Led by Brian Misko, The House of Q Competition BBQ team began competitive cooking in 2005, and has since won awards all over North America, including 1st Place (Rib category) at the 2014 World Food Championships in Las Vegas, NV. The team attended the Jack Daniel’s World BBQ Championships in Lynchburg, Tennessee in 2009 and 2014, winning awards at both events. The team was also awarded the 2014 Team of the Year by the Canadian BBQ Society.
The House of Q BBQ sauce and spice line-up was launched in 2007 and has won awards across North America, including best BBQ sauce (twice!) at the BBQ on the Bow in Calgary, AB, for their Apple Butter BBQ Sauce. Their Slow Smoke Gold BBQ Sauce and Slather won 2nd Place two years in a row at the prestigious American Royal World Series of BBQ in Kansas City, MO.
Brian’s latest project is a cookbook, Grilling with House of Q (you can read my full review here) and I was lucky enough to get the chance to ‘grill’ Brian about the joys of BBQ.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a marketing data analyst that turned into an entrepreneur with a mission to share with the world how to cook and make great tasting food. I gave up “geek-dom” and a computer for a grill and great tasting food.
Three fun facts about you that we wouldn’t read in your ‘official’ bio.
My wife and I were on the TV show Decorating Challenge and had our basement office redecorated, on TV!
I was a Dive Master for a number of years teaching students the beauty of SCUBA diving. I logged over 100 recreational dives in nearly 10 different countries.
I co-presented with the FBI in Washington DC on fraud detection using data analytics to an audience of auditors and accountants.
What is your favourite recipe from Grilling with House of Q?
That honestly is a tough question… but a “heh I’m hungry recipe” would be either the smoked mac n cheese or ribs. But then again the bacon bites are wicked good!
House of Q team at Jack Daniels award ceremony 2014
Where did the name House of Q come from?
I joke it was a hangover in New Orleans after frequenting the House of Blues. The “Q” is simply an abbreviation for BBQ.
Were there any recipes that didn’t make the cut or that you regret not including in Grilling with House of Q?
There were a number of recipes that didn’t fit in the content and were cut from the manuscript. It isn’t that they were bad recipes or anything but repetitive content of technique made them redundant. One was my citrus marinated, planked salmon called Fred’s Citrus Salmon.
Tell us the story behind your Barbecued Chicken in Nori Wraps.
Early on when we filmed BBQ tips for Global TV, rather than live broadcast, we would cook four or five dishes in one filming session. This gave me the opportunity to plan a few what we would cook with different techniques to point out on camera. Meanwhile, I was really appreciating and learning all about sushi at the time. So putting the two things together made sense to me… that is, sushi and BBQ. This lead to Barbecued Chicken in Nori Wraps as one of the recipes. What’s the most difficult part? Well, believe it or not, the rice… getting the right texture, sugar and vinegar seasoning and then consistency on the nori. But it is a fun dish and tasty too!
The Canadian BBQ scene seems to be exploding lately! Why do you think that is?
I think a few factors are driving the bus so to speak. People are genuinely interested in outdoor cooking – it’s different, it has better flavour than indoor cooked stuff and well, it always draws a crowd. That said, I think competitive sport cooking is growing because people simply want to know if they are good at what they think is the the “best”.
Salmon and Flank steak at World Food Championships
You’re an award-winning competition BBQ cook and have a line of popular BBQ sauces. Were there any challenges in writing a cookbook that were new to you?
The biggest challenge was getting what is in my head onto paper. When I am on stage, on camera or in front of people teaching a cooking class it just comes to me on how to describe what is going on or what I am doing with a dish. Once written out however the next challenge was seeing if the editor could understand and align with what I had intended to say.
I love how encouraging the tone of Grilling with House of Q is. What is your top tip for a beginner?
From a backyard cook’s point of view, simply try and don’t be afraid of the result. Your friends and guests will love you regardless. From a competition BBQ point of view, cook, get your entries in on time and learn from the judges scores and comments. That information will give you clues as to what you need to improve upon.
Are there plans for a second cookbook?
Possibly. I am always crafting recipes and always sharing cooking tips. We’ll see… do you want more?
A very special thank you to Brian for taking the time to answer my questions! You can learn more about the House of Q on House of Q or by following Brian on Twitter @House_of_Q.
You can purchase Grilling with House of Q from The Book Depository (free worldwide shipping) or Amazon
All images used in this post belong to Brian Misko and are used with his permission.
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