Is there anything finer than enjoying hot BBQ straight from the grill or smoker? There’s just something great about that caramelized texture and the smoky sweet flavor of the sauce, and there’s something almost magical about how the meat just falls off the bone. It doesn’t matter if a person is enjoying BBQ ribs, pork steak, brisket, or chicken.

Preparing, cooking, and eating great barbecue is really a transformative experience, and that’s why everyone should take the time to do more of it. A good place to start with that goal is by observing every May 16th as National Barbecue Day. This is the perfect day to grill and make all kinds of different types of BBQ — from pulled pork all the way to whole roasted chickens or turkeys. Just don’t forget the sides!

The History of National Barbecue Day

Let’s face facts: people have been using traditional barbecue methods since mankind first started using fire to roast meat. So, people have been doing this for a long time. People would hang meat on spits located over fires and roast the meat until it was done. Then, people began to dig special holes to barbecue meats.

This was common with early Caribbean tribes, and this is really where the modern concept of BBQ first began. On the island of Hispaniola, indigenous tribes would roast meats over open fires. This was how just about every culture had roasted their meat. But because the fires used more “green” material, their fires tended to smoke a little bit.

This lent the meat a particularly delicious smoky flavor. The island would be colonized by the Spanish during the 16th century, and they would call this practice barbacoa. This word would eventually become the word barbecue in English. And that’s how the word came to be.

So now that we know about the origins of BBQ, most people reading this article will probably be wondering to themselves at this point where National Barbecue Day originated. And unfortunately, we simply don’t have an answer to that question. We don’t know who invented this holiday or when it was invented.

Observing National Barbecue Day

National Barbecue Day is a day that we feel most people are going to want to celebrate. And different people are probably going to want to celebrate it in different ways. Some people are going to want to fire up the grill, make their own BBQ sauce, and/or spend 16 hours straight smoking meat.

Others are not going to want to go that far. They are going to want to head down to their favorite BBQ joint and enjoy all kinds of delectable meats. In our opinion, either way of celebrating this day is valid and is capable of making this holiday memorable.

Whatever way a person decides to celebrate this holiday, they should make sure that they let everyone know about it using the hashtag #NationalBarbecueDay on social media. They should also make sure to make some sides to go with all that meat. We suggest potato salad, green beans, corn, and perhaps some grilled watermelon or Southern fried okra.