Barbecue & Grill Raymond Blanc: How to Cook Well

If you master the basic cooking techniques

you can build your confidence, cooking skills and repertoire.

Cooking is so easy once you understand the basics.

And there's no better teacher

than legendary Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc.

I feel like Picasso! Not quite.

He wants to share what he's learnt in his professional kitchen...

What is the Maillard reaction?

Gives flavour, colour and taste to the food.

..to help you achieve incredible results at home.

That's the kind of dish you will remember all of your life.

Raymond will reveal the secrets behind the simple techniques

at the heart of every dish.

If you go too high, you burn it.

If you go too slow, nothing happens, it goes beige.

Like English cuisine 40 years ago.

From baking to roasting,

poaching to frying,

barbecuing and slow cooking.

Oh, la, la. Oh, la, la! And I mean, oh, la, la!

And all in his own unique way.

# De dormir avec toi... #

Raymond Blanc taught himself to cook.

Now he will teach you.

What I promise to give you is a deep understanding

of what's happening in your saucepan, in your oven,

and these techniques will help you become a better cook.

Most people believe that grilling

and barbecuing belongs to the simplest of the arts of cooking.

It is not - you can be much more ambitious.

Almost anything can be enriched by grilling or barbecuing,

giving the ingredient a smoky flavour with a crisp outside

and juicy texture inside.

You have the miracle, the simple miracle of the smoke and the grilling

coming together to create the food which is absolutely wholesome.

The first recipe is a great starter dish - demonstrating this

technique in its purest form grilling just one whole

ingredient in an open flame...

Chargrilled aubergines served in a salad.

Today I'm going to do a very lovely dish, it's a

grilled aubergine very much inspired by Middle Eastern cuisine.

You can do, of course, outdoor on the barbecue, or, indeed,

on your gas ring. Very simple.

First, a trick to prevent a mess on the griddle...

I've heard of people exploding aubergines.

It's never happened to me, but I'm just going to take a little

nick here, just to allow the steam to escape.

It's very important your griddle is pre-heated.

It is very important that the flame is in contact with your aubergine.

The griddle simply sits on top of the gas ring.

With an electric hob, a griddle pan can be used.

It's got to be hot - searing hot. It'll do two things...

It'll bring the smoky flavour inside, and you also cook the aubergine

to a beautiful, melting, pale, creamy, gorgeous taste as well.

As the aubergine's skin comes into contact with the flame,

it begins to wither and char.

Turn it around every five minutes, so it is completely blackened.

Oh, lovely. A bit more charring here. Look at that.

The skin will split to reveal the aubergine flesh.

How do I know when it's done? That's always the million dollar question.

The flesh should be translucent, creamy. I feel it's quite close.

I can smell it, I can see it, and I can see it's quite soft.

I think that's lovely.

I'm going to cool it down until it's tepid, so you can handle it,

so it's not hot. The moisture of the flesh will steam up

and the skin will be easier to release.

The flesh is completely cooked.

It's very charred outside, it looks like a mess,

but inside is going to be so beautiful.

You feel like a surgeon.

I'm going to take my glasses, cos I'm going to operate on the aubergine.

I see things better. I'm ready to just scrape my beautiful flesh here.

Gently roll it...

Beautiful white flesh right here. Perfect.

Make sure the aubergine is still slightly warm

if it's cooled the flesh will be hard to scrape from the skin.

OK, so to finish the dish... First, olive oil.

It has a lovely shine to it. Now, a little bit of lemon juice.

A bit of salt, very little seasoning. You don't need very much.

A bit of pepper. Freshly ground, of course. And a little sugar.

The dressed aubergine would be delicious spread on toast,

just like this,

but adding a few ingredients will transform it into a delicious salad.

Add chopped dates for sweetness and texture,

pre-cooked chick peas, finely chopped chilli

and fresh mint and coriander add a touch of fragrance.

A little bit of chilli. Just a bit of heat.

How could a Frenchman forget one of the most important ingredients

within that dish? Of course, garlic. You need very little, OK?

You don't need very much. The aubergine is quite delicate. Voila.

So, of course, the best moment for the cook is now,

when you are about to serve your food.

Just pile it on. Beautiful sweetness.

We've got all these amazing textures here. Just a few chickpeas around.

That's very lovely.

Then you have a bit of feta cheese, a few flaked almonds,

just for colour, texture.

That fits so well.

A drizzle of olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar,

a sprinkle of chilli

and crispy croutons complete the salad beautifully.

Parfait.

Let's taste it now. This moment I love the most.

Very fresh, very clean, but it's a big dish. It's not a thin dish.

It's a perfect vegetarian dish as well, so that's an advantage.

Really lovely, rich.

It's amazing. Aubergine is quite thin as a taste, but the smoke, the

olive oil, the lemon juice, the herby flavours are packed into that dish.

It's really wonderful.

It's about fizz, it's about celebration, it's about happiness.

The charred aubergine is the perfect introduction to grilling.

Next, Raymond uses flames and smoke to grill outdoors on a barbecue.

Here, control of the heat is key.

When mastered, it produces smoky,

tender meat that just falls apart, demonstrated perfectly

in his marinated chicken dish, served with celeriac remoulade.

Preparation begins in the kitchen,

before moving to the garden for the final flourish.

Barbecuing a chicken doesn't sound easy. I do a barbecue that...

Put the thing like that, and that...

And the heat never permeates the inside.

OK, there's a technique for it. It was created by the French. Who else?!

HE LAUGHS Sorry, I apologise.

What they have done is to flatten it.

Flatten it by removing the backbone here.

Very easy to remove IF you have some good scissors.

The removal of the chicken's backbone is called

spatchcocking - you can always get your butcher to do this for you.

After, what you do... Look. You flatten it out, you break it.

Nicely broken.

My marinade is going to go inside the chicken, so I'm going to prepare it.

Voila. You prepare you hands.

Just go very gentle, go through the skin, so it goes right up to here.

Of course, you don't want to go there,

cos the marinade will go in and go out. Not very clever!

Scoring the legs helps the heat penetrate the meat.

Especially important for the tougher thigh muscles.

It's marinating time for the chicken. Just turn on the heat.

Pre-heating a heavy-bottomed pan will bring the reduction

time right down from 30 minutes to five.

So, my marinade is made of a nice rich red wine.

Acidity, and a bit of sweetness - the ruby port. Voila. Vive la France!

No more. OK.

Look at that.

Sizzling. My port.

Voila.

While the marinade is reducing, prepare thyme, a bay leaf,

zest of lemon and chopped garlic, but don't add

while the wine is on the stove, as boiling will destroy the flavours.

Just let it infuse, until it has completely cooled down.

When the marinade is cooled, strain and season.

A bit of pepper, a pinch of salt.

OK, so all you have to do...

Open that pocket, and then you slide this lovely... You can see.

Just massage my red wine all over.

The rest of my marinade, I'm going to paint it all over the chicken.

Look at these colours. Wonderful colours! All these cuts here.

I want the marinade to go right in. Turn it around, voila.

Painting the marinade all over. And the skin will absorb it, believe me.

Make sure it doesn't take any smell from the fridge.

Cover it with cling film and let it marinate overnight.

The chicken has been marinated overnight,

and now I'm going to precook it.

Cover with tin foil, piercing the foil to allow the steam to escape.

-Voila.

-Put into the oven for one hour at 150 degrees.

Now Raymond goes out to the gardens at Le Manoir to finish the dish.

The hour in the over means the flattened chicken is part cooked,

meaning the meat will be perfectly tender with a deep barbecue flavour.

Oh, la, la! HE LAUGHS

Difficult chicken, eh?

You dare to do that to me. Voila. Basically, it's very simple.

Six, maybe seven minutes to be safe, on its breasts, turn it over,

seven minutes on its back.

As a side, celeriac remoulade -

a French coleslaw of grated celeriac with a mustard mayonnaise.

I'm being nicely smoked at the moment.

HE LAUGHS

That is smoky chicken.

Let's have a look. Let's turn it around.

Oh! Oh, la, la. It's just slightly over-charred a little bit here.

It goes so quick.

Lovely little serving bowl. Looks pretty.

Voila.

Let's have a look. That's cooked perfect. Tres bien. Excellent.

It's like a grilled coq au vin,

because all the wine is under the skin.

That will be rather delicious.

Barbecue chicken can be prepared well in advance.

We've marinated, finished off on the grill, the celeriac is ready.

Minimum work, so no sweat. OK, tres bien. So, let's try it.

That is the beauty about barbecue and grilling. It's crusty outside.

The fat has completely melted down.

More than satisfying, I can assure you.

The marinade coating the chicken added a rich flavour.

Marinating can also be used on tough cuts to tenderise

the meat before grilling or barbecuing.

This technique is deliciously demonstrated in this dish -

fruit marinated pork served with spiced corn on the cob.

In our culinary world, marinades are so important

because they do all sorts of extraordinary things.

They impart flavour, colour, taste, textures, and even sometimes

it can completely change the texture of a very rough cut.

For example, we have here two pork steaks.

I have one fresh one here against this one which has been

marinated for six hours, and you can already see the huge

difference between this steak here and this one here.

It's really incredible. That one is tough, very resilient.

This one is a different colour,

but mostly the texture is entirely different.

The marinade has broken down the pork shoulder's tough fibres

and cell walls,

giving it a head start over the untouched steak on the right.

Turn it. Beautiful. Even the moisture.

Look at this lovely caramelisation.

That one is much paler, and look at them.

Beautiful succulent piece of meat. I show you this one, where we're at.

The marinated steak is cooked through and perfectly the tender.

The other one, on the left, is tough and uncooked.

So, let's see the difference.

Look at that. It's like a mattress.

It's still completely raw in the middle.

The heat has not penetrated that meat. And here, let's look.

Oh, it's like butter. That is perfection.

You have, here, the most tender piece of meat.

It's succulent, it's flavour-full, it's moist. It's a great experience.

Now for the fruit marinade that produces these miraculous results.

It's a very specific and scientific combination of papaya,

pineapple and mango.

The papaya of course contains the papain, which is an enzyme which is

very, very strong, and can really seriously break down hard textures.

With the pineapple as well, which contains bromelain,

which can do exactly the same thing.

Unfortunately, the little mango doesn't these enzymes,

so it will be here, actually, just to add flavour.

Voila.

I'm not very technical. I forgot to plug in my liquidiser.

Whoa!

To give the marinade some heat, add ginger, garlic,

and a fresh red chilli, plus a sprig of thyme for an earthy note.

This little thing is packed with flavour, so don't abuse it.

You can always add more later.

So now we're going to move on to our pureeing.

Parfait.

Tres bien. Always taste.

Phew! Very warm.

The ginger and chilli are just doing exactly what they are meant to do.

By applying this marinade,

you upgrade a rather inexpensive piece of meat into a prime cut.

-Voila.

-Then pop in the fridge and leave for six hours to marinate.

That would take about 12 minutes to cook to perfection. Well, we'll see.

As a side, corn on the cob, coated with a fiery mix of melted

butter, paprika, lemon juice, salt and cayenne pepper.

Look at these colours. They are so beautiful.

Completely love it.

The corn will only take five or six minutes to cook. Very easy.

Let's have a look.

Tres bien. Look, this lovely, beautiful caramelisation.

Now you can put your sweetcorn.

At the last minute, paint the pork steaks with a barbecue sauce.

Raymond has simply added ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce,

mustard, seasoning and cayenne pepper to the fruit marinade.

Ah. Raymond's barbecue!

I can see the steaks, and they're ready,

so you put the barbecue sauce on at the last moment.

Oh, look at that.

Tres bien.

For a very tender, completely succulent...

As succulent as a fillet of steak, as a melting as a sashimi, and you

have converted that very tough joint into something absolutely delicious.

This is really lovely.

Once you really understand the technique of barbecuing, there is

no end to how ambitious you can be.

Today, Raymond is travelling to London to meet chef Dave Pynt,

an Australian introduced to barbecuing at an early age.

His love of it grew when he worked in Spain,

in a restaurant famous for its menu devoted to the technique.

Dave's paid homage to this sociable cooking method with a

pop-up restaurant in East London,

where he enjoys experimenting with a variety of ingredients.

Dave, first, thank you for welcoming me into your own barbecue world.

-That is a serious oven. Look at that. It's incredible.

-It's pretty warm!

I feel bit like I'm in my kitchen, but multiplied ten times hotter.

Dave's wood burning oven reaches temperatures

of 700 degrees centigrade, when the red hot embers

are transferred to the barbecue.

Oh!

It's so hot!

It is seriously hot, I can assure you.

I feel like a roast chicken.

The first dish that Dave is going to show Raymond is simple,

-fresh scallops.

-Just grab some scallops.

-Oh, they're big and fat.

The molluscs, they're beautiful.

The scallops sit directly on the burning wood, and are cooked

gently, protected from the direct heat by their shells.

-See how quick he is here. Even the boss...

-You have to be.

-It is seriously hot.

-It's a very, very warm grill.

Dave knows no fear when it comes to barbecuing.

Most people - Raymond included - would be wary of this risky

technique of placing food directly onto the scorching wood.

Good Welsh leek, eh? That's very clever.

Another favourite of Dave's is charred leeks.

Placed directly into the flames of the oven,

the outer leaves act as a barrier, while the moisture of the

vegetables steams it, allowing the smoky flavour to penetrate its core.

-That's not too complicated, eh?

-It's super simple, but it's super tasty.

The leeks are coming.

They look terrible, but I know exactly, all the inside is going

to be steamed, there's going to be a beautiful smoky flavour inside.

-These will be done in no time.

-Oh, yes. That's what I wanted.

That's perfect now. Look at that.

-Just got an XO sauce.

-What do you have in here?

Dried scallops, dried shrimps, chilli, garlic and ginger.

-That is really lovely, Dave.

-Let's get these leeks.

The simple technique is you grab the outside... Straight down.

So you just have the heart of the leek.

-The most wonderful smoky flavour.

-So we just give it a quick cut.

-Try and keep it in shape.

-Yep.

A couple of capers. Some parsley, a touch of lemon juice.

Pour over some hot brown butter.

-It's one of those things I was surprised at.

-Lovely. Beautiful.

Nice texture, nice moisture, nice leek flavour, lovely smoke.

All is there.

The scallops and leeks can be easily cooked on a home barbecue,

but Dave's industrial sized apparatus

means he can really aim big.

-What are you going to put inside?

-We're going to put the trout.

The delicate fish is easy to overcook,

but butterflying it lets the skin and fat act as a barrier for

the heat, giving a perfectly crispy skin and beautifully moist flesh.

So, what would you recommend to prevent the sticking?

A very dry skin, a lot of oil and a hot grill.

Slowly bring it up, until this bit's just warm.

-We'll flip it over just before serving.

-Lovely technique.

Is it a very crispy skin?

It's one of my favourite things to cook on the grill,

because it's such a big piece of fish.

Yeah, I wouldn't dare to do that.

The pulley system helps Dave to control the heat and flames

as they surround the fish, and will prevent it drying out.

-Beautiful.

-Here we go.

Now we're going to see how good it is.

Beautifully cooked.

Look at that. Absolutely stunning.

That's fantastic. He's a genius.

The skin is absolutely stunning.

I don't know why people leave the skin on the side.

-That's the best part.

-Favourite bit.

Crunchy, absolutely delicious.

-Thank you very much, Dave.

-My pleasure.

Great teacher.

The greatest thing about barbecuing, obviously, is there's beer.

Barbecuing a fish is a delicate procedure, and Dave's pulley

system helps him avoid burning the skin, leaving the flesh uncooked.

On a home barbecue, this can be achieved by wrapping

the fish before placing it onto the flame.

The next recipe - barbecue sea bass with an Asian style dipping sauce -

uses banana leaves to protect the fragile fish.

Obviously, I've learnt a great deal from Dave.

He grilled a fantastic, huge fish, with eyes like that.

I'm am small fish fan, so I'm going to cook a beautiful small fish.

Well, not that small. Look at him, look at me.

Very, very fresh. You can see very clear eyes, very firm flesh.

No smell. No smell or fishy smell. Clean and beautiful.

So, then, we can start barbecuing. Then you are in business.

Carefully cut off the fins and tail and score the flesh, which

will help the heat and smoke travel through the fish as it's cooked.

In here, we're going to stuff all our flavour.

Inside goes crushed lime leaves, garlic, lemongrass,

coriander and ginger.

A little seasoning.

These fish, normally, you barbecue on direct heat.

Here, we are going to barbecue the fish, wrapped into banana leaves.

That means preventing the direct heat to burn or char the fish

and protect its delicateness.

Cook it slowly, inside out.

The grill flavour will still go through the banana.

The smoky flavour as well, but in a much more delicate way.

Also, my fish will not stick to the grill.

I'm going to wrap it up nicely.

Those skewers have been soaked

overnight in water to prevent them burning.

If you can't get hold of banana leaves,

tin foil is a good substitute,

although the fish won't take on such an intensely smoky flavour.

Voila.

It's not too hot. I want a gentle heat coming through it.

This cooking will take 15 minutes on one side and 15 minutes on the other.

It is really important... Is my fish cooked? Of course, you don't see.

Voila. Tres bien. Lots of smoke here, in all its glory.

From the sea to the barbecue.

Cut it here... Voila.

..till the juices are just nicely running out.

Voila. You've got a lovely piece of fish here.

You want a little bit of this beautiful sauce here.

It is really lovely.

A spicy sweet and sour sauce will compliment the smoky

notes of the fish.

I've got so many herbs here.

We've got about 250 of them, but I'll choose one.

Very close. Oh! Cetonia. Voila.

Voila. C'est tout.

Let's taste that food.

Very lovely. It's sharp, the fish is mellow, flaky,

but beautifully moist. Thank you very much.

The banana leaves are a barrier to shield

fish from the barbecue's flame, but a griddle pan also be used to

protect delicate ingredients, whilst still giving a deep, smoky flavour.

The final recipe highlights just how versatile grilling can be.

A fruit brochette, or skewer, served on a bed of sweet, sticky Thai rice.

This colourful dish will add a fresh,

clean taste to the close of any meal.

This is inspired by when I first travelled in South East Asia,

and I marvelled, not only at the landscape,

but at the complexity and beauty of their foods.

So this is a little bit of South East Asia.

I'm going to grill fruit - exotic fruits. It's wonderful.

Pineapple, papaya, mango, kiwi.

I'm going to macerate them to a spicy syrup

and then grill them on a sticky rice.

The term macerating usually refers to soaking fruits in a liquid

to soften and add flavour.

Marinating is the same process, but in savoury cooking.

To make the macerating syrup the fruit will soak in,

start with the pineapple. Cut and save four cubes for the brochette.

In the bowl. Tres bien.

Then all the trimmings go into the pan to make the syrup.

Put my sugar...

..with my water.

One third sugar, two third water. OK.

Peppercorns. Very few.

Add mint, basil, and lime juice.

I want to infuse all that.

Bring to the boil for one minute, then switch off and leave to infuse.

So then, with my mango. It's a very big mango.

Next, cube the rest of the fruit for the skewers.

Chop mango, papaya and kiwi.

Viola. So, I've got my fruits here. My syrup is cooling very nicely here.

I'm going to taste my syrup.

We've got all this wonderful pineapple.

Oh, la, la. Oh, la, la. And I mean, oh, la, la.

It's fantastic.

Really very happy. It's lovely. Oh, it's great.

Now drench the fruit with the macerating syrup.

This will begin to filter through the fruits' fibres, softening them

and infusing them with the heady flavour of the sweet liquid.

OK, so I'm going to add a bit of mint here that I will use later.

Basil.

Viola.

-Lovely.

-Macerate the fruit in the aromatic syrup for six hours.

The steeped fruit will soak up the perfume from the syrup.

Look at these beautiful herbs.

-Finally, skewer the macerated cubes and grill.

-Tres bien. So, just...

Viola. Place it here. FRUIT SIZZLES

You can hear the lovely grilling noise, you can smell it as well.

That will take between 30 and 40 seconds.

The fruit brochettes will rest on a bed of sticky rice,

sweetened with coconut milk, palm sugar and the macerating syrup.

The grill will add a smoky note to the fruit,

which will be balanced by the sweet, herby flavours.

So, now you have your brochette. Just sit them very nicely.

Then move out the brochette.

To serve, drizzle with a puree of mango,

the remaining macerating syrup and fresh passion fruit pulp.

Voila.

You see, what the grilling does...

It gives that lovely caramel flavour, strengthens the fruit.

Delicate browning, delicate grilling, that will do perfect.

Mmm! That is really lovely.

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