#1 Barbecue Grill Start

**Grilling has existed in the Americas since pre-Colonial times. The Arawak people of South America roasted meat on a wooden structure called a barbacoa in Spanish. For centuries, the term barbacoa referred to the wooden structure and not the act of grilling, but it was eventually modified to "barbecue". It was also applied to the pit-style cooking techniques now frequently used in the southeastern United States. Barbecue was originally used to slow-cook hogs; however, different ways of preparing food led to regional variations. Over time, other foods were cooked in a similar fashion, with hamburgers and hot dogs being recent additions.