KNOTE ONE OF 16 CHEFS SELECTED

Charlie Knote will cook today at the St. Louis Friends of James Beard Foundation's second annual "Fall Family Barbecue" tasting and benefit. The Cape Girardeau man is one of only 16 chefs selected to participate in the benefit.

He will prepare smoke-cooked chicken. His wife Ruthie's "Coco Cabana Fruit Salsa" will be served as an accompaniment.

Knote is author of a barbecue cookbook, a cooking column, and owner of the Culinary Institute of Smoke-Cooking.

He will prepare smoked-cooked chickens for tasting by the foundation's 300 patrons and guests at the Mt. Pleasant Winery in Augusta, Mo. today.

James Beard is recognized as the father of American cuisine, said Knote, who added that he had studied and cooked from James Beard's informative cookbooks for more than 40 years.

"Beard promoted America's barbecuing, grilling and smoke-cooking of foods," said Knote. "I still use and recommend some of his barbecuing ideas."