Cologne, Germany 3-Days of Demos at Spoga Gafa, June 19-21

 
What an amazing BBQ adventure during my 3-day BBQ demo gig in Cologne, Germany.  I was hired by the organizers to be part of the world’s largest BBQ trade show called Spoga Gafa where just the barbecue sections span two warehouse sized halls about six soccer fields.  1,000+ vendors in the home and garden marketplace were there showcasing products to wholesale and B2B buyers.  

I was in Hall 8 cooking at the Burnout Kitchen doing 10 am and 5 pm demos of American BBQ.  I chose the quintessential American Instagram meats of Brisket and Beef Shortribs (aka Dino Ribs) as I guessed that was what the 35,000 attendees want to see.  

There were two other pitmaster on the same stage also with Alex representing Brazilian BBQ (@strausnabrasa) and Jan Scannell from Cape Town representing African Braai barbecue (https://braai.com).  They focused on fast direct fire grilled items like Churascaria  Picanha, Coriander Lamb Lollipops, Peri Peri Chicken, and Chimichurri sauce.

It was long 20K pedometer days of cooking, cramming in sightseeing, great German food and 28 IPAs, and interacting with endless line of fans which I did not know I had in Europe (seemed many knew me and stopped by for selfies).  Even Pitmaster X who is a HUGE barbecue personality dropped by to say hello.  Maybe a collab with him in the Netherlands might be coming in the future?  Ditto for the German, Italian, Irish, Hungary, and many EU pitmasters who dropped by to say hello after hearing me announce on the PA that I was cooking brisket and dino ribs!

Pitmaster X from the Netherlands

Pitmaster X from the Netherlands at Spoga Gafa