Team Canada BBQ at the LaSalle craft beer fest

Beer drinkers at the LaSalle Craft Beer Festival used their brews to wash down award-winning ribs

cooked up by Canada’s national BBQ team.

 

Canada has a national barbeque team and they have done very well in international competition.

“These aren’t ordinary Ribfest ribs, these are the third best in the world,” said Mike Callaghan, the

director and pit master of Team Canada BBQ.

 

“And the best sauce,” added Sean Vodden, the junior pit master. Their sauce finished in first-place at the

2014 Memphis in May World Championship — the number one barbeque event in the world.

Team Canada BBQ has received many top 10 finishes in various categories at other major barbeque

events such as the Jack Daniels World Invitational and the World Food Championship.

This was the second year for Team Canada BBQ at LaSalle’s Craft Beer Fest, which took place on Oct. 9

and 10.

 

“Last year we had a smoke-off with the Canadian Southern BBQ Association,” said Paul DuFour,

president of the LaSalle Business Association. “We like their product and we like to ensure our patrons

have a good experience and quality food.”

 

Since Team Canada BBQ is non-profit, most of their money comes from the support of business

associations to bring them to fundraising events like LaSalle’s Craft Beer Fest.

 

“They get the profit and we get to cook,” said Callaghan.

 

Currently, Team Canada BBQ has 21 members across Canada which includes a pastry chef, a five-star

chef, a fine dining chef, a barbeque purist and many hobbyists.

 

Callaghan, is an amateur himself. In 2008 he started a company originally called Black Pig BBQ in

London, Ont. Their first championship was in 2010 at the Smoke to the Bone competition in Ottawa and

Team Canada BBQ has been getting better as they get bigger.

 

“You don’t need to be a professional cook but you have to have a passion,” said Callaghan.

 

His son Josh has that passion and is learning the process of barbequing. In 2011, he won the world junior

championships for cooking steaks, ribs and chicken. Also learning the process is Vodden, formerly a five-

star chef at Trevor’s Kitchen Bistro who is now on his way to becoming a barbeque chef at his own

restaurant, Baju BBQ in Toronto.

 

“We’ve had professional cooks but not all can do professional competitions,” said Callaghan. “You’re on

the clock and you’re not in your fancy kitchen.” And sometimes a chef is only as good as his assistant

cooks, added Callaghan. Team Canada BBQ’s motto: great food, anyplace, anytime.

 

On Canada Day, Team Canada BBQ cooked for the Consul-General of Canada in Detroit, on Belle Isle. At

the event were three congressmen, seven state representatives, the consul-general from Mexico and

the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario.

 

It was the Consul-General of Canada in Atlanta who provided the mandate in 2013 for the Black Pig to

become Canada’s National BBQ Team. His area of jurisdiction was the deep south which included

barbeque hotspots like Memphis, Tenn.

 

Callaghan and Vodden aren’t the only ones with cooking backgrounds. A third member and one of the

original founders of Team Canada BBQ opened a restaurant in Memphis called Kooky Canuck which

specializes in southern cuisine with a Canadian twist. Poutine, donairs and Montreal steamie (a hot dog

with a vinegar cole slaw) is also on the menu.

 

Barb Callaghan and Tabitha Vodden, the wives of the pit masters are the ones who make sure Team

Canada BBQ has everything they need to participate in competitions and events.

 

“In all reality, Barb and Tabitha are the real bosses,” said Vodden. “We just cook the food and talk to

people, but without them we couldn’t do it.”