How old is the concept of barbecue?

Admittedly, a blog about barbecue is not the appropriate place to go old hat, but I can’t escape a little history. If only to clear up some misunderstandings. Like the idea that barbecue would be something of recent times. On the contrary, barbecue is even older than the road to Kralingen. Much older even. Once our primitive ancestors got the hang of how to start a fire themselves, keep it burning and extinguish it, they started roasting. Smoking they discovered almost at the same time. More or less automatically. In their smoke-filled dens and caves, the preserved food proved not only to keep longer, but also to be tastier. It also did not take long to realize that indirect and slow-cooked food often produced even better results. See there the three basic methods of barbecuing: grilling, smoking and slow cooking. How long ago? This cannot be traced exactly, but it is certain that people have been barbecuing for over 400,000 years. Preserved manuscripts of the ancient Greeks and Romans already contain detailed descriptions and recipes, and the concept also appears in the Old Testament. There is even a barbecue saint.