Barbecue

It's always better to avoid being downwind from pigs. My Maya friend Poot had our permission to put a couple of pigs in back of our village hut. Somehow Poot took couple to mean six. A smelly six at that...especially downwind.

The bad news is the pigs he bought are of the 'Americano' variety and not the Mexican variety. The Americano pigs eat a special feed that Poot later found out make his pigs more costly to raise and so subsequently he will make nothing.

Bad business.

Barbecue usually refers to a method of cooking meat or chicken. In this method the meat or chicken will be heated and smoked by gases of fire. The term barbecue may refer to either the apparatus used for cooking or the foodstuff which is cooked by this method.

There are different methods of preparing the barbecue by using different fuels. Barbeque is normally cooked in an outdoor environment. The heat and smoke for cooking barbecue is generated by using the smoke from charcoal or wood.

The barbecue can be built in the house itself.

The most popular fuel for backyard grilling is charcoal. Charcoal is made by heating wood in the absence of oxygen. The original method of making charcoal was to set fire to a pile of wood and then cover it with dirt and allowing it to simmer.

Todays grilling fuel is processed charcoal briquettes. These little moulded pieces of fuel are made with wood and a clay binder. Many purists dislike artificial binder charcoal. Pure wood charcoal is also available. It comes in chunks rather being moulded into briquettes.

The great thing in cooking in barbecue charcoal is cooking low and slow.

Barbecue is mans oldest method of cooking food. It began with some pre-historic men and women who wandered up on the remains of some animals which was a victim of wildfire. It was better than raw meat. That is how cooking in a barbecue evolved.

Today, the art of barbecuing has evolved into three basic methods. The most popular method of cooking food in a barbecue is grilling. In the next method, the food is dry cooked by the heat of the smoke. The last method involves cooking food in a fire of coal, wood, propane gas or any other similar gas, usually with the sauce applied.

In my house it's always down to me to cook the Thanksgiving turkey and I now use the barbecue smoker. For many years I've read loads of recipe books searching for menu ideas and everyone says something different about how long to cook the turkey for and my biggest complaint is that most of the voices of authority for traditional cooking out there always overdo the poultry (maybe for safety reasons) and the breast is dry.

So if you've searched like me for a guaranteed recipe then try indirect cooking on a barbecue smoker.

When winter's chill is gone in most parts of this country, it's time to get the old bar-b-que grill dusted off after a long stay in the garage or barn; where ever you have had it stored since last summer's cook out. If you left it outside in the weather all winter, like many of us have done, you just have to sweep off the spider webs and old leaves, throw out the old charcoal from last year and you're ready to start cooking. Well almost!

Think that is all there is to getting ready to throw a slab of meat on glowing coals? Think again!

Outdoor cooking isn't for everyone. It takes a person who is willing to put his reputation as a grilling superstar on the line each time he lights a gas grill or tosses a match onto a flammable pile of charcoal. that the people he feeds will appreciate the food he has cooked. Each time he (or she) steps out of his home into his back yard, armed with copper brush, tongs and forks; he faces a challenge to beat his best individual performance on the backyard grill.

Most of the outdoor chefs I've run across are men. It seems that women had rather stay in the kitchen.

There's nothing like a good barbecue for catching up with family and friends in a relaxed and casual manner. Choosing the correct barbecue for your needs can be a daunting task with so many different types and brands on the marketplace.

There is some confusion about the difference between grilling and barbecuing. Grilling is a high heat cooking method whereas barbecuing is uses a long slow smouldering heat to cook the food. This slow heat generates smoke if using charcoal or wood which gives the food that distinctive smoky flavor.

Barbecue, like apple pie, is an all-American favorite. Enjoyed since the 1950's, thoughts of backyard barbecues bring back memories of fresh cut summer grass, Dad's juicy burgers, and Mom's delicious potato salad and fruity punch, of friends and family sitting around the picnic table, munching on savory hot dogs, fresh and juicy from that beautiful grill that sat there faithfully, year after year.

That fresh summery taste of grilled food didn't just happen on its own.

It's the start of August and the summer holidays are approaching. My children are already packing the RV, we're not even going for another two weeks but I can't dampen their spirits.

I've still got another 11 days (and counting) at work so I can't afford to let myself go yet but just as I see the excitement in the kids eyes I know that I'll be the same once I get the portable grill out of the garage.

I love to camp in Europe not just because of the freedom to go anywhere but also because of the myriad of interesting people that I meet on the way.