What Is Live Fire Cooking and Why Is Everyone Talking About It

Live fire cooking is exactly what it sounds like. Cooking with actual fire. Not a gas hob with a flame effect. Not a charcoal grill with a lid. Real, open flames - wood and charcoal burned to embers, radiating heat that transforms food in ways no modern kitchen can replicate.

And right now, it is everywhere. Restaurants across the UK are installing open hearths. Food festivals are dominated by fire pits. Wedding couples are choosing live fire caterers over traditional kitchen-based services. The question I get asked most at events is "Why does this taste so much better?" So let me explain.

The Science of Fire

When you cook over live fire, several things happen simultaneously that do not occur with gas or electric cooking:

• Radiant heat: Unlike convection (hot air) or conduction (hot metal), radiant heat from embers penetrates the surface of the meat and heats it from within. This produces more even cooking and better moisture retention
• The Maillard reaction at extreme temperatures: The surface of meat over live fire can reach 300-500C. At these temperatures, amino acids and sugars react to create hundreds of flavour compounds that simply do not form at lower temperatures. This is what gives fire-cooked meat that incredible crust
• Smoke infusion: Different woods produce different smoke compounds. Oak gives a deep, savoury backbone. Apple and cherry add subtle sweetness. These compounds bond to the surface proteins of the food, adding layers of flavour you cannot replicate with liquid smoke or a smoking gun
• Fat rendering: Over a long fire cook, fat renders slowly and steadily, basting the meat continuously. On a gas grill, fat drips onto lava rocks and causes flare-ups. Over embers, it drips, vaporises, and rises back up as flavourful smoke

Fire Cooking Around the World

What I do is not new. It is arguably the oldest cooking method humans have ever used - we have been cooking over fire for at least 400,000 years. But different cultures have developed remarkably different techniques:

• Argentine asado: Whole animals on a metal cross (the cruz), angled next to a fire pit. Slow-cooked for 4-8 hours. This is the technique at the heart of Game and Flames
• Japanese robata: Small pieces of food grilled over white-hot charcoal (binchotan) at extreme temperature. Fast, precise, minimal smoke
• South African braai: Wood fires burned down to coals, meat cooked directly over the embers. Similar to Argentine asado but with different cuts and marinades
• American low-and-slow: Indirect heat and smoke in an enclosed pit for 8-16 hours. Produces tender, smoky brisket and ribs
• Indian tandoor: A clay oven heated with charcoal to extreme temperatures. Naan bread, tikka, and kebabs get that characteristic char

At Game and Flames, we draw primarily from the Argentine tradition but adapt it for British wild game. The combination of centuries-old fire technique with wild British venison, game birds, and seasonal produce is what makes our food distinctive.

Fire does not care about trends. It does not care about Michelin stars or Instagram. It has been producing the best-tasting food on earth for hundreds of thousands of years. All I am doing is paying attention.
- Cai

Why the Revival?

If fire cooking is ancient, why is it suddenly fashionable? I think there are three reasons:

First, people are bored of sterile food. We have spent decades making kitchens more efficient, more controlled, more predictable. And the food reflects that - consistent but soulless. Fire is the antidote. Every cook is slightly different. Every piece of wood burns differently. The food has character.

Second, the provenance movement. People want to know where their food comes from. They want to see it being cooked. They want the connection between raw ingredient and plate to be visible. When you watch a whole deer cooking on an Argentine cross for four hours, you understand exactly what you are eating. There is no mystery, no factory, no hidden process.

Third, the experience economy. People do not just want good food. They want an experience. A fire pit at a wedding is not just catering - it is entertainment. It is a talking point. It is the thing guests photograph, share, and remember. In a world where everyone has eaten at nice restaurants, live fire is genuinely different.

How We Use Fire at Every Event

We travel with a full set of fire cooking equipment that allows us to cook anything, anywhere, without needing a kitchen:

• The Argentine cross (la cruz): For whole animals - whole deer, whole lamb. 4-8 hour cook time. The centrepiece
• Fire pits: For ember cooking - root vegetables, baked potatoes, whole onions buried in the coals
• Planchas: Flat steel surfaces heated by fire underneath. For searing steaks, cooking canapes, and finishing dishes at high speed
• Hanging chains: For cauldrons of venison chilli, stews, and sauces. The ultimate in rustic cooking

Everything is self-contained. We bring the fuel, the equipment, and the skill. Your venue just needs outdoor space. No power, no kitchen, no plumbing required.

Live fire cooking is not a trend. It is a return to something fundamental. The best chefs in the world are building their restaurants around it because it produces food that is simply impossible to replicate any other way. And the best events use it because nothing else creates the same atmosphere.

If you have never tasted food cooked properly over fire, you are missing out. And I mean that.

- Cai