Despite his love of all things fiery and fired up, chef Nico Reynolds doesn't go in for spice for spice's sake.
"I can never wrap my head around why people have hot sauces called 'Ass Burner' or 'Scorch Your Mouth Off' or 'Die a Bloody Burning Pile of Agony'", he tells me. "You want the flavour, you don't want to ruin your food. To me, that's like eating a raw onion or something."
The man knows what's what when it comes to expertly spiced food. Nico has charmed diners and viewers with his Caribbean-Irish cooking, first at foodie pop-up Lil Portie and most recently on his RTÉ Player series Grill Seeker.
Half Jamaican, half Irish, Nico has found his audience by creating Caribbean-inspired food with Irish ingredients, and can be spotted on his Instagram grilling outdoors over hot coals, always whipping up something unexpected and delicious.
Now, he's bringing those skills to our screens in his debut television series All Fired Up, which will see him share his recipes for grilling that every home cook can attempt, be it on the barbecue or in the kitchen.
"There are a few things that you might have to go out of your way for but that makes it worth it", he says, adding that everything else will be typical kitchen ingredients. "I wanted to do it in a same-same but different [way], like cooking the Sunday roast outside, put it all on a barbecue, doing breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"It's the idea of bringing what you cook inside outside and cooking it on a barbecue", he says.
For him, cooking over open flames is instinctive and intuitive, having watched his Jamaican grandmother cooking in this way for years and then travelling the world, from Spain to Argentina and beyond, to hone his own skills in restaurants and kitchens alike.
"The first thing that's always kept me going back is the chance and the ability to start large fire, and just to stare into that", he says. "There's always a connection with an element in that that we don't get in normal daily life."
He says such a way of cooking has become even more attractive to people in recent years: "It's like a convergent thought process where people are keep stripping away what they don't need and finding the things that are primal."
He stresses that getting to grips with barbecuing doesn't have to be intimidating, however, as starting small and simple is exactly how he began.
"It was the start of the pandemic when I moved back into my dad's house and I went down to Tesco for a little kettle barbecue for €25, and I got a chocolate bar as well. Actually no, I didn't get a chocolate bar. I didn't have enough money.
"That's not too extreme [a piece of equipment]. Just start small with something you know how to do already. It could be a burger, could be a sausage, but take your time. There's never any rush. Don't panic around the flame. If you light a barbecue I'm assuming you've got time so there's no need to panic."
His current favourite ingredient to cook outdoors is "probably prawns and fish", he says. "I love grilled seafood. There's just something about it that's so simple. Using charcoal you don't need anything else, just a bit of salt and pepper, or with mackerel a bit of lemon juice. You can eat that all summer."
Barbecuing is undoubtedly an impressive skill, and something many of us wish we were more comfortable with. For a pro like Nico, what does he cook when he's trying to wow?
"If it was a date I'd probably want to be out there for a few hours. A good piece of meat like a ribeye or something, baked potatoes, keep that simple. I like doing something a bit mad. Probably like a grilled prawn salad."
He had to impress while filming as the team had a special guest for episode three: Nico's grandmother.
"It was one of those moments that doesn't happen too often in my life where time completely stands still and nothing else moves", he recalls. "Almost like a surreal painting that you're living in. You're almost stepping out of it and watching yourself. It was pretty incredible."
His ethos of cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner all outside on a barbecue is certainly intriguing, but how can you get used to starting a barbecue up before you've even had your cup of coffee? Nico says it's all about keeping it simple.
"I think it's not really as big a job as people think it is. Get yourself an old pair of gardening gloves or barbecue gloves to work with the charcoal. Get a chimney started and a couple of wax fire lighters, and your fire is lit, you don't even have to do anything."
Watch All Fired Up from Tuesday 14th June at 7pm on RTÉ One.
