Planet Barbecue!

Planet Barbecue! documents grilling traditions and recipes from 60 countries across six continents. Author Steven Raichlen traveled over 150,000 miles to collect firsthand knowledge of global barbecue techniques, flavors, and culture. The book contains over 300 recipes that range from appetizers to desserts, all prepared using live fire cooking methods. Each recipe includes detailed instructions, ingredient lists, and cultural context about the dish's origins and significance. Photographs showcase the dishes, cooking techniques, and people Raichlen encountered during his research. The book provides equipment guidance, explanations of different grilling styles, and tips for adapting international recipes for home cooks. The work reveals how fire-cooked food serves as a universal language that connects cultures and communities worldwide. Through barbecue traditions, the book explores themes of cultural preservation, innovation, and the shared human experience of cooking over flames.

Readers describe this as a comprehensive global grilling guide with authentic recipes and techniques from around the world. Many appreciate Raichlen's first-hand research and detailed cultural context for each recipe. Likes: - Clear instructions and photos - Background stories for each recipe - Mix of accessible and challenging dishes - Tips for ingredient substitutions - Solid technical cooking advice Dislikes: - Some recipes require hard-to-find ingredients - Too much narrative/travel content for those just seeking recipes - Print size is small and hard to read - Several readers note the binding falls apart easily Ratings: Amazon: 4.6/5 (475 reviews) Goodreads: 4.2/5 (158 ratings) Notable reader comments: "Worth it just for the marinades and rubs section" - Amazon reviewer "Made me completely rethink how I use my grill" - Goodreads reviewer "Great book but impossible to find ingredients in smaller towns" - Barnes & Noble reviewer

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Seven Fires by Francis Mallmann The Argentine grilling master shares his methods for cooking with different types of fires and traditional South American techniques.

Project Smoke by Steven Raichlen This companion book focuses on smoking techniques and recipes from different smoking traditions worldwide.

Flavors of the Southeast Asian Grill by Leela Punyaratabandhu This collection presents grilling techniques and recipes from Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Burma.

🔥 Steven Raichlen traveled to 60 countries over 6 continents to research and collect authentic barbecue recipes for this book 🥩 The book includes detailed instructions for building several types of traditional grilling devices, including a Mongolian sheep-roasting pit and a Uruguayan parilla 🍖 Many of the 309 recipes featured in the book had never before been published in English or documented in written form, as they were passed down orally through generations 🌍 The book explores how fire-cooked foods unite diverse cultures, with Raichlen discovering that grilling techniques in places as far apart as Korea and Argentina share surprising similarities 👨‍🍳 Before becoming the "guru of grilling," Raichlen studied medieval cooking in Europe on a Watson Foundation Fellowship and trained at Le Cordon Bleu and La Varenne cooking schools in Paris