Jono & Jules do food & wine

This is melt-in-the-mouth cooking as it starts low and slow for about an hour before a final char over the flames.

Set up your barbecue for both indirect and direct cooking. We used a kamado with deflector plates, but you could also use a kettle barbecue with a small fire in the middle and the indirect cooking around the outside.

Wine suggestion: We often enjoy juicy wines with a lot of barbecue dishes, but because we’re a little obsessed with Northern Spain at the moment we opened a fuller bodied red from Rias Baixas, the Attis Espadeiro. Full bodied and elegantly smooth tannins, a super example of this little known grape.

Chicken drumsticks with za’atar, chopped salad & tahini dressing – serves 4 to 6

• 1kg chicken drumsticks
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp za’atar

FOR THE DRESSING:

• 75g tahini
• 75ml cold water
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed

FOR THE SALAD:

• 400g cherry tomatoes, diced
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 4 scallions, diced
• 200g radishes, diced
• 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• juice of half a lemon

Cut a few deep slashes in each drumstick, then sprinkle with about 3 tbsp of za’atar, the olive oil and a little salt. Toss to coat, then cover and leave in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

To cook you need a barbecue prepped with a small central fire (see intro). Arrange the drumsticks around the fire so they cook indirectly. Shut the lid and cook for an hour, rotating the chicken occasionally.

To make the dressing, put everything into a bowl and whisk until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the salad, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, scallions and radishes. Stir through the olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and black pepper. Spoon onto a platter and set aside.

Once the chicken has been cooking for an hour, move it over the high heat in the centre and cook for another 10 minutes, turning often, until crispy and browned.

Place the chicken on top of the salad and drizzle over the dressing. Finish with a sprinkling more za’atar and drizzle with your best olive oil.

(Original recipe from How to BBQ by Genevieve Taylor, Penguin: Random House, 2026.)