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How To Host A Mediterranean Barbecue Bash Like A Pro

If you are planning an outdoor get together for your friends and family, here are some great tips and tricks that will help you barbecue like a pro. Hosting a Mediterranean themed barbecue is an awesome idea for summer. Follow these ideas to impress your friends, deliver an event to remember and have a blast in your backyard.

Trick #1. Embrace The Theme

Sometimes simple is best. To stand out from the crowd, choose a Mediterranean theme to really get your creative juices flowing. Barbecue is universal – it really is done all over the world. Mediterranean themes work great because there is such as wide range of foods to choose from. Mediterranean food is healthy, colourful and strikingly original. This is guaranteed to impress your guests. 

Trick #2. Base Your Menu Around What’s In Season

Mediterranean cuisine is all about using the freshest season vegetables. Once you have your theme, start writing your menu based on locally available produce that in season. You can make sauces a day ahead and start marinating your meat to make it taste better. It’s great to have some variety in the meat you offer as not all of your guests will like everything. You can choose something classic such as Basque BBQ chicken with CCQ sauce, some Basque BBQ beef tenderloin with chimichurri sauce and some skewered shrimp with tzatziki sauce – a Greek cucumber yoghurt sauce. By offering three different types of meat – chicken, beef and shrimp – you are guaranteed to provide your guests will something they love. 

Trick #3. Use The Same Rub For Your Dishes

Many people know they have to choose a theme when hosting their barbecue but don’t really know what that entails. Using the same dry rub for all of your meat is a great way to give your barbecue a nice theme. You can create a really simply Mediterranean dry rub with a half cup each of dried orange zest, chilli powder, salt and black pepper. Food stores are packed full of exotic sea salt and dried peppercorns from the Mediterranean region that you could use. Simply mix these four ingredients together in a bowl to create a great all-purpose rub that will work well on all of your dishes. 

Trick #4. Compliment The Meat With The Sides

Move away from heavy mayonnaise-based sides. A great Mediterranean salad is salt-roasted beet salad with tangerine vinaigrette. This is just off the hook and your guests won’t be able to resist coming back for more. Tangerines are great this time of the year and will really get the juice buds flowing. A peachy white wine sangria makes the perfect drink to compliment the salad. 

Trick #5. Cook Just In Time

On the day of the barbecue, get your flowers, platters and do your tablescapes ready. Using hard plastic plates and utensils is great for outside without the hassle of china. Glass and white plates let the food shine. This puts the food at the center of everyone’s attentions. You may even put labels where everything goes in case someone jumps in to help you at the last minute. The star of the table is the meat and bread – get those going as soon as the guests show up. Make a portion and a half per person. 

Conclusion

These five tricks should help you throw an unforgettable barbecue. Presentation is key so you can always hire a grill, tables, chairs or even tents from a local BBQ catering company if you really want to shine. This menu and approach to cooking should really get your guests into the spirit of the Mediterranean. Good luck and happy barbecuing!