Two golf-oriented breakthroughs in dining

Back in June, an article in the New York Times described a radical-sounding method of charcoal-grilling meat: grill the meat not on the grill but directly on the coals. This sounds insane -- the temperature of the coals can reach 1,000 degrees -- but, having tried it, I can swear to you that you should never grill meat any other way. I conducted my experiment with the old ladies I play bridge with, not my golf buddies, but the technique has a very definite golf application, because grilled meat is a fundamental element of any golf-based lifestyle. The meat I grilled was nothing special -- just great big hunk of sirloin from ShopRite -- but the result was life-changing. Here's what the steak looked like just before we took it off the grill:

I used a non-smoking approximation of my father's old steak-timing method : a cigarette a side. Hardwood charcoal, of course. Ash is not a problem. No, even fatty meats don't burst into flames. And don't talk to me about propane.

Now, dessert. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I took her brother and his teenage daughter to a country fair in a town not far from ours. I was pleased to see that the winning paintings in the art competition were of famous people who are famous partly for having, or having had, a serious interest in golf.

We didn't go to the fair to look at art, though; we went to the fair to eat. And the most golftastic thing we ate was dessert: a slice of pecan pie which had been dipped in batter and deep-fried, then covered with whipped cream, ice cream, caramel sauce, and powdered sugar. And it was on a stick, so, at least in theory, you could carry it with you on the course.

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