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The end of summer means nothing: barbecuing is possible all year round
Photo:
imago images / Panthermedia
The trend towards winter barbecues, which was brought up by the relevant meat press, does not want to appear in our latitudes.
Fortunately, we still have the mild Indian summer to quietly bring the coal to glow, turn on the large gas station or fumble the electric passage into the balcony socket.
The following three books suggest what to put on the grill and how to prepare it:
Grilling like in Asia
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Photo: CHRISTIAN
Anyone who has ever satisfied their hunger with the fine, crispy dishes that are offered by street food between Myanmar and Sumatra, wonders why they don't exude the same charm when you order them in a western Asian restaurant.
The cookbook author Leela Punyaratabandhu, who lives in the USA and comes from Bangkok, explains in her work "Flavors of the Southeast Asian Grill", which has now been published in German, as follows: Without charcoal or an open fire, there is not much left of Asian food culture.
Unfortunately, the preparation of food over an open fire is hardly feasible for restaurants due to the strict safety regulations in this country.
The result is satay from the electric grill, which has little in common with a meat skewer that has been skillfully grilled over an open fire.
Luckily, fans of Southeast Asian BBQ can simply heat up their home grill and prepare authentic street food on the grill at home with the help of the 60 original recipes that sparkle and stimulate saliva by Jamie Oliver in-house photographer David Loftus.
The author briefly explains the operation of the most suitable grill types (Hibachi, Watersmoker, Kettle Grill, Barrel Cooker, Kamadu).
Then the recipe begins with fish in a banana leaf, baby octopus, citrus chicken, stuffed wings, and of course all kinds of satay skewers.
Every now and then, Punyaratabandhu digresses into American grill habits, such as the caveman tomahawk.
But elsewhere there are valuable tips for autochthonous Asian grilled fun, such as the super crispy Trang suckling pig, the honey duck from the smoker and lemongrass filled with mince.
It's amazing how short 224 pages can seem.
Who needs it
Anyone who wants to grill authentic Asian street food.
Typical recipe?
Baby Back Ribs satay with peanut sauce.
What does this cost?
29.99 euros.
Endless grill recipes
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Anyone who sets the bar so high with the book title - »All about good grilling« - has to put up with comparisons with the top dogs among the barbecue compendia.
Unfortunately, this title loses out in comparison with major BBQ works such as “Weber's Grillbibel”, the “Grillakademie” from Stiftung Warentest or even Steven Raichlen's monster “Project Fire”.
This is mainly due to the never-ending small and large sloppiness in the theoretical part, which despite almost 50 pages often causes more confusion than life help.
The curing syringe is mistaken for a piping bag and top heat grills are not mentioned. Special cuts such as spider / bat used in the recipes are incorrectly drawn in the animal diagrams or (in Papada) not drawn at all. Health-related tips are also given, such as packing grilled food with lime juice in aluminum foil. The description of the kettle grill is illustrated with a photo of a kamadu. There are also numerous misspellings and nonsensical claims such as the fact that cast iron grids do not oxidize and that electric grills only ever have one heating zone.
Nevertheless, "Everything about good grilling" on bookshelves that already contain one of the standard works mentioned is recommended as a supplement.
Beyond theory, 240 of the 320 pages contain many, in some cases extremely interesting, recipes, some of them with useful craft beer tips for a liquid accompaniment.
In addition to beef, pork, poultry, lamb, game and fish, desserts such as grill bananas with chocolate filling, pears in puff pastry and marshmallow skewers are also covered.
Even if sometimes not all components shown in the photos are listed in the text, the excellent veggie chapter almost justifies the purchase.
On 40 pages it provides recipes without seitan sausages, but with Cesar's salad from the BBQ, sweet potatoes with halloumi filling, Börek and cannelloni from the Dutch oven and Shandong tofu steaks.
Also neglected in many barbecue books, but here with a separate chapter: Side dishes that can be roasted at the BBQ.
Among other things, stick bread, homemade burger buns, foccacia, pumpkin wedges or potato fries.
The sauces, dips & chutneys, on the other hand, are a little weak on the chest - the competition often offers more than just 24 small, unpublished recipes.
"Everything" is by no means found here about good grilling, but the recipes can easily be grilled for a year.
Who needs it
Grill fans who already have good BBQ books on the shelf and are looking for new grilled recipes.
Typical recipes?
Sous Vide Burned Miso Salmon;
Dutch-Oven wild boar goulash;
Duck orange.
What does this cost?
36 euros.
Dare more vegetables
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Photo: CHRISTIAN
If you want to go deeper into the veggie grill topic, you will of course need more than 40 pages.
The best way to do this at the moment is with the 80 recipes by the Swedish photographer and cookbook author Martin Nordin, all of which are also interesting for omnivores.
As a “creative leader” for “Ikea Foods international”, he naturally has a lot to do with dishes from all over the world.
His book, originally entitled "Eld rök grönt", lives up to the imperative used in the German name - it actually increases the desire to put more vegetables on the grill.
Especially since you get the feeling at Nordin that he took the topic really seriously.
The author not only explains the special requirements for building embers and the grill setting for greens, but also specifies the target core temperature for many recipes.
This is as new as it is smart, because what has been the standard for fish and meat for decades also helps with vegetables.
For example, when you know that cauliflower, leek or savoy cabbage is just as perfectly cooked at 80 ° C as the grilled onion, pointed cabbage, turnip and celeriac at 60 ° C, while the smoked potato should reach 90 ° C inside .
With small veggie BBQs such as pea pods, shiitake mushrooms, green asparagus, palm kale leaves and the great pizza recipes, measuring with the temperature sensor naturally makes no sense.
Instead, Nordin specifies the exact grill temperatures and times here.
Many of his hearty and crunchy dishes are vegan, such as the mayonnaise made from potatoes or aquafaba, the liquid from the chickpea jar.
Helpful and tasty ingredients from the ovo-lacto-veggie world, such as butter, cream, honey, eggs and cheese are not dogma and are used where they intensify enjoyment.
And when it gets so "meaty" as with the ingenious king oyster mushrooms in Hasselbacken style, even die-hard carnivores will not miss the swivel neck.
Who needs it
Everyone who finally wants to grill meatlessly in a sensible and enjoyable way.
Typical recipe?
Celeriac with grilled chanterelles, chicoryukkah and herbal cream.
What does this cost?
15.99 euros
