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PETER LE CLERCQ

WHERE’S THE BEEF?
PETER LE CLERCQ.jpg
 


This photo was taken at the amazing restaurant Elkerlicj, in the town of Madegem near Bruges, where my pal, Belgian grill genius Peter Le Clercq, is now serving 20 types of prestige beef from some of the top farms in Belgium–some of it aged 28 days or more. In a recent e-mail, Peter tells me he’s now burning olive wood in the grill and orange in his wood-burning oven.

Here’s some of Peter’s advice when it comes to grilling steak:
1) To get more flavor from your fire, toss olive pits on the coals. Peter brings them in by the ton from Spain. You can also use grilling spices such as bay leaves, rosemary, coriander seed, allspice and juniper berries, etc. Just toss them right on the embers. For a recipe, see page 280 of Planet Barbecue.
2) Never stab steaks or other meats with a fork unless you want the juices to drain into the fire.
3) There’s a lot you can do with live fire, but you can’t achieve great results from frozen or poor quality meats.