h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In the Southern US, barbeque is a slow cooked pork - yummy. Going further South...

In Mexico they have the barbacoa (barbeque) - a way of cooking meat. This involves:

- A day or so before before prepare your pit. This should be constructed before, and is a big hole in the ground in firm earth or lined with rocks o firebricks. Fill it full of burning coals and leave to warm up overnight (or so).

- Take meat - the last one I had was made from a cow's head. In this case tale the head and cover it with maguey cactus leaves and bind tightly.

- Remove coals, and place meat bundles in pit. Cover pit with lid, and cover in soil.

- Leave it for about a day.

- Invite plenty of people. prepare lots of tortillas and other things to eat. Drink beer, tequila etc. Make sure you have made plenty of good salsa freshly made to go with the meat.

- Uncover pit. Take off lid, and remove meat bundles (obviously with a long rake or similar and not your hands). Do not fall in pit.

- Open bundles, and remove all meat from head. Place in tray. Make sure you get all the tongue and brains, etc. in the tray, and shred the big chunks.

- Serve in tortillas, and season with salsa, and raw onion, chile, cilantro (best offered in bowls for guests to choose from). FOld tortillas in half (ie. make a taco). and eat.

Believe me it is very delicious and worth the effort. Although this is obviously not something you do unless you have a whole bunch of people to participate.

A Chinese Alternative.

Take 2 layers of your standard aluminum kitchen foil. Fold it into a shallow tray, and place it over a barbecue grille. You now have a disposable hot plate. Pour chinese rice wine into the tray, and some slices of raw fish. Let it sizzle. Quickly scoop it off the foil, and into your mouth, with cold beer to dowse the heat, before other people at the BBQ smell what you are cooking and want a piece.

Just for info - barbecue derives from barbacoa, which was derived by the Spanish from a term used by the Arawak Indians to describe a grating used for cooking or drying meat over a fire.

They use exaclty that word in Spanish for slow pit-cooked meat. I heard it originated in the carribean. Is that where these Arawak dudes hail from?

Indeed they do! Or so most refernce works tell us.

Happy barbecueing!