Bugsy, I know it's traditional in Oz for the menfolk to gather round the barbie and sink a tinny or two, but it doesn't always happen that way here. My brother likes being the cook, but seeing as he is only visiting from France on average once every 5 years, he doesn't get the opportunity too often. By the way, he had to really hunt around to find a BBQ for his place in Paris. Gas BBQs are not very common over there.

When we have great bunches of people, which is the norm at our barbeques, everybody cooks their own so that it's done the way they like it. In fact in general, John always lets me cook the meat for any meal because I like it a lot more rare than he does. He usually does veges and salads. Works for us!

I like the idea of the sauces. We sometimes marinate our meat before we cook it, but there is always the ubiquitous tomato sauce and barbeque sauce on the table for people to put on their snags (sausages), and I usually cook a big pot of whole potatoes to go with the meat. People bring salads and dessert things to share.

As well as meat, chicken, sausages and vegeburgers, sometimes we might cook a piece of fish with herbs/butter or whatever wrapped in foil, usually onion rings, sometimes veges like peppers, eggplant - anything you can think of really.