JACK DANIEL’S INTERNATIONAL BARBECUE COMPETITION
By Doc Lawrence
LYNCHBURG, TN- “This is the Master’s of barbecue,”
observes Gary Prater, the renowned Tennessee restaurateur and fellow judge at
the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Barbecue. His comparison to golf’s most
prestigious competition was on point. Here, beside the historic Jack Daniel’s
Distillery, teams from across the country and around the world will light the
coals and fan the flames going head to head in an intense battle of smoking,
seasoning and searing.
There’s only one Grand Champion and the winning team claims
a fat check and a priceless trophy, barbecue’s counterpart to golf’s Green
Jacket.
On this Tennessee Saturday, the 28th year of this
event, 96 teams of champions the world over will gather in Jack Daniel's Hollow
beside the renowned distillery to compete for big cash prizes based on barbecue
excellence. For the past decade I have served as a judge at the Jack Daniel's
World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tennessee alongside some
of the biggest names in food, spirits, music and media to determine the
planet’s best of the best barbecue.
You get a taste of Lynchburg, see the international teams
parade and enjoy some of the finest barbecue in the world. Award-winning teams
from around the planet compete for the coveted title of Grand Champion in seven
categories: chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder/butts, beef brisket, desserts and
sauce.
The experience affirms that barbecue is America’s most popular
food style, solid bedrock of our culinary heritage. The reasons are apparent.
Barbecue requires only food grown and produced here. It has venerable roots and
while there have been changes (grills come to mind), the finished dish remains
pretty much unchanged.
Taste preferences vary from geographical region, but not as
much as one might imagine. The constant is slow cooked meat or fowl and the
smoke that waffles from hardwood or good charcoal.
“The Jack,” as the competition is called, forbids gas grills.
Natural preparation is the rule.
CELEBRITY
Famous Dave Anderson, restaurateur and the creator of the
acclaimed sauces and condiments found on supermarket shelves coast to coast, is
one of the unchallenged kings of barbecue. He also serves as one of the judges
for “The Jack.” Modest and soft-spoken, Dave is a model for entrepreneurial
success. The founder of the Famous Dave’s restaurant chain, Anderson is a
Ojibwe and Choctaw Indian and former Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs in
the Department of the Interior. Famous Dave regularly travels the country
speaking and is the author of several award-winning books. To him, “The Jack” represents the best of
America “combining competition with a
celebration of barbecue, our signature food.”
Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Jeff Arnett brings pizzazz to
his fabled Tennessee whiskey and the barbecue event. It was Arnett who was
instrumental in the highly successful commemorative Frank Sinatra limited
edition of Jack Daniel’s. Through Arnett, I learned that Sinatra so loved this
Tennessee product that a bottle of Jack was placed in his casket. It’s a long
journey and a fellow can get mighty thirsty.
The charismatic
Arnett is only the seventh Master Distiller in Jack Daniel’s storied history.
Dinner this Saturday at Cortner Mill Restaurant, an early
1800’s grist mill beside the mighty Duck River in Normandy, Tennessee, will be
emblematic of Tennessee’s evolving gourmet culinary culture. David Hazelwood’s
romantic restaurant hosts wine dinners with as much flair and imagination usually
confined to big cities like Atlanta.
Jack Daniel’s, the top selling American whiskey in the
world, goes down smoothly served any way you like and is forever part of
barbecue enjoyment.
Great story. Wish I was in Lynchburg. This is such a coincidence. I am just now writing a story about two distilleries, St. Augustine Distillery and Wigle Whisky.
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