In reply to:

around here (santa cruz,CA), anyway. if it did refer to one meat, I fear it would be tofu.



You need to head south a few miles and go the "Central Texas Barbecue" in Castroville. It's long since sold out from when it was a rea holel-in-the-wall-with-a-pit-out-back, but curly (as he's known in my family) is still there slicing up meat.

"Barbecue" as a food around here means beef cooked on an open flame. Chicken is the seccondary barbecue meat, though pork ribs are very common. As a verb, it means to cook anything on an open flame.

Matthew