Graves Helen - Live Fire

What comes to mind when you think of barbecue? Here are some of my own favourite scenarios: sitting cross-legged in the park idly twiddling grass as my mate snaps off a can of beer and hands it over; turning up late, clammy and relieved at someones house to find music, laughter and a grill in full summer swing; catching an allspice-scented gust from the jerk drum hidden behind my favourite takeaways faade; hearing the approach of a sizzling mixed grill at the best East End Pakistani restaurant; turning fat spears of asparagus to find them zebra striped with grill marks; splitting a smoked aubergine (eggplant) to reveal its creamy flesh; taking the first bite of a hot dog, fat spurting, ketchup dripping; heaving a thick steak onto the grill and waiting for the sizzle; chatting around still-glowing embers as the night turns cool.

There often seems to be two faces to the British barbecue. The first is its unfortunate association with poorly cooked food or what I call burnt bangers and boob aprons while the second is that of an exclusive private members club accessible only to those with expensive, high-tech kit. This is due to the recent resurgence of barbecue as a trend, but Ive always believed that barbecue should be accessible to anyone with outdoor space, or access to a park that allows grilling. Barbecue is something humans have been doing around the world for millenia.

There is a lot of off-putting messaging surrounding live fire cooking and its something I hope Ive started to contribute towards changing with Pit, the independent magazine I edit with my friends Holly and Rob. Pit aims to celebrate global live fire traditions by platforming diverse voices in barbecue the real experts in their field.

In London, where I live, there are multiple diaspora communities that contribute to an eclectic barbecue scene. Visiting pockets of the city, its possible to taste food cooked expertly over fire by people from many cultures: a firecracker sumac-soured Adana kebab still spitting hot from the grills of Green Lanes; a shiny ghee-slicked naan blistered in moments on the walls of an East End tandoor; an all-spice scented chicken leg from a jerk drum in Thornton Heath. In summer, our parks are filled with spiralling smoke amidst gatherings of families and friends; a million backyard parties pump with familiar flavours, whatever those might be.

I want to show you how wonderfully eclectic British barbecue is today and how the tips and tricks Ive been taught by so many generous hosts and restaurateurs can work just as well for you in your back garden or local park.

I want to combine these eclectic flavours with those of our best homegrown produce, which includes so much world-class veg, seafood and meat why limit ourselves to various iterations of meat in a bun? The recipes in this book are simple, seasonal and characteristically big on flavour. Let it be known from the start that I do not do timid when it comes to cooking and neither does barbecue cookery lend itself to a delicate approach. If youre into bold flavour, colourful platefuls and joyful gatherings, then hopefully youll be on the same page literally. In fact, I think we could probably be friends.

I also want to briefly make a point about the recipes Ive written that borrow flavours or in some cases recreate entire dishes from other cultures and how Ive gone about developing them. You wont find a recipe representing every diaspora cuisine in London within this book, only those that have had an influence on my personal cooking style through people Ive met and the food they have introduced me to. By telling you the stories of some of these people in their own words, I hope you can understand where these influences have come from and how they have integrated themselves into my personal food story. This is a book about my favourite flavours, my favourite people and my favourite way to cook: in the open air over live fire.

For me, barbecuing is a year-round activity and Ive been known to stand over the grill with a brolly in hand. Top tip: if you do this, the brolly will smell so strongly of smoke it will become unusable, but on the plus side, youll have a dedicated umbrella for cooking. Year-round barbecue doesnt mean standing in the rain, dripping and miserable, it means adapting techniques and ingredients to suit: its more wrapping up warm to roast a .

I want to show you how to make the most of your grill through the seasons. If its summer, then most likely Ive got butter shining on my chin from the last corn cob I chomped and Im still working on that stubborn corn skin stuck between my teeth. You could safely bet your house that I will cook many, many kebabs: smoky mushrooms, ). There will be fluffy flatbreads smeared with butter and wild garlic I foraged from a patch of woodland and there will be courgettes (zucchini) cooked right in the coals, mashed and served on top of cold yoghurt. I want sardines grilled fast and dipped into a pool of olive oil and salt so that I can mash the flesh to a golden paste and spread it on toast with lemon juice. I might follow them with jammy peaches, cooked gently over the dying coals while my ice cream softens on the worktop indoors and I try not to forget about it.

In winter, the barbecue is the best place to cook meals that will properly warm you through. Ill use richer flavours and hardier veg, like leeks, which can be cooked until blackened and are a great way of fooling someone their dinner is completely ruined, until you split them to reveal tender insides. I like to grill fat steaks seasoned with a shining crust of salt, medium rare and carved into slices to share between two or three people, and I make bubbling pots of rich chilli, thick with flavour and finished with grated dark chocolate. I want coal-baked beetroots (beets), sweet charred onions and a pile of sticky figs with salty, pungent cheese.

I think of the barbecue as an extension of my kitchen, and while I might use it nearly every day during warmer months, Im still using it at least twice a week during winter to bring the extra dimension of flavour to my food that only live fire cooking can. However, I realise this might be a hard sell for some of you when the weather isnt great, and particularly during the autumn and winter, so in many cases here Ive provided instructions to cook indoors, too just in case.

Lots of people I know are scared of barbecue because they think its something best left to professionals; theyre put off by the fact that there are fewer rules around how to do it than there are for indoor cooking. To cook something in an oven, for example, youd set the temperature, shut the door and wait for X number of minutes; barbecuing can be a little more instinctive. Instinctive cooking sounds like an innate skill bestowed upon a lucky few, but its actually something you get a feel for quite quickly with practice. Despite what the backyard warriors may want you to think, barbecue cooking is simple. Not everyone needs (or indeed wants) to cook the perfect competition-worthy brisket; most of us just want to have fun and a nice dinner at the end of it. I can teach you how to make that happen.

As the popularity of barbecue cooking increases, so does the range of barbecues available. It can be overwhelming. I have lots of different barbecues at home because its my job to play around with them, but for day-to-day cooking I regularly use two: a standard lidded kettle and a more serious ceramic barbecue.