At Marble we cook over samar wood and charcoal, never gas. What each fuel gives the meat, and why we smoke in an off-set smoker.
At Marble we cook over samar wood and charcoal, never gas. Samar wood feeds our smoker and sears the ribeye, and charcoal gives steak the high heat for its crust. This piece is about the fire itself: what each fuel gives the meat, when we use it, and why we smoke in an off-set smoker.
Why wood?
Gas gives heat and nothing else. Wood gives heat and smoke. The smoke is the difference: it clings to the surface of the meat, gives it a flavour nothing else does, and over the hours builds the dark layer we call the bark.
But cooking over wood is harder. A live fire does not hold steady by itself: someone has to add wood on time, watch the heat, and know when the fire needs more air or less. That is why the fire at Marble is tended through every hour of cooking and never left.
The difference shows on the plate. The same cut, over gas and over wood, comes out tasting of two different things. Over wood the surface takes a deeper colour and a light smoke, and that is what we want in everything that leaves our kitchen.
It is also part of a culture everyone in the Kingdom knows: cooking over fire. Our aim from the start has been to grow the culture of family barbecue and open-fire grilling for the meat lovers of Riyadh.
Samar wood: what it gives the meat
Samar is an acacia that grows in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula, and many people know it from winter camping trips and evenings by the fire. Its wood is hard and dense, burns slowly and leaves long-lasting embers.
Those qualities matter in a kitchen. Dense wood gives a steady heat that allows long cooking without sudden jumps, and embers that last mean a fire that can be managed for hours.
Smoke needs care. Wood that is starved of air or burns incompletely gives thick white smoke that leaves the meat bitter. A fire that burns well gives a thin, almost invisible smoke. That is why we say smoke without bitterness comes from how the fire is run, not from the wood alone.
Charcoal, and when we use it
Charcoal is wood that has already been burned with little air, so the moisture is gone and what remains is mostly carbon. It burns hot with little smoke.
At Marble we use charcoal when we need high, direct heat. The wood gives a steak its light layer of smoke; the charcoal gives the high heat for the crust. The miso steak is an example: 200g of striploin cooked over charcoal, served with miso cream sauce and a tomato salad.
Why not charcoal alone? It gives strong heat but little smoke, so it does not carry the flavour of the wood. And why not wood alone for the crust? Because a settled bed of charcoal is easier to control when we need high heat for a few minutes.
Our rule is simple: wood for smoke and time, charcoal for heat and crust.
The off-set smoker: the fire kept away from the meat
Our smoking happens in an off-set smoker. It has two chambers: a small firebox on the side where the wood burns, and a large cooking chamber for the meat. Heat and smoke travel from the firebox into the chamber, pass over the meat and leave through the chimney.
That way the meat never touches the flame. It cooks in hot air and smoke, at low heat for a long time, which is what cuts full of connective tissue, like beef chest and ribs, need to soften.
Smoking meat over wood like this cannot be rushed. The brisket stays in the smoker for ten hours, the ribs for eight, and the fire is tended the whole time.
On our menu: ribeye, brisket, ribs
Brisket: 250g of beef chest, smoked for ten hours in the off-set smoker over wood, served with lime and salt flakes. The full story is in “Ten hours over wood” on our blog.
Ribs: one full bone, smoked for eight hours over wood, with lime and salt flakes.
Ribeye steak: 350g seared over samar wood for the flavour of smoke, served with caramelised lemon and salt flakes. Prime rib: 400g of ribeye over wood, with mashed potato, mushroom sauce and kale.
Even the bread goes over the fire: the tortilla for the Korean taco is baked on open flame. And our sausages are filled, hung and smoked over wood in our kitchen, as they have been since 2018.
The same fire, away from the restaurant
Samar wood does not stay at Turki Square. For events of 50 guests and more we bring a travelling kitchen and a wood smoker anywhere in the Kingdom, with a service team and a full set-up, and the meat is carved in front of the guests.
We have worked this way at festivals, headquarters and national occasions, with the Ministry of Energy, NEOM and Ithra among others. The rule there is the same as in the restaurant: same meat, same fire, same standard.
Read about our smoked meat on the smoked meat page and about the cuts on the steak page. Then book your table on the reservations page.
