Holy smokes! Blackstrap BBQ in Verdun is HOT !

Co-owners Dylan Kier and Clara Barron’s slow-smoked beef brisket, dinosaur-sized pork ribs and addictively charred chicken are award-worthy. After winning last July’s Mondial du Grill du Québec, Kier was invited to the Jack Daniel's 2012 World Championship Invitational Barbecue Competition in Tennessee where he recently placed 13th for ribs out of 87 teams. Upon his return the pair spoke to Nightlife.ca about their spice-rubbed meats, homemade BBQ sauces, and “burnt ends” poutine.

 

[Léa Lacroix]

 

How did you become smoking pros?

 

Clara: We started in St. Louis then drove to Kansas, Memphis, Nashville and Owensboro, Kentucky eating BBQ morning, noon and night. Then we shipped up an Ole Hickory Pit smoker from Missouri.

Dylan: For the ribs and pork shoulder we cooked six different pork butts with six different rubs every week for four months until it was just the way I wanted.

 

[Léa Lacroix]

 

You call your BBQ ‘dry’, but you’re not talking Grandma’s pot roast.

 

In our Memphis style BBQ we don't glaze the meat during or after cooking. Our goal is juicy, tender meat with a dark, flavorful crust without drowning it in sauce. We do make two homemade sauces as accompaniments but in Memphis they say, "sauce on the side, nothing to hide!"

 

[Léa Lacroix]

 

Good call on the brown paper towel rolls on every table to stop the food coma-inducing rib juices from running down my forearms. This is too delicious to be healthy.

 

The lightly buttered greens and oil-free slaw are vegetarian, and the smoked turkey and salad are lean and healthy. The poutine [made with the charred edges of the 12-hour smoked beef brisket] and the deep-fried mac-and-cheese balls are very unhealthy and should only be eaten occasionally! But the meat is as good for you as any other meat dish in the same quantity.