'Tis the Season for BBQ!

It is no secret that everyone enjoys the warm balmy days of the summer season, and along with that comes the enjoyment of cooking and eating barbeque food. Whether you love vegetarian, chicken, beef, lamb, seafood or pork, all taste great with the added flavour of grilling the food over a slow flame. Whichever your preference, it all tastes even better when you can eat it outdoors!

How did barbeque get its start anyways? Of course, everyone can agree that basic prehistoric self-preservation, derived from hunter-gatherer times, were the first primitive barbeques because they satisfied a basic need for food. But the origin of the word barbeque (no matter how you spell it) is often disputed. The most plausible story suggests that the word "barbecue" is a derivative of the West Indian term "barbacoa," which refers to a method of slow-cooking meat over hot coals. The Oxford English Dictionary tracks the word back to Haiti, while others claim that the word "barbeque" actually comes from the French phrase "barbe a queue", meaning "from head to tail." Another theory suggests that the word "barbecue" comes from a nineteenth century advertisement for a combination whiskey bar, beer hall, pool establishment and purveyor of roast pig, known as the BAR-BEER-CUE-PIG. The foremost theory, though, is that the method of roasting meat over hot coals was picked up from indigenous peoples in the colonial period, and that "barbacoa" became "barbecue" in the period of the early settlers.

It is known that at first the pig was an important food staple in the South. They were low-maintenance and a convenient food source for Southerners. Pigs could be put out to root in the forest and caught and eaten when needed. Although the semi-wild pigs were tough and stringy, barbequing the meat would tenderize it. The traditional Southern barbeque grew out of the celebration of slaughtering time where the neighborhood would be invited to share in the event.

In the nineteenth century, barbecue was firmly established as a highlight at private parties, church picnics and political rallies, where a barbeque was a popular and relatively inexpensive way to lobby for votes. These gatherings also offered an easy way for the classes to mix as barbeque was not a class- specific food. Church barbecues, where a roasted pig supplemented the traditional dishes prepared by the ladies of the congregation, were the evolution of the traditional church picnic in many Southern communities. As the twentieth century progressed, barbecue pits (roadside stands where travelers could buy a cheap barbeque meal) grew and prospered.

The history of barbeque reflects the varied history of the South and can be seen as an emblem of Southern history. For the past seventy-five years, barbecue joints have flourished. Barbeque offers a succulent taste, delicious sauces and that great smoky flavour that become a Southern icon, a symbol that is cherished by Southerners.

Today many believe that barbeque is not just roasting meat quickly over hot coals. That would be considered merely grilling the food. Barbeque should be done in a specific way, slowly cooking the meat over low heat, with the key word being “slowly”. Although barbeque sauce is considered important for flavour in some instances, it is not a necessary requirement to enhance the flavour of the meat.

There are different methods of cooking on the barbeque, namely wood, charcoal or propane. The choice and combination of the type of wood that is burned results in different flavours passed onto the meat being cooked. Favourite common woods include mesquite, hickory, maple, pecan, apple and oak. Coniferous woods should be avoided when barbequing as they contain tar which convey undesirable resins and chemical flavours. It is also important to note that different woods burn at different rates so one should regulate the heat through careful venting.

The method of charcoal barbequing usually consists of setting afire a commercial bag of charcoal briquettes, or alternatively lump charcoal. Many people prefer charcoal over the gas method (or propane method) of barbequing for a more authentic smokey flavour, although this point is disputed in some barbeque communities.

It is believed that gas grills are easier to light, the heat is easier to control and the outcome is more predictable than using the wood or charcoal method of barbequing. The wood smoke flavor can be added to the food cooked on gas grills by soaking wood chips placed in a "smoker box" (a perforated metal box), or a simple perforated foil pouch, under the grilling grate and over the heat. As mentioned, using gas over wood/charcoal as the better way to barbeque is a point of much dispute in the barbeque connoisseur’s world.

Whatever method you use, whichever way you spell the word, barbeque has always been one of the joys in life. Meat seems more succulent, vegetables have more flavour and potatoes are fluffier. It often seems that everything tastes better just by barbequing it. So light up your barbeque today, sit back in your backyard haven, sip on a cool refreshing drink while the barbeque does the cooking, and enjoy!