After our long Memorial Day weekend of perfect work on the grill, it’s time to kick back and reflect on our roots.

Of course, BBQ in America goes back centuries, even beyond the birth of our nation. But believe it or not, according to The Daily Record, there are still some places keeping it old school and grilling up meats that’ll take you back in time.

Let’s start at the beginning…

BBQ in the Americas goes back to Indigenous communities. In the Caribbean, the Taíno-Arawak were rocking a wooden grate called a “barbacoa” to roast meats.

As early as 1540, BBQ pigs were a staple of the colonial diet. Roast up a whole pig sometime to remember the homies… and to see how difficult that sh*t is.

By the Civil War, huge community BBQ cookouts smoked up by African American pitmasters were THE party to be at. (So, not much has changed.) And those same pitmasters brought smoked meats north during the Great Migration until BBQ was everywhere…

Tasting history

Some places still smoke and grill up food that lets you damn near taste a moment out of history:

1) Kansas City, MO

DUH. Arthur Bryant’s is one we’re all familiar with. Their roots go back to the 1930s, and they popularized burnt ends and the sauce that we’d call KC-style BBQ sauce.

2) Lexington, TX

Of course, when it comes to history, we’ve gotta talk about Pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz at Snow’s BBQ. Tootsie’s been cranking out TX brisket for decades. She’s a part of TX BBQ history.

3) Decatur, AL

That’s right, Alabama, where the sauce is white and the chicken is smoked. Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q takes credit for the white sauce since 1925.

4) Rural Mississippi

Ribs, ribs, and more ribs. If you find a BBQ trailer in the woods, don’t be alarmed. Just grab some Tums and settle in for the best ribs of your life, straight out of the history books.

It’s all about legacy.

So what’s the point of the history lesson? The party never changed. And that’s pretty cool. Low and slow over a fire is the American way for all people, from way, way, way back.

The passion we all share for cooking up dead meat isn’t random. It’s in our DNA, passed down through history, and now it’s in our hands. Sure, maybe now we do it with “WiFire” tech (because it’s awesome), but the goal is still the same: nourishment, community, connection.

It’s the kind of thing you want to pass down to your kids and grandkids. And you should.