Attendees at this year's Reciprocal Meat Conference tasted and experienced authentic Kansas City-style barbecue.
The American Meat Science Association (AMSA) 71st Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC) hosted in Kansas City, Mo., this past June was a celebration of barbecue from the very beginning. Whether working with the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) for the Iron Chef competition or featuring barbecue at most every meal, attendees at this year’s RMC really tasted and experienced authentic Kansas City-style barbecue. AMSA embraced something unique with this opportunity and planned a full three-hour session entirely about barbecue, featuring experts and professionals in the field who shared with members the history, trends and educational outreach of barbecue. These speakers enlightened members with the art and science behind Kansas City barbecue, making for a great last session of the AMSA 71st RMC.
The first set of speakers of the day included two of KCBS’s best: well-known KCBS judge Ardie Davis and executive director of KCBS Carolyn Wells. Davis started the session with exploring the real meaning and history behind barbecue. In Davis’ words, barbecuing needs to include four main things: meat, fire, wood and smoke. He said that given these parameters, “as soon as people discovered fire, that’s when we had barbecue.” Davis also defended those who use a grill to make barbecue instead of a smoker. Grilling, he says, included the same four elements he considers necessary for barbecue. So, regardless of whether barbecue is made on a small camping grill or in an electric smoker, Davis believes we can call it all barbecue.