Of Meat and Men

About author / Josh Gunn

Bachelor chef; southern cooking; mixologist; university professor. Josh's recipes will delight (and sometimes terrify) you.

In a column on all things bachelor, one must address the man/meat connection. There's so much to say here. By plumbing this relation between man and meat, perhaps we can happen upon why male vegetarians are so derided (at least in the South). Perhaps we can begin to understand why Uncle Bubba insists on serving marbled slabs of steak bigger than your head. And perhaps Dr. Bachelor has a grilling recipe (he does).

As one of my favorite bands Die Warzau sings, "man is meat!" What they mean by that is deliberately ambiguous, especially when you reckon with the fact that meat is primarily defined as nourishment. Sexy cannibalism aside, I think the band is critiquing the ways in which people are used "like meat" to feed an oppressive factory system that still existed in the 1980s (for a contemporary target, think The Matrix here).

I also think the artists are tapping into the idea that masculinity seems to be defined as meat in a figurative sense: the Oxford English Dictionary lists the second meaning of meat as "a means of support or strength; a fundamental, core, or customary requirement, a precursor to anything." This second, figurative meaning of "meat" has declined in use over the centuries. Apparently people would use the term "meat" alongside "drink" to denote anything either supportive or good: "darling, you are both meat and drink to my eyes and heart" is the kind of phrase that you don't hear much anymore.

In any event, this older figurative meaning of "meat" helps explain why men are associated with the stuff: we would ourselves like to appear as a means of support or strength to others. Perhaps this is why grilling meat for friends and family is a practice hoarded by guys: by providing nourishment to others in the form of charred meat—especially a protein rich slab of pink moo-moo—we men present ourselves as a source of nourishment and strength, dudes to be counted on.

Finally, men bond with each other over the grill. I suspect that that bonding has to do with this man/meat connection. Okay, and I admit it: it also has to do with a childish fascination with fire. Anyway, by perfectly smoking or grilling a slab of something, men say to each other they will support and care for one another, that they will be strong for each other. Some of us don't have trouble saying these things outright or giving "the man hug," but some of us cannot profess love and support aloud or even come close to "the man hug." Instead, we grill our friend's meat, and somehow that figurative meaning of support is conveyed when it's plopped on his plate.

Since this Sunday is Father's Day, why not tell your Dad you got his back by grilling him a steak? Don't live in the same state? Dude: have some steaks delivered to your dad! It's not terribly expensive, either, and it says "I love you Dad!" better than flowers. Just type "mail order steak" into your favorite search engine and you'll find a host of companies that can ship meat to your Daddy-O.

Serves/Makes: 4.5 cups

• 1 cup your favorite bourbon (sugary ones work best, like bulliet)
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion power
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce (or as desired)