Food Tube is Jamie Oliver’s YouTube community of food lovers – the series showcases the most popular talent on the channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JamieOliver
One of the first three books in the affordable Food Tube series, The BBQ Book features recipes by DJ BBQ America’s ‘king of the coals, wood and fire’.
I’m liking
If you’re a meat-lover, you’ll probably salivate at some of the pictures in this book. If you’re a vegetarian, it’s not going to do much for you! There are luscious burgers, a whole suckling pig, pulled beef that you just want to pluck of the page and shove in your mouth…
Barbequing techniques and tips are discussed early on in the book, so even if you’re a bit of a novice, you could be cranking out some impressive BBQ meals relatively quickly if you want to learn a thing or two.
I can’t say our family is a huge one for fancy barbeques, although we do cook a reasonable amount of meals on the BBQ over the warmer months. Therefore, my favourite chapter in this little book is the rubs, dips, salsas and sauces. These look gorgeous and have a wide variety of uses that don’t depend on using the BBQ necessarily.
Things that made me go hmmmm
In parts this book is just not that practical for NZ families. I’ve lived in the US a couple of times and I know how much cheaper meat is there. For a kiwi family to buy a huge hunk of meat for the BBQ would cost a fortnight’s meat budget in a lot of houses!
Also, some of the recipes require special woodchips for added flavour on the BBQ… I’m not sure how easily one would come by these specialty items in NZ – or how they would work on the typical Kiwi gas barbeque. Maybe it’s easier than I think?
The conclusion
I can imagine this book is going to really suit some people out there. If you pick it up and flick though it, you’ll know immediately if DJ BBQ is your kind of cook or not. It would make a really great gift at a good price for the right person – I’m thinking Father’s Day, Dad’s birthday and that kind of thing.
The BBQ Book is published by Penguin with an RRP of $15.99.
