14 Jun 2023
Elena Hogg, founder of St Albans culinary company FOOD by Elena, is firing up the barbie…
And so it was that, as June’s stretched-out days befell us, across the vast lawns and sun-trap backyards of St Albans was kindled fire and flame, licking hotly at the straining underside of the sizzling sausage and blackening the buttered yellow kernel of the corn cob. Be ye rightly joyous, for the season of the barbecue hath arrivèd. And about time.
Once you get over the crushing dismay that the barbecue grill hasn’t been cleaned since last September when you had that optimistic and slightly drizzly end-of-season barbecue with the neighbours, a bit of al fresco dining is just the thing to inaugurate the gastronomic awakening that warmer weather brings.
I tried two brand new dishes out on my unsuspecting guests last weekend, both of which proved successful, I’m happy to say.
I’m less happy that neither dish was meat-free, which isn’t my usual balance, but that’s not to say there weren’t plenty of meat-free options. They just weren’t new. In fact, they were my tried and tested zingy slaw (who needs mayonnaise when you can have a soy, ginger, honey and lime dressing?) and my foolproof jewelled tabbouleh, adorned with pistachio nuts, pomegranate seeds and cranberries, and enough fresh mint and coriander leaf that even just a forkful guarantees an embarrassing interdental incident.
The first barbecue of the summer feels like a rebirth of sorts, which is why my culinary creativity was on overdrive, I suspect. I’d bought some little gem lettuces with which to make a green salad, but then remembered that no-one really wants to EAT green salad, not even if it’s embellished with cherry tomatoes. It’s just too boring.
So, given that little gems are one of the more robust types of salad, to the point that they can be baked or blasted with a blowtorch and still hold their own, I decided to fill the individual leaves with minced chicken that I cooked with lots of garlic and tamarind.
I offset the soft texture with some sliced water chestnut, and the brownness with a home-grown pansy in a true celebration of summer flora. Wrapping the leaf around the filling to eat it (like with Chinese yuk sung) did make for quite messy eating, but the flavour-factor was high as a reward.
And anyway, what’s a splodge of tamarind down your top when you’ve got coriander leaf in your teeth, right?
The other ‘first’ was barbecued chateaubriand. It was a moment of utter greed that made me choose it, or perhaps some fit of barbecue-bred ostentation.
What’s wrong with a good old rib-eye? Nothing at all. But the sheer thickness of the chateaubriand allows for a properly deep char on the outside of the meat with no risk of over-cooking or drying out. In fact, it needs a stint in the oven after grilling to get it to the medium-rare stage (it’s so lean that any rarer would risk tough, chewy meat).
A generous grind of black pepper just before cooking and slightly more salt than your blood pressure deems wise (as well as plenty of resting time afterwards) is
all that’s needed to produce a real show-stopper for your guests – juicy, succulent and well worth the remortgaging.
Granted, my flight of pomposity wasn’t a budget-friendly choice, but one website I came across said that, particularly since the pandemic, barbecues are seen as a “fashionable and cheaper alternative to a visit to the local pub or restaurant.”
The same website also told me that on average, people “will now spend around £40 on food and drink for a family and friends barbecue, up from £16 just five years ago.”
There’s also been a rise in the number of households that own a barbecue, with 20% owning two, no less. US-style smokers are also gaining in popularity and, while the cynic in me puts a lot of this down to marketing, there’s no doubt that, as a nation, we’re becoming far more food-conscious.
Barbecues are no longer just about the pedestrian burger or sausage, but far more ambitious and inspired comestibles, from za’atar-flecked lamb skewers to blushing, lime-drizzled langoustines.
And that’s to say nothing of miso-brushed aubergine wedges or a fudgy sweet potato topped with tangy sour cream and a scattering of spring onion.
With all this on offer to tantalise the taste buds and evoke the Neanderthal flame-griller in us all, why wouldn’t barbecuing be a sizeable, albeit seasonal, part of the food scene? Even if the weather doesn’t always get the memo.
