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Live Fire, Long Memory: Andrew Mace on Hearth Cooking
The Chicago chef on wood selection, restraint, and why the best hearth dishes look almost plain.
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<p>Andrew Mace has spent fifteen years learning that fire rewards patience more than technique.</p><p>"Most people crowd the hearth," he says. "You want one clean bed of oak coals and the discipline to wait."</p><h2>Building the fire</h2><p>He starts with white oak split thin, burns it down for ninety minutes, and only then sets the grate.</p><h2>What he cooks first</h2><p>Whole turbot, brushed with nothing but brown butter and lemon leaf.</p>
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