As part of our Summer special, Peter Driscoll has put aside the traditional annual burnt offerings and recounts “How I started Smoking & Discovered “Q”.

I used to love barbecuing , but then my wife stopped me. I was horribly indignant but my wife said that she had had enough of having the food that she had lovingly prepared, offered up as a burnt offering on my BBQ . She also mentioned possible lawsuits from poisoned neighbours as she claimed that half the food I “cooked” was, whilst like charcoal on the outside, raw on the inside! So for the last three years our BBQ food was firstly cooked in the oven and then given to me for the last two minutes to play with over the coals.

Then recently I learnt that there was a whole new world of outdoor cooking just waiting to be discovered when we spotted the ProBBQ smoker range of Outdoor Cookers and found a web site that actually taught you how to BBQ properly. This is where we discovered the real meaning of OUTDOOR COOKING and REAL BARBECUE.

In essence Barbecue means cooking anything at all “Long and Slow”. This means that things such as steaks and “Burgers” are not really suited for the barbecue (or “Q”) treatment as steaks in particular taste far better when seared directly over a heat source. However, talk about legs or shoulders of Pork, Chickens, Turkeys, Wild Boar, Whole fish (Even Salmon), wrapped breasts of duck, whole suckling Pigs or even haunches of Venison, then a “Q” (Barbecue) is probably one of the best and healthiest ways to cook. Now add some “smoke” to the cooking process and you will enter into one of the most exotic cooking places that you have ever visited. The real beauty being that this whole process can be done by the total novice all year round!!

Simply take whatever piece of meat you want to cook and start your charcoal off. I started with two chickens, a half shoulder of pork, a piece of veal stuffed with sausage meat and six Toulouse sausages (Cut open, brushed with Dijon mustard, filled with Agen prunes and then wrapped with bacon), all in the same smoker at the same time! I used three kilos of charcoal and was cooking for eight people. Once the fire was started I took a couple of handfuls of Alder wood chips and threw them on the fire. The smoke rose and permeated all the meats. Four and half hours later my guests were giving me the “Wow” of the week (Including the local chef from our village restaurant!)

Quite simply the food was delicious and SO simple to do. Because the food on the grills is separated from the charcoal by a pan of water (into which I did place a few herbs), the food is never exposed to direct heat and as such can never burn. Further, the water provides a really moist cooking environment , which means succulent and tender meats bursting with flavour.

Having demonstrated my new found culinary skills (From one who previously was not allowed to cook toast unaided!) I have branched out and now welcome new tastes and challenges. Our next door neighbour is a rare beast in France, he is a Vegetarian, so what better than to do a “Q” for a veggie! So on to the top level of the machine went  a selection of veggies. Courgettes hollowed out and filled with cheese, (wrapped in foil with holes in to the let the smoke circulate) Aubergines lightly coated with Olive oil, Tomatoes and Celery and a few pieces of sweet corn. I also prepared two long green peppers, which I sliced and filled with goats cheese, added a few chili flakes and then wrapped it all in a chicken breast, which was then wrapped with bacon .

The smoker was set up and this time I used Cherry wood to produce the smoke. Two hours later and we all had a feast. The point here is that having a “Q” should not be limited to the long days of summer nor to simply charring meat  over an open fire. The modern smokers allow you to roast and smoke food all year round, and does also work as a standard BBQ Grill, which being portable allows you to even take it to the beach.

My latest venture was Cold Smoking! I used the same machine and smoked three  mackerel. To do this I used just a few lumps of charcoal briquette with the water pan filled up with cold water. The fish was hung from the lid of the “ProQ”. This time I used apple wood  and smoked away merrily for five hours. The temperature inside the machine never got above the ambient air temperature and the smoke just wafted all around, giving the most wonderful smells.  The result, perfectly smoked fish and my Dutch neighbour is convinced I cheated and bought the fish!

Next month I shall offer a few more tips on smoking, along with a few more recipes for those that feel brave enough to try them. In the meantime you can always visit www.bbqfrance.com where you will find more information on barbecuing , photos and more recipes as well as a Europe wide chat forum dedicated to long slow cooking .

Peter Driscoll

(Expatica June 2008)