Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/32575
Raichlen demonstrates each dish before the volunteers roll up their sleeves and get on their aprons, he reassures his students, “There’s no such thing as a mistake in the kitchen, just a new recipe waiting to be discovered.” Light The Fire Raichlen’s students journey from across the globe to attend BBQ-U, including Australia, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Guam, Germany, and the Caribbean. Raichlen traveled to all these places and more for his latest book, Planet Barbecue! His live-fire, four-year tour took him to 53 countries on six continents. Highlights include a bush barbecue in Kruger Park in South Africa; a private grilling class on a stilt house in Cambodia; and a visit with Vic- tor Arguinzoniz, the grill genius of Spain, who smokes butter and ice cream, makes charcoal every morning, and even grills caviar. In Planet Barbecue! Raichlen explores the origin of cooking meat over fire, a technique he says was mastered by the Homo erectus on the savannahs of Africa 1.9 million years ago. “The discovery of live fire cooking had a profound evolu- tionary impact on our species, on what we looked like, how we speak, how we think, how we aggregate in a community. I say it with a little tongue in cheek that grilling begat civilization,” quips Raichlen. “Grilling is the world’s oldest cooking method and the world’s most universal cooking method, but everywhere it is done differently.” He is credited with organizing the world’s varied methods of barbecue into a logical system that people can easily understand. “Barbecue is a local myopic activity,” he divulges. “Let’s say you are a hog master in North Carolina. You know how to smoke a pork shoulder really well, but you don’t really think about grill- ing beef, fish, or vegetables. If you’re an Indonesian grill master, you’re extremely sophisticated at making little kabobs called satays, but you probably couldn’t even conceive of doing something like North American smoking.” Some say he has given barbecue a college education. “I’ve helped America and the world discover that barbecuing can be more than grilling a hamburger or burning a chicken,” he laughs. His first book, The Barbecue Bible published in 1998, was an instant suc- cess and led to his television show, Barbecue University, that offers step-by- step instruction. Primal Grill was his next series with themed episodes like “In the Wild,” in which he shows viewers how to grill game and other wild foods, and “Heat without Meat,” in which he demonstrates how to grill fruits and veg- etables. These TV shows on PBS have helped people all over the world ascend the ladder of grilling enlightenment. His very own line of products followed that include grilling accessories and barbecue seasonings. Today, in total, Raichlen has published 28 books and still appears regularly on national TV. Following His Passion Although always interested in cooking and fine dining, Raichlen studied French literature at Reed Col- lege. His study of medieval cooking was “ignited” in Europe where he studied for a year as part of a Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowship. During the year he trained at the Cordon Bleu and La Varenne cooking schools in Paris. He also battled—and defeated—Iron Chef Rokusaburo Michiba in a barbecue battle that was broadcast on Japanese television. Hard work has been instrumen- tal to his success. When writing a book, he will be up and at his desk by 5 a.m. A liberal arts education and broad interests have helped as well. These days, on his nightstand, are books about watchmaking, Rem- brandt, and a series of novels set in the Napoleonic era. “Having wide in- terests brings a richer sense of imagi- nation to one’s work,” he declares. A Bob Dylan fan, Raichlen lives by a mantra pulled from the lyrics: “He not busy being born is busy dying.” Trying new things is something that comes naturally to Raichlen. Take “Le Maitre Du Grill,” a TV show in Quebec that Raichlen hosts in French. Or his latest endeavor, a novel set in Martha’s Vineyard—where he lives half of the year with his wife Barbara—that is presently making the rounds in the publishing world. Raichlen and barbecue have be- come synonymous and just as this live- fire, smoke-crazed world has changed his life, he has changed it. “IT’S LIKE SUMMER CAMP FOR ADULTS WHO LOVE GRILLING AND LIKE A REALLY HIGH THREAD COUNT.” Raichlen, left, with Peggy Fleming and Earl Klugh. 97 broadmoor.com