Читать книгу Enjoy: New veg with dash - Nadine Abensur - Страница 25

I’d like to propose the outrageous idea of an all-vegetable barbecue. The only reason that it’s hard to imagine is because the veggies are usually reserved until last or squashed into a corner, served undercooked and underdressed as a barely considered afterthought. As you can imagine, this distresses me – all that wasted potential. For a start, there’s all the gorgeous colours and things that just naturally go well together. Aubergines (eggplants), courgettes (zucchini) and peppers (capsicums) are age-old partners that respond fantastically to the Barbecue treatment. Don’t limit yourself to the recipes here, though. Experiment, play around, enjoy.

A few tips. Have as many sauces, dips, marinades, relishes and jams at your disposal as you can. And remember that vegetables need oil, spices and seasonings to bring out the best in them. They can be marinated for an hour or more before cooking – even overnight is good. They can also be bashed and pounded while they’re on the grill to soften them and speed up the cooking time. They can be subjected to extremes of temperature – though having said that, unless you feel completely comfortable around high heat, it’s best to work over a medium heat, at least to begin with, and to keep turning the vegetables over.

I grew up in Casablanca, where street vendors stood over old oil barrels filled with glowing coals. They’d grill the corn until practically black, then dip it in heavily salted water. Butter was not an option. The corn didn’t have the succulent sweetness that it does now but we children absolutely loved it. I remember many a time sitting in the back of the car while my parents completed their shopping, kept happy by a piping-hot cob, the black coming off on my fingers. I didn’t eat a corn on the cob like that for another 30 years, until I went to Jamaica. Now that I live in Australia, I’m making up for lost time.