Fire & Grilling Around the World

Almost every food culture has its own answer to fire. It is the oldest cooking method there is, and yet the way a community handles heat — the wood it burns, the cuts it favors, the rituals it builds around the grill — says as much about a place as any written recipe. An Argentine asado and a South African braai both start with coals, but the resemblance mostly ends there.

This guide collects the stories and techniques of live-fire cooking from across the globe: the slow weekend ceremony of the parrilla, the clay walls of the tandoor, whole-hog roasting in the Caribbean, riverside grilling on the Tigris, and the spice rubs and marinades that make each tradition distinct. Read them together and the patterns start to show — patience, salt, smoke, and the social pull of a fire that people gather around.