Barbecue: The History of an American Institution
A scholarly though eminently enjoyable treatise on the history of barbecue, thoroughly researched by the South Carolinian author of Raymond Chandler: A Literary Reference (2003). The Caribbean’s Taino Indians named this cooking technique cum social event, with one of the earliest barbecues documented in Jamaica in 1706. Barbecue quickly gained southern fans, most notably as a vehicle for political campaigning. The advent of the Civil War and its aftermath, Reconstruction, witnessed the further growth of this cooking style and its division into specific region types (for instance, North Carolina’s preference for thin, spicy, and vinegar-based sauces versus Texans’ desire for sweet, thick, and tomatoey sauces). Commercial success quickly followed, as sauces, equipment manufacturers, and restaurateurs emphasized the glories of barbecue (yes, that’s how McDonald’s started). California pioneered the home backyard version we first identified as barbecue, and after a brief decline in interest, Americans reembraced barbecue in all shapes and varieties. Sidebars enliven the somewhat pedantic text, from the origins of hash as a side dish to the first-ever barbecue competition (1978 Memphis in May). --Barbara Jacobs