before the first biblical burnt offer-
ings, barbecue began, very likely after a
bolt of lightning triggered a forest fire.
¶ “Some bit of flesh, could have been
human or animal, cooked in that fire
and smelled delicious to our ancient
ancestors,” says Jonathan Deutsch,
Ph.D., a professor of culinar y arts
and science at Drexel University and
author of Barbecue: A Global History.
That’s when early humans began figur-
ing out how to manipulate fire to cook
food. ¶ Burnt bone fragments discov-
ered in South African caves suggest that
Homo erectus did indeed cook meat.
Paleoanthropologists have determined
that the char on those bones was too
intense to have been caused by a natural
fire on the savanna, which tends to burn
at a fairly low temperature. The meat
was deliberately barbecued, they say. ¶
Cooking provided significant benefits
to early humans: Heat makes raw foods
softer, easier to chew and digest, and it
makes some nutrients more bioavailable.
Roasting kills pathogens in scavenged
meat, making it safer to eat. And cooked
food tastes better, the heat triggering
hundreds of chemical reactions that pro-
duce mouth-watering aromas and subtle
flavors. While we don’t know what homo-
nids found tasty, experiments show (and
zookeepers everywhere know) that apes
prefer cooked sweet potatoes and carrots
over raw ones, just as you do. Thank you,
heat. ¶ Since then, humans have con-
tinued to conjure up hundreds of ways
to improve the flavor of food. To elevate
your grilling game, it will help to under-
stand how heat from the multitude of
modern fireboxes changes the chemistry
of protein, fats, and carbohydrates and
improves f lavor. In short, becoming a
great backyard chef means learning how
to submit your meat to the right kind of
heat. Here’s your guide.EONS BEFORE THE
IMPOSSIBLE BURGER,
MORE THAN A
MILLION YEARS