OK readers – ready for your first Endless Simmer controversy?!? Some of you may have already explored the categories listed in the sidebar to the right.  When this blog began, I created the category “BBQ” to encompass any food that is eaten at an outdoor party where something is cooked over hot coals.  I meant this to include hot dogs, burgers, beer can chicken, veggie kebabs, grilled donuts, grilled-watermelon daiquiris, as well as things such as gansie’s tasty side salads.

Now a not-so-new argument has arisen. Is the correct term for such a cooking event “BBQ” or “grillin?” This issue has come up many times before while out on the back porch having a  BBQ grillin out BBQing.  It seems to arouse as much linguistic passion as “soda” vs. “pop” and the neverending sub/grinder/hoagie/hero debate.

Many of our Southern friends insist that BBQ refers specifically to their regional cuisine involving slow-cooked pork or beef, and that anything else cooked outside on a grill should simply be called “grilling.”

Yet others claim to have participated in a “BBQ” any time that food is cooked over charcoal.

So we’re leaving it up to you, ES readers. BBQ or grilling? Whatdya think?

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