# What do you guys think of these articles are on the origin of BBQ/low and slow meat smoking?



## paul_alex (Dec 8, 2020)

There seems to be a slew of articles ( https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/how-southern-barbecue-got-to-texas/
, https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-tradition-enslaved-africans-native-americans ) going around claiming that European descended Americans never BBQed/low and slow smoked meats before they saw black people doing this. Is there any truth to this? And is there even any truth to the idea that this low and slow smoking has Native American origins when this article (https://www.thoughtco.com/medieval-food-preservation-1788842) asserts that Europeans smoked meat in the medieval time period?


> Smoking was another fairly common way to preserve meat, especially fish and pork. Meat would be cut into relatively thin, lean strips, immersed briefly in a salt solution and hung over a fire to absorb the smoke flavoring as it dried — slowly. Occasionally meat might be smoked without a salt solution, especially if the type of wood burned had a distinctive flavoring of its own


I've also seen claims that brick pits with chimneys, offset smokers and smokehouses were invented by African Americans as well. Any truth there?


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## krj (Dec 8, 2020)

I'm definitely no expert historian. But from what I've noticed there are 3 basic but similar food items that every social group of humans, no matter their location around the globe seemed to all figure out without any apparent outside influence.

1. Bread - Every culture seems to have figured out in some form or fashion how to make bread. Were their influences upon their breadmaking from outside cultures later on, yes but the it seems like they had the basics down prior to external influence.
2. Alcohol - Same as bread, the form of said alcohol may differ from region to region, but early humans figured out how to booze it up with what they had on hand.
3. Preserved foods- This one is related to your question, and at a certain point every culture had to discover this to survive. Every area in this world can have it's challenged when it comes to the long term sustainability of food sources. Seasonal changes, animal migration, weather patterns like floods and droughts would have cause the early peoples to figure out way to preserve their meat/vegetables/fruits. And likely smoking was found to be a popular choice.

Now, onto what is considered to be "traditional BBQ" if there is such a definition. From what I've read over the years, the style of cooking that is considered "BBQ" i.e. cheaper cuts of meats that have been slow cooked with wood as a fuel/flavor source is most heavily influenced by African culture. That's not to say that the Europeans didn't smoke meat, but it was likely in a vastly different style than what the roots of our BBQ would have been.

Again, I'm not a historian and the information I've acquired over the years was from various sources so take it with a grain of salt, some black pepper and garlic/onion powder as well.


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## bill ace 350 (Dec 8, 2020)

Similar to the deep-frying debate....

I remember years ago a group of people claiming to be the ancestors of those who "invented" deep fat frying,  and attempted to patent the process.

I think it is ridiculous for any region or group to claim title to either technique.


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## paul_alex (Dec 8, 2020)

krj said:


> I'm definitely no expert historian. But from what I've noticed there are 3 basic but similar food items that every social group of humans, no matter their location around the globe seemed to all figure out without any apparent outside influence.
> 
> 1. Bread - Every culture seems to have figured out in some form or fashion how to make bread. Were their influences upon their breadmaking from outside cultures later on, yes but the it seems like they had the basics down prior to external influence.
> 2. Alcohol - Same as bread, the form of said alcohol may differ from region to region, but early humans figured out how to booze it up with what they had on hand.
> ...



Isn't credit usually given to native Americans though? The word itself is a Taino Indian word. And I'm confused about the cheaper cuts of meat part. Wouldn't that be associated with African American and Caribbean foods like Cowfoot soup, goat head, tripe, pig feet souse and  pickled hens feet? How does that jive with the original BBQ of Virginia and the Carolinas being whole hog? Pork shoulder and beef brisket came later on and the latter def has German roots.


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## noboundaries (Dec 8, 2020)

Paul, does tax day rings a bell? 

My wife once worked with an archeologist who admitted that much of what we're taught of ancient history is sometimes an anecdotal compilation of collected facts that are later found to be completely unrelated. So, that brings me to the origins of smokehouses and low n' slow. 

Smoked meat for preservation goes back as long as humanoids have been hunting and curing meat, WELL before the start of agriculture. Jerky was probably the result of ancient hunters eating a hunk of animal that died in a forest fire and realizing it was still good. Or, someone left a hunk of dinner on the fire, drank a bunch of fermented yak milk, woke up hungry three days later, and took a bite of the tough, but  preserved, meat.

Low n' slow? Cultures worldwide have been burying animals and covering them with smoldering fires for millenia. Probably the original low n' slow or slow cooker.

And then comes winter and frozen ground.

Smokehouses with low n' slow was probably someone making a winter kill and hanging too large a hunk of meat in a stack of logs over a smoldering fire. They took a bite of the thick cut when thinner cuts were already preserved as jerky. Their eyes flew open and they grunted their equivalent of, "My, what a fantastic mistake! This is wonderfully delicious with a soft and supple texture."

Anecdotes, entertaining stories containing a kernal of fact dry rubbed with a coating of assumptive BS. I'm full of both.


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## paul_alex (Dec 8, 2020)

bill ace 350 said:


> Similar to the deep-frying debate....
> 
> I remember years ago a group of people claiming to be the ancestors of those who "invented" deep fat frying,  and attempted to patent the process.
> 
> I think it is ridiculous for any region or group to claim title to either technique.



But this narrative has gotten mainstream. I had "friends" (blocked now) on facebook accuse me of cultural appropriation  when I posted a picture of a brisket I smoked. That's a stupid concept to begin with but even worse when it likely isn't true. I think its an assumption that the earliest pitmasters were all slaves.

This describes the situation I think.



> One of the frustrating things about these early colonial records is that they tell us virtually nothing about who was doing the barbecuing. Today the barbecue cook, or pit master, as he (usually it’s a he) is sometimes called, is a celebrity of sorts, respected for his arcane skill. Then it was a different matter. A popular assumption is that the first pit masters were enslaved people. However, while there undoubtedly were enslaved people cooking barbecue fairly early on, large-scale slavery did not gain a real foothold in the South until the late 1600s, by which time barbecuing was already commonplace.
> 
> It is very likely that enslaved people did the cooking at the well-heeled barbecues attended by George Washington in the late 1700s, but poorer whites probably did quite a bit of their own barbecuing. None of which is to deny African-Americans the enormous contributions they have made to American barbecue, but it seems reasonable to view barbecue as the ultimate representation of the American melting pot, created by Native Americans and transformed by different groups of Blacks and whites.











						In Search of Real Barbecue
					

American barbecue is more than a way of cooking — it’s myth, folklore, and history




					www.americanheritage.com


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## Displaced Texan (Dec 8, 2020)

paul_alex said:


> But this narrative has gotten mainstream. I had "friends" (blocked now) on facebook accuse me of cultural appropriation  when I posted a picture of a brisket I smoked. That's a stupid concept to begin with but even worse when it likely isn't true. I think its an assumption that the earliest pitmasters were all slaves.
> 
> This describes the situation I think.
> 
> ...


Wow, now I think I've heard it all. Wonder what will happen when I post my next brisket.


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## paul_alex (Dec 8, 2020)

noboundaries said:


> Paul, does tax day rings a bell?
> 
> My wife once worked with an archeologist who admitted that much of what we're taught of ancient history is sometimes an anecdotal compilation of collected facts that are later found to be completely unrelated. So, that brings me to the origins of smokehouses and low n' slow.
> 
> ...



Agree. The narrative is that in Europe they only smoked cured meat and it was only till slaves taught colonists how to cook low and slow that smoking was done to make meat tender. But I imagine those smoldering fires over holes in the ground and smokehouses with low n' slow probably existed in Europe too.

On a side note there is this intresting low and slow technique from Greece that supposedly dates to the time of _The Iliad._









						Antikristo Is the Greek Barbecue Method You Don’t Want To Miss
					

Simple yet delicious.




					matadornetwork.com


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## paul_alex (Dec 8, 2020)

Displaced Texan said:


> Wow, now I think I've heard it all. Wonder what will happen when I post my next brisket.



Sometimes I think real life is an article straight out of _The Onion_


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## bbqbrett (Dec 8, 2020)

Interesting articles to read for sure.  I had pretty much heard all of that and even some different variations in other articles and some TV shows as well.  Truly though, I don't believe that any one segment of society or culture can take credit for BBQ.  People all over the world have been cooking over fire\smoke with seasoning and sauces etc. for thousands of years with all sorts of techniques.


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## TNJAKE (Dec 8, 2020)

noboundaries said:


> Paul, does tax day rings a bell?
> 
> My wife once worked with an archeologist who admitted that much of what we're taught of ancient history is sometimes an anecdotal compilation of collected facts that are later found to be completely unrelated. So, that brings me to the origins of smokehouses and low n' slow.
> 
> ...


This made me spit my fermented yak milk everywhere lol. But I agree with everything you said.

As far as your question paul. At the end of the day who cares. It's delicious. People been barbecuing since the first lightning strike started a fire. This probably isn't the right place to discuss cultural appropriation though.


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## chef jimmyj (Dec 8, 2020)

Cultural Appropriation? What, I'm only allowed to make and eat Eastern European Foods because I'm of Polish heritage? No Sushi, No Char Siu, No Saag Paneer, No Hummus, No Shawarma?
 I eat what I want, when I want and from any Culture I choose! If that Offends some WOKE, Social Justice Warrior, then they mistook ME for someone who gives a Crap about what they think!
What the HELL is wrong with people today?...JJ


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## paul_alex (Dec 8, 2020)

TNJAKE said:


> This made me spit my fermented yak milk everywhere lol. But I agree with everything you said.
> 
> As far as your question paul. At the end of the day who cares. It's delicious. People been barbecuing since the first lightning strike started a fire. This probably isn't the right place to discuss cultural appropriation though.



True. I'm mean technically the first people to likely discover that cooking bad cuts of meat low and slow tasted good were Africans. But it was probably 200,000 years ago not 200.


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## paul_alex (Dec 8, 2020)

chef jimmyj said:


> Cultural Appropriation? What, I'm only allowed to make and eat Eastern European Foods because I'm of Polish heritage? No Sushi, No Char Siu, No Saag Paneer? What the HELL is wrong with people today?...JJ



They take issue with the idea that African Americans supposedly invented all of southern BBQ but it is white pit masters who made the most money off it with successful restaurants like Franklins.


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## chef jimmyj (Dec 8, 2020)

paul_alex said:


> They take issue with the idea that African Americans supposedly invented all of southern BBQ but it is white pit masters who made the most money off it with successful restaurants like Franklins.



While I agree that White Pit Masters have gotten far more Press and TV recognition than Black Pit Masters and Restaurant Owners. We do a disservice to BBQ History in America claiming BBQ is an African American invention.

According to the 1860 Census, just before the Civil War, in the Deep South...
Whites were 55.9% of the population, Slaves were 43.1% of the population and Free Black people were 1.1% of the population.
Of these deep south Whites, less than 5% were Wealthy Slave Owners, about 6% for the whole Southern US owned Slaves, with the US, as a whole, only 1.4% of White People could afford to own Slaves. It should be noted that some Whites that could not afford to Own Slaves, would Rent them of Barter for the Slaves Labor





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						Untitled Document
					





					www.bowdoin.edu
				












						Did Only 1.4 Percent of White Americans Own Slaves in 1860?
					

Just because a statistic gets cited a lot in memes doesn’t make it correct.




					www.snopes.com
				




By these statistics for 1860, approximately 50% of the Deep South Population were relatively POOR WHITE PEOPLE at least compared to White Slave Owners and Whites in the North.
These Poor White People were not working for big Companies, they were Dirt Farmers, scratching out a living for their families! These Farmers were descendents of European Immigrants and had all the Cooking Technology of the Rich White People that...For the most part, taught African Slaves what they knew of Low and Slow Cooking of meat portions and Whole Animals.

Remember from history, it was the Spanish Explorers that put the Name Barbacoa, BARBECUE on Low and Slow Smoking and Cooking Meat in the early 1500's after seeing how Native South Americans cook Low and Slow. And Yes, Of Course, Africans knew how to cook and had for a Millenia cooked meat and veg, slowly over ot near open fires... But it was American White Slave Owners, that taught them what BARBECUE was and how to build and use Stone or Brick and Mortar BBQ Pits!

So, like their Rich Bretheren, Poor White People, in the Deep South, also knew all about building and firing brick and mortar BBQ Pits. These Poor White People were taught by their English, German, Irish, Slovak, Etc., Ancestors how to cook Low and Slow. How to Smoke Whole Hogs, how to make Smoked Sausage, Smoked Ribs , Shoulders and Legs. They kearned how to Cure Belly Bacon, Loins and Cure Country Hams that would keep for years. These White People Smoked cuts of Beef, like Chuck and Brisket and made Beef Sausages. They made their own Vinegar Sauce, Mustard Sauce and eventually Tomato Ketchup and Molasses Sauce. Depending on their taste preference various Sauces became Regional Favorites. These White People had family secret Herb and Spice Rubs, and Mopping Sauces. These White People knew about Smoking Meat with Hickory, Oak, Maple, Pecan, Apple and Cherry Wood to get the desired Flavor and Color.

So if there were some 50 times MORE WHITE PEOPLE in the Deep South that from sharing knowledge with Native Americans and having Ancestors,  that knew All about Low and Slow cooking and equipment that came to be called BBQ, BBQ PITS and EVERYTHING BBQ than there were Free Black People in the South cooking BBQ
AND...To get Slaves, Staff and the Owners of giant Plantations Fed...WHITE Slave owners and their Staff, very possibly local Native Americans,  taught the African Slaves about what came to be known as  BBQ Cooking styles, BBQ ingredients, BBQ Pits, Cast Iron Cauldrons and how to use them. THEN....

HOW IS BARBECUE AN EXCLUSIVE BLACK INVENTION THAT WHITES APPROPRIATED!?!?

Now I am NOT saying that modern BBQ is a White thing or a Black thing...BBQ IS AN AMERICAN THING, that although not invented here, was PERFECTED in the South by White and Black Pit Masters alike, with influence from Native Americans that assimilated and newly arriving Immigrants from around the world....

It is unfortunate there is a current trend of WOKE individuals that want to rewrite American History, giving Credit for every American Success to African Americans, Native Americans, North and South...ANYONE but evil White American Men. This goes for Barbecue in the United States as well. According to some African American Authors, Native Americans taught African Slaves all about BBQ. Ok...
While this was happening...
What were all the White People in the South, with their Pits and Spits, Fireplaces, Stoves and ancestral knowledge of Low and Slow Fire Cooking and flavoring meat, eating at the time???...JJ☺


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## olaf (Dec 9, 2020)

Cooking slow was also a necessity for many people. I remember reading some school book about fifty years ago where they cooked and boiled some old buffalo for several hours and it was still to tough to eat except for those with the best teeth. I guess what I'm saying is you did what you had to do to survive. Poverty ingenuity and the need to survive is not exclusive to any group it was actually widespread back then. Then came refrigeration and some free time to experiment.


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## paul_alex (Dec 9, 2020)

chef jimmyj said:


> While I agree that White Pit Masters have gotten far more Press and TV recognition than Black Pit Masters and Restaurant Owners. We do a disservice to BBQ History in America claiming BBQ is an African American invention.
> 
> According to the 1860 Census, just before the Civil War, in the Deep South...
> Whites were 55.9% of the population, Slaves were 43.1% of the population and Free Black people were 1.1% of the population.
> ...



Good post. Maybe the white people were still eating raw meat according to these authors. But in all seriousness they mostly think white people were eating the richer cuts of meat and cured meats but not cooking whole animals. In their opinion BBQ was only done once or twice a year at big events.

Your source shows these numbers too though. But that still means 51-97% of families in the South never had a slave. And this was at the peak. BBQ def dates back to the 1500-1600s when slavery was much less common.

1860 CensusFamilies Owning Slaves (%)Delaware3Maryland12Missouri13Arkansas20Kentucky23Tennessee25Virginia26North Carolina28Texas28Louisiana29Florida34Alabama35Georgia37South Carolina46Mississippi49

We should also separate out BBQ from East Texas to Virginia out from Central Texas BBQ. The latter def developed out of European type smokers with German/Czech/Polish/Alsatian immigrants applying sausage smoking techniques to other cuts of meat during the days of poor refrigeration.


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## bill ace 350 (Dec 9, 2020)

Look at other examples of things "discovered" or "invented" simultaneously yet independently -

Calculus (Newton, Leibniz, the Indians)

Flint/Knapped knives, arrowheads,  spear points, scrapers.....

Take a "simple" concept like the bow and arrow-

North American, Central American,  South American, European,  Australian.........

Geographically separated,  yet developed a common  "simple" tool.

So i personally don't take origins of a particular method of cooking without some skepticism.


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## paul_alex (Dec 9, 2020)

bill ace 350 said:


> Look at other examples of things "discovered" or "invented" simultaneously yet independently -
> 
> Calculus (Newton, Leibniz, the Indians)
> 
> ...



Their logic is nobody else low and slow smoked whole animals. Europe only smoked cured meats and the whole animal cooking in the Americas was exclusively done by slaves and only done once or twice a year. There's apparently postcards backing this up lol


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## chef jimmyj (Dec 9, 2020)

paul_alex said:


> But in all seriousness they mostly think white people were eating the richer cuts of meat and cured meats but not cooking whole animals. In their opinion BBQ was only done once or twice a year at big events.



Just like today BBQ IS BBQ whether it's a Single Pork Butt or a Whole Hog!.
To say "BBQ was only done once or twice at big events." Is dismissing the reality of Southern Living.
Outdoor Kitchens and Outdoor Cooking in the South was and to a point is a way of life. A Kitchen Stove or Fireplace would heat a house that is already 95°F with 90% Humidity!  Outdoor or " Summer Kitchens ", gets the family fed and keeps the house cooler. If your firing up your BBQ Pit to cook a Butt for dinner or Smoking a Whole Hog for your Daughter's Wedding, is that not the Same thing? Both are making BBQ!

" White people were eating Richer cuts..."

That depends on the time of year! Poor people, White, Black, whatever, ate what they Grew, Hunted, or Raised. If you have a small homestead Farm, you likely have a Garden, raise Chickens for Eggs and Meat, raised Hogs for meat, maybe had a Cow or Goats for Milk and Meat and Hunted for Variety.
The bulk of the families diet was grown in the garden or purchased inexpensively like Rice. There is a reason Southern Cornbread is a thing, Corn is easily grown with a high yield compared to other Grains like Wheat for Bread Flour. A bunch of Vegetables, Greens, Beans and some Preserved Smoked Meat for Flavor, Ham Hocks, and you could Fill Bellies!
Hunting provided a variety of Fresh Meat as did old, spent,  Laying Hens and Roosters. Mom's Chicken and Dumplings! YUM.

Slaughtering  a Hog was an Event and a Fall, Cold Weather, Ritual...Yes, you got to eat the Prime Loins ( Rich People Meat) as Roasts or Chops for a day or two, but you were preserving the bulk of that meat for the rest of the Year. Common methods of preservation, Salt Packing and Curing, Smoking then Drying, whole cuts and Sausage.

It's easy and common now, to Demonize Southern living as Rich White Folks eatin' High on the Hog while Oppressed Poor Black Folks were eating what white people threw away. That may have been reality for Slaves on the Plantation and to a point what was happening in some Cities, sad and a shameful part of American history...But...The reality is, after the Civil War and to this day, EVERYBODY did the Best they Could. They Made due with what they had or did without...JJ


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## noboundaries (Dec 9, 2020)

And then came Edward G. Kingsford, George Stephen of Weber Bros. Metal Works, and Don McGlaughin and his gas-heated lava rocks. American modern grilling was born to became part of the summer cultural landscape. Spanish Caballeros, who had been grilling for generations, went "meh," and returned to their parrilla grills.


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## paul_alex (Dec 9, 2020)

chef jimmyj said:


> Just like today BBQ IS BBQ whether it's a Single Pork Butt or a Whole Hog!.
> To say "BBQ was only done once or twice at big events." Is dismissing the reality of Southern Living.
> Outdoor Kitchens and Outdoor Cooking in the South was and to a point is a way of life. A Kitchen Stove or Fireplace would heat a house that is already 95°F with 90% Humidity!  Outdoor or " Summer Kitchens ", gets the family fed and keeps the house cooler. If your firing up your BBQ Pit to cook a Butt for dinner or Smoking a Whole Hog for your Daughter's Wedding, is that not the Same thing? Both are making BBQ!
> 
> ...



I'm not agreeing with what they are saying. Just trying to understand the argument. I'll try to do some research from primary sources to determine if BBQ was done more regularly than they are arguing. But the gist of their argument is Native Americans taught blacks who further developed BBQ and then whites came along once everything from the technique and sauces were invented and started cooking it themselves. I think BBQ was the true melting pot of cuisine with everybody contributing something but that's not an acceptable viewpoint anymore. But let's say we accept the story that Native Americans invented it. I somehow doubt only African Americans were the only ones who smelled what Natives were cooking and were like "Maybe I should do that too. Smells great!".

But I think Central Texas BBQ should not be included with the rest of Southern BBQ as it is when it comes to this issue. It has a different lineage and different techniques.


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## chef jimmyj (Dec 9, 2020)

There are people TODAY, that Insist and will argue that...
The World is Flat!
The Moon Landing with the thousands of people that worked on the project, is an Elaborate Hoax,
The Earth was Created in 7 Days approximately 5000 years ago and...
HITLER was a very Warm and Friendly Guy!!!

So...Why not add...
The TWO MOST PRIMITIVE CULTURES ON THE PLANET, Africans and Native Americans, got together and invented Barbecue while the MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED and CULINARILY ACCOMPLISHED COOKS IN THE WORLD,  including the, French, Italian, German, Spanish and English Colonists/Newly Independant Americans, just stood by, watched...Then STOLE BARBECUE having no knowledge of Low and Slow meat Cooking and Smoking!!!

OK...That makes Perfect Sense to me!

Look, I have to go now. My Kids are waiting for me to join them on ALTAR7 a planet of the center Star in Orion's Belt...JJ


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## paul_alex (Dec 9, 2020)

chef jimmyj said:


> There are people TODAY, that Insist and will argue that...
> The World is Flat!
> The Moon Landing with the thousands of people that worked on the project, is an Elaborate Hoax,
> The Earth was Created in 7 Days approximately 5000 years ago and...
> ...



I'm dying laughing over here

There's also Cajun* cochon de lait * and as far as I know Cajuns are the epitome of poor non slaveowning whites. Of course there is a video of the Cochon de Lait festival where it is mentioned that a black guy cooked for some of the first festivals. Maybe he invented cochon de lait according to the rewrite histry crowd?

In addition Greeks have *antikristo*. They also have *kleftiko *which is lamb cooked slowly underground.

And of course *Central Texas BBQ* is a continuation of European smokehouse type smoking imo.

And of course German *spanferkel.*

Even *Sardinia* wants to get in on the action ().

Even this article mentions the indirect heat of Sardinian *porcetto*. I wonder how these Sardinians managed to appropriate Native American and African American culture.





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						Sardinian Spit-roasted Porcetto: Tradition and Culinary Secrets - La Cucina Italiana
					

A recipe handed down verbally for hundreds of years, Sardinian spit-roasted suckling pig is one of the island’s most typical dishes.




					www.lacucinaitaliana.com
				




I can't believe how dumb this argument is but here we are. I don't know why it bothers me so much. Other than taking it as a personal attack, I hate people trying to rewrite history to suit their modern sensibilities.


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## paul_alex (Dec 10, 2020)

I mean come to think of it pretty much every culture has some form of low and slow, cooked over indirect heat, BBQed meat. Youtubing found me examples of goat in Iran, lamb in Morocco being cooked this way with the wood fire at somewhat of a distance, underground or spit roasted with some distance. Pretty sure this goes way back to when were domesticated or even before that. BBQ mammoth?


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## paul_alex (Dec 11, 2020)

noboundaries said:


> And then came Edward G. Kingsford, George Stephen of Weber Bros. Metal Works, and Don McGlaughin and his gas-heated lava rocks. American modern grilling was born to became part of the summer cultural landscape. Spanish Caballeros, who had been grilling for generations, went "meh," and returned to their parrilla grills.



Are parrilla grills good?

But going back to the premise of this thread seems like all of those things were invented by white people but yet BBQ is still somehow a black and native thing.

Despite Europe having
-indirect cooking of whole hogs (Sardinia), they are also sometimes spit roasted and cooked in fireplaces
-greek antrikristo
-spit roasting everywhere in the continent
among other techniques.

Yet somehow Native Americans get credit for low and slow grilling.



 chef jimmyj
 was right about this idea being nonsense.


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## chef jimmyj (Dec 11, 2020)

paul_alex said:


> Yet somehow Native Americans get credit for low and slow grilling.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Where the confusion occurs is credit being given to Native North Americans.
While cooking meat over or near a fire is Prehistoric, the particular technique of building a Grill over the fire is credited to Native South Americans, specifically the Caribbean Island tribe called the, TAINO....They called the technique Barbacoa, which morphed into Barbecue...JJ





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						Redirect Notice
					





					www.google.com
				




A favorite American pastime and a summer tradition for many, barbecues have a long and surprisingly patriotic history.
They began when a human ancestor called _Homo erectus_ began cooking meat with fire about 1.8 million years ago, according to Planet Barbecue (Workman Publishing, 2010). But barbecues the way that Americans know them now meat cooked over a grill or pit, covered in spices and basting sauce originated in the Caribbean.
The word barbecue comes from the language of a Caribbean Indian tribe called the Taino. Their word for grilling on a raised wooden grate is barbacoa. The word first appeared in print in a Spanish explorer's account of the West Indies in 1526, according to Planet Barbecue.
Since then, the popularity of barbecues has spread like wildfire. The history of barbecuing in America dates to colonial times, and it has been a part of American culture ever since. In fact, one of the first laws enacted in the colony of Virginia during the 1650s forbade the discharge of guns at a barbecue.


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## SmokinEdge (Dec 11, 2020)

It’s interesting to note, while all innovations took place in Europe, there were the Chinese, the Inuit Indian and American Indian as well as Africa and South American peoples all at the same time. How about those Hawaiian folks!
All people come to the same conclusion, usually, when left alone. Like my dad always said, “ nothing new under the sun, son” I believe that.


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## paul_alex (Dec 11, 2020)

chef jimmyj said:


> Where the confusion occurs is credit being given to Native North Americans.
> While cooking meat over or near a fire is Prehistoric, the particular technique of building a Grill over the fire is credited to Native South Americans, specifically the Caribbean Island tribe called the, TAINO....They called the technique Barbacoa, which morphed into Barbecue...JJ
> 
> 
> ...



Right. Other people had low and slow smoking but they didn't have the raise wooden grate which nobody really even uses anymore. Our modern BBQ is more likely related to European smokehouses imo.

I mean its hard to argue that this spit roast from Lebanon is not low and slow meat smoking.


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## paul_alex (Dec 11, 2020)

SmokinEdge said:


> It’s interesting to note, while all innovations took place in Europe, there were the Chinese, the Inuit Indian and American Indian as well as Africa and South American peoples all at the same time. How about those Hawaiian folks!
> All people come to the same conclusion, usually, when left alone. Like my dad always said, “ nothing new under the sun, son” I believe that.



True. Every culture has spit roasting. I bet even neanderthals had it lol


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## mneeley490 (Dec 11, 2020)

paul_alex said:


> True. Every culture has spit roasting. I bet even neanderthals had it lol


Yeah, you haven't lived until you've tried BBQ'd mastodon. Ah, the good ol' days...


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## paul_alex (Dec 12, 2020)

mneeley490 said:


> Yeah, you haven't lived until you've tried BBQ'd mastodon. Ah, the good ol' days...



or steppe mammoth!


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## paul_alex (Dec 12, 2020)

Also I think it goes without saying Miachel Twitty is indeed a twit. As if only Africans and African American has slow roasted meats over open fires and Europeans and Middle Easterners didn't.

No surprise this triple chinned degenerate  probably weighs 400 lbs.


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