There was a recent thread about pies and what they meant to you. It was a very interesting thread (pies ARE mince and cheese) that gave us all a moment to clarify what a pie really is and what silly foreigners thnk they are.
I would like to address barbeque in the same way.
HOPEFULLY (fingers crossed and all that) it will be summer here soon. I am dying for a barbie. It has been months and months since a barbie has been possible.
To me bbq or barbie means slapping some sausies, chops, steak or even (I blame my mother) chicken on the coal/gas/wood fired fire on the deck/lawn. No fancy sauce or marinade or any-bloody-thing other then meat mets fire. After the meat mets fire one has lashings watties tomato sauce and a lots of salad. All done. No frivolity, just meat on fire.
ROLL ON SUMMER pleeeeeeeease (it’s taking it’s bloody time!). What does Barbeque mean to you?
It means either smoking or grilling meats with either a sauce or a rub. If you grill meats without sauce or rub it’s just grilling; if you smoke meats without sauce or rub it’s just smoking. BBQ means the rub or the sauce is added to the meat either before or after the meat is cooked.
I spent much of my life in Oklahoma, where BBQ meant slow cooking meat over a flame (like a pit) until the meat was so tender it fell off the bone (if it was on a bone), and could melt in your mouth. Sauce, if necessary (it usually isn’t) was an afterthought, and while the meat may have been coated with a dry rub (seasonings) before cooking, sauce was never added to the meat during cooking.
Boy was I in for a shock when I moved to the east coast. In Pennsylvania, BBQ means slapping some piece of meat on a grill and cooking it until just done. Usually, there’s lots of sauce squirted all over it and because of the speed used to cook the meat, the meat is frequently tough and hangs onto the bone for dear life.
If there are any Dopers in or around Tulsa, drive by Knotty Pine BBQ outside of Sand Springs and eat a BBQ rib for me.
As the Unofficial SDMB caveman, I consider BBQ, the cooking of meat (beef, pork, vension, chicken, turkey) over open flame of the charcoal variety, or the gas grill variety, it must be outside though…It doesn’t have to be rubbed with anything, blood if a fine marinade.
In the UK and Ireland, a ‘barbecue’ is one of two things:
a) the grill apparatus
b) the social occasion of grilling food outdoors
I realise in some parts of the US this is called a ‘cookout’. And barbecue, as served in Tennessee anyway, is really tender grilled meat (usually pork) in an amazing sauce.
That whole grilling thing confuses me. For me (and I hope many other Kiwis or I’m confused alone) grilling is a heat from above. I think you call it broiling which sounds most unappetising. You put things on a grill when BBQing but you don’t grill them.
I agree with phall0106. Real BBQ is slow-cooked and the sauce is served on the side. So “BBQ” means what he said.
But to me, it also means “meat with BBQ sauce”, as in “BBQ sandwich”. I’ll toss my meat in a slow cooker* and cook it for about six or eight hours, then mix in some BBQ sauce and eat it in buns. It’s not “real BBQ”, but it’s tasty.
[sub]*Yes, I phrased it that way on purpose. [/sub]
BBQ in Holland. Same as UK and England. The thing upon which you cook meat and other stuff outdoors or the party around it.
Not worth the effort IMO.
In Virginia where I was on holiday. Really tender meat in sauce, like Jjimm described in Tennessee, I think. Oh my God, ever so worth the effort! Some enterprising Tennessean or Virginian, please bring it over here. Yum.
(Also in Tennessee I had amazing barbequed Cornish game hen, but those where just the whole birds, covered in sauce and grilled, not the mushy stuff. Also quite delicious.)
There is no specific definition for what barbecue is or what A barbecue should be. It is generally considered a cookout where meats are cooked on open flame or smoke. Grilling or smoking is a part of barbecuing. Usually both are done simultaneously…there are some meats that require a long time to cook and some that are cooked faster than others.
What you choose to put on the meat varies as well. Not only between types of meat and various preparations but between the regional recipes and the preferences of the participants.
Some people bake meat in their oven and add barbecue sauce to the recipe and swear that they have made BBQ. I’ll admit that some of the baked BBQ is better than some “real” barbecue that I’ve had. Their fault, not mine.
For me… a barbecue is an opportunity to get together with friends/family and have a good time while enjoying the outdoors and maybe even get some good chow cooked on an open fire. Usually coals from hickory or mesquite wood. I generally will have ribs, links or sausage, a brisket and a chicken or two.
If I’m in a BBQ competition…my team has a dozen trophies at the State level.
If it’s for a competition.
The heat HAS to be from wood. Smoked and/or grilled…with no sauce added AFTER the meat is done. I marinate whatever it is I’m preparing well beforehand and usually don’t add anything once I’ve started the cooking process other than basting.
Some exceptions of course but I’ve said it many times. “Good meat doesn’t need a lot of enhancing.”
It needs to be prepared and cooked properly. Not covered in a layer of gunk.
Everyone knows that cold beers, margaritas and good tunes are a requirement at any good BBQ.
Make mine a Shinerbock, ice cold cuervo gold and some Willie and Waylon or Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Q (where I live, you don’t need the “BB” to 'splain yourself) is pork shoulder cooked all day over smokey, Hickory embers until it is melt-in-yo-mouth tender. Then it is hand-pulled and served with yummy sauce. This can either be on a bun with coleslaw or a big, heaping serving on a plate with other appropriate fixings.
There seems to be a difference in English here. Americans “have some barbeque” where as we “have A barbeque”. Ours seems to be more about slapping meat on fire when it is a sunny day. Americans seem to have a thing for some mystery sauce.
(recipe please…I don’t even know what I’m asking the recipe of, but be a devil educate me)
Oh, I’ve also spent most of my life in Oklahoma, and when I hear “barbecue”, I think of “grilled meat and sauce”. It’s just not barbecue to me without sauce.
Regional coloquialisms aside, there is actually a cuinary definition of barbecue, and it must involve smoke. That’s really the only technical qualification. The rest of you are just cooking things on a grill and misappropriating the term.
I agree that in most cases a good sauce is a must. But if you’re gonna use it be careful with it. Too much is not good. There’s not much worse than a bunch of burnt gummy sauce on an otherwise good piece of meat. If it’s a family cookout I’ll use a bit of sauce and have some on the side. If it’s competition, I’ll use very little if any actual sauce. Maybe a brush or two right before taking it off (MAYBE) and that’s it. Rubs and/or dry seasonings tend to do a better job in some cases BUT not all.
Yeah, Like I was saying, it’s not as simple as asking…what’s BBQ? as opposed to what is a BBQ?, meaning the event.
Close. Regions in the US where BBQ is prevelant (Texas, the Carolinas, Kansas City, among others), you “have some BBQ”. Regions that don’t have a strong tradition “have A BBQ” - usually referring to hamburgers and hotdogs. When I moved to Indiana from Kansas City, imagine my surprise when I show up to a friend’s BBQ, and I’m the only one who actually brought any barbeque sauce! (And that was as a gift!)
You people are all heathens. Barbecue (n): slow cooked PORK in a vinegar based sauce. The only proper barbecue is found in Eastern North Carolina. Perhaps as far west as Durham County.
“BBQ” means Allman’s Drive-In to me. It is a restaurant in Fredericksburg, where I grew up.
“Two with everything” means two smoked pork sandwiches, with a tomato-based sauce, with cole slaw (on the sandwich), french fries, and a large lime-ade. Pie for dessert.
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