Come over for a barbie?
Editor’s Note: Get Your Grill On is going international, please welcome our newest writer Neil Murray from the “land down under.” I’m really looking forward to reading Neil’s articles. We’ve had some interesting email exchanges about barbeque in Australia. It’s very different from what I’m used to in New York. I’ve got so much to learn.
What’s an Aussie doing popping up in the spiritual home of barbecue?
Well for a start we do things differently down under. Take our spelling for instance, we use barbeque, but that’s only when we’re being formal, what we say is “barbie” as in come over for a barbie.
As a nation we are pretty laid back about the whole process of outdoor cooking, which would come as a shock to Americans who compete on the barbecue circuit and take the whole shebang pretty seriously. Over here there are no secret spice rubs or marinades and pretty much until the start of this month there were no dedicated Australian barbecue shows on television and even this one is a barbecue contest that started with contestants cooking a sausage and egg. Yep, you heard, a sausage and egg. This show will be a triumph of style over substance.
The other reason maybe that when I was writing for my own blog, At My Table, about how I cooked for my daughter’s school mix and mingle, and barbecued in the space of two hours about two hundred and thirty sausages. The next day a certain invitation was in my inbox.
There is only one true blue Aussie recipe for outdoor cooking that I know of and that is damper, a type of bread, which is essentially just flour with a raising agent and water mixed to a stiff dough and placed directly on hot coals.
Learn how to make a true Aussie classic after the break…
Damper came about as a way to be able to eat when travelling the wide open spaces of this country, which in its early days, the road you followed was the road you made, where every extra ounce of luggage could literally mean the difference between life and death. If you had flour and dried tea leaves, every camping spot afforded the chance to have something decent to eat and drink.
To give it the correct character, this recipe should only be made when you are cooking with either charcoal or a wood fired barbecue, as there is no protective wrapping between the heat source and the damper.
But having said that, you can in fact make a perfectly acceptable one in a Dutch oven or even in your home oven, though it will lack that smoky character that says Australian bush. It’s so easy to make and just about anyone that goes camping will cook one or two on the embers of their campfire. The kids love to get their hands into this, pat it out and put on the fire.
Easy Damper
- 2 cups self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water or milk
In a bowl place the self raising flour, salt and slowly add the water or milk.
Mix with your hands until a stiff dough is obtained, add more flour or water as necessary. Pat out the dough into a slab about 1” (25 mm) thick.
Carefully rake some embers to one side of the campfire or barbecue, when they have settled down, place the damper directly on the coals.
After about five minutes turn it over and cook for another five minutes until it’s well browned all over. If you tap the bread, it will sound hollow when it’s cooked. Break off pieces and slather on some butter.
Have you really tired this Neil? I would say you have, still I can’t imagine this would work for me. On the coals… Since it’s cold here I won’t be trying this for several months. I’d love for it to work.