BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Johnny Harris

Johnny Harris Restaurant opened in Savannah, Georgia in 1924. That's a LONG time ago, especially in barbecue years. In fact, it's Savannah's oldest restaurant.

The signature barbecue sauce recipe was allegedly created by a black cook (their words) named John Moore in the early days of the restaurant. Johnny Harris eventually wrote the recipe down and passed it on to his business partner Red Donaldson. The sauce harkens back to a time before barbecue sauce was candy sweet.

This is a tomato-based sauce, but mustard is clearly the star of the show. In fact, it tastes more like a South Carolina mustard-based sauce than anything else. There is not very much sweetness to be found. The sauce is roughly the same color and consistency as Heinz 57 Sauce. The bottle has a message on the side in large print - "HEAT SAUCE TO DOUBLE FLAVOR".

Grade: B

BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Budweiser Barbecue Sauce

We've featured a sauce with whiskey in it. Now it's time for beer. Yes, it has Budweiser beer in it. You can taste it in the sauce, but it's very subtle - more of a complementary flavor. But then there are a lot of complementary flavors working here. This is one of the most complex sauces, flavor-wise, that I have tasted in these reports. The first thing you taste is a tomatoey, onioney, garlicky sweetness that is strong, but not overpowering. As the sauce moves to the back of your tongue, the tangy sourness of vinegar rises up to meet the sweetness. Finally, there is a moderate burn, accompanied by the flavor of beer. There are big chunks of onion, garlic and red pepper flakes throughout the sauce, which is relatively thick.

Overall, I'm not sure how well this sauce works. I'm admittedly not much of a beer fan, but I can appreciate it as a culinary ingredient (beer brats, beer batter, beer can chicken, etc). I'm just not sure that the flavor of beer works in a sweet tomato-based barbecue sauce. It leaves kind of a funky aftertaste. Maybe the problem is that it's Budweiser, and not some other kind of beer. In addition to this sauce, Bud also makes a "Beechwood-smoked" barbecue sauce, as well as a wing sauce and a basting sauce.

Grade: C

High on the Hog Results

Here are the quick results from High on the Hog in Winchester, TN:

Chicken: 4th
Ribs: 16th
Pork:12th
Brisket: 24th
Overall: 10th out of 47 teams

Big congrats to Kevin of The EGGseQuetive Council for taking home the Grand and Dan of Long Dawgs for winning reserve. Also Billy "DoRag" Carroll had a strong 3rd place finish.

Stay tuned for a full report later this week.

BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Scott's

Scott's is Eastern Carolina style all the way. Ingredients: vinegar, salt, peppers, spices. So to say it has some tang to it would be an understatement. If you take a swig of this stuff by itself, it will pucker you up. But this sauce wasn't made to taste great on its own - it was made to complement pork. I might also add that the Scott's sauce packs some heat. It will put a nice little burn on ya. I've had "down east" barbecue sauces before that I didn't much care for, but this one gets it right.

Grade: A

Anthony Bourdain No Reservations: Maine BBQ

This has to be one of the most interesting BBQ joints in America.

BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Annie's Naturals

Annie's Naturals does not sound like a company that got its start selling barbecue, but that is exactly what happened.

Annie Christopher graduated from culinary school in 1983 and decided to move to Vermont and open a roadside barbecue stand. Demand for her homemade barbecue sauce became so great that eventually she gave up on cooking barbecue and concentrated on bottling and selling her sauce. Annie's Naturals now includes a full line of dressings, condiments, and sauces. This barbecue sauce, however, is the company's original product. This sauce is certified organic, and the high quality ingredients result in a great tasting sauce.

The flavor of the sauce begins with a tomatoey sweetness and an accompanying tanginess. The sweetness grows, complimented by garlic and onion notes, as well as a light smokiness. The texture of the sauce is completely smooth, and the consistency is medium. Overall, a very nice workmanlike sauce that is on the sweeter side.

Grade: A-

Gabby's wins the 2010 Burger Tourney

The 2010 Burger Tournament had its ups and downs, but in the end hundreds of votes were cast and Gabby's came out on top. What was the championship formula? Maybe it was the newness or just the perfectly cooked grass fed beef. One may never know, but Doug and the gang can claim the honor of being the 2010 Nashville Burger Champ.

Burger Tournament: The Championship

Vote now for the #1 burger in Nashville. We started with 64 restaurants, and we are now down to the final two.

Gabby's vs Brown's Diner

BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Carolina Treet

Wow! This one has a pop like no other that I've tasted in these reports. This one will pucker you up! It's a vinegar-based sauce, but goes beyond the simplicity of an Easten Carolina style sauce by adding lots of mustard, paprika, and garlic. Very very tangy and not a trace of sweetness to be found. It's got a great vibrant color and a thin, spice-laden texture. Carolina Treet is probably right up lots of people's alley, but the tart factor is just a little too much for me.

Grade: C

FINAL FOUR Burgers

The Final Four of the Burger Tournament has been set.

The people have spoken, or in this case voted, for the top four burger spots in Nashville. There are no real surprises here as three of the number one seeds made the final four and one number two seed.

Brown's vs. PM

#1 Seed from the North Bracket - Brown's Diner
Brown's Diner is definitely what you would consider a true burger joint. Inconspicuously located on the corner of 21st and Blair, the double wide trailer that Brown's calls home doesn't exactly fit into the neighborhood that has built up around it. But even with the ever changing landscape, Brown's has stayed true to form by putting out one of the best burgers in Nashville. They look to take their classic burger up against the jazzier PM located just about a mile down the road. It's not exactly the battle of the boulevard, but it's close.

#2 Seed from the East Bracket - PM
PM is the brainchild of Nashville restaurateur Arnold Mint. Don't let the Seaweed Salad on the menu fool you, there is a burger on the menu of this ore upscale restaurant, and several folks will tell you it's the best in town. This is truly an old school vs. new school match up as they take on the rough and rugged Brown's Diner.


Rotier's vs. Gabby's

#1 Seed from the West Bracket - Rotier's
Rotier's is a Nashville tradition. Located near Vandy on Elliston Place, they have been serving up their famous burgers since they first opened in 1945. Known for the grilled burger on french bread and winner of several "best burger in Nashville" awards, they aim to take down Gabby's.

#1 Seed from the South Bracket - Gabby's
Gabby's is the new kid on the block. Owner Doug Havron opened Gabby's in the old Hap Townes location near Greer Stadium. Known for serving grass-fed beef and the slogan "living the dream", Gabby's looks to make its mark by taking down the historic Rotier's.

Vote Here

Burger Tournament: Elite 8

The Elite 8 has now started. I know that we are a little off from the original schedule, but we are determined to come up with a winner. We also have the voting chart fixed for this round. So continue to vote for your favorite burger joint.

Vote Here

If you can't see the right side of the bracket click 'ctrl +'

Burger Tournament: Sweet 16

We are now into the Sweet 16 on the Burger Tournament. There have been a few upsets, but the high seeds are still alive.

Vote Here

Burger Tournament Update

I am sorry for the problems with the burger tournament. I thought it would be a little easier than it has been, and we are still working out the kinks. Thanks for your patience.

We have advanced to the second round, but not all of the matchups show up correctly in the voting window. We are still tracking who you vote for so feel free to keep voting.

Vote Here

Contest Recap: USA Barbecue Championship

Last Thursday the Mrs. and I loaded up the trailer and headed west to North Little Rock for the USA Barbecue Championship. This was the first time that Team Ulika had ventured outside of Tennessee for a bbq competition, and of course we could not leave town without incident; I had to go to the trailer shop twice before we left town just to get the lights working. Once we were riding legal, the 5.5 hour trip seemed to take forever. It doesn't help that the drive is exceedingly boring from Nashville to Memphis, and once you cross over into Arkansas, the roads just turn to a bumpy mess. But we finally rolled into town on Thursday afternoon and got a nice spot underneath an old railroad bridge. A majority of the teams were already setup when we arrived, but we made it into our spot without a problem. We felt really lucky having an end spot after seeing how some of the teams were cramped in together.



After getting the trailer unloaded and the new banners hung, we ventured across the river to downtown Little Rock for a deep dish pie at Gusano’s Pizzeria. The pizza was just okay and it made me realize that I should not keep trying to order a deep dish pizza outside of the Chicago city limits. Since it was not much to speak of, don't expect a Friday Night Slice review.

After dinner, I headed back to the trailer to trim up the chicken. This process takes way longer than I would like to admit, but I am happy with the final product after it is over.

Friday rolled around and the meat was inspected, butts and briskets injected, and other meaningless task were fulfilled. BP and Peter arrived at about 2pm as did our neighbors, TNT Smokers. We cooked up a few sausages and dogs on the egg and then called it a night.







On Saturday morning I ended up boiling some water with my charcoal starter so I could get my aeropress going. Once I had my coffee I could start my day. Everything started smoothly and the only that really went wrong with my cook was that I ended up a little ahead of schedule. Being a little anxious, I started the ribs and chicken a bit early and it may have ended up costing us a few spots since I had to hold them until turn in time. Everything went smoothly with the turn-ins thanks to our official team walker, BP and the spotter, Peter. As always, the Mrs. made some pretty boxes and the presentation scores were all perfect 9s with a few 8s.









Luckily the rain held off until we were packed up and ready for the awards. We sat there hoping to hear our name called in a tough crowd of competitors, but it was just not our day.

With 227 teams competing this is how we finished:

Chicken 92nd
Ribs 139th
Pork 65th
Brisket 98th
Overall 90th

Even though we finished 90th, we actually had our highest overall point total. So we have some positives to take away from the weekend. All in all I had a great time in North Little Rock and I look forward to cooking there again sometime. Ron Cates has already announced that the prize pool will be bigger next year.

Congrats to Rod & Sheri Gray of Pellet Envy for taking home the oversized check for Grand Champion and two more trophies to add to their collection. Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke finished as the Reserve Grand Champion with a 1st place in ribs.

Middle Tennessee was well represented with The Long Dawgs taking 13th overall (that new Jambo is working out nicely!) and High on the Hawg placing 16th overall.

I thought the best way to wrap this up would be to write just some general observations:

1. The banks of the Arkansas River is a nice place for a contest.
2. Japanese guys love $100 bills.
3. On the top floor of a hotel, you sacrifice water pressure for a view.
4. Little Rock is home to JoJo's BBQ (Peter bought me the t-shirt to prove it).
5. Rod and Tuffy can cook some pretty good bbq.
6. Little Rock has some jacked up road intersections.
7. People like BBQ Pitmasters
8. There are several new Jambo pits on the circuit as well as some knock offs.
9. Three 180s in Pork is crazy impressive.
10. Peter should have bet that team that we could beat them. Then we would have at least gone home with a little cash. Instead he bought a Vols win.



We will be competing again in about a month when we head to Winchester to participate at High on the Hog. <-- make sure you have the sound cranked up!

Nashville Burger Tournament - Round 1 Begins

Ulika Food Blog Presents the 2010 Nashville Burger Tournament



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BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Stubb's Original

In Middle Tennessee, Stubb's is a barbecue sauce. In Austin, Texas, Stubb's is an institution. It's a restaurant and it's a live music venue. And I'm not talking about Joe Singersongwriter and his guitar or a Saturday night cover band. Stubb's regularly hosts real concerts, and is a key venue at South by Southwest (the Walkmen and Spoon are playing there tonight).

How good is the restaurant? It depends on who you ask. The general consensus seems to be that however good the barbecue once was when the place was in Lubbock, it isn't much count these days. Still, it seems like a very values-driven organization that is committed to more than just making a buck. The sauce arm of the company partners with homeless shelters and soup kitchens across the country and has made it part of their mission to "feed the world."

The Stubb's line of barbecue sauces has been very successful. They have found their way onto supermarket shelves nationwide and were the 8th highest selling barbecue sauce brand in 2009. The sauce comes in six permutations - original, spicy, mild, hickory bourbon, honey pecan, and smoky mesquite. They also make a variety of rubs and marinades.

The "original" version of the sauce is definitely a little bit hotter than your normal sauce that is not labeled "hot." Overall, this is more of a savory and spicy kind of flavor than sweet. There is a modicum of sweetness, but it exists more as a complement than a leading player. The sauce has a very earthy, natural taste, with lots of rich tomato flavor enhanced by notes of vinegar, onion, garlic and tamarind. The consistency of the sauce is relatively thick, with a relatively smooth texture. Bits of pepper punctuate the the dark red color.

Grade: A-