Don't get me wrong - the smell of fried meat and vegetables in the air is tempting, people around the grill are always so confident and bold. But I stand there and feel like an outsider. Hot coals, an open fire, the need to catch the temperature - it's all stress and chaos, and I like order and control. In the kitchen, I am the hostess, and at the grill, the fire is the boss, and it reminds me that I'm not as cool as I would like to think.

I am always surprised how people can stand there calmly, flip cutlets, joke, drink something cool. And me? I'd rather take a frying pan, melt some butter in it and carefully fry the onion 🧅. Every movement in the kitchen is a small ritual for me, and the grill is almost a battlefield.

And yet sometimes I want to try. I peer into those hot coals and think: "Maybe it's time?" But then I return to my pots, to the aromatic sauces, to the knife that fits perfectly in my hand. This is my world, my element. The grill is foreign territory, and I put up with it. 😌

The kitchen remains a place where I can create, where there is no fear of burning everything to the coals, where every piece of food is a small victory. And the grill... let it remain an adventure for others. 🌿

Marianna