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Articles: Food
- Barbecue Basics
By Laura
Kjer
Since the Stone Age, man has been perfecting the
art of cooking using a direct flame. If you were to ask someone
about the history of barbecue, you would most likely get a response
similar to the
statement above. However that would not be quite
right as there is a fundamental difference between simply cooking
with a flame and having a barbecue. If you don't add some sauce, to
the direct flame method, you are grilling, not having a barbecue. To
truly barbecue is to baste and slow cook meat 5 or 6 hours at a low
temperature (around 200 degrees), over wood or charcoal.
Today when you think of going to a barbecue, you may conjure
up the idea of a hamburger or steak, so big and juicy, it melts in
your mouth. Alternatively, perhaps a hot dog grilled to perfection
with all the toppings. The phrase barbecue has evolved to mean
either the meat served or the social event where the meat served
has been specially prepared to represent a
barbecue taste.
Regardless of which area of the US you choose as your favorite for
barbecue, the barbecue is an American Tradition, handed down from
generation to generation. There's no chance the barbecue party will
lose it's appeal anytime soon.
While there's no question
that the barbecue is an American delicacy, there are many different
theories as to where its origins lie. The state of Texas, Virginia,
the Carolinas, or Georgia, each
area has it's own definition and
history of
barbecue. It may well be that each area has it's own
rightful claim to the barbecue history as each uses different
methods and sauces to make their own unique barbecue.
And
there would be no BBQ without a Texas barbecue sauce, which is thick
and sweet with a rich tomato flavour. Texas sauce also uses a
dry-rub mixture of seasonings which is applied to the beef and then
the meat is hung over the BBQ to slow cook.
The southeast
barbecue sauce, is a thinner sauce, with more of a vinegary taste.
Their meat of choice is likely to be pork. The method used here is
to`use a pit or enclosure to concentrate the cooking heat and smoke
around the meat whilst it is being prepared.
Almost every
family has their own unique taste and method used to get just the
right barbecue. At your next barbecue, if you want to rev up the
conversation between barbecue connoisseurs, just casually ask, Do
you know the difference between barbecue and grilling? Or, where did
the barbecue originate? Of course, it may depend upon the number of
drinks you have served as to the answers you get. But the responses
are sure to be varied and interesting.
Laura
Kjer was the webmaster of Shop
Barbecue.
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