Since I started cooking when I was 12 years old, I have always been drawn to cooking with fire. We did all our BBQing with hardwood scraps my dad saved, and I quickly took up cooking outside, building fire pits with bricks and experimenting with food and recipes.
This past Easter my younger brother and I improvised a rotisirie and roasted two lamb shoulders, that we secured at the last minute from the local Muslim butcher (the Greeks were all out) we found an old broken rotisirie missing the stablizers, and arranged it over an ancient tractor wheel with a chimnae to block the wind. The lamb was seasoned and rubbed the previous day in a traditional Greek style with lemon, garlic, rosemary, and olive oil. After securing the meat with wire we tended it diligently all day while alternating between the indoor kitchen where we prepared the rest of the meal. After about 6 hours of cooking and a half hour rest, dinner was served to a hungry crowd of our close family. With a sauce of herbs, garlic, and olive oil dinner was devoured by all to much (hungry) acclaim.
That's my brother Joka in the picture doing his best to look busy.
This coming weekend I have the honor of not only being best man to my dear old friend Mihkel, but also the challenge of cooking for him, his new wife and 90 guests. Of course we will be firing up some fires and doing it outside.
I have built a second split barrel oil drum BBQ for the event, I use the simplest of tools, free barrels, and and retired steel bed frame for the legs and structure. We will be cooking chicken in the Portuguese style Churassco. The challenge of this catering is the lack of a home base kitchen. The wedding will be held in their back yard and all the food prep will be done in the days before at various locations. I will also be making some Portuguese Chorico sausage with my friend Chef Luc, at his place, Choux Choux Charcuterie. My trusy assistant John McMillan will be manning the grill while I serve my duties as best man. A challenge? Yes. But I enjoy the challenges of cooking outside, in strange settings....to be continued
