It’s the season for BBQs if you’re lucky enough to have a garden or even a terrace. The act of cooking over flames used to simply be known as barbecuing, but we’ve come a long, long way since the times when optimistic non-culinary males would burn sad looking sausages on a grill. 

Wood-fired cookery has come of age, as I’ve been writing on a regular basis over the past couple of years. Now owning a wood-fired oven has become so desirable, retailers are reporting a year-on-year rise in sales of 300%.

This is not surprising, because a good wood-fired oven is far more controllable and adaptable than a basic old-fashioned barbecue grill, and is capable of cooking things in all manner of delicious ways. 

I was reminded of this when the publisher Quadrille sent me its latest offering this week - The Ultimate Wood Fired Oven Cookbook is written by a Bristol-based cook who really does know her way around the flames.  Genevieve Taylor encourages readers to “throw off the shackles of technology…. embrace a bit of culinary adventure and get back to basics with that most primal of elements, fire.”

She does however warn in the very first line of the book: “Cooking with wood is addictive…” And I can vouch for that.  

“The sense of achievement you feel from striking a single match and mastering a fire in which you can cook a multitude of dishes is, quite simply, amazing,” writes Genevieve. “If there is one thing I want to shout from the rooftops it is that the oven you bought to make perfect wood-fired pizza will also make a million and one other things just as brilliantly.  

“The breadth of dishes you can get out of a wood-fired oven is almost limitless - you can roast, grill, barbecue and smoke in it, as well as use it as a hob and a giant slow-cooker.”

Genevieve has created recipes such as slow-roast lamb shoulder with fennel and garlic, wood-roast ratatouille (a delicious way to use up leftover vegetables), a newspaper-baked salmon with winter-spiced onion and pine nut stuffing and a whole chilli roast pineapple with whipped coconut cream… “for that extra wow factor as the top crackles away in the flames”.

The book even has recipes for a wood-fired cream tea, buttery nectarine, raspberry and almond upside-down cake and dishes that cook overnight whilst you sleep.

“There is tremendous satisfaction from knowing you are squeezing every drop of energy out of your fire,” writes the fiery cook from Bristol.

Another West Country woman who’d agree with all this is Alyson Murray, whose Wellington-based company Hot Smoked specialises in selling anything and everything to do with cooking out-of-doors. For several years I’ve used my fabulous Morso wood-fired oven but now Alyson sells a couple of alternatives…

“The Uuni3 (£199) is a totally portable wood-fired oven which eliminates the bulk and expense of traditional ovens, but can turn out pizzas and any other wood-fired recipes just as efficiently,” she told me. “It reaches temperatures of up to 500 deg C in just 10 minutes and runs on energy dense compressed beech pellets which not only provide the heat source but the all-important wood cooked flavour.

“And there’s the Delivita – a highly functional wood-fired oven combining a traditional clay interior with a sleek fibreglass exterior in a range of subtle colours. There are many wood fired ovens on the market but we were particularly attracted to this one because it is made in Yorkshire by a second-generation Italian family, so has excellent credentials…

“It is fuelled by seasoned logs for both heat and flavour and will reach 500 deg C within 25 to 30 minutes. Weighing just 30kg, the Delivita could either occupy a permanent slot in your back garden or is fully portable. Despite its £1200 price tag it compares favourably with other pizza ovens. We think this is the outdoor oven to invest in for wood fired pizza, breads, meat, fish and vegetable dishes.”

In my highly adaptable and much-used Morso I use bits and pieces of fallen deciduous wood I pick up on my local dog walks, but the other day the Oxford Charcoal company sent me a big box of its product out of the blue - and I have to say it can provide an excellent hot bed for more accurate grilling or slow cooking. 

There are, of course, many small charcoal companies located here in the South West, and I’d always advise seeking out their goods rather than buying something cheap and not-so-cheerful from the supermarket. I cannot exaggerate the difference good charcoal can make. 

Whether you are cooking with wood or with charcoal, happy al-fresco dining this Bank Holiday weekend - and here’s one of Genevieve Taylor’s recipes to give you a little inspiration…

The Ultimate Wood Fired Oven Cookbook by Genevieve Taylor is published by Quadrille at £15.

RECIPE

Genevieve Taylor’s MOROCCAN SLOW-BAKED LAMB TANGIA

A tangia (not to be confused with a tagine, which is more stew-like) is a classic Moroccan dish from Marrakech. The tangia is the name of the vessel this slow-braised dish is cooked in – an earthenware vase really, with a narrow neck, which I don’t have, so I use an old earthenware casserole dish which works just fine. A deep rather than shallow shape is preferable,

150–160°C (300–325°F)

SERVES 2 – EASY TO DOUBLE OR TREBLE THE RECIPE FOR MORE

a good pinch of saffron threads

300g (10½oz) boned lamb leg, diced into 4cm (1½in) pieces

1 onion, very finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

½ a preserved lemon, skin finely chopped

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp white peppercorns, freshly ground

1 tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp ground ginger

a good pinch of salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1 x 400g (14oz) tin of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

a little chopped fresh coriander (cilantro), to serve

You need a cooling oven at a temperature of around 150°C (300°F) for

this recipe. If it is a little hotter than that, raise the baking dish off the

oven floor by placing it on a cooling rack. 

Put the saffron threads into a heatproof measuring jug and pour in 200ml

(¾ cup) of boiling water. Set aside to soak for a few minutes while you

assemble the tangia.

Put the meat, onion, garlic and preserved lemon into an earthenware

braising dish and sprinkle over the cumin seeds, peppercorns, turmeric,

ginger and a little salt. Drizzle with the oil, then, using either clean hands or

a metal spoon, stir together really well so the meat is evenly coated. Scatter

over the chickpeas, then pour in the saffron and its soaking water.

Tear off a piece of baking paper and run it under the cold tap, scrunching it up and unfolding it again so you have a damp sheet. Lay it over the dish, pressing it firmly down to compact the spiced meat and chickpeas. Tuck the edges in well, then do the same with a sheet of tin foil to seal the food in so that minimal liquid escapes. Top with a lid. Set aside until you are ready to cook. 

If you’re doing this in a wood fired oven, once you have finished cooking for the day and your oven has developed an even heat through the floor and dome, and has cooled to about 150°C (300°F), you can slide the dish in, shut the door and forget about it overnight.

To serve, reheat until piping hot, then scatter over the coriander. A dish of buttery couscous would be the perfect accompaniment.