It’s the weekend, there’s two straight days with no work to look forward to, and there’s not a cloud in the sky.

It must be time for one of our favourite summer activities – the barbeque.

So why do we look forward to a good barbeque so much? After the cold winter weather, it feels good to get out in the garden and enjoy the outdoors – and there’s nothing quite like eating outside to really make it feel like summer.

Food always tastes better when it’s cooked on a barbeque. It’s never the same cooked under a grill. And we always seem to overdo it when we’re shopping for a barbeque. We eat more adventurously. Diets are ignored for the day.

And to balance out all the meat, we even start piling our plates high with salad. Why? Not through guilt, but because it looks so colourful and tasty. The sunshine seems to bring out all the colours in the food, and we enjoy eating so much more than if we were to eat the same things indoors.

An Excuse For A Get Together

A barbeque is also a much more social event than any other kind of meal. We may invite family and friends round for a meal if there is a specific occasion to celebrate, such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, but a barbeque is probably the one meal where there is no particular reason for it to happen – other than the fact there is good weather!

It’s also much less formal than a meal where we sit up at the table. We dress casually, we relax and enjoy ourselves more, and nothing is expected of us except to have a good time.

Children are much more involved as well. Because a barbeque takes place outdoors they can play quite happily and be watched by the adults – so long as they stay clear of the barbeque itself.

Traditionally this is also the main meal where the men do the cooking and give the ladies a day off. This doesn’t apply to all households of course; many men are extremely good cooks and do their share during the week. But it’s a nice meal for a couple to prepare together, with one organising the salad and bread baskets and the other cooking the main meat and fish dishes.

We all enjoy our long winter evenings curled in front of the fire, indulging in a hot chocolate. But nothing beats the enjoyment of having a good barbeque surrounded by all your friends and family.

Even if the burgers do get a little burnt round the edges.