My dad felt he was the master of fire, and we let him think that because he was pretty good, but the truth is everybody worked the grill, including my mom. We did lots of lamb and a ton of spit roasting. A couple of times throughout the year, we made lamb or goat on a spit just brushed with olive oil and oregano and a little bit of red wine and vinegar. We always used hardwood charcoal. It makes the best heat and has the best flavor. My favorite grill meal these days: rib-eye with tomato salad. Perfection!!
In my family, everything went on the fire. The division of labor was pretty old-fashioned: the boys got the fire and the ladies got the kitchen, but everyone cooked—grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, cousins.
All of my cousins, particularly on my mom’s side, were big fishermen: they owned, like, half the state records for steelhead and salmon. There were also lots of hunters in the family, so after every fishing or hunting trip, they would bring back their edible trophies and grill them, smoke them, cure them, hang them.
We always did hot smoked salmon and planked salmon on cedar. That burned flavor was so delicious and unforgettable. Not only salmon. We grilled, smoked, and roasted duck every way you could dream of.
We had a spit roaster, and we did everything from chickens to legs of lamb all over open wood fire or lump charcoal. We even had the Green Egg back in its prototype days in the late 1970s. For us, the idea of using fire for food was one of the basics of life.
My go-to barbecue meal is pulled pork shoulder like they used to make at Mary’s down on Jefferson Street, in Nashville, Tennessee. It was the greatest. Of course, people in the other part of town, East Nashville, had their own favorite, and they would swear by it just as religiously. All over town, you’d see those big oil drums that they’d use to smoke pork, and every smoker had its true believers. Bottom line, I want pulled pork on a soft bun with pickles and coleslaw.
And then it’s all about the sides too. You have to have potato salad. Also grilled corn. I like corn, but I love grilled corn, especially with butter and something tangy like lemon and lime. Delish! And you absolutely need some coleslaw. I used to want it very mayonnaise-y, but just like with the grilled corn, I now look for a good bit of tang, so I pickle my cabbage in vinegar and then add a little mayonnaise.
The great thing about a barbecue is you can feed so many people. I like to keep mine to twenty, but somehow they often end up being thirty or forty and somehow there’s always enough.
I grew up on Long Island, and we grilled as much as possible. My dad would be in the backyard grilling in the middle of winter, if possible. In my adult life, it’s very rare that I cook indoors on a hot day in the middle of the summer, so I’m a big fan of chicken thighs on the grill. It’s one of those things that you can be three sheets to the wind and still destroy on the grill. This isn’t a recommendation for grilling while incredibly intoxicated, but you can talk and grill chicken thighs and not feel like you have to be spending all your time staring at them, wondering if they’re done or not. I’m big on steaks too. For sides, I love grilled asparagus—that’s my favorite. I need to get Mario to show me how to plank a salmon. I so want to do that.
One of my favorite memories was going to visit my grandparents and having my grandpa throw a whole fish on the grill. It was the simplest preparation: fresh-caught fish, a little bit of fresh olive oil and lemon. I don’t know why more people don’t try it. A whole fish is hard to mess up and sooo delicious.
Grilling is one of the best ways to bring a family together, because everyone can do something. I’m one of four children. My mom was one of six. So when our family gets together for a barbecue, it can be a lot of people—like thirty-five! Grilling is the easiest way I know to feed a big group. My fave specialty is grilled corn, Mexican-style. I think Carla would second that emotion.
Amani Toomer officiates a grill-off in the rain.