Courtesy of Preserving the Pit
The most recent barbecue cookbook by a Black author wasn’t published this century. Bobby Seale, a man far better known for cofounding the Black Panther Party than for his barbecue chops, released Barbecue’n with Bobby in 1988. For pitmaster Kevin Bludso, that depressing gap is what makes this moment in barbecue so important. He and coauthor Noah Galuten just submitted the first draft of his manuscript for
Bludso’s Family Cookbook, to be released in the spring of 2022. By then, two more barbecue books by Black authors Adrian Miller’s Black Smoke and Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ by Scott and Lolis Eric Elie will also have been published. Bludso doesn’t want the momentum to stop. “Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he told me.
Credit: Kingsford
Charcoal company Kingsford has launched a new initiative that focuses on highlighting and preserving the contributions Black Americans have made to barbecue, while ensuring they have a prominent place in the future of the cuisine.
With this week s launch of Kingsford s Preserve the Pit fellowship program, aspiring barbecue professionals are invited to apply to an opportunity for immersive training and one-on-one mentorship with some of the top pitmasters in the nation. Winners will also receive an undisclosed capital investment to kick-start their business. As the modern-day story of barbecue continues to unfold, it s important to celebrate those who have made it what it is today, Shaunte Mears-Watkins, vice president of strategy and marketing for Kingsford, said in a news release. The traditions of Black pitmasters helped bring barbecue into the center of American culture, but their