The best barbecue from around the world

[JohnS]

The best barbecue from around the world

By Travis Levius, CNN - Published, Fri May 24, 2024

Americans are perhaps the standard bearers of the “barbecue.” Backyards and parks in the United States are full of people gathering around sauce-slathered chicken and other meats.

But famed as America’s grill skills may be, many would claim it can’t hold a glowing charcoal ember to the meat-charring culture of, say, Argentina or South Africa.

History isn’t clear on where the term “barbecue” comes from – one explanation is that it comes from “barbacoa,” a term used by Spanish explorers to describe the Caribbean’s indigenous Taino people’s cooking technique.

In any case, barbecue as we know it today covers multiple cooking methods: On grills, above fire pits, under the ground and in clay ovens.

There are regional variations and customs in destinations from South America to Africa to Asia.

Read on for further proof that the lip-smacking barbecue experience is a universal tradition, not just an American one.

Braai (South Africa)

The South African braai gathers the community to grill juicy cuts of steak, sausage and chicken sosaties (skewers). Matthew de Lange/iStockphoto/Getty Images

The South African braai (“barbecue” in Afrikaans) is the nation’s top culinary custom.

Here, the frequent gathering of friends and family over grilled, juicy cuts of steak, sausage and chicken sosaties (skewers) cuts through all racial and socioeconomic lines.

And no place does “Sunday Funday” quite like the townships, where shisa nyama (“burn meat” in Zulu) venues elevate the braai experience with on-site butchers, cooks, drinks and party-starting DJs. Chicago native and model Unique Love spent three years living in Cape Town and fondly recalls her first shisa nyama.

“Having a braai in Cape Town’s Mzoli’s Meat felt like home,” she says. “After eating, I never wanted to [leave] because the community’s ambiance felt comforting.”

Asado (Argentina)

Though its place as the world’s top consumer of beef fluctuates each year, many would claim Argentina will forever be the grande dame of barbecued meats. Like South Africa’s braai culture, Argentina’s affinity for the grill is more entrenched than in the States.

Attending a sociable, gut-busting asado (“barbecue”) on an almost weekly basis is the norm.

Though a variety of meats and cuts can be experienced at any gathering, Argentinian Guillermo Pernot, chef-partner of Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar, insists: “For the absolute best asado, one should cook a sweet pork and beef sausage, sweetbreads, thigh intestines and blood sausages.”

Other asado tips from the two-time winner of the James Beard Award include using coarse salt to coat meats and to have the “indispensable” chimichurri – a sauce and marinade that usually consists of parsley, garlic, oregano, vinegar and chili flakes – at the ready.

Yaiktori (Japan)

Japan's yakitori -- barbecued chicken on bamboo skewers -- comes in many forms. Kohei Shinohara/iStockphoto/Getty Images

Yakitori, a favorite in Japan, consists of diced chicken assembled onto bamboo skewers and cooked over a smoldering layer of charcoal.

Yakitori variations are labeled by chicken parts (strips of chicken skin make up “towikawa” and “negima” consists of thigh meat with leeks).

Its definition has expanded to include any grilled, skewered food, including vegetables, seafood, pork and beef. While there are several ways to enjoy authentic yakitori in Japan, travel blogger Tanya Spaulding shares her tips for maximum enjoyment.

“The best way to savor yakitori is either from a street vendor, or sitting on the floor in your yukata (a sort of summer kimono), cooking your skewers over the shichirin (a small charcoal grill) in the middle of your table,” she claims.

Churrasco (Brazil)

Barbecue enthusiasts with sizable appetites will love Brazil’s churrasco (Portuguese and Spanish for “barbecue”).

Most visitors to Brazil will get their barbecue fix at a churrascaria, where restaurant servers provide an endless supply of grilled meat cuts directly to patrons’ tables.  While Brazilian churrasco might be the most famous, it’s found in several other countries, including Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Portugal.

Dan Clarke, director of RealWorld Holidays, who frequents South America, believes Brazilian barbecues offer more options for vegetarians than neighboring, meat-loving Argentina.

“At an Argentinian asado, you’re really stuck with the salad and fries,” he says. “But it’s much better in Brazil because most churrascarias feature salad bars with dozens of kinds of fresh salads, pasta salads, pickles, breads, olives and all the other sides you could wish for.”

Lechon (Philippines)

Lechon (Spanish for “suckling pig”) features a whole, impaled pig spit-roasted over a charcoal bed or in an oven. Many Filipinos declare the tasty, porky treat to be their national dish although the same claim is made by Puerto Ricans.

The lechon cooked on the Filipino island of Cebu is often considered the best in the country, if not the world.

Fun fact: Every June 24 in Balayan, Philippines, the locals pay a special, religious-themed homage to roasted pig at the Parada ng Lechon (Parade of Spit-Roast Pig).

It involves lechons getting blessed at a church mass followed by a lively parade of floats, music, water guns (for the baptism) and lechons “dressed” in outlandish garments and accessories.

Tandoor (India)

It’s true: that iconic Indian tandoori chicken you’ve known (and perhaps loved) for ages is considered a barbecue dish.

Tandoori food derives its name from the tandoor, the cauldron-like clay oven in which dishes such as naan bread, chicken, seafood and other meats are cooked under high-heat charcoal.

“The art of the tandoor originated centuries ago as a nomadic style of cooking in Central Asia [where] food was cooked on charcoal pits and meat was spit-roasted,” says Manjit Gill, corporate chef for ITC Hotels and an Indian celebrity cook behind several acclaimed restaurants including Bukhara in New Delhi.

“The Tandoori cuisine as we know it today was introduced in the late 1940s in post-partition India, when people discovered that it was a better medium to cook meat in a tandoor rather than on the spit.”

Mongolian BBQ (Taiwan)

Mongolian barbecue actually comes from Taiwan. Hannizhong/Alamy Stock Photo

“Surprisingly, despite the name, Taiwan is the origin of Mongolian barbecue,” reveals travel enthusiast and native Taiwanese Erin Yang. “[It] consists of the combination of sliced meat, noodles and vegetables quickly cooked over a flat circular metal surface.”

Mongolian barbecue is a relatively new food trend, emerging in Taiwan in the 1950s and influenced by Japanese teppanyaki and Chinese stir-fry. It’s also popular in certain regions of China.

Beijing-based food and travel blogger Monica Weintraub says beef and lamb feature heavily in the north of the country.

“Whether you’re sharing a leg of lamb between four or five friends or ordering single lamb skewers (yang rou chuan), be expected to intake meat heavily doused in chili powder, cumin seeds and salt,” she says.

Lovo (Fiji)

Fiji’s barbecue tradition has more of an underground approach compared to other nations.

Erin Yang explains: “Unlike many other barbecue styles, Fijian barbecue is cooked in a ‘lovo,’ an earth oven.”

Lovo involves piping-hot stones placed into a large opening in the ground to allow slowly smoked cooking.

“Ingredients such as pork, chicken, vegetables, taro root and seafood are wrapped in taro or banana leaves and placed onto the stones,” Yang says. “After 2-3 hours, the savory lovo will be ready to serve.”

Unearthing the pit-smoked food is met with jubilation from feasters, perhaps due to the hours-long wait for the cooking to be completed.

Umu (Samoa)

Men cover the umu, Samoa's version of the barbecue, with leaves. Holger Leue/The Image Bank Unreleased/Getty Images

 

Umu, Samoa’s version of the barbecue, is similar to the underground cooking customs of Fijian lovo.

Avichai Ben Tzur, a travel writer/entrepreneur who’s spent significant time in the South Pacific, describes barbecue prep work as a family task.

“Young men of the extended Samoan family gather together to prepare the ‘umu,’ hours before the traditional Sunday feast commences… catching fresh fish or slaughtering a pig, collecting taro leaves and breadfruit from the family’s agricultural plot and cracking open coconuts for the palusami.”

The palusami, a Samoan staple made of coconut cream (often seasoned with onions, lemon juice and simple spices) wrapped in taro leaves, is “a delicious calorie bomb that cannot be resisted by Samoans,” says Tzur.

Gogigui (Korean Peninsula)

Korean BBQ usually features a grill that's surrounded by an assortment of banchan (side dishes). IronHeart/Moment RF/Getty Images

Gogigui (Korean for “meat roast”) is a favorite of both Koreans and international eaters.

Dining at a Korean BBQ usually consists of sliced beef, pork and chicken with an assortment of banchan (side dishes) and rice cooked in the center of a table, which is either cooked by the chefs or the diners themselves.

Should you choose to cook your own gogigui, “Masterchef Korea” finalist Diane Sooyeon Kang shares some tips.

“For thin slices of meat like chadolbaegi (thinly sliced beef brisket), you should lie it flat and cook it quickly for a few seconds on each side,” she says. “For meats like yangnyeom galbi (marinated short ribs), high heat and fire will be best as it will caramelize the outside while keeping the meat juicy inside.”

Jessica Mehta, who’s lived in Korea for a year, suggests: “You’re not really having Korean BBQ if you don’t pair it with soju, a clear liquor somewhat similar to sake.”

Pachamanca (Peru)

Though Peruvian cuisine is known the world over for ceviche and Pisco sour cocktails, one of Peru’s most traditional Incan cooking customs, pachamanca, is still under the radar to many.

Pachamanca (meaning “earth pot” in the Quechua language) involves digging to create a ground oven and lining the cavity with fire-heated stones to cook the food.

A variety of potatoes, corn, legumes and marinated meats are enclosed in banana leaves and placed into the earth oven for hours.

Authentic pachamanca are served sitting on the ground, and mostly take place on special occasions (especially religious ceremonies) and during harvest time every February and March.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/worlds-best-barbecue-grill/index.html

[BoliDan]

BBQ is polar and super subjective to preferences. I love Korean, I've never had a better BBQ chicken than when I was in Hawaii. Beef is USA for sure. Lamb I give to middle east, and pork is such a toss up. Greek, St.Louis, Carolinas, Caribbean are so good. I long for Pernil on a daily basis. And Seafood BBQ. Love it. I don't know if I got a country for it. Maybe New England with clam bakes and Jamaica with conch and scotch bonnets. 

I really enjoy Korean though, because of the cook your own meat aspect. It's fun, and conversation-filled. Also, kimchi is so good. 

[PigFish]

I am making a stand here. People divide over every effing thing these days! Barbecue brings folks together! I don’t give a rats-ass where it started or what people are cooking on some TV show. If you eat food, there is a slice of barbecue for you!!!

Okay… I will exclude barbecue tofu but won’t piss on you if you like it for the sake of harmony!!!🤪

[99call]

15 hours ago, JohnS said:

The best barbecue from around the world

Ahem,   John .....you are usually so thorough, but you have made a painful and obvious omission here!!.   The country that obviously holds the BBQ crown. 

(Gastroenteritis).    UK

Largely based on a marinade of cheap cigarettes and 20 pint cans of Stella Artois (non-imported), this marinade is uniquely kept separate from the food (which must remain free of any flavour or naturally antiseptic citrus etc.) and is actually absorbed by the 'Chef'.    The 'Chef' must be brought to a temperature of 45 degrees of severe sunstroke, no basting of sunscreen is required.   Dehydrated of nutrients or any natural moisture.   The meat i.e. the Chef,   should be the binary opposite of Kobe beef.  The 'Chef' should be stressed, angry and in state of high anxiety.  

Now for the food!..... the food is a complete second thought,  cheap packets of battery chicken thighs and 90% rusk sausages.    The charcoal needs to be heavily doused with petrol, and lit with very short matches.  Ideally the matches will by slightly wet and completely useless.      Once lit, the 'meat' needs to be places instantly into the roaring inferno of flames, and poured out in one spot like a pile of guts.   Once a thick, completely black carbonised crust has formed around the still raw gelatinous centres, the 'food' is ready. 

The 'food' is smothered in out of date ketchup, and must be consumed whilst blind drunk, as otherwise it is not possible to face.

[ha_banos]

I'm boycotting. 

[MagicalBikeRide]

You could add an Irish BBQ….? No particular culinary requirements but looks something like this: 

[Cigar Surgeon]

Pretty sure I've had BBQ from regional representatives all listed. Ironically I have not had all the regional BBQ in the US.

With that said Austin Texas for me occupies spots 1-3 and maybe 4 as well for top 10 BBQ I've had.

And this is from a Canadian 

[99call]

4 hours ago, MagicalBikeRide said:

You could add an Irish BBQ….? No particular culinary requirements but looks something like this: 

I think this is just a general Celtic BBQ. My Welsh Grandad, is in load of old family photos in the sheeting rain, over a BBQ hunching under a umbrella. Good times!

[usleepicreep]

Nothing better than some grilled/smoked meats


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JohnS]

7 hours ago, 99call said:

Ahem,   John .....you are usually so thorough, but you have made a painful and obvious omission here!!.   The country that obviously holds the BBQ crown. 

(Gastroenteritis).    UK

Brilliant, Stefan. Just brilliant! 😂

[Redgoldband]

Reading this after completing the inaugural bbq of the summer season. Just took a ribeye, coffee-seasoned bone-in pork chop, and some chicken skewers off the grill. 3-day holiday weekend feast!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cnov]

14 hours ago, 99call said:

I think this is just a general Celtic BBQ. My Welsh Grandad, is in load of old family photos in the sheeting rain, over a BBQ hunching under a umbrella. Good times!

If you don't need a hair dryer to get the wet charcoal going, is it even a British summer BBQ?

My Uncle and Dad would usually be out there in the rain while everyone else watched from inside. 

As I've got older and have kids it's obvious that my Dad and Uncle knew what they were doing and probably planned it on a rainy day in order to give themselves some sweet relief from the company of their wives and kids.

[99call]

3 minutes ago, cnov said:

sweet relief

Great name for a BBQ unit.

[Arabian]

In the Sultanate of Oman, they bury sheep in tandoor hole and cover it with a lid and sand, a cooking process that takes up to two days.

[ha_banos]

51 minutes ago, Arabian said:

In the Sultanate of Oman, they bury sheep in tandoor hole and cover it with a lid and sand, a cooking process that takes up to two days.

I have trouble waiting 10mins for souvalki! But this isn't BBQ, this is slow roasting. Bet it's delish 🤪!

Can we fairly separate BBQ, smoking, outdoor roasting? Is there a definition? Is wood fired oven BBQ then?

[99call]

52 minutes ago, Arabian said:

In the Sultanate of Oman, they bury sheep in tandoor hole and cover it with a lid and sand, a cooking process that takes up to two days.

I feel so sorry for people that don't like lamb. 

When I worked in Jeddah, our fixer Abdullah (a top bloke) took us to a traditional grill restaurant. My first time dining in a sit down Arabic style. We were treated with BBQ'd/steamed salamanders of whole baby lamb on rice. It was fabulous. At one point Abdullah started gathering bits of wobbly fat from different parts of the carcass until he had a handful. I thought he was trying to remove it from the meat to be set aside and thrown away. Anyway, it turns out it was a prized part of the meal, and he handed me this gelatinous handful of lamb fat. Although I bit of a head and heart shock, it was delicious.

I also had a camel milk desert for afters, which was fabulous. 

[JY0]

My House

[Redgoldband]

Yesterday’s vittles...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Arabian]

10 hours ago, ha_banos said:

I have trouble waiting 10mins for souvalki! But this isn't BBQ, this is slow roasting. Bet it's delish 🤪!

Can we fairly separate BBQ, smoking, outdoor roasting? Is there a definition? Is wood fired oven BBQ then?

They throw lots of wood in it along zygophyllum plant to spread the fire, I associate BBQ with fire, seasoning and slow cooking.

@99call lamb is a luxury meat, the flavor is in the fat. The Greeks and Turks make good lamb dishes too, maybe on a smaller scale. I never had camel milk, how's the bathroom trips after all? 😁

 

[99call]

1 hour ago, Arabian said:

the flavor is in the fat

Yep, I'm fully on board with that. I've just never been exposed to being handed a whole handful of fat by fellow diner, as a gift. 

My call to nature afterwards was clockwork...thank you for your concern. 

[Drguano]

With the one and only Nakamura at Big Bob Gibson in Decatur AL…

[Nevrknow]

Pissed away time getting my beef ribs so 2 pork butts tomorrow! Hello 4 o’clock in the am. Rolling smoke! Light smoke on the smoker and heavy from the cigar. I hope. 😁

[ha_banos]

12 hours ago, Arabian said:

They throw lots of wood in it along zygophyllum plant to spread the fire, I associate BBQ with fire, seasoning and slow cooking.

@99call lamb is a luxury meat, the flavor is in the fat. The Greeks and Turks make good lamb dishes too, maybe on a smaller scale. I never had camel milk, how's the bathroom trips after all? 😁

Hmm...lots of Philistines cook with gas fire and call it BBQ. Watch out for those!

[99call]

8 hours ago, ha_banos said:

Hmm...lots of Philistines cook with gas fire and call it BBQ. Watch out for those!

I remember being asked to cook for my missus's friends at their holiday house. Anyway the BBQ was gas, ....aaaaaAND...........I wasn't allowed to put anything directly on the grill!? Because it would get "dirty". Foil had to go down first. I basically said, "I didn't understand what they wanted, as it didn't make any sense to me."

[Chibearsv]

8 hours ago, ha_banos said:

Hmm...lots of Philistines cook with gas fire and call it BBQ. Watch out for those!

In the USA, using a smoker is barbecue. Otherwise, you’re grilling whether using gas or coals. My neighbor grilled steaks this week on his gas grill that were fantastic. That Greek Philistine knows how to use fire, no matter how it’s fueled. 😁