Why we still cook over charcoal

Gas is faster, cleaner and cheaper. We have tried it twice and gone back both times.

Every year somebody asks why we do not move the grill over to gas. It would be faster to light, cleaner to run and a good deal cheaper by the end of the month.

The answer is that a koobideh cooked over gas is a different dish. Charcoal gives you a dry, fierce heat that seals the outside of the skewer before the fat has a chance to render out. Gas is wetter. The meat steams a little before it browns, and by the time you have a crust the inside has gone past where you wanted it.

So we light the charcoal at half ten every morning, and one chef stands at it for the whole of service. It is the hottest job in the building and nobody volunteers for it twice in a week.