Is BBQ an American thing?

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BoopBoopBeep · Accepted Answer

Cooking food over fire predates civilization. Talking about the culture of BBQ, I'm sure even back then people were gathering around Og's fire because Og cooked the T-rex (yeah, I know) better than the other guy. In the Latin American countries I've been too, cooking out was done, sure, but because perhaps so much of their food is cooked over fire, because they culturally know how to cook better than most of the "further north" parts of the Americas, I think it's less of a big deal there than it is in say, the Carolinas or Atlanta. African cookouts, while varying greatly from Uganda to, say, Morocco, are kind of the same. If there's a big feast, there's fire involved, but there's fire involved in a great many meals, so it's not always "an event" per se. In the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, masgouf is prepared with much fanfare and there is more of what most people would consider the BBQ culture of say, a pig-pickin' in Louisiana or Texas, and whole sheep are roasted with great fanfare in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan that I know of, and I suspect most of the "lesser 'stans" as well. I think the reason it stands out TO Americans (from the U. S., not from "the Americas") is because so little of our cooking is done over actual fire that it seems quite the occasion when it is.

OfMiceandMen · Accepted Answer

I think every country has used open flame to slow cook their food at one point and developed "BBQ" recipes from that. So there's not one country where it really evolved from.

One could say, that BBQ originated once caveman discovered fire, because they slow cooked everything over open flame/embers.

butterly248 · Accepted Answer

The history of the word bvq goes back to the indigenous people of North and South America, the Spanish word barbacoa was used by the Taínos who inhabited Hispaniola, Jamaica and Cuba. Barbacoa was used to describe the slow cooking of meat over an open flame

MrOracle · Answer

It didn't originate in the US, but it has been greatly expanded in the US and is quite common. There are even many different BBQ competitions, some being held for 50 years or more, so people have worked hard for a long time to perfect their BBQ techniques.

slatyb · Answer

No, it's not. There's an Australian saying "Throw another shrimp on the barbie"

renodnol32 · Answer

I don't think so. Many cuisines have their own kinds of bbq. A global thing i would say.

Jared91 · Answer

BBQs are huge in Australia

Is BBQ an American thing?

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