Who's the Best, Memphis or Kansas City

One thing that has always confused me about my favorite barbeque restaurant has been the reference to Ol’ Kentucky Bar-BQ. Researching Gates and Sons I found out their original name was Ol’ Kentucky Bar-BQ. Then I found one thing that has shaken my world. Arthur Pinkard was credited with helping George Gates open his original restaurant. Arthur was an employee of Henry Perry, Perry is considered the father of Kansas City Barbeque and his more famous connection would be with Arthur Bryants. But the shocking aspect was that Henry was from Shelby County Tennessee. Now you may ask why would that bother me, well you are talking about Memphis, MY Kansas City barbeque originates in Memphis. Now I know there are many arguments when it comes to Barbeque, but the main one to me is Memphis or Kansas City, and now I find out the man who is connected with two of our best restaurants was from Memphis.

Ollie Gates and Martha Stewart

A few years ago Ollie Gates gave Martha Stewart a recipe for a sauce

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/barbecue-with-ollie?autonomy_kw=ollie%20gates&rsc=header_1
Ingredients
Makes 3 quarts
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons celery seed
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground red pepper
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 quarts ketchup
2 cups apple vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Directions
In a small bowl, mix together sugar, salt, celery seed, cumin, red pepper, and garlic and chili powders. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add dry ingredients, and mix well. Serve warm or at room temperature. Sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks or in freezer for up to 6 months.
Now having made this sauce I can tell you that it is not the same sauce, but with some experimenting I think you should be able to get closer to what the restaurants serve.

Life in KC, and Outside the Que Capital

I grew up in the middle of the barbeque capital and within that capital to me there is only one perfect barbeque joint, Gates and Sons BBQ.

Growing up BBQ was no different then McDonalds or any other fast food joint. Just go to the corner and grab and go. Now that I’m an adult and have moved away I know that it is not that easy and places like Gates, Arthurs, etc don’t exist everywhere. And living outside of these mecca’s such as Memphis and Kansas City leave someone like me craving the options I once had.

So I thought I would start this blog and share my love for barbeque and experiences trying to find a decent BBQ joint outside of KC.