The new-style Scottish barbecue

Meanwhile, your pink Himalayan salt block has been heating on the stove and now, sizzling hot, it's in the middle of the garden - or kitchen - table. Everyone strolls over to throw slices of the venison you got at the farmers market on to the block, and sits down to enjoy and discuss them together.

Conversation centres around how wonderfully the meat is seasoned by the natural salt and the crushed new long Indonesian peppercorns you've discovered at the deli. Someone decides to throw on some ripe cherries to see if they will add a hit of sharpness and acidity to the salty, gamey meat. The engagement with the food is palpable. While you wait for the massive cote de boeuf to cook on the gas barbie, fired up with lava coals and applewood shavings, you're drinking deliciously smoky dirty lemonade, made with chargrilled lemons. The music's on, the claret is flowing.

It's raining outside, but who cares? Just throw up the portable marquee or put up some brollies.

You might think this a world away from the old routine of the men tending the flames and charring steaks and burgers to within an inch of their lives, while the women stay in the kitchen buttering the rolls, and you'd be right. Welcome to the new style Scottish barbecue, better known as wild dining, where conviviality is way more important than what's happening with the weather or who's in charge of the barbie.

Enjoying the flavour of the freshest local ingredients - including masses of vegetables - cooked in the open air at any time of the day is "a massive movement in Scotland right now", according to the Glasgow cook and food stylist Fi Buchanan and her chef friend David Craig, formerly of Clyde Valley Tomatoes and now business development manager with supplier Ochil Foods.

They call it the "meterosexual barbie", where women are happy to do the cooking while the men do the prep and look after the kids, and there's none of the primal possessiveness of the flames. And it can happen at any time of the day. "You can have Saturday morning breakfast done on the portable or gas barbie or salt block," says Buchanan, formerly of the popular Glasgow deli Heart Buchanan. "The availability of different ways to do al fresco cooking makes it easier to be as whimsical as you wish. It's the ultimate fast wild dining and although of course it's all about flavour it's also about creating memories centred on food. It's actually quite Proustian. You don't have a barbecue on your own; it's about clan, not individuals."

The pair were happy to demonstrate this cultural culinary shift with an impromptu barbecue in Buchanan's back garden last week. Craig brought his gas barbecue complete with lava coals and applewood chips (both are essential for a gas barbie, he says, in order to get that chargrilled, smoky flavour). He also sourced a Himalayan salt block from Salt House (around £25), which can tolerate the highest heat and retain it for around 45 minutes. They are reusable too, though you should resist the urge to put it in the dishwasher. Cooking this way helps everyone connect with the food they're eating.

At the other side of the country, chef-proprietor Derek Johnstone of The Golf Inn, Gullane, agrees there has been a cultural shift when it comes to barbecues. "Everybody wants to cook outdoors at the moment, and eating al fresco is very on-trend," he says. "With stretch tents and marquees, the weather no longer dominates the conversation; it's the food that takes centre stage, and the more locally sourced the better."

Johnstone bought The Golf Inn 15 months ago to do his own thing after amicably leaving Chez Roux at Greywalls, where he was head chef. He is still in close contact with Michel Roux Jr, and cooked al fresco with him in a marquee at Taste of London last month alongside other top chefs such as Simon Rogan and Dan Doherty and their proteges. Johnstone cooked Glenkinchie smoked salmon with Gullane seabuckthorn puree, Aberlady samphire, raw fennel and haggis fritters.

At The Golf Inn he's been cooking barbecue meals throughout this week's Scottish Open at Gullane, and reckons simple burgers, hot dogs and steaks are still the most popular, though he uses the more unusual cuts such as shortrib, featherblade, Jacob's ladder, pork belly and pork neck.

In all these cuts, the fat content makes for the best barbie cooking. "The best barbecue food requires slow cooking," he says. "Accompaniments such as fresh, zingy salads and slaws help cut through the fatty, rich meat. So pork belly brioche with spiced red cabbage slaw is delicious, as are whole fish like plaice and sea bass stuffed with rice, caper butter and golden raisins.

"If it's fresh ingredients freshly cooked, you can't beat it."

New this year are glazed pigs, whole lamb legs and spit roasts - old-fashioned, rustic cooking designed for sharing. "People don't want pretentious food, they want great flavour, great value, great produce.

"Ten to 15 years ago we'd have struggled to get so much of the fantastic local produce we can source today from farmers markets, farm shops and butchers. That's the real culture change. Good ingredients make it cooking al fresco so much easier."

Fi Buchanan and David Craig's new style Scottish wild dining:

Steak and chargrilled veg

We used a ribeye on the bone. Cooking a thicker steak "a point", or medium, is easier than cooking thinner steaks. Allow the steak to come to room temperature and season generously with coarsely ground pepper and good-quality sea salt like Hebridean sea salt, plus a little Scottish rapeseed oil to get things going. Grill for around 3-4 minutes on each side, or to your preference. Don't turn the steak until it comes away freely from the grill. Allow to rest somewhere warm for 5 minutes at least. Carve across the piece in thick wedges, adding a little more salt if need be. You can also top with a flavoured butter to add even more flavour - try mixing crushed pepper, wild garlic, parsley or chopped rocket through softened butter.

Slice the vegetables and have them sitting in a tray ready to go. Drizzle with rapeseed oil and a little salt. Cook in batches of each type of veg, and don't turn too often so you get the good bar marks. Once they're all cooked, layer them on a large plate and drizzle with a little more oil and a splash of lemon juice.

Serve with good bread, ripped apart.

Langoustines with chilli and lime butter

Stun the langoustines in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Get the barbecue as hot as it will go, and put the langoustines straight on. Close the lid and leave for around 4-5 minutes.

When cooked, you should just start to see the juices flow from the fish. Serve immediately.

To make the butter, first char some red chillis on the barbecue - it's handy to do this in batches and keep them in the freezer.

Blitz 3 red chillis in a food processor and add the juice of 2 limes. Mix the chilli through softened butter, add 1tbsp fresh chopped coriander or rocket and season with ground peppercorns.

Derek Johnstone of The Golf Inn, Gullane

Barbecued saddleback pork belly in brioche buns

Serves 4-6

1.3kg saddleback pork belly

3 tbsp Hebridean sea salt

2tsp star anise powder

2 oranges, zest only

2tbsp soya sauce

1tbsp Szechuan peppercorns

Half tsp Chinese five spice

200ml rapeseed oil

Brioche buns

30ml milk

11g yeast

18g caster sugar

210g T55 strong flour

3 eggs, plus extra for egg wash

4.5g salt

100g melted butter

4tbsp black onion seeds

Chilliboo jam

250g red chillies

250g red peppers

500ml cider vinegar

300g caster sugar

Red cabbage salad

100ml red wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, crushed

3 blades of mace

300ml rapeseed oil

2tsp Arran mustard

Half a red cabbage

A pinch of salt and pepper

On the day before eating, score the pork belly skin with a sharp knife. Mix the salt, star anise, orange zest and soya sauce and rub into the scored pork belly. Marinate in the fridge for 12 hours.

The next day, start with the brioche buns. Gently warm the milk until it reaches approximately 35C (use a digital thermometer). Add the yeast and sugar and stir until dissolved.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer with a dough hook, mix the flour, eggs and salt. Once combined, add the warmed milk mixture, knead for 10 minutes then incorporate the butter.

Allow the dough to prove for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size. Knock the air out of the dough and roll it into eight equal-sized balls. Prove again until the balls double in size.

Set the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

Brush the dough balls with egg wash, sprinkle with the black onion seeds and place them in the oven for 10 minutes.

To make the chilliboo jam, blitz the chillies and peppers (except the green stalk) in a food processor until rough in texture. Place the mixture into a heavy-based pan, cover with the vinegar and sugar and heat gently until thick and sticky. Allow to cool and put to one side until needed.

Meanwhile, to make the red cabbage salad, bring the vinegar to the boil and add the garlic, mace, rapeseed oil and mustard. Slice the cabbage thinly and drizzle with the hot vinegar mixture. Season with salt and pepper and set aside until needed.

Remove the pork belly from the fridge, wash off the marinade and pat dry. Slice the pork into thin slices and cook on a preheated barbecue for 10 minutes per side. Using a blender, blitz together the Szechuan peppercorns, five spice and rapeseed oil. Use this spiced oil to brush the pork belly while it's cooking.

To serve, half the brioche buns and spread the chilliboo jam in the middle. Top with the pork belly and finish with the red cabbage salad.

Barbecued summer peaches with homemade granola

Serves 4

4 peaches, halved and stoned

40ml whisky vinegar

40g soft brown sugar

40ml olive oil

A handful of basil

Granola

70g butter

150g honey

350g porridge oats

4g salt

Vanilla ice-cream

250ml semi skimmed milk

125ml double cream

2 vanilla pods, seeds scraped out

85g caster sugar

2 eggs, yolks only

First, make the ice-cream. Bring the milk, cream and vanilla to the boil then pour the hot liquid over the sugar and egg yolks. Return to the pan and gently heat until it reaches 83C (use a digital thermometer). Leave to cool then churn in an ice-cream machine.

Meanwhile, preheat the barbecue to a moderate heat. Drizzle the peaches with the whisky vinegar and brown sugar and cook on the barbecue on both sides until soft and tender.

To make the granola, melt the butter and honey in a heavy-based pan over the barbecue. Add the oats and salt and cook until golden brown and crunchy.

Serve the peaches with the ice-cream, granola and a sprinkle of finely sliced basil.