Big Apple BBQ Block Party Around the Corner

Blue Smoke Executive Chef and Partner Kenny Callaghan at a previous Big Apple Barbecue Block Party. (Courtesy of Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, New York, N.Y., June 12, 2010)

NEW YORK—Top southern chefs will give demonstrations and seminars, creating a variety of pulled pork sandwiches, ribs, sausage, and brisket, in the Madison Square Park area this weekend, June 9–10, during the 10th annual Big Apple BBQ Block Party.

It all started as a small southern cooking block party in New York City. In the beginning “people thought we were crazy,” said Mark Maynard-Parisi, co-founder of the event.

It took a while to convince award-winning chefs from the Deep South to cook their specialties on the urban streets of New York City.

“It truly is a global event now; we have people who plan their visits to New York City around this event,” Maynard-Parisi said.

Kenny Callaghan, Blue Smoke’s executive chef, who curates the list of pitmasters, said the event has become “a high class problem.”

“Ten years later, people are knocking down the door calling eight months in advance,” Callaghan said.

Sean Brock, who has appeared on “Iron Chef America” and is winner of the “Next Great Chef” episode of the “Food Network Challenge,” will be holding a seminar at the event. Seventeen chefs are participating this year, 16 of them returning from last year.

“New York City is so much of a melting pot,” Maynard-Parisi said. There is Italian, Indian, and Chinese food galore. “But the American tradition has not been represented in New York City.”

The Big Apple BBQ Block Party is a celebration of American culture, he said.

“We weren’t sure if people were going to take us seriously without exotic food, but we found there really are people who are deeply interested from a historical perspective,” Maynard-Parisi said.

Besides food, the event will also include performances by musicians such as Jon Langford, JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, and The Revelations featuring Tre Williams.

The performances, seminars, and demonstrations are free. Food from a pitmaster, a barbecue authority who cooks up mouthwatering food, will be $8 per plate.

“If you grow up in Kansas City, you grow up on barbeque; if you grow up in Carolina, you grow up on barbeque; it’s just that experience of being able to bring a little bit of home to some New Yorkers, people really just love it,” Callaghan said.

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