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BBQ world tour

by Rob Plastow on March 9, 2011

Cooking over fire is an ancient tradition and people all over the world continue to love a good BBQ.


There are many different traditional BBQ dishes and ways to barbecue, depending on where you are in the world.
To help you navigate this diverse global cuisine, travel with us on a world BBQ tour:


Spanish Caribbean

BBQ pork Spanish Carribean style
Photo by dbgg1979

Spanish Caribbean islands focus of an old technique developed by the native Taino people. They slowly cook meat over a mesh of wooden sticks until it is tender and full of smoky flavour. Also popular in this region is Lechon, or more commonly known in Europe and America as a spit roast. Roasting a whole pig is a rare treat at home, but if you’re ever in Cuba, Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic you can take advantage of the best Lechon in the world.


Hawaii

Hawaiians BBQ nice and slow underground
Photo by Kaz 2.0

In Hawaii, East meets West pacific in vibrant Luau parties all brought together with BBQ’d seafood and pork. Served with rice, gravy, raw fish and seaweed, Hawaiian BBQ also makes use of Teriyaki on all kinds of meat. Kalua BBQ is where food is cooked in a Imu, or traditional underground oven, which cooks meats nice and slow, as is the BBQ way.


Middle East

Shish Tarooq, the Middle Eastern BBQ kebab
Photo by Clyde Robinson

This region is home to Shish Tarooq, which is beef, lamb, chicken or non-pork sausages grilled over charcoal. Also popular is Mangal, which is Arabic for ‘grill’ and consists of grilling meats outside over coals.
South Africa

South Africans love a braai
Photo by by Catherine Scott

Barbecue in South Africa is known as braai and is the Afrikaans word for ‘meat grill’. Although originally of Afrikaaner cooking culture, it is now common amongst all ethnicities of South Africa. You can find pretty much any kind of meat on a braai, from chicken to lobster and everything in between. So popular is the BBQ in South African that they have a National Braai Day every year on September 24th, to celebrate South Africa’s shared heritage through the unifying love of braai.
Australia

Chuck another shrimp on the barbie mate
Photo by Mosman Council

A mixture of all of the above, the Australians mix it up. They don’t mind how you BBQ, just as long as you are having a BBQ. So popular is the BBQ in Australia that city parks come equipped with coin-operated or free gas and electric BBQs. Big fans of throwing shrimp on the barbie, Aussies are also massive fans of a good sausage and marinating any meat before grilling it.


South America

Asado parilla, the signature South American BBQ dish
Photo by Jaan Cornelius

The signature dish of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and southern Brazil is asado parilla. It involves the grilling of boneless, sliced meats such as steak, over hot coals or in a hot skillet. This is old-school BBQ and puts the emphasis on really good, thick steak simply seasoned and flame grilled to perfection outdoors.


Italy

A legendary Tuscan steak - the heart of Italian BBQ
Photo by Jacob Levine

Italians use lots of olive oil, sea salt and lemon juice on their meats and side dishes and at the heart of a good Italian BBQ is the legendary Tuscan steak. These steaks come from the Chianina breed of cattle raised in Tuscany and are world famous for their incredible flavour. There’s much more to Italian food than simply pasta and no such thing as too much olive oil.


Germany

Germans brought BBQ brisket to the world
Photo by Russ

Germans not only make fantastic sausages they also brought the world ‘brisket’. Now a hugely popular tender meat best enjoyed with lashings of BBQ sauce, brisket started out as a worthless cut too tough to do anything with. The German tradition is to cook it very slowly in a Dutch oven (a thick walled iron cooking pot with a very tight lid) or smoke it until succulent and tender. Try it in a roll with lots of BBQ sauce.


Korea

Koreans call BBQ food 'fire meat'
Photo by Henri Bergius

Korean BBQ is called Bulgogi which is Korean for ‘fire meat’. Bulgogi consists of thinly sliced beef, pork or chicken marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and chili and then grilled. Korean BBQ restaurants are common in North America and provide small gas fire pits on each table for customers to grill their own Bulgogi. This way you can have all the fun of grilling and eating your meat, without having to prepare it or clean up afterwards.


Russia

The Russian BBQ kebab - Shashlik
Photo by Sergey Vladimirov

Shashlik is Russia’s addition to the world of BBQ and consists of skewered beef, pork or lamb, grilled over wood, charcoal or coal. The meat is marinated in either vinegar, white wine or sour fruit juice overnight before being put on skewers, alternating between meat, fat and vegetables much in the same way as shish kebabs.


Mexico

Mexicans BBQ over banana leaves
Photo by Thelonius Gonzo

Mexican Barbacoa is the act of grilling meats over banana leaves in a hole dug in the ground. Very similar to BBQ techniques from the nearby Spanish Caribbean islands. Also common is the grilling of meat over Mesquite wood that gives a smoked flavour synonymous with BBQ the world over. Try and get some Mesquite wood and see the difference it can make to your BBQ.


USA

Are Americans the biggest BBQ lovers?
Photo by Dplanet

BBQ is hugely popular in America and varies across the country nearly as much as the rest of the world combined. Southeastern states generally cook pork, slowly smoked until it falls apart. Southwest BBQ is influenced by Native American, Spanish and Mexican food preparation. Thick and sweet sauce is the signature of Kansas. Texas is all about huge steaks and brisket, while Memphis is the home of dry rub ribs. If there’s one place in the world today that loves the BBQ more than any other it is probably the States

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