“The best summer barbecue is laying a proper long table in our back garden after the meadow has been cut for hay,” says author and food writer Imen McDonnell. “Last year it was July 4 [pictured above], which I always celebrate with my Irish family and any American friends. I have a delicious recipe for American-style bratwurst sausages that I get our local butcher [Garrett’s in Limerick] to make up especially for the occasion, along with several picnic salads, and, of course, a big gooey chocolatey s’mores finish!”

Another barbecue aficionado is Julianne Brogan, owner of Blacksheep Foods, who describes herself as quite a master at the grill. “It’s very hard to beat the smell of a barbecue on a beautiful summer’s evening, it creates an instant good mood and you can get so creative with a wide variety of ingredients to suit all tastes – not just the meat lovers.” One of her favourite recipes is for chermoula chicken kebabs with burnt lemon and dukkah yogurt.

Surprisingly, when I asked several acquaintances if they preferred a picnic to grilling, it was not a clear cut choice. Interior designer Rebecca Roberts confided, “If you had asked me a year ago I would have said picnic, but my husband and I were given a Big Green Egg as a wedding present. Up until that point I had no idea what the hype was about. Since then we’ve made the most delicious smoked roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary. I am a total convert!”

Sarah Mackie, who organises annual “hamper” days on the idyllic grounds of her gorgeous estate Larchfield such is her love of a picnic, admits, “The sous vide short ribs from local producer Hannan Meats have been a big hit with our self-catering guests, who enjoy them on the barbecue at our glamping truck and cottages.” Alix Gardner of Alix Gardner Cookery School is more decisive. “I really prefer picnics. I have a husband who gives out about raw blackened food at barbecues. There’s always that pressure on the cook at a barbecue, but there is no actual cooking at a picnic. And while you can always find a sheltered spot for a picnic, a barbecue needs good weather. Take for instance my friend’s new Australian boyfriend who was invited to a barbecue. He eagerly offered to cook, not realising that he would be left shivering under an umbrella nursing a few miserably glowing cinders, with the rest of the party watching from the shelter of the house.”

image credit: Blacksheep Foods

Ah yes, that’s a scenario I know too well. I loathe a barbecue and used to dread the command “Let’s have a barbecue for the children!” – pronounced in italics with Alexis Carrington Colby decisiveness when I worked as a Girl Friday for a certain actress. The children – badly behaved, fussy eaters – took no interest in the event, while their parents quaffed (organic) Pétale De Rose and antipasti at a safe distance from the burning coals and my fraying nerves. My principal’s idea of a barbecue was culled from films such as the classic scene in Gone With The Wind, where everyone theme-dressed in calico and gingham and had a high old time, though there were underlying tensions, both romantic and bellicose.

I learned to cheat – preparing most of the meat in the oven and then finishing it off a parrilla – and over ten years of such escapades have probably gone through the entire arsenal of side salads from Avoca, Ballymaloe and Ottolenghi. Once the pyrotechnics and dishwasher was on, I’d down some lady petrol. However, I will admit the most enjoyable barbecues were asados arranged by Argentinian friends many years ago. They made it look so effortless serving caipirinhas and then tagliata with a simple arugula and parmesan salad to a sound track of Cesária Évora. Heaven. That’s why I’m tempted by the new Asador barbecue delivery boxes to recreate those Argentine flavours. Particularly their “Seafood Feast” which includes lobster tails, octopus spiedini and gambas marinated in salsa verde. Another chic cheat option is to pick up an Avoca Barbecue Food hamper, (€49.95), a meat-lovers delight. And remember the trick – burn sage bundles on the barbecue or fire pit to keep mozzies at bay.

While barbecues should be interactive feasts, they can often become a battle of wills, as GLOSS contributor Susan Zelouf relates: “During a visit with my American family, gathered poolside in my sister’s sprawling North Carolina McMansion, set within a manicured golf course, my husband helpfully offered to man the gas barbecue. My mother rolled her eyes, and threw him a withering look: “What do you know about barbecues? You’re from Ireland!” The gauntlet my mother had thrown down that day looked suspiciously like a BBQ grill glove, the sword he vowed to fall on, should he fail, a kebab skewer.

We may live under Tupperware skies, in a modest cottage up a bóithrín in the Irish midlands, but as long as it stays fairly dry, my Shabbos goy (a non-Jew hired to perform certain tasks during Sabbath, according to Jewish law) sets up the Weber, a classic kettle charcoal barbecue, low tech, nothing fancy, which is the point: the greater the challenge, the sweeter the reward. And by reward, I mean perfectly charred free range chicken thighs, plump vegetable brochettes, seared steaks al sangue (rare), buttery corn on the cob wrapped in foil, homemade beef burgers, smoky honey mustard sausages, and, occasionally, beer can chicken, an undignified situation for the bird, upended on a can of cheap lager, roasting over smouldering lumpwood, but it makes for tender, juicy, finger-lickin’ fare.

Staying out of his way, purring as he grunts, I pour him a cold one as he tends the fire, adjusts airflow, monitors temperature, marinating, brushing, turning and letting the meat rest, counting myself lucky to be locked down with an alpha male who took my late mother’s dismissive remark to heart, becoming a MeatMeister, a BBQ boss, a pittmaster, King of the Grill.”

Whether you watch, grill or eat barbecue this bank holiday, savour the experience and remember to show gratitude to the cook …

main featured image credit: Imen McDonnell