Nothing beats the pleasure of eating outdoors. There’s something about fresh air that sharpens the taste buds and heightens the senses. When the weather is good in the summer months, we should do it more often – but we need to get the garden set up just right first.
So how do we go about fixing up a gourmet garden?
The perfect gourmet garden is something every food lover craves: a place to cook up a storm outside, using the freshest ingredients from the vegetable patch and the herb garden. Those with a love of international cuisine relish recreating the mouth-watering smells and aromas they sample on their travels.
In many countries, cooking outside is the norm. In Portugal, fishermen grill their sardines on the beach while in the Far East delicious street food is cooked to order everywhere and outdoor meat roasts are commonplace. In Italy, the open-air pizza oven is king and, in many other parts of the globe, people are crazy about their barbecues. The proud cuisines of China, India, South America, the Mediterranean, Australasia and the USA all include certain recipes that are best enjoyed outside. After all, eating outdoors has been taking place for thousands of years, so we should all be pretty good at it by now!
The first thing to sort out in a gourmet kitchen is the dining area. Ensure adequate space is available for beautiful garden dining furniture that sets the tone for the rest of the design. A large table with comfortable chairs makes a great focal point for al fresco dinner parties.
Decide how far down the outdoor cooking appliance road you want to go. Some people have a full oven and grill with gas burners, hot plates, outside fridge and dishwasher – others just have a small barbecue in the corner of the terrace. Both approaches are equally valid: it all comes down to what’s possible and affordable.
Consider the practicalities of cooking outside. The need for counter space is frequently underestimated, as is the requirement for the right lighting. A good ambiance can be created with fairy lights and candles, but good task lighting over cooking areas is essential to ensure food is thoroughly cooked.
Bring a little bit of Italy to the garden with a built-in wood-fired pizza oven. Not only does this make an attractive feature; it cooks the most unbelievably delicious pizzas. So, if there’s room in the garden and the budget’s available, take a slice of pizza action.
Alternatively, those with a taste for Indian cuisine could consider a tandoor oven fuelled by charcoal or wood. Perfect for tandoori chicken, samosas and flatbreads, this large clay cooking vessel is a combination of oven and barbecue pit.
Finally, for a bit of classic Cuban-style cooking on a grand scale, try out the Caja China. Similar to a large steel box on wheels, this is one of the best ways of roasting an entire pig, roast chicken or a rack of ribs. This is a slow cook method, which cooks the meat from the top down using hot coals, and gives succulent and delicious results.
Implement any one of the ideas above and you are guaranteed a queue of people waiting to dine outside in your gourmet garden. Bon appétit!
