Danielle Dimovski has had a busy week. She has already cooked six chickens, two racks of ribs and some deserts, and it’s only Wednesday.
Dimovski is the pit master, or head chef, on Barrie’s own Diva Q barbecue team, and she has been busy perfecting her recipes and techniques leading up to this weekend’s Canadian Open Barbecue Championships, as part of the Barrie Brews and BBQ Festival.
“I am forever practicing. If it works then I will stick with it. I’m forever sourcing out new spices or discovering new sauces and rubs and playing with different cuts of meat.”
Diva Q cooks southern-style barbecue, which is brisket, ribs, pulled pork and chicken.
Dimovski and the Diva Q team are going into this weekend’s Canadian Open coming off their back-to-back grand championship wins at the Smoke to The Bone competition in Ottawa and the Paris Ontario Pork Championships in Paris.
The Paris competition was the second event of the Ontario Series of Barbecue, of which the winner will have the opportunity to compete at the Jack Daniels Invitational.
“The Jack is like the Holy Grail of barbecue,” Dimovski said. “We aim to be the team that goes to the Jack this year. That has been our mission from day one. That is the reason I have a freezer full of meat.”
Dimovski was first introduced to the competitive barbecue world when she was asked to judge the Canadian Open a few years ago.
“It just caught me – I love eating and cooking. I have no formal chef-school training. I took one culinary boot camp class at Liason College and that’s it.”
The Diva Q team of Dimovski, her husband Vlado, Louisa Hadden and John Hadden has been competing for two years.
“My first competition was an amateur event in St. Catherines. It was awesome. With all the pros there, they were more than willing to answer questions. They may not tell you all their secrets, but they will give you some decent recipes or procedures to make really awesome ribs.”
All the Diva Q meat comes from sponsor, and local Barrie business, Hovey’s Gourmet Meats. Dimovski said sponsors are a huge part of what makes a winning barbecue team.
“The reason I have these sponsors is because I 110-per-cent believe in them. They all contribute to my success in a huge way.”
When she isn’t behind the grill, Dimovski, is a stay-at-home mom looking after her three kids. Being a woman in the man’s world of barbecue has been a battle for Dimovski, but she lets her recipes and back-to-back wins do the talking for her.
“It has its challenges. It is still 99-per-cent a boys’ club. They don’t like it when you win. You find out who your true friends are really quickly in the barbecue world.”
Building friendships is a big part of belonging to the barbecue community, she said.
“I have gone to competitions and forgotten my foil or my woodchips. We all come to each other’s rescue.”
Dimovksi said working alongside so many other great winning teams and developing relationships with them, has helped her become a better cook.
“The second you think you know everything in barbecue is the second you start to fail. Some of these guys have forgotten more about barbecue than I could ever learn.”
Dimovski is looking forward to this weekend’s competition and is encouraging everyone to come out and see what competitive barbecuing is all about.
“Come down to the competition and talk to us – we are all very passionate about our field.”
For more information on Diva Q visit the link provided. For more information on the Canadian Open Barbecue Championship, visit the link provided.
