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Kansas City Gets a Taste of Kosher BBQ

Fox 4 Kansas City

BBQ is a Kansas City tradition. Kansas City style BBQ is prepared differently than any other region of the country. But one local BBQ competition is taking the way KC prepares BBQ to a different level.

There are plenty of BBQ restaurants all over Kansas City, but if you are Kosher, the Jewish dietary standards prohibit you from eating at those restaurants, however people at this BBQ competition can enjoy more than just the smell– they can eat too.

“Kosher is the rules of eating according to the Torah, according to the Bible,” said Rabbi Mendel Segal with Vaad HaKashruth of Kansas City.

All of the meat is slaughtered according to Jewish tradition and you won’t find any pork ribs on any of the smokers either. However, there was plenty of spicy trash talk between the guys from Chicago and Kansas Citians.

“They may know pizza, but they don’t know barbecue,” said Lawrence Langley of KCK.

David Weissman and Michael Dhaliwal say they’ve spent the past four months learning how to smoke meat and they believe their apricot glaze and other tidbits will set them above the rest.

“We were warned that if we come to this contest we have to know what we’re doing,” David Weissman of Chicago said.

Kansas Citian Lawrence Langley says using real wood instead of charcoal vies his BBQ an added flavor you can’t beat. Langley says he’s ready to smoke the competitors because they’re no threat. The only challenge he faced is using two small smokers that were given to everyone in the competition.

“The little barbecue pits that they gave us are not what you would typically see in a barbecue contest,” Langley said. “I’m thinking how do you get beef ribs on there? It was a challenge.”

The grill posed a problem for the Chicago team, too.

“The brisket was a challenge,” Weissman said. “We didn’t think it was going to fit. We were worried that we would have to cut it in half.”

Aside from the saucy talk, the competitors say this Kosher BBQ was a lot of fun and great opportunity to eat BBQ instead of just smelling it all over the city.

Despite the guys from Chicago perfecting their BBQ skills, a local team from Olathe called Smoke to Perfection won the competition.

Organizers’ are hoping this barbecue will become a new Kansas City tradition.

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9 Comments

  • Nice but not original

    Also done very successfully in Birmingham, Alabama for the last few years!

  • think before you comment

    the article didn’t say it was an original idea in the united states, but if you read it, it said it was new to KANSAS CITY!! think before you comment.

  • your #1 Chicago fan

    We know who are the real winners! Yasher Koach to Mendel Segal for organizing this event and to the team of David Weissman and Michael Dhaliwal! And a loving shout out to the powers behind the thrones!

  • FAL

    So nice to read the “positive” commenters here. It is a pleasure when people wish others well. Congratulations to Michael Dhaliwal and David Weissman for their efforts. Wishing Mendel Segal the best for future events in his town.