2 22 FEBRUARY 2024 News&Views The trend for cooking over fire is igniting the imagination of top chefs. Sarah Barratt reports RESTAURANTS REKINDLE AN OLD FLAME People have harnessed the power of flame to transform raw ingredients into mouthwatering delicacies for millennia. Now the ancient art of live fire cooking is being rekindled for the modern age, with chefs across the country switching their hobs for hot coals and wood. Amsterdam-born fire restaurant Nela, due to open an outpost in London’s Bayswater later this year, is stoking excitement. But the hottest ticket in town is a table at Mountain in Soho, where chef Tomos Parry prepares Basque-inspired dishes over crackling flames. Similarly, at Edō in Belfast, tapasstyle sharing dishes are forged in a Bertha charcoal oven, while at Bank in Bristol, even the roast dinners are cooked over fire. But the trend is no flash in the pan – buzzy east London barbecue joint Smokestak has been blazing a trail since 2013. Guests flock there to feast on the famous brisket bun, gochujang wings and rotisserie flatbread, cooked over flames or in a hot smoker. “The flavour you get is impossible to replicate,” says founder David Carter. Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, founders of Middle Eastern restaurant Honey & Co, agree. “Cooking over fire imparts a flavour profile that enhances everything. It is almost primal, this idea of a few bits of wood and charcoal allowing you to transform something simple like a cabbage or a pear into something magnificent and complex,” they say. The pair are such fans of fire that they wrote a book (Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant) and dedicated a restaurant to it (Honey & Smoke, in Great Portland Street, London). Elsewhere, MasterChef: The Professionals winner Stuart Deeley is firing up appetites at his restaurant Smoke. Situated in an old There’s a lot more to live fire cooking than meat, too. At Acme Fire Cult, which is drawing crowds in east London, vegetables are the stars of the show, with aubergines, leeks and other earthly delights charred over a wood-fired grill, becoming sumptuously soft and smoky in the process. “We want to break the barbecue ‘dude food’ stereotype, showing how versatile fire cooking can be,” says cofounder Andrew Clarke. “In the UK, we tend to use ‘barbecue’ as an umbrella term, but I’m keen to challenge this,” says Stuart. “I’ve always thought of my style being closer to a Turkish ocakbasi or Argentinian grill.” A love of fire also burns deep in Genevieve Taylor, author of Seared: The Ultimate Guide to Barbecuing Meat and Scorched: The Ultimate Guide to Barbecuing Fish (out in March). Genevieve, who o ers fire cooking courses in her Bristol garden, began playing with fire “to make day-to-day cooking more interesting” when her children were young. “For me, a love of fire cooking is born from a love of being outside, enjoying nature and the environment,” she says. Fire cooking is not just a summer pursuit. “Barbecuing is a year-round activity and I’ve been known to stand over the grill with a brolly in hand,” says chef and food writer Helen Graves, whose cookbook Live Fire shows how to make the most of your grill in all seasons. “In winter, I use it at least twice a week, to bring the extra dimension of flavour only live fire cooking can.” ‘Cooking over fire imparts a flavour that enhances everything. It can transform simple things into something complex’ HOT STUFF (Clockwise from left) Andrew Clarke of Acme Fire Cult; Genevieve Taylor cooks in her garden; Stuart Deeley in the open kitchen at Smoke; Smoke’s starter of burrata, beetroot gazpacho and hazelnut furikake; green peppers getting blistered furnace at Hampton Manor, a 45-acre estate near Birmingham, he focuses on seasonal produce cooked simply over flames. “It’s an informal experience where we let the produce do the talking,” says Stuart. “As I’ve gotten older, I’m less into foams and gels. I just want a nice piece of meat and some veg.” The trend signifies a turn away from fine dining towards age-old techniques that allow ingredients to sing. Most live fire restaurants o er a relaxed atmosphere, invoking the conviviality felt by our ancestors as they shared meals and told stories around the fire. But there’s also an element of drama – at Smoke, guests can sit at the counter overlooking the kitchen, watching sparks fly as their Hereford côte de boeuf or Shetland cod is cooked over hot coals. Likewise, at The Gunton Arms, a muchloved gastropub in Norfolk, visitors watch as their sausages and steaks sizzle over a roaring fireplace. Cover: Recipes: Rebecca Woollard, Photographs: Ant Duncan, Food styling: Jennifer Joyce, Styling: Max Robinson, Art Direction: Sharon
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDY5NzE=