BBQ Autumn / Winter 2018 | Page 77

By Jason Wood

“began with American ‘dude food’ as comfort food in the recession, especially as it’s comparatively cheap” (QuickBite, 2016, p41). This seems to make sense as over the same period there was an 11.6 per cent increase in visits to fast-casual dining outlets, the type typically associated with barbecue food. This is even more impressive as the formal dining sector fell by 11.4 per cent over the same period. The rise of barbecue cuisine is also linked to a trend in consumers dining habits and not just the cuisine itself.

There are also aspects of barbecue’s growth outside the dining sector that add weight to evidence of its growth. This includes the screening of ‘BBQ Champ’ on ITV in 2015 and increase in barbecue competitions, I count two in 2010 and eight in 2017. The largest to date, Grillstock, had 3,000 visitors in 2010 which grew to 17,000 in 2014, spreading to three cities across the UK by 2015 (Festival Guide, 2015). However, past events can be an unreliable predictor of the future and with every story, there is a counter story. This is no exception.

Many barbecue purists would argue (quite vehemently!) that the rise in popularity of barbecue has made it too commercial, and all that has happened is an increase the amount of ‘bad’ barbecue being served to consumers.

When you see ribs being served as a ‘boil in the bag’ and ‘pulled pork in a tin’ at the supermarket it makes you wonder whether this increase in popularity is a good thing. Especially when your friends ask you why you’re bothering to smoke a pork shoulder (they wouldn’t know what a Boston Butt was) for 16 hours…overnight…and why this meant you weren’t sharing a bed with your wife (hopefully those who have compared my ribs or pulled pork with the supermarket equivalent would understand…those who did not won’t get invited again!). This begets anyone who has tasted anything described as a ‘burnt end’, placed on top of a burger in a pub chain.

So has the barbecue bubble burst? The UK’s largest barbecue festival-come-competition, Grillstock, failed to happen this year, and not long after their chain of restaurants went into administration. ‘BBQ Champ’ did also not get a second season (absolutely nothing to do with the amazing contestants, a few of whom I’ve met and a couple I’d even go as far as calling friends). So, what is happening and what is the future?

The term ‘BBQ 2.0’ has been coined to describe the “Different barbecue techniques inherited from around the world will become part of restaurant theatre,” where “chefs and barbecue operators are starting to think of the barbecue or fire as an incredibly versatile cooking method, rather than an institution confined by history.” There are some easy examples that point to this including Neil Rankin’s Temper, Smokestak, Rök Smokehouse, Berber and Q, Ember Yard and the list could go on. This is also not to mention the less formal eateries by the likes of Andy Stubbs’ Low ‘n’ Slow, John Gower’s Quiet Waters Farm and Tom Bray’s Country Fire Kitchen seen at festivals and other more intimate spots, again there are many others doing great things out there. What all these places have in common is a lack of Americanisation in their approach, and it appears deliberately so. Their approach, and one that I very much hope is growing across the UK barbecue scene, is to take some elements that have allowed barbecue to become what it is today but take it in a direction away from the American barbecue staples. There is still a place for this, and the UK competition scene is a case in point, but the commercialisation of it has in my mind devalued it somewhat. It’s time to move on when you can buy ‘pulled pork flavoured crisps’ (really, surely with a crisp this is just a barbecue pork flavour?).

Many would argue that Britain has always struggled to find a unique food identity to the same extent as French, Italian, North African or Middle Eastern cultures. But that is the very essence and the best part about British cuisine; Scandinavian influence by being invaded by the Vikings, French influences from continuously fighting with them and Indian influences from the days of the British Empire. Incorporating these into our still growing barbecue culture at the critical moment, possibly already here, is a fantastic evolution of our food culture. Long may it continue.

The Author. Jason Wood is an avid backyard barbecue chef, cooking almost solely on his Weber he loves all aspects of barbecue and what it has to offer. He recently completed a Master of Business Administration at the University of Northampton where he was awarded a distinction for his dissertation on the sustainability of the UK barbecue food industry. He runs an emergent blog on barbecue, smoking and what he likes to call ‘barbecology’, an area he aims to blog more on some of the wider aspects of barbecue beyond just the recipes.

To find out more go to www.hopsmokefire.com or @hopsmokefire on Twitter and Instagram.

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