By Tammy Kelly
In the words of Lee Meeks, Mr. (Captain) Charlie Meek’s son ,”We lost our Chief Cook this morning” and truer words were never spoken. Mr. Charlie Meeks, often called Captain Charlie by friends, passed away early this morning surrounded by his family. His family will carry on the tradition of competition cooking in his memory.
Mr. Charlie was a legend, the Barbecue King, He grew up watching his father cook whole hogs in their backyard and took that knowledge and spent years perfecting his competition cooking methods. Mr. Charlie was the “cook to beat”, but was also the kindest, and gentlest competitor, always happy to share his knowledge and cooking to anyone who asked. He loved the Whole Hog Competition life so much that he kept every one of his weight tags on all of the pigs he cooked throughout the years. Mr. Charlie was declared Whole Hog State Champion in 2001 and was super excited to receive his Championship Ring. He was also In honored as the first ever Pitmaster of the Year in 2015, signifying he accumulated the highest number of points in 17 contests that year and placed first in at least 6 of those competitions. Mr. Charlie holds the title of NC Pork Council Sportsmanship Award, an award that is determined by peer Chief Cooks. Mr. Charlie, along with only one other competitor was also awarded the Inaugural Grand Slam Award. The Grand Slam quilt is awarded to the Chief Cooks who have placed first in State Championship, Newport, Kinston, and Washington.
Mr. Charlie retired from the NC Correctional System after 39 years of service as a prison captain, and he served as a Volunteer Fireman and a member of the Newport Pig Cooking Committee. At his retirement celebration he was inducted in the Governor’s Order of the Long Leaf Pine which is North Carolina’s highest civilian honor. .
Kevin Peterson, current Whole Hog State Champion said he asked Mr. Charlie for advice and Mr. Charlie said “You just need to cook a better pig”. He would never share his secret sauce recipe, but let’s hope he whispered into Lee’s ear!
