History of pirates and BBQ

Pirates have been around as long

as man has used the seas as a

way of doing commerce, some

think they have been around for

3000 years or more. However, it is

not until the 1500 and 1600’s that

pirates gained a reputation that

carries itself to this day. Pirates

such as Blackbeard, Captain Kidd,

and Captain Morgan helped to

make pirates famous, if not

infamous, in the Atlantic and

Caribbean. There are some who would have

you think that pirates and barbecue had significant beginnings in

Virginia. And, while there was some

pirates cooking in that area, it

appears to have been much later,

sometime around the mid 1600’s,

while their compatriots in and

around the Caribbean were

plundering much earlier. The

Spanish and Portuguese had long

established themselves in the

warm waters of the Caribbean as

well as Central and South America.

Silver and of course gold were

taken and sent to Europe, making

this area ripe for those brazen

enough to take on the sea going

might of those countries. The

English later established colonies

in Jamaica with Port Royal

becoming a haven for privateers

(don’t call them pirates). What catches our attention about

these sea-farer’s, along with their

escapades, is what they ate and

how they cooked. By digging into

pirate history you can find several

interesting opinions relating to

pirates and barbecue. Some think that the word

"buccaneer" comes from the word

‘boucan’ which is the French word

for a grill used to smoke meat.

Buccaneers were originally island

people who hunted the wild cattle,

boars, and pigs that inhabited the

islands. The Spanish, for whatever

reason, took a dislike to this and

drove the "buccaneers" off the

islands and forced them to find

other ways to survive. Others think

that barbecue originated in the

Carolinas with the term ‘Bar-B-Que’

having something to do with a bar

and a pool hall (not very piratey if

you ask me). We like to think that

pirates in and around the

Caribbean originated the style that

eventually morphed into the

barbecue we know today. Whatever your thoughts are

regarding this subject, one thing we have in common with the pirates of

old is the taste for barbecue. So

pull up a keg, check out the site,

give us feedback as to what you

would like to see, and enjoy the

voyage. The crew of the BBQ Pirates