As an Aussie, I love a BBQ; it’s an intrinsic part of our culture.
To me, it’s one of the quintessential summer time activities we enjoy sharing with family and friends. I have many fond memories of BBQs I’ve hosted or had the pleasure of attending. My favourite barbie story occurred some years back when we invited the street neighbours to our house for a ‘get to know you’ BBQ (we had just recently bought a house in the street and it was way of becoming part of our new local community).
Not only was our house in need of major renovations, but so too was our barbie. Not being flushed with funds, we were grateful for any donations, so when my sister offered her old BBQ, we naturally accepted it with open arms. Unfortunately for the BBQ, it would be the last day it would share its company with us.
Halfway during the cooking, one of the children shouted out that the BBQ was on fire. We all looked towards the BBQ, which was in full blaze. Thank goodness my work had gifted its employees with a kitchen fire blanket, which we used to smother out the fire.
So how did it all end up? Well, the meat was well cooked beyond recognition; the children thought it was the best Barbie they had ever attended and the adults will forever remember the first time they met their new neighbours. We still joke about it ten years on.
Got a BBQ moment to top that? Perhaps barbies aren’t big in your neck of the woods. Why’s that?
When I was a kid, we cooked outside on a grill a bunch of times. My mother would bake potatoes and make salad while my father cooked the steaks. I can’t think of anything eventful that ever happened, though… no exploding grills or house fires or anyone getting hurt or burnt. I remember the food being good, I can imagine the taste if I think about it. I like to cook, but I’ve never cooked on a grill myself. It’s a lot of trouble unless you are cooking for more than one person.
Ah Stewart, you’ve hit the nail on the head. You remember the food ‘being good’. That’s what makes barbies brilliant – the food always tastes fantastic, no matter what (well, maybe if slightly over fire burnt 🙂 ).
I always wanted to try cooking more things for the meal on the grill… not just steak or chicken… but also grill the potatoes as well, and I saw on a cooking show where a guy was grilling whole red and yellow peppers. Except for the salad, of course, I wanted to try doing the whole meal grill-style.
Well, as you point out, everyone still talks about it years later! The social situations that seem the most horrific and embarrassing at the time end up being the best anecdotes to tell later. 🙂
You’re right about the best anecdote. It’s a pity that it never feels like a good moment at the time.
I have a barbie grill that’s rarely used because of the weather here in the UK.
It reminds me of the joke about an Aussie guy visiting the UK who needed a haircut, and stood in line at a barbecue.
Hee hee. Well, if it makes you feel better, I’m in the southern part of Australia, so we tend to have a barbie only in the spring/summer times.
The best barbies are when you are doing field work in the middle of nowhere and are starving! There’s nothing like greasy food cooked over a flame when you’ve been working hard outdoors all day. And when you have a tent to collapse into not far away 🙂
I know what you mean. I’ve never done field work, but I used to be in scouts and we would go hiking. It’s amazing how appreciative you become after a hard day’s work.
Almost exactly same thing happened to my brother. It was the first BBQ of the season, so there may have been an issue with spider webs clogging the Venturi tubes. Luckily nothing terrible happened to anyone, although the BBQ was well done!
It wasn”t our first BBQ for the season. I think we had had one too many and not cleaned the fat droppings from the collector tray [- it made a nicce fuel source and so too did the wooden frame. Our new one is metal 🙂
For safety reasons, we are not allowed to have Barbie in our complex.. My sister built a pit and we do it using charcoal, the traditional way. I am not allowed to play with matches for safety reasons