We re-visit the annual debate...what exactly is BBQ??

Before anyone starts arguing let's get into the history.

The English word "barbecue" and its cognates in other languages come from the Spanish word "barbacoa". Etymologists believe this to be derived from barabicu found in the language of the Arawak people of the Caribbean and the Timucua people of Florida. It has entered some European languages in the form of barbacoa. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) traces the word to Haiti and translates it as a "framework of sticks set upon posts".

In American English "grilling" refers to a fast process over high heat while barbecuing refers to a slow process using indirect heat or hot smoke - similar to some forms of roasting. In a typical U.S. home food is cooked on a grate directly over hot charcoal. The coals are dispersed to the sides OR at a significant distance from the grate. In the UK barbecuing refers to a fast cooking process directly over high heat while grilling refers to cooking under a source of direct, moderate-to-high heat—known in the United States as broiling.

So here we have a discord. Our friends over the pond consider what we call a good old BBQ to be nothing more than grilling. What Americans call BBQ is actually slow roasting in a smokey environment.

In the UK we generally use the term BBQ for pretty much any method of cooking meat outside over something burning - charcoal or wood - direct or indirect - fast or slow - lid or no lid. However in America BBQ means low, slow and indirect and we have to admit (grudgingly!) they are the masters!!

When researching other cultures it seems there are actually 7 methods of cooking meat over fire.

Fire cooking guru Francis Mallmann was raised in the mountains of Patagonia, trained in the great kitchens of Europe, and returned home to become a top chef in Buenos Aires. He knows a LOT about cooking meat over fire.

Francis' "Seven Fires" (and the title of his best selling book and restaurant) are:

1. Chapa - a cast iron griddle or skillet

2. Little Hell - cooking with fire above and below the food

3. Parilla - basically what's called barbecuing or grilling in the US

4. Horno de Barro - cooking in a wood-fired clay oven

5. Rescoldo - cooking food by burying in hot embers and ashes, this method is also called 'caveman style' or 'dirty BBQ'

6. Asador - cooking whole pigs or lambs affixed to an iron cross that faces a bonfire

7. Caldero - cooking in an iron cauldron or Dutch oven.

So, we should really reconsider what we call BBQ and be more precise. Why not consider (and action) one or more of Francis's seven!