Cowboy Cookin'

The trail hands slogging their way across the American West in endless cattle drives were allotted less than perfect cuts of meat as part of their daily rations. But these cowboys were nothing if not industrious, and they soon discovered these cuts, like the stringy brisket, could be much improved with five to seven hours of slow cooking to tenderize. Soon they became adept at other meats and cuts, like pork butt, pork ribs, beef ribs, venison, and goat.

And no discussion of culinary history would be complete without the French stepping in to assert their hegemony. Many assert the origin of the word goes back to Medieval France, stemming from an Old Anglo-Norman word, "barbeque," a contraction of the old-french expression "barbe-à-queue," or, "from the beard to the tail," referring to how a whole animal was speared before being cooked, spit-style, over a fire.

But this is all conjecture, as no one is really certain of the origin of the word.

Barbecue Etymology – The French Claim

To understand the French claim, you first have to know that the first barbeques were fire pits over which whole pigs were roasted. In South Carolina, pigs were plentiful but there was not a lot of salt, so curing wasn’t a good option.

If you got a pig, you needed to cook the whole thing and eat it as quickly as possible, lest it go to waste. Add some vinegar and peppers to the mix and you would get a little better shelf life plus some vitamin C. How about a little mustard as well? They added that at some point, too. The South Carolina barbecue was born.

But how was the word born? Well, one theory is that it came from the French words barbe à queue which translate loosely into “from beard to tail.” So, it alluded to the whole pig from his beard to his tail. I don’t buy this one at all.

Those who subscribe to the above theory say that it refers to the practice of roasting the whole pig, which makes sense. The French had little influence on the region compared to the Spanish, however, and it was the Spanish who brought the pigs in the first place, so most subscribe to a Spanish origin.


What is Barbecue?

Barbecue is a popular culinary practice designating both a cooking appliance, but also the social activity it represents.

The barbecue (or BBQ for short) is practiced outdoors and is based on simple principles: a heat source and a grill (or a spit) allowing food to be cooked or grilled.

The significant release of smoke and the odors caused by cooking meat make this practice an activity reserved for the outdoors. Barbecue is very close to "grillade" or grill, and the two are often confused.

The term barbecue (or BBQ) refers not only to the meal itself, but also to the social event it represents!