Chef Rainford explains how to marinate pork tenderloin. (Photo by MAY CORPUZ)

There's something about cooking outdoors on a hot grill that seems to turn regular men who couldn't fry an egg into highly knowledgeable chefs. Ask them what “braise” means and chances are, you'll end up being met by a blank stare, but tell them about your favorite marinade and you will either be agreed with eagerly or debated with passionately.

Chef Robert Rainford knows this passion all too well. The Jamaican-born and Canadian raised “barbecue-ologist” is a master of French cuisine, but he is more at home in the backyard, grilling anything that could be cooked in the process. Last week, he showed members of the media and the lucky diners at Mandarin Oriental's Paseo Uno how it's done.

Like any good instructor, he asked about people's grilling experiences and preferences first. He then gave a few helpful hints for grilling chicken thighs, Caribbean style. First, he made a dry rub of brown sugar (careful not to burn it!), cayenne, salt, and pepper. All the while, he kept giving pieces of advice about cooking. He said, “Never cook something for your guests without trying it at least three times first! Master the basics and then you can dazzle them.” And when you're talking about chicken, that could mean allowing your guests to enjoy the party without being poisoned, too.

Chef Rainford swears by a certain technique: Always keep two or three parts of your grill in different temperatures. He did this by first grilling the chicken thighs skin side down on the left-most part of the grill, where the temperature was highest. When he was done searing it and locking in the juices, he shunted them to the right, where the temperature was more on the medium-low side. This is important, according to him, to make sure that the meat doesn't turn into juiceless lumps of coal.

Another thing that he loves is creating the perfect grill marks, which is evident in his Food Network Canada and Asian Food Channel show, “Licence to Grill”. Indeed, the spectators were treated to his boy-like shouts of “Look at those grill marks!”

While the chicken pieces were cooking, he began preparing pork tenderloin marinated in stout (dark beer), horseradish, Dijon mustard, onions, oil, salt, and pepper. He recommended keeping the pork in the marinade for about five hours or more, but since there was no time, “Through the magic of television, we will pretend that these babies have been in there for hours,” he quipped.

Like the chicken, he also cooked the pork the “hot-medium low” style, while showing how one could tell the doneness of the meat by using his hands. At this point, the crowd began asking questions about which beer to use in the marinade, what kind of grill is best and if pork could be eaten medium well (yes). HIs most common answer was, “It all depends on your preference,” confirming that grilling is one of the most versatile and forgiving ways to cook.

Watching Chef Rainford grill on TV and in the kitchen could make one forget that he's anything more than a chef who loves barbecuing with his buddies with a pair of tongs in one hand and a beer in the other.

However, he is also a family man and you could see his pride in this. Despite frequently joking that a man shouldn't serve “experimental” dishes unless it's for his mother-in-law, he admits that he loves staying at home and cooking for his wife and daughters. Even though he has a busy schedule with his TV show and a few cookbooks in the works, he loves cooking for loved ones, which he says is a trait that he got from his own mother.

After tasting the tender and perfectly seasoned meat off the grill, one could savor the love and the passion involved in his cooking. Chef Rainford may say that grilling takes men back to their cavemen days, but his work is nothing short of genius.