Where is the Bar-B-Que traditionally from?

Question

I have always associated it with Australia but I am not sure.
Why is it called an Bar-B-Que - and is that how you spell it? (Maybe it should be Barbie-Que if it is Australian!).
Is it the equipment that is called Bar-B-Que, or is it the method of cooking?
I suspect that it is possibly simply an Aboriginal method of cooking on an open fire - so where did the name Bar-B-Que come from and what does it mean?

Answer 1

probably the french west indies.
"goats were impaled "de la barbe au cul" (from beard to butt) and thus barbe-cul = barbecu = Barbecue."

Answer 2

barbecue
Origin: 1733

Many years before the United States was founded, before English speakers occupied the Southwest, and before tract houses with backyard grills spread across the suburban plains, Americans had already invented barbecues. The first barbecues, in fact, were the invention of the Taino Indians of Haiti, who dried their meat on raised frames of sticks over the fire. Spanish explorers translated the Taino word as barbacoa, and in due course English settlers along the Atlantic coast had their own barbecues.

One summer day in 1733, Benjamin Lynde, a substantial citizen of Salem, Massachusetts, wrote in his diary, "Fair and hot; Browne, Barbacue; hack overset." That is, on this hot day he went to the Brownes to attend a barbecue, and his carriage (or maybe his horse) tipped over. His experience may have been upsetting, but it indicates that the social occasion of the barbecue was established by that time. Large animals would be roasted whole on frames over hot fires, and neighbors would be invited to dine.

In later centuries, as settlement pressed westward, the barbecue went along with it, reaching an especially grand size in Texas, where a pit for fuel might be dug ten feet deep. Present-day barbecue grills are likely to be small and portable, fueled by charcoal or propane or electricity, and capable of cooking only parts of an animal at a time, but they still operate out of doors and provide a reason for inviting the neighbors over.

Answer 3

Barbecue, so I have heard, comes from the French word, same spelling slightly different pronunciation. Back in the days when people used to cook whole animals instead of just bits of them the beast was cooked from top to bottom on a spit which is kind of what barbecue means, 'barbe au cul' from 'beard to behind'.

Answer 4

It's a Caribbean word. Back in the days of buccaneers and pirates, seafarers around there bought barbecued, spiced wild pork from the locals because it kept well aboard ship. But you're right about the Aussie connection. It's a big deal in Aussie and here in NZ in summer.

Answer 5

Bar-B-Que always existed since man is on earth but it tooked its name from Amerindians who used to push a bar through their meat to hold it and roast it over the fire. Bon appétit. Salut.

Answer 6

well if it's from Oz surely it would be called a barbie

it could even originate from cave men times, coz as soon as someone discovered fire and tossed a chunk of meat on it, wouldn't that be classed as a bbq?!?

anyway it seems each country has it's own flavour. i like the usa style with loads of marinade and sauces, the aussie style is basic meat and heat, the italian style with lots of delicacies including chicken and baby octopus, even the vietnamese style with live prawns and delicately flavoured meat.

got me hankering for one now, shame it's almost 10pm, ah maybe tomorrow.

Answer 7

The whole animal has been cooked over an open flame dating back to the stone age .

Answer 8

In South Africa, we've been grilling meat over coals for hundreds of years. Before there was a white Australia, I'm sure.

Answer 9

Australia / America - I'm not sure. I'm an Aussie - So I like to think we came up with the brilliant idea!

Answer 10

dono