The All-American Food
Sam’s “This I Believe” podcast
Introduction
The next speech is by Sam. With his love of cooking and BBQ, Sam expresses his belief in the All-American food. He will now give his “This I Believe” on The All-American Food.
This I Believe
All American Food
I believe in the all American Food, barbeque. Barbeque is the only true American food. America has been perfecting this delicacy for hundreds of years. Native Americans had been smoking their meats for years before we landed on this continent. Real Q is a great dish of the south. Texas BBQ, St. Louis BBQ, Kansas City BBQ, Memphis BBQ, Carolina BBQ.
When slavery was still around the slave’s masters would give them the “bad” cuts of meat. These “bad” cuts of meat where cuts like the ribs and the really fatty parts of the animal. The slaves found a way of cooking their cuts so that they would be tender and tasty. They would smoke the meat much like the Indians. But the Indians would smoke their meat for preservation and not just for a meal. The Indians made jerkies. Where as when the slaves cooked their meat it wasn’t dry like a jerky but tender and juicy.
I believe in smoking a mean brisket. Brisket should only be barbequed, never grilled. Barbequing is putting meat on indirect heat and that heat cooking the meat (smoking). Grilling is direct contact with the heat, a gas grill for instance or a charcoal grill. Charcoal can give you flavor and gas can give a quicker cooking time. But nothing can beat the slow savory flavor of smoked barbeque.
I believe that there are plenty of restaurants in the U.S. that serve grilled food, even barbeque. But nothing can beat the smells and flavor of the one of a kind, mom and pop restaurants of the south. These are the heart and soul of America. These people can BBQ some of the best BBQ in the world. Only, they’re only recognized by the locals and some passing travelers. It’s a shame, don’t you think? But these people aren’t worried about winning a contest for having good BBQ. They just love BBQing it.
I believe America is made up of many different foods. These foods are loved by many people. In America you can have Chinese food, Italian food, Mexican food, French food, etc. I love some of these foods. But they aren’t American. Can you make a list of foods that originated in America? You can make a small list. It won’t be very long. Barbeque originated in America, not many foods can say that.
This is why I believe barbeque is the only American food. Because all around America at some point someone is BBQing. At parties, family events, picnics, it’s the American thing. It’s what we do. Barbeque is the All American Food. I believe in my taste buds. I believe in barbeque.
Conclusion
That was Sam expressing his belief about BBQ.
March 30th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Sam,
I really ejoyed your speech. It was very imformative and the different ways you can cook meat and the different tastes you get with each method. But the thing you could improve on is put more emotion in your vooice when you speak. I know it is hard, I had trouble with it also in my own speech.
March 30th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
I too love the All American barbeque. I am going on vacation to a grand barbeque spot in Oklahoma, called Jake’s Rib Joint. I guess you can’t get much more American than an Original Barbeque resturant in the west.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:35 am
I’m sorry Sam but I am going to have to disagree. I think that BBQ is disgusting but as a vegetarian I’m sure you didn’t expect much different. I really like the part of your speech when you said, “I believe in my taste buds,” because it added a bit of humor to your speech. It made it seem much less like the caption in a cook book and more like personal commentary. Though I am not a BBQ fan, I respect your beliefs and I liked your speech.
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:48 am
Hey, Sam, this was a very informative podcast. I had no idea that barbeque had such an interesting history. Thanks for filling in some voids in my American history background.
Janet Swenson
Associate Dean
College of Arts & Letters, MSU
April 10th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Hi Sam,
I am a former High School English Teacher and I just want to say that I am very impressed with your podcast. I think of myself as a pretty good cook but I learned a lot from you about barbeque and the history of barbeque.
You and your classmates are doing a great job and I think you have a wonderful English teacher too.
Amy Kilbridge
Language Arts Consultant
Ingham Intermediate School District
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Eric…
Usefull post. I learned so much. Thank you….
February 29th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I’m sorry but I have to disagree about your enthusiastic view of American food. This is probably because I;m from Italy, but anyway good job with the speech. Not very many people could write this much about something like barbecue and the explanation was clear.
Bernardo
March 4th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I also love the all-American food also. Good job on the speech. It was a very interesting topic to write about that not many people would use.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Sam,
I had no idea you could come up with so much information on barbecue. It was informative but I can’t relate. I dislike most meats and barbecue for that matter.
But hey, nice job anyway. It was really well written. Keep up the good work!
March 27th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
This definitely made my mouth water. I agree with pretty much everything you said, BBQ is amazing. Good job.