For those of us born and raised in the South, barbecue is serious business. We have strong opinions about where one can find the best barbecue, and we plan events around eating it. But with that being said, most of us haven't dedicated a full month of our lives to studying, cooking, and tasting barbecue every day—and that's exactly what this group of South Carolina students did.
In a course developed by two faculty members at Wofford College in upstate South Carolina, undergraduate students spent three hours a day, five days a week, studying and practicing the art of barbecue, according to Southern Living. The month-long course was part of Wofford College's Interim program, wherein students take one course during the entire month of January.
Dr. David Alvis and Coach Eric Nash designed the course in two main parts. First, students studied the history of barbecue across the South, reading about 60 pages a night from books such as Barbecue: The History of an American Institution, Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue, and The History of South Carolina Barbecue.
"We wanted to teach the history first, so that students would learn that food isn't just an abstract thing," Alvis told Southern Living. "It's part of a culture, part of a community."
The second part of the course focused on hands-on cooking techniques. Each student practiced preparing, cooking, and presenting one cut of meat per week, which was then ranked on a 10-point scale for execution and creativity.
The goal of the class changed over time as Alvis watched the students understandably make mistakes at first, and then learn and improve. While his first intention was to turn the group of undergraduates into professional barbecue chefs, Alvis soon adjusted his expectations. "I realized that was insane. There were some disasters. They almost burned my grill," Alvis said. "So my goal became more to help students appreciate food not just for its taste, but for its cultural context."
At the end of the course, which included guests speakers and trips to local barbecue joints, the students participated in a competition where they treated pork in different beer brines provided by local brewery RJ Rockers. The competition was held in the brewery for a community-wide taste test.
Now that the Interim course is over, Alvis and Nash have plans to offer it every other year. For those of us unable to relocate to Spartanburg and enroll in the class before 2019, we'll just have to stick to honing our best barbecue techniques at home.
You should also read about what happened when we sent a writer to barbecue judging school here.
(h/t Southern Living)
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