When the tantalising aroma of woodsmoke mingling with charred meat, caramelising vegetables and smoky seafood rises over genteel Herbert Park in Dublin 4 next week, the Big Grill Festival will have rolled into town. From Thursday to Sunday, the calm green space will be transformed into a buzzing hive of activity, celebrating the ancient art of cooking over fire.
There will be grilling and smoking demonstrations, in-depth discussions about what makes a good barbecue, and, when hunger strikes, there are 24 food vendors taking part over the four days, as well as a dedicated drinks space.
In what has, in the past, been an arena where women were if not invisible then greatly eclipsed by men, there are now more and more women barbecue chefs and grill experts. We meet four women who are headlining at the festival next week, where more than 25,000 visitors are expected, to pick up some tips from the experts.
Mercedes ‘Mecha’ Solís
Mecha Solís, who is from Buenos Aires and is soon to open her own restaurant in Bariloche, Patagonia, learned to cook over fire by watching her family doing so. “When I was a kid, my family and I used to have asado [barbecue] in my grandma’s house every Sunday. My father, Huguito, was in charge of the parrilla [grill]. I was always by his side, watching and learning. Before starting my cookery courses, I had already made many asados with my family and friends. Throughout the years, I’ve learnt a lot and I still keep learning.”
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This is her first visit to Ireland. “It was a big surprise to me to know that there is a high level of interest in barbecue and live fire cooking in Ireland. I’m very excited to share my experience from living and cooking in Argentina and my skills, but also to learn about new techniques and ways of cooking on live fire with the other chefs from around Ireland and beyond.”
Solís will be on the main Bastecamp stage at 8.30pm on Saturday. “We are going to recreate the typical street parrilla from my home. Street parrillas in Argentina are usually close to football stadiums. Before matches, people eat sandwiches there. At Big Grill, we are going to serve choripan [chorizo sausage sandwich], morcipan [black pudding sandwich] and vaciopan [flank sandwich]. We are also going to make the typical criolla and chimichurri sauces to go with them. As far as drinks go, we’ll be serving vermouth and red wine.”
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For novices in the art of cooking over fire, she has the following advice: “Patience. To be patient is an important tip I would give. Besides that, just do your best and try to get better at doing it. Enjoy the experience. Every single step is an important part of the asado tradition, so we have to pay attention to detail and have fun. I think that making the right meat choice for each particular recipe is really important, as well as getting good-quality meat. Being attentive to the cooking time, depending on the type of meat you are cooking, and taking some time to choose the correct wood to make the fire.”
Changes that Solís sees coming in the cooking over fire discipline are more emphasis on vegetables, and more prominence for women who cook this way. “I think the vegetables on the grill era has started, so we can cook more than just meat. Many new recipes are coming off the barbecue; even desserts are being made on the grill.
“Women in Argentina have started to have an important role in this area of cooking in the past few years. I think it is a positive change that shows that women are capable of dealing with any kind of challenge related to cooking. In the old days, men were the ones in charge of the grill, but now, this tradition has changed, so anyone can make a delicious asado.”
Recipe: Mecha Solís’s marinated lamb chops with basmati rice, cucumber, red onion and herb salad
Genevieve Taylor
Genevieve Taylor has written no less than 12 cookery books, including Charred, a guide to cooking vegetables on a barbecue; the self-explanatory Foolproof BBQ; The Ultimate Wood Fired Oven Cookbook and, most recently, Seared: The Ultimate Guide to Barbecuing Meat.
Taylor developed her interest in barbecue through cooking for her family. “When my children were small, I quickly realised how boring it was feeding them three times a day. Both the kids and I were happier outside and I have been cooking outside ever since. I am very much an outdoors person – I’m much happier outside than inside, and have been a keen gardener for many years. Cooking outside is just an extension of that, really. I also love that the cooking becomes very much a social occasion – everyone gathers round the fire and helps.”
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She will be on stage on both Saturday and Sunday at the Big Grill. “This year I’ll be hosting demos on both days at the Bastecamp stage. On Saturday, I’ll be doing an in-depth masterclass on Brine and Dine, which will focus on getting the best out of your meat by choosing the best brine for your barbecue. On Sunday, I am hosting Degrees of Deliciousness, which will be a temperature control masterclass and the fundamentals of a variety of grills, fuels and cooking methods. Both demos are going to be suitable for everyone with all levels of experience.”
Practice makes perfect is the number one piece of advice Taylor would share with newcomers to barbecuing. “The more you use your barbecue, the better you will get at it. It’s about confidence, about learning how your own grill works, and how to light the fire to achieve different effects – for example, direct cooking (where the food is over the heat) or indirect cooking (where the food is offset, and so cooks much more gently).
“Start by direct grilling easy things like peppers, and move on to experimenting with slow cooking larger vegetables, like a whole cauliflower. I hope that all my recipes are pretty simple and achievable. I don’t use fancy methods or particularly complicated ingredients; my cooking is about taking simple ingredients and layering up flavour with herbs and spices.”
Recipe: Genevieve Taylor’s harissa potato, halloumi and asparagus kebabs with coriander and lemon oil
Melissa Thompson
Thompson’s debut cookbook, Motherland, is a recipe collection that also explores the evolution of Jamaican food. She is a former UK newspaper journalist. “I ended up on the Daily Mirror. Before that I worked at PA and wrote exclusives for various newspapers.” This will be her first visit to The Big Grill. “Embarrassingly, this is my first time to Ireland but I have been to Northern Ireland, to Belfast, before. I can’t wait to check out Dublin.”
You can catch Thompson on the main Bastecamp stage on the opening evening. “I’m going to be cooking a sort of jerk surf and turf – jerked pork belly slices with jerk king prawns. The method and recipe is slightly different for both and I like to showcase different styles when I do a demo. There’ll be some pepper sauce on the side too, the pepper being scotch bonnet pepper, not black pepper, which can sometimes catch non-Jamaicans out.
Thompson has five barbecues in use at her home. “I call it my little family, though I’m definitely a solo parent as my partner has put a strict one-in, one-out rule in place and definitely doesn’t consider them to be her babies too. My favourite is my Weber Kettle; it’s really versatile so I can grill quickly as well as do low and slow cooking on it. There’s loads of kit to go with it too. The other day I made a lasagne on the barbecue that included smoked tomatoes and fire-roasted onions. It was ace.
“I much prefer charcoal but my gas grill is massive so it is great for big events. I’ve got a pellet grill which is great for smoking, a ceramic Kamado Joe, which I don’t use that often, plus a couple of small charcoal barbecues which are great for being out and about. I can’t stand those disposable barbecues. They’re rubbish for the environment and rubbish for cooking. As for fuel, I’m a charcoal woman all the way.”
Although she has access to lots of barbecue options, she doesn’t think it essential to spend a lot on equipment. “I love the social aspect of barbecuing, so you could ask to use a friend’s kit – no one would begrudge having food made for them. You could even have a go at building a barbecue with some bricks and a grill. I wish there were more communal barbecues in public spaces. So many people don’t have access to gardens and equipment, and shared barbecues make it much more egalitarian.”
Taylor brings a lot of variety to her barbecue cooking. “My favourite meal is one made up of many different dishes, so sides form a big part of that. And sauces are vital; my pepper sauce involves grilling onions, scotch bonnets, spring onion, garlic and pepper and once they’re soft inside, peeling the blackened skin and blitzing with vinegar, sugar and oil. I’ve also smoked butter to go into a Bearnaise alongside a steak. That was pretty special. I’ve had a fair bit of offal too – ox heart, chicken hearts.
It’s not all about large chunks of animal protein, though. “I think vegetables can taste incredible with a bit of love. Imagine a platter of garlic yoghurt with a whole roast cauliflower on top, drizzled with sizzling brown butter, or fire-blistered tomatoes, or roasted cabbage, finished with a green herb sauce and some crispy chickpeas on top.
For fellow barbecue enthusiasts, she has this advice: “For novices, use your vents. Vents on a lidded barbecue work like the dial on the oven and once you master controlling the temperature, you can cook anything. For pros, never stop learning and diversify where you get your inspiration from – and credit those who you get your inspiration from.
Recipe: Melissa Thompson’s grilled prawns with lime, chilli and brown butter
Jessica Kelly
Jessica Kelly is a trained butcher who has worked in Australia and is now at her family business, The Village Butcher in Ranelagh, Dublin 6. “My first experience with fire cooking was when I moved to Australia. There was an old barbecue in my rental which hadn’t been used in quite some time. I spent ages cleaning the grates and scrubbing all the rust off. I brought home a spatchcock chicken and was constantly opening the lid and flipping it every couple of minutes, not knowing what I was doing.”
Kelly has come a long way from that first fire-cooking experience. She credits the customers she deals with for expanding her knowledge. “What made me constantly want to improve is working in the butcher shop. My customers are some excellent barbecuers. It’s like a trade-off: I recommend a certain cut of meat and in return they will give me tips and tricks for my next cook on the barbecue.” Her preference is for steak, but her customers order a wide variety of meats and cuts. “Brisket, short rib, picanha, pork ribs, pork shoulders, butterflied legs of lamb, suckling pigs, the list goes on. People are so creative.”
For a budget-conscious option for a barbecue, Kelly has these suggestions. “More economical cuts like bavette, flank and skirt steak are such great cuts of beef. They’re really fibrous and should be eaten medium rare. Flank has been my favourite recently, nothing fancy, just some oil and a good coating of salt before it hits the grill. If you’re cooking for a bigger crowd, I’d recommend picanha, also known as the rump cap. It’s a tender piece of meat with a beautiful fat covering on top. The size varies from 1kg up to 2.5kg and is perfect for slicing down and sharing family-style.”
Sausages have become a particular interest for Kelly, and she makes a wi
de variety of them, with inspiration from across the globe. “I’m always open to learning, and the knowledge I have gathered along the way has been a massive help. I love to make sausages from people’s home countries; our most popular ones are Brazilian Toscana, South African Boerewors, Argentinian chorizo and veal bratwurst. A good sausage for cooking over fire is one that doesn’t contain too much fat, because when the fat renders and drips, that’s when you get flare-ups.”
Despite her love of meat, the most memorable thing she has eaten off a barbecue is a fish. “When I was travelling in Southeast Asia, I stayed on a little island just off Cambodia.” It was there that she experienced “a full fish wrapped in tinfoil and cooked on the fire in the middle of the beach. It was so simple and fresh.”
Kelly has a packed programme of events she will be involved in at The Big Grill. “On Thursday evening I’ll be there with Andy Ricker; we’ve collaborated on a Thai-style sausage. I’m really looking forward to people trying it, it’s so different from what you would find here. Think fish sauce, curry powder and a hit of chilli. On Friday, I will be breaking down a piece of dry aged rib, showing people why it’s aged on the bone and what happens in the dry ageing process. On Saturday, I’ll be with Nick Weston from Hunter Gather and Fingal Ferguson from Gubbeen and we are breaking down a full carcass of venison.”
Recipe: Jessica Kelly’s rib-eye steak with charred vegetables and chimichurri
The Big Grill is at Herbert Park, Dublin 4 from August 17th-20th
