In many families, grilling and barbecue are rites of passage. Son or daughter reaches the age when he or she can handle fire without disaster. Dad passes the tongs and secret family recipes and a new barbecue generation is born.
Well that’s how it works in theory, although in my family, my mother did the grilling and my father kept strangely silent on the subject.
So in honor of Father’s Day, I asked three barbecue masters what their fathers taught them about barbecuing and grilling. Whether you’re teaching or learning this year, Happy Father’s Day! You’ve earned it.
We never really celebrated Father’s Day, perhaps, because, as the saying goes, every day was something akin to Father’s Day. My Dad was both a simple and extraordinary man who enjoyed a good meal, a great ball game, and being with his family. He was happiest when we were all home in our small upper west side apartment, doing whatever together.
My late grandfather, Daddy Bill, was tall and skinny and uniquely dedicated to his habits and interests. He was a very snappy dresser – I vividly remember a purple wool sport coat that he once wore to Grandparents’ Day at my school, impressing my female teachers enormously – and he loved cars and taking painting classes and going swimming at the beach, even (or especially) when the water was way too cold, even for polar bears. But what he really loved was food. 
Everyone knows that the first thing a father teaches his son is how to roast a goose for Christmas. Especially in a secular Jewish family. But on Father’s Day, there’s nothing more American than Dad, stir-fried duck and Boggle. 