Turkish chicken wings, grilled on skewers over charcoal

Tenderise tough meat by pounding with a hammer, or with an acidic marinade of yoghurt, lemon juice or vinegar, or with an enzymatic marinade made with onions.

Coal or wood barbecues give a smoky flavour; on gas or indoors, maximise charring to make up for the lack of smoke.

To smoke indoors, place a small vessel of oil among the cooked food, drop in a red hot coal and cover quickly for about 10 minutes. Stated to be bad for health; open the windows.

Cook by radiant heat only. A metal grate conducts heat into the meat, which dries it where it touches and makes grill marks, so remove the grate and cook the meat on skewers floating directly over the charcoal.

Once the coals turn white around the edges, spread them in an even layer and lay the skewers across, shortening the grill's depth with a sideways skewer if needed.

Flip every 60 seconds until cooked through and well charred.

Mix the yoghurt, red pepper paste and paprika with the olive oil into a bright red slurry.

Add the garlic, sumac, pul biber, Turkish oregano, black pepper and salt and mix.

Find the bump on the joint between flat and drum and slice on the flat side to separate each wing in two.

Work the marinade into the wings by hand, squish them well and rest at least 2 hours or up to 12.

Thread about 10 wings onto a flat skewer with the flats facing up or down rather than between the two bones, spread apart, and cut a couple of slits in each side right before grilling.

Grill over white hot coals, flipping every minute or so, spritzing or pouring a little water on any flare-up fires, for about 8 minutes until browned all over.