Five Minutes with Andrew Clarke of Acme Fire Cult

1) So What is Live Fire Cookery?

It’s about cooking over fire, and not barbecuing. What we do is grill, with most of the food we serve being 50-70% plant based. This is not ‘dude food’!

2) How did the name Acme Fire Cult come about?

A bit tongue in cheek really, we essentially ran events and set up in the pandemic when you could only be outside. So we dusted off our barbecues, fire bowls and began cooking in a car park.

3) Many of us make vegetables an after thought when we cook outdoors, how can we change our mindset?

Working backwards, meat takes care of itself, particularly when working with good ingredients. We only work with native herds, so for instance, not much has to be done with say a beef chop that’s dry-aged to create something tasty. What’s exciting about vegetables for me is their different texture and their flavour profiles. Vegetables are more interesting than any protein with their range of bitter and sour.

4) Any simple tips for getting started with outdoor cooking?

The beauty of this type of cooking is to experiment. I don’t use recipe books, I just take a fire and get to know it and understand the flame. I’ve spent 25 years cooking over fire and meditating with the fire to see what it does.

Start simply, with some vegetables, treat them like a steak, for example, put carrots on a tray and roast & experiment. So grilling is a style of cooking that works with chops, steaks, fish and vegetables. Grilling vegetables won’t take long, particularly if you pre-blanch them.

Good ingredients though are the starting point and then just grill, put it in a wood fired oven and let the wood and smoke do the cooking as it’s going to be different from a kitchen. Pair with a sauce, crème fraiche, curried butter and you have everything you need for a delicious dinner. In terms of equipment, my old The Indian fire bowl is my favourite thing to cook on and its very low-tech and inexpensive.

5) Why are you so interested in cooking over fire?

I am so drawn to fire and it’s healing power. Fire has allowed us to keep warm,
sleep on the floor, and evolve. For me, fire is what makes us human. My favourite analogy of the flame is rebirth, both the great destroyer but also a symbol of rebirth. Even with the burning of fields, the carbon goes back to the ground.