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If anyone ran analytics on this sort of thing, my guess is they’d find that grilling and fruit are both at their peak about now. Unfortunately, they’d probably also find that the two rarely intersect.
That’s a shame, because grilled fruit is one of the absolute joys of summer. Grilling fruit is also one of the easiest ways to expand your grilling repertoire.
And it’s a nearly effortless crowd-pleaser at a dinner party or for a Labor Day cookout.
My first encounter was years ago, when a friend threw thick slabs of watermelon quarters on a grate over the coals. I looked askance. He left them over a medium-hot fire for only a couple of minutes, then turned them, like steaks. When he pulled them to a platter, they even looked like steaks, their thick red “meat” lined with grill marks and oozing juice.
When he pulled them to a platter, they even looked like steaks, their thick red ‘meat’ lined with grill marks and oozing juice.”
In their own way, they were as delicious as steaks. Still crisp. Still sweet. Actually, sweeter, because the fire intensified their flavor. My skeptical palate was convinced.
Since then, I’ve grilled every manner of fruit. Strawberries are at their very best in springtime but are available year-round.
The trick to grilling them is to keep their firm texture from collapsing while singeing them with fire. This is where out-of-season berries, firmer and drier, might be even better for the grill than in-season ones. Halving them, as opposed to slicing them thin or leaving them whole, keeps the berries substantial enough to take the heat and makes them easier to turn. A vegetable basket keeps them from falling through the grates.
When removed from the fire, the berries are tattooed with char, transforming them from pretty to something almost roguish. And they look really cool spilling over a shortcake under a white dome of whipped cream.
About that whipped cream: I wood-smoke it. Using a small, indirect fire for a short time with just a few wood chips is the key. The smoke whispers to the cream, creating less a flavor than a sense of mystery, complementing the flametorched strawberries.
If strawberries are evergreen, the berry most in its summer prime is the blueberry. The fantastic blue orbs can be grilled, but their diminutive size makes it easy to scorch them, resulting in something resembling deflated balloons. Instead, I apply a light wash of wood smoke, which plumps them up to nearly bursting and deepens their complexion to a magnificent indigo. The smoke adds an intriguing complexity to their flavor.
Another jewel of the summer fruit season is stone fruit, especially the peach. Its pliable-yet-firm texture takes well to a little flame, and its size helps it rest easily on the grates without the risk of falling through. Best, though, is that its sugars concentrate when the peach’s exterior is caramelized by fire.
Just halve and pit a few peaches, grill-roast them for a couple of minutes on each side, and top with a dollop of Italian mascarpone cheese mixed with a little honey. A bonus is that you can grill the peaches a day beforehand or do it at the end of your meal.
Peaches can be combined with jalapeno, onion, cilantro and lime for a salsa to go with pork. Watermelon can be added to purple onion, feta, mint and chopped tomato, then tossed with a little red wine vinegar and extravirgin olive oil for a fantastic salad or side dish.