The Texas Kosher BBQ Championship, the nation’s largest competition of its kind, celebrates its 9th year Sunday.
10 teams will cook up over 2,000 pounds of brisket, chicken, salmon and beans in a competition benefiting San Antonio’s Jewish community.
The cookoff was the brainchild of Robi Jalnos, who was trying to come up with an idea for a fundraiser for his synagogue, Congregation Agudas Achim in San Antonio.
So how does one procure such a large amount of kosher meat? Jalnos said he called one of his closest friends, Bob Loeffler — a past president of H-E-B.
“I made a phone call to Bob and asked him for some kosher meat,” said Jalnos. “He said, ‘give me a minute.’ It wasn't three minutes later, he called back. He goes, ‘I'm texting you a number. Tell him what you want. You got it.’ So that's how it started. We got free meat from HEB. They're the greatest.”
The annual event has become a fierce competition attended by thousands of people.
“It’s just like something you would see on the Food Channel,” said Jalnos. “Where they start the clock, and you’ve got 45 minutes or whatever to do something. We have the same thing here with specific turn-in times.”
In addition to the meat, the grills must also be certified kosher. That process took place on Friday.
“We put a blowtorch on them at 800 degrees, and we brush them and we clean everything off. They're spotless inside once we're done. So every team is starting out with a perfectly clean grill,” he said. “Each grill gets a sticker with a letter “K” showing that it has been certified.
Brisket goes back for generations in Jewish cutlure.
“Not smoking them on smokers,” said Jalnos, “But maybe on open pits. Briskets are traditionally served during our High Holidays, like Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, Passover, you know, things like that. But again, they're not done on a smoker. They're usually done in the oven, the old Jewish way.”
This year's competition is dedicated to the memory of the late Chuck Blount, a former food writer for the San Antonio Express-News and longtime celebrity competition judge.
The event runs Sunday from 11am-4pm at Congregation Agudas Achim at 16550 Huebner Road.
For a $30 dollar ticket price, it’s all you can eat — first come, first served.
More information can be found at txkosherbbq.com.
