What Brits get wrong about Turkish BBQ – and how to do it properly

There’s a familiar image conjured by the words “Turkish BBQ”. A heaving plate of meat, skewers bent under the weight, rice piled so high it could double as a topographical feature and a smear of sauce trying to hold it all together. It’s the stuff of post-pub mythology – dependable, fast and best consumed half-reclining on a curb.Kemal Demirasal is here to tell you that’s not a real kebab.“In London, kebabs are often about size – how big the skewer is, how much rice comes with it,” he says. “There’s even a joke about kebabs being served on a mountain of rice!” He chuckles, but only just. Because for Demirasal – the windsurfer-turned-chef behind The Counter in Notting Hill – this is personal. He’s on a mission to reclaim the mangal.The quiet fireTurkish barbecue, or mangal, is not a pyrotechnic sport. There are no roaring flames, no frantic flipping, no basting theatrics with bottles of lager. It’s “all about patience and precision,” Demirasal explains. “Mangal doesn’t like flames, it p...