Leafing through the Sunday mags, I happened across an image that fair old made my heart flutter. It was a photo of a group of people having a fine old barbeque on a beach. Nothing unusual with that, you might say… but it was the actual bit of kit they were cooking food on that piqued my interest.
A tripod barbeque! The contraption looked brilliant… roasty coals in the base, with a tripod construction over the top. The cooking rack is suspended from a chain attached to the tripod… meaning you can adjust the height of the rack. So simple! My barbeque prayers were well and truly answered. No more food offerings of random black items. Sausages spitting a little too enthusiastically? Flames getting a bit lary? Burgers looking a bit dry and cardboard-like? Raise the rack!
Deciding that if nothing else, I needed one of these crazy things in my life, I set about trawling the web for the goods. In no time at all, I located one – at a good price – next day delivery. In anticipation of the grand arrival, me and Lovely Chap whizzed off to the shops to fill our trolley with delicious barbeque fare.
I was actually quite giddy about the whole thing, and strongly resisted the urge to skip around the supermarket performing jaunty little heel clicks along the way.
Sure enough, the parcel arrived, and in no time at all, there it stood, in all its glory on the new decking. We put a slab and a tray of water underneath, just to be on the safe side. I’m no scientist but I do know that wood and naked flames can be a tricky combination.
So the coals were lit, the food went on, and the rack was raised and lowered throughout to produce the most delicious al Fresco spread I have ever tasted. Everything was cooked to perfection, with not a trace of black crusts, burnt spots, raw insides or early stages of salmonella in sight. An added by-product of the thing is that when the food is finished, you can whip off the tripod and use the base as a firepit. The wood went in, the heat went up, and a most enjoyable evening outside ensued.
A toasty warm one, at that
Ta daaaah! First dinner on the new toy!