Catskills II; ‘I don’t cook, I grill’ (JULY 2015, NY)
Eventually, we found our way back to the lodge before sundown. It was a great opportunity to explore parts of the property that included some streams and an animal barn. Uche announced that he was going to use the coal grill that came with the lodge. Just like he asked me if I could swim, I asked him if he could cook.
This question came because I had never heard any mention of his cooking skills. While Uche wasn’t the type to brag about any abilities that he had, he had an easy way of letting you know about the things he was better at. Uche was the one who would call me young because he was older by a whopping 3 months. At that time in my life, boiled eggs were as far as I could go in the kitchen, so I assumed that we shared a common lack of culinary abilities. However, Uche announced boldly – I don’t cook, I grill. Since I could neither cook nor grill, I kept my counsel but wondered how he managed to skip the cooking grade.
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Pitmaster Uche got some chicken pieces out of the refrigerator and put them on the grill. I am not sure of how he lit the coals, but it was quite obvious that all was not well with Uche’s grilling career. He battled the coals as well as the chicken for a while. Getting the coals lit was hard enough; preventing a conflagration required a complex skill set.
Years later, after learning to grill, I came to understand that indirect grilling would have been better for the chicken. That would have required the exposure of the chicken to heat at the colder side of the grill, ensuring both cooking and flavouring were achieved. Uche set the chicken directly on the coals, giving himself a little margin for failure.
At the end of the day, Pitmaster Uche served up what could best be described as a burnt offering, only acceptable to our Lord and Saviour – Jesus Christ, who promised to love us despite our shortcomings. My wife chuckled when she saw the results of our grilled chicken. I begged her to help us make it consumable for humans.
Thankfully, she obliged.
