BBQ Autumn / Winter 2018 | Page 55

Growing up with trees on the family farm meant there was an abundance of wood. Fires were not lit to cook over however, they were how we disposed of the trees we thinned out and the mountains of brambles we cleared. I loved the smell and crackle of those fires and while today I naturally cook with dry wood, there is still a childhood memory evoked each time I catch a bubble of sap boiling in a rogue branch.

My father imported coal and while this meant fun trips to the docks where I would play with a bucket and spade in the coal pile (it wasn’t a conventional childhood), the fires we lit in the house with it always seemed smoky.

With an adult’s perspective I am sure the damp wood that was so dramatic in its pyre would have been worse but when I looked at bags of crumbly dusty charcoal when I began cooking over fire, there was no doubt in my mind that wood was the champion.

I have in recent months developed a liking for charcoal and this is wholly due to finding a local business who supply an excellent product. The contents of the bags I buy from Resilient Woodlands are utterly incomparable to the powdery shards so many resort to dousing in lighter fluid. Nevertheless, I keep it for the smoker and do all of my fire pit cooking over wood.

What wood offers is the ability to turn your heat up and down depending on what you are cooking. I always begin by building a satisfyingly large fire so that I will have a ring of large logs burning steadily for when I need a lower heat.

When I need to turn the heat up, I can throw smaller pieces of wood into the centre. For heat I use a mix of Ash and Oak from my local farm shop; I don’t have much storage space so I utilise them always having plenty in stock. For flavour, I use smoking chunks from Resilient Woodlands.

Let us say I was making Aebleskiver with a flambéed fruit sauce in my restaurant, Gloucester Studio. I would want to cook my fruit very gently but then need a high heat for my cast iron Aebleskiver pan.

What I want for the guests to experience is the drama of flambé and frying over flames (which I don’t suggest you do – please use the method in the recipe) but crucially have their pudding served swiftly and most importantly, hot. I don’t want to my fruit to turn to jam and the Danish doughnutty treats must be crisp. With a little practise it really isn’t much harder than turning your gas hob up.

Kathryn's Aebleskiver with Brandied Blackberries is on the following pages make sure to give it a go as it sounds delicious.

If you wish to find out more about Kathryn then make sure to visit her website, which has details of how to buy her book

www.pyromaniacchef.com

Or visit her inspired Grillkota restaurant Gloucester Studio as featured on Hidden Restaurants with Michel Roux Jr.

www.gloucesterstudio.com

Twitter: @pyromaniac_chef

Facebook: GloucesterStudio

Instagram: @pyromaniacchef

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Why I cook over wood

Kathryn Minchew

Pyromaniac Chef

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