LEISURE / last word
Turn it up to 11!!! The latest hot item in the US kitchen is a wood-fired grill. Interestingly, however, for many chefs it’s not an addition to range of equipment but a replacement for it. Well, chefs can never resist lots of flames, can they?
T
ypical of the new trend in American kitchens is TBD in San Francisco. When it opens later this year, an eight-foot wide wood-fired grill in stainless steel will dominate the kichen as Chef Mark Liberman will use to cook virtually all menu items, controlling the heat with hand-cranked wheels. In this kitchen, at least, there will be no stove or oven. However, there will also be the lack of predictability of consistemnt heat at the turn of a dial, eliminating the relative predictability of appliances that ignite with the turn of dial and provide consistent heat. Liberman is revelling in the new freedom, in common with an increasing number of chefs that are turn wood cookery into an art as far removed from classical BBQ as you can imagine, since the grill can also be used as an oven, a broiler, a smoker and a flat-top griddle. Not all chefs are quite as committed to the cause
It's brilliantly thought out and well-constructed. - James Beard
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The Pro Chef Middle East / July 2013
as Galen Zamarra from NYC’s Mas. He does all his cooking on four wood-fired grills in the basement, makes his own charcoal and even has a dedicated woodshed. So why are chefs so intrigued by this new piece of kit. Unlike a traditional grill with a grate above a fire, new versions from manufacturers like Grillworks give chefs more flexibility and more control as various cooking surfaces can be raised and lowered manually and the grills can also be fitted with racks and rotisseries. Enclose a grill on three sides, lined with brick or tiles, to get ovenlike conditions or use the more gently heat high up to cold smoke. The irony of this ‘hot’ new way of cooking is that it’s really about going back to basics - mankind began its cooking odyssey using wood fires and more basic grills have been central to Spanish and Latin American cuisine for centuries. Look, for example, at the very influential Spanish chef Victor Arguinzoniz who, at his Asador Etxebarri in the Basque region uses either a grill or smoke for every dish, including his smoked goat-milk ice cream. As well as a variety of cooking methods, chefs can also alter flavour by mixing and maatching wood with charcoal, or by adding elements such as herbs or hay. Even different woods will make a key difference to the flavour.
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