Southern Barbecue originated in Virginia!
Just Follow the Pig
It's very simple, you just have to follow the pigs... that followed the first colonists to America, to know where true southern barbecue originated.
Early colonists witnessed Powhatan Indians using wooden platforms made of sticks to dry (smoke) their fish and game as a preservative method. What we know today as "southern barbecue" was first created in Virginia when English colonists combined recipes for seasoning meat with the Powhatan method of using "hurdles" made of wooden sticks over a bed of hot coals.
While controversial, many scholars believe the word "barbacue", as a noun, traces back to the 1500's where Spanish explorers used the word "barbacoa" to describe the meat preserving methods of the Taino Indians in Haiti. The first official spelling of the word "barbecue" dates back to 1755 in Samuel Johnson's "Modern English Dictionary" believed to be from the word "barbycu" often used in Barbados. In 1769, George Washington mentions attending a "barbicue" (sic) in Alexandria, Virginia. Now Myron Mixom has one of his best restaurants here. What more proof do you need!
Tourist visit feral pigs on Hog Island, Virginia.
Early Jamestown settlers left their pigs behind here.
The First Barbecue Sauce in Virginia
Combine Mushroom Catsup*, Worcesteshire** Sauce and cayenne pepper, and "wahalaah",
you have what is believed to be the first American barbecue sauce!
*Imported by Crosse & Blackwell's Co. London, Eng.
**Imported by Lea and Perrins Company, Worchestrtshire, Eng.
You can still make original American barbecue sauce today with these modern ingredients!
*Mushroom Ketchup, Geo Watkins Co.,
Imported from Lancashire, Eng.
**Tradewinds Cayenne Pepper
***Lea and Perrins , Worchestershire Sauce
The Aldie Country Store
Aldie, Virginia (circa 1765)
My love of eating true southern barbecue originated back in the 1950's at the Aldie Country Store, in Aldie, Virginia.
At right, the Aldie store, June 2022
Top Northern Virginia BBQ Joints:
Here you will find sweet tomato base sauce with sweet spices, some fruit flavors and vinegar.
- Myron Mixon's Pitmaster BBQ, Alexandria, Va
- Monks BBQ, Purcelleville, Va
- Willards BBQ, Chantilly, Va
- The Bone, Gainesville, Va
- Mission BBQ, Sterling, Va
- Hammerdown, Aldie, Va ***Federalist Pig, Wash. D.C. (not VA, but close enough to mention)!
