Melissa Cookston - Smokin in the Boys Room: Southern Recipes from the Winningest Woman in Barbecue

contents

Introduction

My Story

Smokin in the Boys Room grew out of my seventeen years of cooking on the male-dominated barbecue contest circuit. Going back even further, its also the natural product of a childhood spent around pit-fired barbecue, combined with an innate ultra-competitive spirit. Traditionally, the home kitchen has been womens domain, while the grill has been male territory. Maybe its the caveman effectbig pieces of meat and fire bringing out the chest-thumping. That didnt stop me from reveling in my Mississippi Delta upbringing, where eating pulled-pork sandwiches while talking with my grandfather for hours on end as a child gave me a love for good southern barbecue.

I have always wanted to win, no matter the game or the stakes involved. Im too old to play basketball, and I dont bowl, so entering barbecue contests was a great release for me. In my career as a pitmaster, I have been very happy just to make something Im proud of turning in to judges, but winning a big contest such as the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest still makes me happier than a tornado in a trailer park.

In fact, I am the winningest woman in barbecue, and frankly, its not even close. I was thrilled to reign as the Memphis in May Grand Champion in 2010 and 2012. I won the Whole Hog category both of those years and also managed to win Whole Hog in 2011 but lost the Grand Championship by 1 point (out of a possible 570!). In 2012, I won the Kingsford Invitational, where eight winners of the biggest contests in the barbecue world were invited to compete in the first true barbecue contest of champions. Not only did I win the Grand, but I also won first place in four out of five categories. (Those fellas were pretty surprised when a Memphis pork cook won the brisket category!)

Generally speaking, most men (cooks or judges) on the circuit are very cordial and nice to me. However, I have run into a few over the years who think my husband, Pete, needs to stick me back in the house. The looks on their faces make winning that much sweeter.

Ive been called the Queen of Q (among some other choice namesmen dont like getting beaten), but Id prefer to be known as the best barbecue cook instead of the best woman cook. Even though Im the winningest woman, very few men have the rsum I have. There are no womens tees on the barbecue contest circuit, and I dont get a head start because Im a girl. At the end of the day, barbecue is the great equalizer. It doesnt matter whether you are a man or woman, rich or poor, black or white; good barbecue crosses all those lines.

As competitive as I am, I am very appreciative of and humbled by the awards and acclaim Ive received, and Im the first to admit I didnt do it all by myself. With Pete and my daughter, Lauren, our team has cooked at barbecue contests not just as a way to make a living but also as a family adventure. In 2010, for example, we were in Washington, D.C., cooking on Pennsylvania Avenue at the Safeway National Capital Barbecue Battle, and one week later, we were in California, cooking for the BBQ Pitmasters television show. Let me tell youif you arent pretty close to your family, a solid month of traveling and cooking will sure get you there!

I have always been in the restaurant business in one form or fashion. I had my first job at a local restaurant when I was thirteen years old and have remained in the food business ever since. In 2007, my husband and I decided we were going to enter the barbecue competition circuit full timetalk about a feast-or-famine existence! Luckily, we were smiled upon by the barbecue gods and did very well. However, with a child, running up and down the road every week going to contests is not an ideal way to make a living, so we looked for what would be the next step from the contest world. In 2011, we opened the Memphis Barbecue Company in Horn Lake, Mississippi. I wanted the restaurant to focus on barbecue and food from the Delta, and we made sure everything was made from scratch. We have had lines out the door every day since day one. We were so well received that we have opened locations in other cities to help spread the gospel of Memphis-style barbecue.

Smokin in the Boys Room comes from my heart. Here youll find recipes I used to win world barbecue championships, recipes from my restaurants, and recipes I use to cook dinner on a Tuesday night. They are all recipes from my soul and upbringing, and I hope you enjoy them.

Memphis-Style Barbecue and Foods from the Delta

We are all products of our childhood. That everyday meal you hated as a child is often the one that drives your cravings as an adult.

I grew up in the Delta region, an area spanning from Memphis to New Orleans along the mighty Mississippi River, and it truly shaped my thinking about cooking and recipes. I once watched an episode of The Frugal Gourmet as a child, back when we had only about four TV channels and no remote control. The host, Jeff Smith, kept talking about peasant fooddishes cooked by the poor using the ingredients that the upper class didnt want, dishes that achieved the sublime from the mundane. I didnt get it at the time and was pretty happy when someone changed the channel, but I remember that show because Smiths point has become more and more important to me as I have matured. And as Ive matured, Ive become ever more infatuated with the flavorful food of the Delta.

Barbecue in general, and Delta cooking specifically, are all descended from the same mentalityturning tough ribs into world-championship cuisine, cooking a picnic shoulder full of fat and gristle for fifteen hours until the meat is succulent and dripping with flavor, using cheap masa flour and a couple of pounds of pork to make tamales that speak to you. Delta cuisine is not necessarily soul food, although it shares some dishes. It sure isnt Cajun or Creole, although Id call it a second cousin once removed. It is food focused on fresh ingredients, and it is intensely flavored. It is a food made by people, white and black, poor and wealthy, who know that everyday (cheaper) ingredients and meats cooked properly can be just as satisfying as the meals reserved for Sunday. Its about food prepared with love, care, and passion.

Memphis-style barbecue has been such a defining influence in my life. When I was younger, I remember my mother getting a craving for ribs, bundling us up in the car, and driving two hours to a famous Memphis restaurant just to eat ribs. At the time, I thought it was absolutely crazy to drive hours each way just to eat ribs, but now I get it. One day, my mother, being a can do type of person, decided that she could do her own ribs just as well as that restaurant. She went to the meat market and purchased some beautiful ribs, got her seasonings together, and fired up the grill. The smell was heavenlyfor a while. A few hours later, we were in the car heading to Memphis again, and the great rib experiment was never mentioned again. Memphis-style barbecue has that kind of effect on people.

Memphis barbecue is about meats cooked low and slow and seasoned with a soulful hand. It is about texturepork butts and shoulders cooked to the exact moment where the meat can be pulled by hand into succulent pieces and never needs to be chopped. Ribs are cooked so the meat can come cleanly from the bone but still maintain integrity, body, and a wonderful mouthfeel. Cooking pork to those textures is really about flavor. Properly cooked pork allows the meat to express its own innate flavor, in addition to any seasonings and sauces, across your palate. Memphis barbecue has a full-flavored profile, with a sweet beginning note and a symphony of savory and spicy melodies that sing in your mouth the way B. B. King plays his guitar. The phrase sweet with a little heat pretty much sums up Memphis-style barbecue, and that well-rounded flavor profile is exactly what youll find in my recipes.