Food Truck Startup Journal Entry #9 — “Book Review: Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ”
5/3/2023 -
Summary in a sentence — The growth and recipes of Rodney Scott; from small town family business heir to independent internationally renowned BBQ Pitmaster.
What is it? The book Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ is a comprehensive guide to cooking BBQ foods. Rodney Scott is the 2018 winner of the James Beard award for chefs, a very prestigious award.
In the first half of the book, Scott focuses on his own life. He is transparent about the ups and downs of the business of BBQ. He gives his vocational story that starts as a 14 year old cooking whole hogs at his parents Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway, SC. Many years later Scott ventured out on his own through many toils and snares and launched his own restaurant Rodney Scott’s BBQ. Scott pulls no punches in sharing how the effects of leaving his parents business created lasting ill effects that disrupted his family’s relationship. It’s an important content for second generation entrepreneurs
The second half of the book focuses on the work of BBQ. This half is BBQ 101 from a world renowned pitmaster; he shares great information that ranges from how to construct a BBQ pit from scratch (Macgyver Style) to how to make his own BBQ Sauce recipe. He invites the reader into his pit and displays his award winning food. The content was so good I found myself wanting to go outside and grill some BBQ.
What I learned -
- For the entrepreneur business is often personal. The people that he loved took his entrepreneurial actions personally. I interpret that even though the world loves his actions it in some ways came at the cost of family.
- So much of BBQ can be taught. Certain chefs have a way of guarding their recipe and work like a secret society, not Rodney. He shares his process and recipes at length. His openness is inspiring and encouraging for me as a newcomer.
- For the person interested in launching a food brand not enough to be a great grillmaster or chef. Rodney’s strength is his ability to communicate. He is very precise in his explanations. This is helpful both for the reader and for his ability to grow his business to scale through creating a manual for others.
How I will seek to apply — I am hoping to work for Scott’s restaurant through my time in culinary school. I think a working knowledge of South Carolina BBQ preparation is what would be helpful in launching HEART Food.
I also want to thank my parents, Alonzo Sr. and Glenda Middleton for giving me an opportunity to explore many different entrepreneurial ventures. Even though I could have taken over their family business they loved me despite my vocational choices. This book reminds me how rare their actions were. I am grateful.
Thanks for reading and be encouraged!
For a digital look at the new recipes that I discover and major milestones in my journey check out my #HEARTFoodStory
Here on this blog Medium.com “Food Truck Startup Journal”
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On Pinterest — @HEARTFoodStory https://www.pinterest.com/HEARTFoodStory/
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Youtube Shorts — @heartfoodstory
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Feel free to email me directly at zach@gracetocultivate.com
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To start reading this journal at entry #1, click here — https://zdmgracetocultivate.medium.com/food-truck-startup-journal-entry-1-my-point-of-view-9c7421c0b97c
