Global BBQ Techniques for Epic Dishes

Method: Meat is cooked on a grill called a parrilla or on an open fire. Often a side of ribs is skewered on a metal frame called an asador and roasted by placing it next to a slow burning fire
 
Complements: Asado is perfect with red wines and simple salads made with just tomatoes and lettuce dressed with oil and salt. In Paraguay, chipa guasu, sopa paraguaya and manioc are served as side dishes. In Argentina, traditional accompanying dishes include offal, entrails, chinchulines and tripa gorda, mollejas (sweet bread), morcilla (blood sausage) and chorizo.
 
Father’s Day Dish Idea: Skirt steak chimichurri, carne asada (with caldo de pollo)
 
Brazilian Tradition:Father’s day is known as Dia dos Pais. Families throw large, all-you-can-eat barbecues either at home or at a churrascaria (a Brazilian steakhouse). Dads are treated to the most prized cut of meat in Brazil which is roll-cut pieces of beef with garlic and olive oil cooked in rock salt.

Method: Historically wood was used, but charcoal has become the standard.
 
Complements: Pap (porridge) is traditionally eaten with the meat. Make pap from corn/maize serve with tomato and onion sauce or a more spicy chakalaka sauce. Have you heard of monkey gland sauce? Don’t let the name throw you off, it has nothing to do with monkeys. It’s a traditional tabletop condiment in South Africa. The sweet and spicy flavour is perfect with grilled meats, and the name really gets guests’ attention.
 
Father’s Day Dish Idea: Grilled prawns peri-peri with grilled corn salad, basil, and feta.

Method: Long strips of pork are seasoned with a mixture of honey, five-spice powder, hóngfǔrǔ (fermented bean curd), dark soy sauce, and hoisin sauce.
 
Complements: Traditional starches such as rice, rice or buckwheat noodles, or Asian buns.
 
Father’s Day Dish Idea: Consider a char siu “BLT” served on a steamed bun as an introductory fusion dish.

Method: Authentic methods use skewers from the midrib of the coconut palm frond, although bamboo is often used (and probably easier to find). The meat is grilled over a wood or charcoal fire, then served with various spicy seasonings. Various spices can be used in marinating the meat, but turmeric is always necessary and gives the meat its distinct bright yellow colour.
 
Complements: Satay is best served with a combination of soy and peanut sauce. They’re traditionally served with savory rice cakes called ketupat.
 
Father’s Day Dish Idea: Try peanut butter and soy glazed chicken kabobs or Thai skewered beef seasoned with ginger, garlic, and chilies.

Method: Marinate chicken in yogurt with tandoori masala (a spice mixture of cayenne pepper, red chili powder and Kashmiri red chili powder). It is traditionally cooked at high temperatures on a skewer in a heated clay oven known as the Tandoor.
 
Complements: Tandoori chicken is mostly eaten as starter, but it can also be enjoyed as a main course.  Serve with naan or other flatbreads to dip in the sauce and rice.
 
Father’s Day Dish Idea: For a mashup/fusion dish, try tandoori chicken tacos with red onions, corn and cilantro. This is very similar to how people eat in India. Onions and cilantro are served as condiments, and people go crazy for corn. They even put it on pizza.

Method: Mince the meat twice for a finer consistency, then mix with parsley or onion. Add salt, garlic powder, black pepper, celery powder, sumac, onion and one egg yolk. Mix all ingredients, cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Grill the slices on skewers over hot coal for an authentic, smoky flavour.
 
Complements: Try an Iranian rice pilaf with oil, salt and saffron, grilled tomatoes and onions and polow (middle eastern bread).
 
Father’s Day Dish Idea:Serve up traditional lamb kebabs with Persian lime and sumac sauce.

Method: Grilled marinated cuts of meat (carne asada) on an open charcoal flame.

Complements: The standard tortillas, green peppers, onions and chili peppers are perfect when cooked in this most authentic method.
 
Father’s Day Dish Ideas: Skewered beef or chicken with caldo and lime marinade.

Method: The meats are marinated with mixture of spices, pastes and sometimes a sweet soy sauce and then grilled. Garlic and shallots are quite prevalent in the sauces and spice mixes. Some dishes call for the meats to be wrapped in a banana leaf before grilling. This technique captures the steam and makes the meat even more tender.
 
Complements:The meats are usually served with sambal belacan (chili with shrimp paste) or sambai kecap (sliced chili and shallot in sweet soy sauce) as a dipping sauce.
 
Father’s Day Dish Ideas: Shrimp, shallot, and pepper skewer with mushroom kecap, served over rice steamed in a banana leaf