BBQ: The Simple Pleasures

There is something so satisfying about BBQ’d food. The smell of the charcoal burning and the meat slowly grilling fills the air and I don’t think anyone can smell that and not have their mouth watering. A gas BBQ just doesn’t have the same effect. Then you have the taste of the meat…impossible to get that in the oven or in a griddle pan. Divine.

Last night we had some friends over for our first BBQ party – we only got the BBQ two weeks ago. We’d resisted getting a BBQ for 3 years and finally, not able to think of anything else to buy my husband, Simon, for his birthday I decided on that. An apartment’s not really ideal and 11 people on our average-sized balcony was a bit tight; in the end we moved inside and left Simon to the grilling with just a couple of trusty assistants!

Apart from the taste of the food, grilling is acknowledged as one of the healthiest ways to eat meat. Plus there’s minimal fuss in the kitchen once the BBQ gets going. Of course, there’s a fair bit of preparation needed to marinate the meats, make the salad, scrub the potatoes and get anything else ready but once that’s done you can sit back and let the BBQ’er get on with finishing the meal all off.

I can’t think of any downsides to having a BBQ. The preparation time and amount of washing up are more or less the same as preparing any meal, I’d say. The actual BBQ grill shelf doesn’t need cleaned as it’ll get self-cleaned with the flames the next time you cook, so there’s no soaking and scrubbing needed which is a big plus point. The first ten minutes while the flames get going are a bit eye-wateringly smoky but nothing too severe. So all in all, a resounding thumbs up.

Although it was a lovely temperature outside, once the BBQ got going things heated up a bit too much for me. Not sure how many more we’ll have before the summer really kicks in, but we’re going to cram in as many as possible before then. Now I’m off to warm up the leftovers so we can experience it all again…