Palazzetti in Giardino: cooking techniques

1. Barbecue

Cooking on the grill is the very essence of barbecuing, because it’s suitable for any kind of food: meat, fish, fruit or vegetables!
What you’re really doing is roasting the food through the heat released from the embers into the air.
It requires attention, but if done correctly it has a number of unmistakable advantages: on the one hand, no excess herbs are needed and excess fats are eliminated by dissolving them (they also seep through the food and give it flavour and aroma). And on the other hand, the juices and nutrients are kept in the product being cooked.

2. Cooking on lava stone

Cooking on a lava stone slab is one of the oldest and most authentic techniques. This material has a very high degree of thermal conductivity, which makes cooking on open flames possible. The cooking process will therefore be completely natural, without the use of spices or fats, making it suitable for any kind of food, from meat to fish, from vegetables with cheese and even eggs.
The open flame heats up the lava stone quickly. It also prevents cooking vapours from coming into contact with the food, making it even suitable for busy or easily distracted cooks!

3. Spit-roasting

If you prefer tastier, more challenging cooking, despite the time and patience that it requires, then this system is for you.
Spit-roasting takes experience: you need to which items of food will cook faster or slower (in order to position them correctly), how to feed the fire continuously, how to choose the right aromas and how to moderate the flame depending on the stage of cooking.
In addition to the more traditional dishes, the size of the skewer will also allow you to prepare large fish and game without any problems.

4. Argentine asado cooking

Also called ‘heat reverberation’, the principle is similar to spit-roasting, but the arrangement of the meat to be cooked is the opposite, i.e. vertical, and fixed in front of the fire at a greater distance. Thus the fat can drip from the food without giving rise to dangerous fumes in any way. The rack must be rotated 180° from time to time in order to achieve even cooking on both sides. Stemming from the Argentine pampas, asado is recommended for large pieces of meat, as the protracted cooking process eliminates the fats, ensuring a very tasty and light result. The ample time required also has another advantage: this cooking method is well suited to inexperienced cooks, as it’s difficult to burn the meat!

5. Cooking

Cooking food in a wood-fired oven lends food a richer, more unmistakable flavour.

It requires plenty of patience, as it takes at least a few hours for the oven to reach the right temperature, but the result is definitely worth the wait.

6. Cooking in foil

This method involves wrapping the food in aluminium foil so that it can be cooked under the still hot ash. The product is (almost) hermetically sealed in the foil, making the flavour more intense.

This technique is mainly used for light and real meat, fish and vegetables, because it requires very few flavourings. However, you can also cook small portions of pre-cooked pasta and rice in foil to enhance and concentrate the flavours (e.g. of sauces and aromas).

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