There’s no better joy in life than a small fire on the beach to me, even more so if you have something to cook on it. I expand my outdoor cooking repertoire every summer, trying out a new project whenever possible. To be honest, though, you should not let the seasons hold you back. We took a winter break up at the top of Scotland on a tiny beach and had a little fire going on day one.
01 Identify your camp, somewhere a bit sheltered and above the high tide mark with surrounding flat areas for sitting.
02 Choose your fireplace. In among rocks will get some air flow through the fire, or dig a hole in the sand, make a bed of different-sized rocks and build a ring of surrounding rocks to protect the fire from the wind and stop it spreading.
03 Grab some blankets: to sit on in summer, or wrap round you in winter!
04 Create your sitting area using rocks or driftwood or make some chairs in the sand.
05 Gather your fuel: you will need a range from dry grass, dry seaweed, tiny twigs or newspaper, to medium twigs, larger twigs and branches to large pieces of driftwood or logs. You will need some matches, a lighter or a blowtorch, unless you fancy yourself as a flint-wielding fire starter…
06 Build the fire initially from grass and small twigs, with some larger pieces of wood arranged like a tepee above – lots of air flow is key. Light the grasses and gradually add more twigs and wood as it gets going, keeping it in a tepee shape to help it to keep burning. Take some fire lighters just in case the fire doesn’t catch; it can prevent arguments.
07 Sit round feeding your fire feeling warm and happy.
08 Throw on some food! Try meat threaded onto skewers or twigs, foil-wrapped fish or veg with some butter. Marshmallows, buns, sausages, new potatoes and bacon are all good ideas! Cook on a small grill or metal pan balanced on the edge of the fire or go all Bear Grylls and make a tripod out of long sticks and hang your food by the fire – (See Fire recipe chapter for advice). Relax and poke the fire.
