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Camp fire cooking - the Perfect Barbecue

I am often asked what I consider to be the perfect barbecue and I think most people expect an answer that involves a secret sauce and some magical equipment. No...

It is a humble camp fire with several different elements in place - each equally important. Perfect camp fire cooking is about the ambience, company, cooking and food.

We have strong primordial instincts that makes the enjoyment of this automatic. We are inexplicably happy when we are close to water (like the sea or rivers for holidays), or when we are around a burning fire, be it in a fireplace or on in the desert. The crackling fire is romantic, safe and relaxing. This reflex is as strong as the reflex that makes our mouths water at the smell of a grilling lamb chop. Why?

Camp fire picture by Timo Elliot

The origins of camp fire cooking

When our ancestors developed the skills to control fire, they inevitably instigated the development of social eating. Instead of eating on the trot like baboons as they were gathering food, they now brought the spoils of the hunting and the gathering to the cooking fire. The community would gather around the fire, listen to the adventures of the hunters and be part of the food being cooked.

Previously inedible plants became part of the diet and the proteins made a quantum leap in taste - grilled meat is a hell of a lot more appetising as well as easier to eat.

It was also the beginning of table manners - rigorous rules developed with regards to the distribution and consumption of the food - the hunters got the best parts, the elderly and young tender portions etc. This is the rootage of us (westerners) sitting on chairs around a table today, eating our share of the meal with knives and forks from our own plates in a culturally acceptable way, not throwing food at each or burping loudly (especially if there are women around).

Where should one have the perfect barbecue?

A perfect barbecue is somewhere out in the wilds with the sounds and smells of nature. The fire becomes the central point of the gathering - everybody instinctively gathers around it.

When should one have the perfect barbecue?

The best time is in the evening, when the fire brings light as well as warmth. It gives a feeling of safety (even if there is no danger) and the surrounding darkness focuses the concentration on the fire and its immediate ring of light. Everybody should there from the moment the fire is lit, as there is no better appetite builder than a crackling fire and the smells and sight of food sizzling on the embers.

What fuel should one use for camp fire cooking?

Dry hardwood picked up in the wilds close by. The smell of good, dry wood burning is a great pleasure. It is also a joy to start the fire with leaves and kindling, but I draw the line at rubbing sticks to light the fire - it is not really fun.

Who should join you for some camp fire cooking?

Anybody will enjoy this, but it is good to have some like-minded souls around. People living in the enjoyment of the moment. People who do not mind eating with their fingers and licking them afterwards to get enjoy the very last morsel of taste. People who know about food, because such people usually know other things too.

What should one eat at the perfect barbecue on a camp fire?

Uncomplicated, simple, good food that focuses the best the fire can deliver. Ember-roasted flatbread. Artichokes standing in the embers, olive oil bubbling in them. Truffles in the hot ash (the best way to eat them, but I am dreaming a bit here). A butternut squash standing next to the fire, getting turned as the side closest to the flames turns golden. Some onions sizzling in the embers. Bits of Karoo lamb liver wrapped in netted stomach fat cooking slowly over some mild embers. A fresh fish that was caught within the hour. Boerewors. Sosaties. And hold the sauces - just the natural deliciousness taken to perfection by the fire. Spring water...

Enough of the simple things! A few good bottles of a decade old, excellent Grave is needed - since no wine can be too good for a meal like this. For desert some grilled bananas (in the skin) and an excellent Cognac or a good Cape Brandy (you can spike the bananas with some Cognac, if you dare).

Put the coffee kettle on the fire at the same time as the bananas in order to give it time to brew well, and make it a big kettle, as a bottle of Cognac stretches to even more pleasurable lengths accompanied by good mugs of strong, bitter coffee. And the night will be long and wondrous.

Camp fire cooking - let the flames leap

Good camp fire cooking is about keeping the fire burning! Often people have several of the elements in place for the perfect barbecue, but they burn the fire down to embers and then cook on it without keeping some flames going. Keep the fire going! Even a small one is an imperative improvement. And you can use the flames for innovative cooking like a string rotisserie - have look at my chicken on a string.

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