Cooking over fire

Cooking with Fire: The Heart of the Blackthorn Kitchen

There is something instinctive about cooking over an open fire.

Long before temperature displays, timers and modern kitchen equipment, cooks learned to read heat through sight, sound and touch. They watched the colour of the embers, listened to the sizzle of ingredients meeting the grill and adjusted the distance between food and flame.

At Blackthorn, that connection remains at the heart of our kitchen.

Meet our Mibrasa Parrilla

Central to our cooking is the Mibrasa Parrilla, a professional open-fire grill designed around one of the oldest forms of cooking.

The word parrilla simply means grill in Spanish, but this is far more than a conventional barbecue. Its cooking surfaces are suspended over a bed of charcoal and wood, allowing Chef Nathan and the kitchen team to raise or lower each grill depending on the ingredient and the result they want to achieve.

Moving closer to the embers creates fierce, direct heat for searing and caramelisation. Raising the grill allows ingredients to cook more slowly and evenly, absorbing the character of the fire without being overwhelmed by it.

There is no single temperature setting or automatic programme. The fire is constantly changing, and cooking successfully with it demands attention, experience and instinct.

Charcoal, wood and flavour

Charcoal provides the deep, consistent heat that forms the foundation of the grill. Firewood brings another dimension, producing flame, aroma and delicate smoke as it burns.

Together, they create several layers of flavour.

The intense radiant heat encourages the natural sugars and proteins on the surface of an ingredient to brown and caramelise. This develops the savoury crust and complexity that are difficult to reproduce using a conventional oven or pan.

As juices and fats meet the hot coals, they create small bursts of smoke and flame. These rise back towards the grill, adding another subtle layer of character. The purpose is not to make everything taste heavily smoked. It is about allowing the fire to become part of the seasoning.

The choice and condition of the fuel matter too. A clean, well-managed fire produces a completely different result from thick, uncontrolled smoke. Nathan must continually judge the maturity of the embers, the strength of the flame and the position of each ingredient.

More than simply grilling

Open-fire cooking is often associated with steaks and large cuts of meat, but the Mibrasa is considerably more versatile.

Meat, fish and vegetables all react differently to live heat. Some ingredients benefit from a fast sear directly over glowing embers. Others need to be positioned further from the fire, where they can cook more gently and evenly.

The grill can also make use of residual heat. Ingredients may be rested above the coals, while vertical cooking beside the fire can introduce warmth and smoke more gradually.

This gives the kitchen control over several different cooking environments at once. One section might deliver aggressive heat and caramelisation, while another provides a calmer space for slower cooking or resting.

Why fire demands skill

Unlike gas or electricity, a fire never remains completely still.

Every log changes the balance. Embers settle, flames rise and fall, and heat moves across the grill. Even the natural moisture and fat within an ingredient can alter how the fire behaves.

That unpredictability is part of its appeal, but it also demands precision.

Nathan is not simply watching a timer. He is reading the fire and responding to it throughout the cooking process. The height of the grill, the position of the ingredient and the strength of the embers can all be adjusted from moment to moment.

It is a more physical and intuitive style of cooking. The chef works with the fire rather than merely placing food above it.

Letting exceptional ingredients speak

For us, cooking over fire is not about covering an ingredient with smoke or creating char for the sake of appearance.

Used carefully, fire does something more subtle. It intensifies natural sweetness, develops savoury depth and creates contrast between a beautifully caramelised exterior and the moisture retained within.

It can make vegetables taste sweeter, bring crispness and character to fish, and create exceptional depth in carefully selected meat. Each ingredient requires a different approach, and the fire must always serve the produce rather than dominate it.

That philosophy sits naturally within Blackthorn’s relationship with land, fire and sea.

We begin with exceptional ingredients and treat them with respect. The Mibrasa gives Nathan another way to express their character—using heat, smoke and flame with control, restraint and instinct.

The living element in our kitchen

Fire brings warmth, movement and energy into the kitchen. It is never completely predictable and no two services are exactly the same.

Perhaps that is why cooking over flame continues to feel so compelling. It connects modern craftsmanship with something ancient and elemental.

At Blackthorn, the fire is more than a source of heat. It is an ingredient, a discipline and part of the character of the food we create.