Pork Board
Sample news article: Written for the National Pork Board
Purpose: announce the winner of the Great Pork BarbeQlossalTM
New York Chef Reigns as Pork Expo's King of "Q"
By Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Eighty-one pit masters from Bare Bones BBQ to the Pork Pullin' Plowboys fired up the competition at this year's Great Pork BarbeQlossalTM, but Adam Perry Lang from New York City's Daisy May's BBQ earned grand champion honors June 11 during his first trip to Iowa.
"Great barbecue is not about the sauce or the smoke," said Perry Lang, 36, who placed first in ribs, second in the loin category, sixth in whole hog and sixth in the shoulder category with his succulent, smoky pork. "Barbecue people are the new wave of passionate chefs."
A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Perry Lang cut his teeth in the early 1990s in the Manhattan kitchens of Le Cirque, Daniel and Chanterelle and Paris' Restaurant Guy Savoy. This Long Island native has since chosen to channel his passion for food by running the pit smoker and creating savory sauces at Daisy May's BBQ U.S.A. in Manhattan. He has studied the various styles of barbecue that dot the country, and the wide range of rich, balanced flavors and textures in his pork, beef, chicken and country fixing's have made Daisy May's an instant hit with New Yorkers.
"Regional influences aren't found in restaurants," emphasized Perry Lang during a break at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines. "They are found in an area's people and culture. That's why I love learning from competition cookers and backyard barbecuers."
The learning goes both ways, noted David Hintz, who runs Pork County BBQ in Newton. "I've had a great time and have learned so much about barbecue from Adam," said Hintz, who helped Perry Lang acquire barbecue equipment for the BarbeQlossal. "Even if I don't win anything, just getting to know Adam has been worth it."
What's old is new again
Perry Lang rounded up a ranch hand's view of barbecue when he left New York in 1998 to be a private chef on a ranch outside Santa Fe, N.M. "My inspiration for barbecue came from the cowboys there. We'd talk late into the night about how to cook a pork shoulder or a brisket. You can't buy that kind of knowledge."
So what's the secret to great barbecue? Cook it low and slow, and pick pork, says Perry Lang, a National Pork Board Celebrated Chef. "Pork is flavor, and I love to cook with it. Pork is in a good market position, because it's on the upswing with consumers who have a positive, new image of it."
At Daisy May's (named for a Cocker Spaniel from the New Mexico ranch), Perry Lang goes through nearly 2,000 pounds of barbecue a day, and 75 percent is pork. "We are expanding to 4,500 pounds per day," he added. Customers can stop by Daisy May's BBQ counter/take away store at the corner of 11th Ave. and 46th St. in Manhattan, or they can feed their need for pulled-pork sandwiches from one of Daisy May's nine pushcarts that serve the city.
Despite the demand, Perry Lang doesn't describe barbecue as the next big thing. "It has always been there, it's American, it's filling, and it's authentic comfort food. There will always be a market for this."
Perry Lang doesn't worry about the increased competition, either. "When I started Daisy May's in August of 2003, there were only a couple other barbecue places in the city. Now that there's more competition, I'm constantly reevaluating and exploring new flavors. It raises the bar for those of us who take barbecue seriously."