A bourbon-soaked pineapple upside-down cake and a smoked Rice Krispies Treat with a mango habanero glaze were just two of the dishes turned in for judging on Thursday, May 16, in Tom Lee Park.

The dessert, bacon and wing competitions were on the schedule for day one of the new SmokeSlam barbecue contest and festival, which opened at 2 p.m. Thursday and runs through May 18.

The pineapple cake was an entry from the Hog Wild-Competition Team, which was set up on the riverside in a row of several other teams. The cake was infused in Memphis-made Blue Note Bourbon, butter and brown sugar. 

A first look at SmokeSlam on the river

Captain Mike Quinn said the team is not to be confused with the Hog Wild catering company, though Ernie Mellor is the pitmaster for both. With 38 members this year, mostly from Memphis, they will compete in several ancillary events, as well as pulled pork and ribs events.

Team members have competed in some form at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest (WCBCC) most years since 1987. The WCBCC is also happening this week at Liberty Park.

“We are always on the river unless we have to go to Tiger Lane (at Liberty Park),” Quinn said, explaining that the riverside placement is partly why the team chose to compete at SmokeSlam over Memphis in May this year.

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“There was incentive for us to join this organization,” Quinn said. “We were invited, for one, and we are in the ‘inaugural club,’ so after this competition will be a retrospective and we get to make suggestions.”

For their bacon entry, the Hog Wild-Competition Team crafted a bacon-wrapped hash brown cup, filled with mashed potatoes and topped with chives and bacon bits.

Barbecue fans take on two festivals, pickleball

The park was mostly occupied by competitors and vendors for the first several hours, but by 6 p.m., a line of people filed through the security gates at Beale Street and Riverside Drive.

On the South Lawn’s stage, hip-hop artists Tone Loc, Rob Base, Young MC, and DJ M were scheduled to perform later Thursday evening. Walk and Mustache the Band, and local act Noisy Cats are We opened the live music set.

Memphian Deejay James attended SmokeSlam on Thursday afternoon, but left around 5 p.m. to catch a ride to Liberty Park. 

“I am going to Memphis in May also,” he said. “But it’s just been tradition to always come down here every year for a barbecue fest … and why not give (SmokeSlam) an opportunity to see what they’re talking about?”

James isn’t on a cooking team, but said he “walked right in and got free ribs” from a team that offered him a bite.

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“It was great,” he said.

General admission ticket holders can partake in cooking demonstration food samples in the B&B Charcoal: Live Fire Extravaganza. That area is next to Pickleball 901’s pop-up pickleball courts at the Sunset Pavilion. They’re available for free play all week.

Anne Fleming and her friend PJ Gordon were seated at the entrance to the Live Fire area, finishing off spicy chimichurri steak samples.

Fleming said the two went Downtown for the food, then saw the pickleball courts and decided to play. 

“We came down here just to be nosy. We’re going to do the Memphis in May on Saturday,” Fleming said.

She doesn’t know anyone on a cooking team at either event.

Competition is heating up

“This is the most I’ve enjoyed a barbecue competition in a long time,” said Ben Colar, member of the Shine & Swine team. “I particularly appreciate how (organizers) treat everybody. It’s been very pleasant, very easy load-in, load-out.” 

Shine & Swine created the smoked marshmallow Rice Krispies Treat for the dessert category on Thursday. They’re also competing in the pulled pork category, along with wings, poultry, beef and seafood.

The Rebel Roaster Revue team, meanwhile, focused on their bacon entry Thursday. 

After 26 years of competition barbecue — including a grand championship trophy at Memphis in May in 1995 — the “R3Que” team called it quits in 2018. Team leaders Ross Capwell and Paul Hood sold the custom smoker and considered themselves completely done.

That was until last year, when Hood got a call from his friend Carey Pringle, the pitmaster for the “Peg Leg Porker” team and restaurant in Nashville.

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“I have a lot of respect for the guy and he talked me into it,” Hood said. “I called Ross, my partner, and talked him into it. And so here we are.”

The 14-person team plans to compete in the pulled-pork and rib categories on Saturday, but on day one it was all about the bacon.

Hood, who owns a seasonings and spices company, developed the original recipe: a pork-belly lettuce wrap, cured overnight in celery salt and brown sugar, then smoked, grilled and tossed with vanilla-infused bourbon, served with roasted sweet red peppers.

Originally reluctant to come out of retirement because of the hassle of competing, the “Rebel Roasters” say they’ve had an overall positive experience at SmokeSlam.

“We’re not here because we feel bad about Memphis in May,” Hood said. “We’re here because of the refreshing approach that (SmokeSlam) is taking.”

Battle of the Barbecue: What to know before you go to SmokeSlam

The park is open from 2 to 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Read more about the event’s schedule in a preview story and the Battle of the Barbecue: SmokeSlam guide. 

Editor’s note: Kevin McEniry — a member of the board of Memphis Fourth Estate, the nonprofit that owns and operates The Daily Memphian — is founder and master producer of the Mempho Festival and Mempho Presents.