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Dear members and friends;

2009 is in the history books, the dust has settled and we want to let you know what’s happening for The Caribbean BBQ Association (CBBQA) in 2010.

The BBQ Board had its first meeting of the New Year the first week of February. Several great BoD members have moved away so we have put a few new faces in their places and we are pumped and ready to rock.  Our new Board members are Chef Victor Merced and Claudio Reck. Both are long time members and big supporters of the CBBQA and full of enthusiasm for the association and have a desire to help the CBBQA have it best year ever. Other members of the Board of Directors (BoD) are Dave Bennett (Treasurer) , W. Paul Gundry, Hector Rivera (V.P.), Edwin Medina, Garry Howard (Web Master), and Michael Compton (President).

Below is our calendar for 2010.  As with all schedules there may be a few changes along the way but this is pretty solid. You will be able to find this information posted to the CBBQA web site www.BBQPR.com or on our new FaceBook page. Copy and paste a copy of the calendar on the desktop and stay up with what’s happening!

  USMEF recently showcased U.S. beef and pork for Caribbean food and beverage professionals by hosting a first-ever barbecue competition on the island of Antigua. The competition was held in conjunction with an annual food and beverage industry event conducted by the region’s importers and distributors.

"The really fun part of this competition was that we featured four cuts that are relatively new to the Antigua market," said USMEF Caribbean representative Elizabeth Wunderlich. "On the pork side, we had pork Boston butts and St. Louis pork ribs. For beef, we featured shoulder clod heart and beef back ribs and Texas Brisket. Most of these chefs had never seen beef back ribs before - they’ve done a lot of ribs in the Caribbean islands in the past, but just not from beef."

Colleen Simpson (front right) of the Antigua National School Meals Program accepts
the Grand Champion award from USMEF Caribbean representative Elizabeth Wunderlich

On the day before the competition, all entrants attended a USMEF barbecue seminar featuring Mike Compton, president of the Caribbean Barbecue Association.

"Mike is a really wonderful pit master. He did a whole seminar on cooking low and slow, except for the shoulder clod heart, which can be cooked ‘fast and furious’ because it’s a more tender muscle," Wunderlich said. "It was very informative, and a great introduction to these alternative cuts of U.S. beef and pork."

The barbecue competition, made possible through support from the Pork Checkoff and Beef Checkoff Programs, attracted a wide range of participants from varying backgrounds.

"We had everyone from the street vendor who cooks barbecue down on the beach to the executive chef from the highest-end hotel on the island. So you really had all walks of life doing their own thing with U.S. beef and pork," Wunderlich said.

Prizes were awarded in seven different categories, with the Grand Champion award being captured by Colleen Simpson, executive chef for Antigua’s National School Meals Program. She now qualifies to participate in the Caribbean Barbecue Association’s 2010 Caribbean Cook-off to be held June 26-27 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.

For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at .

The Caribbean Barbeque Association is the place to find everything you need to know about barbecue, grilling and smoking. We have all the latest info on contests, events, the latest news in the world of BBQ and much more. Whether you are looking for recipes, grills and smokers, sauces and rubs, or you want to learn how to cook barbecue we are here to help.

Our Mission - The mission of the Caribbean BBQ Association is to celebrate,  preserve, and  teach the art of slow smoking BBQ,  to promote barbecue as a culinary technique,  competitive sport, and culinary art form. Our goal is to have barbecue recognized as the true America's cuisine while having as much fun as possible with family and friends!

God bless barbecue and keep your grill fired up!