I think I’ve died and gone to heaven! That or I’m slowly dieing right now… probably the latter. I’m sinking into a food coma, the best food coma of my life. This could be bad, or very very good.
That was my thought process as I rolled (pretty much literally) myself out of Fredericton’s very first Ribfest at the end of May 2014. It might have been the first time that Fredericton had hosted such a massive food event, but that didn’t dampen the success. It was certainly one of my favorite events we’ve ever had in Fredericton, and frankly, I think it needs to happen again. As in I personally need it to happen again, tomorrow would be good… mmmm ribs.
OK, I got distracted, let me start at the beginning. After parking in the incredibly packed parking lot I stepped out of my car, breathed in the smell of smokey fires and cooking BBQ, and instantly knew that I was going to have a great time. There were lots of different vendors and games and things with their tents and trucks encircling the seating area, so I couldn’t see anything until I stepped through into the center of Ribfest itself.
Like this game/ride thing. For kids only I think… how very disappointing.
There were rows on rows of picnic tables; each lined with people absolutely covered in BBQ sauce who were stuffing their faces. Towering above them all were the billboards for the different rib vendors, the reason that we were all there.
It was like stepping into BBQ heaven.
Five vendors in total, how could I possibly choose which line to get in? Turns out you can just go right up to the cooks, as they are BBQing their hearts out over the wood fires, and ask for a sample of their sauce. Some were smokey, some sweet, one was more spicy, but after trying them all I knew which one I had to get. I called it my Goldie Locks sauce. It wasn’t too sweet or too smokey, it was just right for me. My vendor of choice: Crabby’s BBQ Shack.
This is the place where my stomach’s best dreams were about to come true. Rib cooking geniuses.
So I hunkered down and got in the very, very long line to wait my turn. To my surprise the lines moved really fast and before I knew it I was up at the front excitedly ordering the meal I had priced and planned out, a chicken and ribs combo.
“I’m so sorry, we’ve run out of chicken for the night.” Were the next words I heard… out of chicken? Crap! I didn’t plan a backup choice! Needless to say I panicked and ended up ordering a full rack of giant ribs.
A full rack of ribs? Sure, yeah, I can totally eat all of that…. oh man that’s a lot of food.
Note to self: always have a backup choice.
It was a crazy huge pile of ribs, but my god were they good. Juicy, tender, tasty, fall off the bone; anything you could ask for. I may have accidentally ordered a whole rack, and I may not look like the type of person who could actually eat all of it, but sure gave it a solid try. I ended up eating all but 2 of the ribs, which I shared with some friends. I mean come on, I had to let other people know about how amazing and clearly superior these ribs were!
The Aftermath: complete and utter rib destruction.
All of these amazing rib cooking folks travel all over Canada, even going to a few US destinations, cooking their amazing ribs. In Fredericton they served the best ribs I have ever had in my life to over 70,000 people in one weekend. That’s a lot of BBQ. If they come to your neck of the woods, or you are able to find them on your travels, I highly recommend (basically require) that you go. It’s well worth the cost and your time. When you’re full to the brim with ribs at the end, relaxing in the beer tent listening to the live band, you’ll thank me for telling you to go. I know you will.
Morgan On The Map 