Instructions: Q. A letter that covers so much, from ribs to brisket to chicken, from Memphis to Milpitas.

The subject is barbecue, one of the most character-rich, stylized of American foods. Just about everyone who eats it or cooks it has an Ill never tell secret on essentials, from the kind of wood that makes blue smoke to the mystery spice in red sauce. Then there are the arguments over the best restaurant that makes it.

Barbecue is almost a lifestyle, said Tom Cain, a judge for the Kansas City Barbecue Society. Its not only about cooking it, but about telling tall tales about what secret ingredients you use.

Theres something of a fanatical fascination with this American regional specialty. And the dedication seems to be growing rather than disappearing as another victim in the fast-food nation.

Consider these facts:
How popular is barbecue? With just nine - the ninth opened last month - branches, the South Bays Armadillo Willys now sells more than a million pounds of barbecue a year.

John Berwald, founder of Los Altos-based Willys, says he pays his Sioux City meat packer about $5.75 a pound for baby back ribs today. He buys them by the truckload, each load weighing 45,000 pounds. Demand for ribs keeps going up, and this year so does the price, aggravated by a shortage because of the hoof-and-mouth scare thats quarantined European meat.

Meanwhile, the price of boneless pork loin - which is left behind after the ribs are cut - is $2.50 a pound.

Look what you pay just for bones, Berwald said. The loin has become a byproduct.

There are more than 50 barbecue restaurants in the Bay Area, from one-site joints to sit-down places in shopping centers.

Barbecue festivals, such as this months Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, routinely attract some 100,000 per event. The number of festivals and people who attend grows every year. Memphis officials say barbecue is the citys second-biggest attraction. After Elvis.

In late April, marathon man David Ragals of New York began a 12-day, 3,200-mile Ironhound Barbecue Trek to Q meccas from the Carolinas to Kansas City. He filed daily updates at www.chowhound.com.

Barbecue is one of the last holdouts of idiosyncrasy left in American cooking. Why, its downright ornery.

In no other aspect of food will you find so much individualized cooking style, said Cain.

Historically, Northern California has not been a hotbed of barbecue cookery.

California is pretty much all about grilling, said Berwald, whose operation began in Cupertino in 1983.

Is there a California-style barbecue?

I dont think there is. Most of our cooking styles are transplanted from somewhere else, he said.

But before you start worrying about styles, youve got to understand the basics.

First, experts say you must separate grilling from barbecue. Grilling is cooking meat, usually better cuts, over coals or fire. In true barbecue, the fire never touches the meat.

The meat is offset. The fire is nearby, said Cain. Heat and smoke go there, but the meat is not directly over the fire. It takes longer and cooks more slowly. Its low and slow.

At contests, barbecue teams often stay up all night nudging along their entries. Many cooks insist that from 14 to 20 hours is required to properly cook their product.

Its true art, said Cain, who comes to the judging with serious training.

His day job is Santa Clara County Superior Court judge. When he takes part in judging barbecue contests, his job title frequently comes up.

People ask me what I do, said Cain, warming to the subject after a day in court. I tell them Im a judge. They say yeah, but what do you do?

Judges, true to form, look for balance, especially in barbecue. Winners have an equal balance of meat, smoke and spice-sauce, said Cain.

You want to taste all three. You dont want any one element to dominate, he said.

Attempting to pin him down, we asked if he has a favorite, secret Bay Area spot for barbecue.

Yes. Here it is, right from the judges mouth:

Youre not going to find it in a restaurant, said Cain. Consistency is one of the most difficult elements to find in a commercial establishment.

His opinion?

Back yards. In the back yard, the cooks whole attention is focused on one thing.

While unwilling to concur with Cains opinion on the state of restaurant barbecue, Armadillo Willys Berwald agrees that cooking real barbecue is labor-intensive, smoke-infested and hot. Not just anyone can or will do it, especially in restaurants.

Its not flopping those burgers on a conveyor belt and waiting for them to come out, he said.

People wonder why we dont open more stores, but it takes a year for one of our cooks to learn how to cook barbecue. There are so many variables, like how hot the fire is, how often you open the smoker door, whether the oak wood was dry or wet. Theres no recipe for that. You have to go by look and feel.

Frank Bell, legendary owner-chef of Uncle Franks Louisiana-Style Barbecue in East Palo Alto, said he cant find cooks willing to train, either.

Its all hands-on work. Im here all the time, said Bell, who smokes his slabs of ribs for a minimum of 10 hours, never letting the smoker heat get above 270 degrees.

Some days, you just need a hit of Vitamin Q. And ooh, the results that come from a man with a slow hand.

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