The Tribune

THE Smoking Hot Barbeque Competition is set to grow in its second year by attracting international audience members to Nassau, which organisers called the best location for a barbecue competition.

The event will be held at Green Parrot Restaurant on Bay Street on May 3, and culinary tourism manager DeAnne Gibson said the Ministry of Tourism will help build on last year’s success.

“This year, we are seeking to partner with the marinas and hotels to promote this event for the visitors. We are excited about this partnership opportunity that provides a culinary event for locals to participate in as competitors as well as participants,” she said. “This year, we seek to offer air and hotel packages from South Florida, for the barbecue enthusiasts to travel and enjoy the excitement of barbecue, Bahamian style.”

Ms Gibson pointed out that the competition will be judged this year by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, which will qualify the winner for various KCBS events.

Last year, more than 30 BBQ chef teams competed and hundreds of Bahamians took the opportunity to sample their creations. Keevan Miller won the inaugural event and later tested his skills in Las Vegas and Puerto Rico.

“Winning the barbecue competition has changed my life,” he said. “I was able to take my family to Puerto Rico and Las Vegas. It has opened so many doors, I am now in the process of getting my sauce bottled. It has been great.”

Smoking Hot Ventures, a Puerto Rican-based company, takes the competition throughout the Caribbean. One of the organisers, Robert Garcia, said the competition in Nassau is one of the biggest in the Caribbean.

“Basically what we are creating is a BBQ circuit,” he said.

“Last year’s event was a huge event and had great success and we are hoping within the next few years it would be on par with BBQ competitions in the United States.”

Mr Garcia said the Bahamas event is different from what is being done in the United States since those who attend are allowed to sample all the competition’s barbecue themes.

“We really want to step up the game and increase the awareness of the event to get more teams from out of the Bahamas. I think it will be a great event because we have a lot of locals who do like BBQ and we have a lot of tourists who do like BBQ so it makes sense to have it here so close to the United States,” Mr Garcia said.

President of Caribbean Barbecue Association Michael Compton is also a part of Smoking Hot Ventures. He said Nassau is the best location internationally for the competition.

“Nassau, Bahamas is the best location that there is because it’s so close to the US, where the hub of barbecue really comes from,” Mr Compton said. “The East Coast is the heart of where barbecue comes from. So it is easy for American competitors to get here and bring their smoking and cooking equipment. This will also bring a lot of visitors into Nassau.”

This year, organisers hope that 40 teams will sign up for the competition. The teams’ registration fee gets them a meat package from Bahamas Food Services for the competition.