Meat fire yum
‘Man Fire Food’ seeks out flame-touched cuisine
Hot enough for you? No, not the temperature outside — although at this time of year it can be pretty scorching — but rather the flames, specifically the ones being hunted down by Roger Mooking.
The host of “Man Fire Food” has been back with another season of the Cooking Channel show since early last month, with new episodes airing Tuesday evenings. This week’s new episode airs Tuesday, June 27.
This week’s stop on his quest to find the most interesting and lipsmacking ways to cook with fire is right in the metropolitan heart of the Lone Star State. There, he hangs out with an award-winning pitmaster, who takes his classic Texas barbecue beyond the norm. In Texas, beef is king, but for this barbecue guru, it’s all about the special cuts that don’t often find their way onto people’s plates.
Later, it’s off to Austin, where our charming host finds a chef with a unique piece of equipment that’s used to cook whole chickens over hot coals. Paired with squash stuffed with farro and veggies, it’s a fire-touched meal to make anyone’s mouth water.
And that’s what “Man Fire Food” is all about: the seemingly countless ways that food can be prepared with that most basic of cooking “appliances” — fire. There are no electric ranges, sous-vide machines or microwave ovens to be seen: just fire, whether it’s open flames or smoldering coals.
In next week’s episode, which is set to air on Independence Day, the host sticks around in Texas. In San Antonio, he meets up with recent “Iron Chef Gauntlet” contestant chef Jason Dady to make a Spanish paella with a Thai twist over an open fire. Then, it’s back to Austin for Mooking, where he finds a restaurant with an astounding 30 sausages on its menu.
Later this season, the host checks out “outlaw barbecue” in Ridgefield, Connecticut; Brazilian-style barbecue in Palatine, Illinois; andouille sausage in Nashville, Tennessee; and, of course, a whole-hog barbecue.
No matter where he goes, Roger Mooking has no trouble finding people who cook with fire, often in ways that even he, an experienced chef, has never seen before. Catch a new episode of “Man Fire Food” on Tuesday, June 27, on Cooking Channel.