Normally, Thomas Wiersgalla spends his days working in the field of utility supply at Opel in Rüsselsheim, concentrating on energy sources such as gas, compressed air, and water for the Facilities Management department. But his free time is dedicated to fueling his fascination with fire, a subject that has interested him for as long as he can remember. Of course cooking is his favorite way to fan those flames, and he loves to prepare exquisite meals for friends, fellow workers, or just for himself.

It was this passion that brought Mr. Wiersgalla to the Südhessische Grillmeisterschaft in Erbach. While he did not manage to win an award, he came back with an arsenal of new barbecuing ideas – and naturally his friends like that better than any trophy.

The South-Hessian Barbecue Championship was pretty crowded. But he chefs succeeded in appeasing all visitor’s hunger.

THE BEST COMPLIMENT IS WHEN THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OVER
According to the barbecue master from Hochheim, he did not really enter the competition with the hope of winning. “The first place awards always go to professionals who show up with an entire crew of cooks,” he says. Thomas Wiersgalla, on the other hand, manned his grill together with his sisters Brigitte and Karin. However, he was extremely pleased that both the judges and the spectators – who were allowed to taste the competitors’ dishes at the end of the day – thoroughly enjoyed his creation. “At the end of the competition, our skewers with spinach-stuffed turkey breast and bacon-wrapped feta cheese were all gone.” And really, that is the best compliment a chef could ask for.

At his home in Hochheim, Thomas Wiersgalla is currently building its own four-drum grill that he hopes will help to elevate his dishes to the next level. He is more than capable of throwing some steaks or sausages onto the barbecue – and of course he likes to do that, too – but these simple feats are not much of a challenge for him anymore. His personal masterpiece is his pulled pork – a marinated pork cooked slowly in a smoker for up to fifteen hours with hot smoke until it becomes so juicy that it virtually falls apart in shreds of meat.

 Wiersgalla’s Chicken Breast

The Opel employee thoroughly impressed the crowd with this recipe at the South-Hessian Barbecue Championship:

• Slice the chicken breast fillets and cover with crème fraîche, then fill with spinach and roll the slices into roulades.
• Roll a slice of bell pepper and four cubes of feta cheese into a slice of bacon.
• Then place the rolls on a skewer and season with salt, pepper, and chili.
• Place the entire skewer on the grill and cook until it has reached the desired color. How long is long enough? You’ll just have to test that out for yourself.

YOU CAN EVEN MAKE BLACK FOREST CAKE ON THE GRILL
It is no coincidence that pulled pork belongs to the holy trinity of barbecue specialties – together with spare ribs and beef brisket, which are smoked just like pulled pork. Naturally, Thomas Wiersgalla has also built a small smoke house on his property, and every once in a while he uses it to smoke ham. But Thomas Wiersgalla’s barbecue brilliance does not stop at pulled pork. “I absolutely love grilled Black Forest cake,” he quips.

Some say that it was the desire of early humans to prepare meals at an open fire – around which others gathered and communicated with one another during the meal – that served as the catalyst for the foundation of human civilization. Thomas Wiersgalla can certainly identify with that sentiment, and in his case, he is sure that his talent for handling meat is rooted in his genes. “My grandfather was a butcher,” he says.