July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. I like to celebrate with a backyard barbecue (of course) and by giving my husband an extra BIG hug (eight years ago, Ron and I met on Independence Day). This holiday weekend, Ron fired up the Weber. Over the years, he’s honed his skills and can serve up anything from a delicious hamburger to a flaky pink salmon to a tasty ear of corn. When we bought our first grill, we both assumed that anything involving that clunky object was his job. But according to Julie Reinhardt, author of She-Smoke: A Backyard Barbecue Book, it shouldn’t be.

In Neanderthal days, men hunted, but woman were in charge of “fire tending, tool making, and food preparation,” she reminds us in her introduction. “And if early woman was the keeper of the fire, then somewhere, deep inside, you know just what to do.” For women who are unable to access those ancient instincts, Reinhardt walks readers through the equipment, fire-building techniques, and tons of mouth-watering recipes. And if careless forest management and the disastrous state of our meat industry make you cringe at the idea of burning wood and cooking beef, take heart. This is a green barbecuing book. Mindful cooking permeates the pages, including information on animal welfare, grass-fed meat, sustainable woodchips and charcoal, and a list of resources.

Reinhardt makes a clear distinction between grilling and barbecuing (although the book covers both topics in detail). When Ron plays chef, he’s not “cooking with wood, slow and low, with indirect heat” (Reinhardt’s definition of barbecuing), so I suppose he falls into the grilling camp. But he is from North Carolina and can talk the intricacies of vinegar sauce vs. mustard sauce with the best of ‘em, so I bet one day he will experiment with this method of cooking. After reading Reinhardt’s book, maybe I’ll venture there with him.

She-Smoke: A Backyard Barbecue Book by Julie Reinhardt (Seal Press; $16.95)

• Tags:
• Food
• grass-fed meat
• green barbecuing
• Julie Reinhardt
• She-Smoke

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