It’s my favorite time of year. As the weather finally starts to cool down, we break out our fire pit to host family and friends for evenings of great food cooked over an open fire. This is also the time of year that we turn our attention to foods that only seem to come around once a year.

There are many debates in the food world that will never be settled: who has the best barbecue; if chili should contain beans. One debate in my mind reigns supreme: New York- versus Chicago-style pizza.

Mention “Texas Barbecue” to anyone these days, and brisket will likely come to mind. Though it seems that Texas barbecue and brisket are synonymous, this wasn’t always the case.

While the Carolinas are divided by statehood into North and South, they are even further divided when it comes to barbecue.

You would think with a name like Oktoberfest, Germany’s most famous festival of food and beer would actually take place in… October. Instead the festival starts on the third Saturday in September and ends on the first Sunday in October, which means this year’s festival will begin on September 17th. So you have one week to plan a celebration of your own Oktoberfest, and it helps to know its fascinating history.

Argentina seems to be best known for the soccer players that it produces, but it is the country’s heritage of cooking with fire that really draws me in.

If you’re a Kansas native like I am, you probably feel like you know a lot about beef. You have your favorite cuts, your favorite way to season them, and you take a hard stance on how you like your steak prepared on the scale from rare to well-done.

In my experience when our customers first see the traditional wood-fired oven on the patio of our teaching kitchen, their first question is typically, “Is that a pizza oven?”

In KMUW’s brand new seasonal commentary and podcast, Cooking with Fire, All Things Barbecue’s Josh Cary and Chef Tom Jackson begin their global exploration of barbecue close to home.