• 129 teams competed in this year’s World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis, Tennessee.
• Teams comprised of people from Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Canada and Brazil come to Memphis to learn from and compete with mostly American teams in the “Super Bowl of Swine.”
• The leader of the Mexican-based team emphasized the unique cultural exchange that takes place as pitmasters exchange tips and techniques. His team’s motto is “el fuego nos une,” which means “the fire unites us.”

The smell of wood fire wafting on the breeze is the first sense that gets triggered at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis, where smoke is as essential an ingredient as salt.

For the teams that annually compete at the so-called Super Bowl of Swine, they’ve elevated backyard barbecue to fine dining under the sun, incorporating techniques passed on from generation to generation and creating a multi-cultural community united by food.

Held last weekend as part of the Memphis in May International Festival, the annual cooking contest has also connected people across borders as food culture, both online and in-person, has spread the word about the popular event for world-class pitmasters.

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A company called Sociedad Mexicana de Parrilleros has sent a team from Mexico to Memphis for 10 years to compete against mostly American teams and to learn from them as well.

“Each country has its own traditions and regions. But I think everything merges together right now,” said Juan Garza of the Mexican-based team. “And with globalization and all of this, different techniques are going across borders.”

Out of the 129 teams competing this year, there were teams comprised of people from New Zealand, Norway, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, each one bringing their own culinary traditions and blending them with Memphis’ food scene. In the past, teams made up of people from Argentina, Canada and Puerto Rico have also joined in.

Garza’s team prepared pork shoulder, but they were also making a beef brisket and tacos and giving away samples of their salsas and sauces. Coming to Memphis every year and returning with pig-shaped gold trophies has helped them expand their sales in Mexico and beyond.

Brent Little, of Memphis, and Bruno Panhoca, a pitmaster from São Paulo, met over Instagram when Panhoca was demonstrating how to cook Memphis-style ribs for his Brazilian followers. Little invited Panhoca and another Brazilian pitmaster Adriano Pedro to join The Pig Diamonds, a team that has been competing in the world championship contest since before 1980.

“The Memphis style is a style that you can taste all the flavors of the meat, the dry rubs, and you can put a sauce on it,” Panhoca said.

Besides competing in the whole hog competition, The Pig Diamonds excel at unique submissions for the ancillary categories like beef, chicken, wings, seafood and sauces. Last year, they made coxinha, a popular Brazilian chicken dish. This year they made a wagyu brisket beef wellington.

“Barbecue brings people together,” said Little. “The bonds that you make in Memphis in May are so deep.”

Immigrants have always been defining and changing American barbecue styles and traditions. The standard for Memphis ribs was created by the son of Greek immigrants, Charlie Vergos. His famous Rendezvous restaurant popularized dry-rubbed ribs seasoned with paprika and other spices based on his dad’s chili recipe and slathered in a vinegar wash.

Kenneth Richardson, head chef of the Memphis-based team When the Smoke Clears, said those Greek flavors and spices from Louisiana and other regions along the Mississippi River all combined to influence Memphis barbecue over the decades.

“We’ve got a really dynamic influence in our barbecue,” said Richardson. “It’s kind of hard to nail it unless you grew up in this region.”

Even though competition is stiff and teams often come within less than one point of each other, they often share techniques and ideas, creating relationships between teams run by well-known restaurant owners and hobbyists.

The Mexican team works under the mantra “El Fuego Nos Une,” which means the fire unites us, explained Garza. That’s good advice for any backyard griller looking to host a Memorial Day party with friends and family, he said.

“It’s about the time that you spend around the people that you care for and you love around the grill. That matters for us,” said Garza. “And that’s why we do what we do.”

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to reverse a lower court’s decision that said a South Carolina redistricting map was unconstitutional, rejecting the idea that it was racially discriminatory.

In a 6-3 decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito, the high court said that “a party challenging a map’s constitutionality must disentangle race and politics if it wishes to prove that the legislature was motivated by race as opposed to partisanship. Second, in assessing a legislature’s work, we start with a presumption that the legislature acted in good faith.”

“In this case, which features a challenge to South Carolina’s redistricting efforts in the wake of the 2020 census, the three-judge District Court paid only lip service to these propositions,” the decision states.

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“That misguided approach infected the District Court’s findings of fact, which were clearly erroneous under the appropriate legal standard,” Alito wrote.

The case stems from a challenge by the ACLU and the NAACP claiming that the redrawn maps following the 2020 census were illegally gerrymandered and had urged the justices to rule in time to impact upcoming congressional races.

However, a federal court panel that had initially struck down the maps as unconstitutional said in late March it was “plainly impractical” to wait for the Supreme Court to decide, and allowed the disputed maps to stand.

It is unclear the extent the high court’s ruling may will have on other 2024 elections, with many states already holding primaries or setting deadlines for early voter registrations.

The high court’s conservative majority in its ruling expressed concern over a federal court ruling that initially ordered South Carolina to create a new congressional map in time for the November 2024 election.

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The South Carolina State House in Columbia, South Carolina (Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images)

That three-judge panel found the coastal 1st Congressional District, now held by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., was an unlawful racial gerrymander when Republican lawmakers shifted about 30,000 Black voters from Charleston County over to the state’s 6th Congressional District, which became more solidly Democratic than it was before.

That seat is held by Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., a longtime member of Congress who is Black.

However, the high court’s delay in issuing its ruling means the disputed map will remain in place for the 2024 elections.

Justice Elana Kagan, backed by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented, saying, “In every way, the majority today stacks the deck against the Challengers. They must lose, the majority says, because the State had a ‘possible’ story to tell about not considering race—even if the opposite story was the more credible.”

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Seated, from left, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. Top row, from left, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“And they must lose again, the majority says, because they failed to offer a particular form of proof—which they did not know would be relevant and which this Court recently told plaintiffs was not required,” she said. 

“It does not matter that the Challengers offered extensive evidence, including expert statistical analyses, that the State’s districting plan was the product of racial sorting.”

An officer with the Louisville (Kentucky) Metro Police Department (LMPD) received “corrective action” after an internal investigation into the arrest of two-time major winner Scottie Scheffler revealed that the officer did not follow proper protocols by failing to turn on his body camera.  

Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel announced Thursday morning, in a joint press conference with Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, that Detective ​​Bryan Gillis was counseled by his supervisor after an investigation found that he did not turn on his body-worn camera, as he was required to. 

“Detective Gillis should have turned on his body-worn camera, but did not. His failure to do so is a violation of the LMPD policy on uniforms and equipment, subject category body worn camera,” Gwinn-Villaroel said.  

“We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation. This corrective action has been notated on a performance observation form, which is in line with our disciplinary protocol and practices. We respect the judicial process, and we will allow the course to proceed accordingly. We will not be able to make any further statements as relates to this matter.” 

Greenberg spoke about the importance of police body-worn cameras, adding that all parties involved, including Scheffler, “want to move forward.” 

“Activating body-worn cameras, it is critically important for our police department to have evidence to maintain the community’s trust, to be transparent,” he said. “LMPD needs to be focused on reducing the amount of violent crime in our city, reducing the amount of gun violence, protecting and keeping people safe. That is what they do every day. That’s what they’ve done since last Friday when they were working with the detail out at Valhalla and on Shelbyville Road. And that’s what they will continue to do.”

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg speaks at a press conference at Metro Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 11, 2023. (Michael Swensen/Getty Images)

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The internal investigation was launched after Scheffler, a fan favorite on the PGA Tour, was handcuffed and arrested just outside Valhalla Golf Club early Friday morning before the second round of the PGA Championship. 

According to an arrest report, Scheffler was driving a credentialed PGA courtesy car when an officer said he “refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging” the officer to the ground. 

Police were already on the scene investigating a volunteer’s death, who was hit by a bus just outside the golf course. 

Scheffler, 27, is facing four charges, including felony assault over injuries a Louisville police officer sustained during the encounter.

Scottie Scheffler reacts to his putt on the eighth green during the third round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

“It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding,” Scheffler said after the second round, also expressing his condolences to the family of the volunteer. “I can’t comment on any of the specifics of it, so I feel like y’all are going to be disappointed, but I can’t comment on any specifics, but my situation will be handled.” 

Scheffler also commended the officers he dealt with during the encounter. 

“They were really kind. I’m grateful that we have such strong police, and they’re our protectors out there, and like I said, we just got into a chaotic situation this morning. That’s really all it was,” he said. 

Scheffler’s initial court date was postponed by a Kentucky court until June 3. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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