Georgia BBQ Day Celebrates History and Heavenly Eats
Barbecue heavyweights gathered at the Georgia State Capitol to showcase the best of Georgia barbecue.
This week’s guest article is written by Ed Reilly, a self-described “BBQ-ologist” who has worked in the industry for 35 years, including in sales for Weber, Char-Broil, Sunbeam, Old World Spices, and B&B Charcoal. In today’s article, Ed writes about new BBQ products at the 2024 HPBExpo. You can reach Ed on Instagram and Facebook. If you would like to write a guest article for The Smoke Sheet, please get in touch.
Georgia BBQ Day was held on March 25th at the state capital in Atlanta, Georgia. This was the second annual celebration of Georgia BBQ Day, which was passed as a resolution by the state legislators and signed by the governor as a proclamation in 2023.
The day corresponds to the first written document of barbecue in America almost 500 years ago. The Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto left his regular troops behind and rode over 24 hours to a small Native American village south of what is now Macon, Georgia.
The explorer came to a stop where he saw several raised wooden racks called barbacoas holding delicious smoked turkeys, deer, and possibly opossums. It was on March 25, 1540, that the official Spanish court reporter for the expedition wrote down the word “barbacoa,” which is transcribed as “barbecue” in English for the first time on American soil.
Several years earlier, in 1526, the Spanish explorer Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon brought the first European livestock (cows, pigs, horses, and sheep) to America in present-day Georgia. These animals were not native to America, but the hogs naturally took to the environment and began to thrive in Georgia.
Later, in 1603, we have detailed descriptions of the Spanish Friars slow-roasting pork on raised wooden barbecue racks on the coast of Georgia. For over 500 years, Georgia has led the way in the history and commercialization of barbecue.
This year’s Georgia BBQ Day celebration was held in various places, including under the gold dome of the Georgia state capitol. There were several other barbecue restaurants and food trucks around the state that offered food specials over the weekend, such as Four 41 South in Canton, Georgia.
The party got started on Saturday at the Big Green Egg headquarters in Doraville, Georgia. The company opened its doors in 1974 in Atlanta and was founded by Ed Fisher, who pioneered the way to smoke and grill on ceramic kamados. Big Green Egg held a free Smoke on the Porch event at their headquarters, and Fisher made a special visit to the event and enjoyed ribs, pulled pork sliders, and even a smoked pound cake from the Black Grills Grilling BBQ team.
The main event of Georgia BBQ Day was held at the state capitol, where retailers, restaurants, caterers, and other barbecue-related businesses gathered to show their support for Georgia barbecue. David Mixon was set up outside along with Antonio Harris (popularly known as “Butter Knife Shawty.”) He provided delicious samples of Georgia barbecue to state legislators and capitol police passing by. Inside the capitol, there were many barbecue businesses set up, providing samples and info about their organizations.
Myron Mixon, “the winningest man in barbecue,” was meeting and greeting fellow lawmakers under the gold dome. Not only does Myron run a very successful barbecue empire (which includes restaurants, books, classes, TV appearances, competition teams, grills, and more), but he also serves as mayor of Unadilla, Georgia.
Royal Oak Charcoal has been based in Georgia since 1953 and proudly makes its charcoal in the U.S. Representatives from Royal Oak stayed busy answering questions about their charcoal and fire starters while networking with legislators. Kell Phelps and Raymond Cato from NBBQA and the National Barbecue News handed out recent issues of the magazine.
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