Irrespective Of The Absence Of A Caribbean Climate This Summer, You Don’t Need To Have Idyllic Summer Sunshine To Be Cooking Outdoors

I was aware of lots of whinges over the course of the weekend that the conditions in the Black Country are absolutely rubbish and the opportunities of unwrapping the old bbq out look to have diminished for the year. This is drivel of course, though I know what they mean.

When the schools stop for the summer, it fixes in the mind that here is summer which means clear skies, hot sunshine, long afternoons to spend languidly in the garden, the smell of grass cuttings in the air and cricket on the village green in the afternoons. These are the lazy, happy stereotypes.

It is largely a myth naturally, the best bit of the summer occurs in June, and as soon as you get past the 21^st June then the daylight gradually get shorter. The weather is normally warmer than the corresponding months prior to mid-summer day of course because the tilt of the Earth is pushing the northern hemisphere more towards the sun.

The popular events of the summer, beginning with the Chelsea Flower Show, Royal Ascot, Wimbledon and through to the Open Championship mostly take place before the schools stop for the long holiday, for the motive that they want to be as sure as they can be that they’ll get the best of the conditions.

And so, for those who may be taking their annual breaks to correspond with those of their offspring and expecting good weather, there might be a mind trick played from the times of childhood summers playing in the hot sun (particularly those of us who were young in 1976) so that when it doesn’t happen, grownups get sulky that the weather isn’t what is expected.

But this is no excuse to keep the bbq under the covers because unless the continuing weather is like the summers of 2007 and 2008 when the monsoons set in for weeks, it will still be warm and dry even if it is not like the Caribbean. And naturally a gas bbq means that even if the weather is poor, there’s never going to be a problem in lighting the it which of course can be a problem with a charcoal bbq particularly if the water has got into the fire pit.

An afternoon where the meteorological conditions aren’t idyllic can also enhance the event if friends or family are also invited. Jokes at the expense of the chef provide a lighthearted atmosphere. Funny advice as to how to get a reluctant charcoal bbq going may make everyone else laugh, witticisms like “why didn’t you get a gas bbq?

This happened to me at Christmas 2002, stood out in the heavy rain while everybody else was stood behind the window performing various “oh, is it raining?” mimes until they realised that I was getting absolutely soaked, at which time one of the girls came out with a big umbrella which she held over herself and the bbq and not me since she’d realised that as there was no lid, the meat on the grill was getting wet. And so, in these ways does one learn one’s position in the world pecking order and my own is somewhere behind a quarter pounder. But it did provide an in joke so that whenever it rained, somebody would ask if I was cooking. Not amusing by itself, but in the right context and company, always likely to raise a giggle.

So it’s not the weather that is important, although it does come into the equation, there is no need to wait for a balmy, sunny afternoon or early evening in order to enjoy a bbq. Just roll it out, fire it up and enjoy.

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