So summer has arrived, and you just have to go outside, right? Well, it’s about time we fire up the grill and invite all of our friends for a classic Barbecue.
Hold on a minute. Did you just say a ‘Barbecue’?
Stop and think about that. What do you really know about a BBQ? Why do we call it that? I’m sure you probably didn’t know that you shouldn’t call it a barbecue at all! In fact, there are distinct definitions on what legitimises a BBQ and what doesn’t. The one you are planning should probably be called a ‘Cookout’.
Confused? Granted. Let me try to enlighten you on the terminology for outdoor cooking. This is where culture, regions and delicious food slide into focus, and depending on your preference, it could tell us a great deal about yourself.
In particular, the classic barbecue you were planning is far from classic. Rather it is the mixture of a long line of tradition and western culture. Following World War II, the United States entered a golden age in virtually all levels of society. This is where the trendy ‘tradition’ of ‘barbecuing’ during the summer started: at least in Western society. If you look further back in time, you will realise that several cultures around the world, such as the African tribal populations, have done this for centuries and according to them, what you are planning will be nothing like the ‘real deal’.
So what defines a ‘real’ barbecue? According to African-Americans and African people, a BBQ is defined as an outdoor grilling, where it is essential that you include chicken, ribs and fish on the grill. The grilling we plan rarely includes anything else but hot dogs and hamburgers, so naturally this is where two cultures clash. In the end, the difference becomes simple: a barbecue and a cookout. The former is a whole day event, and almost a ritual, which indeed may originate from the ‘African tribal’ style of outdoor grilling. Then, a cookout event (which becomes the westernised form of BBQ) is a simple get-together, which usually takes about one or two hours to complete. However, the central difference between the two is this: in a cookout, the practice of modernised gas grills, where you just flick on a switch and it grills itself, is very common. Yet, when you look at a traditional barbecue, you hoard wood and charcoal to cook the meat low and slow with no modern grills or fake-fires, or whatever fancy gadget you have.
So the next time you plan to invite your friends for a… let’s say… ‘a get-together for outdoor grilling’, you will have an interesting anecdote to tell!
Or even better, plan a real barbecue, scrap your high-tech gas grill, head for the beach, and enjoy a summer of good traditional barbecuing.
References
By Oscar Larsson
Student at University of Glasgow, School of Social & Political Sciences
Communication Trainee at TermCoord