The smell of fire

AUTUMN BBQ

I was once asked by a journalist about the best flavors of autumn. It was a difficult question, as it required both a broad and detailed explanation. My fondest memory of autumn is of a garden with golden leaves, friends gathered around a campfire, and on that makeshift stove, there were many rustic dishes: grilled meat, grilled corn, grilled potatoes. BBQ (or grilling) is a culinary culture that appears in all seasons, but it's at its best in autumn, when the weather isn't too cold or too hot.

Barbecue comes from the Spanish word "barbacoa." According to some accounts, this style of cooking has existed for a very long time, created by explorers when they arrived in a new land where cooking utensils were too luxurious; a simple stove placed over an open fire was the best option. With that stove, you could create a cooking method far beyond expectations, where meats and seafood were cooked directly by the fire and smoke, creating an incredibly alluring flavor that no other cooking utensil could provide.

I've experienced many autumns abroad, and it's now difficult to recapture those memories in Vietnam, especially in Saigon, where the weather is almost always too hot to even have a chance to burn a bundle of firewood outdoors. I turned to a friend – a foreign chef working in Vietnam – to try and rediscover that autumnal scene.

George is the best fire-grilling chef I've ever known. He works at Stoker - Woodfire Grill & Bar in Ho Chi Minh City, which has a woodfire for grilling and a distinct BBQ culture in its cuisine. George was born and raised in Australia, which has a huge BBQ culture. I think Australia enjoys BBQ very differently from anywhere else in the world. It might be a bit like how Americans or Spaniards do it, but for Australians, BBQ culture is also part of family, children, and social relationships, especially during holidays or long vacations.

THE FLAVOR OF FAMILY

Of the countless flavors created in the world, for me, there are three scents that always evoke the most familiar, homey feelings: the smell of coffee in the morning, the aroma of bread baking in the oven, and the scent of burning wood. In cooking, "woodfire" refers to the method of grilling using wood. The aroma from burning wood creates a kind of "haunting" scent in a positive sense, lingering from the grilling process to the moment the dish is served. Diners will feel their stomachs rumbling when they accidentally catch a whiff of this scent; I think it's the most distinctive and appetizing aroma of all cooking methods.

For George, the perfect meat to grill in the fall is a beefsteak grilled directly over a wood fire. The beef, when cooked over the fire, develops a beautiful crust and an incredible aroma that you can only get from grilling. It also creates the perfect texture: seared on the outside and juicy on the inside.

This method requires the chef to have a sealed room that adheres to strict temperature and humidity control principles. After selection, the meat is hung for a specified time to allow excess moisture to evaporate while retaining sufficient humidity, achieving a balanced lean-to-fat ratio, and slightly searing the outer layer. When grilled, the meat achieves a rich, savory, moist, and melt-in-your-mouth flavor.

“So what about seafood?” I asked, and George replied, “When it comes to seafood, it has to be octopus, slow-cooked until tender, then grilled until crispy on the outside, giving you the delightful taste of a true seafood delicacy. It’s a childhood favorite of mine from my time in Australia. It reminds me of those autumn days when we’d have lunch on the porch every weekend because it was too cold in the winter to have grilled dishes like that outdoors.”

"Simplicity" is a timeless keyword in cooking. For dishes that require appreciating the wonderful qualities of fire, remember these principles: quality meat, a little sea salt, and acidity (lemon, apple, citrus...) to create the most balanced grilled dish. Many people like to add pepper when marinating meat for grilling, but George finds that it burns and turns into a different, undesirable flavor. It's best to add pepper after grilling to preserve the full flavor of the fish, pepper, and meat.

BRING FIRE TO SWEET DISHES...

George surprised me by showing that the flavor of wood smoke isn't just applied to meats or seafood, but is also quite interestingly incorporated into desserts. For example, the baked apples served with dulce de leche and lemon mascarpone cheese. This dish offers a wonderful visual effect, allowing you to sense the smoke emanating from the plate mingling with the warm flavors of autumn.

I think BBQ culture needs more than just fire or food; it also needs close friends and family to enjoy the magic that the fire brings: the food, the family feeling, and the warm flavors.

Autumn wouldn't be autumn without dishes like these!

Culinary expert Bui Thu Thao