A short time ago we received an enquiry about how to create an Andalucian barbeque. So, after replying we decided a blog post would be a good idea (note we are placing "tags" on all our posts now) to detail the most important aspect of the Spanish BBQ - Brasa... Of course the essential ingredients in any barbeque are friends, atmosphere, sound flavours, a little music perhaps and a good time!
A real Andalucian BBQ always uses wood - pine wood is good, the fresher the better. Hard wood can be added once the fire is in full swing - in most cases a mix of hard and soft wood is better as harder wood creates a longer burning and hotter ember. Get the fire going with smaller sticks etc then place larger logs on top and leave to burn.
The next step is patience...(or time to serve the tapas!)dont be tempted to stoke or disturb the fire, the trick is to leave the burning logs until the last minute or until they turn white. Just before you are ready to cook break up the burned logs and wait five minutes for the centres to "flame off" now its time to cook.
You can of course add more wood every half hour or so, this is especially handy if you are cooking a lot of food or have a wide grill - the more wood added the more embers you acheive. The main aim is to create a "brasa" which allows you time to both cook and socialise in the same moment - no flame and no burned sausages!
Good brasa.. spread the hot coals across the whole grill area
With a good brasa being so hot it is a good idea to keep handy a bowl of water to "flick" out the flames (especially with pork) The Andalucians are masters of the barbeque, never a rush as the food is always well worth waiting for and cooked to perfection.
Sausage anyone? Big grills, Big barbeques, Big fiesta.
Next up: Roast chicken is roast chicken, isnt it?
2 comments:
Apart from barbeques in the garden in U.K. my only other experiences of bbq has been in Australia where all my relatives seem to have the modern gas versions except for one Oz born brother in law who likes to use wood and throws herbs on creating wonderful aromas.
Yours sounds like much more fun than the gas version. Where do you get all the wood from?
Thanks for your comments Sheffy. We are lucky enough to live near a big wood here in the campo every year the forestry guys cut fire breaks and tell the locals where the wood is. We do them a favour by clearing up - great for the bbq!
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