A couple of summers ago (2007), I set out to the grocery store to get a beef brisket to cook for a friend of mine (Jacye), when she asked me, “Do you think you can make a bbq sauce that is better than that artificial sweet crap in the store?” So, I downloaded a couple of recipes off the web, pulled out the most appealing parts, and added my own pieces to complete the taste. I even pulled down a diagram of the tongue to make sure to cover the entire palette. The end result was, according to Jacye, “the best sauce I have ever had.” Of course, I thought she was just sucking up for some reason. Since she has Texas roots, loves to eat good food, and really isn’t much of a suck up, I realized that she was serious. Unfortunately, I didn’t write down anything that I had done. Luckily, I still had all the ingredients on the counter, so all I had to do was re-create the measurements.
Over the next year or so, I began making some bbq meat for various social gatherings with friends and brought along two bottles of sauce – mine and Sweet Baby Ray’s. Eventually, the Sweet Baby Ray’s wouldn’t even be opened.
Then came the pool party in the summer of 08'. I was making a brisket and some ribs. To experiment a little, I made some adjustments to the original recipe to make a raspberry chipotle sauce for a choice at the party. People that I hardly knew were asking me where I got this raspberry sauce because they wanted to have some at home. Upon telling them that I made it, they told me that it was the best bbq sauce they have ever tasted and would pay me to make them some. Again, I was flattered and thought they were being nice.
Finally, tailgate season in Chicago arrived. After a couple of games where I made some pulled pork, brisket, ribs, or bbq breakfast omelets, I had several fellow tailgaters offering to pay me to make them some sauce (Jeremy, the biggest fan). This is the moment when I decided to give it a shot and begin the process of bottling.
What to name it?
After many months of brainstorming with friends and considering names like: Tailgate Tim’s, Meat Nectar, Meat Lotion (thanks Tyson), Tailgate BBQ, etc., it took a birthday event in Las Vegas to come up with the name.
Jacye and I really enjoyed watching the MMA cage fights on TV. For her birthday that summer, I bought us 4th row tickets to the fights in Las Vegas. Early on in the fights, she said to me, “We are so close you can hear the smack of meat!”
Quality
I am committed to using only the finest ingredients with no added preservatives and absolutely NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. Because I don’t use a mass production co-packer, I maintain complete control of the quality and integrity of the original recipes. I will not be the least expensive sauce on the shelf, but I believe that food lovers will appreciate that quality food costs a little bit more to create and be willing to pay a bit more for great tasting food.
I hope you enjoy.
Sincerely,
Tim Kodyra
