Memphis

If you ask a barbecue enthusiast to name the best cities for smoked meat in the country, you're liable to hear a lot of different responses: St. Louis, Kansas City, Lexington, NC and Austin all come to mind. But if they don't mention Memphis, TN in their top three, you can pretty much chalk them up as a crockpot crackpot who probably buys liquid smoke in the large bottles.

This weekend, we were on the ground at the inaugural Cochon Heritage BBQ — a three-day event that aimed to bridge heritage pig farming with America’s rich barbecue culture. Here's a recap of all the action and meat sweats.

Over Labor Day weekend (August 31 – September 2) Brady Lowe will host the first Cochon Heritage BBQ in Memphis, Tennessee. The concept is similar to the long-running Cochon 555, in that heritage pigs are at the forefront. But the focus is BBQ, requiring teams to serve dishes in a number of standardized categories (pull, muscle, bone, stew, mayo). Weekend participants include Jamie Bissonnette, Joshua Applestone, Ed Lee and Virginia ham master Allan Benton. We reached out to competing chef Jeff Bolton from Denver’s Second Home Kitchen + Bar to find out how he is preparing for the big competition.