'Never use charcoal briquettes. They are the chicken nuggets of the barbecue world — they contain accelerants and chemicals that will taint your food,’ cautions chef and flame-grill expert Luke Vandore-Mackay of the fuel many of us will burn to cook charred offerings over outdoors this summer. ‘What we want is the glowing embers of a wood fire that have burned down to almost nothing.’

Luke is speaking to a group of rapt pupils, all of whom have travelled to High Grange, Devon, his BBQ HQ set in just under three acres in the Blackdown Hills near Dalwood, to attend an Asado Fire Day . We would study the ancient Argentinian way of roasting meat, fish and vegetables on an open fire, which takes time and patience.

‘The whole point is that you do it slowly and that it does not need to be all

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