Re-thinking The Summer Barbeque
Memorial Day weekend is the kickoff of the grilling season… that unmistakable smell of charcoal smoldering and meats blackening, the plumes of smoke, and the gathering of friends and family. We have a love affair with grilling, and given the opportunity, many of us will gladly cook and eat all our meals outdoors. Men in particular have an attraction to grilling that comes almost second to none. But it makes sense, if you really think about it: cooking with fire is how it all started, and as men where traditionally the hunters (with women being the gatherers), they were also responsible for taking apart and cooking the animals they’d killed. Their place at the fire pit (or modern day grill) was cemented.
We’ve come a long way from our hunter/gatherer days, but the lure of the fire still draws us in. The novelty of cooking and eating outdoors is a strictly summertime affair, and we try to maximize this by doing it often. When the temperature rises, the last thing we want is to be inside in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove. So much better to be outside with friends and family, and where everyone can participate in the cooking processes! It’s become part of our culture, and a huge part of our summers… the quintessential American barbecue.
But in the midst of the novelty, and the lure of summertime parties, we’ve lost sight of the natural cycles of eating. Seasons for us are more closely associated with the holidays that fall in them than the change in climate and available foods, and as such we’ve lost much of our relationship to what foods are appropriate to eat. Most barbecue foods thankfully fit the bill, with seasonal dishes like corn salads, summer fruit cobblers, grilled vegetables, watermelon, etc. But the primary ingredient in almost every barbecue is meat; something that doesn’t belong on the summertime menu!!
How can that be? Why is eating meat in the summer not “natural”?
There are natural rhythms to all things, and the seasons are our most obvious connection to the cycles of the earth and our environment. In the cycle of the seasons, each food has it’s place; a time when the conditions are right for that food to grow, and a time when our bodies most need what those foods have to offer.
In the summertime, when the days are long and hot, our bodies need fuel in the form of carbohydrates to carry us through, and water to hydrate and cool us. Nature knows this, and provides us with a plentiful harvest of carbohydrate rich fruits and vegetables to do the job. Tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, watermelons, berries, peppers, eggplants, peaches, plums, apricots, summer squash, peas, beans, etc…. This is the fuel that we’re intended to eat. Foods that are light and won’t weight us down or make us sluggish in the heat and humidity of summer. Foods that are full of water to cool and hydrate us when the temperature soars.
What we don’t want are foods that are going to create more heat in our bodies, foods that are heavy, dense, and fatty. Meats. Burgers. Hot Dogs, Steaks. All the things we throw on the barbecue. That’s not to say that these foods don’t have their place, or their season, it’s just not summer! Throughout history, animals have almost always been taken to slaughter in the autumn, after they’ve had time to grow and fatten up themselves. When the weather gets colder and drier, that’s when we need more heavy and insulating foods like root vegetables, hard winter squashes, grains, and if we choose, meats.
In a time when so many of us feel disconnected, out of touch, and isolated, taking steps to live in accordance with the laws of nature instead of against them can do wonders to help us get back on track. Pay attention this summer to what foods your body truly craves (cooling, hydrating fruits and vegetables) and what foods our cultural past times tell us we want (hamburgers and hot dogs).
None of this means we should forgo barbecues or picnics altogether though! There are infinite ways to prepare the seasons best produce in ways that are both healthful and in keeping with holiday tradition! Grilled corn on the cob, hearty pasta salad with fresh tomatoes and basil, marinated grilled eggplants and summer squash, blueberry cobbler, strawberry-rhubarb pies, fresh peas and mint, stuffed peppers, grilled peaches!!! Add some hearty yet light bean salads, hummus, or even some wild-caught fish to round out your meals, and you’ve got a summer picnic fit for a king!!
If you eat meats, save them for the fall and winter. I’m sure the men out there would be happy as clams to fire up the grill even in the dead of winter!!
