THE recent heatwave has seen even the most reluctant outdoor chefs dust off their barbecue tongs and get cooking out of doors, and there’s nothing more likely to put people in the holiday spirit than the sizzling of burgers on coals – or gas.

Recent research into gas or charcoal barbies has highlighted some interesting feedback. Charcoal purists will try and tell you that their preferred fuel leads to better flavour, but food science bible Modernist Cuisine says: “Carbon is carbon; as it burns, it imparts no flavour of its own to the food being grilled.”

Your food doesn’t know what’s creating the heat below it, and once charcoal is hot, there aren’t any aromatic compounds left in the coals.

The characteristic flavour of barbecued food comes from the drippings, not the fuel. When those drippings hit the heat source below, the oils, sugars, and proteins burst into smoke and flame.

That heat creates new complex molecules that rise in the smoke and warm air to coat the food you’re grilling.

Make sure your barbecue is as good as it can be, by shopping local for the freshest produce at farmer’s markets.

To celebrate the summer, the weekly Hereford farmers’ market is holding barbecues on August 15 and August 22 in High Town.

Beccy Whittal of Cake Creations, who regularly sells her fudge and cakes at the market, will be firing up the barbecue and cooking some delicious treats from featured stalls – and you can’t get lower food miles than that.

On the menu will be sausages from G and R Tudge and Castle Farm Pork, lamb burgers from Whyle House Lamb, garlic and chilli king prawn skewers and some mackerel fillets with a beetroot relish and salad in a pitta bread, with the fish sourced from Severn and Wye Smoker.

Beccy has kindly shared the recipe for her marinade for chilli king prawns, so whether you make it to the High Town event or not, you can try this great idea for the barbecue.

  • Chilli King Prawn Marinade - 2 red chillies, 2 cloves of garlic, juice and zest of one lemon, 1 teaspoon of finely chopped stem ginger, 50g chopped flat leaf parsley, 200ml of Brockmanton rape seed oil or any other local rape seed oil, chop the chilli finely including the seeds as this gives it an extra kick, chop ginger and garlic finely and put in a bowl with the chilli, adding the finely grated lemon zest and juice, whisk in the oil, chop the parsley, flat leaf is better as it is more fragrant but curly parsley can be used. Ideally prepare and marinade prawns 12 hours before your barbecue.

     

    A Herefordshire farmers’ markets in August: Hereford: Thursdays. Leominster: Saturday, August 10. Ledbury: Friday, August 23