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Barbecue


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I think it's Barbie Que from the old Latin meaning "cute blond toy doll." At least that's what I was taught by the priests in the seminary.

Rich Schulhoff

Opinions are like friends, everyone has some but what matters is how you respect them!

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The variations in spelling.  Are they regional?  Based on style barbecue?  Or what?

My hunch is to blame Madison Avenue. They probably truncated the word to save on typesetting costs. :raz:

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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Most likely editors or ignorance. The origins of the word are relatively clear. Here is a quote from my book, Creole Nouvelle" Contemporary Creole Cookery:

There are food writers out there who would have us believe that the word barbecue comes to us from the

French barbe a queue, which translates as “beard to tail.” Several 18th- and 19th-century New World travelers

and writers mentioned “barbacoa” or “borbecus”—raised wooden frameworks used as beds or for smoking

meats. This linguistic ancestry seems much more likely, given the “racks” or grids on which we “barbecue.”

Creole Nouvelle

The variations in spelling.  Are they regional?  Based on style barbecue?  Or what?

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Actually I wasn't talking about the writen word. Rather the painted sign as in the actual names of barbecue establishments. When I get a chance I'll post a few, but in eating around the south, I've come across all manner of spelling.

Holly Moore

"I eat, therefore I am."

HollyEats.Com

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The way I look at it is "barbeque" is either the food or the cooking technique. A BBQ would be what we Southerners, or at least in my circle of friends in Raleigh call a "cookout." Otherwise, I'd say it is akin to writing Xmas or even worse "nite" or "thru."

I would never say "I am going to a barbeque at Varmit's." I'd say "I'm going to a cookout at Varmit's" That of course would be if he was serving anything but barbeque. In that case, I'd say "I'm going to a pig pickin' at Varmit's" and this would be regardless if there was an actual pig or just trays of barbeque.

-----------------

AMUSE ME

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The variations in spelling.  Are they regional?  Based on style barbecue?  Or what?

I do not think it is regional nor is there any rhyme or reason to the abbreviation. I have seen it "spelled" a couple of different ways at the same joint. Much depends on the personal preference of the one who is doing the writing and how much room they have (& perhaps how literate the writer is).

in loving memory of Mr. Squirt (1998-2004)--

the best cat ever.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think it depends upon how big your sign is, and how much paint you've got.

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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I even make mixed references to my own barbecue. I may refer to it as BBQ, bbq, barbecue, 'cue, or often pulled pork. Barbecue people understand that it is the style and the manner in which the item is cooked that makes it worthy of any of these labels. If it ain't cooked with a lot of smoke, it ain't barbecue. This is true of Memphis, Carolina (mustard and vinegar) Texas, Kansas City, and my backyard.

chef salad

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all,

I'm new.

I've done years of research on BBQ, and I'm just getting started.

I don't think the early pitmasters, restauraneurs or the sign makers put very much thought in to these things. I think the sign painter spelled it the way he thought it was supposed to be spelled and that was that. Different sign painter, different spelling.

It's really interesting how we all revere the old pitmasters now, and their time honored traditions of techniques and ingredients, but when you talk to these guys, they really didn't put that much thought in to it. They cooked hogs over hickory in Carolina because that's what they had. Beef in Texas over mesquite for the same reason. I bet you could find a big old mutton farm near Owensboro, Kentucky too.

I recently met an old pitmaster that told me he could tell when his briskets were done by the smell. WOW! Maybe it's like a zen thing and I'm just not at his level yet.

Edited by drbbq (log)
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  • 13 years later...

Bumping this ooooooollllllddddd thread up because it's the weekend for the Memphis in May International Barbecue Cooking Championship. Being of the school of thought that Memphis barbecue is THE gold standard for barbecue (sorry, Kansas City, and Texas, and besides, where do you get off calling any kind of cooked beef, "barbecue"? Barbecue is PORK!)

 

Anyway, I was entertained, as always, by the names of some of the teams. There's Cackle and Oink, Swine and Dine, the Swinetastics, the Swinos, Grill and Grind, and Pigs Gone Wild. And there's my personal favorite in the name category, Aporkalypse Now. Last night there was a Ms. Piggie Idol talent contest, and teams competed yesterday in the "Anything But...", which is anything but pork, and the entries range from game meats and birds to fish to rattlesnake, and the sauce competition. Today is the serious business, with competition in whole hog, shoulder and ribs. 

 

All of downtown Memphis smells heavenly, and I promise you last night was the most people you would have ever seen drunk in one location. It's been a long time since I've made the pilgrimage over there, having grown less fond of mob scenes in my advancing years, but it's sure a helluva party.

 

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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It's been several years but when we competed in Kansas City, the real home of great barbecue, our team name was Briskets & Gravy.

 

One of the other team's name was Roadkill Redeemers. 

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That's the thing about opposum inerds, they's just as tasty the next day.

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