Recipe for alfresco success
From an article by Tim Sykes written in the So Magazine, February 2023
So you adore entertaining your friends and relatives and turn your hand to the odd barbecue? Maybe now's the time to take things more seriously outdoors and revolutionise the use of your terrace.
2020 saw a sea change in the way we relate to our gardens and outdoor spaces. For many of us it became a place of peace and wellbeing, but it got us thinking and now we are back to socialising its become a place to entertain.
Sales of outdoor kitchens are burgeoning and manufacturers are seeking new gourmet recipes for you to serve up and impress the most discerning of foodies.
I recently invested in a Gozney Pizza Oven, Roccbox, only to find myself utilising its superb all round heat to serve up delicious steak casseroles and roasted scallops! You can make pizzas, but a whole lot more with these amazing machines. The one to get, if you’ve got the cash, is The Dome, a professional grade outdoor pizza oven at £1799 - still a whole lot cheaper than many of its competitors. If you want to whet your appetite go to Gozney.com and check out the recipes. There are also really helpful videos.
BBC Good Food, which I’m sure many of you google for inspiration have a whole plethora of great cooking ideas for outdoors. From Moroccan-style leg of lamb, to Barbecued fennel with black olive dressing, there are some surprisingly tasty ideas.
If you want more; Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge publishes “Outdoor Cooking -The Ultimate Modern Barbecue Bible” . At £17.00 it’s a snip, what more could you want? Check it out on Amazon, or even better pop into Waterstones, Tunbridge Wells. Waterstones.com
So with all this enthusiasm for getting out there how can we make that outdoor kitchen work well for you and integrate with your house and garden?
A well planned outdoor kitchen will have areas for preparing food, cooking appliances and socialising with friends and family. Identical to your indoor kitchen, appliances and storage will define the scope and layout of the area, while your surfaces and lighting and any covering will help create the atmosphere, aesthetics and help extend the use of the kitchen beyond sunset.
A recent scheme we designed for a garden in St Albans incorporates a lounge, eating space, outdoor kitchen and wellness area in a new terrace that adjoins the kitchen and living rooms of the house. Our client is a very keen cook, and here the outdoor kitchen augments the appliances indoors, so it all works in an integrated fashion. Here we were not seeking to replace or duplicate, but incorporate appliances that will contribute fresh flavours and recipe ideas.
So in planning any scheme think about this and you will spend your money wisely.
Even in the depths of winter the outdoor kitchen can be enjoyed and used as a cooking area to help create dishes that can be enjoyed indoors
Our scheme in St Albans includes a bespoke pergola design that helps define the cooking and preparation area and incorporates focussed lighting. Here the pergola is being made, but you can buy many designs off-the -shelf. One of the most dramatic comprehensively fitted options available is marketed by Renson Outdoor. See them at Renson.net
You can spec them with electric closing rooflines, integrated lighting and rainwater collection, even piped music!
Our outdoor kitchen area in a garden we designed in Tonbridge integrated with a kitchen garden area, so a series of raised beds bordering the entertaining area provide fresh ingredients for the cook. Visually very appealing, and practically perfect. Refreshingly different it maybe worth building ideas like this into your plan.
Bespoke or Modular?
You can create a bespoke kitchen to suit your garden design, or buy modular based products, such as Grillo, see Grilloliving.com
Grillo have a whole myriad of units that can be linked to each other to create different working and socialising spaces. They have just launched a bar addition, that encourages guests to mingle around the cooking area while the gastronomic extravaganza is being prepared.
Adding spaces could include comfy seating and firepits to help keep everybody cosy while they wait in anticipation.
I was recently introduced to The Outdoor Kitchen Collective, by my great friends at Corker Outdoor. See them at theoutdoorkitchencollective.co.uk
Funnily enough these guys are based in St Albans, although I have to confess we didn’t know of them when we created the design for our new terrace in the town. It’s definitely worth a trip to gain inspiration. You can also see a wide range of cooking products in their showroom and way up the virtues of different layouts. Then armed wit this new found knowledge you can start planning your own space working with your garden designer and landscaping company to integrate this within your overall scheme so that everything dovetails perfectly.
What’s happening in the garden this February?
- Plan your new terrace and outdoor kitchen area for the summer!
- Plan out and sow early vegetables and salad products in propagators or your greenhouse in preparation for planting on
- Start sowing slow growing perennials and annuals under cover
- Top dress ornamental trees, shrubs and perennials with organic fertiliser
- If you haven’t completed it already cut back overgrown hedges before they start to grow
- Order your summer flowering bulbs
- Look out for early flowering Crocus, Anemone and Iris
- Enjoy the Hellebores and Winter Jasmine!