Illustration of a 16th-century Barbacoa

The following is a discussion about a small portion of the chapter "Hernando's Barbacoa" in the book From Barbycu to Barbecue. The book is published by the University of South Carolina Press. It was peer reviewed for two years and cites over 2000 primary and secondary sources. It is available from online booksellers and from many of the best local bookstores.

The widely accepted tall tale of how barbecue was "discovered" begins with the ancient Taino people of what is today Haiti and the word the Spanish borrowed from them "barbacoa." Sixteenth-century Spanish explorers, we are told, soon adopted the Taino way of cooking, which is sometimes described as cooking pork low and slow with indirect heat. From there, English speakers adopted the word barbacoa with an Anglo spin pronouncing it as "barbecue." This theory of the origins of barbecue is entertaining, but it is far from the facts as they are recorded in historical records.

It is true that 16th-century Spanish explorers witnessed ancient Taino people using barbacoas. However, the word "barbacoa" was used only as a noun and it did not refer to the food on a barbacoa nor did it refer to the way of cooking. Records from the 1500s through the 1800s refer to barbacoas only as wooden grills suspended on three or four forked corner posts and, sometimes, as being attached to a tree trunk on one end and two forked posts on the other. At some point, people in Mexico adopted the word "barbacoa" to refer earthen ovens, which are holes dug into the ground and filled with hot rocks before wrapping food in leaves and placing it in the pit before covering it with leaves and soil. Even so, to this day, the word "barbacoa" is used in Mexico only as a noun to refer to the earthen oven and the food that is cooked in one.

The notion that word "barbacoa" refers to a way of cooking was invented in the United States after the end of World War II. Americans invented the verb "barbacoa" and promoted the idea that because Spanish explorers were the first to use the word "barbacoa," that must be how barbecue was created. Nevertheless, firsthand accounts from the 16th through 19th centuries do not support those assertions.

It is true that Spaniards who came to the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries were fascinated by barbacoas, but it wasn't because they craved a delicious pork barbecue sandwich topped with a tangy, spicy sauce and coleslaw. The truth about the 16th-century Spanish love affair with barbacoas is far more fascinating than the modern myth about it.

Early records of Spanish exploits in the Americas occasionally mention barbacoas. The word is used to describe wooden grills on which foods were cooked, smoked, and dried. The word "barbacoa" was also used to describe porticos, bridges, and even tree houses inhabited by indigenous people. "So," you may ask, "just why were Spaniards so fascinated by barbacoas?" One reason was how indigenous people used barbacoas to store things like clothing skins, corn, and other foods. Warm animal skins and food was always in high demand among Spanish conquistadors and their armies. But, that's not the main reason Spaniards sought out barbacoas.

The Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–1519) was the first European to lead a quest across Panama’s Isthmus and to march to the Pacific Ocean. In the year 1513 he sent a secret communique to King Ferdinand II (1452–1516) that contained a closely guarded secret. The secret was so closely guarded, it escaped detection by people who study barbecue history since it was revealed to King Ferdinand until now. The top secret, highly classified information in that communique was this: Caciques, leaders of indigenous tribes, hid vast amounts of gold in barbacoas.

Because one of the main goals of a conquistador’s mission was to find treasure for the king, this discovery was significant. It is also why it was to be kept secret and only shared with those the king sent to the Americas. Indeed, to King Ferdinand and his conquistadors, the closely guarded secret message was clear. Find a barbacoa, and you will find treasures. From that point forward, one of the main missions of Spanish explorers was to seek out barbacoas. Barbacoas stored corn that could feed their army and gold that could feed their greed. That explains why records show that one of the first things Spanish explorers did when encountering a Native American village was to head straight to the barbacoas. It also explains why the indigenous people defended them with their lives.

When carefully reviewing credible historical records, it is easy to see that the modern American tale of the origin of barbecue just does not stand up to facts. Get a copy of From Barbycu to Barbecue for a fresh look at barbecue history and how history tells us that southern barbecuing in the United States is an original style of barbecuing that was born in the southern United States and was not imported from the Caribbean.

Louis Hughes, circa 1897. From Thirty Years a Slave from Bondage to Freedom.

The institution of human slavery, as it existed in this country, has long been dead; and, happily for all the sacred interests which it assailed, there is for it no resurrection. It may, therefore, be asked to what purpose is the story which follows, of the experiences of one person under that dead and accursed institution? To such question, if it be asked, it may be answered that the narrator presents his story in compliance with the suggestion of friends, and in the hope that it may add something of accurate information regarding the character and influence of an institution which for two hundred years dominated the country - exercising a potent but baneful influence in the formation of its social, civil and industrial structures, and which finally plunged it into the most stupendous civil war which the world has ever known. As the enlightenment of each generation depends upon the thoughtful study of the history of those that have gone before, everything which tends to fullness and accuracy in that history is of value, even though it be not presented with the adjuncts of literary adornment, or thrilling scenic effects.

A feast of this kind was always given to us, by Boss, on the 4th of July. The anticipation of it acted as a stimulant through the entire year. Each one looked forward to this great day of recreation with pleasure. Even the older slaves would join in the discussion of the coming event. It mattered not what trouble or hardship the year had brought, this feast and its attendant pleasure would dissipate all gloom. Some, probably, would be punished on the morning of the 4th, but this did not matter; the men thought of the good things in store for them, and that made them forget that they had been punished. All the week previous to the great day, the slaves were in high spirits, the young girls and boys, each evening, congregating, in front of the cabins, to talk of the feast, while others would sing and dance. The older slaves were not less happy, but would only say: "Ah! God has blessed us in permitting us to see another feast day."  

The day before the 4th was a busy one. The slaves worked with all their might. The children who were large enough were engaged in bringing wood and bark to the spot where the barbecue was to take place. They worked eagerly, all day long; and, by the time the sun was setting, a huge pile of fuel was beside the trench, ready for use in the morning. At an early hour of the great day, the servants were up, and the men whom Boss had appointed to look after the killing of the hogs and sheep were quickly at their work, and, by the time they had the meat dressed and ready, most of the slaves had arrived at the center of attraction. They gathered in groups, talking, laughing, telling tales that they had from their grandfather, or relating practical jokes that they had played or seen played by others. These tales were received with peals of laughter. But however much they seemed to enjoy these stories and social interchanges, they never lost sight of the trench or the spot where the sweetmeats were to be cooked. 

The method of cooking the meat was to dig a trench in the ground about six feet long and eighteen inches deep. This trench was filled with wood and bark which was set on fire, and, when it was burned to a great bed of coals, the hog was split through the back bone, and laid on poles which had been placed across the trench. The sheep were treated in the same way, and both were turned from side to side as they cooked. During the process of roasting the cooks basted the carcasses with a preparation furnished from the great house, consisting of butter pepper, salt and vinegar, and this was continued until the meat was ready to serve. Not far from this trench were the iron ovens, where the sweetmeats were cooked. 

Three or four women were assigned to this work. Peach cobbler and apple dumpling were the two dishes that made old slaves smile for joy and the young fairly dance. The crust or pastry of the cobbler was prepared in large earthen bowls, then rolled out like any pie crust, only it was almost twice as thick. A layer of this crust was laid in the oven, then a half peck of peaches poured in, followed by a layer of sugar; then a covering of pastry was laid over all and smoothed around with a knife. The oven was then put over a bed of coals, the cover put on and coals thrown on it, and the process of baking began. Four of these ovens were usually in use at these feasts, so that enough of the pastry might be baked to supply all. The ovens were filled and refilled until there was no doubt about the quantity. The apple dumplings were made in the usual way, only larger, and served with sauce made from brown sugar. It lacked flavoring, such as cinnamon or lemon, yet it was a dish highly relished by all the slaves. 

I know that these feasts made me so excited, I could scarcely do my house duties, and I would never fail to stop and look out of the window from the dining room down into the quarters. I was eager to get through with my work and be with the feasters. About noon everything was ready to serve. The table was set in a grove near the quarters, a place set aside for these occasions. The tableware was not fine, being of tin, but it served the purpose, and did not detract from the slaves' relish for the feast. The drinks were strictly temperance drinks - buttermilk and water. Some of the nicest portions of the meat were sliced off and put on a platter to send to the great house for Boss and his family.
It was a pleasure for the slaves to do this, for Boss always enjoyed it. It was said that the slaves could barbecue meats best, and when the whites had barbecues slaves always did the cooking. When dinner was all on the table, the invitation was given for all to come; and when all were in a good way eating, Boss and the madam would go out to witness the progress of the feast, and seemed pleased to see the servants so happy. Everything was in abundance, so all could have plenty - Boss always insisted on this. The slaves had the whole day off, and could do as they liked. 

After dinner some of the women would wash, sew or iron. It was a day of harmless riot for all the slaves, and I can not express the happiness it brought them. Old and young, for months, would rejoice in the memory of the day and its festivities, and "bless" Boss for this ray of sunlight in their darkened lives.

"Oh, Lordy, Ma; Jack Kilcrease has drunk seventeen cups o' coffee, and now it's all gone."  The plaintive wail of the bereaved caused some of the eaters nearby to turn their heads and look, but their attention was brief. Four or five deep, they stood by long lines of tables, the men outside, the women inside, with hands full of barbecued meat and cornbread, jaws working, and pocket-knives cutting from time to time liberal portions to supply the vacancy the expanded swallows created. 

The one feature of the festival of forty years ago in which time has wrought little change is the barbecue. There is a difference in detail now, but the essentials are about the same as half a century gone. 

Then there was not much of a display of Old Glory, for too many men were alive to whom the flag brought unpleasant memories; but the speech was pretty much the same; the barbecue almost the same — only the people were different.  

The beeves, the hogs, the goats and the sheep had been killed the day before, and brought in by the contributors during the afternoon. In the long pits fires of oak wood, hauled from a distant grove, had been burning all day; now a bed of embers glowed their length.  

Nearby there was a burning heap of oak logs, to replace the coals from time to time.

On spits of oak laid across the pits, the meat rested — usually a quarter of beef cut in half; a hog, sheep or goat split lengthwise. Under this, all night the fires were kept going, the meat being turned occasionally as it slowly cooked. It was this deliberate, gradually broiling process, that gave the barbecue its flavor. From time to time the chief cook's first assistant passed up one side and down the other of the pits, and with a mop on a short handle basted the roasting meat from a bucket containing salt, pepper, and various seasoning condiments. For barbecue in those days was seasoned in the cooking.  

All night long the cooks kept their vigil, for constant supervision was the price of well-cooked meats, and on the cook the success of the day depended.  Many were the yarns told — principally personal recollections of the war just passed, for usually it was veterans who were supervising the cooking — during the night around the fire. When morning came, the cooks were gaunt-faced and egg-eyed, but their task was not done, for the meat must be cooked up to the hour the tables were placed, and then the fire withdrawn just in time to allow the meat to cool enough to cut. 

About nine o'clock the crowd began to arrive. They came in buggies, a few in two-horse wagons, but a great many in horse-carts, the man on the horse, the family balanced In the cart over the axle; still others on horseback, but a great many, hundreds in fact, on foot, for little was thought of a ten-mile walk in those days.  

After each newcomer had made a round of inspection of the barbecue pits, each expressing his opinion of how it ought to be done, they gathered under the shade of the pines, to swap gossip and neighborhood news, trade horses, or crack jokes. 

There was a lemonade stand with its hard-worked force, for ice had been hauled many miles, at great expense, and the weak compound was swallowed more for the cooling "kick" than for any ingredients it was supposed to contain. Of watermelons there were none, for they did not ripen so early then.  

Near the stand were many boys, with long breeches and watering mouths, gazing on what they had not the money to buy. They had been the rounds of the pits. Inhaling the savory odor of the cooking meats until hunger drove away even the smart from bare feet that had incautiously stepped on live coals. Only too close by was the grocery, where stronger liquors were sold, and where later in the day a row started which afterwards bereaved two families.  

A small platform had been built, covered with brush and floored with borrowed plank. Here the orator of the day held forth. The Fourth of July speech then was much the speech of to-day. The tail feathers of the eagle were yanked until the bird of freedom screamed, and the adherents of the more or less famous politician applauded according to their devotion or enthusiasm, liquid or mental, while the urchins looking on and understanding not, wished he would quit, so dinner could come. The babies cried, the young folks courted, a group nearby laughed at a joke, sundry matrons swapped confidences and dipped snuff — all within plain hearing of the speaker, who heroically stuck to the job.  

Everything must end, and at last the speaking was over. Up from the pits, tubs and cedar piggins [small wooden pails] of the meat were carried and distributed along the tables, these innocent of even paper covering. There was no Brunswick stew in those days; no pickles, nor trimmings, but the cue was there in abundance for every man to eat his fill, and for many of the provident to carry off a supply against the day to come.  

The housewives had brought great stacks of pone cornbread — there was no baker's bread to be had — and this was cut and distributed with the meats. Then the wives brought forward trunks and baskets and from these what looked like an inexhaustible supply of good things to eat, and added them to the cue on the tables. Many could not miss, even for a meal, the cup of coffee, and to supply them, pots had been set on the coals near the pits until their contents boiled. It was when he diminished the supply in sight that a thirsty citizen provoked the boy to protest.  

Those people did not know much of the delicacies, but they brought to the meal appetites of plow hands and the digestions of rail-splitters. It was no small task to feed them but the men in charge knew what to provide for, and at last they were fed. Then hot-foot for the well, and crowd and push for the water that after all is the only perfect quencher of thirst.  

After dinner, the speaker gone, the platform gave place to the fiddlers, the straw-beaters, the caller and the dancing couples. Despite the July heat, despite the perspiration that made rags of the home-laundered shirts and collars and caused the color to "run" in many a beloved calico dress, until the shades of evening drove them home, the dancing went on, ever-changing individuals, but the same thing in form. There we leave them, the old folks hitching up for the homeward journey, the young folks still stepping lively to the jingling tune of the "Arkansaw [sic] Traveler," or one of his many kindred, or: 

• There are four regional styles of real, authentic Virginia barbecue today.
• Read the story of the fateful Vauxhall Island barbecue in 1869.
• Read about the Virginia barbecue served in other states such as Missouri, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio.
• Read about the prominent 19th century American philologist James Trumbull who explained why the word barbecue is a "Virginian word." 
• The word barbecue was used as a noun in English literature years before the Oxford English Dictionary claims.
• An English version of the word barbecue was used as a verb in English literature 13 years earlier than the Oxford English Dictionary claims.
• White barbecue sauce wasn't invented in Alabama. It's been around for hundreds of years.
• Read about the origin of southern barbecue's basic sauce of oil, vinegar, salt, black pepper and red pepper.
• Discover why the often repeated myth that barbecue was first cooked in the Caribbean and migrated to the North American colonies is wrong and unfounded.
• Find out why California barbecue is so different from southern barbecue.
• Read about when and why backyard barbecues became popular.
• America's first barbecue club was established in Virginia centuries before the KCBS.
• Virginians were the first to barbecue meats over hickory wood using the southern barbecue cooking technique.
• The first barbecue restaurant in the United States is found in Virginia about 100 years before the first recorded North Carolina barbecue restaurant.
• In the 1830s, two groves of trees were planted on the U.S. Capitol building's grounds to be used for holding barbecues. One grove for the Democrats and one grove for the Whigs. The "Barbecue Trees" (as they were called) remained on the Capitol grounds until the 1870s.
• Read about the 19th century Virginia barbecue cook named Black Hawk who was so accomplished at his craft that he had an audience with the President.
• Read about the African-American barbecue cook from Virginia who was a veteran of the Civil War but fought to save lives rather than take them.