What makes a legend? They know how to barbecue.
Melissa Cookston, the first woman inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame, will join Tuffy Stone of Virginia to teach people the fine art of barbecuing in the Legends of BBQ Cooking Class, March 19th through March 21st, at Cookston’s Horn Lake restaurant, Memphis Barbecue Company.
The world champion pit masters are teaming up to feature tips on how they consistently produce award-winning barbecue. “vTuffy and I have been competitive cooks for many years,” says Cookston, dubbed The Winningest Woman in Barbecue. “He primarily competed in Kansas City-style, and I do primarily Memphis-style. I’m going to teach the Memphis side of competition, which is full hog, full shoulder, and ribs, and he will teach the Kansas side: butts, spare ribs, chicken, and brisket.”
They’ll get “an eclectic bunch” of students. “Some backyard barbecuers, some competitive,” Cookston says. “I know a couple of seasoned pros coming to the class. Some people want to come just to see how it’s done. They really don’t cook, but just want to hang out.
“Barbecue is an experience,” she adds. “It’s a noun. It’s a verb. It’s an adjective.”
Smoking is one of the first things people want to know, Cookston says. “People are intimidated by woods and smoking and big cuts of meat.”
The type of wood you use is important. “Pork is a delicate white meat, so you wouldn’t want to use a harsh wood. Pecan is a yes, [or] applewood.” But, she says, “Save hickory for beef and red meat that can take harsher smokes.”
Cookston recalls her first memory of barbecue. “My grandfather was my person. I think everyone has their person.” She spent summers with her grandfather in Pontotoc, Mississippi. “He was an auto mechanic. He was retired by then, but he’d still overhaul transmissions under the shade tree,” she says. “Afterward, we’d go to this coffee shop and he and the other old men would sit and tell stories.
“I would get to have a barbecue sandwich,” she says. “I don’t know if it was the company I was in, but it was the best barbecue in the world. There was just something about those memories. The smell of barbecue cooking in the mornings while we were there, with him drinking his coffee and me having my Coke. These memories will always be etched. That pit barbecue and the tangy vinegar sauce on the sandwich, I will never forget.”
Cookston, who has been in the restaurant business for 38 years, began competing more than 20 years ago. “My husband, Pete, took me to a barbecue contest. I fell in love at first sight with competition barbecue. It appealed to my competitive nature and my love of barbecue. I knew it was something I wanted to do.”
She went home and bought a variety of spices and created a rub and sauce. “It took me probably a year to get the flavor I wanted. I’m from Mississippi, and everything is so flavorful and colorful and rich in the Delta. This is what I wanted my barbecue to emanate.”
As for her husband, Cookston says, “It’s all his fault. He cursed the day he ever took me to that barbecue contest.”
And, yes, you do get to eat barbecue during the Legends of BBQ Cooking Class. “Absolutely. There’s plenty of take-home as well. We will cook a lot of meat, so if they want to bag some up and take some home, they’re welcome.
“And I feed you well,” she says. “This is the hospitality state. I think everyone should have food around at all times. I’m that Southern belle that will feed you to death if you’re around.”
Tickets are $899 and are available to purchase at bit.ly/CookstonStoneBBQClass.
Memphis Barbecue Company is at 709 Desoto Cove in Horn Lake, Mississippi.
