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Moth ball time for your BBQ Pit?
By Ardie A. Davis
ardiedavis@kc.rr.com
A few months ago, a staffer from a major national food magazine called me about donating a recipe for their October edition. I suggested a few grilled or barbecued dishes. They replied, “People don’t cook outdoors in October. We want a fall dish that can be cooked indoors.” “Hogwash!” I thought, but I gave a polite reply. “In my circles, grilling and barbecuing is something we do every month.”
In the end, I compromised and gave them a recipe for grilled ribs with an oven-baked facsimile. They, of course, chose the oven-baked facsimile with some tweaks of their own. The result, my friend Guido reported to me with his usual candor, was “so bad even my cat wouldn’t eat it!”
It really wasn’t that bad! Now that infamous recipe is history, buried in landfills and recycling bins across America. It is gone and forgotten. The lesson learned is bigger than the recipe, however. The perception that barbecue begins in May and ends in September is a myth that still persists! The belief that no one barbecues in October is especially ironic, given that October is National Senior Q Month.
We know it isn’t true. The National Barbecue News arrives in our mailboxes every month. Barbecue contests happen every month. Those of us who love barbecue never skip a month or more without barbecuing.
What to do about the myth? A frontal attack with PR campaigns, letters to editors and politicians, or other such initiatives is not worth the time and expense. Wouldn’t you rather be barbecuing? That’s the point! We must lead by example. No moth balls! Barbecue year round!
Some day the mainstream big-time media foodies will get it. Meanwhile we’ll see annual springtime “barbecue” editions in national food magazines for years to come. But gradually, by example, we’ll show America and the rest of the world that barbecue, America’s true cuisine, is a year round passion. Fire up your pits! Let’s barbecue!
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