Lighting the way with flavour
Cooking with fire will spark your inspiration
South Africans rejoice! The rest of the world is catching up to what we’ve known all along, that open flame cooking unlocks some of the greatest tastes and experiences you can enjoy with your loved ones. While electric plates, expensive gadgets and air fryers take up a spot in most kitchens, there’s nothing like the back-to-basics, traditional smokey flavours you enjoy with a fire or a gas stove.
Here’s why you should ignite your creativity with a flame-based dish this Easter season:
INCREDIBLE FLAVOUR
Cooking over wood, charcoal, or an open flame adds a mouthwatering smokey depth to food, and the direct heat and slight charing enhances the natural flavours of the ingredients. The intense heat of a fire also causes reactions in your ingredients that give grilled steaks, charred veggies, or crispy-skinned chicken that irresistible depth of flavour that you just can’t achieve with lower heat methods like baking or boiling.
DELICIOUS AROMAS
Close your eyes and you can probably smell it right now. Open flame cooking tends to be very aromatic. The crackling fire, the sizzling of fat as it hits the hot surface, and the smell of food cooking over the flames all contribute to a multi-sensory experience that enhances the taste and the experience. Heat from the fire also helps to release the essential oils in herbs, garlic and spices, infusing the food with a heightened intensity.
SWEET AND SAVOURY OPTIONS
Open fire cooking allows for a variety of different methods, from grilling and roasting to smoking and even baking in a wood-fired oven. Whether it’s a braai in the backyard on a rugby Saturday, a potjie pot on a camping trip somewhere under the stars, or a delicious seafood stew on the beach, there are plenty of options to enjoy.
You aren’t only limited to savoury dishes either, and anyone who has ever been camping knows that s’mores are the ideal fireside sweet treat, especially around Easter time!
120 YEARS OF FAMILY TRADITIONS
In South Africa cooking with flames is not only an effective way to get the most out of your ingredients, it’s a way of life, and it’s one of the most iconic ways we enjoy celebrating with our communities. So when it comes to cooking with traditional methods it only makes sense to celebrate with one of South Africa’s most iconic heritage brands. For 120 years Lion Match has been a part of South African family tradition thanks to their range of safe firelighters and matches, making it easier and safer to celebrate with your loved ones around a fire.
