Smells like ‘Straya:
Why BBQ facilities make all the difference By Grantlee Kieza, Industry Reporter
Succulent steaks, sizzling sausages, and fried onions. That sweet smell of smoke wafting above food and flames. It is the same sort of aroma that has been making mouths water since man first added heat to his dinner at the dawn of time - and thousands of years later the barbecue remains a staple of outdoor life. Hotels and resorts offer all sorts of luxury enticements, such as heated pools, day spas, and state of the art high-tech gymnasiums, but the humble hotplate might just be their hottest ticket of all. Loni Hammond, from Kellys Beach Resort at Bargara in Queensland, said the barbecue had always been a major attraction at her property. “Cooking outdoors is an activity to bring people together,” she said, “and we have always found our barbecue facilities to be very popular. “Families love to cook and talk alongside each other out in the open air, and we often have groups of families using the barbecue area to maximise their time with each other.
Image courtesy of Greenplate
“Having barbecue facilities and the space to allow people to cook and eat outdoors together also helps to differentiate us from other accommodation choices which don’t offer barbecues.’’ Whether it’s by the rolling surf, in the crisp, cool chill of the high country or under the everlasting stars of the outback, the barbecue brings families and friends together like few other activities. As pale meat darkens to brown and sometimes even black,
men and women with the tongs poke and prod, turning their delicacies into their meal-time masterpieces, as oil, onions and garlic fry. The smells bind people together like glue. Australia’s First Nations Peoples cooked on open fires for thousands of years. Captain James Cook and Joseph Banks recorded meeting Māori cooking on fires during the voyage of the Endeavour in 1769. The fondness among
AccomNews - Spring 2020
The campfire was long the meeting place for Indigenous Peoples and later for stockmen and shepherds travelling, camping and working their way through the great outdoors where there was a ready supply of tasty meats. Modern hotels and resorts take the barbecue many steps further with advanced yet still relatively
Image courtesy of Christie BBQs
Image courtesy of Christie BBQs
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Australians and Kiwis for meals cooked outdoors recalls a deep connection between nature and our past.
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