Ardie A. Davis - The Kansas City Barbeque Society Cookbook: 25th Anniversary Edition

OTHER BOOKS FROM
THE KANSAS CITY BARBEQUE SOCIETY

The Passion of Barbeque

The Kansas City
Barbeque Society
Cookbook

The Kansas City Barbeque Society Cookbook, 25th Anniversary Edition copyright 2010 by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews. For information, write Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, an Andrews McMeel Universal company, 1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106.

E-ISBN: 978-1-4494-0028-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009939469

www.andrewsmcmeel.com
www.kcbs.us

Cover photography by David Morris
Cover design by Tim Lynch
APPR

ATTENTION: SCHOOLS AND BUSINESSES
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For GARY WILLS , PhB, KCBS

co-founder, leader, friend, and mentor.

Gary is loved by all and we sorely miss him!

We gratefully acknowledge and thank the many teams and individuals who contributed to this book. All are listed in the index of Contributors at the back of the book.

We are also grateful to the individuals and teams significant to the growth of the KCBS over the last twenty-five years. Many are acknowledged by name with recipes or anecdotes throughout the book.

This book would not have happened without the exemplary teamwork of the book division staff at Andrews McMeel. Kirsty Melville, head of the book division; Lane Butler, our editor par excellence; Diane Marsh; Tim Lynch; John Carroll; and Blake Stevens; plus Tammie Barker and the marketing team: thank you!

Finally, Dennis Hayes, our stellar agent, percolated the idea for this cookbook more than five years ago. Dennis, we thank you for your vision and persistence in seeing this project through to fruition.

When Carolyn Wells set out to write this history of the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS), she strove to be factual. She read twenty-three years of board minutes and highlighted something from each meeting. Not a good move, she concluded, but an excellent remedy for insomnia. Board meetings are important because they are where major decisions are made to advance the organization, but they are not the essence of KCBS. KCBS is a cultural phenomenon. It was at the right place at the right time. As Carolyn puts it, The real story is the people, their camaraderie, their love of barbeque, and their competitive nature.

KCBS, along with other new barbeque associations, was born in the 1980s. The sport of barbeque was so new then that there was little organization anywhere. John Raven, the Commissioner of Barbecue, had founded the International Barbecue Society (IBS) in Tempe, Texas. Another fledgling group, the International Barbecue Cookers Association (IBCA), formed in Dallas. Memphis hosted the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. Kansas City had the American Royal Barbecue Contest, the Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle, and the Blue Springs Barbeque Blazeoff. Each contest was independent, setting its own rules and judging procedures.

KCBS was born one evening in 1986, when Carolyn and her husband, Gary, were enjoying drinks and conversation with their friend Rick Welch. By then Gary and Carolyn had competed in every contest in metropolitan Kansas City and beyond. They had been hooked by the passion of barbeque. The topic of discussion with Rick was, of course, barbeque.

Carolyn mentioned that cookers were constantly calling her to find out when and where the next competition was going to be held. Why not start a club for cookers? the three asked themselves. Why not call it the Kansas City Barbeque Society? After all, Kansas City had long been known as a barbeque capital, the epicenter of the barbeque universe. Plus, they liked the acronym, KCBS. It left lots of room for interpretation. They agreed that the only requirement for membership was to take nothing seriously. To do so was grounds for expulsion. Fellow cookers would be reached by a newsletter, published occasionally for anyone who cared to read it. Thirty cooks signed on and paid the $12 yearly dues.

Since there were so few contests in the KC metro area at the time, KCBS members decided to have a Spring Training practice competition every April. Dan Haake offered his farm as the venue. There was no prize money, and the cheap plastic trophies bore typed stick-on labels. The entry fee was $69, which included all contest meats and a heavy-duty Styrofoam container. The concept was well received. It was all about the competition and the camaraderie. Spring Training continued for ten years, until it was no longer needed. Competition barbeque was thriving in Kansas City and beyond.

Meanwhile, calls began pouring in to Gary and Carolyn asking for KCBS sanctioning of community contests. This was getting serious! Now the society needed rules, judging procedures, a method of tabulating scores, and all those other things that make an official governing organization.