Ardie Davis

Last updated

Ardie Davis, also known as Remus Powers, is a well-known judge on the barbecue circuit and the founder of Greasehouse University. Davis is also the founder of the American Royal International BBQ Sauce, Rub, & Baste Contest. He has been awarded several honors for his involvement judging barbecue competitions, Including being inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2016.

Contents

He is the author of eleven books on grilling and smoking and lives with his wife, Gretchen, in the Kansas City area.

Competitions

Davis founded the Diddy-Wa-Diddy National Barbecue Sauce Contest in his backyard in 1984. [1] Three years later the contest became the American Royal International Barbecue Sauce, Rub & Baste Contest, held annually in Kansas City. The American Royal Barbecue Sauce Contest is in its 29th year and the largest sauce contest in the world.

He is also the author of the official judges' oath that is taken at all competitions sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. [2]

Awards

Davis has earned many awards for his expertise on the barbecue judging circuit. He is a charter member of the Kansas City BBQ Society (KCBS) and former three-term member of the KCBS Board of Directors, Ardie is now a board member emeritus, a certified master judge, and an inductee in the KCBS Hall of Flame (1992). He is also a certified Memphis in may barbecue judge, and in 2008, he was a featured judge at the 20th Annual Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Accolades include the Smoky Angel Award from the Kansas City Barbecue Forum, the Judges’ Choice Award in the 2002 Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue, and the Spirit of Barbecue Award from the National Barbecue News in 2002. In 2003, he was named a Kansas City Barbecue Legend by the Kansas City Star . [3] In 2016, Ardie Davis was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame as the Celebrity/Humanitarian candidate. The Hall of Fame only includes 15 members as of 2016. Ardie's involvement in the BBQ community has earned him 9 separate nominations for this year's Barbecue Hall of Fame, more than twice as many as any other candidate.

Early life

Ardie Davis, born Ardith Davis, was born in Oklahoma on November 25, 1941. Ardie had 2 siblings - Barbara and Cathy. Ardie Davis graduated from Westmar College in 1964 with majors in Sociology and Philosophy.

Remus Powers

Ardie Davis is also known as Remus Powers. Throughout his life, Ardie Davis loved and still loves Uncle Remus's stories, which are a collection of animal stories, songs, and oral folklore, collected from southern African-Americans. The stories main characters are Brother Rabbit, Brother Fox and Brother Bear. From these stories, Davis adopted Remus as his BBQ forename.

The second part of his name comes from a lesser known source. When Davis was young, his father was a mechanic and worked with a man with the last name Powers. As Davis grew up, he learned many things from Mr. Powers and to this day remembers him and has honored him by making Powers his BBQ surname.

Written work

Davis writes a monthly column in the National Barbecue News and the Kansas City Bullsheet, which is the official newspaper of the Kansas City Barbeque Society. His writing on barbecue has also been featured on the 'Cue Confessions blog.

Books

Davis is also the author of a number of barbecue books:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Louis–style barbecue</span> Spare ribs dish

St. Louis–style barbecue refers to spare ribs associated with the St. Louis area. These are usually grilled rather than slow-cooked over indirect heat with smoke which is typically associated with the term "barbecue" in the United States. Often overshadowed by its more famous cousin, Kansas City–style barbecue, St. Louis–style barbecue struggles to distinguish itself from other city based styles of barbecue. Although St. Louis–style barbecue takes inspiration from other styles of barbecue it still retains its own distinct style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Raichlen</span> American culinary writer, chef, tv host, and novelist

Steven Raichlen is an American culinary writer, TV host, and novelist.

Richard E. Davis founded KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas City–style barbecue</span> Dish of slowly smoked meat

Kansas City–style barbecue is a slowly smoked meat barbecue originating in Kansas City, Missouri in the early 20th century. It has a thick, sweet sauce derived from brown sugar, molasses, and tomatoes. Henry Perry is credited as its originator, as two of the oldest Kansas City–style barbecue restaurants still in operation trace their roots back to Perry's pit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbecue sauce</span> Sauce used as a marinade, basting, topping, or condiment

Barbecue sauce is a sauce used as a marinade, basting, condiment, or topping for meat cooked in the barbecue cooking style, including pork, beef, and chicken. It is a ubiquitous condiment in the Southern United States and is used on many other foods as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbecue in the United States</span> Culinary tradition originating in the southern United States

Barbecue is a tradition often considered a quintessential part of American culture, especially the Southern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane's Rib Shack</span> American fast casual BBQ franchise

Shane's Rib Shack is an American fast casual BBQ franchise, serving slow-cooked baby back ribs, hand-chopped chicken and pork, and Southern style side dishes. As of January, 2024, they are located in eight states, with most of their restaurants located in the state of Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacon Explosion</span> American pork dish

A Bacon Explosion is a pork dish that consists of bacon wrapped around a filling of spiced sausage and crumbled bacon. The American-football-sized dish is then smoked or baked. It became known after being posted on the BBQ Addicts blog, and spread to the mainstream press with numerous stories discussing the dish. In time, the articles began to discuss the Internet "buzz" itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbecue in Texas</span> Regional style of food preparation in the United States

Texas Barbecue refers to methods of preparation for barbecue unique to Texan cuisine. Beef brisket, pork ribs, and sausage are among the most commonly known dishes. The term can also include side dishes that are traditionally served alongside the smoked meats.

Kansas City Barbeque Society is a competitive cooking organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, famous for Kansas City BBQ. It is the largest competitive barbecue organization in the world, with more than 15,000 members. It was founded in 1985 by Carolyn and Gary Wells and Rick Welch. Their desire was to put together a local group for competitive barbecue. It has since grown and provides oversight to hundreds of competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Husbands</span> American chef, restaurateur, author and television personality

Andy Husbands is a chef, restaurateur, author and television personality. Currently, he is the chef and owner of The Smoke Shop BBQ restaurants, Boston magazine's "Best Barbecue Restaurant of 2018" and The Improper Bostonian's "Best Barbecue" of 2017 and 2018. Smoke Shop BBQ has locations in various Boston metropolitan locations, including Cambridge's Kendall Square and Harvard Square, Seaport's Fort Point, Somerville's Assembly Row, TD Garden's Hub Hall, and most recently, East Boston's Clippership Wharf. He has nearly 30 years in the restaurant industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memphis–style barbecue</span> Regional style of food preparation in the United States

Memphis-style barbecue is one of the four predominant regional styles of barbecue in the United States, the other three being Carolina, Kansas City, and Texas. Like many southern varieties of barbecue, Memphis-style barbecue is mostly made using pork, usually ribs and shoulders, though many restaurants will still serve beef and chicken.

Lloyd Maurice Bessinger Sr. was an American BBQ restaurateur and politician noted for his defense of racial segregation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbecue restaurant</span> Restaurant that specializes in barbecue-style cuisine and dishes

A barbecue restaurant is a restaurant that specializes in barbecue-style cuisine and dishes. Barbecue restaurants may open relatively early compared to other restaurants, in part to optimize sales while barbecued foods being slow-cooked by the process of smoking are being tended to by restaurant personnel on premises. In some instances, this can enable the sales of barbecued meats that began being smoked the night before the next business day. Per these logistics, a significant portion of their sales may occur during lunchtime. Additionally, high lunch turnover at barbecue restaurants may occur per the foods being cooked and sold in large batches. Popular food items may sell out earlier compared to others, which may encourage customers to arrive earlier. In January 2015, the U.S. National Restaurant Association forecast "barbecue, Italian food and fried chicken" to be "top perennial menu favorites in 2015".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que</span>

Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que is a barbecue restaurant, formerly known as Oklahoma Joe's with locations in the Kansas City metropolitan area, owned and operated by Jeff and Joy Stehney.

Meathead Goldwyn is an American food writer, chef, and website publisher, whose writing focuses on barbecue, grilling, and smoking. He is the author of the New York Times best-seller Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling. He is also a former columnist for the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, and AOL.

Jones Bar-B-Q is a barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, Kansas, owned and operated by Deborah and Mary Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southside Market & Barbeque</span> Restaurant in Elgin, Texas

Southside Market & Barbeque is a historic barbecue restaurant and meat market in Elgin, Texas. It has since expanded into a chain restaurant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Ann's Bar-B-Que</span> Restaurant in Illinois, United States

Barbara Ann's Bar-B-Que was a barbecue restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. It was attached to the Barbara Ann's Motel, and both businesses were founded by Delars and Bertie Bracy in 1967. They named the businesses after their daughter Barbara Ann, who later became owner.

References

  1. ↑ Kansas City Star (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Davis, Ardie A.; Kirk, Chef Paul (May 1, 2009). America's Best BBQ: 100 Recipes from America's Best Smokehouses, Pits, Shacks, Rib Joints, Roadhouses, and Restaurants. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN   9780740790225 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ "Ardie Davis Judge's Biography for Jack Daniel's World Championship". Archived from the original on October 29, 2008.
  4. ↑ 25 Essentials: Techniques for Smoking Book Page
  5. ↑ 25 Essentials: Techniques for Grill Book Page
  6. ↑ "America's Best BBQ Book Page". Archived from the original on May 12, 2009.
  7. ↑ Davis, Ardie (20 January 2015). Barbecue Lover's Kansas City Style: Restaurants, Markets, Recipes & Traditions. ISBN   978-1493001583.
  8. ↑ Davis, Ardie; Kirk, Chef Paul (May 2012). America's Best Ribs. ISBN   978-1449414139.
  9. ↑ Davis, Ardie; Wells, Carolyn; Kirk, Chef Paul (27 April 2010). The Kansas City Barbeque Society Cookbook: 25th Anniversary Edition. ISBN   978-0740790102.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.