Report of the Prestigious Contest in Gaiarine
Maybe you will not remember it but one of the first arguments we mentioned on these pages is the Jack Daniels Invitational, one of the most important competitions in the world, to which only the best teams in the world can access, whose just the participation is the dream of anyone. The Prime Uve Invitational was born with the intent of representing emotionally to Europe what Jack is in the United States. The truth is that today, after only three editions, has become something more.
I do not think there is a BBQ competition in the world that expresses the concept of exclusivity better than the Prime Uve do. Imagine a small competition with just 18 participants: the top 15 in the previous season, in addition to 3 wild cards released in conjunction with so many important European competitions. Imagine now an impressive prize pool for European standards, which is close to 15,000, of which 9,000 to the winner only. Also imagine a very suggestive location in the historic distillery of the company, just a stone’s throw away from the splendid copper snaps from which the company started and from the distillery museum. Finally imagine a level of hospitality and a number of benefits to the imaginable limit: beer, water, drinks, coffee, cocktail bar, pizza baked at the moment by master Giovanni Mandara, snacks at any time and this year also artisan ice cream, All of this free and unlimited for teams and Maschio family’s lucky guests and you’ll only have an idea of the privilege of being there.
On the sportive side we are very satisfied even if, as it often happen to us for one reason or another, we missed the so-called cherry blossom to complete the cake. In classical KCBS we bring home 2 walk (1st in Chicken, 3rd in Pork) and a call in the Ribs (8th) for a total 8th place overall. For those who did not know what we are talking about, in the Awards section, we briefly explain how a KCBS competition works. In the numerous extra categories instead, we had 3 calls (10th in the Barrel Smoke KCBS Jury, 8th Barrel Smoke VIP Jury and 8th Dessert). In shift rotation we often had a category in which we went out, losing the podium in many competitions. This time it happened on Brisket but with 2 walk and 4 calls on 8 preparations played with the best teams in Europe we can serenely say we have said ours without regrets.
We come now as usual to the five things we bring home from Gaiarine:
- I will remember the award ceremony of this competition for a long time. But contrary to what you might think the reason is not the first place in itself on the Chicken category, this year quite problematic for us. During the calls, the positions went hand in hand towards the first and when Anna Maschio named “The Barktenders”, I only remember hearing a thunder around me. After the embrace of my team mates, happier than if they had won in their category, I look around and I see I do not know how many people standing up to applauding loudly, I hear my name from all sides, sometimes with Italian accent at sometimes Foreigner, an intense and continuous applause that has accompanied me to the stage and that he has taken me completely unprepared. Even now when I see the video of the awards, I get the chills (from 16.45 minutes, ndr). At that moment I thought, “If so many people care so much of me, maybe something I just did along these years.” I do not care about the first place, not even the cup, and even less than the 500 € won. The biggest prize won at the Prime Uve and that I’ll always bring with me is that thunder.
- Every year the Prime Uve Invitational is improved in some ways. The way it is done is, however, very elegant, discreet, without clamoring, following the style of the Maschio Family. These are small “cuddles” which most of the outside world do not even realize but which contribute to make this event so special. This year, at the Cook’s Meeting, each team received a empty bottle of Prime Uve Nere with a special label, customized with their own name. Everyone then had the opportunity to fill it up by pouring directly from the barrel for a truly unique memory.
- Since the early times of WEST in January, For one reason or another our tend is always a meeting place. Usually this happens in night time. This time, however, coming back from picking a beer and greeting a couple of friends, coming back to our place I see a lot of people. What may have happened? I’m only 10 minutes away, who’s bad? Then I come closer to our spot and see Dal Lago throwing on a fiery grid a steak for lunch. No one has yet understood how, lunch has turned into a cooking demonstration and he is all about explaining Maillard, coals and temperature, naturally with a tasting moment. Okay, even today we’ll eat the steak tomorrow.
- Another beautiful reminder of this weekend is tied to the overnight. It was 2 and my turn would be finished just 2 hours later. But I had already finished what I had to do and I walked in front of the team’s seats. Almost everyone sleeps. The only light came from the tend of our friends Brig Boys. I decide to go in to greet them and stop me from chatting a little bit. The Brigs are always very kind, it’s nice to spend time together and it pass with pleasure. At some point, when the time to go is getting closer, Angelo tells me “wait! Let’s eat a thing together!” Not even time to object and he pulls out two original “Kobe jewels”. A film of oil, a passage on the hot grid and then tasting. We’re gone. It makes me laugh to think that until yesterday If people told “Kobe“, the first thing that came to my mind was a fancy tablecloth, soft lights and a glass of “proper” wine. From today I will come to my mind a dinner eaten with bare hands on a steel table, along with two friends in the middle of the night. These things only happen in a barbecue contest.
- As we anticipated above, one of the news about the benefits of this year was the ice cream. The recurring theme on benefits is that they are somehow related to the Prime Uve products. For example, the Cocktails available are unique creations where at least one ingredient is a Prime Uve. Within a dozen ice cream tastes, there were three dedicated respectively to the Prime Uve Bianche, Nere and Oro. The quality of the ice cream was stratospheric but I must frankly admit be astonished by the fact that the Prime Uve matches perfectly with the ice cream. Particularly the taste with salty almonds and Prime Uve Bianche was something really exceptional. I have one more reason to do everything I can do to be in Prime Uve Invitational 2018.
And even our seventh seasonal competition has gone. So we’ll see in fifteen days at the wonderful Black Forest, A competition that last year we particularly liked.