| The perfect ribs were sitting on the kitchen | | | | needed to find the perfect sauce and to look it up |
| counter, but the grill master was missing the | | | | on the Internet," said Roy. |
| perfect sauce. It was written on a yellowed piece | | | | He said his son just looked at him. |
| of notebook paper he'd had in his recipe drawer | | | | "He finally said, 'Why don't you just look it up, |
| for 10 years. He pulled it out every year for his | | | | dad,' like I was a moron," laughed Roy. |
| annual "Best BBQ;" which had become a town | | | | In 10 minutes, Roy's son had Mark on the phone |
| tradition. | | | | via a phone number look-up. He said he just told |
| He even heard that a big BBQ honcho from Dallas | | | | his son the guy's name and age. They called up a |
| would be in town for the event. With his | | | | couple of numbers they found and they got in |
| reference he could even open up his own BBQ | | | | touch with the right Mark via his cell phone. |
| shop... but the perfect recipe was gone! | | | | "He just recited it from memory," said Roy. "I |
| "I was sweating bullets," said Roy "The BBQ King." | | | | really must learn this recipe by heart." |
| He said he had all the ingredients, but any BBQ | | | | He whipped up the sauce and the BBQ was a |
| cooker knows that if you don't have the perfect | | | | huge hit. The BBQ pro from Dallas gave him a |
| ratio to the sauce, it may as well be catchup. | | | | good word and Roy is about to open up his own |
| The only thing he knew about the recipe's origin | | | | restaurant. |
| was it came from a guy in Midland named Mark | | | | Since there is no good phone book for cell phone |
| who traded it for a tank of gas. | | | | numbers, it's nearly impossible to find a cell phone |
| He was panicked when his son came in carrying | | | | number. But online cell phone finders can uncover |
| his laptop. | | | | any registration, just like law enforcement and |
| "I just unloaded on the kiddo, told him that I | | | | private investigative tools. |