Marcus Bawdon bestselling author of Food and Fire† bbq guide brings you loads of new options to cook with skewers over flames and challenges the reader to experiment….

Skewered: Recipes for Fire Food on Sticks from Around the World† is the latest book from chef, educator and now fire whisperer, Marcus Bawdon. You could add colour to cooking outdoors by wearing his colourful, signature Hawaiian-style shirts or you could follow the recipes in his latest cookbook.

The clue is in its title, Skewered, with Marcus using rosemary, lemongrass and bay stalks alongside the more traditional metal and wooden skewers.  Not only is this a quick and easy way to cook, but the skewers themselves add flavour to everything from meat, fish, and vegetables to fruit.

And this method of cooking, with food brought close to the flames, produces a beautiful lightly burnt effect that tastes as good as his pictures would have us believe. Marcus takes his own photos in dazzlingly bright, close-up detail in bright, neon-like colours allowing you to see every bit of caramelisation, seed texture and glaze shine.

Charcuterie gets plenty of mentions – there are recipes for Chorizo, Cheese & Chimichurri Rafts; Chorizo & Padrón Peppers or Nduja Butter-Basted Cabbage Skewers and of course Bacon. Meat recipes are peppered with vegetarian options, flatbreads ideas and plenty of dip ideas from a tongue-tingling Red Chilli Shatta to a creamier, sweeter Spicy Lime & Coconut Salsa. This is food gathered from all over the world for us to recreate in our suburban gardens!

Marcus calls on lots of friends to test his recipes – he says they all love them but they would, wouldn’t they – so why don’t you give them a try and cook from Marcus’s book. He writes his recipe headnotes in a friendly, accessible way so it’s easy to imagine listening to him as he takes a class at his newly opened UK BBQ School in Devon.

This review was first published on the British Charcuterie Live website.