Food & Drink

Flavorful Grilled Ribs
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Deseed the red chili and finely chop it. Mince the ginger and garlic. Dice the onion, slice the lemongrass, and roughly chop the parsley.

Prepare the marinade: Sauté the onion, ginger, garlic, and chili in olive oil. Add apple juice, soy sauce, pomegranate juice, sesame oil, Japanese sweet rice wine, and crushed tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes until the marinade thickens.

Stir in the parsley into the marinade. Brush the marinade onto both sides of the ribs, wrap them in aluminum foil, and place them in the preheated oven. Grill at 200 degrees Celsius for 1-2 hours until fully cooked, depending on the thickness of the ribs. Preheat the grill rack.

Remove the ribs from the oven and place them on the hot grill rack, grilling each side for 2-3 minutes. Slice the ribs and use the remaining marinade as a dipping sauce.

Grilled Chicken Wings with Cilantro Lime Sauce
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Crush the garlic, remove the green core, zest the lime, and juice it. Chop the garlic, chili, and cilantro.

Season the chicken wings with salt and pepper.

Place the garlic, chili, lime juice, lime zest, half of the cilantro, olive oil, and barbecue sauce in a large freezer bag along with the chicken wings, mix well. Season with salt, pepper, sugar, and paprika.

Remove the chicken wings from the freezer bag and shake off excess sauce. Place the chicken wings on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Halfway through baking, flip the chicken wings.

Squeeze lime juice. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, remaining cilantro, lime juice, salt, pepper, sugar, and olive oil, mix well to make the dipping sauce.

Summer in Europe and barbecue go hand in hand. To prepare a flavorful barbecue, the process from marinades to dipping sauces matters. Today, let’s take a closer look.

Why do we need to marinate ingredients?
Marinating allows flavors to penetrate deeply into the food, enhancing the taste of fatty meats such as ribs and chicken wings. It also tenderizes tougher cuts of meat like beef steaks and lean muscles, especially when using acidic marinades such as lemon juice or vinegar, which break down proteins. A good marinade should balance sweetness, saltiness, and acidity, extracting the natural flavors of the meat.

To allow marinades to penetrate into meat: Place the marinated ingredients in a sealed bag and let them sit for at least 1 hour—especially if the weather is hot, store them in the refrigerator.

Ignition

Lighting a gas grill is easy, but for beginners with a charcoal grill, ignition can be a headache. But all you need is a “chimney starter,” and everything changes!
A chimney-shaped starter helps you succeed in lighting up easily. The method is straightforward: use ignited paper or solid alcohol blocks at the bottom of the chimney, place charcoal on top, and wait for about 10-20 minutes, depending on the amount of charcoal.

Flavor

The indescribable smoky flavor is probably why many people choose charcoal grills! However, this flavor can also be achieved with a gas grill because it doesn’t come from charcoal; it requires purchasing “smoking wood chips.”
How to use: Soak half of the wood chips in water for about 30 minutes to ensure they absorb moisture. During grilling, place the soaked and dried wood chips directly onto the grill grate.
For charcoal grills, simply toss the smoking wood chips onto the charcoal. For gas grills, wrap the wood chips in aluminum foil and place them near the flames or burners.
This way, you can enjoy delightful aroma throughout the entire grilling process!

Tools

Every barbecue master has encountered setbacks on their journey: a sausage falling into the charcoal or onto the grass…
Having the right tools always elevates your grilling technique! You need more tools, especially a barbecue basket.
A barbecue basket is perfect for holding bulky or time-consuming items that need to be rotated, such as vegetables, fish, chicken skewers, tofu, and even fruits.

Tips

Don’t cut raw sausages;
Sprinkle fine sea salt on meat slices only when preparing for grilling;
Beer doesn’t enhance the flavor of grilled meat, so don’t pour it;
More marinade sauce doesn’t mean better; like beer, excess liquid can affect charcoal burning;
Flipping meat repeatedly doesn’t speed up cooking; it can result in burnt outside and undercooked inside;
Freshly grilled fish and vegetables should be eaten immediately for the freshest taste, but not meat: it’s best to wrap meat in foil and let it rest in a warm place before slicing, allowing juices to redistribute, resulting in tender and juicy meat;
Meat cuts less than 3cm thick are not suitable for grilling; only slightly thicker cuts can achieve a crispy exterior and tender interior.

Seasonings

German supermarkets abound with various barbecue sauces. Marinating overnight is always the safest choice.

If needed, you can purchase the ingredients and seasonings for your barbecue at www.dallmayr-versand.de. Shopping at www.dallmayr-versand.de not only offers convenient online payment and fast logistics services but also provides professional shopping advice and cooking guidance.

Preparation

Never underestimate the importance of preparation and planning before barbecuing; there’s no room for chaos in front of the grill. Imagine you’re barbecuing tomorrow, and these are the things you should plan in advance:

• How much meat, sausages, and vegetables should be purchased based on the number of people?
• How much fuel is needed?
• What tools to use (grill racks, barbecue baskets, skewers…)?
• How long will the grill be in use?
• Where will the cooked meat be placed, and where will the raw food go?
• Where to dispose of waste such as packaging bags?

Choosing the Grill

The second step is deciding whether to use a gas grill or a charcoal grill.
This question could be debated endlessly. In reality, for outdoor barbecuing, the choice largely depends on the user’s preferences.

Here are some main advantages and disadvantages for comparison:
Budget
Is the budget relatively low, or do you not barbecue frequently? Choose a charcoal grill!

A good gas grill typically costs over €200, while a charcoal grill can be acquired for as little as €50.
Operation
Igniting a gas grill is effortless, making it more suitable for beginners.
A charcoal grill, on the other hand, requires some tools and skill. It also takes longer to heat up, usually around 20-30 minutes.
Temperature Control
High temperatures are essential for crispy outer layers, such as the succulent crispy skin of pork knuckles, which are typically cooked at temperatures as high as 800°C. In this regard, charcoal grills excel, reaching temperatures as high as 600°C.

Gas grills typically maintain temperatures between 100°C and 300°C. It’s important to note that high temperatures aren’t always necessary for barbecuing; for instance, steaks, fish fillets, vegetables, and grilled cheese don’t require high temperatures.

Gas grills have the upper hand in temperature control, especially for novice grillers. Temperature control with a charcoal grill often relies on the griller’s experience, adjusting the burning intensity through the lid and fan to achieve temperature control.

Summary
Charcoal Grill: Inexpensive, rich flavor, cumbersome operation, but the process can be very enjoyable.
Gas Grill: More expensive, cleaner and smoke-free fuel, easy operation, less prone to mistakes.

Situated at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Turkish cuisine originates from Central Asia and flourishes in Anatolia. In a sense, it embodies elements of both Middle Eastern and Mediterranean culinary traditions, with meats, vegetables, and legumes forming the core of Turkish gastronomy, predominantly featuring beef, lamb, and chicken. Its distinctive feature lies in accentuating the natural flavors of ingredients, primarily meat and dairy, emphasizing authenticity through the use of butter, olive oil, salt, onions, garlic, spices, and vinegar.

This culinary masterpiece, Turkish grilled meat, also known as Turkish halal cuisine, primarily consists of lamb, beef, and chicken.

The iconic rotating vertical spit of grilled meat is known as doner kebab.

It can be further classified into:

• Sliced and served in bread, called doner kebab (grilled meat sandwich).
• Rolled in flatbread, known as durum kebab (wrap-style grilled meat).
• Served as sliced grilled meat on a plate with yogurt, named Iskender kebab. These variations primarily use beef. Grilled chicken is called tavuk kebab. Cooked in a clay pot, served by cracking the pot open onto an iron plate, is known as testi kebab.

Skewered minced meat is termed adana kebab.

Alternating layers of eggplant and meat on a skewer are referred to as Patlican kebab.

Meatballs flattened and grilled are called kofte.

Sheep intestines wrapped into a large cylindrical shape, horizontally grilled, are known as kokorec.

Grilled fish is called balik kebab, served openly as a dish in restaurants. Eating grilled fish sandwiched in bread is known as balik ekmek.

In Turkey, grilled meat is not just a food; it symbolizes a way of life. Picture this: in the glow of the setting sun, a masterful grill chef attentively tends to skewers over charcoal, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. This in itself is a captivating scene. And when you taste the crispy exterior and succulent, aromatic meat, the satisfaction is beyond words.