Gourmets and those who consider themselves grilled are often aloof, if not malicious, regarding the roasting of steaks and sausages over hot coals as primitive and not up to par with modern cooking methods. So far, the author has also tended towards this faction, although he certainly appreciates a convivial barbecue afternoon with simple sausages, neck steaks, coleslaw and potato salad. But the notion that a leg of lamb or even a tuna steak could be given the same kind of tender treatment on the grill as in the kitchen seemed dubious, even absurd, to him.
The dogma was only recently shaken when a friend who was known for his fine palate proudly displayed his wood-burning fire pit. The thing may have looked like a high-tech oil barrel for homeless bankers, but the stainless steel plate mounted on a barrel, which can heat up to 400 degrees in the center but cools down evenly towards the edge, actually enables precise cooking of delicate products such as shrimp or Presa Ibérica.
Especially since grilling with wood instead of charcoal is very trendy. A veritable cult has developed around cooking with fire plates, fire baskets, Kamado grills and pellet smokers, which is worshiped with archaic passion and scientific meticulousness. It would be easy to dismiss this enthusiasm for fire as the fear flower of old white carnivores – his protagonists and what they have to offer are too spectacular for that. Basque chef Bittor Arginzoniz’s Asador Etxebarri was recently voted number 3 in the world’s 50 best restaurants for its grilling and smoking skills. One may argue about this, but the complex ember techniques no longer have much in common with classic sausage grilling.
The Mainz butcher Ludwig Maurer and the kitchen expert Heiko Antoniewicz have picked up the trend and are trying to combine the best of both worlds in their comprehensive compendium “Fine Dining, Grill & BBQ”. They present the advantages and disadvantages of the various equipment in detail, analyze the temperatures at which the respective food is particularly successful and which types of wood are best suited. Softwoods are generally too resinous and are only suitable for kindling. Beech and oak can be used, but the wood from discarded fruit trees is even better, as it gives a milder aroma.
Just as nothing could be hard enough for skinheads and hardcore fans in the past, fans of the scorching heat also put their food straight into the blazing fire
The core of this future standard work is the almost encyclopaedic recipe section. The authors cover the entire temperature spectrum from cold-smoked tuna to golden-brown roasted quail to marrow flash-braised in the bone at 80 degrees and also come up with spectacular creations such as gently grilled sunflower bases with briefly sautéed duck sweetbreads.
For some, however, the subtle marriage of grill and avant-garde cuisine is already too soft. Just as nothing could be hard enough for skinheads and hardcore fans in the past, fans of the scorching heat also put their food straight into the blazing fire. This cult is called “Open Fire Cooking”, and its guru is the Argentinian Francis Mallmann, who roasts cross-breasted sides of beef on a small island in Patagonia.
This shamanic way of preparing food for meat-loving Argentines is also being imitated in this country. To do this, large chunks of meat are placed directly in the embers of the fire until a crust covered with ash forms. Underneath is a juicy cooked super steak. Since you can also get such a thing through gentler forms of preparation, it is difficult to recognize a meaning in it that points beyond the Stone Age experience. We prefer to stick with our favorite star chef, Chef del Mar Ángel León, who gives his oysters – which you can order for little money in his bistro-tavern in El Puerto de Santa María – a wonderfully mild smoky aroma over a glowing ember of olive stones
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