According to research, the barbecue method to cook food was discovered 1.8 million years ago by one of our primal ancestors, called Homo Erectus. Although it has changed from time to time, now we use many other tools to prepare BBQ. It is a technique to prepare food over live fire and smoke, but one should not confuse it with grilling. Grilling tends to be quick and hot, while the barbecue is nice and slow.