Is barbecue season turning into a repetitive bore?

Chefs and authors Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich want us to fire up the barbecue – and they want us to BBQ well

The problem with barbecuing – other than intemperate weather – is often scope. Do you stick with the tried, tested and beloved sausages and burgers, or start treating your grill like you would your oven, with panache, bravery and all manner of ingredients? And do you really have the fire skills to do the latter?

It’s a conundrum, one that husbandand-wife restaurateur duo Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich – best known for their series of Honey & Co restaurants – may just help you resolve with their new cookbook.

The book: Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around The Levant by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich.

Who will love it?

Amateur and more experienced pyromaniacs, ahem, grill fiends. Also, those who find barbecue season a repetitive bore and chore – which by mid-June, it often becomes. Chasing Smoke offers a major escape from the usual parade of burgers, sausages and grilled halloumi, but crucially retains the best of all BBQ sides: corn on the cob (the Honey versions involve an array of chilli butter, chive dressings and avocado accompaniments).

What is it trying to get us cooking?

Food from the Levant, and the kinds of grilled dishes Packer and Srulovich encountered during their pre-pandemic travels in the Middle East, through Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece and Israel. There is, of course, a lot of griddled meat: lamb chops with plums, smoked beef short ribs with black pepper and orange, chicken kofta with tzatziki. But the vegetable sides are arguably even more enticing: baked potatoes with charred spring onion sour cream, grilled artichokes, ash-baked beetroot, lentil and feta salad, and grilled cabbage with chilli garlic butter. And while there aren’t tons of desserts, the Honeys know how to extract all the sweetness from barbecued stone fruits.

How easy is it to use?

Very. They explain the kit and know-how you need to get started, including the basics of sparking a fire, and if you don’t have a barbecue to hand, they help you be just as au fait with a griddle pan indoors. Sure, some of the methods on some dishes are more complicated, or require more time, energy and attention (like the lamb shoulder, or the whole chicken). But one of the strongest aspects of the book is that they’ll cook or serve one ingredient three ways – like dips and corn, artichokes, and lamb kebabs. There’s variety, all succinctly explained.

The best recipe is?

It’s a tough call between the grilled peaches with almond tahini and charred endive, and the kebabs. All the kebabs (especially the chicken in yoghurt and saffron).

The recipe we’re most likely to post on Instagram is? The whole baked red onions with sage, honey and walnut dressing -–it’s served so beautifully in onion petals. That, or grilled watermelon and prawns with feta and chilli.

The dish we’re least likely to try is?

The pigeon with onion and pine nut jam – not because it doesn’t sound intriguing, but mainly because pigeon can be tricky to come by.

Overall rating:

9/10 – it will make you think about barbecued food differently, encourage you to try different ingredient pairings, and see cooking over flames as something you needn’t reserve for the summer months.

Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around The Levant by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, is published by Pavilion Books, priced £26.