Steven Raichlen's Project Fire

Long before there were gas grills and charcoal, before rotisseries and planchas, there was fire. Today's show is all about primal ways to use it. Los Angeles's meat-centric Italian chop house, chi SPACCA, sets the stage with a monster pork tomahawk dusted with fennel pollen and pepper and grilled over almond wood by chef Ryan DeNicola. Next, salmon steaks come-talk about primal-smokily grilled on a shovel over a blazing campfire. Double-thick pork chops are grilled caveman-style: directly on blazing embers, to be finished with a sizzling poblano pan-fry.

The first tailgating party took place in 1869 at a Princeton-Rutgers football game. Picnickers grazed from food arranged on the buckboards of horse-drawn wagons — the precursor of one of America's most favorite pastimes: tailgating. Today the party goes global, starting with lettuce-wrapped, smoked pulled lamb from the wood-burning smoker at Odys + Penelope in Los Angeles. Next, honey soy chicken wings ingeniously smoked on skewers-eat them like lollipops. Brisket tacos, served with avocados and wood-grilled salsa, make a magisterial main dish.

Health-conscious southern California boasts some of the most vibrant grilling in North America. Start with hyper-local ingredients. Add clean bold California flavors and plenty of hot fire and wood smoke. Up first, the classic California fish taco, reimagined with wood fire-grilled, sushi-quality tuna and ember-roasted salsa. Next: char-grilled Santa Barbara lobsters sauced with Caribbean-inspired orange mojo.

In this episode, Steven looks at fundamental techniques that he has used over the years.