THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Former Scotland rugby captain John Barclay has become obsessed with cooking outdoors and is a champion of the not-so-humble barbecue
John Barclay has always loved eating and cooking. Growing up in Hong Kong, his favourite tipple was spicy Thai and Japanese food, but once back at home his attention turned to more traditional Scottish fare. But the impulse acquisition of one of the new high-tech ceramic barbecues – in his case one made by Kamado Joe – has, he says, completely revolutionised both his cooking and eating habits. ‘I realised the other day how obsessed I’ve become when I got up at 7am to make waffles and pancakes for the kids’ breakfast on the barbecue,’ he laughs.
‘If that wasn’t proof enough, my wife was laughing at me the other day when I was standing in the back garden cooking while wearing flip flops and holding an umbrella because it was raining. She told me to come inside and cook the steaks in the kitchen, but it just doesn’t taste the same. There’s something enjoyably primeval about making a fire and then using it to cook.’
Throughout his youth in the Far East, cooking outside on gas barbecues was the norm, but the new generation of ceramic barbecues is an altogether more inviting prospect.
‘You can really control how you cook with these – because you can control the heat, and because they keep the heat for so long, it can be really quick or slow and long. I’ll often put a rotisserie chicken or brisket into the barbecue, then go out and take the kids or the dog for a walk, come back and do some chores, and then eight or ten hours later it’s all ready. The kids love it.’
Having spent much of the year in lockdown, which has coincided with record temperatures, Barclay and his family have virtually lived outside. ‘That,’ he says, ‘is just how I like it.’