World Championship BBQ P2By: W.G.WilsonInside the competitive BBQ world, two of the nicest and most knowledgeable people are Johnny Trigg (a.k.a.: 'The Godfather of Competitive BBQ,' as well as: 'The Rib King') and his lovely wife, Trish. The Trigg's own and operate an enterprise they call: Smokin' Trigger's BBQ Cooking School. Smokin' Trigger's is also the name of their Competitive BBQ team, and a rather clever twist of their last name. Make no mistake; the Trigg family skill is barbecue — Johnny Trigg is a 2-time World Champion — with a reputation for making the best rack of ribs the world has ever tasted. And, I had the good fortune to attend this school. The classes were held just outside of Virginia Beach, Virginia. They consisted of 3-days of intense study that covered all aspects of Team Competition in Competitive BBQ. Currently, Johnny's classes focus on his specialty: rib's. But at the time I attended, Smokin' Trigger's covered everything a team would need to know to be able to compete in any Competition. These classes began on a Friday night, with their Official: 'Meet & Greet.' Trish Trigg shared some of her famous cookies, chocolate chip, if memory serves me. I think I'm right. I only seem to recall that the cookies... were darned good eating. Yum! What stands out in my mind, was the Q&A we had with Johnny. We all had questions about the show: BBQ Pitmasters, in particular, Season 1 (my personal favorite season of the show). BBQ Pitmasters season 1 introduced us to all of the drama surrounding Competitive BBQ. Johnny and Trish were featured in several of the shows that season. The episodes I wanted to know about were about the Texas twenty-some year old chef, Paul Petersen. Paul is a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) graduate, and had convinced himself that he could master BBQ and walk away a winner at ANY BBQ Competition. Paul had a secret weapon: a flavor unknown to the BBQ world: Cherry flavoring. Paul had convinced himself that his Cherry rub was the greatest thing since sliced bread. What he didn't realize is what most are reminded of when tasting Cherry: cough syrup. Does anyone want cough syrup on their BBQ? Perhaps it's needless to say, but Paul finished dead-last, and did so in a couple of Competitions on the show. Finally, Johnny felt sorry for him, and agreed to take Paul under-his-wing, so-to-speak. Johnny was straight with Paul about using Cherry: it was a bad idea, universally disliked in BBQ circles. In what everyone saw coming but Johnny and Trish: Paul couldn't resist the lure of Cherry in his rub, and despite promising the Trigg's that he wouldn't use it anymore, added it back in to his flavor profile. AND... he lost again! So, I asked the Trigg's about Paul. Was the show accurate? What became of Paul? The candid nature of their answer shocked everyone in the class. Now, I believe in discretion. But, I will say this (if you're able to read-between the lines): we were told that Paul had demons that many others had also faced, and it was actually quite a sad story. They wished him well, but helping him was not a skill within their wheelhouse. The subject of Myron Mixon came up, and Johnny found out that I was a Jack's Old-South graduate. He asked me what I had to say about Myron's class? I believe that I replied with the correct answer: "I'll tell people the same thing that I'm going to say if they ask me about you: if they want to know anything specific, they need to take your class!" This seemed to satisfy Johnny, and we moved on. Day 2 - Saturday @ Smokin' Trigger's BBQ Cooking SchoolJohnny is a makes no sense to reinvent the wheel type as a cook: he tends to stick with commercial rubs and sauces. Before any preparation begins, create a list of the various rubs, sauces, and other items that you'll need in order to cook, and acquire these items. Johnny also professed his liking of various Plowboy's rubs. Complete document available in my book... World Championship BBQ(Coming soon) Class Price: $75 Per-Person(Group-Rate-Available). Website URL: https://www.facebook.com/smokintriggersbbq/  |
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