Let the Flames Begin: Tips, Techniques, and Recipes for Real Live Fire Cooking

There are so many great things about this book that I don't know where to start. I love the introductions from both authors. They made me realize that fire (real fire, not the watery stuff that I get from my gas grill) is the way to cook food. My weber now has a permanent place in front of my garage. My gas weber now festers in the back yard underneath it's rain coat. These guys really pulled it off. I probably own almost a dozen cookbooks about BBQ (a very generic term until you talk to someone from Texas, North Carolina or Missouri), but what you get here is a great book about methods using LIVE fire. I especially like the chapters on salads. Everybody can talk about rubs and spices, but it takes someone special to teach you how to grill sweet corn and turn it into a beautiful salad.

This must be the best grilling book that I have encountered (and I have been a home gourmet aficionado for the past 20 years). The book has a solid introductory section where the authors share with us real tips on techniques, equipment and quality control, all of it deadly practical. Every aspect of charcoal grilling is discussed, from placing the briquettes and seasoning to checking doneness. All the recipes I tested are precise, easy to follow and leave little room for mistakes. Most of all, they produce excellent dishes. Not too many glossy pictures, which is fine with me. This is certainly THE grilling book.

Every cookbook collection needs a good and comprehensive grilling oriented cookbook. Let The Flames Begin: Tips, Techniques, And Recipes For Real Live Fire Cooking offers a wealth of recipes, directions and advice that make it an indispensable resource for anyone wanting to cook over an open fire be it a portable grill or a camp fire framework. This collaborative project by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughy is enhanced with color photography by William Meppem and line illustrations by John Burgoyne, as well as a sections on "Summer Splurges" and "Party Planner". If you can only add one more title to your personal cookbook collection, Let The Flames Begin is enthusiastically recommended.