The promise of saucy faces and plenty of smoke brought barbecue fans from across the Pacific Northwest to Sunday’s eighth annual BBQ on the Bypass.
This year featured more local entries than ever, with three brand new teams digging their hands —and cooking tongs — into competitive barbecue.
“When we first started this contest eight years ago there were very few competitors in Canada, most of them were coming from the U.S.,” said event founder and B.C. barbecue veteran Angie Quaale.
According to Quaale, up to 5,000 visitors filtered through the barbecue-lined parking lot in front of her Well Seasoned Gourmet Store and cooking classes, while competitors sweated it out in front of crowds to the sounds of Langley cover band OS5.
Seventeen teams of pit masters battled it out over brisket, ribs, chicken, and pork butt for a share of thousands of dollars in prizes and a chance to compete at the Jack Daniel’s World BBQ Championships in Tennessee.
Several teams also took part in an Iron Chef style mystery black box category, which challenged contestants to dream up irresistible creations from a mix of turkey breast, sweet Italian sausage and orzo pasta.
“Even the new guys, they’ve been practicing at home for months and months and months, so the calibre of food is phenomenal.”
Helluva “Q”, a team that has competed every year at the Bypass, took home second place overall. Rhana and John McGee, of Wine Country “Q” from Duvall, Wash., were named grand champions after impressive showings in both the brisket and pork butt categories.
“I love brisket because it’s the hardest thing to cook,” said Quaale.
“It’s a big, huge piece of meat and it’s really difficult to do it well. There’s a very small window when it’s perfect, and if you miss that window on either side, you’re in trouble.”