For Christmas, I bought a Big Green Egg. I read all the marketing blur in the brochure, and it captured my imagination, I already wrote about how good it was, and published some barbecue recipes in Kamado, but I was still intrigued to learn more about the origin of this piece of kitchen equipment. I wrote an article about it, but by publishing it, I did more research and found that some of my initial results may already have been creative in their origin.
My preliminary research on the Internet determined that this was happening in clay pots from China, which were later adapted by the Japanese several hundred years ago. The end result was Mushikamado and, looking at photographs on the Internet, it is pretty clear that this part of the story is clear.
When the situation becomes a little less clear, in the 1960s, when Kamado, as we know it today, arrived in the United States. There is a lot of published work that will reimburse to Richard Johnson, the man who founded Kamado, that he bought kamado in the US, and also what he first called his kamado and patented the name. Further research leads me to believe that some of these points are incorrect.
The first point is that Kamado is actually a real Japanese word, and not one composed by Johnson. The word "Kamado" is actually part of Japanese and means stove, and, moreover, in Japanese there are many conclusions of the word:
Yukikamado - A pot with an attached stove that can be transported around
Tsukikamado - Another word for a slab built of stone, tile and clay.
Magatamagata kamado - Large assortment with polished black tops, base and drain hole in a curved or horseshoe-shaped plan with as many as eleven cooking holes.
Ishikamado - steel rice cooker, which is inserted into the stone frame.
Niwakamado - A temporary culinary range, created in lands covered with earth, from the first to the third of January in the framework of the New Year holidays.
Kamadodono - Building with a hearth or stove.
koujinsan-no-kamado - In some areas, such as the Saga prefecture, a large culinary range is mainly used for special occasions.
Kamado matsuri - Festival Stove and Well
Mushushamado - Rice cooker
The second requirement made by Johnson is that it is the “kamado” trademark, but a thorough investigation in the US patent and trademarks provided this requirement is also incorrect.
So who should we believe and care for? Looking back at how many companies use the word kamado and the evidence above about how well a Japanese word is used, it would seem that some of Richard Johnson's claims might well be considered good marketing, not a statement of fact. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoy cooking in my kamado all year round, I am very pleased with the results that I get when using as a barbecue grill or meat smoker and all smoker grill recipes I use contribute to the actual spread of the Internet.
