Good things come in small packages and that's especially true when it comes to artisanal food makers. Roger searches the Gulf States for tasty foods kissed with smoke and fire that deliver big flavors. In Austin, Texas a family roasts coffee the old fashioned way - small batches over a roaring fire without any electricity. Roger savors a cup and also learns how they use coffee in Texas barbecue. Then it's off to LaPlace, Louisiana for amazing Andouille sausages, smoked sausages, and tasso. Roger tastes these Louisiana treats in some New Orleans classics.

recipes in this episode

Small Packages, Big Flavors

Roger Mooking

Mud and Steel in New Mexico

Global Flavors of Texas

Roger loves a great barbecue sandwich and when the meat's cooked low and slow and kissed with just the right amount of smoke, he rolls up his sleeves and digs in. Roger heads to The Barbecue Exchange for two sinfully delicious sandwiches - one is called Heaven and the other Hell. Both are packed with pulled pork and bacon. Then it's off to Papa KayJoe's BBQ in Centerville, Tennessee where pork, pickles, slaw and hot sauce are sandwiched between crispy corn cakes.

BBQ Sandwiches

Today it's all about Roger's favorite animal - the pig. He's hamming it up at some of the country's best suppliers of cured, smoked and aged pork. Roger heads to Edwards near historic Jamestown, Virginia to visit Sam Edwards, a third-generation "ham master" who pays tribute to old world Europe with his cured, smoked and aged country hams. Roger also stops by Benton's delicious Smoky Mountain Country Hams in Madisonville, TN., where Allan Benton has turned the dry curing of ham and bacon into a culinary art.

Hamming It Up

In the Carolinas, barbecue is not just a tradition, it's a way of life. Roger heads to North and South Carolina to visit a couple of old school restaurants that have upheld a long tradition of mouthwatering barbecue for several generations. At Sweatman's in Holly Hill, South Carolina, whole hogs are cooked low and slow and then pulled and chopped into juicy, meaty perfection. In North Carolina, Roger visits Stamey's Barbecue in Greensboro for their Lexington-style barbecue. Succulent pork shoulders are chopped and piled high on a bun, kissed with vinegar sauce, and crowned with slaw.

recipes in this episode

Carolina 'Cue

Roger loves exploring cuisines from around the world. Mexican food is a favorite because of its complex, earthy flavors and tradition of cooking over a wood fire. Roger meets Chef Johnny Hernandez in San Antonio, Texas and cooks regional Mexican dishes in the ultimate outdoor kitchen. It's a feast of Lamb Barbacoa cooked low and slow in a pit, branzino stuffed with aromatics, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked around coals, and fresh corn tortillas toasted on a clay griddle. It's the ultimate fiery Mexican feast.

recipes in this episode

Fiery Mexican Feast

Texas is famous for American barbecue, but today Roger is making his way through the Lone Star state for live-fire Latin American cooking and to savor the flavors of smoked European-style sausages. Class is in session at the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio and Roger gets a lesson in preparing Mexican-style short ribs cooked in the ground. Also on the menu is Cabrito - goat roasted over coals. Elgin is a town famous for their German-style sausages and Roger visits Meyer's and helps prepare thousands of sausages that get smoked not once but twice.

recipes in this episode

Roger heads to the heart of New Mexico where cooking with fire is taken to new culinary heights with mud and steel. Roger visits Comida de Campos in Embudo, a farm and cooking school where delicious feasts are cooked in cone-shaped clay ovens made from mud. He'll help season pork shoulder with spices, wrap it in burlap and then cook it over a bed of corn in the oven. In Bosque, Roger fires up three steel discos and one large jara for two New Mexican pork dishes: carne adovada, which is pork slowly cooked in a red chile sauce, and carnitas where the meat is cooked in cola, citrus and spices.

Roger cruises through central California for two spectacular, meat-filled cookouts. This area is home to many vineyards, but Paso de Record Vineyard in San Miguel has piqued Roger's interest. The vineyard hosts wine release parties for its customers and serves barbecue prepared in a deep pit built in the picture-perfect property. Roger helps season 100 pounds of chuck roast and wraps them in burlap before setting them into the hot pit. In Santa Barbara, Roger visits a local caterer famous for creating an Argentine Asado. Roger helps prepare beef ribs, sausages and an assortment of vegetables for this ultimate meat-filled backyard barbecue.

Carnivore's Cookout in California

Roger visits the West Coast for two unique wood-fired roasts. Roger heads to Sloughhouse to visit Passmore Ranch, a freshwater, sustainable fish farm. Sprawling across 86 acres, Passmore Ranch has a variety of open lakes and massive tanks, and raises black bass, striped bass, catfish, silver carp, trout and white sturgeon. Roger is challenged to catch a 6ft white sturgeon-by hand! The catch of the day is then stuffed with aromatics and roasted over a large bed of coals. Roger is on the hunt for Santa Maria-style barbecue and heads to the Santa Maria Elks Lodge where they've been doing it since 1926. In the legendary BBQ Room, Roger helps build a fire in the massive pit and seasons and skewers big hunks of beef. It's a delicious feast that members of the Lodge are sure to enjoy.

West Coast Roasts

Roger visits the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School in Masardis, Maine where owner and wilderness guide Tim Smith teaches him how to create a rustic outdoor kitchen and start a fire without the help of matches or a lighter. They build a pyramid cooker out of logs and string, and use it to roast whole chickens and fresh-caught Brook Trout. With the help of a reflector oven, they complete their feast with Sourdough Biscuits.

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Wilderness Cooking

Everyone loves sitting in front of a fireplace, but Roger loves cooking in one. He visits two places in New England that host delicious fireplace feasts. During the winter months, family-run restaurant Salem Cross Inn in West Brookfield, MA roasts racks of ribs in front of a scorching indoor fireplace. At Foster's Clambake in York, Maine, a classic New England clambake of lobsters, mussels, clams, corn and potatoes is steamed to perfection in a massive outdoor fireplace.

Fireplace Feasts

Roger meets two people in New England who love to play with fire. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, the backyard of cookbook author and archeologist, Paula Marcoux, is filled with cooking contraptions inspired by her worth travels. Roger and Paula build a fire for the German Schwenker Grill which is a round metal grill that swings over coals. Paula also teaches Roger how to cleverly steam mussels with dry pine needles and one hot coal. Roger then visits Brookside Barn and Farm in Uxbridge, Massachusetts where owner David Adamson rents out do-it-yourself pig roasts kits for anyone interested in doing a delicious backyard feast.

Playing with Fire in New England

Richard McCallister of Marksbury Farm Market invites Roger to his annual spring celebration in Lancaster, Kentucky. Richard and Roger season a flock of spring chickens and cook them in a custom-made outdoor contraption inspired by the grills in Uruguay. Roger contributes a dish to the party: corn on the cob seasoned with coconut oil and an exotic blend of spices. Richard's friend Jim Budros insists on preparing Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler for dessert and transports his 2000 pound wood-burning oven straight from Ohio.

Spring Celebration in Kentucky

Roger Mooking has a fascination with fire. The chef enjoys finding inventive ways to cook with fire, which is exactly what he does in this series that takes him on a journey across the U.S. He visits pit-masters, chefs and home cooks who use fire to create complex, flavorful dishes. The people Mooking visits don't simply turn on a stove and start cooking; their methods include cooking over an open fire in a rustic chuck wagon and smoking meats in a former airplane that a mechanic has transformed into a smoker.

Small Packages, Big Flavors

Seasons10

Season 3 Episodes13

Cast1

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