The Fantastic Institution of the Barbeque
Along with the warm scented breezes of a summer day, no one can resist the temptations of eating barbeque food. Whether you are a seasoned meat eater, a vegetarian, or just love the taste of the smoky flavours, grilling food over a slow flame is irresistible. And the great thing about barbequed food is that it tastes all the better when you eat it outside!
Barbequing is great for all types of meats—chicken, beef, lamb, pork or seafood and you can even use your barbeque to cook vegetables and desserts. Barbequing can be done in summer to relieve the heat of cooking indoors, or can be done in winter to bring the flavours of summer to you in the coldest months. It can even be done indoors on a stove-top or electric grill. Barbequing is also considered to be a very healthful way of cooking.
But, how did barbeque get its start anyways? Of course, the first people to ‘barbeque’ there food were the hunter-gathers from prehistoric times. Barbequing (or cooking food over a fire) was a means of self-preservation and satisfied their basic need for food.
There are many different spellings of barbeque around the world—barbeque, BBQ, barb-a-que Bar-B-Que, (among others spellings). The origin of the word barbeque however (no matter how you spell it) is often disputed. The most widely accepted story suggests that "barbecue" is a derivative of the West Indian term "barbacoa," which refers to a method of slow-cooking meat over hot coals. If you look in The Oxford English Dictionary, the word back is tracked back to Haiti. Others claim that "barbeque" actually comes from a French expression "barbe a queue", which means "from head to tail" while another theory proposes that "barbecue" comes from a 19th century advertisement for a combination whiskey bar, beer hall, pool establishment and roast pig vendor which was known as the BAR-BEER-CUE-PIG.
The traditional Southern barbeque grew out of the celebration of slaughtering time where the entire community would be invited to share in the event. Barbequing the tough stringy meat (typically pork) prevalent in the old South helped to tenderize the meat. In fact, in the 19th century, barbecue was a highlight at private parties, church picnics and political rallies. These popular gatherings offered an easy way for the classes to intermix because everyone could eat barbeque; it was not a class- specific food. Church barbecues became popular where roast pig supplemented the other dishes prepared by the ladies of the congregation. This was the evolution of the traditional church picnic in many Southern communities. Moving forward into the 20th century, barbecue pits and roadside stands where travelers could buy a cheap barbeque meal were established.
Although the barbeque in the South reflects its varied history and has become an emblem for Southern cooking, for the past seventy-five years, barbecue joints around the world have flourished. Barbeque offers a juicy, luscious taste that few can resist. With delicious sauces and that great smoky flavor barbeque is a favorite the world over.
In today’s world, barbeque is not just simply roasting meat over hot coals. Barbequing has become an art. The true barbeque chef would consider that merely grilling the food. Barbeque should be done in particular way with the meat slowly cooking over low heat. That is what really creates the succulence and enhances the smokiness. Barbeque sauce can be considered to create a different taste in some instances, it is not always necessary to enhance the flavor of the meat.
Different methods of cooking on the barbeque consist of using wood, charcoal or propane. The type of wood being burned results in different flavors infusing the meat being cooked. Typical and popular wood types used on barbeques include mesquite, hickory, maple, pecan, apple and oak. Coniferous woods should never be used for barbequing because they contain tar and resins which can create undesirable flavors and unwanted chemicals can permeate into the food.
Charcoal barbequing usually consists of setting fire to a commercially bought bag of charcoal briquettes, or alternatively lump charcoal. Charcoal barbequing is often thought to be preferable the gas or propane method because it creates a more authentic smoky flavor.
In recent years, gas or propane barbequing has become the more popular method for barbeque cooking. Using a gas or propane barbeque is believed to be easier to light, the heat easier to control and the outcome more predictable than with the wood or charcoal methods. In short, it is more convenient for today’s average backyard barbequer. The smoky wood flavor can be added to food cooked on gas barbeques with the use of a ‘smoker box’ or by a simple perforated foil pouch in which soaked wood chips grill alongside the meat on the barbeque. Sometimes the sauce can provide the smoky flavor.
You can also get a taste of barbeque flavor by using the relatively new method of the indoor grill. The invention of grills like the George Foreman Grill (although there are other brands available) makes obtaining that real barbeque meat flavor easy for indoor cooks. The meat is still seared on both sides and the juice and barbeque flavor is retained with a high-heat, quick cooking method.
Whichever method you use to barbeque or however you spell it, barbeque has always been one of the great flavorful ways of cooking food. Meat cooked on a barbeque always seems more succulent, vegetables have more taste and potatoes are fluffier. Everything just seems to taste better when you barbeque it. So sit back in your backyard haven, light up your barbeque, have a cool drink standing by and go to it. The all you have to do is enjoy the results!
