With Independence Day (the 4th of July) coming up, I thought I would do a blog entry on one of the traditional rituals of the holiday: Barbecuing!I ♥ BBQ |
Barbecuing is a great pastime. It is a word-wide phenomena, a universal commonality that transcends borders and oceans, ethnicity, religion beliefs, and social status. Most cultures have some form of barbecuing tradition, stemming from the fact that before kitchens and stoves, everyone cooked with fire.
Traditionally, barbecuing has been considered a "man's activity." Even when cooking was considered "woman's work," it was the man who was responsible for the barbecue (although side dishes were usually the responsibility of the woman). But as our culture becomes more enlightened, the number of barbecuing women is increasing.
Having participating in the activity frequently, I can assure you a penis is not required for barbecuing, and that having a vagina in no way impairs one's ability to barbecue.
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| Fire was discovered 125,000 years ago by Ogg "Sparky" O'Brien. |
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| An hour later ,a few friends dropped by with a pig, and barbecuing was invented. |
The word barbecue derives from the word barabicu, a Caribbean word translated as "sacred fire pit." The word describes a grill for cooking meat, consisting of a wooden platform resting on sticks.
Traditional barbacoa involves digging a hole in the ground and placing some meat (usually a whole goat) with a pot underneath it, so that the juices can make a hearty broth. It is then covered with maguey leaves and coal and set alight. The cooking process takes a few hours.
The definition of barbecue vary The bylaws of the American Brotherhood of the Barbecue loosely define "barbecue," the primary requirements being:
- outdoors (covered patios are acceptable)
- a grill (or a fire pit); and
- a dead animal.
The preferred "dead animal" varies from culture to culture. In the U.S. the top choices are cow, pig, and chicken.
Muslim nations do not barbecue pig, but sheep and goat are common. Vietnam has an annual rat barbecue. The most bizarre (IMHO) is tribes in South America that roast tarantula on an open fire.
In New England, Clam-Bakes are popular. Some purists argue that a "clam-bake" is not barbecuing. But in that it fulfills the outdoors/fire/dead animal requirement, the Brotherhood acknowledge (reluctantly) that clam-baking is a form of barbecuing - much the same way that the Armed Forces acknowledges (reluctantly) the Coast Guard as a part of the military.
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The term buccaneer derives from the
Caribbean Arawak word buccan, a
wooden frame for smoking meat,
preferably manatee. From this derived
the French word boucane and hence
the name boucanier for French hunters
who used such frames to smoke meat
from feral cattle and pigs on Hispaniola
(now Haiti and the Dominican Republic).
English colonists anglicised the word
boucanier to buccaneer.
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Barbecuers of the Caribbean: About 1630, some Frenchmen who were driven away from the island of Hispaniola fled to nearby Tortuga. The Spaniards tried to drive them out of Tortuga, but the buccaneers were joined by many other French, Dutch and English and turned to piracy against Spanish shipping, generally using small craft to attack galleons in the vicinity of the Windward Passage. Finally they became so strong that they even sailed to the mainland of Spanish America and sacked cities.
English settlers occupying Jamaica began to spread the name buccaneers with the meaning of pirates. The name became universally adopted later in 1684 when the first English translation of Alexandre Exquemelin's book The Buccaneers of America was published.
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Theodore J. Barnes
In all fairness, I must defend my Uncle. Granted, he provided a beer to a 13 year old, but it wasn't as if he was giving me whiskey.
He didn't give me hard alcohol until I was old enough. Sixteen.
I will cover Uncle Theo in
future blog entries.
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I was initiated into the BBQ Brotherhood at the age of 13 by my Uncle, Theodore J Barnes, who decided it was time that I became a man, and that I needed to know manly things.
He presented me with my first apron, along with a baseball-style cap (Seattle Seahawks) and a pair of tongs. He looked me over, paused, then decided something wasn't quite right. After a moment of thought, he discovered what it was, reached into the cooler, and handed me a can of beer, proclaiming my appearance now to be perfect.He introduced me to the paraphernalia of barbecuing (spatulas, tongs, etc.) and demonstrated their usage, explained how (and how not to) start a barbecue, and dissertated on the various edible animals, and the best way to prepare and barbecue them.
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."
~ Frank Zappa |
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The Fertile Crescent
(Cradle of Civilization) I ♥ Beer |
If you remember from school, civilization began some 10,000 years ago in the middle east when nomad tribes settled down and began farming. But there was an abundance of food available in these areas, and there would have been no motivation to become agricultural.
Why work, when food is readily available?
Some archaeologists believe that beer was the catalyst for civilization. To brew beer, one needs to settle (at least temporarily) in one place. Inventing agriculture allows the settlement to continue after naturally occurring food sources are (quickly) depleted - as well as creating more grain to brew more beer. Pottery is developed (storage for grain, and beer), animal husbandry (animals for barbecuing), architecture (storage buildings for grain, and beer), and so on. Before you know it, you have civilization.
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Fire was discovered 125,000 years
ago, where as beer was only invented
10,000 years ago, which means that
for 115,000 mankind was forced to
barbecue without beer.
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ME: I'm not sure.
SARAH: They didn't have aluminum cans back then.
FREEDOM: Beer bottles?
SARAH: The didn't have bottles, they had clay pots!
MACKY: So they invented it to label clay pots.
ME: Why did do that?
MACKY: So they would know which clay pot had regular beer, and which had light beer.
And for those of us with "Uncle Theos," the illegal stuff purchased on the Indian reservation.
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[Independence Day] ought to be
solemnized with pomp and parade…
I wonder what John Adams would have bonfires and illuminations (fireworks)... (Letter to Abigail Adams,1776)
thought if he knew how much fire
damage (and personal injuries) occur
due to the misuse of fireworks.
On behalf of us dogs, thank-you to
all the firefighters who have to deal
with all the stupidity every year.
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Alcohol and fireworks don't mix.
That is probably why personal fireworks are becoming illegal.
That, and the grass fires.
The very first celebration of Independence Day was in 1777, six years before Americans knew whether the new nation would survive the war; fireworks were a part of all festivities. In 1789, George Washington's inauguration was also accompanied by a fireworks display. This early fascination with their noise and color continues today.
Macky Rae, my youngest dog is confused by this. He understood patriotism, he just didn't understand the need to blow things up with fireworks in order to celebrate. And quite frankly neither do I.But he does love barbecue!
Although not mentioned by the founding fathers, barbecuing has become a traditional part of celebrating the Fourth. Independence Day is one of the three "official" barbecuing days of summer recognized by the American Barbecuing Brotherhood (the other two being Memorial Day and Labor Day).
Speaking of the Revolution...
Independence Day marks the official signing of the Declaration of Independence which spelled out out grievances with Britain. The American Revolution was started on two things: Terrorism (the Boston Tea Party) and Armed Rebellion (Lexington and Concord), two acts that the United States will not tolerate today.
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| Viva La France! |
In other words we cheated.
And even then, we probably still would have lost had the French not decided to come to our aid.
More colonist supported Britain than those who supported Independence. And the majority of colonist really didn't care one way or the other as they were more concerned with the day to day affairs of making a living - who actually would govern them was not a major concern.
And as for Taxation without representation: An offer was made to allow colonist to send representatives to Parliament. Due to the low population of the colonies compared to the high population of Great Britain, the few representatives that the colonies would be entitled to would have negligible impact. The rebels decided against accepting the offer, preferring armed rebellion.
You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.
~Erma Bombeck
Barbecuing during the summer is not restricted to these "official" days. The bylaws of the American Barbecuing Brotherhood allows for barbecuing on any day (summer or no), and calls for "sanctions" or members who fail to barbecue when an opportunity presents itself.
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The Orion Nebula, which Macky Rae
believes to be the residual smoke of an
intergalactic barbecue
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In Where are the Aliens? I mentioned that Macky Rae enjoys science and science fiction. He believes that there is a race of dog-like aliens living on a planet around one (or both) of the dog stars. According to Macky, their primary form of recreation is barbecuing.
"Do they have beer?" I asked.
"Probably not, Dad."
"Why not?"
"Dogs do not drink beer" he told me. "But they do have a football team."
Have a Happy and safe 4th of July!!!
I like it!
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