage world. His list of accolades goes on longer than your great grandmas burgoo recipe. Theres nothing squirrely about that. Its simply nuts to assume that you cant find a little Kentucky in your heart.

I have a piece of Kentucky with me everywhere I go. In fact, I happen to have a Makers Mark bottle tattoo. I was a die-hard bourbon fan after I had my very first Old Fashioned. Iconic notes of citrus danced from my bourbon-baptized tongue right into my heart. Nearly a decade later, in the afternoon shade of an orange tree, my phone rang and for a moment broke my California Dreamin state of mind. It was Albert.

I have always loved catching up with him over the years, and on this particular day I could tell he was really jazzed about something. For a moment, I secretly imagined his bow tie was spinning with excitement. Please do that now. Thank you. Youre welcome. He asked me if I would write this foreword for him.

As I gushed with honor, the fattest squirrel Ive ever seen scampered out from the orange tree hed been snacking on. Naturally, I fed him some of the granola Id been snacking on and snapped some quick pictures with my new fur-friend. Albert and I both continued laughing, and he attested that this squirrel omen must be a sign, considering that burgoo isnt burgoo without squirrel meat in it. I asked if I should skin and dress the squirrel right there on the spot and wondered if he might taste like oranges. At that point in the conversation, Albert politely declined my dinner offering. Cheers,
Loreal Butcher Babe Gavin Preface In 2011, Professor Jonathan Jeffrey, Manuscripts/Folklife Archives Coordinator of the Western Kentucky Universitys (WKU) library, invited me to Bowling Green to review a recent acquisition of more than 2,400 local and regional cookbooks that were a gift to the WKU special collections library.

When I arrived, I found many of the volumes were wrapped in plastic to protect the books. So to access the information I had to remove the wrapping. Each time I would crack the plastic I had an excited feeling, as if I were opening a Christmas gift. Most of the volumes did not disappoint. The books were full of recipes, information from present day and from the past 150 years. Some of the books dated back to the late 1800s, most of them from the mid-1900s, but all of them were in some way related to Kentucky.

In my opinion, this collection is a cultural treasure that chronicles Kentuckys gastronomic history. I was reminded of my graduate work in gastronomy at the University of Adelaide, where I studied the works of anthropologists Dame Mary Douglas and Claude Lvi-Strauss. Could this collection help reveal a change in Kentuckys cuisine? Would I find long-lost recipes? Or at the very least find common threads? In short, the answer to each of these questions was yes. The collection at WKU was so large that I had to make several trips to Bowling Green but only made a small dent in researching the collection. Some of my greatest discoveries were the handwritten notes: the stars next to great recipes, the substitutions of ingredients, or the addition of recipes not originally included by the authoreither handwritten or clipped from a local paper. My ambition was always greater than the time I had with the collection.

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