I’ve sampled many variations of ribs and shoulders at barbecue competitions, but I never tried a “Crawfish Boudin King Cake” at a contest until I recently devoured the one made by Richard Briseno of Metairie, Louisiana.
Briseno, 40, owner of Lovie Enterprises LLC, which makes “Lovie Sauce” barbecue sauce, was on the “Rub Me Tender” team at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.
The team won 10th place in whole hog. Briseno’s Crawfish Boudin King Cake came in near the top third in the seafood category. And his Lovie Sauce came in third place in the vinegar category for barbecue sauce.
When I visited their booth, Briseno let me try one of these “King Cakes.” Honestly, it’s one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten.
Briseno says these savory king cakes can be made with different types of meat, which are ground up and put in a casing and grilled. In this case, it was crawfish, seasonings, and rice all ground up, which comprise boudin, Briseno says.
He uses Pillsbury Crescent Roll mix to make his dough. He then folds in his stuffing, puts egg wash on it “to give it a little shine,” and bakes it. He adds pepper jelly and lump crawfish tails on top after he takes it off the grill to give it the “sweet and savory profile.” And he adds thinly sliced green onions “just to add a little bit of color to it.”
“Lovie Sauce” is how Briseno became a member of the “Rub Me Tender” barbecue team. “I joined the team in 2022. I came on as ‘the sauce guy.’”
The “Rub Me Tender” team was founded by Wes Angel of Memphis. Ninety-five percent of the team is composed of physicians, Briseno says. “They all went to medical school together and they live throughout the Memphis and Nashville area.
“One of my best friends’ wife went to med school with everybody. They invited me to join a couple of years ago. I thought it would be fun.”
The Lovie Sauce recipe came from Briseno’s mother, Karen Lambert, who, like Briseno, is a realtor. “We’re a mother-son real estate team in the New Orleans area.”
Lambert came up with the sauce after visiting some friends in South Carolina. She wasn’t impressed with the barbecue sauce they were using at a backyard cookout she attended. She said, “I could make a barbecue sauce that was better.”
She began experimenting with sauces after she returned home. On her next visit to South Carolina, her barbecue sauce was “very well received.”
After years of people asking them to get the sauce in stores, owners Briseno, Lambert, and her husband, Jack Lambert, now have Lovie Sauce in about 40 stores throughout New Orleans and the metro area.
Lovie Sauce is a vinegar-based sweet and tangy “multi-functional” sauce, Briseno says. It’s good for “dipping if you want to dip your meats in it, cooking, basting your ribs or pork butt or even chicken. It does well with everything. So, it’s sweet and tangy on the front end. On the back end, right before it goes down you get a little bit of heat.”
His mother is a good cook, but Lambert says, “My mom doesn’t have a cooking background other than what she was taught by her mom. She did her thing and I learned from her.”
Briseno is “not so much in the kitchen. I do a lot on the pit. I have this smoker, so I do barbecue shrimp. I boil tons of crawfish.”
In addition to pork butts and fish, Briseno also smoked cream cheese. He scores the cream cheese, puts a little bit of seasoning on it, and cooks it low and slow in aluminum foil at 225 degrees and drizzles Lovie Sauce over it.
Briseno enjoys his annual visits to Memphis. In addition to hanging out with the team at the festival, he loves “to check out some of the restaurants.”
As for future plans for Lovie Sauce, Briseno says, “A lot of people have reached out who want a spicy version. So, we’ll see what happens.”
People can’t buy Lovie Sauce on the web. “We are not online yet as we are not set up for shopping. Currently, it’s just store-bought.”
Being able to purchase it online someday “is a possibility. People can follow us on Instagram @loviesaucebbq or on Facebook at Lovie Sauce.”
Briseno would like to see the sauce hit the states “that are closest to Louisiana. And see how it’s received in other parts of the country.”
What about Memphis? “Well, it did win an award in Memphis, so that could be a possibility.”
Also, Briseno says, “Since we were so well received this past weekend, I’ve already reached out to a co-packer. We are interested in possibly bringing the sauce to stores across the nation one day. It got such great feedback. We think we really have a great product here.”