When Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley hosted the state's Buy Local Cookout on July 21 at Government House, the governor's residence in Annapolis, a Catonsville resident's recipe was among the flavors on the menu.

The brined cherry barbecue chicken courtesy of Catonsville's Bryan Davis was one of the 17 chosen for the invitation-only event from the 30 recipes submitted by Maryland chefs to take part in the feast.

Davis, a chef at the Classic Catering People on Painters Mill Road in Owings Mills, said the heat and humidity July 21 did not deter him from using the grill.

"It was at least 100 and some when we got there," Davis said.

"I set up a charcoal grill outside of our tent," he said. "I was dripping the whole time."

Davis pushed aside his discomfort, he said, because the event mattered so much to him.

"It really does a lot for the farmers in Maryland," he said. "It was really cool to meet a lot of different farmers down there."

Not only farmers, but government officials as well were at the barbecue, including some at the national level.

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture head was there," Davis said, referring to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack.

"The governor, when he came to our booth, he was thrilled to hear that the catering organizations are starting to go local and sustainable," Davis said. "He shook my hand and said, 'I'm really happy you guys are trying to do this.'"

Davis noted that some of the dishes at the event had ingredients from that very property in the state capital.

"Katie O'Malley (Maryland's First Lady), she actually makes her own honey," he said. "A couple of chefs there actually used her honey."

Davis said his chicken recipe went over pretty well and that he'll definitely go back next year, if he creates a dish that's selected for the event, of course.

"It was just a great event," he said.

Davis did try the food from other chefs at the event.

"My favorite was right next to us," Davis said. "We had a woman there that made her own goat chorizo. "She raised the goats and she made the chorizo."

She was both producer and chef, and in that way she embodied the event, he said.

"The best part about all this is the awareness," Davis said.

A Towson native and 1986 Towson High School graduate, Davis said he became a chef when he was 19.

"But I've been working in kitchens since I was 15," he said.

Davis has worked at Classic Catering for about seven years. He left the company at one point but returned about a year ago because Classic Catering started focusing on buying organic food.

For the Buy Local Cookout, Davis got his chicken from farmer Lynne Ferguson of Ferguson Family Farm, on Beckleysville Road, in Parkton.

"People just aren't exposed to this end of the industry," Davis said. "I'm seeing how the chickens are being raised and the pigs are raised."

Ferguson's chickens are grain-fed and free range, and no chemicals are used to enhance their growth, according to the farm's website.

Though the Buy Local Cookout helped Davis learn about healthy farming practices, he was already sold on the economic benefits of buying locally produced goods.

"It's better for the (local) economy, and it's better for the state to keep it local," he said.

For last week's event, Davis worked on the chickens the day after they were butchered, brining them before cooking to tenderize the meat and allow the sugar and salt to work their way in throughout.

"It's fall-off-the-bone tender," Davis said.

Though the Buy Local Cookout is an awareness event to encourage people to eat food produced nearby, Davis sees it not as a stunt but as a step toward a better way of living.

"If you could have a restaurant where you could walk into your backyard and pick your vegetables to serve that night, that's the ideal," he said.