BBQ Menu Ideas And Regional Cooking

The BBQ menu ideas and regional cooking themes below will help you create something special for your next cookout.

Rather than select your recipes by starter, main & dessert or by the different meats this page allows you to filter through my selection of recipes in a different way. Each page groups together some great grilling recipes from the same region around the world so if you want a Greek theme to your cookout then you'll find all the Greek influenced recipes on that page.

It's all too easy to get sucked into the idea that BBQ is all about the American style of cooking low and slow but round the world there are so many countries and cultures that cook over charcoal.

In the Mediterranean countries of Europe grilling food outdoors has been a way of life for generations. Whether it be the "campesinos" working the field or the fishermen returning to port, small portable grills can be seen with a few small coals in the grate perfect for a late lunch in the heat of the day.

It’s because of this way of life that there such a rich variety of grill recipes available and many have been handed down father to son, mother to daughter. One thing is common to all however, the cooking process is simple and the ingredients are fresh. Keep these thoughts in your head and you’re in for a treat.

French Menu Ideas

Spanish Cooking (Lot’s of great Tapas)

Italian Delights

Greek Cooking

Portuguese Grilling Recipes

Indian Cooking For Kamado BBQ's

Chinese Cuisine And Other Asian Flavours

Classic American BBQ Menu Ideas

The majority of readers to my website are American (and I thank you all for your interest and support) so it's easy to get into the mindset that American readers can easily navigate to the recipes required but what about my fellow Europeans that want to learn about classic American barbecue cooking? Well this one's for you guys:

All American Barbecue Recipes

Some of the best food in the world is street food and by nature of where the food is sold, charcoal is often the source of heat for cooking. Whenever I travel to a foreign country it is right on the street where I first look to sample and get ideas.

Tandoori Chicken Skewers on Monolith Kamado

Wherever you travel in the world I hope you find some tasty treats too!

BBQ Menu Ideas For Special Occasions

This section provides BBQ menu ideas to ease the stress levels when it comes to planning those all important special occasions in the family calendar.

The BBQ menu ideas on these pages are specially designed not only to ensure that you have something “different” to cook but also courses that eat well together and cook well, so relieving you of some of the stress. Don’t forget that in addition to the menus you can also supplement with a salad and some dips. In fact dips are a great way to give your guests something to munch on just before the meal, in this way, should anything have gone mildly wrong with your timings then the day is not in jeopardy.

Father’s Day

Les 24 Heures Du Mans

Independence Day

Tailgating The Football Season

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Christmas

General Party Recommendations

My number one recommendation is give yourself plenty of time to plan your menu and once you've decided which barbeque menu ideas you want to go with, make sure you read them through.

There's nothing worse than buying all the ingredients, starting to prepare the morning of your event and then reading "marinade for 24 hours".

Note:- Just ahead of the ingredients list on all my recipes you'll find the timings so read these and then you won't get let down.

As you read through the method statement of any recipe you'll see that you generally assemble the ingredients into a series of sub assemblies with the final assembly being the plating up of the food. Read the method statement critically and see how you can get the majority of the way through the recipe and then put everything on hold.

That way you can cook everything fresh for your guests with the majority of work having been done in advance...that's how they do it in restaurants.

Wash up and tidy as you go, that way it becomes less of a chore. I also find it good to make sure that when all the washing up has been done that the drainer and dishwasher are empty before everyone arrives, that way you have an easy process for dealing with all the dirty plates leaving you free to enjoy time with your guests.