Home team Sweet Swine o' Mine is Memphis in May barbecue Grand Champion
The rain held off, but the wind whipped away the back tarp of the stage with a sharp snap just after Sweet Swine o' Mine was announced as the Grand Champion at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest on Saturday evening.
Photo by Mark Weberbuyitnow
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Sweet Swine o' Mine team members celebrate their Grand Championship at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest Saturday evening.
Photo by Mark Weber
Quality Hogs head chef Chris Vanelli catches a nap this afternoon at Tom Lee Park. Vanelli worked 24 straight hours preparing his team's entry, and he has a 50th birthday to look forward to tonight.
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It was a surprise ending to a contest that held one surprise after another as finalist results came in throughout the day — none had ever been Grand Champion.
"We'll definitely have a first-time Grand Champion," said Memphis in May executive vice president Diane Hampton. "No one in the finals has ever been grand champion. Interestingly, there are very few teams that have ever been in the finals at all."
"That just goes to show you that on any given day, if you've got the spice and the rub and the temperature right ..." said MIM president and CEO Jim Holt, noting that the finalist teams were all good ones and that it's fun to see different names at the top.
Sweet Swine o' Mine has competed for 10 years and has placed first twice in the past.
"Three times now," said team pit master Mark Lambert.
He cooked the shoulder like he always does, but knew he had something special on Saturday.
"The meat was juicier and tastier than ever before," he said. "I knew I had a winner. When one of the tough judges came back and told me he gave me (high scores), I knew it was going to be good."
The team from Memphis took home the biggest trophy and $10,000 for the grand championship win in addition to its $3,500 prize for placing first in the shoulder category. First-place winners in each major division were awarded $3,500; second place, $1,500; and third, $1,000. Other winners received varying amounts for a total purse of $60,850 for cooking contests and $10,500 for entertainment contests.
While Lambert stuck with his winning recipe, the second-place winner in the shoulder division mixed it up this year.
"I changed everything," said Jim Speakman, one of the cooks of the Parrothead Porkers of Hogaritaville. "I went to a different rub, a different charcoal and different wood."
The wood is different indeed. It's cherry, cut from a tree that was struck by lightning at Speakman's father-in-law's property in Taylor, Miss. He says now he'll cut up the rest of the tree and use it for barbecuing. In a cooking competition as known for tall tales as fishing is, the story of the wood's provenance brought a hearty chuckle from team member John Joplin.
"That sounds like something I would make up," he said. "But Speakman tells the truth."
For 19 years, the team has been a crowd favorite for its parties that feature Jimmy Buffett music and a signature lemon-vodka drink. They started out as a group of friends who lived together in an apartment complex in Bartlett, enjoying Buffett and barbecue. This is the first year they've made it to the finals.
In all, 238 teams smoked ribs, shoulder, whole hog and various other meats in this year's competition, down slightly from last year because of work being done in the park.
Holt was pleased. "I think this was a spectacularly successful barbecue contest," he said. "And we faced many challenges. A week ago, Tom Lee Park was like chocolate pudding."
The category winners announced Saturday night:
First Place — Ribs: Baby Back Griller Allstars (Southaven)
First Place — Shoulder: Sweet Swine o’ Mine (Memphis)
First Place — Whole Hog: Party Q (Batesville, Ark.)
People’s Choice: Rib Ticklers (Batesville, Ark.)
Patio Porkers: Conquistaboars (Olive Branch)
Click here for a full list of results.
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