How Pirates Used To Cook Meats Back In The Day

If you have ever smoked meat or enjoyed pit barbecue (which goes back further than you think), you should thank a pirate. The concept of cooking meat over a long period of time via smoke is the darling method of millions of barbecue aficionados and carnivores, and it might have never been discovered had seafaring scallywags not developed the boucan grill in the 17th century. These were assembled by weaving greenwood branches into a lattice-type surface that would secure meat on top, while smoke would slow-cook it from underneath.

To get a better understanding of how this type of grill was developed, you need to look at the Tupi tribe of Brazil, which was the first tribe that European explorers came into contact with when they reached the area. It was the Tupi who introduced these conquistadores to cooking meat by smoke. As the explorers migrated to the West Indies, they brought this method with them, ultimately introducing it to French hunters and explorers who embraced it so much that they built a thriving business through it on the island of Hispaniola. They hunted things like wild pigs, cattle, and turtles, cooked them over boucan grills, and sold the meat to other sailors who passed through the island. They became known as "boucaniers" for their savvy method of smoking meat.

Eventually, the Spanish government forced the French out. To earn a living, many of them began pirating Spanish ships, earning the name "buccaneers," and spread their boucan cooking throughout the Caribbean to places like Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Although the smoking/grilling method of the islands at this time was called boucan, the Spanish adopted the word "barbacoa," which was likely taken from the Taino word "barabicu." The Taino were native people who occupied the Caribbean islands. One theory as to why "barbacoa" spread rather than "boucon" was due to the negative reputation boucaniers gained when they began overrunning and robbing ships. Naturally, this type of cooking moved around the world as explorers did, and populations and regions developed flavoring, marinating, and saucing methods of their own. This ultimately resulted in all the different kinds of barbecue styles you find in America today, from Santa Maria-style in California to the Carolina barbecue styles at the other end of the country.

While the boucan was a type of assembled grill, the type of cooking it achieved was definitely more similar to smoking than what we know today as grilling. Grilling involves high temperatures, hot grates, and occasional direct contact with cooking fire, causing grilled meat to finish quickly. Smoking and barbecue is cooking via smoke and lower temperatures for a long period of time, which is similar to what boucan cooking was for the rascals who became pirates. The next time you barbecue, try sipping a Caribbean Queen cocktail, which is rum-based (for the pirates) and a delicious way to pass the time.