Page 28 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2019

COASTNOTES
28 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • July 2019 FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
Fire it Up!
Coast BBQ Team Wins at Memphis in May
In the world of barbecue there’s nothing more prestigious than the competition
at Memphis in May. The Memphis in
May trophy for whole hog barbecue has returned to Mississippi this year as the Hometown Barbecue team took the grand prize in their first time there. The team includes Dustey Walley, Noel Grafe,
Marcio Borguezan, S.T. Phillips, Dustin Stanford, Caroline Grafe, William Gottberg, Jeff Rollins and Brian Levi. Rollins and Levi were sponsors through Levins Pharmaceuticals.
just sort of grew into it,” Walley said. “We started humble and we’ll stay humble, donating our winnings to non-profit organizations such
Twenty-six states and six countries were represented at the competition.
The team that went to Memphis
has cooked together for five years. “We love to cook and share our passion for it,” Borguezan said. “It took someone to believe in us for us to go to Memphis in May and Jeff and Brian stepped up.”
“A great group came together and made this happen; it’s exciting,” Borguezan said. “I still can’t believe it. It was such a privilege to be there.”
Walley points out that going to the Memphis competition is expensive and takes months of preparation and hard work. Overall there were 250 teams with 36 teams competing in the whole hog division, which he says is “the best of the best.” As 2019 winners, the team has free entry for next year’s competition.
Team leader Walley says the event was on the bucket list for him and Grafe who’ve been cooking together 12 years. “We were told it’s never been done before that a team wins their first time there,” he added. “It sparked a fire in us and we absolutely will do it again.”
Borguezan says anybody can cook ribs and shoulders but cooking the whole hog is complicated. “All parts of the hog must be cooked at the same time but need different temperatures.”
Barbecuing for Grafe and Walley began as a way to help others. The two are bankers and often were asked to assist with fundraisers for local causes. “We
The Hometown Barbecue team plans to enter other regional competitions including the Pig Jig in Georgia later this year.
as Operation Barbecue Relief.”
story by Lynn Lofton photo courtesy of Dustey Walley