Barbecue: Smoked & Grilled Recipes from Across the Globe

Collecting recipes from professional chefs and home cooks across six continents, pitmaster Mangum celebrates “great food cooked with fire and/or smoke” in his excellent debut. Many recipes, including Russian lamb kabobs, Nigerian beef skewers, and tandoori chicken, get their flavor from an overnight marinade before grilling, while others, such as Japanese beef skewers, Australian snags, and Greek grilled fish, are ready to eat in less than 30 minutes. Mouthwatering classics like beef brisket, maple-smoked salmon, porchetta, and tea-smoked duck will inspire readers to take a crack at smoking their own meats. Newbies will appreciate Mangum’s advice for building fires, in which he differentiates common smoking materials: peach wood, for example, is best for poultry, smaller cuts of pork, and seafood due to its subtle flavor and mild smoke, while mesquite has a stronger flavor best suited for red meat. Home cooks looking for a project will be intrigued by instructions for making several varieties of sausage—from bratwurst to chorizo—completely from scratch. Though animal protein makes up the bulk of the recipes, braai grilled cheese, smoked eggplant dip, charred peaches with labneh, smoked cheesecake with blueberries, and other vegetarian and dessert options round things out. For anyone looking to add more live fire cooking to their repertoire, this is a must. (May)