Barbecue

Barbecue, (also spelled barbeque, or abbreviated BBQ) is a method of cooking food with the radiant heat and/or hot gasses of a fire, the cooking of food in a sauce that includes vinegar, the end-result of cooking by one of these methods, or a party that includes such food. Barbecue is usually cooked in a covered environment heated by an outdoor open flame of wood, charcoal, natural gas or propane. Restaurant barbecue may be cooked in large brick or metal ovens specially designed for that purpose.

Etymology

The word varies in spelling; variations include barbeque, BBQ, and Bar-B-Q.

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Smoky Hale, author of The Great American Barbecue and Grilling Manual (ISBN 0936171030) traces the word back to its Caribbean roots in Taíno (one of the Arawak family of languages).

Related Topics:
Taíno - Arawak

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In one form, barabicoa or barbicoa, it indicates a wooden grill, a mesh of sticks; in another, barabicu, it is a sacred fire pit.

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Traditional barbicoa implies digging a hole in the ground putting some meat (goat is the best, usually the whole animal) on it with a pot underneath (to catch the concentrated juices, it makes a hearty broth), cover all with maguey (cactus) leaves then cover with coal and set on fire. A few hours later it is ready.

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However widely used, the spelling "barbeque" is a result of a gradual misunderstanding of the "BBQ" abbreviation. Due to this abbreviation, with the third syllable "-cue" being represented by the identically-sounding letter "Q," people came to believe that the word was spelled "barbeque." This is also evident in viewing the word's Taíno roots, with all three variations being spelled with the letter "c," as opposed to "q."

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