It's hard to say exactly when our ancestors started to cook with anthropologists arguing a little butphylogenetic analysis suggests thathumanancestors may have inventedcookingas far back as 1.8 million to 2.3 million years ago.
Re-analysis of burnt bone fragments and plant ashes from the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa has provided evidence supporting control of fire by earlyhumansby 1 million years ago meaning we have been BBQing for a while!
Around 1.9 million years ago some major changes occurred in hominin biology. Compared with its ancestors,hom*o erectushad very small teeth, a small body and a much larger brain. According to a controversial hypothesis put forward by primatologist Richard Wrangham, these changes were driven by cooked food. In fact, Wrangham believes that cooking drove our lineage’s divergence from more ape-like ancestors and that the bodies ofhom*o sapienscouldn’t exist without cooked food.
Cooking requires cognitive skills that go beyond controlling fire, such as the ability to resist the temptation to scoff the ingredients, patience, memory and an understanding of the transformation process. Recent experiments with chimps found that they have many of the cognitive and behavioural skills needed for cooking – and therefore it’s likely thathom*o erectusdid too.
There are, however, flaws in the cooking hypothesis. Many of the adaptations attributed to cooked food such as large brains could have arisen through an increase in raw meat consumption. The disconnect in time between the biological evidence and the control of fire is another stumbling block.
But whenever cooking was invented, it has evolved into one of the most varied and inventive elements of human culture. We cook thousands of different types of animal, plant, fungus and algae using a dazzling array of techniques. We spend far more hours planning and preparing food than actually eating it, and then sit down to watch programmes about it, hosted by people who have become millionaire household names. We cook, therefore we are.
But what about BBQ, well BBQ as we know it that ismeat cooked over a grill or pit, covered in spices and basting sauce originated in the Caribbean.
The word barbecue comes from the language of a Caribbean Indian tribe called the Taino. Their word forgrilling on a raised wooden platform is barbacoa. The word first appeared in print in a Spanish explorer's account of the West Indies in 1526, according to Planet Barbecue.
Linguists have suggested the word was loaned successively into Spanish, then Portuguese, French, and English. In the form barbacado the word was used in English in 1648 by the supposed Beauchamp Plantagenet in the tract A description of the province of New Albion: "the Indians in stead of salt doe barbecado or dry and smoak fish". According to the OED, the first recorded use in modern form was in 1661, in Edmund Hickeringill's Jamaica Viewed: "Some are slain, And their flesh forthwith Barbacu'd and eat"; it also appears in 1672 in the writings of John Lederer following his travels in the North American southeast in 1669–70. First known use as a noun was in 1697 by the English buccaneer William Dampier. In his New Voyage Round the World, Dampier wrote, " ... and lay there all night, upon our Borbecu's, or frames of Sticks, raised about 3 foot from the Ground".
Samuel Johnson's 1756 dictionary gave the following definitions:
"To Barbecue – a term for dressing a whole hog" (attestation to Pope)
"Barbecue – a hog dressed whole"
While the standard modern English spelling of the word is barbecue, variations including barbeque and truncations such as bar-b-q or BBQ may also be found.
The spelling barbeque is given in Merriam-Webster and the Oxford Dictionaries as a variant. In the southeastern United States, the word barbecue is used predominantly as a noun referring to roast pork, while in the southwestern states cuts of beef are often cooked.
So in the USA which is arguably the global authority on BBQ would they consider what we Brits call BBQ to be a BBQ or a grill?
In American English usage, grilling refers to a fast process over high heat while barbecuing refers to a slow process using indirect heat or hot smoke, similar to some forms of roasting.
In a typical U.S. home grill, food is cooked on a grate directly over hot charcoal, while in a U.S. barbecue the coals are dispersed to the sides or at a significant distance from the grate.
In British usage, barbecuing refers to a fast cooking process done directly over high heat, while grilling refers to cooking under a source of direct, moderate-to-high heat—known in the United States as broiling. Its South American versions are the southern Brazilian churrasco and the Argentine asado.
So here we have a discord, our friends over the pond in America consider what we call a good old BBQ to be nothing more than grilling, or is that broiling? What Americans call BBQ is actually slow roasting in a smoky environment, this is confusing....
So in the UK, we generally use the term BBQ for pretty much any method of cooking meat outside over something burning, charcoal or wood, direct or indirect, fast or slow, lid or no lid, however in America BBQ means low, slow and indirect and we have to admit, they are rather good at it compared to us. (that was painful)
Looking at other cultures one of our heroes Francis Mallmann suggests that there are actually 7 methods of cooking meat over fire, these are
1. Chapa - a cast iron griddle or skillet
2. Little Hell - cooking with fire above and below the food
3. Parilla - basically what's called barbecuing or grilling in the US
4. Horno de Barro - cooking in a wood-fired clay oven
5. Rescoldo - cooking food by burying in hot embers and ashes
6. Asador - cooking pigs or lambs affixed to an iron cross that faces a bonfire
7. Caldero - cooking in an iron cauldron or Dutch oven.
So even in Argentina, it's not clear what is BBQ and what is not.
So, should we reconsider what we call BBQ and be more precise regarding our use of the word like our friends across the pond or be happy to consider anything cooked outdoors to be BBQ, be it grilled (broiled) or not?
As an avid enthusiast and expert in the field of culinary history, particularly in the context of cooking methods and the evolution of barbecue, I bring a wealth of knowledge to the discussion. My expertise extends to the historical timeline of human cooking practices, the impact of cooked food on human evolution, and the cultural variations in barbecue techniques.
Let's delve into the concepts and ideas presented in the article:
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Cooking and Human Evolution: The article touches upon the debate about when our ancestors began to cook. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that cooking may have originated 1.8 to 2.3 million years ago. Evidence from the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, specifically burnt bone fragments and plant ashes, supports the idea that early humans controlled fire a million years ago.
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Impact of Cooking on Evolution: Richard Wrangham's controversial hypothesis proposes that major changes in hom*o erectus, such as smaller teeth, a smaller body, and a larger brain, were driven by the consumption of cooked food around 1.9 million years ago. This, according to Wrangham, marked a divergence from more ape-like ancestors.
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Cognitive Skills and Cooking: Cooking requires cognitive skills beyond fire control, including resisting temptation, patience, memory, and understanding the transformation process. The article mentions recent experiments with chimps demonstrating cognitive and behavioral skills relevant to cooking, suggesting that hom*o erectus likely possessed similar abilities.
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Evolution of Cooking into Human Culture: The article highlights the evolution of cooking into one of the most varied and inventive elements of human culture. It emphasizes the diversity of ingredients and techniques used in cooking, as well as the cultural significance of food preparation.
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Origin of BBQ: The word "barbecue" is traced back to the Caribbean Indian tribe Taino, with the term "barbacoa" referring to grilling on a raised wooden platform. The article notes the first recorded use in modern form in 1661 and explores the linguistic journey of the word through Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English.
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BBQ in the United States: The article discusses the American concept of BBQ, differentiating between grilling (fast process over high heat) and barbecuing (slow process using indirect heat or hot smoke). It highlights the regional variations in the U.S. regarding the types of meat cooked and the methods employed.
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International Perspectives on BBQ: The article introduces the South American versions of barbecue, such as the southern Brazilian churrasco and the Argentine asado. It underscores the cultural differences in the interpretation of what constitutes BBQ.
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Methods of Cooking Meat Over Fire: Francis Mallmann's seven methods of cooking meat over fire are presented, ranging from the cast iron griddle (Chapa) to cooking in an iron cauldron or Dutch oven (Caldero). This illustrates the global diversity in barbecue techniques.
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Defining BBQ in the UK and the U.S.: The article reflects on the semantic differences between the UK and the U.S. regarding the term "BBQ." In the UK, it is a broad term encompassing various outdoor cooking methods, while in the U.S., BBQ specifically refers to low, slow, and indirect cooking.
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Cultural Considerations: The concluding question raises a cultural dilemma: whether to adopt a more precise use of the term "BBQ" akin to the U.S. or maintain a broader interpretation as in the UK.
In summary, the article navigates through the historical, cultural, and linguistic aspects of cooking and barbecue, showcasing the complexity and diversity of human culinary practices.
