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Taking cooking outdoors

Allen King loves his pots and pans and handles them carefully. Captain of Emirates Airbus — A330/340, this New Zealander’s idea of relaxing after a hectic flying schedule is to hit the kitchen and cook his food the way he likes it — at his home in the Arabian Ranches. That his swimming pool is just a skip away and that he can take a lungful of fresh air while listening to the chirping of birds — all the while cooking — is just an added bonus. Allen feels at home while actually outside it — at his outdoor kitchen. “When we were renovating the kitchen, I wanted an outdoor kitchen which combines the benefits of the barbeque with a bigger stove,” he says. Back in New Zealand, Allen explains, cooking on the barbecue is more of a masculine thing to do. “But here, the outdoor kitchen includes the entire family.” Allen’s outdoor kitchen has everything that can make a barbecue fanatic go green with envy — it consists of a five-burner barbecue with side burners, a fridge, drawer units and storage cabinets.

Calling the kitchen a part of “his lifestyle”, Allen says that ever since the installation of the outdoor kitchen in his garden, he has been entertaining more guests than ever at home. “Last weekend, we had about 25 guests over,” he grins. “It is also economical because we dine a lot less often outside now. I can just come home and have ready-to-eat food in 20 minutes. Besides, I don’t think you can get this kind of peaceful atmosphere while dining outside. Instead, you can just sit by the pool while eating… it becomes more of a family affair,” says Allan, with the soft sound of running water in the background.

“I am a total foodie. I even cook lunch at the outdoor kitchen. I cook fajitas, stir fries, Japanese food and vegetables… I can cook on any surface that I want to — be it on hot plate or a grill.” Pooria Dideban, manager, Al Mutteena, says that he got the idea for his very own outdoor kitchen from his father-in-law, almost 10 years ago. “My father-in-law was into cooking and barbecue. He has an old version of what I have now, which was built years ago,” explains Pooria.

With a five-month-old outdoor kitchen at his disposal, Pooria says that friends ask him to host more barbecue parties. “We are famous for the barbecue — it’s something you take pride in, when you can give good quality food to people. Unfortunately due to the weather, it has been difficult to actually cook outside.” Explaining why he decided to settle for an outdoor kitchen, Pooria says, “It’s just healthy cooking! You can have chicken or fried grilled vegetables in less than 10 minutes.”

Rob Renton, managing partner, Outdoor Concepts, insists that the concept of cooking outside does not begin and end with a stand-alone barbecue. “We represent the brand Beefeater in this region. The outdoor kitchen is more like the integral part of the owner’s life. This concept began to gain momentum during the last 18 months.” Rob, like Allen and Pooria, feels that while some might prefer to cook on charcoal, no one can really tell the difference between charcoal-cooked and gas-cooked food. “By cooking on gas, you don’t have to wait for an hour to get a fire going. Regardless of what people say, there isn’t a taste difference between the two. It’s so versatile, you can cook anything. Initially, people thought cooking outside is limited to cooking sausages and burgers, but not anymore.” Setting up an outdoor kitchen at an individual’s home is not a one-day job, says Rob. “We go to the customer’s house, see the landscape there and work on conceptual ideas. We see a live dimensional picture and later, reach an agreement.

The outdoor kitchen might appear to be massive, but Rob explains that space is not a major constraint while installing an outdoor kitchen — hence, making outdoor cooking a possibility, even in an apartment. “We can keep the kitchen in the balcony of a villa or an apartment,” he says. “Of course, there are a lot of restrictions with keeping gas bottles in the balcony. It also depends on the landlord and the plan of the house. But we can work around it.”

anu@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE