Innovative butchers are digging up old family recipes and mixing exotic meats with offbeat flavourings
(Image: Christopher Stevenson)
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David Lawrason offers nine reasons why garnacha makes for great barbecue wine
(Illustration: Jack Dylan)
Backyard sommeliers bored with the usual summer reds (merlot, shiraz, zinfandel) should try fruity garnacha. It is more commonly known by its French name, grenache, but it originated in Spain and thrives in the hot, arid Mediterranean. Despite once being the world’s most widely planted red grape, it was usually considered unfit for fine wine on its own. Its tannin and acidity are low and its alcohol quite high, so it’s most often blended with syrah, mourvèdre and carignan, or torn out of the ground altogether to make way for merlot and cabernet vines. In recent years, however, such leading winemakers as Alvaro Palacios, Hugh Ryman and Norrel Robertson are reviving derelict garnacha vineyards in Spain. The old, gnarled, low-yielding vines make richly fruity, even creamy reds that are dense enough to match red meat textures, smooth enough to drink without aging, and ripe and peppery enough to handle any barbecue sauce yet invented. If you crave something light, garnacha is the base for dry Spanish and French rosés, and there is even a handful of whites made with garnacha blanca. It’s also affordable, so you can mix a case of different styles to keep your deck and dock guests happy all summer long.
DIY Barbecue Guide: the perfect grill is much cheaper than you might think
Forget the fancy gadgets. Really good barbecue is about fire, smoke and meat
(Image: Christopher Stevenson)
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed in the barbecue store, what with all the guy-baiting gewgaws like infrared burners, Snap-Jet ignition systems and sensi-touch control knobs. They’re impressive features, but they’ve driven the price of a top-of-the-line ’cue well above $10,000. And none of them make your food taste appreciably better. That’s what charcoal and the Weber kettle are for.
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DIY BBQ Guide: three meat delivery services for locavores who can’t fit a side of beef in their freezer
(Image: Joel Kimmel)
Being a locavore doesn’t come cheap. While buying in bulk can help, not everyone has a minivan and a deep-freeze big enough for a side of beef. The solution? Meat boxes, delivered monthly from the farm.
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DIY Barbecue Guide: how to turn your grill into a smoker for $10
How to turn your barbecue into a miniature smoker using a $10 metal box, a handful of wood chips and a little bit of chutzpah.
1. Buy a smoker box (preferably cast iron) and wood chips (available at Wiener’s Home Hardware, 432 Bloor St. W., 416-922-7043). Apple is a good all-purpose wood, hickory complements chicken and pork, and mesquite is terrific for beef.
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DIY Barbecue Guide: how to make the Stockyards’ killer coleslaw
(Image: Christopher Stevenson)
The debate over tangy versus creamy ends here. Stockyards on St. Clair West makes a killer coleslaw that’s a bit of both.
DIY Barbecue Guide: a goof-proof brick chicken recipe
(Image: Christopher Stevenson)
Barbecuing a whole chicken has never been for the faint of heart: different parts of the bird cook at different speeds, and melting fat burns like napalm. This recipe for spatchcocked brick chicken solves those problems easily. The whole chicken cooks evenly because it lies flat, and indirect heat prevents flare-ups. It’s also hugely impressive to serve.
DIY Barbecue Guide: Three ways to brush up on your ’cue skills
(Image: Joel Kimmel)
DIY Barbecue Guide: rub recipes from three top Toronto barbecue joints
(Image: Christopher Stevenson)
DIY Barbecue Guide: roasting a suckling pig in 12 not-too-hard steps
(Image: Joel Kimmel)
The primitive pig roast is the latest fad for cottage weekends. Like Lord of the Flies for foodies, it’s the ultimate exercise in communal cooking. With a few friends, a spit and some elbow grease, you can create an unforgettable meal.
DIY Barbecue Guide: how to make the Drake’s sweet, sour and bitter Cucumber Smash
(Image: Christopher Stevenson)
Created by The Drake Hotel’s bar manager, Jon Humphrey, the Cucumber Smash is a tight balance of sweet, sour and bitter with a refreshing blast of cool cucumber and ripe honeydew. It’s a perfect counterpoint to salty, slow-smoked barbecue.
Ingredients
5 cucumber rounds, cut ¼-inch thick
4 honeydew melon balls
½ oz. simple syrup
1 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ oz. vodka
½ oz. Pimm’s No. 1 Cup
4 dashes Angostura bitters (available at BYOB, 972 Queen St. W., 1-877-989-8980)
Ice cubes
Club soda
DIY Barbecue Guide: Cowbell’s Mark Cutrara on the perfect patty
A great barbecued hamburger doesn’t taste like chipotle or paprika or horseradish. It tastes like beef. Cowbell chef Mark Cutrara’s burger, made with grass-fed beef from Dingo Farms, is one of the best in the city for good reason: it’s all about the meat. Here’s how he does it.
(Image: Joel Kimmel)
DIY Barbecue Guide: Peter Sanagan’s favourite cuts of beef for the barbecue
(Image: Joel Kimmel)
Peter Sanagan, the young chef-turned-butcher and owner of Sanagan’s Meat Locker in Kensington Market, shares his favourite cuts for the ’cue
Click on a cut to see where it comes from and learn why Sanagan loves it, or start the slideshow »
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