May 20th Mendez and Company will have their second annual Gourmet Grilling Contest. This will be held at their facility La Bodega De Mendez on Carr. #402 Km. 1.6. in Anasco Puerto Rico. La Bodega De Mendez is a specialty wine store and you will find thousands of bottles of fine wines available in their shop and friendly, knowledgeable people to assist you in selecting anything you need to round out your next dinner party, special occasion, or backyard BBQ. Mendez & Company has expressed a desire and commitment to make this a continuing annual project.  They really want to grow the BBQ competition into a big event in partnership with The Caribbean BBQ Association so whether you come to judge, compete, or as a spectator come join in the fun.

This event takes place on Saturday evening so it makes for a great getaway weekend to head over to the west side of the island and book a room in a one of the local Paradors. You can spend the afternoon at the beach and finish out the evening with some good BBQ and fine wines. They have a salad bar and BBQ prepared by the chefs from the competing teams for you to enjoy and last year it was very good.

Last year they had approximately 10 teams competing and most were from the hotel  & restaurant industry on the west coast. There is plenty of room for more teams to participate so get your team ready to compete.  This is a great opportunity to sharpen the skills you learned at the BBQ Training Camp and use it as a trial run to prepare your team for The Jack Daniels BBQ in June. For more information or an application to participate in the contest check back with this website or send us an e-mail Mike@BBQPR.com  We will add more information about the cost and categories as it becomes available.

Sunday June the 11th the granddaddy of BBQs, Jack Daniels 11th Annual, will be going on at the Parque Luis Munoz Marin just off Ave. Domenech down the road from Plaza Las Americas. This year they have gone back to their roots and dropped the dessert and smoked meat categories. Of course this is also a grilling competition by all actual descriptions of the rules but we certainly encourage all teams that can to smoke some of your entries. The judges will know the difference and appreciate your efforts. The contest will involve 4 categories: Beef, Pork, Poultry, and Sauce.

The Caribbean BBQ Association will sanction both of these BBQ contests this year and be running the official judging program.

Both promoters of these contests have asked us to provide as many certified judges as possible for the competition so The Caribbean BBQ Association will be holding a Judges Certification seminar on May the 6th at Bamboobei. This falls in line nicely with our mission to train the best judges and best competitors for such BBQ competitions.

The Judges Seminar will teach you the ins and outs of judging BBQ, the pitfalls of judging, the different cuts of pork and beef and the differences between good and great BBQ, judging etiquette, and the code of conduct for judges. 

We recommend that every member of The CBBQA attend this seminar and training class. If you are a member of a competing BBQ team it will help you understand what the judges are looking at when judging the entry, and what they are looking for in great BBQ.  What self-respecting head cook wouldn’t want the inside track on how to please the judges and get the best possible score?

We will be grilling and sampling BBQ prepared by some of the best Pit Masters we have in our association, and the students will have the opportunity to do some grilling as well. We will taste, test, score, and analyze the scoring and the BBQ so come with your appetite. Upon passing the final test and graduating the participants will receive an official CBBQA Judges Certificate and have an opportunity to be selected as a Judge or Table Captain at one or both of the BBQ competitions mentioned above. We will be filling the positions of Judges and Table Captains with certified Judges first.

For more information and details about the competitions and classes keep checking the official BBQ web page www.BBQPR.com.  We will post the information as it develops.

March 28th Monthly BBQ Association meeting!

This month’s meeting will be the last Tuesday of the month, March 28th at Bamboobei Call 787-253-0938 for directions if needed.

Our illustrious instructor, Garry Howard, has volunteered to be the Head Party Master for this month's meeting.  Garry will slow smoke BBQ ribs for us so this is a treat you won’t want to miss.

Do I even need to give you a list of recommended side dishes for this meeting? I didn’t think so!  If you need a suggestion drop me a line and I’ll recommend something but this should be an easy one for you to fulfill. Most important thing here is bring a side dish!

Social time 7 to 8pm, 8 to 8:30 BBQ business, 8:30 pm chow time. 

Okay BBQ competition season is off to the races and this is what we CBBQA members live for all year long. This is where the rubber meets the road and we put the training and practice to use.

It is time to put your team together and start practicing your skills. Competing is a blast and always a great time with your friends and team members. If you don’t have a team maybe we can help you find some interested members from within our association. Never competed before! No big deal it’s easy, exciting and fun to rub shoulders with others that share your same passion and interest in the sport and culinary art of BBQ. We can even assist you with coaching and information if you need some help getting a team started.

Let’s all join in the excitement and fun this year by getting involved with the two competitions and training classes. Tell everyone you know about the class and two BBQ Competitions.  Spread the word and leave no stone unturned in getting out the information. Call everyone you know in the CBBQA and tell them about the monthly meeting.  We need a agood solid turnout of members and guests,

Thank you all for your interest and participation. See the 28th at the next meeting.

Sincerely,
Michael Compton
President / Caribbean BBQ Association
www.BBQPR.com
Mike@BBQPR.com