The definition of barbecue

By JOE O'CONNELL, cbbqa past president

What exactly is barbecue? 

Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) provides several definitions and the etymology of barbecue.  As a verb, the OED gives the following as the first meaning:  To dry or cure [meat] by exposure upon a ["rude wooden framework . . . for supporting above a fire meat that is to be smoked or dried"].  Id.

Epicurious

The Epicurious Food Dictionary gives the following current definition of the verb barbecue:

barbecue v.  A method of cooking by which meat, poultry or fish (either whole or in pieces) or other food is covered and slowly cooked in a pit or on a spit, using hot coals or hardwood as a heat source.  The food is basted, usually with a highly seasoned sauce, to keep it moist.  South Carolina and Texas boast two of the most famous American regional American regional barbecue styles.  Id at barbecue.

Epicurious gives three definitions of the noun barbecue:

n.  1.  Commonly referred to as a GRILL, a barbecue is generally a brazier fitted with a grill and sometimes a spit.  The brazier can range anywhere from a simple firebowl, which uses hot coals as heat, to an elaborate electric barbecue.  2.  Food (usually meat) that has been cooked using a barbecue method.  3.  A term used in the United States for an informal style of outdoor entertaining where barbecued food is served.  Id at barbecue.

Epicurious gives the following definition of the verb grill:

To prepare food on a grill over hot coals or other heat source.  Id at grill.

Thus, the Epicurious definition of grill does not specify that it is a method of cooking at high temperatures, although its definition of barbecue does clarify that it is a cooking method in which meat is "slowly cooked".

Cambridge International Dictionary of English

Cambridge International Dictionary of English provides the following definition of barbecue:

a metal frame on which meat, fish or vegetables are cooked outside over a fire, or a meal prepared using such a frame which is eaten outside, often during a party.  Id at barbecue.  

Interestingly, an example of the usage of the verb barbecue compares it with grilling:

Their traditional sausages are delicious grilled or barbecued.  Id at barbecue.

The dictionary says that the verb grill is American and a synonym of broil:

grill, American also broil (COOK) verb
to cook (something) by direct heat, esp. under a very hot surface in a cooker 
I decided to grill the sausages rather than fry them.

The dictionary says that the noun grill is American and a synonym of broiler:

grill, American also broiler noun 
A grill in a cooker is the surface which can be heated to very high temperatures and under which you put food to be cooked. 

A grill over a fire is a frame of metal bars on which food can be put to be cooked.  Id at grill.

Random House Dictionary

The Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary gives five definitions of the noun barbecue:

pieces of beef, fowl, fish, or the like, roasted over an open hearth, esp. when basted in a barbecue sauce.

a framework, as a grill or a spit, or a fireplace for cooking meat or vegetables over an open fire.

a dressed steer, lamb, or other animal, roasted whole.

a meal, usually in the open air and often as a political or social gathering, at which meats are roasted over an open hearth or pit.

to broil or roast whole or in large pieces over an open fire, on a spit or grill, often seasoning with vinegar, spices, salt, and pepper.

to cook (sliced or diced meat or fish) in a highly seasoned sauce.

to cook by barbecuing or to entertain at a barbecue: Example: If the weather's nice, we'll barbecue in the backyard.

The dictionary defines the verb grill as a synonym for broil.  Id at grill.

Dictionary.com gives the definition of the noun barbecue:

1. A grill, pit, or outdoor fireplace for roasting meat.
2.  
   1. A whole animal carcass or section thereof roasted or broiled over an open fire or on a spit.
   2. A social gathering, usually held outdoors, at which food is cooked over an open flame.

As a verb, the word is defined as to "roast, broil, or grill (meat or seafood) over live coals or an open fire, often basting with a seasoned sauce."  Id at barbecue.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary says that the verb barbecue dates from 1690 and means "to roast or broil on a rack over hot coals or on a revolving spit before or over a source of heat.  Id at barbecue. 

The dictionary says that the verb grill means "to broil on a grill".  Id at grill. 

ARTFL Project:  Webster Dictionary, 1913

The University of Chicago, ARTFL Project:  Webster Dictionary, 1913 gives the definition of the very barbecue as:

To dry or cure by exposure on a frame or gridiron.

They use little or no salt, but barbecue their game and fish in the smoke. Stedman.  Id at barbecue.

Encyclopedia.com gives the following on barbecue:

[West Indian or South American], in the United States, traditionally an open-air gathering, political or social, in which meats are roasted whole over a pit of embers and food and drink are liberally enjoyed.  The term barbecue also refers to the meat being roasted.  In the modern barbecue smaller cuts of meat are dipped in or basted with a highly seasoned sauce.  The type of meat and style of sauces reflect regional tastes.  For example, in the United States, pork with a vinegar-based sauce is favored in the South, and highly spiced beef barbecue predominates in the Southwest.  The term "barbecue was adopted by the Spanish from barbacoa, which the Arawak of the Caribbean used to designate a wood grill on which meat was cooked.  Id at barbecue.

Encarta Dictionary gives three meanings for the noun barbecue:

• equipment for cooking outdoors:  an apparatus, including a grill and fuel, used for cooking food outdoors
• outdoor party with food cooked outdoors:  an outdoor party where people eat food cooked on a grill
• food cooked on grill:  food, especially meat, poultry, and fish, cooked on a grill.  Id at barbecue.

As a verb, it gives the meaning "to cook food on a grill outdoors".  Id at barbecue.

The dictionary gives the word's origin as:

[Mid-17th century. From American Spanish barbacoa , of uncertain origin, probably from Arawak barbakoa "frame of sticks." Current senses evolved from the practice of drying or smoking meat on a wooden frame.]  Id at barbecue.

Taino Dictionary

The Taino Native Americans lived in the Caribbean and were the first to meet Columbus.  The online dictionary of the Taino (in English and Spanish) includes the following definitions:

Barbacoa = n : A Stand, a four legged stand, made of sticks, used in the cooking process of roasting meat. It has many uses, as a Village Look out Tower or used in the planting Fields as a stand to chase away the animals.

Barbecue = n : A meat roasting process. A poorly written translation between Spanish and English of the Taino word Barbicu'.

Barbicu' = n : A meat roasting process, using a fire pit and a barbacoa stand and placing upon it the roasted meat. (See the word Barbecue).

 

 Barbecue 101