Tips - The Skinny on Skewers Cooking meat on a stick was the first technological advance in barbecue. It's certainly the most versatile today. Skewers range in size from the tiny bamboo toothpicks used by Koreans to grill garlic cloves to the massive wrought iron T bars used by Argentineans to cook whole sides of beef in front of a campfire.
Ingenious grill jockeys have used an astonishing range of materials to make skewers. Bamboo skewers are preferred in Asia; metal skewers in the West. Portuguese on the island of Madeira use laurel branches as skewers to make espetada (grilled beef and bay leaf kebabs). Which brings us to some of my favorite skewers for grilling - herb stalks, spice pods, and other long slender seasonings for foods that add flavor to the meat being grilled. So the next time you want to give shish kebab extra flavor, consider using one of these: Sugar cane: Used for grilling Vietnam's popular chao tom (shrimp mouse grilled on sugar cane). When you eat chao tom, you chew on the skewer, which releases an unexpected burst of sweetness- the perfect foil for the briny mousse. Lemongrass stalks: Used by the Balinese to make sate lilit: kaffir lime leaf scented fish or duck mousse grilled on fragrant stalks of fresh lemongrass Rosemary branches: Used by Italians to make spedini. Great for grilling scallops and shrimp. Vanilla beans: great for grilling pineapple and bananas. Cinnamon sticks: Great for grilling peaches (see below) Warning!!!: When grilling on metal skewers, remove the cooked food from skewer before serving. In either case, never eat meat directly off a metal skewer. You risk burning your lips. http://www.bbqu.net/season1/104.html -- _______________________________________________ Get your free email from www.doramail.com with 30 Megs of disk space in webhosting and e-mail storage! Powered by Outblaze Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HERB-RECIPE/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
