Co-owner Allan Yeo and co-owner/chef John Lim Hing of Hog Shack Cook House in Steveston took home first place for their pork butt at the Canadian National BBQ Championships in Whistler.
Follow Me Foodie: Hog wild in Whistler
Published: August 07, 2013 4:00 PM
Updated: August 07, 2013 5:46 PM
While many were reconnecting with their minds and bodies at Wanderlust, the yoga festival in Whistler last weekend, I was feeding my soul with ribs, chicken, pork butt and brisket. I still took deep breaths of the fresh mountain air in between bites, but it was smokier than usual thanks to the Bull’s Eye Canadian National BBQ Championships at Dusty’s Bar & BBQ in Whistler Creekside.
It was three days of barbequed meat from North American BBQ champions, primarily from the Pacific Northwest (although there were a few teams from the South.) Samples were given with a minimum $1 donation and net proceeds went to Playground Builders, a charity that builds playgrounds in Afghanistan. More than $15,500 was raised to build the 135th playground and start on the 136th.
Vancouver isn’t world-renowned for its award-winning barbeque, but our talented chefs and cooks represented BC well. Competing for the first time at the competition, Hog Shack Cook House in Richmond came first in the pork butt category.
Chef John cooked two pork butts; one was for the “money muscle” and the other for the pulled pork. Read the full article and see the other winners.
See more Follow Me Foodie stories from Mijune in the WE Vancouver:
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: The “Forget-Me-Nots” of Vancouver’s restaurant scene
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: Wild BC spot prawn season begins
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: The best thing I ever ate…
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: Gentrification and Vancouver’s DTES
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: Cooking up a career
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: Father’s Day for Vancouver foodies
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: Sushi 101: Part 2 – Try the nigiri
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: Sushi 101: Part 2 – How to use comdiments
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: Sushi 101: Part 3 – How to eat it
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: Vancouver Food Cart Fest
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: Vancouver’s High on Pie
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: What is the definition of local?
- FOLLOW ME FOODIE: Why Mijune Pak writes about negative experiences
Were you only able to attend the main BBQ event on Sunday? It’s too bad you didn’t get a chance to visit on Saturday for the CASI Canadian International Chili Championship. Among the 25 competitors, we had 3 former Canadian champions plus 6 veteran chili cooks from Texas, including Carol West, the 1998 Terlingua International Cookoff world champion. The winner of Saturday’s event was Susan Spencer of Irving TX. After the official judges received their samples , the public was invited to taste some of the finest Texas style chili around. Here in BC, CASI (the Chili Appreciation Society International) holds at least 2 cookoffs each year, this one plus the BC Provincial Championship held in Langley, usually in June (see the story in Sherman’s Food Adventures, June 23/13). If you get an opportunity in the future, come on out and give it a try!
@Steve – I went Saturday afternoon and nothing was set up yet!! I went at 11:30am and nobody had anything going, so I left. I’ll certainly come out next time! Have any favourite places for chili in Vancouver?
It was rather quiet between 11:00 and 11:30 as most of the cooks were at a cooks meeting. The chili competition ran from then until 2:00pm. As many of the chili entrants were also BBQ competitors, it may not have been too obvious that they were also starting on their chili. Most of the competitors that were only cooking chili, including myself and all the Texans, were set up at the far end near the foot of the ski hill, and many visitors did not venture that far to see us. The crowds really started to show up in the afternoon and by 2:00pm, when the public tasting began, there were huge line ups for the chili – I was sold out in less than 10 minutes.
As for favourite places for chili in Vancouver? Well, as a fan of all meat Texas chili, I rarely eat the filler laden concoctions that are passed off as chili by most local restaurants. It’s been a couple of years, but I seem to recall that Jethro’s chili was not bad for restaurant chili as long as you tell them hold the debris (toppings and garnish). Only thing is, I could probably make a batch of my own chili faster than I could get a table there, especially on weekends LOL !
@Steve – Jethro’s now has a 2nd location on Fraser St 😀