Β It’s a debate that has roots running deep. Β All the grub is probably gone by now, but what you did when you cooked outside goes by many different names: “cook-out”, “barbeque”, “grill-out”, or maybe even “pig-pickin”.
To be fair, a pig-pickin is really a specific thing that doesn’t normally get confused with those other things. Β Dig a pit, maybe build a wall, put in a pig, cook, chop, sauce: boom! Β Hard to confuse that with something else.
You’d be forgiven if you confused it with a barbeque though, because barbeque is what you get at a pig pickin. Β It’s something we know a lot about here in Charlotte, what with the yearly Barbeque and Brews festival, among countless other events each year. Β You can call what they do there either “barbequeing” or “pig pickin”. Β But both of those are entirely different from what most people did today.
When Β you take things like hamburgers and hot dogs and throw them on a grill, people from the Carolinas call that a “cook out”. Β You might get some “grilling” tossed in there, but certainly not “barbeque”. Β That’s what people call it when they’re not from around here.
But to be objective, a lot of people can’t help that they’re not from around here. Β And yet, that doesn’t mean they should go around calling that outdoor cooking thing something it isn’t. Β So Rance hit Freedom Park before the show to find out once and for all what it’s called when we cook outdoors in the Carolinas…
