In THE BATTLE OF THE PASTAS, capellini (aka angel hair) was perhaps surprisingly the winner, with fettuccine and spaghetti coming next, both three votes behind in the poll.
It's now the turn of the barbecue to do battle! Barbecue as a word almost certainly stems from the Arabic 'barbacoa' word. Barbecues are popular all over the world. Called a barbecue in the UK, a BBQ in America and a barbie in Australia, they are known as a brai in South Africa, a khorkhog in Mongolia and a parrillada in Spain. Here in Britain, because the summer has been far from hot, I've only held one barbecue party so far and, as it's now September, I'm not expecting another one to be held this year.
There are the usual caveats in this poll just because almost any food can be barbecued and I want to make compiling the poll more manageable. The first caveat is that only savoury barbecue foods are included in the poll. So there are no apples, apricots, bananas (great barbecued), marshmallows, melons, oranges, peaches, pineapples and plantains.
The second caveat is that the poll only includes single barbecued food items. Though burgers are often barbecued with a slice of cheese on top, cheeseburgers are excluded because they contain two items. But I'm making an exception in the case of kebabs (kabobs to my American friends). Though kebabs sometimes involve a mix of meats and even a mix of meat and vegetables on a skewer, given that kebabs are essentially a meat dish, usually chicken or lamb, I'm including them in the poll.
My favourite barbecued foods are cheese (especially halloumi), chestnuts, corn-on-the-cob (corn to my American friends), kebabs (especially Greek souvlaki), leeks, mushrooms, onions, sausages (for hot dogs, but none of those Frankfurters or saveloys please) and tomatoes. But my most favourite barbecue food are burgers (hamburger to my American friends) - see photo below. I've never understood why Americans call them hamburgers and not burgers as they don't contain any ham.
There are many foods I haven't tried barbecued. There's lots that I wouldn't try, such as barbecued bats (especially Chinese bats), camel (unless a hump is involved), dog (I like a hot dog but not a pet, I know it's a cultural thing), eels (my Cockney friends from the East End of London can have mine), frog legs (the French can eat mine), horse, kangaroo (poor Skippy!), lizard, mice, monkey, octopus, rat, reindeer (I wouldn't get any presents from Santa Claus if I ate Rudolph!), seagull (I'm not eating Jonathan Livingston Seagull), shark (I don't have the jaws for one!), snails (again the French can have mine) and snake. But the food I'd least like to try at a barbecue is dik-dik, a cute African antelope. I'd have a barbecued cucumber instead as that's just one dik!
But of the barbecued food I've tried, my least favourite barbecued foods are peppers (bell peppers to my American friends) and chicken. The last time I barbecued chicken, as opposed to barbecuing pre-oven cooked chicken, I gave all my friends salmonella food poisoning. They never came to another one of my barbecue parties again!
What are your most and least favourite barbecued foods?
What food is included in your signature barbecue party?
Why do men invariably step up to the plate to cook a barbecue?
Whenever I do a barbecue, burgers, chicken (for others not me) and sausages feature prominently, with corn-on-the cob, onions and tomatoes barbecued on the side. The only meat I barbecue are burgers; chicken and sausages get pre-cooked in the oven before landing on the barbecue. I used to barbecue chicken but; I now cook that in the kitchen oven before plonking it on the barbecue before being eaten. I also make sure a few men are invited to my barbecue so I don't have to stand over the barbecue for long. There'll be bread buns and rolls, butter,, salad, potato salad and a range of sauces on the side. Hey presto, a safe and easy barbecue party!
I haven't got a clue why men often step up to take control of the barbecue. Probably evolutionary if pushed. But I always make sure that other men are invited to my barbecue parties, because once I've lit the barbecue I know there's other men around to take over the cooking side of things. I just sit down with a beer or a glass of wine and enjoy watching them cook and eat what they cook.
Below is a poll where you can anonymously select your most favourite barbecue food. Unfortunately only one pick is allowed in the poll.
A poll on this site can only have 20 answer options. There was no room for alligator, alpaca, antelope, aubergine (aka eggplant), bacon, bass, bats, beans (including baked beans), bison, black pudding (aka blood sausage), bok choy, calçots, camel, caribou, carrots, cheese (eg halloumi), chestnuts, cod, Cornish sole, crab, crocodile, cucumber, dab, dog, Dover sole, duck, eels, elk, fox, frog legs, goat, goose, groundhog, grouse, guineafowl, guinea pig, haddock, halibut, hamster (there'd be no Japanese hamuketsu if we barbecued all hamsters), hare, horse, John Dory, kangaroo, lamb chops, leeks, lemon sole, lizard, lobster, mice, monkey, monkfish, mussels, mutton, octopus, ostrich, oysters, penguin, pheasant, pigeon, plaice, pork belly, potatoes, quail, rabbit, raccoon, rat, red mullet, reindeer, scallions, scallops, seagull, shark, snails, snake, spring onions, squid (aka calamari), squirrel, sweet potatoes, swordfish, trout, tuna, veal, venison, wallaby, warthog, wild boar, wildebeest, wolf, yak and yams. But there's always the 'other' option for those barbecue foods not listed. Hopefully I've covered all the popular barbecue foods as poll options. I never want 'other' to win as that's a sign of a poorly designed poll.
I think burgers will win the poll, but chicken, sausages and steak will run them close. May the best barbecued food win!
Thanks go again to both @EnigmaInitiative and @hippiechick1967 for their very helpful suggestions in compiling this poll. Any mistakes are of course their mistakes if there are any legal proceedings involved!
Please see the first comment below to see what has won each battle so far.
Burgers, maybe cheeseburgers if only allowed in this poll!:
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24 comments
I do love my brisket and tri-tips on the grill. But I chose
chicken because we have a Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Breast with Emeril's seasoning and Sweet and Spicy
Barbecue sauce that we put on them and they are
delicious.
Great poll my friend.
You crazy brits eat BBQ'd bananas?? Say what?? I've never been a huge fan of banana and especially the cooked variety but BBQd? Sounds like a crime against food!! Would definitely be my last choice!!
My signature BBQ dish would be pork ribs. They are so delicious they are mama slappin' good!! I make my own sauce with just the right balance of spicy and sweet.
I truly have no inkling why men think its their job to man the grill but I've seen it countless times!! If I had to guess, I'd say they can stand around, do relatively nothing while jawing with their buddies drinking beer and out-manning each other by claiming to be masters of the universe! Haha!
@spunkycumfun I would think it would become black and soup like. Blech. I'll have to give that a miss!
@spunkycumfun That one, I'll just have to take your word for it. I can't imagine putting that kind of banana in my mouth!! Ha! I eat them only raw or in a protein shake. Raw to me means just ripe and green tipped otherwise, bananas are just blech!!
Minnesota's Juicy Lucy, yummy.
@spunkycumfun WTF, what did this have to do with burgers gross.
Grilled steak would be my favorite.
In the pre-Covid days, I used to do a BBQ for a group of 30-40 people. Of course, it'd take forever to cook everything on the grill, so I'd pre-cook and freeze them beforehand, and then toss the food on the grill. The food thaws out nicely by the time the grill is ready. I used to do burgers, veggie skewers, tandoori chicken, yakotori (chicken on wooden skewers), and of course, the Japanese BBQ staple, yakiniku (beef seasoned in a Korean-style sauce), and yakisoba (fried noodles).
@spunkycumfun
Yakiniku BBQ restaurants are really popular for group dining here, especially the buffet style places
@spunkycumfun
No Korean BBQ in the UK? Korean BBQ is probably the closest since the Japanese yakinuku BBQ is based on Korean BBQ 🤔
But then, maybe not. Westerners can't be trusted to not burn themselves on the grills and sue the business 🤨
Always gotta love a good rack of ribs! thought I like most of these, gotta say ribs are the best.
Spunky, we South Africans braai whenever we can - when I am in the UK, I braai 4 or 5 times a week, never mind the weather! While pork or lamb chops, boerewors (long rolls of sausage), steak, prawns, various fish, chicken, et al all make it onto my fire, my absolute favourite is a whole fillet, cooked rare then sliced - given the shape of the fillet, the bits on the end tend to be slightly more medium rare for those less blood-thirsty - and I never pre-cook my chicken! On the veg side, it's corn on the cob, green beans wrapped in bacon, peppers, onions, mushrooms, basically anything that holds its form.
Recently, for the first time, I had barbecued bone-in lamb chops. They became my new favourite!
To me, barbecue is a flavor genre. Its ribs and brisket and smoking foods.
Burgers, steaks, pork chops and even veggies are grilled.
Its just a different vocabulary for me.
What are your most and least favourite barbecued foods? I love steak best. Least? Brats because they upset my stomach.
What food is included in your signature barbecue party? If I am actually barbecuing, there will be a slow cooked and probably smoked brisket. It is flavorful and tender.
Why do men invariably step up to the plate to cook a barbecue? Because chicks play with the fire and singe their arms or set their hair on fire. Ask me how I know, LOLOL.
Well . A lot of the foods you put on your list are grilling items. The Brisket , pulled pork, turkey, pork ribs, and chicken . Can all be cooked low and slow. ( Barbcued) . The rest are grilling items. ( High heat short cook ) . But that said and being from Memphis Area , pulled pork , pork ribs, beef brisket. Are my favorites.
The history of Barbeque here in the US . Was that on the South during Slavery. The toughest cuts of meet were given to the slaves. The onky way to tenderize the meet was Slow cooking at a low heat. Cooking thus way for many hours got it so it would fall off the bone. Vinegar in the sauce helped too. Today I cooked my pork ribs at 250 Degrees F. About 110 C. I think . For three hours and 30 min. Then finished them on the grill. The meat fell of the bone. Check out Memphis in May international Barbeque Contest. Held each may in Memphis, Tn.
I voted chicken.....my next fav is grilled veggies on skewers....with a touch of sauce. My least fav is anything pork or beef, but of course ribs n steak tips are always on the bbq menu. the steak tips also on a skewer with some veggies.
i also will do any fish either in foil or in a basket . And all the guys in my life claim the grill master title. I let them think they are. As long as its cooked and eatable.....its all good. Its abt the laughter n friendship and music n card playing anyway~
Sirloin steak is the best,but love pork and chicken too
@spunkycumfun sirloin has more flavor to me but I'll enjoy nearly any meat on the grill
I didn't see butt. I do love some bbq butt.
Ribs it is, though I think pulled pork is more satisfying.
My "signature dish" is kabobs, minus the skewers. Sticking all that stuff on a skewer, and getting it to stay, is a major challenge. Instead I just toss all those same ingredients into an open metal basket, heat and stir. Every bit the same flavors!
Every good BBQ requires beans mixed with brown sugar and covered with strips of bacon. Bake in oven till bacon is done and beans are just short of being like paste.
I picked steak but you never mentioned beef tenderloin steak (only one I'll eat)