The start of summer means one thing – it’s barbecue time! This month Mario Matassa shares some classic Italian recipes for la grigliata.
Nothing stirs the appetite quite like the aroma of a good barbecue on a summer’s evening. Italians first take to their grills from late June and the charcoal keeps smoking through to mid- September. It’s the one time of year when Italian men take to the kitchen – in a manner of speaking – donning a bottle of lighter fluid in one hand and an oversized pair of tongs in the other. They take to their grills like captains at the helm, towering over a mound of ribs, salamelle (thick Italian sausages), and peppers.
The barbecue in Italy comes in all shapes and sizes. Huge industrial versions are brought in to service the thousands of people who converge on the countless feste and sagre (food festivals) held throughout the country in the summer. Closer to home, grills range from the more modest aluminium affairs to the DIY stone versions, often with a chimney, that have become the centre piece of many an Italian garden (mine included). Few Italians cook directly over the fire. The one exception that comes to mind is the traditional bistecca alla fiorentina (Florentine T-bone steak) which has to be cooked for five minutes on each side directly over smoking charcoal.