From Chilli-spiked Watermelon To A Diy Aperol Spritz Bar: What Top Chefs Bring To A Barbecue

Depending connected your temperament, having a Michelin-starred cook driblet by pinch thing to propulsion connected your back-garden barbecue mightiness beryllium a dream travel true, aliases a spot of a nightmare. Will they judge america for buying ready-made coleslaw? Will they announcement really excessively charred nan drumsticks are? But chefs are group excessively – and they for illustration being invited complete for a burger and a brew conscionable arsenic overmuch arsenic nan remainder of us. It’s conscionable that their burgers mightiness beryllium made from dry-aged steak, minced by manus that morning, paired pinch a cautiously chosen low-intervention wine.

Chefs besides for illustration reasoning beyond burgers, sausages and each nan different accepted barbecue favourites, which is why, erstwhile we asked 18 of nan UK’s champion chefs what they would return to a barbecue, they recommended everything from chilli-spiked watermelon crockery and intensely flavoured Korean marinades to barren non-alcoholic aperitifs and beautiful tins of spiced salt. (And not a tub of coleslaw successful sight.)

The veggie barbie star

Yotam Ottolenghi’s hispi cabbage

I ever bring a ample caput of cabbage – hispi if I tin find it, but napa aliases achromatic activity well, too. I trim it into heavy wedges (keeping nan halfway intact truthful they don’t autumn apart), brushwood them pinch oliva oil, play generously, and char straight complete nan flames until nan outer leaves are blackened and blistered and nan wrong goes saccharine and tender. Then I make a dressing: either whisk together tahini, a bit of yoghurt, citrus juice, ail and h2o to make a creamy sauce, aliases simply usage immoderate creme fraiche pinch citrus juice and ail stirred though. I spoon this complete nan cabbage and decorativeness it disconnected pinch immoderate chilli lipid aliases chilli condiment happens to beryllium around, and a sprinkle of caller herbs (only if I person them).
Yotam Ottolenghi, chef, restaurateur and nutrient writer

Throw a fewer prawns connected nan grill

Tom Kerridge’s prawns pinch harissa mayo

Barbecued prawns pinch harissa mayo make a cleanable barbecue starter: spot 1kg of earthy shell-on tiger prawns successful a bowl pinch 2 teaspoons of crushed cumin seeds, 2 tablespoons each of rose harissa paste and oliva lipid and nan zest of 2 limes. Leave for 30 minutes. Make a condiment pinch 150g mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons of roseate harissa paste, nan juice of a lime and one tablespoon of chopped dill. Barbecue nan marinated prawns for 2-3 minutes each broadside complete nan hottest portion of nan grill, until cooked done and lightly charred. Serve pinch nan mayo and lime wedges.
Tom Kerridge, chef, restaurateur and writer of The BBQ Book. His newest pub is The Chalk successful London

The Italian barbecue go-to

In Italy, erstwhile we person a barbecue everyone brings something. My favourite astatine nan infinitesimal is outpouring onions wrapped successful streaky bacon. I wrap 20-30 individual outpouring onions in streaky bacon, chill and then transportation them consecutive on to the grill. The stems are perfectly salted owed to the bacon and are delicious pinch a homemade spicy mayo.
Giorgio Locatelli, Michelin-starred chef, who has a new restaurant astatine London’s National Gallery

Just adhd chilli – to everything

Ana Ortiz’s homemade ají (chilli) sauce

I would ne'er get astatine a barbecue without ají (chilli) sauce: I ever person a Kilner jar of it successful nan fridge. I make it pinch six ample ripe vine tomatoes and 10 reddish chilies, blackened complete nan barbecue aliases successful a basking barren pan, past mashed aliases blitzed pinch nan juice of a lime and plentifulness of salt. I would besides bring a herb operation from Field Blends: they do a delicious maple chilli salt, cleanable for sprinkling complete meats and salads and they travel successful useful small tins, truthful easy to popular successful your bag.
Ana Ortiz, chef/co-founder of Fire Made successful Somerset

Knock up an Aperol spritz bar

Rukmini Iyer’s Aperol spritz station

I emotion taking an Aperol spritz position to a barbecue. A rigid coolbox – truthful nan lid tin double up arsenic a array – filled with ice, sliced oranges, Aperol, San Pellegrino and sparkling wine. I have a stash of Bonne Maman jam jars to usage arsenic glasses. I get nary enjoyment from drinking thing – moreover champagne – from a insubstantial aliases integrative cup. Sturdy glasses each nan way.
Rukmini Iyer, cook and writer of The Green Barbecue

Kebabs are kings

A peculiar favourite is chickenhearted aliases lamb kebabs, marinaded successful yoghurt pinch spices overnight and past skewered pinch slices of citrus and reddish onion. With a crockery of roast aubergine, cucumber, tomato, reddish bulb and mint finished pinch a scatter of reddish wine vinegar. And past sauces and flatbreads are king of nan barbecue – tahini aliases chermoula activity peculiarly good here. To drink, I emotion Small Beer aliases Jubel peach beer.
Julius Roberts, chef, husbandman and writer of nan Farm Diaries newsletter and nan book The Farm Table

Carry a watermelon – not conscionable for dessert

Ravinder Bhogal’s watermelon salad

My begetter carried watermelons arsenic gifts to parties agelong earlier Baby successful Dirty Dancing ever did. At this clip of twelvemonth erstwhile nan upwind is very hot, they are a perfect, big-bellied crowd-pleaser – truthful refreshing and rehydrating. They tin beryllium chopped up and turned into salads, too. I’m partial to a dressing made pinch smashed garlic, birdseye chilli, thenar sugar, food condiment aliases soy, tamarind and lime juice; past adhd roasted cashews and fistfuls of Thai basil. To drink, I don’t deliberation you tin do amended than rosé.
Ravinder Bhogal, chef-patron of Jikoni and writer of Comfort and Joy

The champion food for nan job

Niklas Ekstedt’s turbot

I would bring a whole turbot: it’s 1 of nan champion things you tin navigator connected a barbecue arsenic its precocious collagen contented keeps nan food moist, creating rich, gelatinous juices nether nan skin. Pat nan food barren and brushwood it pinch oliva oil, play pinch salt, past spot successful a food grill. Barbecue for astir 8 minutes a side.
Niklas Ekstedt, Michelin-starred cook and laminitis of fire-based edifice Ekstedt astatine nan Yard in London

The chefs’ table

Get a small salty

To make a barbecue spell down a large wind I arrive pinch a cookware of Cornish smoked oversea salt, which has a large smack of steaming flavour, and immoderate Chimac sriracha caramel sauce, which you can glaze vegetables pinch aliases dip consecutive into. Condimaniac does superb rubs and sauces, but their champion is an onion gravy ketchup. For drinks, Knightor vermouth is delicious – service pinch an orangish slice, oliva and ice. Otherwise Yew’s rhubarb-flavoured sparkling water is great if you’re not drinking.
Lagom Chef (AKA Martyn Odell), chef and TikToker

The cover-all-bases marinade

Cortas pomegranate molasses is simply a cleanable one-bottle marinade. It useful its magic connected chickenhearted (wings successful particular), lamb (we’re reasoning chops), pork aliases beef, aliases arsenic a post-grill drizzle connected your nutrient aliases vegetables for an instant saccharine and sour seasoning.
Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, chefs astatine Honey & Co and authors of Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around nan Levant

You can’t hit a murphy salad

Alissa Timoshkina’s murphy salad

I emotion a bully aged murphy crockery astatine a barbecue. New potatoes boiled whole, thinly sliced fennel and reddish onion, tons of caller dill and a dressing pinch unrefined sunflower oil, mustard, citrus and honey. Carrot and reddish capsicum tapenade is besides perfect pinch thing grilled. It’s very simple: thinly sliced onions, reddish capsicum and grated carrots are cooked down to a jammy consistency, seasoned pinch salt, sweetener and smoked paprika, doused successful oliva lipid and immoderate reddish vino vinegar, past rested successful nan fridge overnight.
Alissa Timoshkina, chef, nutrient historiographer and author of Kapusta

A non-alcoholic aperitivo

Botivo is an alcohol-free portion for grownups, made from cider vinegar pinch botanicals. It’s debased successful calories truthful it’s rather healthy, but it tin besides beryllium mixed pinch tequila. Also Slap ya Mama is simply a seasoning swipe that I for illustration to usage liberally post-barbecuing.
Richard Turner, chef, head astatine Bodean’s and co-founder of nan Meatopia barbecue nutrient festival

A beaujolais that goes pinch everything

Trenel’s reddish beaujolais, made from nan Gamay grape, is cleanable for grilled meat, food and vegetables. I deliberation it’s awesome chilled, truthful it’s cleanable for outdoor summertime meals.
Michel Roux Jr, Michelin-starred cook astatine Chez Roux and TV presenter

Pass nan peas

Tomos Parry’s grilled pea pods Photograph: Dan Matthews/The Guardian

In season, I return peas successful their pods. You tin grill them full connected nan barbecue and past flip pinch oversea salt, plentifulness of soft aromatic herbs, specified arsenic mint and dill, and service to beryllium eaten a small for illustration edamame.
Tomos Parry, Michelin-starred cook of Brat and Mountain restaurants

A showstopper of a salad

Claire Thomson’s beany salad

I would return a large beany salad, 1 you tin make astatine location and past return pinch you. It uses ingredients that will beryllium happily wallowing successful their juices for astatine slightest a mates of hours and sensation amended arsenic nan flavours develop. Chopped caller tomatoes, different colours and sizes, positive tons of caller herbs, a bully dressing, immoderate jarred peppers aliases artichokes, and not forgetting my favourite – immoderate large creamy food beans. It only takes minutes to operation it each together, but you look for illustration a leader erstwhile you spot it connected nan table.
Claire Thomson, cook and writer of One Pan Beans

Baked onions, Sicilian style

Rachel Roddy’s peperonata Photograph: Dan Matthews/The Guardian

In Sicily, they cook full unpeeled onions wrapped successful foil, for illustration potatoes, nestled successful nan embers, and fto them get truthful soft they are almost a relish. I besides often return peperonata, a multipurpose marinade, broadside aliases relish which is simply a cooked operation of tomatoes, onions and peppers.
Rachel Roddy, Rome-based cook and writer of An A-Z of Pasta

A spicy Korean twist

Take a cooling dip

Anna Jones’s homemade dip

I ever return a homemade dip. My favourite is simply a crispy outpouring bulb one. I crisp a chopped bunch of spring onions successful oliva oil, adhd a half a teaspoon of turmeric, nan aforesaid of dried chilli and a pinch of brackish and sugar, past return disconnected nan heat. Once cool, ripple it complete astir 300g of salted thick Greek yoghurt.
Anna Jones, cook and writer of Easy Wins