Big Pig Jig!

A while ago, I saw some random program on the Food Network, and there was this BBQ contest/festival called the Big Pig Jig. They said it was held in Georgia, so I looked it up and stuck it in my calendar. A few month later, it's BBQ time, so we headed south of Atlanta about 120 miles or so to a tiny town called Vienna. And then it was time for some 'cue.

The entire place mostly consisted of little shacks/mini-structures where the different BBQ teams did their work. Some were very simple, while others were really decked out with multi-story structures.

There was only a two-hour window for "regular folk" (i.e., not official judges) to taste the competition BBQ; this was during the tasting for the people's choice award for best BBQ. A $2 fee got you a plate of 5-6 samples of BBQ, and then you could cast a ballot for whichever one you thought was best. There were over 100 contestants this year, so it wasn't really feasible to actually try all of the entries. I went for a total of three trips, covering 16 different entries. Round 1 shown above.

Round 2.

Round 3.

Me with the goods (and my apropos "Animals Taste Good" t-shirt on). There was quite a variety of styles... some more saucy, some sweeter, some smokier, some drier, some kinda vinegarish, etc.

One of the contestant's cooking area. Kinda wrong having the pig eating his own ribs. Reminded me of the Simpson's episode where Homer's head is a donut and he keeps eating it ("but I'm so sweet and tasty!").

Apple pie and frying! What's more American than that?

It wasn't as fried as I expected though... I thought it would be crunchier/crispier.

Sue got some "Olde Tyme" soda pop. I think she got sassparilla.

Funnel cake.