Say the word "Barbecue" and everyone has an image come to mind. What's your image? A bunch of beer guzzling, pot-bellied, overly boisterous, flatulating rednecks setting around a smoke-belching box, swapping unbelievable stories of exploits against an unbelievably large and cunning buck or of a "monster" fish that got away, but not before battling it all night and long into the next day, and not before it destroyed the boat and ate the three dogs that were with them? No??! Thank goodness! For a moment there I was afraid that my cousin Cletus had been tellin' family secrets again! Perhaps "Barbecue" conjures up images of good times spent with friends or family, spent eating good food cooked outdoors on a grill and food brought in by all the best cooks in the family. For others it brings back memories of having fun at local fairs, where the smells of BBQ smokers filled the carnival-like air and mingled with the many other smells of cotton candy, roasting peanuts and "kettle-corn". Yet others remember a favorite out-of-the-way place to eat some really good food and the air is filled with the smell of a "BBQ Pit" in the back and the sounds of people laughing and enjoying themselves. The fact is that each of us has our own memories and ideas about what BBQ means to them. But where did Barbecue come from? How did it come up with such an unusual name? Like so many things in history, the exact origins of "Barbecue" are not known and have long since been relegated to the position of "subject for debate and conjecture". However, in true American fashion we feel a need to know the secrets of its past. In researching this article many possible origins for Barbecue surfaced, all with their proponents and antagonists. - The first possible origin for Barbecue stems from an East Indian word "Barbacoa", which is a descriptive term for cooking meat over hot coals. The key words here are "hot coals" and not an open fire, denoting slow cooking. Now file that in the back of your mind along with remembering the East Indies close association with "pre-revolutionary war America" as a major trading point and source of spices.
- "Bon Appetit" magazine touts the origin as coming from an extinct tribe in Guyana. Apparently they enjoyed "cheerfully spit roasting captured enemies" - Uhhhhhh - let's move on!
- Now the Oxford English Dictionary claims to be able to trace BBQ's origins back to Haiti. But doesn't provide any corroborating evidence other than their reputation.
- There is another camp that swears that the word is an adaptation of of the French phrase "barbe a que", which translates - "from head to tail". This points to the whole-hog or whole-animal method of cooking. File this point away in the back of your mind and couple it to the French's involvement in this countries founding (do you see a pattern forming here?).
- Tar Heel magazine contends that "Barbecue" originates from a 19th century advertisement for a combination whiskey bar, beer hall, pool hall and a purveyor of roasted pig. This combination became known as "Bar-Beer-Cue-Pig".
No other possible origins found thus far appear at all plausible at this time. I believe that in order to fully come to grips with the origins of "Barbecue" in this country, we must also consider the contribution of slaves in its development. It's no secret that slaves in America were not provided with "Top Round Steaks or Shoulder Roasts" for dinner. Not at all! What the slaves could have expected from the plantation owners would have been the "less choice cuts". In other words, the ribs, brisket, necks, tails. backs, etc. Do you see a thread forming yet? With most of these cuts, slow cooking was required and the slaves became quite adept at slow-cooking methods and seasonings to increase "palatability". In early Colonial America, cattle were a precious and expensive commodity. Both in initial investment and upkeep. Therefore consuming them for pleasure was really somewhat rare, but hogs on the other hand were soon discovered to be quite adept at caring for themselves with little care by letting them "forage". Additionally, the initial purchase for them or sheep was much less expensive and the average family could afford to purchase these more easily than purchasing cattle which were initially kept for their milk production. In fact, hogs were so adept at caring for themselves and multiplied so readily that a yearly "hog butchering" became a source for winter meat and social gatherings, where they were roasted and large dinner gatherings were held. I believe that it was primarily because of its warmer climate, which meant less livestock feed that had to be stored, that hogs were much more prevalent in the south than the north. This, along with the price and scarcity of beef led to southerners consuming an estimated 5 pounds of pork for every pound of beef. Toward the middle of the 1800's, nearing the time of the Civil War, hog farming was becoming more and more popular in the south and hogs were being produced in ever-increasing numbers on farms. However, very little of this pork was being shipped out of the south and pork consumption was not increasing in the north, while it increased in the south. It was about this time that cattle production was just beginning to take hold in the west where there was ample room and grass to produce large numbers of beef. However, because of the high cost to transport and still relatively small numbers, beef was still somewhat of a rare and expensive commodity and its consumption in large quantities was primarily confined to the western areas of the country and the more affluent northern cities where they could afford it. But even in the west, the preferred method of cooking meat was over a low fire just as with pork, while the more affluent north was starting to enjoy such modern conveniences as "cooking stoves" in ever increasing numbers. Thus there was little need to cook whole animals and less social activity was occurring. While community gatherings were well ingrained into the American social life soon after the Revolutionary War, It was in the early to mid 1800's that "community socials", especially church and private events, were becoming a vital part of communities in the south and west. At these socials, meat (usually pork) was provided and slow roasted over an open fire pit and those attending would bring various dishes of food to share with everyone. The cooking of the meat normally would be delegated to a person (normally men and male slaves in particular) that would have been known for their particular prowess at "pit cooking". These masters of the pit became known as "pit men" and might even hire themselves out to do the cooking at area functions. It was from these early masters of the pit that our title of "Pit Master" came. It was from the popularity of these socials and the relative inexpensiveness of BBQ that many politicians got the idea to "solicit" votes by providing food (BBQ) and alcohol in exchange for a persons vote. Hence the political dinner. Are you seeing the threads coming together yet? As BBQ moved south and west, regional and cultural differences in cooking style and preferences were being introduced and BBQ was realizing a place of social prominence by the mid to late 1800's whereby the various classes and races could come together and mingle. BBQ had evolved into a non class-specific food, whereby people from all walks of life and social standing could find common ground. It was at this time that some "Pit Men" began to sell pit-cooked meat from small, simple "shacks" as take away food (early take-out). Most, of these would be owned and operated by working-class people who only operated them only on the weekends and worked regular jobs (or most often farmed) during the week. Because of the labor intensiveness of BBQ, few of the early Pit Men owner more than one restaurant. It was at this point that the sauce and/or spices really began to make the biggest impact and started making the biggest divisions in BBQ style with Pit Men jealously guarding their recipes. With the advent of the automobile and Americans becoming more mobile, ever increasing numbers of people began to discover and enjoy the delight of "pit-cooked" meat or BBQ and thus began the elevation of BBQ to the status of being the number one social food in America. However, along with this popularity also came the American tradition of lumping things together and blurring the lines. Today, we grab our favorite meat product and head outside to "Barbecue", don't we? While most Americans know the terms Barbecue and grilling, most do not know or seem to realize that the two are distinctly different both in process and flavor. True Barbecue is a process whereby the meat is slow-cooked with indirect heat in a smoky atmosphere and at low temperatures often as low as 170° - 180° F. While "grilling" (the method most often used in this country) is accomplished with high temperatures (often as high as 500° F) over a direct heat source, such as charcoal. This method produces a charred outer surface, which tends to seal in the juices of the meat, but does little to tenderize it. True Low and slow cooking, on the other hand has the advantage of breaking down the collagen in meats and tenderizing it while the lower, indirect heat prevents the meat from drying out. Some final points to bring out here are: - Nearly every taste test performed bears out that people overwhelmingly prefer the taste of "wood-cooked" BBQ or every other means of cooking.
- Grilling foods is faster, but slow-cooked foods taste better (slow cooking usually take hours as opposed to minutes for grilling).
- According to numerous food safety agencies, tests suggest an increased risk of some cancers from eating "charred" food from the grill. Especially if the fats are allowed to drip onto the heat source. There have also been some health professionals that are starting to urge that children not be allowed to eat charred meats from the grill.
So what does all this have to do with anything? Well if you don't mind an opinion from this ole "Hillbilly", here's what I think -
"I think that at a point in early "New World" history, descriptive terms were employed to describe a "low and slow" process of preparing food, especially meat, for consumption and preservation that has existed since recorded time began and had just recently been re-discovered by early explorers. As with many things in this life, this concept and process "evolved" and changed to become what we know today. Along the way this process picked up regional and ethnic "flavors" and "techniques" and brought them along with it into today. I believe that what we have today is no longer a "thing to be done" but rather is a "what is to be done". The what being a method and process whereby we as humans grab hold of an opportunity to share good food, good times, and good company with those we care about. It's not about processes, sauces, spices and techniques, though those are nice. It's about taking a little bit of "time out" from our hectic lives to reflect on and enjoy the things that are really important - That life is much to short to take it too seriously and it's not how much you get out of life that matters so much as the amount of love and caring you put into it. Sauces, seasonings, methods and techniques are nice points to debate, but we don't need to divide over them and along the way loose out on the things that really mater most. Now I know that all of our "Garden of Weedin" readers out there are highly educated and dedicated BBQ purists like me and would rather starve than grill with gas and electric isn't even worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as Barbecue  . So let's get together, enjoy each others company and have some BARBECUE!! the "Hillbilly Gardener" Back To Top |
