COOKING outdoors over embers is mankind's oldest culinary technique.

Its appeal is as strong as ever, and why not, when the flavour of chargrilled meat is so smokily irresistible?

Summertime is barbecue season and barbecue gear seems to become more sophisticated every year. The complexity of variable heat settings, adjustable vents, moving shelves and flavoured charcoal is a far cry from where outdoor cooking began, yet its roots are not forgotten everywhere: a friend of mine, just back from a trip to Argentina, swears he has found the way forward. He has discovered the asado.

I thought this was basically a big barbecue, but you won't need charcoal or fancy equipment. You need a fire made of wood and a metal grille to place over the hot embers. The other essentials to arm yourself with are excellent steak, which they do as well on the Argentinian pampas as we do in Scotland, and lots of Malbec.

The original asados were born of necessity: cattle herders and travellers started camp fires in the open to cook their sausages and steaks. Traditionally the asado fire is a large rectangle, with a hollow middle, providing hot and cooler areas. Vegetables, warmed cheese and black pudding are served first, while steaks and sausages cook longer. Would a gaucho approve of my asado in my garden this summer? I am not sure. Is it fun and tasty? Certainly.

GRILLED MARINATED STEAK, COOKED OVER EMBERS

Recipes serve 4

4 steaks about 130g each, for additional details see step 1 below

2 dessertspoons of Dijon mustard

1 dessertspoon of vegetable oil

1 or 2 banana shallots, depending on size, peeled and sliced in very fine rounds, the leaves stripped off several sprigs of thyme

Coarse sea salt flakes

Method

1 Step one involves selecting the right meat. I would strongly recommend avoiding meats which must be cooked thoroughly all the way through. For safety's sake, minced meats are best avoided. Traditional asados would always involve sausages in some form, which of course are a minced meat. To serve these safely, you must be sure the meat has been cooked through. Black puddings, chorizo or sausages - more like breakfast-links style - are all normal for the asado, so you could always cook them in the oven first before finishing on the fire to flavour before serving. A steak, which may be served rare, however, is probably perfect. Going from the least expensive to the pricey, you could select from rump, sirloin, or fillet. I would suggest a slim slice about one centimetre thick, weighing about 130-150g each.This will provide a steak for each person which is relatively quick to cook and which will allow heat to penetrate safely.

2. Making the fire correctly is essential, as is selecting a sensible location away from danger. To be authentic, you should make it out of wood, but of course the asado police are not going to arrest you if you choose to add some charcoal to move things along a little quicker, or for extra heat. Either way, you cannot cook over flames so do allow the time for licking flames to die to hot glowing embers. Then, place a brick at each end which will support a metal grill above the embers. Allow this to heat a little before placing ingredients to cook on it. Having a pair of long-handled tongs to turn the meat is helpful due to the heat.

3. To prepare the steak: combine the mustard, shallots, thyme leaves and oil in a small bowl and mix together thoroughly. Spread about one third of this mixture lightly but evenly over the meat then leave to marinate for an hour or longer if you wish, reserving the rest of the mixture for later.

4. Cooking the steaks is a simple procedure: when the fire has burned down to a very hot bed, brush off the excess marinade from the meat. Season and place the steaks on the hottest part and sear until a dark brown crust is formed. Try to avoid the temptation to lift, prod and check the meat every minute. Place the meat on the grill and leave for several minutes then turn over onto the other face to repeat. When done, place each steak on a serving plate and smear with some of the reserve mustard mixture, if you wish.

GREEN SALAD WITH WARM CHEESE AND CHORIZO

Traditionally, cheese may be warmed on foil plates at the edge of the asado to spoon over the meats or to nibble with salad as an informal starter while the meat is still cooking. This idea just brings together those opening nibbles into one dish to serve before or with your meats.

1 large or two smaller round soft leaf lettuces

100g mild cheese, eg provolone

150g of cooking chorizo, outer skin peeled and removed

For vinaigrette

2 teaspoons of English mustard

1 small shallot, very finely chopped

1 teaspoon of sugar

2 tablespoons of cider vinegar

120ml olive oil

Pinch of salt and pepper

Method

1. Make the vinaigrette in advance and refrigerate. Place all the ingredients in a jam jar and shake vigorously for half a minute until it emulsifies and slightly thickens, then set aside. Give a brief shake to re-emulsify before spooning over salad.

2. The cheese could be cold and tossed through the salad, or warmed in slices and added to the finished salad, in long warm strings. To warm the cheese, have it sliced thinly and spread on disposable tinfoil plates. Sit this at the edge of the asado for a minute or so until the cheese is soft, then scoop over the salad at the point of serving.

3. Tear the lettuce leaves into manageable-sized pieces with your hands then wash and dry in a salad spinner. Place in a salad serving bowl.

4. Slice the chorizo into rounds about 2-3mm thick and cook under the grill in a small ovenproof dish, so you can collect the peppery oil which will melt out of the sausages as they heat. If you are confident of doing so safely, you can cook these on a disposable tinfoil plate on the asado. Whatever the method, once hot, add the chorizo and the oil which collects in the cooking dish, to the salad leaves with your cheese. Drizzle vinaigrette over and toss quickly and serve at once.