Anyone can learn to cook outside over a fire with this inspiring guide to setting up an outdoor kitchen, featuring practical tips and 80 recipes from the award-winning chef of Hartwood in Tulum, Mexico.

Chef Eric Werner cooks nearly every dish served at Hartwood over wood fire, without gas or electricity, and when he’s not at the restaurant, he’s making delicious meals for his family, grilled in his own backyard outdoor kitchen. In this book, Werner shares the secrets to and recipes for simple, unrestricted, foolproof outdoor cooking in a way that reimagines the way you cook at home. 

Whether you already have a grill or have never cooked outdoors before, The Outdoor Kitchen provides all the tools and inspiration you need. Featuring step-by-step blueprints for constructing your own outdoor kitchen plus variations and modifications for store-bought grills, this handbook shows you how to build a high heat quickly and achieve a perfect sear. 

All the recipes are straightforward, with just a few ingredients and simple methods, for dishes that emphasize fresh flavor and the magic of wood-fired cooking.

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“The simple, silent, elegance of cooking with fire is a summary of our craft that takes us to the true realm of taste and living.” — Francis Mallmann, author of Mallmann on Fire
 
“This is my favorite way to cook. Eric captures the joy of grilling outside over an open fire—how it intimately connects you to nature, to the seasons, and to your ingredients.” — Alice Waters, Chez Panisse