Juneteenth - Barbecue Time! - Part 2
Summer is officially here! Even though it felt like we were in summer like weather for a very long time, it is now time to pull out those BBQ grills, swimming at the beach and turn on the A/C full steam. I was able to go to the Juneteenth Festival at the Atlanta History Center and I was able to stop by the Barbecue exhibit. As part of the exhibit I have received a wonderful book called The Original Guide to Barbecue in the South.
While there at the Atlanta History Center museum, I had a chance to go into the Barbecue Nation exhibit sponsored by Yeti. Barbecue Nation chronicles of the cultural heritage and enduring influence of this American foodway. This exhibition includes a wide array of pitmaster artifact, oral histories, vintage photographs and a series of special events.
Food tells us who we are and what I learned that it is not only for nourishment but it stems from tradition, becoming closer to a community and family. Barbecue Nation showed that every "Southern" barbecue restaurant owes its origins to somewhere else on the globe. Barbecue Nation said that "The practice of smoking, spicing and sourcing meat was practiced by indigenous peoples of Africa, Europe and the Americas for millennia and continues within those communities to this day. Barbecue tells us many things. It tells us about our roots. It is not only struggle, strife and survival cloaked in sauce and smoke but it is also a way of life. No matter who you are or where you are from, barbecue's story is your story." Now that is really deep!
I learned about Yup'lk Family Smoking Salmon video where they show the traditional fish-smoking techniques are still practiced by the Yup'lk people of southwestern Alaska. King salmon caught on the Kuskokwim River are cleaned, cut and dried by members of the Alexie family before being stored as food for the winter. Check out the video link:
http://www.livinghealthy1.org/living-healthy-instagram
There are also the West African traditions to barbecue from the Hausa people. Read below:
Barbecue is the tradition of cooking meat over a fire which has existed for over thousands of years. The word barbecue has been used in cooking in different languages. Brabacot according to indigenous Caribbeans, babbake to West Africans and barbacoa as the Spanish translation. Those three traditions brought together over 500 years, formed "American barbecue." Read below the history of American barbecue:
The huge impact and contribution of barbecue in America came from African Americans. Even though African American are not historical recognized for their major praise of the history barbecue. Below are the incredible African American history fact of barbecue:
I have learned so much about this history of barbecue from the original artifacts that were used for barbecuing to the unique process of smoking the meats, the thousands of barbecue sauces being sold nationwide to the different parts of the pig and cow that are used for barbecuing. What is there not to love barbecuing! Hey even our former president Obama love BBQ!
So while you are about to fire up the grill this week make sure you remember that you are part of the BBQ Community called the BBQ Nation. Enjoy! Check out my Living Healthy Instagram for more pictures. http://www.livinghealthy1.org/living-healthy-instagram
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