Playing with fire around the world | The skewer, Mediterranean champion

Arrosticini are not the only skewers from the Mediterranean culinary tradition. In fact, meat has been grilled there for millennia, leading to different skewer recipes all around the Mediterranean basin. Trained chef and barbecue pro, Philippe Lapointe has just published Playing with fire around the worlda second book that he devotes to grills from all over the world and in which the countries of southern Europe, the Maghreb and the Middle East naturally find a place of choice.

“I really like Mediterranean cuisine, especially in terms of nutrition,” Philippe Lapointe immediately tells us as he prepares to put generous souvlakis on the grill – he admits to having a weakness for Greek cuisine. “It’s one of the most beneficial because we keep simple ingredients, quality local foods. They do simple grilling to bring out as much flavor as possible. »

In his book launched at the end of April, the trained chef speaks of the culinary roots of the Mediterranean region as a “thousand-year-old identity” coming from a “rich history of cultural sharing, but also of trade routes – d ‘spices in particular – between various countries’.

We thus find in Playing with fire around the world recipes for kebab from Turkey, shish-taouk from Lebanon or sardines from Portugal, but also skewers from elsewhere in the world, such as yakitori from Japan, satays from Malaysia, churrasco from Brazil or braii from South Africa: “I did a lot of research, I contacted friends who are abroad and I based it on my own travels,” the barbecue lover tells us. I obviously scoured the entire internet to find as much information as possible, which I checked and cross-checked. All in all, it took me about a year to write the book, including research, trial and error. »

The BBQ flame

The procedures were also done part-time because Philippe Lapointe had to juggle his executive schedule in a transport company. A graduate of the Institute of Tourism and Hospitality of Quebec, he quickly realized that the atypical hours of the restaurant industry were not made for him. But his love for cooking always remained, and his flame was rekindled when the barbecue fashion swept through Quebec.

“I became interested in cooking techniques, not just the end result, but also the path to get there,” he tells us. When I saw that barbecue was becoming more and more popular, I started my Vilain Lapin Facebook page to answer the most common questions I saw on different barbecue enthusiast groups. » In 2022, he published a first book devoted to grill and smoker cooking techniques, in addition to offering a bimonthly column in the Montreal Journal.

“As people had understood how to master their new equipment, I told myself it was time to take them elsewhere,” Philippe Lapointe tells us. I wanted to show that it is possible to travel just by changing a few ingredients. » The recipes in his second volume are nevertheless very accessible, neophytes can find their way without fear.

“You don’t have to be a great chef to master a grill, it’s about knowing the right temperatures, how to control your fire,” he explains. First of all, we can travel easily with a simple sauce. After that, we can gradually go with a side dish, before moving on to the main course, to finally push our limits, our techniques, and learn even more.

“That said, it’s quite difficult to go wrong with Mediterranean grills,” he continues. But above all, we must not be afraid of making a mistake; To make good barbecue, you have to make bad barbecue. We learn from our mistakes, we understand the techniques and how to apply them. Sometimes I start my recipes four, five or six times before finding the right one, don’t be discouraged! »

Playing with fire around the world

Philippe Lapointe

Editions of the Journal

240 pages