BBQ party! Tapestry

There are multiple theories. The most common one says it stems from "barbacoa," which is a West Indian term for "slow cooking over hot coals." The least common says it comes from a bar, beer, and billiards restaurant called the "BAR-BEER-CUE-PIG." You choose a side. Lyndon B. Johnson threw the first White House barbecue to feature "Texas-style" ribs, and Jimmy Carter hosted a "pig-pickin'" for 500 people. Amurrica! In 2009, researchers found mammoth ribs (photo unavailable, due to extinction) in a 4-ft. cooking pit that appeared to date back to 29,000 B.C. The area was also covered with conch shells, which made archaeologists wonder whether the barbecue had been a "surf-and-turf" meal. Fancy.