By Elizabeth Mutambara and Kiren Thandi
As Australia Day approaches, many Australians will start to stock up their fridges with sausages, steaks, chicken and plenty of beer.
On January 26, friends and family gather in backyards across Australia, listen to Triple J's top 100 hits and drinking lots of beer, eyes hungrily on the centrepiece - the BBQ.
On that same day, 10,240km west of Australia, a South African family will be having a braai in its backyard. In China - 7469km north-west of Australia - a group of friends will be using an open campfire to cook their food; and 6993km north of Australia, patrons will be seated around a robata grill watching their food being prepared in Japan.
Far flung they may be, but in each country, these people will be enjoying what is essentially a barbecue. And each culture has it's own perspective on what a barbecue is.
We put the question "what is a barbecue?" to an international group of people on Facebook, and came up with some interesting responses.
One of the respondents, Brent, who is South African, believed that barbecuing, or braai as he referred to it as, was all about male bonding - especially during sporting events, and that a barbecue wasn't a barbecue unless it used coal or wood instead of gas.
"There's nothing more satisfying than standing outside on a hot day with good friends and a beer in your hand. You need to pick friends who have girlfriends that will get along, so that they can sit and gossip while we stand around the braai," Brent said.
A YouTube video on braai etiquette in South Africa posted by 'Gakulu', reinforced Brent's view points on a barbecue being 'a man's business':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq2SOmwzjUU
Tane, from New Zealand, had a similar perspective.
"Barbequeing is one of the last refuges of that dying species, the Bloke," he said. (Tane is a writer).
"You stand around the barbie with a beer in hand, talk about sport, try not to cry when the smoke gets in your eyes and nod wisely when the alpha male (the one with the tongs) talks about when the perfect time to flip a steak is. It's completely nonsense, and completely wonderful."
Meanwhile, writing from Hong Kong, Canadian-raised Adele disagreed, saying the barbecue is not a man's domain - at least not in China. In China, people gather around a campfire-like set up armed with all kinds of meats on long metal skewers. Each person, both male and female, then put their own skewers on the fire and allow it to slowly roast.
"Pretty much the only common theme between a western BBQ and a Hong Kong style BBQ is the fire used to cook the foods - and even then, the fire is started differently. We are a charcoal country here," she said.
In the highly male dominated forum, Australia's Matthew came up with his reasoning behind why barbecuing was a mans job:
"Why is BBQing a boy thing? Because you have to be an idiot to want to sear your hands and forearms over the flames of a hot grill. Women are much smarter than that! They just throw a few salad leaves together and laugh at the men and their idiocy," he said.
Matthew, famed in his circle of friends for his barbecued marinated butterflied leg of lamb, answered a peculiar questions.
"Why do I do fancy barbecues? Perhaps I should ask, why are they considered 'fancy'? Barbecuing doesn't mean you can't cook something interesting; something that has a lot of flavour... You can cook so many great things on a barbecue, yet most people never try."
Matthew's foray into "fancy" barbecuing came after one too many burned sausage and he explains what inspired him to make the step.
"I a) wanted to show the world that a BBQ could be a fantastic experience; b) wanted to cook great food; c) wanted to show off a little; d) wanted to entertain my guests and have them look back at the nights fondly; and e)... I also wanted to show off a little."
The forum had its own ideas on the best foods to barbecue, too, with Brent saying corn was a must during a braai while Adele said in China, fishcakes, chicken wings and squid were common on their campfire barbecues. Keira, who is vegetarian, said she only went for the company and stuck to the salad. Most of the Australians in the forum said it was all about the sausage sizzle.
Crossing cultures, Australian Laura, who is married to a Japanese man and has spent considerable time in Japan, said in that country, a tiny grill is used to cook small pieces of meat (including chicken knees, cow tongue, cow intestines), dipped in delicious sauces.
"Also added to the BBQ (yakiniku) are veggies like chunks of cabbage, mushrooms, baby capsicum, onion, etc. Drinking beer is a must, everyone sits around the little grill and ends up stinking like smoke," she said.
Her husband, Taka, is having a little trouble getting his head around the Australian style of barbecuing, though.
"He was given a Webber but we rarely use it 'cause it takes him ages to clean up every last bit of it afterwards. He hasn't quite got his head around the fact that you're supposed to leave remnants of BBQs past on the BBQ for that added flavour," Laura said.
Past the cultural, gender and food issues, some people think the traditional barbecue is getting rather boring.
Sydney's Japanese Toko restaurant head chef, Regan Porteous, said it's time Australians break free from 'Aussie BBQ traditions'.
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Porteous said people should try barbecuing on a Robata instead, a cooking style that uses skewers rotated above a flame.
"It's a much healthier alternative to the conventional sausage sizzle for the calorie conscious Aussie who would sooner opt for lean meat, fish and summer vegetables with an intense smoky flavour," Porteous said.
Even though there was no agreement on who was the king/queen of the barbecue or what a real barbecue should be like or even what it should be called, one thing is for sure: none of it matters once the food hits the plate.