Over charcoal: summer produce

One of the biggest mistakes you can make with fire cooking is to presume it’s all about the big, attention-grabbing proteins – the meat and fish. With a touch of heat and smoke, the humblest of vegetables can become the stars of the show. That’s particularly true in the summer, with its gluts of sun-kissed produce and demand for light, bright dishes.

For inspiration, we turned to William Rhys Hamer of The Wilder Kitchen – originally from South Wales but now firmly rooted in Scotland. Working with local producers and foragers, William explores wild Scottish landscapes, bringing his fire-cooking skills to supper clubs, workshops and collaborations. This summer, he made his way to Straloch, a small, family-run estate in Highland Perthshire. There, using the MiniMax Big Green Egg at one of the estate’s holiday cottages, he used some of the region’s amazing seasonal produce to create flavour-packed salads, stuffed flatbreads and the simplest of desserts.

Cook William’s summer produce recipes

Recipe Charred Potato Salad with Herby Creme Fraiche and Boiled Eggs

Recipe Grilled Lettuce with Preserved Lemon and Anchovy Vinaigrette

Recipe Grilled Flatbread with Ember Beetroots, Fior di Latte Mozzarella and Fennel

Recipe Burnt Apricots with Heather Honey and Mascarpone

Five tips for cooking plants

Cooking fresh produce over the coals of a Big Green Egg is simple, forgiving and rich with potential. Here are our top five tips for turning out beautiful plant-based mains, sides, salads and desserts, every time.

A Quick Guide

1. Go whole

The less prep the better

Most vegetables benefit from being cooked whole. The more intact they are, the better they tend to be at coping with higher temperatures. If you want them smaller, cook them first then chop them up afterwards. The less prep the better – give them a wash, trim off as little as possible, then splash on some oil and seasonings. That’s all it takes.

2. Embrace the char

Toasty edges, sweet centre

When exposed to intense heat, the sugars in fresh produce caramelise, adding a rich toastiness on the edges that complements perfectly the crisp sweetness of the centre. Don’t be afraid of a bit of crispy blackness. Unless you’ve accidentally cremated the whole thing, don’t be tempted to trim it off.

3. Use the embers

Cook directly on the coals

Sometimes, it’s worth deliberately burning vegetables to the point of apparent destruction, then spooning out the soft centre. Dirty cooking – cooking directly on the coals – is perfect for this. William dirty cooked the beetroots for his flatbreads, to stunning effect. Aubergines are also great – blacken the skin to the point of collapse then scoop out the creamy flesh to make baba ganoush.

4. Follow the seasons

The natural rhythms of the year

The best barbecued veg is simple and unadorned, so to make the most of it you need the best veg you can find. That means buying seasonal and local and following the natural rhythms of the year: sweetcorn in the late summer, squashes and wild mushrooms in the autumn, roots and brassicas in the winter, the vibrant green wave of springtime.

5. Don’t forget the fruit

Intense caramelisation

As William’s beautifully simple apricot recipe amply demonstrates, the same caramelisation you get from veg is even more intense when you’re cooking sugary fruits. Summer stone fruits – plums, peaches, nectarines – are perfect; big enough and firm enough to take the heat without collapsing, soft enough to absorb some smoke, sweet enough to become intensely flavoured when kissed by the flames.

The EGG at the Straloch Estate

Located on the southern fringe of the Cairngorms National Park, the Straloch Estate is home to four beautiful holiday homes, ranging from an old fishing hut to a listed Victorian schoolhouse, all artfully redesigned for a comfortable, stylish rural retreat. The estate’s owners have embraced the Big Green Egg’s ability to enhance their guests’ experience. “As well being a wonderful, good-looking, well-made barbecue that will last, the EGG screams ‘prestige’ in photographs,” they told us. “We have influencers come and stay and they all love the EGG and tell their followers about it.”

Explore Straloch