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Food

London Chefs Are Learning to Barbecue Like Texans

In Britain, we’re used to a couple of bangers on the barbecue, so the American stuff is really interesting to me. It’s the process of taking a pretty cheap cut and putting your heart and soul into it.
Photo courtesy Adam Weatherly, Content Productions.

Chef Danny Cheetham is owner of White Rabbit, an east London restaurant that started life three years ago at the same Dalston nightclub as nearby Rita's. While White Rabbit's menu focuses on seasonal ingredients and reworking "classic" European dishes, Cheetham's other passion is American barbecue. He's one of a growing number of London-based chefs to incorporate Southern barbecue technique with traditional British flavours.

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For chefs, it's very clear cut—America is the barbecue capital of the world.

But then fire has been used to cook since the age of man, and there are lots of communities around the world that have their own way of doing things. For chefs in Britain and Europe, there are techniques coming through with Robata grills and wood ovens, and all the Argentinian stuff. Once you get stuck in, you see that it goes way beyond the staple of America as the barbecue leaders.

READ MORE: Why Is Brooklyn Barbecue Taking Over the World?

In Britain, we're used to a couple of bangers on the barbecue, so the American stuff is really interesting to me. It's the process of taking a pretty cheap cut of meat and then dry rubbing it or curing it or brining it, and putting it on a very smoky barbecue with the lid shut—sometimes for up to 18 hours. It's taking this cut of meat and putting your heart and soul and creativity into it, in the hope that it comes out as the product you had in mind.

I was in Austin a few years back for SXSW but my agenda was barbecue, barbecue, barbecue. My first stop was a place called Salt Lick, just outside the city. The local sheriff with the big Magnum on his gun belt is in the car park, and it was like an all you can eat barbecue shack.

The extent that some of these barbecue chefs go to is mind blowing. When they do the burnt end on the beef, you've got this jet black outside that you think is going to be inedible, but it's so good. Then you've got this layer of ruby—almost the colour of kidney when it's raw—and it acts a a border between the black and the grey brown in the middle. The different flavours in those stages as it permeates the meat amazing. Achieving it is a pretty tough thing to get right.

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I'm sure if the weather in Britain was a little more consistent, we might be barbecuing all year round. Not only the equipment, but the techniques and theories behind it all would be a lot more apparent too. In Texas, they're in the back garden doing ribs for a little cookout and it's just part of what they do. In that sense, the UK will always be a little bit behind.

Grillstock [a British barbecue and music festival] is based around barbecuing competitions. It's these groups of mostly men, I have to say—kind of trucker cap-wearing, middle-aged men—and they have all of these funny names for their barbecuing gangs, like "May The Pork Be With You." They have to cook certain things like a whole chicken or a rack of ribs or brisket, and then they're all judged by Dr Sweetsmoke, who is like the True Blue American "barbecue king." They keep coming back every year after being away in their little sheds, working away on their technique.

It was a few years ago now that I was in Austin, but I really picked up on the "slow and low" method. Before that I was into the "seven fires" of Argentinian grilling and the different ways of cooking over an open flame. Being the geeky chef-type, that's what I was interested in, but going to America and experiencing barbecue all clicked with me. It led to me doing stuff like being able to smoke yogurt at a really low temperature in the kitchen, and being really creative and not just sticking to the traditional ribs and brisket.

READ MORE: Berlin's Barbecue Scene Just Ate Its Own Tail

At White Rabbit, we've got the wood-fired oven and we use it for lots of different things. At the end of service, we cook things slowly over night or put stuff in there to give it a bit of flavour. Every now and again, we bring a barbecue into the kitchen for stuff like cooking oysters and letting them open naturally that way.

It's also a really good thing to get that barbecue smell in the restaurant. Chuck on a bunch of rosemary and people walking in are like, Wow, that's amazing! It's a great promotional tool.

As told to Phoebe Hurst.