Spiro Darsinos and Pat Martin from Season 1 of Life of Fire
I know it’s tough to think about cooking outdoors over live fire when the weather is hotter’n the hinges of hell — as it has been for the past month. But dedicated backyard grilling enthusiasts are always ready to fire up some implement of incendiary cookery and are often seeking to learn more about their chosen hobby.
Fortunately, Middle Tennessee is blessed with all sorts of outdoor cooking expertise, and these masters are more than willing to drop their knowledge on anyone willing to watch.
First up is Pat Martin, the absolute powerhouse of a storyteller, live-fire cooking master and restaurateur responsible for nine Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joints, four Hugh Baby’s and two SweetMilk restaurant locations. Along with his business partners, Martin has already introduced the region to whole-hog cookery, Friday-only slugburgers and the little-known fact that a real “cathead” biscuit is actually small, not some giant puma-head-size beast that some Southern restaurants roll out at breakfast.
As much as Martin loves the restaurant business, he also loves to teach, specifically about live-fire techniques. He has already produced two…