Barbecue/barbeque/BBQ/barbie or braai?

Are you being “grilled” over the way you spell this word to describe various cooking methods which use live fire and smoke to cook food? It can be a verb, a noun or even an adjective ( bet that takes you back to pre GCSE English lessons!)

The English word, barbecue, comes from the Spanish word barbacoa . A traditional barbacoa involves digging a hole in the ground and placing some meat- usually a whole lamb, above a pot so the juices can be used to make a broth. It is then covered in maguay leaves ( not sure where these could be found in U.K.!) and coal and set alight. This cooking process takes a few hours. Interesting to read but not very practical in our climate!

It maybe that the origin of the word barbeque, reportedly came to be, thanks to the French phrase “ barbe a queue” which means ( ok, French GCSE knowledge needed here) which means “whiskers to tail” and describes the process of roasting an entire pig!

Now most of us rarely buy a whole lamb or pig so these methods are interesting to research but impracticable to recreate in our modern day lives.

To describe the two main cooking methods using a barbecue are grilling which is fast and furious or smoking which is slow and low. Most garden barbecues come with lids so smoking is an option for cooking food.

For a cooking method which can be so simple and delicious if done well or burnt and acrid if done badly, it would seem we cannot agree to just one spelling of this method!!

The barbecue ( that is the spelling this blog will use) season is upon us so dust off those grills using charcoal, wood or gas. Individual taste reigns here as to what you will use as the cooking fuel. And perhaps your budget too.

Although grilling is most commonly associated with meat and seafood you can grill everything from lettuce to peaches to avocados to watermelon to cheese.

Most of us use a form of grilling that involves a dry heat applied to the food from below. Grilling is an effective technique (when done well!) in order to cook meat, fish and vegetables. The list of foods is endless and it is fun to experiment with flavours!

Here at The Team building Company we can help organise a Barbecue/barbeque/BBQ/barbie or braai, no matter how you spell or pronounce it, we've got you covered! 

Coupled with one of our outdoor events; such as a Family Fun Day, Country Sports or even It's a Knockout. Let us create the perfect summer team fun day for you.

Call us on 01590 676599 to discuss.