Today, a large air mass from the direction of Australia has brought calm weather, and since it’s Sunday, I plan to spend the day doing things  I enjoy for the first time in a while. I have a lot of interests, but I no longer feel like rushing outside to do something as I used to. On  quiet days like this, my approach lately is to take it slow, make something delicious, and enjoy it with my family. First, it’s time to look for ingredients, but since it’s a rare day off, I just want to relax. The simplest choice is to get some  good meat and cook it over a simple grill. With that plan in mind, I start by preparing the firewood.  I light the manuka wood brought from the apiary. With a large gas burner we use for disinfecting the beehives, even slightly damp firewood  catches easily. Then, I let it burn down until there are no flames left.

While waiting, I cuts in the thick beef with a knife, then sprinkle it generously with rock salt and rub it in thoroughly. In the outdoor grill,  which I built specifically for barbecuing, has the flames from the Manuka wood I lit earlier have died down nicely into a perfect bed of coals.  I place a wire grid called an excluder designed to prevent queen bees from passing through on top of this. It’s repurposed but works perfectly for barbecuing.  All that’s left to do is flip the meat once on each side, and it’s ready. When grilling a large 5-7 kg roast, I use a homemade electric rotisserie, but since it’s just the family today, I’m grilling two 1 kg steaks  instead. This is a routine dish for me.

On a calm, pleasantly sunny day like this, I truly appreciate the blessing of good health that lets me enjoy these quiet moments.  Soon, the juices begin to rise to the surface of the meat, so I make a 2 cm incision into the thickest part to check its doneness. If it’s cooked well,  put charcoal to an iron pot, then cover it. I save this charcoal to use next time for grilling fish or other dishes. I leave the meat on the  firebrick grill for about 20 minutes in the residual heat, which helps spread warmth evenly throughout. This is my secret to cooking great  grilled meat. I use manuka wood as firewood, as the smoke it produces has an exceptional aroma. Around here, smoked products like  bacon are even labeled “smoked with manuka wood” and sold at a premium. I’ve made bacon at home before, and the manuka smoke  brings a wonderful fragrance. The slight acidity from the unique manuka smoke perfectly enhances the flavor of meat dishes.