Worlds of Fun Enters as a New Competitor in a Kansas City Barbecue Tradition
Kathleen Chartrand
|
Barbeque lovers rejoice! The annual American Royal World Series Barbeque is right around the corner! Hosted between September 16th – September 19th, barbecue aficionados from around the world are brought together to compete for a place in this competition unlike any other barbeque competition in the world. Much like KC Barbecue society, American Royal hosts this event, ranking barbecue dishes and meats on a point scale to determine an overall winner as well as those that place in certain categories. Competitors from all over the world come to compete in this event, and we’re excited to be participating as Cotton Blossom BBQ, the park’s signature barbeque restaurant.
Worlds of Fun stepped into the Kansas City barbecue scene in 2019, when we opened Cotton Blossom BBQ in Americana, our largest dining location in the park Serving authentic Kansas City barbecue, rotisserie chicken, and homestyle sides, we developed our own chef-crafted rub and barbecue sauces to match, bringing an authentic Kansas City experience to our food.
The competition includes submitting pork, ribs, brisket, and chicken to compete, and our pitmaster, chef Chris Borden, plans on smoking with Lang BBQ smokers. These smokers are thirteen feet long with two chambers: an off-set smoker that can smoke up to 1,000 pounds of meat at a time. Planning to use cherry, hickory, and pecan wood for smoking, we’re excited to perform alongside other notable barbequers in Kansas City, and be immersed in the tradition and rich history of food in the city.
Kansas City has been a leading force in barbecue, known primarily for its burnt ends, but is also special in that it encompasses brisket, pork, ribs, chicken, and sausage, no meat is off limits. In comparison to other styles, Memphis style uses primarily pork ribs, Texas uses all beef, and Carolina is all pork. Kansas city has gifted the world of barbequing our burnt ends, as well as a sweet, tomato-based barbecue sauce made with molasses.
The history of barbeque and the history of Kansas City is important to us at Worlds of Fun, and so we’re excited to be a part of the community of good food, great barbeque, and AMAZING people. As Executive Chef, Wesley Boston put it, “Worlds of Fun is making some really good barbecue in this city, and as a Kansas City original we want to be known for our barbeque. I would take our barbecue and put it on a plate next to any in the city!"