The Fourth of July Cookout: The Great American Backyard BBQ

If you want to understand the American summer, go to a Fourth of July cookout. Since the earliest years of the republic, Americans have marked Independence Day with feasts and fireworks, and the backyard cookout — burgers and hot dogs on a charcoal grill, potato salad and corn on the cob, watermelon and apple pie — has become the nation's most popular outdoor cooking holiday and one of the great American entertaining rituals.

**Origins**

As Slate records, Fourth of July is the nation's most popular outdoor cooking holiday, and the tradition of the cookout reaches back to the early 1800s, when Americans held massive barbecues, often roasting whole pigs over open pits. The very first anniversary of independence, on July 4, 1777, was marked across the original thirteen colonies with bonfires, cannon blasts, public feasts, and roasted meat — just a year after the Declaration of Independence was signed. John Adams, in his famous letter of 1776, wrote that the day ought to be commemorated 'with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other.' The cookout is the culinary expression of that conviction.

**The Grill**

The modern Fourth of July cookout is built on the backyard grill. Hamburgers and hot dogs — the great American ground-meat traditions — are the centerpiece, joined by ribs, chicken, bratwurst, and, in the regional traditions of the South and the Midwest, the slow-smoked barbecue. The accompaniments are the canon of American summer food: potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, deviled eggs, chips and dip, watermelon, and, for dessert, the apple pie and the berry cobblers. The drinks are cold beer, lemonade, and iced tea, and the day ends, as Adams prescribed, with fireworks and illuminations.

**The Gathering**

The Fourth of July cookout is the most democratic of American parties. It is hosted in backyards, in parks, on beaches, and at lakes, it is casual by definition, and it gathers three generations around a folding table and a hot grill. The cooking is done by the host at the grill while the guests mingle, the children run, and the potato salad is passed. It is a holiday with no dress code and no formality, and its whole meaning is in the gathering of family and friends on the day the nation celebrates itself.

**How to Host One**

To host a great Fourth of July cookout, set up the grill, the cooler, and a long table. Plan the classics: burgers, hot dogs, and a regional specialty (brats, ribs, or pulled pork). Set out the cold sides — potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, corn on the cob — the chips, the watermelon, and the desserts. Decorate in the red, white, and blue; stock the cooler with beer, soda, and lemonade; and, as evening falls, set out the sparklers and the fireworks. The point is the crowd and the casualness: a holiday whose only requirement is that you gather outdoors and eat with your hands.

**Why It Matters**

The Fourth of July cookout is the great American summer party — a tradition as old as the republic, built on the grill and the backyard, and embodying the democratic informality that is one of the country's defining characteristics. To host one is to participate in one of the oldest and most American of all entertaining rituals.

**References**

- Wikipedia: Independence Day (United States) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

- Slate: What's So Patriotic About Cookouts? — https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2011/07/fourth-of-july-cookouts-a-very-brief-history.html

- Wikipedia: Barbecue in the United States — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue_in_the_United_States