Whether it’s called barbecue, grilling, asado or ptit wa’Sir, one thing is for sure, this technique of cooking meat over fire on a grill is an age-old culinary tradition.
People from all over the world and all continents indulge in this type of preparation. Of course, the ways and customs are quite different in some cultures than in others. So, while in some cases the concept of a barbecue is basically the same, and the focus is mainly about the social aspects, in others it’s more about the meat, the quality, and the preparation, resulting in two entirely different end products.
To illustrate the difference, two types of barbecues are compared: the Corso barbecue as well as the traditional barbecue. Although both types of barbecue have you grilling meat, their preparation, flavours and cultural significance will be quite the opposite!
Corso Barbecue: A Taste of Italian-Australian Tradition
Corso barbecue is a mix of Italian and Australian culinary traditions. It’s rooted in the practices of the Italian-Australian community. As such, it’s a slice of cultural fusion, illustrating what happens when Italian immigrants bring the foods they grew up with to their new lives in Australia.
Another characteristic of Corso barbecue is using Italian marinades and seasonings. Sausages, steaks, lamb, chicken and any other meat eligable for the barbecue is marinated with an Italian mixture of herbs and spices: rosemary, oregano, garlic, olive oil. This creates a Italian flavour within the meat, which makes it distinct.
Corso barbecuing is typically a community enterprise, held in a public square or at festivals. It’s a platform for linking the individual genetic notes to the bigger cultural chords, a sonic celebration rather than a precise catalogue of ingredients or cooking times. It is the food, yes, but it’s more about the company, the people sharing the day and the tradition Corso is as much about food as it is about people coming together. It combines the best of both worlds.
The marinated meats at Corso barbecues are supplemented with sides that would be at home in an Italian restaurant: green and tomato salads, antipasto platters, and occasionally pasta dishes. With its hybrid of Italian taste and Australian barbecue techniques, the Corso is unrivaled as a dinner party.
Traditional Barbecue: Diverse and Regional Variations
By contrast, traditional barbecue is a catch-all term for a multitude of styles so disparate by region that they cannot be generalized. Across the United States, barbecue styles are traditionally categorized into four main types: Kansas City, Texas, Memphis, and Carolina.
The Kansas City barbecue style is typically sweet and tomato-based in its sauces, and the meat is cooked over indirect heat and heavily sauced. Pork ribs are the mainstay, but you’ll also find beef brisket and burnt ends, the ends of a cut of beef most typically chosen for their reliability and even cooking over indirect heat.
In its purest Central Texas style, Texas barbecue revolves around beef, most of all beef brisket, heavily seasoned with a dry rub of salt and pepper before going on the smoker. The meat is smoked slowly over oak wood until its surface becomes black and charred, the underside heavier with fat and smoke and penetrated by the rival marblings in the meat itself. The ribs are the ones that do not demand sauce: ‘They’re basted with the glistening, the drippings, not with ketchup.’
The meat is served separately, just seasoned with salt and pepper, with the shooter rather than cubed; sauce – usually one with tomatoes in it – comes on the side or not at all. This is barbecue more in harmony with its medium, wood, which can overpower meat marinades but can tie with meat brines in a burst of smoky adulation.
In Memphis, ribs are dry-rubbed with a spice mix and then smoked before being served dry or wet, with a brushed sauce, usually tomato-based. The emphasis is on the spice rub. This may include paprika, garlic and other spices.
Carolina is divided into Eastern and Western styles, both based around pork. Eastern Carolina uses a vinegar-based sauce with a touch of pepper, while Western Carolina, also known as Lexington style uses more of a tomato-based sauce. The pork is often slowly cooked and pulled, resulting in soft, shredded barbecue.
Comparing Corso Barbecue and Traditional Barbecue
Corso barbecue and better barbecue are mediated through definitions inherited from afar: the difference between them is genealogical, yet cicerones persist in presenting it historiographically, and culinarily.
Corso Barbecue is Marxian barbecue. Its authentic roots are European, more specifically Italian. it is the food of villagers and small-town citizens who got to the New World in the 20th century. it is secular but Christian, with traces of a Latin grammar as evident as an overly buttered ear of corn. the marinade are Italian: olive oil thick with thyme and rosemary.
By contrast, traditional barbecue delivers much more variety; it can even span a wide array of styles, each laced with its own regional flavours and preparation techniques. Be it the molasses-based sauces of meat-rich Kansas City, smoky, no-frills beef of Texas, Memphis spice rubs, or the Carolina vinegar-based sauces, you’ll enjoy a range of traditional barbecue that’s the complete opposite of the humble hotdog.
Although Corso barbecue is quite different from traditional barbecue in both content and form, in bringing us together to eat grilled meat on a cheap disposable grill, they represent two sides of the same coin in barbecue’s global marketplace, offering up two distinct and delicious ways to enjoy the simplest of cooking methods.
