University Daily Kansan / Thursday, May 2, 1991
Features
11
BBQ
American tradition alive and cooking on Midwest grills
By Jonathan Plummer
Kansan staff writer
The leaders of some of the most powerful nations gathered last year in the United States for an economic summit.
Melissa Crew. Nickerson iunior. roasts hot dogs while listening to bands at Dav on the Hill.
President George Bush wanted to impress them with uniquely American food as well as give them a meal adored — or at least a prime minister.
Naturally, Bush arranged a barbecue.
Grilling a meal over a flavorful wood in the great outdoors is one of the myths the United States is famous for around the world.
The picture of a lonesome cowboy, cooking some sort of meal under a prairie sky is an international American icon.
But barbecue is no myth. Especially because spring has arrived, students have began to prepare their grills, or seek their favorite restaurant for the good times and good tastes that go with barbecue.
Of course, those who are serious about barbecue know that Lawrence is within drooling distance of the greatest barbecue in the nation.
Barbecue specialists are, as author Calvin Trillin wrote, "united only in the belief that the finest barbecue is Arthur Bryant's of Kansas City."
Just as Bryant's is considered the best in the country, many consider Kansas City the barbecue capital. Lawrence in a difficult position.
But just as others did not stop painting after Michelangelo finished the Sistine Chapel, so Lawrence has painted many more murals; many more amateur barbecue chefs.
Two local restaurants, Buffalo Bob's Smokehouse, 719 Massachusetts St., and Bum Steer Bar-B-Q.
2554 Iowa St., have their loyal fans.
Mike Remmert, a cook at Buffalo Bob's and an Olathe server, said that the restaurant was holding its own against the nearby competition.
"We have a good reputation," he said. "We get guys coming in from Topkapi and, of course, we are recompensated by the Better Business Bureau."
"We smoke the meats every morning," he said. "It would take a long time to master it. Plus our sauce is made from real meat, I recommend that they get a beer instead."
He said that recreating the experience of the restaurant would be difficult for the average backyard chef.
Crisk Kraft, Liberal graduate student,
is a fan of the Bum Steer in
Lawrence and barbecue restaurants
in general.
"I'd much rather go to a restaurant," he said. "It takes a long time to get good at it on your own. That needs years and years. You have to light the fire and get the temperature just right.
Kraift, who commutes from Overland Park, has been all over the Lawrence and Kansas City areas in recent weeks. "He said is the true test of a restaurant."
"In a restaurant, though, that's all you need. Why mess up when you could go to a different place?"
"The secret to good barbecue is in the meat," he said. "Now don't get my wrong sense of importance, but put it on some meat and you
When she tries to recall a favorite barbecue experience, she lists times
Listening to Melissa Crew, Nickerson junior, one would think the experience of barbering is not the miracle it is to Kraft, but more a fact of
"We are going to Omega next weekend. We'll take a grill there. We are going to grill later this week." she said. "We just do it all the time."
Crew said that she also liked the Bum Steer restaurant, she preferred doing her own grilling.
Crew said that her favorite meat to grill was bratwurst boiled in beer but that she could also make fajitas or chicken marinated in sauce.
"I always like to cook anyway," she said. "It's always hard to get started, sometimes I feel like it doesn't use flour or fluorid—but it's definitely worth it.
"My friends and I all like cooking out a lot. It just tastes a lot better."
Crew had her friend's grill goins during the Day on the Hill concert Saturday and said that once again it was worth the trouble.
"That was probably the best day I had up here," she said. "We all had a laugh."
Tips to a better BBQ
- Always wait until food is on the plate before eating it - never place your lips directly on the grill.
● Soup is not a good grill item.
Don't think you can speed up cooking time by dousing food with gasoline: Slow and steady wins the race.
Friends don't let friends grill drunk.
- When loading a kabob skewer, keep it pointed away from your body.
- Meat that is brittle has usually been overdone.
- Hot spotula - bare skin - bad idea.
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