One day left before Carmel!!! Last night, we got the final pieces we needed to have ready. We have everything except the lettuce and some incidentals, which will be picked up today. It may storm tonight, so we may end up packing tomorrow, but the plan is to pack everything but food tonight, store the trailer in the garage, and get up early, pack the food, and get on the road Friday morning.
I just checked the weather, and it now looks like it will be clear for both Friday AND Saturday in Carmel, IN!!!
I want to thank Todd and Ed and everyone else for the well-wishing. We’re obviously hoping we do well, but winning isn’t our only goal. In fact, winning will be a side benefit. We’re going to have fun, spend time with each other, meet new people, promote barbecue, and then see how our barbecue stacks up against everyone else there. The judges may or may not like what we have to offer, but we’ll do our best.
A year ago, I started out not knowing what a comp was even like, yet we showed up in Carmel and did the best we knew how. We cooked what we liked… The reason was that we hadn’t been to a comp, so we didn’t know what to cook other than that. Now, we cook trying to make something the judges will like.
I fought with this at first for some odd reason. I was thinking that I should be more of a purist and not worry about what others think. However, I thought about it more and realized I was wrong…
Whether you cater, cook for friends or compete, you’re cooking for someone else. Their tastes need to be taken into account. If I have a friend over that doesn’t like curry, I’m not going to make Indian food most likely. I like Indian food, but I’m cooking for a guest, and I’ll make dishes that I think my guest will like.
If I cater, it’s the same way. Last year, I talked to a Jewish group about catering. They admitted that at home they may eat pork, but it’s best not to have pork at a temple gathering. For them, I would not only not fix pork, but I’d also make sure that everything was officially kosher. After all, they’d be paying me money to fix food. If i go to a restaurant and pay food, I expect to like the food; the same holds true, maybe even more so, for catering.
It’s not different in competitions. It’s true that judges don’t pay for my food. In fact, I’ve paid to enter my food. But if I make something the judges really like, I have a chance to get paid for making it… so why shoot my chances by being a stickler for what I like?
One thing I want to find out when I get to Carmel is what the make-up of the judges is. Are they experience, new or non-certified? The answer will help me determine how sweet to make everything… the less experienced, the more sweet… a simple inverse relationship!
So this will be my last post on the Competition Countdown… Sunday or Monday, I’ll be posting results and some photos. For everyone paying attention, thanks for reading my ramblings in prep for the competition!
