If you "poke" a beef steak in a "long metal rod" and then you hold it by hand on a fire to cook it, this is called what?
It's grilling in BrE and you could say: I was grilling the steak. The verb is to broil in UK, and according to Cambridge's dictionary it is "to broil" in AmE, but I never heard "I was broiling the steak"; I don't mean it doesn't exist, just telling you I don't know. What do you say in the scenario above, "I'm broiling the steak, and I like to eat it broiled"? or use a different verb and expression? And by the way, I'm interested in informal speech not formal one.
Could you also rewrite poke and give the name of "long metal rod" in your everyday AmE language?
Best Answer
The metal rod is called a skewer. (If it's a bigger rod, designed to hold entire animals and rotate, it's called a spit.)
I would say that cooking over an open fire is called roasting; cooking over a fire on a metal grate is called grilling (or barbecuing, although barbecuing may imply the use of some kind of marinade or barbecue sauce).
Cooking over an open heat source with meat on a continuously rotating spit is called rotisserie cooking.
When meat is on a skewer, that can also be called a kabob, particularly when meat and vegetables are mixed together on the same skewer.
That all said, there is plenty of room for overlap and confusion. One can roast in an oven, or can make barbecued chicken in a crock pot. One can also grill in a frying pan. (Grilled cheese sandwich, anyone?)
Cooking terms are often chosen to indicate the type of heat source, the direction of the heat source, and the dish being prepared.
As for the scenario you described (open fire, using a skewer, no grill or grate), I'd probably call that roasting, although it would be hard to argue for a single, universal "best word" – cooking is simply too diverse for that.