Is there anything similar to American BBQ in Europe?

[paul_alex]

Do people smoke undesirable (or whole animals) low and slow in Europe? If not how come this tradition did not develop? Is there any truth to this tradition being borrowed from Native and African Americans.

 

[rwilli]

I am not sure about what we traditionally call BBQ with the sweet mustard/tomato/molasses, and brown sugar based sauces. But the Europeans process, smoke, dry and cure fine meat such as a variety of sausage, pancetta, Spanish Chorizo, Pepperoni and many more. Many also consider any meat cooked over a flame or hot coals to be BBQ. If you go with that definition I am sure they have many dishes that would fall into the category of BBQ-----Not European, but the Asians make many killer BBQ dishes.

 

[PolishDeli]

The entomology of "barbecue" is thought to be from native Caribbean languages via the Spanish. So, 16th century or so.

Food processing in Europe was originally focused on preservation for the harsh winters; hence fermented and dry smoked sausages, jams, pickeled vegetables.

In the caribbean, changing seasons don't really limit the availability of food. So, id expect differnt culinary traditions to have evolved.

 

[Hamdrew]

American BBQ as we know it was pretty much started by slaves.

Native Americans traded with people as far down as South America, and the Inca were BBQ'ing 8,000yrs ago.

There are 1,800+yr old drawings of kebabs casually thrown into pics in China. Char Siu is/was known as Chashu in Japan. There's Korean bulgogi evidence from around that time, too. Gotta figure it was around before then there, too.

 

[paul_alex]

Even Central TX BBQ has its origins in slaves?

What about whole hog? Didn't the Germans in the Carolinas come from a tradition of roasting whole pigs (spanferkel) or individual cuts (mutzbraten)? Did the Spanish have cohinillo before arriving in the new world?

 

[Hamdrew]

Even Central TX BBQ has its origins in slaves?

What about whole hog? Didn't the Germans in the Carolinas come from a tradition of roasting whole pigs (spanferkel) or individual cuts (mutzbraten)? Did the Spanish have cohinillo before arriving in the new world?

I think you may have misunderstood my point- BBQ seems to have been around everywhere, and for a long time. Slaves were already BBQ'ing the cheap/scrap/trash cuts before those immigrants made it to and started BBQ'ing in central TX. AFAIK Cohinillo is pretty hot and fast, cooked in a pot, and not usually heavily smoked, right?

 

[paul_alex]

I think you may have misunderstood my point- BBQ seems to have been around everywhere, and for a long time. Slaves were already BBQ'ing the cheap/scrap/trash cuts before those immigrants made it to and started BBQ'ing in central TX. AFAIK Cohinillo is pretty hot and fast, cooked in a pot, and not usually heavily smoked, right?

I see. Not sure about Cochnillo.

Did they borrow the idea from slaves or did they figure it out on their own ? It seems simple enough in a warm environment to smoke the leftovers/

 

[PolishDeli]

Even Central TX BBQ has its origins in slaves?

Texas bbq wasnt invented in a cultural vacuum.
It was home to the Karankawa, the Spanish (who brought the first slaves in the mid 1500s) and the French. Each influencing the culinary traditions.
Also in the 1500s, the Spanish were in the Philippines. Natives were roasting whole pigs there too.

The first Germans didnt arrive in North America till the early 1600s (Jamestown)

Corn tortillas and tomato-based sauces were definitely not invented by Europeans!

 

[paul_alex]

Texas bbq wasnt invented in a cultural vacuum.
It was home to the Karankawa, the Spanish (who brought the first slaves in the mid 1500s) and the French. Each influencing the culinary traditions.
Also in the 1500s, the Spanish were in the Philippines. Natives were roasting whole pigs there too.

The first Germans didnt arrive in North America till the early 1600s (Jamestown)

Corn tortillas and tomato-based sauces were definitely not invented by Europeans!

I see. So did the Germans have their own tradition or contributions or did they borrow everything?

 

[Hamdrew]

I see. Not sure about Cochnillo.

Did they borrow the idea from slaves or did they figure it out on their own ? It seems simple enough in a warm environment to smoke the leftovers/

At least Nordic Europeans were smoking fish to preserve them a while before American slaves were BBQ'ing. Spending 16+hrs smoking a brisket to make it edible might have seemed like too much work, though- have no idea.

 

[paul_alex]

At least Nordic Europeans were smoking fish to preserve them a while before American slaves were BBQ'ing. Spending 16+hrs smoking a brisket to make it edible might have seemed like too much work, though- have no idea.

Aren't there other traditions in Europe of roasting animals? I think Sardinia has su porceddu which looks similar to whole hog bbq. Could be wrong though.

 

[PolishDeli]

So did the Germans have their own tradition or contributions

Yea, of course they did.
Sausages and breads for example.
In terms of Texas/Mexican foods, the most notable contribution would probably be beer. That's why all those Mexican beers are pilsners and lagers.

It's just that their foods didn't impact north American traditions till the mid 1800s.

 

[paul_alex]

Is Cajun cochon de lait also borrowed from slaves? Or did the French have a similar tradition?

Of course su porceddu didn't impact the US but it sounds very similar to pit bbq.
Su Porceddu | Traditional Pork Dish From Sardinia, Italy | TasteAtlas

 

[Hamdrew]

Aren't there other traditions in Europe of roasting animals? I think Sardinia has su porceddu which looks similar to whole hog bbq. Could be wrong though.

Yes, there are. Again I am not saying slaves invented BBQ, I am saying that American BBQ as we know it/have today was pretty much started by slaves.

Cajun whole pig/cochon WAS slave and poor people American BBQ/BBQ "as we know today".

 

[paul_alex]

Yes, there are. Again I am not saying slaves invented BBQ, I am saying that American BBQ as we know it/have today was pretty much started by slaves.

Cajun whole pig/cochon WAS slave and poor people American BBQ/BBQ "as we know today".

I see. So slaves started the tradition but the later Central European immigrants just added their contribution on top of that (beef, brisket, sausages, mustard sauces) then?

Cajuns weren't slaves though and not of African descent. So do they have a claim to helping start American BBQ as well?

 

[Hamdrew]

..huh? Slaves pretty much started American BBQ as we have today, i.e. the flavor profile. How would beef, brisket, sausages, mustard necessarily be contributions from Europeans? There were African Cajuns from Creoles, and white Cajuns had slaves. Your question has been answered: "yes."

 

[paul_alex]

..huh? Slaves pretty much started American BBQ as we have today, i.e. the flavor profile. How would beef, brisket, sausages, mustard necessarily be contributions from Europeans? There were African Cajuns from Creoles, and white Cajuns had slaves. Your question has been answered: "yes."

Doesn't the mustard based sauce have its roots in South Carolina Germans? The first mention of smoked brisket is from a Jewish deli in Texas. Do the sausages of Central Texas BBQ not have German/Czech roots?

 

[Humo18]

Many believe the word Barbeque comes from the word "barbacoa", the smoke house used by the peaceful Taino indians that lived mostly in the Caribbean islands of Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic/ Haiti), Jamaica & Puerto Rico. The Mexican culture adopted this spanish word to denote their style of cooking in a hole in the ground but is more like baking protein rather than what we call barbeque in our country. But that's just the word, the use of smoke to cook and preserve foods has most likely been a global activity for thousands of years. We don't know who was the first human to barbeque their food.

 

[paul_alex]

Many believe the word Barbeque comes from the word "barbacoa", the smoke house used by the peaceful Taino indians that lived mostly in the Caribbean islands of Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic/ Haiti), Jamaica & Puerto Rico. The Mexican culture adopted this spanish word to denote their style of cooking in a hole in the ground but is more like baking protein rather than what we call barbeque in our country. But that's just the word, the use of smoke to cook and preserve foods has most likely been a global activity for thousands of years. We don't know who was the first human to barbeque their food.

That makes sense.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Slow Roasting Meat was invented right after the discovery of Fire and was the ONLY way meat was cooked EVERYWHERE and by ALL HUMANS until the invention of Clay Pots. Call it BBQ, BARBECUE, BARBACOA, VIANDE RÔTIE LENTEMENT (French), NYAMA CHOMA (Kenyan) or any of the Above preparations...
People of ALL Nationalities, Races, and Religions have Slow Roasted Meat on an Open Fire, by some means, for approximately 300,000 YEARS and NO ONE GROUP can take full credit for its invention...JJ