Going The “Whole Hog:” An American Tradition
Brisket. Burnt ends. Short ribs.
The acrid-sweet smell of burning oak, the sound of coals being stoked. When we think of “barbecue,” there are diverse regional differences in what we envision. Still, the thought of a styrofoam container containing slabs of smokey meat will make most Americans’ mouths water. According to one consumer study, 95 percent of Americans say that they like barbecue, and almost a third said they consumed some type of barbecue product at least once a week.
But what makes a food “barbecue,” and why is it so delicious? Today we often refer to any food grilled over a flame as barbecue, but authentic barbecue is meat cooked slowly over smoke. While it has been referred to as an “American Institution,” where did barbecue actually come from, and how did it spread across the country?
The most likely origin of the word barbecue comes from the Taino natives in the Caribbean. Their word barbacoa meant “the sacred fire pit,” and the Taino people used smoke to cook their favorite meats (fish, turtles, reptiles-even worms) on a raised grate or spears over hot coals. When the Spanish saw this, they took this method of preparing meat and used it to prepare the animal that we most associate with barbecue-pork.
Bringing the domesticated pig and the slow cooking method, the Spanish left their mark all over North America. The first recorded pork barbecue was in 1540 when De Soto’s expedition came across some Chickasaw in Mississippi and decided to barbecue some hogs in order to facilitate trade talks.
In the centuries that followed, cooking pork with smoke over indirect heat was adopted by the different groups of Europeans that came to America. Adding their signature to the smoked delicacy, French and German cooks took their love of mustard and created the tangy sauce we find in South Carolina, while the British basted their meats with butter and vinegar during the cooking process. Barbecue sauces made with molasses, mustard, vinegar, and butter sprang up in different regions of the United States, creating the diversity we see today. According to sociologist John Shelton Reed, “Southern barbecue is the closest thing we have in the U.S. to Europe’s wines or cheeses; drive a hundred miles and the barbecue changes.”
While the most famous styles of barbecue are Texas, Carolina, Memphis, and Kansas City, historian Robert F. Moss points out that barbecues were found throughout the early colonies on the eastern seaboard, even in New England. However, it was in Virginia that it transformed from a style of cooking to a social event. These community barbecues were seen as a “democratic institution,” enjoyed by all classes and frequently hosted by plantation owners. Eventually, these would morph into the traditional Fourth of July festivals, and later as events used by politicians to get in front of voters.
Barbecue became the food of the people. Wild pigs could be plentiful in the south but required long cooking times at low heat: perfect for barbecuing. This reliance on pork made it a staple in southern pits, but as Americans moved west, they adapted. The mutton in Kentucky and beef barbecue in Texas are testaments to the propensity to put anything on a spit over a pit and let the sweet smoke flavor whatever meat was on hand.
Speaking of smoke, one of the reasons that barbecue may have caught on so quickly in the American South is the trees. In his podcast, History X, Russell Cobb points out that states like Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas are populated with oak, pecan, and hickory trees, that burn slowly and give the meat a sweet flavor, creating the best smoke for barbecue.
While barbecue is a Native tradition, influenced by European immigrants, no group has been more critical in keeping the barbecue culture alive than Black Americans. In the American South, the first pitmasters would have been slaves, chopping wood, slaughtering pigs, goats, and cattle, and getting up long before dawn to build the fires and tend the smoke for hours-even days. In his book, Black Smoke, Adrian Miller traces the contribution of Black Americans to the barbecue we eat today calling them “barbecue's most effective ambassadors.” Not only did they contribute to the spices we use in rubs today, the techniques they perfected helped to cement barbecue as an “American Institution.”
Today, there is a move to highlight the significance of Black and Native contributions to this popular bit of Americana. Whether you love Memphis dry rub ribs, Texas brisket, Carolina “whole hog” vinegar dressed, Kansas City-well, Kansas City has everything; whatever you stack your plate with, you have a long list of people to thank. So whether you fire up your own smoker or take a drive to your favorite smokehouse, stack your plate high and reflect on what makes this American tradition so unique.
If you would like to learn more about the history of barbecue, check out History X’s podcast the Secret History of Barbecue, or the Pitmaster’s Podcast History of Barbecue. If you want to taste your way through the regions, The Southern Foodways Alliance has created the Southern Barbecue Trail, complete with oral histories and local barbecue joints in several southern states.
