{"id":243611,"date":"2026-03-30T17:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T17:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/243611\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T17:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T17:08:07","slug":"a-leading-voice-in-live-fire-cooking-lands-in-orange-county-for-a-rare-appearance-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/243611\/","title":{"rendered":"A leading voice in live-fire cooking lands in Orange County for a rare appearance \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

British live-fire cook Genevieve Taylor<\/a> didn\u2019t start out romanticizing cooking over an open flame, with visions of industry cred or Michelin stars dancing in her head. She started doing it as a practical escape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to be a natural history television producer making wildlife documentaries,\u201d said Taylor in a phone interview from her home in Bristol, England. \u201cThen I had my family and realized I couldn\u2019t travel the world doing that anymore.\u201d At home with two young children, she found the rhythm of daily meals a tad stifling. \u201cI get very frustrated if I\u2019m shut inside for too long, like a little wild cat.\u201d<\/p>\n

So she went outside.<\/p>\n

Taylor began cooking over fire pits in her garden, sometimes with her then-toddlers (safely) helping out. \u201cI wired forks onto long bamboo poles and stuck sausages on the end so they could cook their own dinner,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

That small workaround, an al-fresco reprieve prompted by being cooped up indoors, soon became a career. Big time. Now the author of 14 cookbooks and founder of Bristol Fire School<\/a> (where she teaches live-fire cooking in her own yard), Taylor is one of the United Kingdom\u2019s leading voices in live-fire cooking, the art of preparing food over burning wood or coals.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Heritage Barbecue\u2019s Daniel Castillo headlines Ecology Center\u2019s guest chef series<\/a><\/p>\n

On May 1, Taylor will bring her fiery prowess to Heritage Barbecue<\/a> for a one-night, 42-seat dinner alongside lauded pitmaster Daniel Castillo. The $200, five-course feast<\/a> celebrates her latest book, \u201cHow to BBQ: The Definitive Guide to Fire Cooking\u201d<\/a> and doubles as a fundraiser for scholarships at the Co-Lab Culinary Training Collective<\/a> in Santa Ana.<\/p>\n

Menu highlights will include maple-cured cold smoked bass crudo with lime and tequila, smoked honey carrots with burrata, ribeye tagliata, slow-roasted and pork shoulder, alongside fig leaf custard with walnut meringue for dessert presented, but of course<\/a>, in Eton Mess style.<\/p>\n

Taylor\u2019s cooking resists cliches often shellacked to barbecued fare. \u201cIt certainly isn\u2019t going to be ribs and sweet sauce,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can create food that has incredible nuance, layers of color and texture freshness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RibeyeRibeye tagliata as prepared by Genevieve Taylor who will make a guest chef appearance at Heritage Barbecue in San Juan Capistrano. (Photo by Jason Ingram, courtesy of Genevieve Taylor)<\/p>\n

Her philosophy extends to how she thinks about fire itself. Many home cooks, she explained, misunderstand barbecue as simply high heat. \u201cPeople just burn the crap out of everything because they\u2019re cooking it way too hot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But her work with the flame focuses on control. In her view, fire is not a blunt instrument to pummel meat or blaze it into charred submission, but as a tool, noting, \u201cOnce you understand what fire is, you can control it and use it to cook anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

That technical expertise is central to her new book, which opens with 11 core techniques before moving into recipes. The goal of \u201cHow to BBQ\u201d isn\u2019t so much dish replication as it is culinary fluency. \u201cOnce you\u2019ve mastered those techniques, you can pick up any cookbook and go, \u2018Actually, I can cook this on my barbecue.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At Heritage Barbecue, the San Juan Capistrano institution regarded as one of America\u2019s finest barbecue spots<\/a>, Taylor will put her ethos on full display. \u201cThey just said, \u201cWhat do you want to cook?\u2019 So I\u2019ve come up with this menu, and it\u2019s going to be different from anything else on their menu,\u201d she revealed. (Taylor and Castillo met years ago at one of the Ecology Center\u2019s Community Table dinner series<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

When asked what she\u2019s looking forward to most when she lands in the Golden State, Taylor said she\u2019s especially interested in California\u2019s produce, which she called \u201cinsane\u201d compared to what\u2019s available in the U.K. \u201cAll those things we eat over here, we have to import them, so they\u2019re not at their peak,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Highball and Naisho Omakase open with cocktails in the front, sushi in the back<\/a><\/p>\n

More broadly, Taylor said she sees live-fire cooking gaining traction globally, both in restaurants and at home. Part of the reason, she suspects, is a reaction to our modern age and interferences. \u201cCooking got technical and very digital\u201d over the last few years, she said, adding that \u201cthere\u2019s a bit of a kickback to take it back to basics, taking some fuel and some ingredients and putting the two together.\u201d<\/p>\n

This return, at least for Taylor, isn\u2019t steeped in nostalgia but connection. According to the prolific author and pitmaster, fire is universal, cutting across borders, traditions and trends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a country on the planet that doesn\u2019t have a history of cooking with fire,\u201d she said. \u201dIt\u2019s something deep down in all of us somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

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