JULY 04 11 - 11:10 PM -- Who's the best at barbecue?
Apparently, Team Canada is -- or, at least, it certainly was today as Canadian barbecuers swept all three categories for chicken, ribs and pork butt, beating Team United States at the first international throwdown organized by the U.S. embassy in Ottawa.
Of the three Canadian wins, two were entries from Ottawa competitors.
(Photo left, U.S. ambassador David Jacobson and his wife, Julie, welcome 4,000 guests.)
The event was held at the official residence of the U.S. ambassador, David Jacobson, and his wife, Julie, on a postcard-perfect sultry summer afternoon in Rockcliffe Park to mark the 125th celebration of American independence, pitting three accomplished barbecue teams from the U.S. against three from Canada.
Ottawa's team Grilling Gourmet led by Steph Legari won for pork ribs and again for chicken (although the chicken portion was overseen by an associate group called Eatapedia.com, also of Ottawa, led by John Thomson), while Danielle Dimovski a.k.a. DivaQ of Barrie, Ont., won for pulled pork butt.
Champion Team Canada leaders L-R Tim Brown of Can't Stop Grilling of Puslinch, Ont; John Thomson of Eatapedia, Ottawa; Danielle Dimovski a.k.a. DivaQ of Barrie; and Steph Legari a.k.a. Steph the Grilling Gourmet of Ottawa. They took all three categories in chicken, pulled pork and ribs.
Team Canada also chalked up bragging rights as Best National Barbecue Team -- but the final score was extremely close. The cumulative total gave Team Canada 1,939.57 points compared to Team U.S.A. with 1,910.85.
"I must say this was a surprise," Jacobson said, minutes after winners were announced.
"It's like the Cubs winning the World Series." (For the record, the Cubs haven't won since 1908.)
Dennis Tinsley of U.S. barbecue team Natural Born Grillers, based in Mississippi, mops sauce on the ribs.
The Canadian sweep also cost Jacobson two cases of beer, which he wagered on stage with Laureen Harper, wife of the prime minister. Just before judges' results were revealed by the accounting firm Ernst & Young, Jacobson bet beer on American success -- and was astonished by the result.
"This time we're not going to donate the beer to the Hockey Hall of Fame," Jacobson said. "This time we're going to drink it."
Last year, Jacobson delivered on a bet of two cases of beer made between president Barack Obama and Steven Harper owing to Canada's 3-2 overtime victory over the U.S. in men's Olympic hockey. The beer was eventually donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
"I am just so stoked about this win," Legari said. "We swept it, we swept it."
(Photos left and right, judges take on the selfless task of sampling a total of 18 barbecue specimens. It's sometimes not pretty and frequently messy business, but someone has to do it.)
Said DivaQ: "We just proved again that Canada can make some of the best barbecue on the planet. On another day it could have gone another way. But we're very excited."
Billed as a good old-fashioned backyard barbecue (as if you or I could accommodate 4,000 revellers), the idea of a friendly competition, with all the bragging rights that go with it, came from Jacobson who insists nothing says summer quite like meat seared over smoldering embers.
Oh, make that meat and beer. Would you believe 3,700 bottles of suds, not to mention almost 6,000 glasses of wine dispensed in just a few hours?
Throw in a ton or two of chicken and pork, plumes of acrid blue smoke, and you?ve got a party of epic proportion that would make any carnivore?s taste buds tingle ? down-home goodness, and nothing like the fancy yak tenderloin and sea urchins flown to Rideau Hall last week at a barbecue for royalty.
Unlike previous years, there was not a hot dog or hamburger in sight.
Stocking up on beer before guests arrive.
Events in years past have attracted as many as 7,000 invited family, friends and well-wishers, a veritable who?s-who of the Ottawa diplomatic and political community. It is widely regarded as the largest Fourth of July celebration outside the U.S. More than 100 volunteers from the embassy and community help make it happen.
Entertainment this year was by acclaimed Canadian singer/song writer Lynn Miles.
Each year organizers present a different theme that?s reflected in the food and decor to celebrate America?s most patriotic, if not sacred, day. Last year, the Fourth in Ottawa was all about Illinois, home state of Obama and then newly appointed ambassador Jacobson, who brought in (among other goodies) genuine Eli?s cheesecake from Chicago.
A well-stocked plate of barbecue chicken thigh, ribs, side salads.
Side dishes of salads and sweets were catered by the Westin Ottawa, although all meat for the first time was prepared by professional barbecue teams. The hotel estimated it had about 100 employees staffing the event today.
Among the favourites was a cupcake stars and stripes flag (above) made in-house by pastry chefs at the Westin -- that's about 800 red, white and blue little cakes to make the flag itself, plus another few hundred in standby to replace cupcakes as guests helped themselves. (Executive chef Kenton Leier says folks tend to go first for the blue cupcakes with a star in the centre.)
"Everything was fabulous, except for my piece of chicken that was under-done," said Margaret Dickenson, Ottawa's award-winning cookbook author and TV cooking show personality.
"But the pork was exceptional and the ribs -- wow! The cornbread salad and ribs were my favourites. The food was of high quality, and was more of a dinner party than a regular barbecue with hamburgers and hot dogs," she said.
Jacobson says he got the idea of a competition barbecue last fall, and enlisted the help of John Woods of award-winning First Choice Catering of Mississippi to organize the throwdown. Woods is known to embassy staff in Ottawa for serving 7,000 portions of barbecue catfish in 1999 when former ambassador Gordon Giffin played host with his wife, Patti.
"I don't really think the competition could have gone better," Woods said.
"There's been a lot of comraderie that's developed between the Canadian and U.S. teams. We've made friendships here that will last a lifetime."
After the results, Woods was characteristically diplomatic. "They beat our butts," he said flatly.
"I was really surprised, I didn't think they had a chance."
(Left, executive chef Patricia Larkin of Black Cat Bistro tucks in to fulfill her judging duties.)
Judging was conducted blind by a dozen Ottawa chefs and personalities, including former House of Commons speaker Peter Milliken, CTV ambassador Max Keeping, and myself. Scores were then tabulated by none other than Ernst & Young, the famous accounting firm, which also kept an eye on judges as they filled out score sheets. No judge knew which team submitted which entries.
"I've never judged barbecue before but I have judged other food competitions," said Marc Lepine, chef/owner of acclaimed Atelier restaurant on Rochester Street in Ottawa.
"I really liked the aroma of some. Some were fantastic with integrated smoke flavour. For me, it was easy to identify one or two that definitely stood out in all three categories."
This year?s event was not without casualty, however, as Legari broke his toe Sunday when he dropped 150 pounds of pork ribs while setting up for the event. But it takes more than injury to keep that barbecue guy from his appointed rounds.
?Three cases of ribs came down and the blood started spurting. It was nasty,? Legari said.
?I cleaned it up, put on some topical cream and bandaged it. What?s a hospital going to do ? tell me it?s broken? I?ll go in later, but right now you just suck it up. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, to celebrate the Fourth of July on the soil of the U.S. embassy with all these movers and shakers.?
Even before the food was judged, Legari said he felt like a champion.
?We?ve been treated like kings these last three days. We?re surrounded with people who appreciate barbecue and what we do. To me, we?ve already won ? we?ve made great friends, with all the pomp and pagentry that goes with it.?
Number of guests -- 4,000
Competing barbecue teams -- 6 teams, 3 from Canada and 3 from the U.S.
Total barbecuers on all teams -- 25
Pounds of pork ribs -- 1,480
Pounds of pork butt -- 1,200
Pounds of chicken -- 1,620
Pounds of potato salad -- 400
Pounds of cole slaw -- 350
Loaves of cornbread -- 200
No. of red, white and blue cupcakes (for edible American flag) -- 1,500
No. of serving and culinary staff from caterer, Westin Ottawa -- 60
Bottles of beer -- 3,700
Glasses of red and white wine -- 5,800
Bottles of water -- 3,000
Bottles of soda pop -- 1,500
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