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THE BBQ season is upon us which always makes me slightly nervous because I’ve never been able to master the art of open-air cooking.
Give me a kitchen and a cooker and I can conjure up a pretty impressive Spaghetti Bolognese (providing the relevant tins and jars are in the cupboard) but barbeques have me baffled.
I can’t even light them. I’ve been known to buy out the whole stock of lighters in a supermarket but no matter how many paraffin-smelling blocks I place under the bricks of charcoal they never set alight.
I tried a gas BBQ and what happens? The meat sizzled into toast before I’d even turned my head.
I couldn’t risk it with the delights I’d ordered online from new operator Rastelli Direct Bahrain, which focuses on supplying premium US meat and poultry and the finest seafood from around the world.
The company offers a range of products that consumers can’t easily buy in the supermarkets. Whilst consumers can eat Rastelli items at some 5-Star hotels and restaurants in Bahrain and across the GCC, food-lovers can now enjoy the option of eating the same quality in the comfort or their home.
Fortunately, a couple of my friends are aware of my BBQ-ing character deficiencies and, rather than risk food poisoning (or going hungry), they take charge whenever the Szecowka family throws an al fresco dinner party.
I enjoy watching them in action. I’ve created a bit of competitive spirit by taking turns in praising their culinary skills as I sit in my director’s chair co-ordinating the conversation and sipping a cool refreshing drink as they get hot and bothered over the coals.
But, I’m not being cruel and they have a lot more BBQ-ing experience because they are from Bahrain and Australia. I’d almost go as far as to suggest it’s in their genes and it would be wrong to mess with nature.
I mean, I’m a Brit and what point is there organising a BBQ party for friends in Bristol, an English city constantly covered by dark clouds, where rain falls consistently every weekend?
Bahraini Hussain Al Khalo, the diamond geezer who owns Harmony Jewels, and Aussie air traffic controller Geoff Thornley, were made for barbequing and have probably been grilling since they were in their nappies.
They know their meat too. When I presented my chiller bag of Halal-approved Rastelli Direct products I had defrosted they ‘ooh’ed and aah’ed’ over the meat.
“Feel that,” cooed Geoff as he prodded the beef tenderloin fillet Mignon. “Nice and tender … very, very nice.”
And, once cooked, it melted in the mouth.
Hussain was more taken with the size of T-Bone Choice Angus, each a whopping 16oz (454gm), manoeuvred over to his wife Michaela and suggested they hot-foot it over to the computer and place an order. His beloved suggested it would be ideal for a dinner-party, although Hussain was thinking more about his supper next Thursday.
The boys, who know what they’re doing, placed the boneless butcher’s cut chicken breasts on the flames alongside the impressive ground beef steak Wagyu burgers which sizzled softly and were being caressed as carefully on the BBQ as they had been trotting about and massaged on the glorious green plains of American cattle country.
Our children gave them the thumbs-up!
As reported in GulfWeekly, just popping out for a burger had a whole new meaning at one restaurant in the kingdom after introducing its ‘wow burger’ featuring Wagyu beef at the princely sum of BD49!
Readers will be delighted at the price these prime pieces are available for home cooking, thanks to a special offer available this week … but more of that later.
Quality American meat is at a premium, both home and abroad, with demand at an all-time high and supplies hit because Texas, the largest cattle-producing state, is facing its fourth year of drought, pushing beef prices to record highs.
My eldest son Louis and his sweetheart Helen are on a road trip across the US and have been sending me regular updates on their travels.
They are having an amazing time if their Facebook entries are anything to go by visiting theme parks, casinos and even driving through living, giant trees that have had holes cut in them to allow cars to drive through and they are currently enjoying the sunshine in California.
The only downside to the trip appears to be a dinner date, with Louis posting a warning message to travellers and having a beef at the cost. “If the menu doesn’t have the prices then it is going to be expensive! I found this out the hard way,” he exclaimed.
Helen said: “We were too British to walk out so we sat there and ordered the cheapest thing we could find … $116 for a steak, I kid you not!”
Asked whether the steak was good, she replied: “Excellent … but so it should be!”
The Rastelli Foods Group is a family-owned business that has operated for more than 35 years and its online site has proven very successful in the US.
Rastelli control the entire process, working hand-in-hand with farmers to ensure humane treatment to the cattle and uncompromising quality. Every cut of meat is expertly trimmed to meet the high standards of more than four decades of master butcher tradition and experience.
Rowan Davis, founder and owner of Rastelli Direct Bahrain, is married to Michelle and the couple live in Saar with their three children Tayla, 12, Emily, nine, and Oliver, five.
He has been providing Rastelli products to top-end hotels and restaurants across the region for more than a decade, and said: “The main reason why I started Rastelli Direct Bahrain was because I love American steaks and there are very few places in the kingdom where you can buy them.
“The aim is to provide restaurant-quality food at highly-competitive prices. Along with the convenience of online shopping or calling to order, we drop our products right to our customers’ doorstep in convenient packages, labelled, individually vacuum-sealed and flash-frozen to preserve the incredible taste and quality.”
Already the service has received more than 2,000 likes on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RastelliDirectBahrain) and feedback from customers has been ‘really positive’, he added
“We are committed to quality and strive for 100 per cent satisfaction on every purchase. Should any item fail to meet customer expectations, we guarantee a full refund without question,” he added.
Online shopping for food is relatively new to Bahrain but delivery driver Roshan has become a familiar sight travelling to compounds across the country in his delivery van.
Currently, all products are delivered frozen but the company is going to provide customers the option of receiving the food chilled (ready to cook) in the coming weeks.
As well as the range of US meat available (I’ve kept my seafood order of wild Scottish salmon portions in the freezer to share with my beloved wife Kathryn on her return this week from the UK because I have such a big heart) more goodies will be arriving later this year. The company will be introducing Organic USDA-certified steaks, King Crab legs, Dungenes King Crab clusters and spinach and Feta cheese sausages, along with a range of American Cheese Cakes to the list.
l Below are this week’s introductory prices of the products sampled at my BBQ party (GulfWeekly readers will get 20 per cent off too). Check out https://rastellidirect.com.bh
– USDA 8oz Black Angus Filet Steak (BD4.990 each)
– USDA 16oz Black Angus T-Bone Steak (BD5.990 each)
– Wagyu Kobe 6oz Beef Burgers (BD1.500 each)
