Grigliata – mixed grill Tuscan style
While all of Italy loves to grill meat, the Tuscans especially have a strong tradition of cooking meat over live coals. It’s surprising how delicious meat is when simply seasoned with salt and cooked over fire. No long, wet marinades are used, no slow smoking. It’s extremely simple and immediate. Steaks, chops, ribs are all brought to room temperature, salted and grilled till the required doneness.
The key is live wood fire or hardwood charcoal. Most Americans unfortunately use gas to grill, thinking charcoal is so much more time consuming. But the difference in taste is so worth the effort.
I get a lot of requests for how to cook over a live fire. Here are a few tips to get you started:
*You need something to build the fire in – a Weber grill ($100), Big Green Egg (a lot more), hibachi (like, $35?) or anything you can fit a grill over, even a bare space on the ground with rocks around it. (Camping anyone?!)
*Get a metal chimney to light the coals. It allows burning newspaper and air flow to catch the natural hardwood charcoal without the use of lighter fluid. You can easily find them at Home Depot or Lowes in the grill section. Stuff newspaper in the bottom, fill the top with hardwood charcoal. Stand the chimney up on the coal bed, light the newspaper and give it 20 minutes for the charcoal to be hot. The coals should be white about 2/3 way up. If you’ve been drinking wine and forgot and the coals are all white and burning down, no worries! Just add more charcoal! Using tongs and a grill mitten, turn the coals out to the coal bed and spread them out. Put the grill on top and let it get hot.
Don't use charcoal briquets, which have lots of ingredients you don't want to cook over.
The meat is super simple. Let it sit out of the fridge for an hour and then salt it. Put it on the hot grill. If the meat is fatty and it flames up, move the meat to another spot until the flame burns out. Keep moving the meat so it doesn’t burn. When it’s done, take it off. Easy!
Pork ribs: Cut individual ribs from the rack, salt them and grill, turning frequently. It sounds so simple but I swear, these will change your life.
Tagliata: grill a NY strip steak till medium rare, let rest 5 minutes and slice. Lay on a platter and top with arugula and shaved parmigiano. Drizzle with great olive oil, sprinkle with flaked sea salt.
Sausages: exactly. Serve on a bed of cannellini beans. Yummy!
Zucchini or eggplant: thinly slice the veg lengthwise and grill dry over a fire that’s not too hot. When you get good grill marks, take it off and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and fresh chopped parsley. This keeps in the fridge for a week.
Radicchio or romaine lettuce: lightly drizzle with EVOO and salt, grill just until wilted on all sides.
That’s pretty much it. Simple summer fare, Italian style. Good luck and Buon Appetito!
