Book review: Seared by Genevieve Taylor

There are few better qualified people to write a guide to barbecuing meat than Genevieve Taylor.

As well as writing 10 previous cookbooks, including Charred: The Complete Guide to Vegetarian Grilling and Barbecue, Taylor runs the Bristol Fire School, where she teaches cooking over fire.

She shares her knowledge and expertise in the practical side of barbecuing in an extended introduction that’s the next best thing to attending one of her classes. Taylor covers all the key areas of cooking over fire, including all the equipment you’ll probably ever need, as well as what fuel you should consider buying and how to create various fuel set-ups for cooking different cuts of meat.

Divided into two main chapters of ‘Beast’ (covering beef, pork, lamb, veal, venison and goat) and ‘Bird’ (chicken, turkey and duck), the collection of globally inspired recipes covers both fast and slow cooking methods and will help barbecue newbies and more experienced practitioners alike expand their repertoire. The creative dishes include pork tenderloin with pistachio crust and grilled spring vegetables; tandoori venison kebabs and even a Thai red curry with meatballs and green beans.

The ubiquitous barbecue double act of sausages and burgers are given a makeover with homemade pork butt and beef chuck Texas hot link sausages spiced with smoked paprika and cayenne, and minty lamb smash burgers served with feta and beetroot. Ribs get an entire chapter to themselves and have never sounded more tempting than in the guise of Sri Lankan black pork spare ribs with curry barbecue sauce or cola and gochugaru flanken-cut beef ribs.

With guides on brines, marinades and rubs, how to cook the perfect steak (with or without the bone), techniques for smoking and braising and a quick-reference infographic guide to internal temperatures, Taylor covers all the barbecue bases and lives up to the claim in the book’s subtitle that this is ‘The ultimate guide to barbecuing meat’.

Seared by Genevieve Taylor (Hardie Grant, £20)