Magazine: Tour de grill

There is still a grilling boom happening in the world, not only new techniques and foods enter the spotlight, but the number of grill cooking-themed restaurants is growing all over the world, too. These places are already using more expensive tools and equipment, and this trend can also be detected in Hungary – informed Gábor Nobl, managing director of Landmann Hungária Kft. According to him, the new trend also has to do with the growing popularity of street food.

Grills are becoming more complex and larger in size. The latest trend in catering is the use of offset smokers and Kamado grills. According to Erika Nagy, METRO Hungary’s head of communications, food preparation technologies keep changing and perhaps BBQ is the domain where the changes are the biggest, thanks to the international experience of chefs. BBQ is kind of a lifestyle – reckons Ms Nagy. Just like in the case of every popular style, it has its own development cycle. Innovative solutions keep appearing in the market, e.g. the combination of charcoal and gas grills, ceramic grills, compact smokers. More and more companies manufacture such products, and they also offer several accessories with these.

In the last few years grills/smokers/garden kitchens changed the most in terms of design – revealed Nikolett Szentesi, marketing manager of Tectona Grandis. The features of grills didn’t really change, it was rather consumer demand that increased for professional, high-level grills. Her view is that more and more people are ordering grilled food in a restaurant or try to prepare them in their homes. Zoltán Kiss, managing director of Dajar Kft. explained that grilling food in front of guests isn’t only a visual experience but also increases trust. Not to mention the fact that the good smell has a positive experience on the appetite of guests.

As regards grilling equipment: restaurant owners like to buy heavy-duty, durable devices that can be cleaned quickly and easily. The best grills are made from stainless steel and polywood. Mr Kiss is of the opinion that today every restaurant owner knows the difference between grilling and BBQ: the fundamental difference is in cooking length and temperature. Both cooking methods have their own devices, although the two overlap to a certain extent. If any restaurant owner wishes to start this kind of cooking, it is enough to go to Dajar Kft. and they will provide them with everything they need, also keeping in mind the style of the given restaurant when making a recommendation.

Mr Nobl told that everyone starts using a simple and fast grill first, and as a next step they move on to BBQ equipment, which require more experience. Landmann Hungária supplies restaurant owners with special charcoal that burns longer and smoker chips made from different types of wood. It is needless to say that we can find a large number of accessories in their portfolio, from meat patty shapers to salt bricks. METRO’s own brand is ceramic grill Tarrington House XL, which combines four different heat treatment methods: smoking, grilling, BBQ and oven. The wholesaler’s specialists pay special attention to keep improving their cooking and smoking techniques, so that they can share their experiences with others at the METRO Gastro Academy. Although basically anything can be prepared on a grill or on an iron cooking plate, accessories can make the process much easier. There is no cooking ingredient for which no practical food preparation utensil exists.