Meat, Metal and Fire
“I was hungry and You gave me meat”
Matthew 25:35
Meat cooked outside tastes good. It’s undeniable. More than this it’s so deeply satisfying, just so right, that we can barely find words to describe the pleasure it brings. To crouch over a smokey fire while the flesh of some unfortunate creature you’ve hunted down at the butcher shop is blackening on the grill is to live life to the full. The smell, the sight of it, the anticipation.
You’ve sent out an smoke signal to the neighbours that is every bit as good as Tarzan beating his chest and bellowing “Meat! Meat! Once more I have provided meat for my family!”
The Aussie barbecue is a universal ritual , a one-size-fits-all celebration that is religious worship, tribal bonding and ritual hunting ceremony all rolled into one. At least, it has enough of the trappings of such a ceremony to feel like one.
We here at the Australasian Institute of Backyard Studies predict that in time the Aussie barbie will develop into a major symphony of food culture. In 500 years time will we have overseas pilgrims visiting us to respectfully observe the Aussie Barbie, a 7 hour ceremony surrounded by smoke and mumbled incantations high on a mountain somewhere, complete with priests in thongs and aprons, covered in curious obscene markings?
I invite you to join in the development of the glorious barbie.
