Ah, the humble barbecue. Who would have thought that such a simple invention could bring so much pleasure to so many. Offering an excuse for friends, family and loved ones to gather together in the summer months and enjoy food, drink and plenty of merriment al fresco.

Most of us are familiar with barbecues of course, but how many of us know much, if anything at all, about its origins? Probably not many of us, but it is worth finding out as the history of the humble barbecue is pretty interesting.

The word ‘barbecue’ stems from ‘barbicu’, a Caribbean word which literally means ‘sacred fire pit’ and which later became ‘barbacoa’ in European languages. The word described a grill used to cook meat, usually a wooden platform on sticks.

Going back to before the American Civil War, the pig was an extremely popular as a food source and pig slaughtering was a cause for celebration, in which the community would gather together to slaughter the pig and enjoy the fruits of their labour by cooking and eating it. This was an early version of the modern day barbecue!

Historically, another popular meat to barbecue was goat; often a whole one which would be cooked and the juices captured to make a broth… a little bit different to the cheese burgers and grilled prawns of today. And the word barbecue was in the 18^th century defined as ‘a whole dressed hog’.

So if you were a vegetarian in those days, barbecues weren’t for you!

Nowadays, charcoal, gas and electric barbecues are used to cook a variety of meats and non-meats, often accompanied by salads and plenty of beers, wine or other refreshing beverages. So get involved in a great tradition and make sure you’ve got your Weber barbecue ready for summer this year!