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A barbie at John Tulloch's comes with a look like of entertainment, in a sooty crust.

And that, he argues, is how it should be. Aircraft carriers masquerading as outdoor grills are an raid on Kiwi culture, and a barbecue without fire is like rugby without rucking.

"It begins to feminise the function. What you will notice is with gas, no-one hangs around, there's no communal gathering. You set light to something and guys gather."

But gas now dominates backyard cooking. Harvey Norman salesman Ian Johnstone also champions charcoal for soup and "theatre", but at least 80 per cent of the barbecues he sells are gas fuelled. And there's definitely an element of, as John puts it, "Look at my red sports car".