In backyards across the U.S., families gather around the grill to share in their cultural heritage.
When I was a kid, grilling often signaled a rare moment when my moms whole family got together.
We reunited with our far-flung aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
The air sang with laughter and admonishments from adults to Speak Spanish, pobrecito!
Under the blue skies, the grill connected me to my Salvadorean family.
Mario readies the comal, a flat grill popular in Mexican cooking, on the familys back porch.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
Everyone shows up when theres some sort of grilling going on, Jony tells me.
Mario listens and nods, offering instructions about how to help him cook in between pauses in their conversation.
Jony shares that his dad learned to grill from his uncles.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
It reminds me of my own childhood, watching the adults assemble family over food.
The chicken and beef go on the grill first.
Mario cooks them low and slow, flipping them multiple times to double-check they cook evenly.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
Jony places whole white spring onions on the grill, including the stems, and everyones eyes light up.
Theyre so good, Jonys wife Jovanna gushes.
What Marios uncles taught him, he is passing on to his sons.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
When the food is ready, everyone serves themselves buffet-style and then sits at the dining table.
Hot Cheetos are kept at the table, for easy access.
Jovanna is pregnant, the first of a new generation.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
They plan the baby shower over the meal.
He grew up grilling with his family in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The secret to Brazilian grilling is the cut of meat, he tells me.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
If the cut is good, you dont need to season it too much.
He would hang a poster of this diagram in the kitchen, but I sense Debbie might protest.
Plinio pulls a picanha from the fridgeits a dark red slab with a thick layer of fat on top.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
Enough to eat all week, he tells me.
They prefer the charring that builds up with direct contact on a hot grill.
Plinio seasons the meat with coarse salt.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
Most of the cooking happens with the lid closed, so we head back inside.
Debbie and Plinio tell me about Portuguese influence on Brazils food and culture.
They make asparagus as well as rice and beans while chatting.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
He always has rice around, Debbie says.
It goes with everything, he counters.
Every time Plinio opens the lid, the flames leap and he looks delighted.
Simply Recipes / Valorie Castellanos Clark
I see what Debbie meant when she said its too dangerous to grill picanha indoors.
He gives me a big thumbs-up before taking the meat inside.
I join Debbie and Plinio at the dining table, which has a view out to the yard.
One calls to say hello and the other happens to send a text message while we eat.
The smell of smoke from the grill lingers in the air.
Plinio slices up the meat as we ask for servings; it stays warm that way.
Try it without anything first, he tells me, the Brazilian way.
Her oldest son, Ellis, helps by passing her tools, stirring sauces, and closely watching her.
She comes from a Polish family, so her recipes are inspired by what her family cooked.
My grandfather always cooked the sausage in beer, she tells me.
But she doesnt make it the same way.
Instead, she favors lighter and brighter flavors like citrus and herbs.
Potatoes are also a big part of the traditional Polish diet.
Even with these changes, grilling is a connection to her roots.
She grills the watermelon and halloumi first, setting them aside to be cut for the salad.
The twins will try anything, and their current favorite snack is pomegranate arils.
She has seasoned everything lightly, to begin.
Building flavors in layers is a tip she learned from a chef that shes friends with.
Both want to avoid inflammatory ingredients for health reasons but enjoy the flavors that connect them to their heritage.
Shannon and Aaron mostly let the kids run around the backyard and eat when theyre ready.
The casual atmosphere is what makes dinner feel like a special occasion, I realize eventually.
There is ease in the way this family dinesplaying and laughing.
One of the twins offers each of us cans of sparkling water; the other wants to play baseball.
