Barbecue
Although the true source of barbecue is vague, its origin is most likely in the Southern region of the United States. A highly popularfood and important community and family ritual, various regions and interests have attempted to lay claim to what has become an industry throughout the country. One theory states that the word "barbecue" is a derivative of the West Indian term "barbacoa," which entails the slow-cooking of meat over hot coals. While most Americans view a "barbecue" as any type of outdoor cooking over flames, purists, as well as regional and ethnic food experts, agree that real barbecue is a particular style of cooking meat, usually outdoors, with some kind of wood or charcoal burning apparatus. While pork is the only acceptable barbecue meat in many areas of the south, beef, fish, and even lamb are used in many other areas of the United States. Needless to say, barbecue of some variety is found in almost every culture of the world that cooks meat.
Techniques for judging good barbecue include a highly defended personal taste and the particular tradition of an area. Common to most barbecue are flavorings which adhere to the meat, slowly seeping into it; at the same time, the heat breaks down the fatty substances that might make meat tough and reduces it to tender morsels filled with flavor. Different types of woods—hickory and mesquite among them—are frequently used by amateur barbecue enthusiasts as an addendum to charcoal. Wood chips, however, will not really contribute any specific flavor to meat prepared over charcoal flames. The true beauty of the barbecue is when slow cooking turns what were once cheap, tough cuts of meat—like the brisket and ribs—into a tender and succulent meal.
Barbecue began, and still remains, at the center of many family and social gatherings. From "pig roasts" and "pig pulls" to the backyard barbecue of the suburbs, people have long gathered around the cooking of meat outdoors. Additionally, church and political barbecues are still a vital tradition in many parts of the South. Unlike most food related gatherings that take place indoors, men have traditionally been at the center of the cooking activity. The "pit men" who tended the fires of outdoor barbecue pits evolved into the weekend suburban husband attempting to reach culinary perfection though the outdoor grilling of chicken, steak, hamburgers, and hot dogs.
Despite the disappearance of many locally owned restaurants throughout the country due to the popularity of chain stores and franchises, regional varieties of barbecue can still be found in the late 1990s; pork ribs, for example, are more likely to be found in the Southern states and beef ribs and brisket dominates in states like Missouri and Texas. The popularization of traditional regional foods in the United States has contributed to the widespread availability of many previously isolated foods. Just as bagels, muffins, and cappuccino have become widely available; ribs, brisket, smoked sausages, and other varieties of barbecue can be found in most urban areas throughout the United States. Barbecue has clearly become more popular through franchises and chain restaurants which attempt to serve versions of ribs, pork loin, and brisket. But finding an "authentic" barbecue shack—where a recipe and technique for smoking has been developed over generations and handed down from father to son—requires consulting a variety of local sources in a particular area, and asking around town for a place where the local "flavor" has not been co-opted by the mass market.
Further Reading:
Barich, David, and Thomas Ingalls. The American Grill. San Francisco, Chronicle Books, 1994.
Browne, Rick, and Jack Bettridge. Barbecue America: A Pilgrimage in Search of America's Best Barbecue. Alexandria, Virginia, Time-Life Books, 1999.
Elie, Lolis Eric. Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country. New York, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1996.
Stern, Michael, and Jane Stern. Roadfood and Goodfood: A Restaurant Guidebook. New York, Harper Perennial 1992.
Trillen, Calvin. The Tummy Trilogy: American Fried/Alice, Let's Eat/Third Helpings. New York, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1994.
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