Barbecue Defined

Some folks think that barbecue, like jazz, is an American invention. Alas, neither the cooking method nor the word is American.

Roasting meat over a fire and smoking meat slowly have been around since naked humans lived in caves. European artists have painted pictures of barbecues since pig hair bristles were first wrapped around a stick to make a brush (the ox roast shown here took place in Italy in the 1500s).

Some think the origins of barbecue are in China where some early kitchens had special devices for smoking. A wonderful speculation on the discovery of the delights of fire-roasted pork was penned by the English essayist and humorist Charles Lamb in 1822. He tells of the Chinese peasant Bo-bo who, long long ago, accidentally burned down his father's cottage and the pigs within. Bo-bo was distraught until he smelled the carcasses. "He next stooped down to feel the pig, if there were any signs of life in it. He burnt his fingers, and to cool them he applied them in his booby fashion to his mouth. Some of the crums (cq) of the scorched skin had come away with his fingers, and for the first time in his life (in the world's life indeed, for before him no man had known it) he tasted - crackling!"

Bo-bo not only discovers barbecue, but "cracklins" as well! He then embarks on a career of arson burning down the neighborhood to sate his hunger for pork. Click here to read Lamb's tale, "A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig."

Just what is barbecue? After witnessing many arguments, I can come to only one conclusion: There are many legitimate definitions. One definition just will not do. Some folks say barbecue must be cooked low and slow with smoke, and all the rest is grilling. Some say barbecue is pork only. Some say ribs aren't barbecue, only pulled pork and brisket are! Below I have tried to get an objective, inclusive, and definitive handle on what the word barbecue means. First, let me put on my flak jacket, because some folks think of barbecue as a religion and I am certain to anger someone with this enterprise. Won't be the first time I've done that!

Let me begin by pointing out what barbecue is not. There is a wrongheaded revisionist movement afoot to narrow the definition of barbecue to this: Pork or beef cooked low and slow with wood smoke. All the rest, they say, "is just grilling". The problem is that this definition flies in the face of history and all the criteria by which dictionaries are written. The revisionists forget that many of the finest barbecue shrines in Memphis cook hot, fast, and some cook with only charcoal. No wood. They also overlook the fact that since the 1600s, people have been calling cookouts with everything from fish to possum "a barbecue". You just can't appropriate a perfectly good word and change its definition, folks.

Here are the legitimate definitions of barbecue, the ones in the dictionary and in common use, and the ones that are historically accurate:

1) Noun. A cookout. A social event centered around an outdoor meal at which meat that was cooked outdoors is served. This is the broadest definition and by far the most common definition. In 1769 George Washington wrote in his diary that he "went up to Alexandria to a barbicue." Colonists cooked everything from squirrels to venison at their barbecue parties. In 1860 newly elected Texas Governor Sam Houston was the featured speaker at the "Great American Barbecue" thrown by the American Party in Austin, to which all Texas citizens were invited for free. Today, a barbecue can include any food cooked over an open flame or coals, such as chicken, fish, or even vegetables. Purists just have to get over it. In England there is an interesting variation, the "barbecue singsong", where food is cooked outdoors, a social event occurs, and singing breaks out. In the classic episode of the BBC sitcom "Keeping Up Appearances", Hyacinth and Richard hold a barbecue singsong. Hyacinth claims that the concept is a party game invented by Henry VIII.

Example of this definition: "At the Fourth of July barbecue we'll be cooking ribs, steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, and marshmallows. Anything we can fit on the grill."

2) Noun. In South Carolina barbecue is traditionally limited to pulled pork, usually from a whole hog or pork shoulder (a.k.a. pork butt), usually served on a hamburger bun. Some of these folks maintain that ribs are not barbecue.

Example: "Let's go git some barbecue at the pig pickin'."

3) Noun. A smoke-cooking device. Purists usually restrict their definition to an outdoor oven that allows the food to cook "low and slow" with both wood smoke and heat. To see some typical examples, click here.

Example: "Santa brought me a cast iron barbecue with Michelin tires this year."

4) Noun. Any outdoor cooking device. This broader, more popular definition includes a wide range of cooking devices whose heat sources can include gas and electricity.

Example: "Honey, the hibachi barbecue finally fell apart. Why don't we spring for a Weber kettle?"

5) Noun. An indoor cooker that generates wood smoke. This definition can include gas or electric cookers used by restaurants. To see some typical examples, click here.

Example: "Yessir Mr. Restaurateur, with the Plug-N-Play Electric Barbecue you don't even need a chef, and you can still hang out a sign that says 'Barbecue' on it."

6) Noun. Korean barbecue is usually beef and it is typically grilled by the diners over a hibachi in the center of the table.

Example: "You can cook this barbecue beef yourself in two minutes and we can still charge you as if we had done the cooking."

7) Noun. Chinese barbecue marinated and roasted in an oven. Although it used to be smoked, centuries ago, hardly anybody smokes it anymore.

8) Noun. Jazz slang for a beautiful woman. The classic 1927 instrumental jazz tune by Louis Armstrong and his future wife Lil Hardin, "Struttin' with Some Barbecue", does not refer to a promenade with a pulled pork sandwich. Far from it.

Example: "Mighty tasty barbecue you had at the Cotton Club last night, my brother."

9) Verb. The act of cooking with a barbecue device.

Example: "Tonight I'm going to barbecue that damn dog iffen he don't shut up."

10) Adjective. Describing food cooked on a barbecue device.

Example: "I love barbecue tofu!"

11) Adjective. The flavor of Kansas City style, ketchup-based sauce.

Example: "Tonight's special is barbecue salmon, poached in white wine with barbecue sauce."

12) Bureaucratese. According to the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9, Chapter III, Part 319, Subpart C, Section 319.80, revised: 1/1/1985 "Barbecued meats, such as product labeled 'Beef Barbecue' or 'Barbecued Pork' shall be cooked by the direct action of dry heat resulting from the burning of hard wood or the hot coals therefrom for a sufficient period to assume the usual characteristics of a barbecued article, which include the formation of a brown crust on the surface and the rendering of surface fat. The product may be basted with a sauce during the cooking process. The weight of barbecued meat shall not exceed 70 percent of the weight of the fresh uncooked meat." This is the definition used by the rules of the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS).

Example: "I'm sorry Mr. Lay, but you cannot label those things 'Barbecue Carrot Chips.' "

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