Let's Talk BBQ
Tips, Tricks & Just Good Advice! => Burn it in the Back Yard with Hub! => Topic started by: Hub on April 20, 2013, 08:08:02 AM
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This article will likely be in the June KCBS Bull Sheet but fits well with our philosophy here so I'm posting it for general reading.
Hub
What Is It About Barbeque, Anyway?
By
Gordon Hubbell
KCBS MCBJ & CTC 30439
Food just flat enchants us, have you noticed? If you doubt it, look at the several cable TV channels that have sprung up in the last few years totally dedicated to it. And that doesn’t include all the cooking shows on all the other channels or the “reality” shows that pop up on food themes featuring food gurus. We are a nation of foodies! We watch it, we cook it, we eat it. We dote on it. We adore it. We’ve made it as central to our life as politics and religion. It defines us!
But even more interesting is how “barbecue” (I put quotation marks around it because there are so many absolutely futile definitions of it) seems to be the central aspect of so many of our televised food programs. Even the shows that aren’t about barbeque seem to always have something “outdoorsy” or even blatantly rubbed, smoked, slathered with sauce or grilled. What is our obsession with this indefinable cuisine?
I think the central, core, gist, nut, down-deep, driving thing in the American populace that always gets us around to barbeque sooner or later is that everyone loves it! I’ve thought about it a lot and I really can’t recall ever meeting, feeding, or sharing a meal with anyone who didn’t at least “like” barbeque in some form or another. We’ll “talk barbeque” at the drop of a hat and be totally unabashed about sharing cooking tips, recipes or even likes and dislikes for all of its many, many variations. It is a conversation and a language unto itself. Anyone can participate and everybody has an opinion!
Like apple pie, hotdogs, and hamburgers (all of which can be cooked in the great outdoors on a variety of fired up devices), barbeque is America, Americana, and American through and through. Yes, it could have coincidentally started from some open-air broiling apparatus in Spain or the Caribbean. A puff of mesquite smoke may have blown across the border from South America. Some Frenchman might have sniffed a charcoal briquette or two while sipping an aperitif. However, I will brazenly state that barbeque, by construction, intention, adoption and absolute obsession is American food, through and through! No other nation celebrates the concept of outdoor cookery the way we do here in the USA.
There is another aspect of barbeque that is a little delicate to deal with – it has a pronounced masculine side. Most (but certainly not all) barbeque cooks are male. That doesn’t mean one has to be of the Y chromosome persuasion to be good at it, but there is certainly something about it that particularly interests the male of the species and, in fact, many of those masculine examples would never dream of tying on an apron and baking a cake, but they’d fire up a mess of charcoal and slap a steak on the grill, slather up a batch of wings, or smoke a brisket at the drop of a hat. Maybe it’s the fire and the smoke. Maybe it’s just being outdoors. Maybe it goes deeper and there’s something genetic wherein our caveman ancestors dragged home a haunch of critter and then cooked it over a fire to feed the family and it lodged in our DNA. Heredity can be a powerful thing.
Maybe we love barbeque because of the flavors. Think about it. They really run the gamut. Rubs can be tangy, tart, salty, and even carry a nip of heat. Sauces blend sweet and sour with every conceivable spice combination we can think of. Smoke of all kinds adds a note of difference to whatever we bathe in it. Add it all up and most other foods don’t begin to have the potential delicious complexity of a barbequed rib! The flavor profile isn’t even definable. Some forms of barbeque are sweet, some sour, some hot, some simply meaty. The total effect, though, is stellar and ultimately appealing! And, it is hard to create the same set of flavors over and over, reliably. It takes considerable skill, dedication and attention to detail to keep producing a favorite mix – leading to my central point: Barbeque lends itself beautifully and perfectly to competition! Who among us is the best? It is a quest of epic proportions, pursued by thousands and enjoyed by millions.
Yes, there are other food competitions. There are competitions for restaurant chefs, for chili, for recipes using certain food manufacturer’s goods and even competitions for decorating cakes! But, these contests don’t draw huge crowds to a park on a hot Saturday afternoon. They don’t create acres of sweet hickory smoke. They don’t attract the motorcycle, farm machine, music, or antique car crowd or even folks who just want to mill around the city square and gawk at food, each other, and lots of other stuff. Other foods don’t have the universal appeal that makes a whole family pack into the car and head out in search of a bite of something potentially wonderful that everybody loves. But barbeque does! It is messy and sticks to your fingers and your chin. You like to wash it down with something cold and fizzy. It may warm you up a bit. You may wear some of it before you’re through. Isn’t it wonderful? It’s a carnival on a plate, folks!
Barbeque is just exciting and perfect proof that God loves us. It isn’t just a way to cook, it’s a way of life. It’s an obsession of flavor and a passion for competition. Win a prize in a barbeque contest and you’re at least a local legend. And, you know what? Anyone can give it a shot. There are no barriers or stringent requirements for lengthy pedigrees or prerequisite courses or training. No snobs. The playing field is level. Learning to be a good barbeque cook or judge isn’t easy but anyone who wants to take a shot at it can do so. That’s the best part -- everybody wins!
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USA USA USA!!!
Great read Hub
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USA USA USA!!!
Great read Hub
X2!!!
Art
That reminds me, I need to plan what I am cooking for my dinner tonight. The wife is out of town tonight and the options are wide open!
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Praise the Lord and pass the brisket! ;D
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Well, I was going to mow the lawn. Heck with that. I'm going to barbeque. Thanks for a great read Hub.
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Hub, Great article and synopsis of what it's all about.
I think back to my Daddy cooking and BBQing in the 40s, 50s, and 60s and see how things have changed so much. I believe we are living in the "Golden Age of Outdoor Cooking" today because of all the availability of equipment and sources of information such as YouTube and this one for us to share and learn. This is our heyday... as were the 50's and very, very early 60's were for the USA...let's realize it and enjoy it. Dee
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Great article! Now I am all fired up about BBQ!
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That reminds me, I need to plan what I am cooking for my dinner tonight. The wife is out of town tonight and the options are wide open!
When this rare event falls in my lap I always resort to one of two things: Ribs with HOT sauce, or a big skillet of liver and onions. Don't forget to clean up after yourself, though ;)
Hub
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Hub,
I don't do liver and onions. Good waste of onions, IMO. But I love good liverwurst. Go figure. The ribs, on the other hand, are an excellent idea. I am leaving for Sam's Club very shortly.
Art
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Great article Hub, and I love some good calf liver and onions cooked in a cast iron skillet. Yumm.
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Great article Hub, and I love some good calf liver and onions cooked in a cast iron skillet. Yumm.
2P..you make some liver and onions and I will bring the smoked eggs and bologna to the gathering this fall. What do ya think? Pam .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.
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You don't have to make any liver and onions for me.
Art
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Good as always Hub. Amen on the liverwurst ibthink I have to try smoking some!
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Hub, Great article and synopsis of what it's all about.
I think back to my Daddy cooking and BBQing in the 40s, 50s, and 60s and see how things have changed so much. I believe we are living in the "Golden Age of Outdoor Cooking" today because of all the availability of equipment and sources of information such as YouTube and this one for us to share and learn. This is our heyday... as were the 50's and very, very early 60's were for the USA...let's realize it and enjoy it. Dee
Here is Dee's father years ago doing some ribs ;)
He is the one with the pipe. Dee looks a lot like his dad.
(http://i624.photobucket.com/albums/tt326/TMBs/ff6e1228-0815-4bc9-9139-6cd2f2e5cfcf_zps87c53702.jpg) (http://s624.photobucket.com/user/TMBs/media/ff6e1228-0815-4bc9-9139-6cd2f2e5cfcf_zps87c53702.jpg.html)
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Wow what a great picture. Very cool.
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Liver and onions... I'll eat it, but I can't say I go out of my way for it. My dad on the other hand could eat it three times a day. Need to call him and say hello. :)
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What a great article!!!
Now I feel real good about my obsession.
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My Daddy is the one with the pipe in his mouth. He used to do a lot of cooking for the schools, churches, political rallies among other groups. Never took anything other than the cost of food. He got the white coats loaned to them from the C&S grocery store and the awning from Cleve Fountains Funeral Home. When he would do a BBQ that required someone staying up all night that one be an old gentleman named "Mr Ward" and he would sip on a pint of Early Times the entire night as he tended the meat. Sometimes I'd be out there with him and always wanted to add more coals to the pit and he'd get on me. This went on in the '40s, '50s, 60's till he died in Jan 70 a year after I got back home from Viet Nam. Tommy, Thanks for posting that. Dee
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I hope I can get some good pics when we have our family gathering on July 6th in Appling, GA. My sister's husband and 3 son's will be getting up real early to cook a whole pig (about 80 pounds) over their brick pit. He cooks about 8 a year for various groups and occasions and has been doing so for over 30 years. He's pretty doggone good at it. His boys keep the fire barrel going and he adds the coals as needed. He doesn't use a thermometer so I don't know HOW he knows what temp he's cooking at, but he hasn't turned out a bad one yet. All the guys hang out at the pit and when it is "right", they start pulling it apart and chopping it up. All the choppers get samples as they go along.
You know...he makes a great vinegar-based sauce for moppin' and dippin', but he will NOT give me the recipe.
I'll keep you posted...