Kent White

Kent White had a big influence on my cooking. He and I were collegues at NC State we were both chasing Masters degrees, he in geology, me in geophysics. Kent was an artist of many kinds. He built beautiful things, among which were his cookers. My favorite was the chicken cooker. It was a big steel box with a hinged lid - the best part was that the lid had 3 square stacks coming out it. When a whole mess of chicken was cooking, those stacks would smoke like there was no tomorrow. I learned that cooking on a grill takes patience and a good supply of beer. Kent would never drink from the keg, but he always had a good supply of cans - I can't remember what he drank, but I am sure it was domestic.

I also learned that barbeque means different things depending on what part of the state you were from. In Raliegh, barbeque sauce definitely did not have tomato in it. Kent's barbeque was a simple mixture of vinegar, butter and crushed red pepper. I don't remember the ratios, but the real trick was to keep it warm on the back of the cooker and to dip the meat often. As you progressed so did the barbeque sauce. When he did a pig (that cooker had wheels and was towed behind his truck) he bought a cotton mop with which to apply the sauce. Pigs required alot of patience and consequently alot more beer.

More about Kent as we go forward - I was thinking about him tonight because I still chop vegetables on the endgrain cutting board that he gave me.