Dallas Kosher Barbecue Championship

This past Sunday, the CSTX Team attended the Dallas Kosher Barbecue Championship in Richardson, Texas. You’re probably thinking, “What?” Yeah, so was I. The phrase I heard so many times on Sunday sums up everyone’s first thought on the subject:

Kosher barbecue. Who knew?

Sunday’s event was the first kosher barbecue competition in Texas that is sanctioned by both Dallas Kosher and the Kansas City Barbecue Society, who sanctions and oversees barbecue competitions all over the world.

I feel I should start out by answering the first question that most of you have: What is kosher? Kosher food is food that meets the dietary standards set down by Jewish law. As far as Kosher barbecue goes, all of the meat has been slaughtered and butchered according to Kosher rule, but it doesn’t end there. All of the spices, sauces, wines, beers, everything down to the smokers and knives used to cut the meat are all kosher.

To tell you the truth, I still didn’t fully grasp all the details of what Kosher really is. So I asked the Rabbi. Watch the video below to really understand what kosher barbecue is.

What Makes Meat Kosher?

Sunday’s barbecue competition was held in the parking lot in front of Sunnyland Furniture on the corner of Coit and Spring Valley in Richardson just north of Dallas. The competition started at sundown on Saturday night when the fires were lit, and the meat started smoking. This competition featured most of your typical barbecue competition fare including brisket, chicken, and ribs. However, due to pork being forbidden under kosher law, the ribs in this competition were beef short ribs instead of your usual pork ribs. Turkey was also included in the competition.

Each competing team turned in a selection of all 4 meats to the KCBS-certified panel of judges. These judges highly scrutinize each entry behind closed doors to determine the best meats submitted to them. A few teams in each category presented meat to a panel of celebrity judges who sampled entries in front of a crowd and commented on their favorites in every category. Local celebrities on the panel included Dotty Griffith of True Texas Cuisine, WFAA’s Stacy Fawcett, City Councilman Lee Kleinman, and Jody Dean. Yep, Jody Dean from Jody Dean and the Morning Team on KLUV. Jody and his daughter, Maddie, took a minute to talk to us about the barbecue they ate.

Jody Dean

Rounding out the celebrity judges was the host, Simon Majumdar. As far as food celebrities go, Simon is a good one to have host a food festival. You may know Simon as a regular host on Iron Chef America, from The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and a number of other Food Network shows. Simon was on the mic hosting the celebrity judging panel and presenting awards, along with signing copies of his new book, Fed, White and Blue.

Check out what Simon had to say about barbecue, kosher barbecue, and Texas.

Simon Majumdar

All in all, adults and kids alike had a good time at the Dallas Kosher Barbecue Championship last Sunday. I certainly learned a lot about what makes kosher food kosher. The barbecue impressed me, as well. Some serious competition was brought out by the participating teams, which varied in cooking style, technique, and experience. I think host Simon Majumdar said it best when he pointed out, “It’s not just great kosher barbecue. It’s great barbecue that also happens to be kosher.

Dallas Kosher Barbecue Winners

Overall:

1. CNB Bar-B-Q Texas
2. Rabbi-Q
3. Ellis County BBQ
4. Chop Quey
5. Uncle Mordy, John the Catholic, and the MEATzva Girls
6. Texas Jew Step
7. Addicted to Smoke
8. Hillels of North Texas
9. Accent Optical BBQ Verbrennt

Brisket:

1. Rabbi-Q
2. Ellis County BBQ
3. Uncle Mordy, John the Catholic, and the MEATzva Girls
4. Chop Quey
5. CNB Bar-B-Q Texas
6. Addicted to Smoke
7. Texas Jew Step
8. Accent Optical BBQ Verbrennt
9. Hillels of North Texas

Beef Ribs

1. CNB Bar-B-Q Texas
2. Rabbi-Q
3. Chop Quey
4. Texas Jew Step
5. Ellis County BBQ
6. Addicted to Smoke
7. Hillels of North Texas
8. Uncle Mordy, John the Catholic, and the MEATzva Girls
9. Accent Optical BBQ Verbrennt

Turkey

1. Ellis County BBQ
2. CNB Bar-B-Q Texas
3. Texas Jew Step
4. Hillels of North Texas
5. Rabbi-Q
6. Accent Optical BBQ Verbrennt
7. Addicted to Smoke
8. Chop Quey
9. Uncle Mordy, John the Catholic, and the MEATzva Girls

Chicken:

1. Uncle Mordy, John the Catholic, and the MEATzva Girls
2. Chop Quey
3. Rabbi-Q
4. CNB Bar-B-Q Texas
5. Addicted to Smoke
6. Ellis County BBQ
7. Texas Jew Step
8. Hillels of North Texas
9. Accent Optical BBQ Verbrennt