GUEST COOK
Charred
Live fire and BBQ expert GENEVIEVE TAYLOR
talks about what inspires her to cook and picks
some recipes from her bestselling book
As a fire cooking specialist, nothing
makes me happier than getting out of
my kitchen and firing up my barbecue,
fire pit or wood-fired oven.
Fire is the original cooking tool but the
modern kitchen has tamed the fire with
technology. In an increasingly digital world,
fire cooking is deliciously analogue and
even slightly rebellious. It feels both
liberating and happy-making to break free
of the shackles of the kitchen from time to
time for a bit of a culinary adventure. And
besides, we all know food tastes even
more amazing when it’s cooked, and
preferably, eaten outside, don’t we?
As a passionate omnivore, my overriding
desire with my fire cooking is simply to
explode the myth that good barbecue has
to be all about Man vs. Meat. When you
cook over fire, some sort of magic
happens: flavours intensify, surfaces
caramelise and edges get irresistibly crisp
and charred. Plus, the whole theatre
around this way of cooking can only add to
the experience. Don’t take my word for it;
there is plenty of geeky science behind
what we all instinctively know – that fire
basically makes things taste better. The
high heat of the grill causes intense
caramelisation of sugars and also causes
the aroma- and
flavour-enhancing Maillard reaction.
This chemical reaction between amino
acids and sugars is definitely not limited to
the cooking of meat. Carrots, cauliflower,
sweet potatoes, onions, sweetcorn,
broccoli, mushrooms and so many others
are capable of the Maillard reaction given
the right temperatures.
The recipes below all come from my
book CHARRED and I hope they might
encourage you to expand your barbecuing
to include a little more colour.
Grilled peppers with chickpeas, tomatoes,
black olives and harissa yoghurt
by Genevieve Taylor
A Mediterranean-inspired stuffed
pepper, packed full of sunshine flavours.
This is best started off over a gentle
heat so the peppers can begin to soften
without charring too much.
Serves 3–6, depending on what else
you are eating
3 large red peppers
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
400g can of chickpeas, drained and
rinsed
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
60g black olives, chopped
60g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
a few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley,
chopped
salt and freshly ground black
pepper
TO SERVE
3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
3 tsp harissa
a little extra flat-leaf parsley,
chopped
Fire up your barbecue ready for both
direct and indirect grilling.
n Slice the peppers in half through the
stem, then scoop out and discard the
seeds and core. Line them up on a plate
or baking sheet so you can carry them
easily to the barbecue.
n Set a frying pan over a medium-low
heat, add the oil and onion and fry for a
good 15 minutes, or until softening and
lightly caramelised. Transfer to a bowl
and stir in the chickpeas, garlic,
tomatoes, olives, sun-dried tomatoes
and parsley. Season with a little salt and
a good grind of pepper. Spoon the
filling into the peppers, pushing it well
into the corners.
n Carefully transfer the stuffed peppers
to the grill and cook for 30–40 minutes,
until the peppers are lightly charred and
soft to the touch. Start them off
indirectly until they begin to soften,
then slide them directly above the fire
to finish off chargrilling the base.
n Once the peppers are cooked, transfer
them to a plate. Top each with a dollop
of yoghurt, a little harissa and an extra
sprinkle of parsley and serve while hot.
BBQ | Spring 2020 | 37