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Tips from the champ

Review: Barbecue Secrets: Unbeatable Recipes, Tips & Tricks From a Barbecue Champion.

By G.D. Maxwell

If Ron Shewchuk were in any other line, he’d be a fool or a turncoat to give away the trade secrets he reveals in his book: Barbecue Secrets: Unbeatable Recipes, Tips & Tricks From a Barbecue Champion .

But if you spend any time on or around the fringes – and we’re talkin’ very, very fringe here – of competitive barbecue, you’ll find his forthrightness and willingness to spill the beans the rule rather than the exception... at least to a point. After all, there are secrets and then there are secrets.

When you consider what goes into real barbecue – and Rockin’ Ronnie goes to great lengths to educate the reader on exactly what constitutes real barbecue as opposed to tossin’ a few chops on the grill – why not be generous? You can painstakingly duplicate the ingredients laid out in the recipe for Bob’s Rub, follow Ronnie’s instructions for perfect pork butt to the letter, mop, crutch and smoke the meat in a spankin’ new Weber bullet, and still end up with something far from competition quality. That’s because all the insight and instruction still requires disciplined practice and more than just a little mojo. And the number of people who are likely to cook all night for the payoff of perfect pulled pork, well, that’s about the same percentage of the population you’re likely to find off the paved trail at a national park… the one-percenters.

But if you’ve been bitten by the bug, if you’ve decided your life will be better for mastering the magic of turning a mean cut of meat into righteous justification for those incisors taking up space in your mouth, this book is a great roadmap to take along on your journey. Quite simply, with enough practice and a supporting cast of family and friends, Barbecue Secrets will give you everything you need to become the pitmaster of your dreams without the gastro-intestinal bruisin’ you’re likely to suffer as a competition camp follower.

After a warning from his "…loving yet sarcastic wife…" Kate Zimmerman to "Stay away from this book. You’re only going to get yourself in trouble," Rockin’ Ronnie gently takes you by the hand and explains some of the mystery behind what makes grown men – and women – dedicate sizeable sums of money and spend way, way too much time hangin’ around smokey barbecue pits.

Meandering through the admittedly murky history of the origins of barbecue or explaining how he got hooked on real barbecue, Ronnie’s writing is part Jimmy Buffet travelogue, part Graham Kerr prosthletizing, which is to say an appropriate mix of light and airy while never losing the focus on serious food.

Sprinkled throughout the book are tips and tricks – pay attention, even if the thought of granulated garlic and electric-yellow, ballpark mustard make you feel a little queasy – and even a sidebar on "Emulating Real Barbecue on Your Covered Gas Grill" for those of you who insist on whining about how hard it is to start charcoal.

While the sneak peak into the tricks of the trade are the book’s raison d’etre, the bulk of its 200+ pages are given over to recipes. And it is here Rockin’ Ronnie reveals two very important things. First, the man loves to eat. If you ever get an invite to dinner at his house, drop everything and take it.

But the second thing his collection of recipes tells you is almost heretical. It is, in fact, the deepest, darkest secret, the soft underbelly of barbecue: Good as it is, man cannot live by barbecue alone. Many have tried; none have succeeded. Hence, the reader is tempted with recipes ranging from Pepper-Grilled Tuna with Wasabi Lime Mayo to The Ultimate Triple-Chocolate Brownies I’m working up the nerve to try. And, in a New-Age, Bobby Flay kind of way, there’s even a chapter on delectable things a guy can do with a grill, some vegetables and just enough condiments to keep things interesting.

In a cuisine that considers pickles and coleslaw to be its main vegetable accompaniments, the recipes in Barbecue Secrets might just form the basis for a new fad diet. Move over Atkins. Wait a minute, isn’t he dead?

If there’s one place where Rockin’ Ronnie falls short – sorry, Ron – it’s where he strays from what’s obviously his first love: food. Now, it’s real nice of him to include a few recipes for drinks to barbecue by, but I’ll have to take issue with his penultimate section: Music to Barbecue By. I’m not objecting to what he’s included in his top 10 albums, although I’m pretty sure I could go the rest of my life without hearing Bob Marley’s Legend again, but let’s face the music, Ron, how anybody could pull an all-night shift ’round the smoker without even a single Allman Brothers album – I’d suggest Brothers and Sisters or Eat a Peach – or anything by Taj Mahal is simply beyond me.

Nitpicking aside, it’s understandable that you might not never desire to commit to nursing a full pork butt for 18 hours or so. But whether you want to go whole hog or just wow your friends next time they come over for steaks or burgers, buy this book. There’s enough easy-to-assimilate tricks and good, solid advice to lift your pedestrian, toss-another-shrimp-on-the-barbie, backyard fare into a whole new level.

And who knows, Barbecue Secrets might just spark a whole new, expansive hobby. Flame on, dude.