I’ve never, if I’m honest, quite got the hang of barbecues. While from a young age I was always eager to lend Mum a hand in the kitchen, the BBQ was always very much Dad’s territory. Like cleaning out the guttering and worming the dogs, it was a job that I stayed away from. So now, when it falls to me to fire up the old Weber, it’s with a fair amount of uncertainty that I lob on the coals.

It’s not the cooking part – I know roughly how hot it needs to be before I can cook on it, and I know roughly how long things take. It’s the primal process of actually getting it to that stage. Barbies never behaved for me. They’d always cough a few limp flames, fart some smoke in my general direction as they always do, and then resolutely refuse to burn any further.

Until Saturday evening. Bereft of charcoal, I built a log fire in the barbie instead. Wood behaves better than charcoal, at least for me, and you don’t need to squirt over that lighter fluid. Most importantly, the wood imparts an excellent smoky flavour. 

I made baba ganoush by cooking a few aubergines among the flames and whizzing the fruit with yoghurt and lemon juice and tahini and salt. Then we had baby chicken. “Bloody French,” complained my brother’s friend Tom, “never let an animal get old enough to actually taste of anything”. He’s sort of right – poussins aren’t exactly thrumming with flavour – but spatchcocked and marinated as below they are spot on for barbecuing. 

BBQ poussin
This marinade is very jazzable indeed – basically do what you like with it. If you’re marinating for a short period of time, bung in the salt and lemon juice straight away, but if it’s for longer then leave till the end, as they’ll tend to toughen the meat.

Serves 4

4 poussins
A hefty dollop or two of natural yoghurt
A tbsp ras-el-hanout
1/2 tsp spicy smoked paprika
2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
Olive oil
Salt, pepper, lemon juice

– Spatchcock the poussins by taking a large, sharp knife and cutting through the bone down the chicken’s back. Flatten them, breast side up.

– Mix the yoghurt, spices, garlic, and olive oil, and season with pepper. Spread generously over the chicken and marinate overnight if possible. 10 minutes will do, though. Remove from the fridge a good hour before cooking and fire up the barbie. NB, if using logs, not charcoal, it takes considerably longer to be ready to cook on.

– Season the birds with salt and lemon juice and slap on the BBQ, breast side down. If using a kettle barbie, cover with the holes half open and cook for 20 minutes. If not it may take a little longer but keep prodding the flesh to check. When it feels firm then it’s done.

– Rest the birds in a warm place for 10 minutes while you assemble the other bits and pieces (we had couscous and a sort of beetrooty salad with labneh and zatar) and serve.

Were you BBQ-ing this weekend? What did you cook? And, most importantly, who wormed the dogs in your family?