T his spring, a 6-year-old girl spotted Rick Browne at a barbecue festival in Iowa, turned to her mother and said, “Oh, look, there’s Santa Claus.”
“She saw the red and white shirt, the white beard, a big chubby guy laughing,” said the 56-year-old barbecue master from Vancouver, Wash. “I laughed and thought, ‘OK. Great. Santa Claus of Barbecue.’”
It was the first time anyone had noticed a resemblance. But given Browne’s round cheeks and belly, whitening mustache and beard, and affable manner, it wasn’t surprising.
These days, the award-winning photojournalist is as excited as a kid at Christmas. He’s reveling in the gifts of unfolding success and celebrity in his newfound career in barbecue.
His travelogue cooking show, “Barbecue America,” which started last spring on public television, is entering its second season this month. A third season is in the works.
Armed with his “Ph.B.,” an honorary doctorate of barbecue philosophy awarded him by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, he hosts and produces the 13 half-hour segments, distributed by American Public Television to about 180 stations.
“Rick Browne’s Barbecue America TV Cookbook,” a companion to the show and Browne’s fourth book on barbecue and deep-frying in five years, comes out in June. Another book on barbecue is in the making. And Browne’s folksy, homegrown style is striking a chord: Requests to appear on national television shows keep coming in.
What accounts for the success?
“One hell of a lot of hard work,” Browne said. “It’s my life now.”
He had initially worked on his books and shows while holding down a full-time job as photo chief for the Columbian, Vancouver’s daily newspaper.
“Last May, I resigned to follow my cookbook and television future,” said Browne, who had spent 35 years as a professional photographer, including a stint with the Associated Press.
Browne’s love affair with barbecue began in 1997 when he traveled to barbecue hotspot Kansas City, Mo., to photograph a story for a national travel magazine. He went back to the city later with the story’s writer, his friend Jack Bettridge, and the pair researched and co-authored “The Barbecue America Cookbook.”
Browne said he had an “epiphany” after hours in the kitchen photographing cooks and techniques for the book. He immersed himself in the world of barbecue and his new career began to take shape as he researched, wrote and photographed “The Frequent Fryers Cookbook” and “Grilling America.”
“I try to do what I do as a journalist,” Browne said. “I try to show them (readers and viewers) what I’ve seen.”
If Browne had his way, everyone in America would be cooking outdoors and discovering new ways to use the grill. He urges people to experiment.
“One of the things I try to get across is that anybody can do it,” he said.
Experimenting and discovering barbecue styles at cook-offs and festivals, as well as judging some of the most prestigious contests in the country, has become a way of life for Browne over the past six years.
His new career has tapped his entrepreneurial spirit, enables him to blend his love of food, travel and photojournalism, and suits his gregarious personality.
“Maybe this is my 15 minutes of fame,” Browne said. “And I’m enjoying the hell out of it.”
Photo from the book “Grilling America”
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