Born to Grill Stories Meet Paris Frederick

Q & A with Paris Frederick

What BBQ flavors really drive your tastebuds wild?

PF: Heat! I love a bit of heat in there — like those smoked orange chicken lollipops we filmed recently, those were delicious. Hot and sweet’s my favorite. Dad used to bring the butcher his deer spoils to make into jalapeno deer sausages. I’d dip them in honey… so tasty! Speaking of, I love how varied jalapenos are in spiciness. Wonder what does that? (We’ve got you, Paris. A pepper’s soil nutrition, interior width, rainfall conditions, age, and overall “stress” spices up its heat.)

Could you tell us about your earliest food memory?

PF: Like, in general? Oh, that’s probably the tradition of going to my grandmother’s house in Abbeville, Louisiana for Thanksgivings and Christmases. Stuffed turkey and seafood gumbo, with stock from scratch with all the shrimp shells… So good! I’ve got so much respect for how much she could put together for everyone and get it all out, hot and tasty at the same time. Pretty much all my early memories are that food.

Let’s say you’re cooking to impress. What’s your favorite BBQ dish?

PF: This isn’t traditional barbecue, but pizza is really versatile for this because you can grill all the stuff before you put it on there. Everyone knocks okra and zucchini for being mushy, but if smoking and drying ‘em out makes them amazing. Then there’s flank steak. Marinate it overnight, throw on a little cilantro, a little lime… make some steak tacos! Flank steak grills more evenly because it’s thinner. Less work, more taste. That’s my favorite beefy taco cut!

Everyone’s got their go-to grilling style. What’s yours?

PF: Charcoal kamado, all the way. Pretty much anything we’ve run through their paces are comparable in performance, and I love how efficient kamados are with fuel. Everyone I talk to seems to think pellet grills are the way to go — not knocking that, but people don’t seem to realize how easy kamados are. Get a load of charcoal in a kamado, and it’ll go 10-plus hours. They’re built like tandoori pizza ovens!

What’s your favorite style of BBQ?

PF: Texas-style, probably. I like my barbecue more focused on the meat flavors, so I go drier and less sauce-based. Sometimes salt and pepper really is all you need! Especially for brisket, which really is the heart of BBQ for me. Maybe I’ll take a touch of Memphis in there, since I love a little bit of heat with my dry rubs. Sauces just usually overdo it for me, you know? I’d rather save them for chicken wings. I already know what chicken tastes like!

If you had to pick one, which category of BBQ meat would you live without?

PF: Easy. Poultry, hands down. It’s just so accessible that I think people just get burnt out on chicken quicker. Not that I don’t like chicken, but that one doesn’t feel as BBQ to me, you know what I mean? That’s kind of the thing I’ve had the most of. Beef just gives you way more possibilities, like a nice marbled ribeye cut… I mean, who wakes up and says, “Man, I want some prime chicken!”