Marinades: The Secret of Great Grilling [Paperback]

Barnard opens this modest paperback with a chart that provides information you will want to keep by the outdoor grill. This comprehensive, nine-page table lists every food you might grill, from burgers and ribs to shrimp, corn, and tofu. It gives the cooking times, proper grill temperatures, and how to know when the food is done. (Shrimp are done when they are opaque throughout; peppers are done when their skin is blackened and the flesh is tender.) Barnard's definitions of marinade, mop, sauce, rub, and paste are helpful when you want to improvise, but why bother when you can whip up any of the 117 recipes Barnard provides. Vibrant with ethnic flavors or traditional American combinations, they offer an appealing blend of intense tastes, efficiency, and variety. In particular, look for Alehouse Steak Marinade, Herbal Balsamic Glaze, and Roasted Garlic Paste.

One of the easiest ways to add flavor to a simple grilled dish is to marinate meats and vegetables before putting them on the fire. Many marinades, particularly those highly acidic, also tenderize tough, stringy meats, making them more palatable. Barnard's book documents a number of these marinades. She offers some creative ideas, including a buttermilk and dill combination for salmon or veal. Barnard sometimes goes too far in suggesting ingredient substitutions; in her Jamaican jerk marinade, she posits that there is no discernible difference between jalapeno peppers and Scotch bonnets. Anyone who has handled a Scotch bonnet pepper knows its firepower outstrips that of the jalapeno. Barnard also includes rubs and pastes, dry variations of marinades. Her traditional barbecue sauces are supplemented with recipes for condiments, sauces that enhance and add moistness to otherwise relatively dry grilled meats. Mark Knoblauch

What's the secret to perfect barbecues? Marinate, marinate, marinate. Unmarinated food is never as tender, juicy and mouthwateringly delicious as food that has been soaked in a subtle sauce before being seared over open coals.

In Marinades, grill master Melanie Barnard provides 75 recipes to enhance the flavor of meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables and even fruits. Internationally inspired, these recipes include such delectable marinades as Adobo, Jamaican Jerk, Sake Teriyaki and Polynesian Passi on Fruit and Rum to tickle palates up and down the taste spectrum. In addition to the recipes, Barnard also offers practical grilling advice and tips on pairing foods with marinades.

Grilling is one of the best ways to add flavor to food without adding fat. As evidenced by the explosive demand for fancy grills, fuels and flammable additives such as mesquite and hickory, today's backyard barbecuing has outgrown shriveled hotdogs and charred chicken. For the legions of Americans hungry for the perfect barbecue, Marinades is the final, most important ingredient.

Melanie Barnard is a food writer and monthly columnist for Bon Appetit magazine. Her many cookbooks include Parties, Cheap Eats, Low-Fat Grilling, and Marinades.