The language of grilling

by Matt Clark

Tasked with grilling up a big dinner for the group is daunting but a welcome challenge.

It can be inferred that grilling should be simple across international boundaries. In fact, leading up to the event, I envisioned what kind of modern grill I would be using to create the goodness of the night … steak. I had the preconception of the common charcoal grill … or, even going so far as using a gas grill.

So, imagine my surprise when André walked me through the bocce arena to the place where my masterpieces were to be grilled and unveiled a grill arguably older than myself. It used a wood and coal stack on the back to create coals which were then pulled forward, manually, under the grill grates to create the heat.

I had no idea what I was going to do. But, that’s when André stepped in. There was the language barrier because I couldn’t communicate what my stereotype of the grill was in Italian and André couldn’t explain the operation of the grill to me in English. The only thing I did know was 20 hungry mouths needed to be fed and I had about an hour to get it done.

I initiated conversation with André using non-verbal hand gestures in an attempt to make sure I was operating the grill properly. Of course, there was a slight disconnect initially because my hand gestures weren’t really conveying the message. But, André was a sport and started to speak in Italian and use his hands … very slowly. This allowed me to pick up the meaning of the grill.

After getting it started, it almost seemed as if André and I created some kind of grilling harmony as we both became in sync to know when the flip the steaks and when to take them off.

We went from mismatching language and even hand gestures, to being able to communicate by saying nothing at all.

Perhaps the art of grilling is international.