Sunday, May 17, 2009

bar-b-que fest with a vegetarian

If you know anything about Memphis, you know that in May we have a huge bar-b-que fest right on the river. At this festival hundreds of teams from all around the world get together for a long weekend to cook pork, knock back a few alcoholic beverages, and generally enjoy the atmosphere. Oh, and it is a serious competition too. Now, I know what you are thinking - of course the carnivore would love such a gathering, but what would a vegetarian do there?Well, I have to admit at first, I was less than thrilled about attending. As a native Memphian I have been before, but it has been several years. But, I actually enjoyed strolling along the river while checking out the tents of teams, such as Serial Grillers, Contempt of Pork, Porkosaurus, Born in the Que-S-A, Slab yo' Mama, Here for the Beer, the list goes on... And when I say tents, I mean massive structures, sometimes two stories, lit up and decorated with every kind of pig decoration you can imagine. One even had an ice sculpture of a pig that people were doing shots from! (I am regretting the I didn't get a picture of this now.) Plus, the river was beautiful at sunset.
The people watching isn't bad either. Everyone there is having a good time. Many are dancing to the blaring music from the various tents. And some people dress in theme. One lady had on short with piglets all over. I wasn't brave enough to ask her for a picture. I saw another person with a tee shirt that said "I have a culinary boner." Classy.
And there is live entertainment. When we were at the festival there was a great blue grass band playing on the main stage. (The stage by the way decorated with giant pig sculptures and had an enormous blow up bottle of cattleman's sauce on one side.) But at other times they have blues or hog calling contest or even a "Miss Piggy" competition where men dress as pigs in drag - if that makes any sense.
But honestly, people come to this thing for the food right? I mean when else can you eat ribs for days without guilt? Now, for those of you not from here I should note that you can't just walk from tent to tent eating all you want. You either have to know someone with a tent or participate in the people's choice competition (for a fee) to get a taste of several of the teams' bar-b-que. You can also buy directly from some of the vendors that have booths set up. The carnivore knew a few folks and was happily able to get his hands on some free bar-b-que. Happy carnivore...So, what is a vegetarian to do in this pork paradise? Well, there are several other offerings available for meat eaters and non-meat eaters alike. You can get your hands on a veggie gyro or freshly grilled corn cobs at Shucks or or a bloomin' onion or fried sweet potatoes (we do love to fry things in the south) or everyone's favorite - funnel cake (also fried)! It's not exactly a well balanced meal, but you won't go hungry either.
And, if you do eat meat but are over bar-b-qued pork after a day or two of hedonism, you can try a turkey leg or a pronto-pup (Memphis' version of a corn dog that is dipped fully in mustard before being served). They also have lots of smoked sausages with all the trimmings if that's your thing. If you are really adventurous maybe you can try some fried gator on a stick (see my previous comment about southerners frying everything).
All in all it was a good time. So, I say to all of you vegetarians who live with carnivores out there, don't be discouraged at the prospects of attending a meat bash. It can be fun, and you can find something to eat. And, don't worry, they hand out beer and tums to anyone who needs it...

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing! DH and I have always wanted to go - we're decidedly not vegetarians, but it was fun to read about! Hopefully we can make it there next year! :)

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  2. You are truely a good friend if you went to MiM when a vegetarian. I wouldn't have done it.

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  3. it was really wasn't that bad. the hubby does want his own tent now. i told him i would only agree to it if he named his team cooking4carnivores!

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  4. What a great post and I'm looking forward to the BBQ fests that will happen this summer!

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  5. What a wonderful post, thanks so much for sharing this with us!

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