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Author’s note: This piece is meant to generate discussion around this upcoming Father’s Day.
Editor’s note: Please comment below or write your own personal essay related and submit via one of the colored boxes below this post.
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Humanity’s earliest ancestors are often depicted in art and pop culture as cavemen cooking raw meat over a fire. To be sure, once men and women discovered how to harness fire safely, they quickly would have seen its usefulness in cooking. In its simplest form, this was the birth of the art of grilling.
In the 21st century, we know men and women can be equally excellent cooks. But it seems that many men (and men in particular) have a passion for grilling food, especially meat. Ever since then, it seems many a man have been stereotyped as having an inner pyromaniac and, as a result, a passion for cooking out on a grill. When fire and its heat are channeled properly, they can be great tools to stay warm, provide light, cook raw food, and even provide entertainment.
Since we men seem to often have an inherent disposition to flame grilling, it’s only fitting and proper for dads to pass down this art, this love of food and fire, to their kids, especially their sons. Dad, son, and the grill: they make a great combo. The grill-making company Char-Broil has this very relationship to thank for its existence and success. Many of the company’s managers and directors received a true passion for grilling directly from their fathers.
One Char-Broil manager named Rob Hawkins, when asked how old he began to grill out with his dad, is quoted for saying, “When I was able to drive the riding lawnmower, then I was able to man the grill.” I think many men could relate.
As for myself, I can grill, but I’ve never nurtured myself to that blissful state while grilling. I think I haven’t devoted enough time to it. Nowadays, my brother Joe does most of the family’s grilling. He prefers a gas grill, and he’s spectacular at what he does with it.
This does not mean I don’t have extremely fond memories of watching my dad grill outside in our backyard when I was a little boy. I certainly do. They are grand, and when they are not grand, they’re comical.
I was enamored with the way the dark pieces of charcoal were heated up in the chimney starters. They would first go red then soften to a pale grey. Then we were ready for action. I especially recall that on one occasion I was watching my dad cooking some meat on a charcoal grill. The only meat I distinctly remember being grilled was hot dogs. And that’s because of what happened with them.
Several dogs were already cooked to perfection and resting on a white plate nearby. “Why don’t you try the hot dogs to see if they’re good,” Dad said to me, or something to that effect. Being very young, I misinterpreted this invitation. This resulted in my taking a bite out of every single hot dog on that plate.
My dad wasn’t extremely upset when looked back down at me. Instead, this story has become one of those great family fables. The upside to it was that I had plenty of hot dogs all for myself for the week following this cookout. My parents have also recounted that when the power was out on our street for a few days during the summer, that we held a huge cookout for the neighborhood since the food in our freezer would have spoiled and been wasted.
I guess grilling can bring fathers and sons closer, but it can also bring everyone together. Just about everyone likes a good fire show, and I know everyone definitely loves good food. Grilling supplies us with both, and I think it’s an art that should be continued indefinitely.
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What are your boyhood Father’s Day memories?
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