For us, barbecue season, like any other season, is an opportunity to experiment and refine techniques, flavours and textures; and to do so together! But when we question the kids about their strongest childhood memory, their answer is often those days-stretched-into-evenings when the grill was lit, a glass of wine was poured and the backyard lived up in a jingle-jangle of games, cooking, the scent of fire and laughter.

But what does one put on the barbie then? Well, the answer is actually the same as in any kind of cooking: whatever your heart desires!

We have enjoyed grilled meat from reindeer, deer and elk with fantastic results, it all comes down to how to treat your produce. The leaner the meat, that is the lesser the fat percentage; the higher the heat needed, and the shorter the time on the heat. But: it is vital to let the meat rest properly. Contrarywise, porkbelly, which is high in fat content, can be placed over the dying embers and left until the next day. In the same way we who live on the west coast of Sweden usually wrap in foil whole mackerels, which have lots of natural fat, and place on the afterglow until the next morning; lunch prepared with absolute minimum effort! Just toss together a salad of some dill- and butter kissed new potatoes and soybeans!

Everything you normally fry in a pan can be grilled. You just have to pay a little extra attention to how you prepare and cook your products. Hamburgers, for example, must be left on the barbeque a little longer than you think, so as for the surface to have ample time to caramelize before you flip them. If you are going for fish instead, better with high heat to quickly acquire a grilled surface and then turn it over. Fish, in general, is perhaps the most difficult protein to barbecue, but get yourself a grill stone, an old baking tray or another flat surface that can take high temperatures. Oil it thoroughly, toss your protein on and close the barbecue lid. This way you get the fried surface and a touch of smoke, but the fish holds together.

If you favour seafood and want to put them to the barbecue, it should be over high heat and for a short time. Rubbery seafood isn't what we're going for! Some melted butter drizzled over crab claws on a baking tray, some smoke chips, and put over the lid a few minutes; so so good! Or why not gratinate your mussels or oysters, giving them some of that fragrant wood scent; a superbly delicious touch!

We talk a lot about the smokiness here, and for us it's precisely this, together with the high temperature, which lends barbecuing such charm. But if your barbecue is driven by gas or electricity?

Depending on the type of grill you have, you can place a small foil form between the burners and the grid, and throw on some wooden chips which will produce the acquired smokiness. You don't have to purchase barbecue specific wooden chips, just bring a juniper branch in from a forest walk, or chip down one of the branches salvaged while pruning the apple trees in spring!

What kind of wine then, pairs well with a barbecue? As we mentioned earlier in the text, the temperature is significantly higher when grilling, which is why the caramelization of the product is more prominent, often resulting in us choosing accessories with slightly stronger and/or sharper flavours. More acid, more sweetness, more pepper, more saltiness than we otherwise might use, so we need something with a lot of character in the glass to match our food.

Syrah, for us, is the ultimate grape for pairing with barbecued dishes. There is a spiciness, a certain freshness, a little roughness from the tannins as well as prominent fruitiness and berry notes in most Syrah-wines. There's often also a floral note and a slight smokiness, which in combination with a barbecued dish, propels the experience to another level. Then depending on what you decide to grill, how you go about it and what side dishes you prepare, you can "add" grapes to the mix if needed. "GSM", as you might have heard of prior, stands for "Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre". They are three classic grapes from the south of France, which are blended to different proportions, depending on the geographical location and the philosophy of the producer. But GSM is a style you can experiment within, depending on whether you want more toughness (more Mourvèdre), more sweetness (more Grenache) and so on.

If you're craving a glass of white wine, dare try an oaked Chardonnay with your meat, fish, vegetables or seafood, the prominent Maillard effect of a thorough caramelization marries perfectly with oaked Chardonnay. It is a completely different experience when combined with barbecue, compared to tasting the wine on its own, so even if you are somewhat sceptically inclined when it comes to oaked Chardonnay, have a go! Just like with all wines, oaked Chardonnays greatly variy in price, style and quality, so you have to try and taste a few to find out what suits you, including how much you want to spend on a bottle. A little tip from us is oaked Chardonnays from South Africa, which often have a wonderful combination of freshness, minerality and oak.

And as with all cooking: experiment! Dust your steak with salmiak powder, open a semi-sweet Riesling to accompany the meat, gratinate your mussels with cheddar cheese, involve the kids, fire up the grill on a rainy day; great deeds always start with someone daring!