Since humans mastered and domesticated fire to warm themselves, provide light, and cook meat, fish, and other foods, they have refined their art and cooking techniques over the centuries. As the population has spread across the planet, it has developed regional characteristics and eating habits that have adapted over the generations and continue to evolve constantly.
Not all historians agree on the origin of the word "barbecue", however, two different versions of its history are generally cited to explain it. One of them mentions that the word dates back to the year 1661, a time when one of the oldest Indian tribes in Haiti used the word "barbacoa" to refer to the technique of cooking meat where the latter was suspended over a brazier. The second says instead that it is an old French expression, "barbe-à-queue", which meant that an animal was skewered from the beard to the tail.
The sophistication of barbecue cooking as we know it today evolved during the industrial revolution. There are currently several barbecue cooking appliances available, whether for smoking and/or grilling, using wood, charcoal, pellets, gas, etc.
Besides, when you say barbecue, you say gathering cuisine, festive cuisine. So it is normal that the barbecue has evolved in this direction and that we find it more frequently, everywhere. We only have to think of all these permanent barbecues that are filled with grills in parks or on the edge of beaches on beautiful sunny days, for example, or even, these small rectangular cast iron barbecues with removable grills (the BBQs commonly called "Hibachi"), with which we have many childhood memories.
Recipes have also evolved over time and eras. In Quebec, we have a heritage of French peasant cuisine, which over the generations has ensured that our gastronomic culture has developed in such a way that we have created our own culinary entity, with its own particularities. We only have to think of the recipes of our grandmothers or our ancestors, consisting of the famous cipailles and garnished tourtières… and even our famous poutine, which today characterizes us worldwide!
Add to that all the multiculturalism around us, and it is clear that we are in an "explosive evolution." And it is no different for barbecue cooking. Each region of the world has its own flavor profile and techniques. With the globalization of media and the Internet, we have access to all this information and these particularities.
When you think of street barbecue, tailgating, and competition barbecue, you think of Americans with their big smokers filled with succulent meats. However, each region of the United States has its own specialty dishes and flavor profiles. Texas has its famous brisket seasoned with just salt and pepper, Memphis, Tennessee has its dry rub ribs, and South Carolina has its long-cooked whole hogs and vinegar sauce.
Even though barbecue in Quebec is strongly inspired by our neighbors to the south, and our recipes are an amalgam of their techniques and flavors, there are more and more Quebecers and Quebec companies that are succeeding in carving out a solid reputation and establishing themselves in the North American and international barbecue market.
Barbecue is above all a unifying cuisine, regardless of where people come from, their origins and their customs. It has become more refined over the years, and, even if it remains festive, it can now be considered a daily cooking method.
At Cyclone BBQ, we cook for our own pleasure, more than 300 days a year on the charcoal barbecue, regardless of the weather conditions. Our cuisine evolves day by day, working on various methods and techniques, and especially thanks to these countless products available on the market, to the great pleasure of our taste buds.
Don’t deprive yourself, dare to cook on the BBQ and eat BBQ more often!
Josée & Patrick
Cyclone BBQ