With a push towards sustainable cooking and sky-rocketing energy costs being at the forefront of most restaurateurs’ minds these days, it’s perhaps unsurprising that a trend is developing towards a return to traditional cooking methods using woodfired grills and menus inspired by a live-fire concept.
Niklas Ekstedt is one popular Michelin-starred chef whose London-based restaurant, Ekstedt at The Yard, uses Nordic wood-fire cooking techniques combined with a fire pit, wood-fired oven and a wood stove to create a kitchen that doesn’t need gas or electricity to run. Another example is Francis Mallman, an Argentinian chef who focuses primarily on Patagonian methods of open-fire cooking.
Both were partly behind the inspiration for Richard Setchell, head chef at The Forum, to install their own firepit and grill before heading down the route of combining Nordic/Scandi cuisine with British influences, cooked in a way that allows for natural, authentic flavours to come through in the food.
Richard, who has been at True North for six years and previously worked at the AA Rosette-awarded La Bonne Auberge in Glasgow, told Exposed that while sustainability and using renewable fuel sources is a key driving factor of the shift, it also opens numerous benefits in terms of taste and experience.
“We’re not a fully analogue kitchen yet, but we’re getting there and that’s the direction we’re moving in,” he explained. “This menu is really to break customers in with what we’re doing, so we’ve gone for rotisserie chicken, belly pork, pulled briskets, charred aubergines – the flavours we can use through different woods and coals are fantastic. We use a South African hardwood called Kameeldoring, softer woods like Birch for some things and even smoked woodchips from old whisky barrels.”
Not only that, but Richard spoke of how the experience of cooking with wood and fire can also be deeply satisfying and even meditative, providing a sense of connection to nature, nostalgic memories and a general homely feel to the process.
“For me, the idea of having a fire pit grill is quite nostalgic. The smell of food cooking over the burning wood brings back memories of being at my Nanna’s house when she used to cook over an aga. There’s just a real feel-good vibe to it.”
After being invited into the kitchen to see Richard’s fiery pride and joy in action, we were then able to sample some of its work first-hand. Sumptuous flame-grilled burgers were served up alongside a deliciously smoky Mexican-inspired half chicken, which had been salt brined for 24 hours and basted in a tangy Adobo sauce, and the charred aubergines marinated in a fermented chilli sauce were another winner (it’s worth mentioning here that practically every meat on the menu can be substituted for a vegan option).
The real standouts for us, however, were the British burritos: smoked shredded belly pork or tender pulled beef brisket with traditional Sunday lunch trimmings wrapped in a giant Yorkshire burrito, with a large side of homemade gravy for good measure. It was grilled comfort food at its finest, positively bursting with those aforementioned big-pit flavours and great fun to tuck into.
“It’s kind of going back to basics in a way,” added Richard. “We’ll get the fire going as we get in, then you’re choosing the different styles of wood to use, but this style of cooking also allows for small bursts of creativity. Moving forward, we’re going to build on this and start making our own breads and baguettes, then really start honing in on the summer sharing plates ethos with our next menu: homemade tapenades, salsas, caramelised vegetables and sharing skewers – that sort of thing.”
That sounds like a summer barbeque invite to us, and you can bet that we’ll be back soon to see what the Forum team have been grilling up.
