The term barbecue comes via the Spanish barbacoa from the West Indies, and a Taino word that meant a framework of green sticks suspended on corner posts, on which meat, fish, and other foods were laid and cooked in the open over fire and coals. Both the height and the fire were adjustable, so food could either be quickly grilled or slowly smoked and dried. In American colonial times the barbecue was a popular and festive bout of mass outdoor meat cooking. By the beginning of the 20th century it had evolved into the familiar slow cooking of highly flavored meat.