When it comes to food and the Ridge Meadows Home Show, it seems the Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows TIMES is always front and centre.

Through the decades, it’s been a key player in the show, first as sponsor of the Taste of Ridge Meadows food court for countless years, and now we’re again prepared to burn our britches with a popular grillin’ event.

Are you ready to go back to school? We can promise it won’t be the traditional type of schooling – but rather a school of barbecue.

The TIMES will once again be sponsoring the BBQ School and Tasting event at this year’s home show. And this year’s event will be hosted by House of Q founder and barbecue expert Brian Misko.

Over the course of the three-day event, this champion barbecuer – along with volunteer helpers – will be giving barbecue tips and lessons to showgoers by preparing a variety of foods over the flame.

Starting with competitions in 2006 in Vancouver and Whistler, Misko led his House of Q team to the Jack Daniels World BBQ Championships in 2009 and won Team of the Year for B.C. in 2010.

So it’s fair to say Misko is passionate about what he does, and actually took on teaching barbecue techniques as his day job in 2009.

Now, he shares his know-how through regular interviews and cooking demonstrations for TV, newspaper, and magazines. And he’s become a regular guest on Global TV BC morning news, as well as at trade shows, cooking demonstrations, and cooking classes around Western Canada.

Misko’s anxious to share with this community the science of barbecuing and believes recipes should be an after-thought when it comes to barbecue.

“The technique is what it’s all about,” he said. “I want people, when they [barbecue] something to go, ‘oh, this tastes this way because of [this or that]... not because of what they put on it.”

All that said, Misko’s House of Q sauce is ranked #3 in North America, and promises to entice many of the samplers at the show.

Every session at the home show will have different lessons for people to take away and use in their own grill.

Misko admitted he’s a little nervous about the whole thing, but he’s looking forward to showing people how they can get the best possible results from barbecuing.

Spectators will be able to catch his classes on Friday, April 29 at 7 p.m., as well as Saturday, April 30 at noon, plus 3 and 6 p.m. Misko and his team are back again on Sunday, May 1, at noon and for his final session at 2 p.m.

Lava Dining and Lounge executive chef Chris Roper will also be making a special guest appearance at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The school and taste event features Meridian Meats and Seafood, and partners in the show include Langley Farm Market and Warm Hearth Heating.