Great simple marinades

Different taste sensations that must be balanced to achieve a really good marinade:

sweet, - this can be achieved using honey or fruit juice – sugar is not a great option unless you don’t have an alternative – it is too non-subtle!

sour - from acid – so lemon, lime, vinegar etc

bitter, closely associated with sour for many people, coffee, plain chocolate, beer etc

salty – obviously from salt or its derivatives…

umami has been added in recent decades – this is about a savoury flavour such as soya, ketchup etc – very important for this to be blended into BBQ flavours!...

For most dishes, you also need to add in some ‘piquancy’ in the form of pepper (either chilli pepper or black peppercorns),  paprika (either smoked or unsmoked) and/or herbs and spices to add that unique set of flavours. You need to be careful not to over-complicate matters when it comes to this lot of tastes – a little can go a long way!