Barbie battle hots up

The good, old-fashioned barbecue is something many true blue Aussies think they’ve just got down-pat. They take pride in their skills behind the grill – in producing truly mouth-watering food for their friends and family. But if they ventured along to the Melbourne Showgrounds over the weekend, they would have quickly realised just how much more they’ve got to learn – as RUSSELL BENNETT reports…

 

Meatstock – the ultimate carnival for carnivores – was held over Saturday and Sunday. The flaming hot two-day festival featured live bands, barbecue-inspired food trucks, and craft beer – and more than 25 teams from across Australia battling it out in the first ever Meatstock Melbourne ‘Barbecue Wars’ for a share in $10,000 of cash and prizes and the right to call themselves some of the best barbecuers in the country.
Sanctioned by the Australasian Barbecue Alliance (ABA), the competition heated up to a whole new level this year with barbecue fanatics competing in front of thousands of intrigued onlookers who poured through the gates – many probably drawn to the site by the sheer aromas in the air.
At the heart of the festival were two Pakenham teams – the Dirty Old Baisters, and the Smokeface Grillahs.
If there’s anything this barbecue community does almost as well as barbecuing, it’s barbecue puns.
The two teams, who buy their meat through local butcher Kelly’s Meats, have forged one hell of a reputation in the booming barbecue community already.
The Baisters – made up of members Stacey Porobic, Jarrod Keith, Luke Nagel, Cindy Nagel, and Adrian Bos – got started through the sport of gridiron, after inquiring about the food one of the Grillahs members was cooking at a local game.
Jye Healey – part of the Grillahs alongside Justin Gradon, Blake Arnett and James Wilson, and also a local gridiron player – cooked some pulled pork rolls that couldn’t be ignored.
Inspired, Jarrod then built a smoker and the Baisters were formed. They’ve taken part in three competitions since, and even have a small role in the upcoming Shane Jacobson and Magda Szubanski movie, ‘The BBQ’. Luke is a key member of the Kelly’s Meats team and he helps provide the Baisters and Grillahs with some of the most delectable cuts of meat imaginable.
“In the first competition we did at Flemington, the movie producer was walking around with Manu (Feildel) and Shane Jacobson,” Luke explained.
“He saw the smoker (made by Jarrod) and thought it was really cool and asked if we wanted to be in a movie.”
It’s been a hell of whirlwind few months for the Baisters, who won the beef component of the weekend’s competition.
Like the more established Grillahs, they’re addicted to competing now.
Jay Beaumont, the founder and event co-ordinator of Meatstock, and the co-founder of the Australasian Barbecue Alliance, told the Gazette a little bit more about the magic of competitive barbecuing.
“In the ’70s and ’80s, we cooked our steak and snags over charcoal,” he explained.
“I don’t even know how, but somehow in the 1990s and 2000s everyone changed to gas and that just imparts no flavour.
“Barbecue, by its nature, is about low and slow but it’s just more about cooking over wood or charcoal. That’s what imparts flavour.
“The basics of it – the essential part of it – is just cooking over wood.
Jay said the ABA started off with one competition in Port Macquarie three years ago.
“About 20 teams rocked up, and that was every team I could scrape together,” he said.
“Now there’re probably 280 teams in Australia, so over those years it’s really grown. “What happens is that people come along, see what it’s about, and think it’d be a cool, fun thing to do with their mates. They go home, research a bit more about it, and find out they can start with Webers and then they get a little bit inspired.
“It’s just something different. Not too many people here would be that sporty, so this is a fun way to hang out with your mates otherwise.”
Jay explained more of the art of the barbecue, saying: “Low and slow and cooking over charcoal just makes the meat taste way better.
“If you go to America and have that low and slow brisket for the first time, it’s just a mind-blowing experience. The problem is that it’s hard to do right. It takes a lot of practice, time and effort.
“There’s a real skill to it – it’s the type of wood you use, it’s the temperature you cook at, it’s the type of meat you buy, it’s where the meat comes from, does the animal eat grass or grain? How long have you cooked it for? What rub have you put on it? There are so many variables, and that’s what makes it so interesting.”
The multiple award-winning Grillahs are currently in their second year of competing. Since February last year, they’ve been to competitions all over Australia – including Port Macquarie.
“It’s a bit of an addiction,” Jye explained.
“About three years ago, I thought I’d try a few smoked meats. I thought they were pretty good back then, but they were pretty bad.
“Then I started talking to a few mates – telling them to try it – and then I reckon I cooked ribs for an entire year for everybody. Everybody I knew was always coming around to my house for ribs every second week. A few of the boys got addicted as well, and we’d seen the competitions and thought they were a bit wanky at first, but we thought we wouldn’t mind dipping our toes in the water.
“We did one, and we were hooked. It’s great – it’s a really good community and we’ve made some great friends.
“A lot of the guys are interstaters, but you get to see them at every single competition. They’re great people, and you get to catch up with them almost once a month.
“You’ve got a common bond, but also a local bond with a team like the Dirty Old Baisters, who we’re pretty friendly with.
“It’s something different. It’s like a footy club (atmosphere), but this keeps the juices going when your body falls apart.”
It truly is the next level for home barbecuers willing to put themselves to the test.
“The biggest ticket item is probably cooking a brisket,” Jye said.
“In terms of dollars per kilo, they’re not that bad, but they’re big cuts of meat so they end up quite dear.
“I cook a fair bit at home now, and this changes the whole way we cook – even the way we cook a steak.
“Competitions are judged on three categories basically – the look, the taste, and the tenderness. You’re trying to nail those three categories, so you’re watching over the meat pretty much for the entire time it’s cooking. When you’re cooking at home you don’t really care what it looks like – you’re just going for the taste and whatever’s easier.”
Teams are after perfection in these competitions, but in reality it’s unobtainable.
“If you tried to cook a brisket on a gas grill, it’d be like eating an old shoe,” Jye explained.
“You’ve got a really small window to get it right. When you do, it’s the most amazing meat you’ve ever eaten and it just melts in your mouth. You try to chase that all the time and it becomes addictive.
“You tell people you’re into competitive barbecuing and they have a bit of a laugh, but it’s serious. People are spending serious, serious money doing this because they love it.”
Jay summed up the mouth-watering world of competitive barbecuing best when he said: “It’s kind of like fishing – there’s an art to catching a fish, and there’s an art to doing barbecue properly.
“It requires a lot of trial and error. People find it almost like a challenge that has to be conquered – but barbecue can’t be conquered.”