Off the Desk and Into the Sauce with House of Q in Vernon, BC

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If you are tired of mixing the same seasoning spices every time you cook a steak, then you have to meet Brian Misko. If you are not up to making your own BBQ sauces from scratch, when quickly needing to grill a pork chop, or slow smoking a butt, then House of Q is your home. You have something in common. If you are in need of tasty BBQ seasoning spices and sauces for your cooking hobby, there is a Q solution.

Brian built a business from it. He created base seasoning and saucing for his out-of-control hobby and then shared it with other like-minded BBQ and grilling enthusiasts. It quickly became the go-to for customers pressed for time, with no appetite for compromise. People that require award-winning foundations for their love of meat. He called it House of Q.

Successful companies come from innovative entrepreneurs that invent products or services out of necessity. People who take their products to market for others to also enjoy. Brian is one of the best examples of how to start such a business. He is selling something he made, like, and use regularly. By doing it, he is adding value with his products, advice and support, to other like-minded enthusiasts in his BBQ industry.

This is part of the TWO COWBOYS' EPIC GLOBAL TRAVEL & CULINARY EXPERIENCE - 2019! 

Episode 1 - Cooking with Yoders

Episode 2 - Cooking with Q

DO YOU WANT YOUR BUSINESS OR COMMUNITY FEATURED?

Escaping the Pod

It is an all too familiar, yet, still an inspiring story. According to Brian, it started around 2004. His cubicle in the software industry became too small. His escape was the discovery of his love for cooking. More and more of his time went into this passion. BBQ competitions followed. Before long, a little media attention, and voila! House of Q was born as a byproduct of this drive for award-winning food.

BBQ'ers have few choices for making a living from their passion. Some will call it art. Many cater to functions. A few start restaurants or smokehouses. Even fewer become entertainers. Starting a manufacturing business and launching a consumer brand with the name "House of Q" is probably one of the hardest and gutsiest ways to earn a living.

Brian escaped his pod. Today he spends his time honing his competitive cooking streak, developing new products, promoting them where he can, and inspiring others to discover their own food passions.

What he makes, promises to deliver a little help on the way to BBQ salvation. It includes a cookbook, seasoning spice blends, and sugary smokey spicey sauces - the necessary base ingredients for old-fashioned low and slow Southern BBQ. In his free time, he is generous with his advice and his commitment to inspire healthy living through good eating, and the art of cooking with fire.

Observations

Here is where the House of Q meets the Two Cowboys. We eagerly promote something we enjoy.

The Cowboys likes using Brian's products. It saves us from assembling our own beef pepper seasoning, which mostly contains the same ingredients. Q's all-purpose seasoning works equally well on pork ribs and chicken. We cannot decide if we like the Rocking Red or the Apple Butter Sauce more. We guess it depends on our mood and the amount of beer lubricating our cook. All we know is that our pork has never tasted more "Appelly" and "Zingy" when combining the two.

When it comes down to it, we share a passion for cooking with Brian. We agree about the need to advocate for more people to cook, grill and BBQ at home. You eat better that way. We both buy from local food producers, sourcing in-season ingredients for our cook, and include more fresh vegetables and meat protein in our diets.

Above all, we love sharing our passion with the people we call our friends. There is nothing better than to cook with fire, doing it for, and with the people we love, and findings innovative ways of telling the world about it. That is why we like a little House of Q. It comes from the same place.

Enjoy!

P.S. Get your House of Q products here.

Hendrik

Cooking Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too.

Photos

Getting the Sauce

Quality Control 

Recognize it

Welcome to the Church of Braai with the Two Cowboys in South Africa

Church of Braai

If you want to understand Canadians, you have to understand Ice Hockey. No, not just the game. Everything around the game. The rituals, language, colloquialisms, unspoken precepts, customs, culture and passions that drive the identity and lifestyle around the game of Hockey. It is integrally part of every true ice-blooded Canuck, whether they've ever been directly involved with the game or not.

I guess every nation can point to a sport or an activity that conjures up similarities in its ability to define or reflect their identity and culture. Games that come to mind are Soccer in England, rugby in New Zealand or the ancient Mexican game of Ullamaliztli where the victors were sacrificed to the gods.

There is something similar, even more universal, ancient to the degree that it is primal, that all people have in common. It is buried so deep in the enclaves of traditional culture that we take it for granted. It is what we do.

It only comes to the fore when people gather around to cook and share a meal. The food doesn't matter as much as the rituals, customs, precepts, and passions that goes hand-in-hand with eating together. Society developed from this simple ancient act of sharing and reciprocity. It avoided wars because of it and wars we started as a result.

Where we come from, we call it "braai".

Ministry of Braai

Conventional wisdom indicates that it evolved from the word "braden" (Roast in Dutch) into braaivleis (which is Afrikaans for grilled meat) and then into the verb braai which means “to grill”. The word "braai" forms a proud part of South African slang and today it is used by people of all languages.

However, defining the word comes nowhere close to grasping the meaning of the act. The truth is that the act of braai is responsible for more unintended sacrificial destruction of protein than it is for the good practices of proper food preparation. There is a lot more to it.

If one wants to understand the concept of braai you have to get a lot closer and look much, much deeper into the psyche of the culture of its origin,  the Afrikaner. Books have been written, movies have been made and poetry published about the rituals accompanying the braai. For example, some would swear that a braai without fire is not a braai. A braai doesn't have to include meat. Afrikaners can braai anything and people don't need an excuse for a braai to take place. It happens any time of the day and in any weather. Some do it at -28C in Canada and at +51C in the Outback.

There are very specific rules at a braai. For example, you never criticize the person in the act of a braai and never touch his tools. Men tend to keep to themselves and woman do the same until the meal is served. It is an honour to be invited to a braai and it is a disgrace to arrive at a braai without a contribution (never bring chicken!). The following words are forbidden at a braai, "Wanneer gaan ons braai?", which means "When will the grilling of food commence?".

Whichever way you look at a braai, it becomes clear that it is an event that brings people together around the preparation of a meal and the act of sharing food. It is a tradition claimed as part of the identity of Afrikaner. It is their heritage and one of the last bastions of their culture. They will fiercely defend and protect it from outside influence. It is also the first courtesy they will extend to any stranger. "Kom ons braai"loosely translates into "Welcome, pleased to meet you. Let's get to know each other a little better".

Oh, yes! It is also about preparing food. The amount of food at a braai is incredible. It is a testimony to the generosity that comes with a nation that has seen its fair share of trials and setbacks. A hardy group of people that are now spread all over the world armed with this one simple authentic act of cordiality. They are showing the world how to braai.

Pilgrimage to Braai

The Cowboys will be arriving in South Africa at the end of January 2019 to rediscover our braai roots.

As Afrikaner emigrants, we've taken our braai custom all over the world since we left the country almost two decades ago. The movement of braai has evolved back home. We want to rediscover what it is in South Africa and what it means for its local practitioners. We've certainly adapted and incorporated what we've learned along the way in the countries we visited. Low and slow, smoking, grilling, picanha, brisket, barbacoa, shrimp on the barbie, arepa, and rodizio, to name a few.

Braai has and still is playing a role in bringing people together from all corners of South African life and all corners of the world. We want to show the world where it began and we want to show South Africa what we learned in the world.

See you on the road. We are coming to a braai near you!

Hendrik
Braai Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too.