Unlike most folks, I learned to grill meat over wood. I grew up on a small farm in Eastern Tennessee within sight of the Smoky Mountains. Only about half of the 40 acres we owned were cleared, the rest was forest. This meant we had a ready supply of wood for grilling — including that southern king-of-smoke, hickory.
You can read the complete article at Spot-On.
Kevin Weeks is a Gather food correspondent (Paisano), personal chef, cooking teacher, and writer in Knoxville, Tennessee who spends too many hours on his feet, cooking. "Paisano" is a column focused on peasant dishes from around the world. To read more of Kevin's writings or connect to him click here. His blog, Seriously Good, is read by 75,000 cooks a month.
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Comments: 23
Donna and I really enjoy cooking over our campfires. Granted, we use skillets and aluminum foil over the grates (we don't really know what kind of wood we are using so we are cautious about direct smoke exposure) but the smell of wood smoke always seems to eak into the food; and we Love it. We always have steak, at least once, on our trips, but vegetables and grains come out tasting great also.
Loved your reminisce. Thanks!
Good article!
Okay, there is a longer story, but a real wood grilling always reminds us of how I used to spend forever getting the Santa Maria Style BBQ going at my then job just so he would come outside to check on me:)
"There's something about the subtle flavor of wood that can really change the way food tastes.
It's the carcinogens.
Bill,
When I was a kid I knew all the different woods in this area and could even tell the various oaks apart. I'm afraid that's no longer true, it's been too long sense I've exercised those mental pathways.
Donna,
Yeah, I had to tie back into that lead somehow.
Sonia,
I love my father and always have and he's a gentle, kind, and loving man. But far too many of my childhood memories of him are associated with things like digging postholes, hauling wood, baling hay, and weeding the garden. In other words: work.
Gwen,
"I used to spend forever getting the Santa Maria Style BBQ going at my then job just so he would come outside to check on me:)"
Thanks so much. Fire memories are hard to beat.
All of Anthony's memories of Jim have to do with work....
;-)))
Propane is the Wonder Bread of grilling.
Joanne,
Ferdamshure.
Sonia,
Are they "good" memories? Memories recalled with pleasure?
> But I do use a propane grill. You can stack charcoal and wood chips in it, you know.
You can also sprinkle whole-wheat flour on Wonder Bread. Excuse me, I need the shower when KM is through.
Excellent point. But throw anything on a propane grill and you've got a 10% product. Add wood chips and you're at 35%.
Please have pity on me for being a Northerner and suburbanite. The only way my dad knew how to grill was with charcoal briquettes and too much lighter fluid. If my cousin's husband was near the grill, he'd tame flare ups with his beer. The joy was being with family and eating outside. Oh, and it helped that my mom was (and still is) a fantastic cook and made wonderful marinades and sauces from scratch.
I was just being obstreperous.
Sharon,
That does help.
But going way, way back my ancestors used to have a fire going at the entrance to their home all the time. The men in my family would go out and hunt for meat during the day and the women would cook the meat at night whenever the men brought it back. In addition to cooking the meat, the women would also gather berries, nuts, and oh yes, sometimes even roots during the day. The women were responsible for a whole mess of other things.
So my family had a fire going all the time. The fire served a dual purpose, it was not only used for cooking raw meat, it warmed the home of my ancestors when it was cold out, too.
And since in those days, wood was the only thing they had with which to build fires and cook, by my own surmiseal, they must have grilled or at least cooked over wood all the time.