In the developed world, with rapid urbanisation and high-density housing, cooking meat directly on an open fire is likely to be a rare occurrence for much of the population.
It’s sad to believe that so many people are denied the experience of eating perfectly charred meat flavoured by wood or charcoal smoke. Something that cannot be replicated by modern, conventional methods of cooking.
It’s a shame, also, that they won’t get to enjoy the conviviality of sitting around the fire as the caramelising meat sizzles over the hot coals, releasing rich, intoxicating aromas; a tantalising hint of a great meal to come.
As much of a gastronomic treat as it is, grilling meat over an open fire is one of the most ancient activities know to humanity. And it’s certainly the oldest method of cooking food.
Evolving one bite at a time
Approximately 2.5 million years ago, climate change caused the ancient forest to decline, which led to the creation of the African savannah. The grassland ecosystem sustained the world’s widest variety of large herbivores. It was a biome so productive that it caused our ape-like ancestors to abandon subsisting in trees and evolve into upright-walking homo habilis.
Advancing from a diet of fibrous leaves, bark, insects, nuts, seeds, roots, and fruit to consuming meat in copious quantities was unquestionably the most decisive factor in the early evolution of hominins.
The calorie-dense diet of meat and bone marrow, rich in protein, essential amino acids, and micronutrients including B complex vitamins, folic acid, and mineral salts, resulted in rapid brain and body growth. The elements needed to fuel evolution.
Consuming meat of larger animals, as well as aquatic fauna, changed our pathology in other ways too. For example, teeth became smaller, as did the gut because the digestion of meat required less energy.
The eating of animal flesh undoubtedly began as a form of opportunistic scavenging of carrion. But as later hominin species evolved, hunting, gathering, and fishing skills were developed. Also perfected was the ability to manufacture stone tools sharp enough to gain easier access to nutrient-rich carcasses.
Meat meets heat
For hundreds of thousands of years, meat was consumed raw, which has led some palaeoanthropologists to theorise that our early hominin ancestors would have spent around twenty-five per cent of their waking hours chewing!
The next quantum step in our evolution came with the mastery of fire and the invention of cooking, which is estimated to have happened around 1.5 million years ago by homo Erectus, the first hominid to leave Africa.
Over and above killing dangerous pathogens that cause sickness, the cooking process breaks down the fibres, which tenderises the flesh, making it far more palatable. Heat also helps to release more protein and carbohydrates, making it more nutritious and making the calories easier to absorb. All of which fed the fast-growing brain, which accelerated hominoid evolution.
By the time the earliest species of Homo sapiens arrived in Africa, around 315 000 years ago, the preparation of food had also evolved. As ‘sapiens’ is the Latin word for ‘wise’, our early ancestors certainly lived up to the name.
There’s abundant archaeological evidence to suggest that our Neanderthal relatives – who populated an area that stretched from western Europe to central and northern Asia, between 130 000 and 40 000 years ago – were far more sophisticated than previously thought.
For instance, they had numerous ways of preparing the meat of the large game they hunted: roasting, boiling and even preserving it through the use of smoke. There is also evidence that they made soups, stews and stock by boiling bone marrow. They also added herbs such as yarrow and camomile to flavour their meat.
Approximately 30 000 years ago, our ancestors were boiling meat with root vegetables by dropping heated stones into vessels. And ten thousand years later, ceramic pots and pans were being manufactured in China to be used as vessels for boiling and frying food.
Earth ovens or underground pit cooking was another method that ancient humanity perfected. The technique is simplicity itself: dig a hole in the ground, prepare a large bonfire inside the hole, line it with rocks, and once the fire has died down, place the meat, covered in leaves, on top of the heated stones. Then cover with soil and leave to cook slowly in the trapped heat for several hours. Called a 'hāngī' by the Māori people of New Zealand, an umu by Tongans and Samoans, and an imu by the Hawaiians, it's a method of cooking that is still enjoyed on special occasions throughout the Pacific islands.
Earth oven cooking can also be found in the Americas - think of the iconic clambakes of New England. And popular in Morocco in which a celebratory tandir is used to slow cook a whole lamb.
Throughout the ages, meat has always been the most expensive edible commodity. And so, every civilisation has developed ways of preserving this precious commodity, such as salting, smoking, and drying meat.
Also, preparations such as pemican, a mixture of meat, fat, and fruit, and jerky, and the South African favourite, biltong, are all forms of preserved meat that are still hugely popular today.
BBQ, Barbie, Gogi-gui or Braai?
Grilling or roasting meats over an open fire is a love affair that’s lasted for 1.5 million years. Although it enjoys universal appeal, certain regions have elevated al fresco meat grilling to national passions.
Regions that spring to mind include Asia and the Middle East. Here, meat is cut into small cubes or minced and doused in various marinades before being skewered onto sticks or metal rods, and cooked over hot coals. The kebab, in its vastly different forms, must be the original fast food.
Enjoyed throughout a vast swathe of the globe, they are arguably the most popular way to prepare meat. They also come in a wide variety, espetadas from Portugal, shaslik kebabs from Turkey, yakitori from Japan, and dozens of variations in every country in between.
While talking of Japan, the country that has turned cooking into the most exacting form of artistry, is also know for the hibachi grill.
Hibachi grills (or ‘shichirin’ in Japanese) are small, flat-topped cast iron vessels that burn charcoal as the fuel source. Although ‘hibachi’ is also the name used to describe the cuisine fried on a flat solid griddle that’s part spectacle with chefs juggling their cooking implements, the small, direct fire variety is the original hibachi grill.
Being small and portable, hibachi grills are used indoors. However, the hibachi is also used for ‘dirty grilling’ or ‘live-fire cooking. The method has the meat placed directly on the red-hot coals that introduce more char and a more pungent taste of the smoke. Needless to say, it’s not a technique for the faint-hearted chef.
In Korea, grilling meat is similar to hibachi in many ways. For example, Gogi-gui is thinly sliced beef, chicken or pork marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, ginger, scallions, garlic, sesame oil, sugar, and fruit. It can also be grilled at the table before being wrapped in salad leaves and eaten as finger food.
Other regions where grilling meat on an open fire is practised with enthusiastic fervour are north, central and South America, southern Africa, and Australasia.
A BBQ in America, a barbie in Australia, a braai in South Africa, churrasco in Brazil, and an asado in Argentina are culinary activities that are avidly enjoyed by citizens of these countries.
It’s interesting to note that one experience these regions share was post-17th century colonialism. As the pioneers trekked through the vast pampas, savannahs, and prairies, they were sustained mainly on hunted meat cooked on open fires. Therefore, it’s fair to assume that the romance and the adventure associated with this history can explain why this method of cooking has become so fervently entrenched in these countries.
In South Africa, for instance, a multi-cultured country that boasts eleven official languages, there’s only one word for grilling meat al fresco – and that’s ‘braai’.
A braai or braaivleis (grilled meat) consists of all the popular meats cooked as steaks, ribs, chops, whole joints, or cubed meat skewered as sosaties (kebabs).
The braai also caters for a wide variety of game meat, including kudu, springbok, impala, and other venison varieties. The dark, beef-like Ostrich meat is the most favoured. And, with almost 3 000 kilometres of coastline, a wide variety of fish and seafood also ends up on the braai grid.
Another firm favourite is boerewors (farmer’s sausage). Usually, a thick coiled sausage spiced with coriander, cloves, nutmeg, salt and sometimes a dash of vinegar is mixed with a rich concentration of around 90% of coarsely ground beef.
Blessed by an abundance of ingredients and a warm to a baking-hot climate that encourages an outdoor lifestyle, the ‘barbie’ is as much an institution in Australia as an ice-cold beer.
All the common domesticated meats – lamb, beef, pork, and chicken – are popular. In addition, sausages, or ‘snags’ as they are called down-under, are integral to any barbie.
Australia is one of the world’s largest producers of red meat, which is exported to over one hundred countries. So, as you can imagine, the quality of Aussie meat is world-class.
Also, as an island surrounded by the Indian, the Western Pacific, and the Southern Ocean, as well as the Timor, Tasman and Coral Seas, the variety of fish and seafood on offer can only be described as spectacular.
So, be it a snag between two slices of bread and slathered in tomato sauce or a full-on gourmet creation, it’s little wonder that the barbie is such an essential part of the Australian lifestyle.
With Brazil being the world’s second-largest beef supplier, after the USA, it isn’t hard to guess the country’s favourite meat that’s served up as a churrascaria, the national barbecue of Brazil.
The churrascaria originated with gauchos (Brazilian cowboys) when cattle ranching started on the pampas over four centuries ago. The traditional cooking method had the beef being heavily salted and left to stand for an hour before cooking. It would then be basted with a salt-water blend to moisten the meat as it cooked.
The modern churrascaria favours prime rib of beef, lamb, chicken and linguica, a rustic Portuguese pork sausage that’s heavily spiced with paprika, chilli, and garlic. The meat is impaled on long sword-like skewers and cooked on racks. The fattier meats are always placed on the highest rack so that the rendered fat drips down to coat the meat below.
As far back as the 1940s, the Brazilian style of grilling meat was professionalised through rodizio style restaurants. More of a novelty than a standard steakhouse, the service begins when the customer is handed a card that’s green on one side and red on the other. Placed on the table green side up, it informs the waiters, who walk around carrying large skewers of sizzling hot slabs of meat, which plates need replenishment. Red side up means the customer surrenders.
This feast of meat is usually charged as a preço fixo (fixed price) rate.
If eating beef became an Olympic event, Uruguay would pick up the gold medal for consuming 124.4 lbs (56.2 kgs) per head. And silver would be awarded to its neighbour, Argentina, with a per capita consumption at 4 lbs less.
Known as asado for barbecue and parrilla for grilling, like Brazil, gauchos also created the origin of this Argentinian cooking method. And the meat selection and method of meat preparation is similar to its Portuguese-speaking neighbour.
But along with the meat, the Argentinians and Uruguayans are fond of offal. Usually, the starter course will include chitterlings, sweetbreads, kidneys, morcilla, a traditional blood sausage, and chorizo sausage, which is ubiquitous in that part of the world.
One aspect of this grilling, which is notably Argentinian, is the asado cross. A method of spit roasting a calf, lamb, pig, or goat that forces the carcass to be splayed along a cross-shaped frame of metal rods. It is then held up close to the fire, a la Cruz as it’s called, and doused in a salmuera, a brine of water, coarse salt, and herbs, and roasted slowly for hours.
Even though this newsletter is focused on fire-grilled meat, a word has to be said about Argentina’s and Uruguay’s herbaceous side dish that’s taken the world by storm: chimichurri.
A loose, oil-based condiment, chimichurri includes very finely chopped parsley, garlic onion, paprika, red chilli, dried oregano, plus seasoning, a generous amount of red wine vinegar, and lashings of extra virgin olive oil.
The quintessential cuisine of the US must be barbecue. However, there is such a wide range of barbecue styles. With each one jealously guarded, it’s difficult to pinpoint a generic American barbecue style. However, this diversity is generally narrowed down to four core regions: the Carolinas, Memphis, Texas, and Kansas.
Mind you, within the Carolinas, there are still vast local differences. For example, on the eastern seaboard of North Carolina, they tend to go the whole hog, so to speak. An entire pig is slowly smoked and grilled before the meat, which falls off the bone, is pulled. Then it is served with a thin sauce of apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and seasoning to taste.
On the west side of the state, however, people prefer the darker meat of a pork shoulder. They liven up their vinegar sauce with a splodge of tomato ketchup.
In South Carolina, the pork is prepared pretty much the same way as their northern neighbours. Still, they are insistent on their own sauce – the yellow Carolina Gold sauce. It’s pretty similar to the northern vinegar sauce variety, except that it includes a quantity of yellow mustard and honey.
Memphis is also renowned for its pork barbecues. Pulled pork from whole hogs, shoulders, plus ribs, are prepared with either a dry rub or basted in a thin, sweet, tomato-based BBQ sauce. This caramelises as it grills for an extra layer of sweet, tangy flavour.
The pit-masters of Memphis take barbecuing very seriously. Their dry rubs, for instance, can contain as many as forty different spices.
As the world knows, Texas is beef country. And its most celebrated low-and-slow, off-the-grill delicacy is smoked brisket, thinly sliced and served in a sandwich. Pork ribs are also on the Texan BBQ menu, as are spicy hot gut beef sausages initially introduced by German immigrants. In the southern part of the state, the distinct earthy mesquite-smoked flavour dominates barbecue dishes.
The Kansas style of barbecue is also very distinctive. In this metropolis, all meats are enjoyed equally: beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and turkey are all smoked. But there are some unique dishes, too. Like burnt ends, for instance, the tips on the brisket are sliced off and then put back into the smoker for extra char.
Also, the thick, sweet, and tangy BBQ sauce is unique to Kansa City. It’s made of molasses, brown sugar, and tomato. And it’s slathered on meat before, during and after the smoking.
Barbecue is as old as the USA itself. In fact, during early colonial days, Spanish explorers coined the the word ‘barbacoa’ to denote the preservation meat by slow roasting or smoking.
One thing’s for sure, American barbecue – in whatever regional style – is so delicious it’s little wonder it’s been preserved for the last three hundred years. And no doubt, it’ll still be a firm favourite three hundred years hence.
I’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to leave a comment.
A fascinating overview of the different ways in which meat can be grilled.
btw yes ‘barbecue’ comes from the Spanish ‘barbacoa’ but this is thought itself to be derived from ‘baribicu’ a word used by the Caribbean Taino amerindians to describe a wooden framework on sticks used to roast meat. Apparently the Conquistadores appropriated many Taino words including those for potato, tabacco, as well as the names of Caribbean islands eg Jamaica is derived from ‘Xaymaca’.
Robin B
Can I add something about barbecue etiquette? As mentioned at the beginning of the article barbecue is very convivial and usually each guest adds some meat to the barbecue but then can straightaway select a piece that is already cooked. This has been my experience in the UK, the US, Australia, France etc but it shouldn’t be imagined that this is the case in every country. For example, Germans - who are as generous as anybody else in my experience - expect to eat only the meat that they themselves bring to a barbecue. Woe betide anyone who snaffles their meat!