Origins of the word "Barbecue"

SirPorkaLot

SirPorkaLot

somebody shut me the fark up.
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I have done some research on this subject, and have come across several different answers, but the most prevalent seems to be that the word "barbecue", originated in the West Indies (Caribbean) island of Hispaniola (now haiti & dominican republic).

The local Arawakan Indians were indigenous to this area and had a method of erecting a frame of wooden sticks over a fire in order to dry meat. In their language, Taino, they called it a barbacòa, which Spanish explorers borrowed.
The earliest references this word dates all the back to the 1690's

Barbacoa is now used to describe a specific spanish dish, as opposed to a method of cooking meat (among other things), but remains the origin of the word Barbecue.

I put this out there only to share what I have learned and to get feedback from what others may have learned on this subject.
 
I don't know about the specifics, but I can tell you that around here, it means both. The name of the dish (barbacoa--Cheek Meat) and it also means the process of cooking meat in a hole in the ground. Doesn't matter if it's beef, goat, lamb, or even pig......when done in the ground they call it barbacoa, more so because of the process.
 
My great great great granddad invented barbecue right after he invented Texas. And cows. Haven't you heard?
 
I thought is was invented by Al Gore?

Oh wait... that was the Internet :rolleyes:

I've read a couple of different version of the origin of Barbacoa, but the version that John mentions in the first post seems to be the most common. As far as Barbacoa in Mexico, I have found references to Barbacoa when talking specific meat (like Barbacoa de Cabeza), but also when talking about meat cooked over coal either in a pit in the ground or otherwise. An example of this is Cochinita Pibil, which is pork, which is also referred to as Barbacoa.

Confused? Me too...
 
What a great way to get everyone in the mood for the Joyous Christmas Season...

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen!
 
Bigmista said:
My great great great granddad invented barbecue right after he invented Texas. And cows. Haven't you heard?
Click to expand...


I've heard...


"My great great great grand daddy created them in Texas back before they discovered oil and just had a bunch of metal drums laying around. And meat. Lots of meat laying around. Briskets grew on trees back then and when they were ripe they just fell on the ground.

So one day, Buford (my great great great grand daddy) thought to himself, I'll bet one of those briskets would be good if I cooked them over a fire. So he went and got some of the fire that he had invented the day before and put it in one of those drums. Then he put a stick thru one of those briskets and stretched across the top of the drum and cooked it thus creating Barbecue. Then he took what was left and threw it in a lake and what do you know, cows came walking out of the water.

The people around were so amazed that they decided to name the area after him. Now Buford T. Strawder was a bit of a long name so they just decided to use his middle name, Texas.

So in conclusion, my great great great grand daddy created fire, Barbecue, cooking in vertical drums, cows and Texas.

Really. Look it up."



Or isn't this what you were talking about?:-D
 
Bigmista said:
My great great great granddad invented barbecue right after he invented Texas. And cows. Haven't you heard?
Click to expand...

Yes, yes, we also heard that your great great great grandad STOLE the idea,
because BBQ pre-dates Texas by a hundred years or so... :) It's a creole
thing, from the suthun' plantations in SC, NC, and GA. Texas wasn't
even a phart yet.
 
I thought Al Gore invented it! He did invent the internet and pants
 
Look you guys are nuts my wife was born in Spain and teaches Taino and she says...

...never mind...

Pass the bees in adobo sauce and lets have a party...
 
I left the bees in adobo with a guy who was supposed to deliver it, but, he says on the way, there was this crazed Italian guy with a spear shaped like a flag pole waving out in front of him screaming 'farking rats' with a duck following him. He decided not to keep going.
 
The real origins of the word are shrouded in secrecy, and have origins in the secret society of the BBQ Illuminati. The first 3 letters B.A.R. stand for Bunnies and Rabbits. These creatures have some mystical significance within the sacred order, but little is known for certain. The the middle Bee sound has it's origins in the legend of a gas grill that turned into a bee-hive. Finally, the Q at the end is the symbol used to represent the Secretive Squirrel Society. Some have theorized that since the letter Q is the prominent sound in the word squirrel, that this is why this letter is used. Others suggest that the letter represents an acorn with a stem hanging down.
 
bigabyte said:
The real origins of the word are shrouded in secrecy, and have origins in the secret society of the BBQ Illuminati. The first 3 letters B.A.R. stand for Bunnies and Rabbits. These creatures have some mystical significance within the sacred order, but little is known for certain. The the middle Bee sound has it's origins in the legend of a gas grill that turned into a bee-hive. Finally, the Q at the end is the symbol used to represent the Secretive Squirrel Society. Some have theorized that since the letter Q is the prominent sound in the word squirrel, that this is why this letter is used. Others suggest that the letter represents an acorn with a stem hanging down.
Click to expand...

This one makes the most sense to me. I'm in....please send an invite to the sacred order and SSQ...I promise that I am worthy.
 
You all are forgetting the little known derivative of barbacoa.........BEERIACOWA. Refers to brisket cooked in a drum accompanied by BEERIA!:lol:
 
jshepwnc said:
I have done some research on this subject, and have come across several different answers, but the most prevalent seems to be that the word "barbecue", originated in the West Indies (Caribbean) island of Hispaniola (now haiti & dominican republic).

The local Arawakan Indians were indigenous to this area and had a method of erecting a frame of wooden sticks over a fire in order to dry meat. In their language, Taino, they called it a barbacòa, which Spanish explorers borrowed.
The earliest references this word dates all the back to the 1690's

Barbacoa is now used to describe a specific spanish dish, as opposed to a method of cooking meat (among other things), but remains the origin of the word Barbecue.

I put this out there only to share what I have learned and to get feedback from what others may have learned on this subject.
Click to expand...


I spend a few months in Haiti every year, in Cap-Hatien/Morn Rouge, Ayiti Nord to be exact. My wife and i work at the EBAC orphanage as educators/teachers/trades men. The closest thing i found to BBQ there was called BUCAN in Kreyole, they would cover a large peice of meat with grasses and large leaves creating a chamber to fill with smoke and cure the meat. Similar to what you described Its the base of the word "bucanier" (boo-con-yay) or in english BUCANEER. They called pirates this because they would always smoke thier meat to preserve it for long periods of time at sea. Now in haiti they just cook hogs and goat over burning garbage and eat it as it cooks. A far cry from what that country was.

merite--JAson
 
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