The history of Santa Maria-style barbecue dates back to the mid-19th century when the sprawling ranches of the Santa Maria Valley were home to Californio ranchers and their vaqueros, the skilled cowboys of the time. Each spring, these ranchers would host grand Spanish-style feasts, gathering family, friends, and vaqueros to enjoy a communal meal that highlighted the bounty of the region. The centerpiece of these feasts was the barbecue—large cuts of beef, seasoned simply with salt, black pepper, and garlic, and cooked slowly over earthen pits filled with hot coals of coast live oak, a hardwood native to the area, often referred to as "red oak."