Friday evening and it was bed early as a busy day lay ahead a wedding we has been looking forward to for some time and we had a fair few miles of travelling to do so an early night was in order, we were up early the next day and the van all packed before 5am an early start but a long day ahead. We drove for two hours and we felt like it was midday not still early morning! The venue was spectacular a manor with wonderful scenery and we were the only ones there apart from the caretaker who let us in. We quickly set about cooking the food, pig, lamb and chicken with fresh vegetables and salads with some wonderful freshly made dips a tall order catering for five hundred but we had everything in hand. Hog Roast Hire were amazed at the beautiful tables all beautifully laid in crisp white and peach all we had to do now was await the bridal party and by time the meat was just about cooked they all arrived. Succulent pork, lamb and chicken were carved and placed onto the serving dishes we placed the meats on the tables along with the baby boiled new potatoes, spring cabbage, peas, carrots and broccoli pots of dips and salads were also dotted about for some guests who had requested salad with the meats. The bride and groom came straight over to us and thanked us which we thought really sweet and we had a good bit chat with them both a charming young couple with the world at their feet. After the meal we cleared away and were asked to have a glass of champagne and a slice of wedding cake, how could we refuse! I must say the cake was wonderful and the champagne wasn’t bad either a lovely day and we felt so pleased it had all went to plan and so relieved the day stayed nice as a lot of the guests retired to the out doors which looked like picture post cards amazing.
Lovely sunny Saturday
Heading north on a lovely sunny Saturday and not a soul in sight! Well to be honest there are not many going to work on a Saturday morning so it was really nice just flying down the motor way with the window open and the nice warm breeze against my face! When we arrived it was still quite early and hog roast like to get to the venue with plenty of time to spare as it takes a good eight hours or so to cook a full pig and a full pig was order of the day. Hog roast hire were catering for an Anniversary and an out door event too in the middle of the countryside and the expected guest list was to cater for three hundred and fifty. Hog roast hire was asked to cook some chicken and beef and we soon had everything under control. To go with the meats hog roast made some nice summer warm salads plenty of fresh crispy lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber all drizzled in a warm herb oil dressing. Hog roast made some potato wedges and potato skins and made some nice yogurt dressings, which taste so nice with the spicy potatoes. The happy couple arrived looking incredibly happy and they had been married for fifty years! We asked what the secret of a long happy marriage was and we were told an argument a day is the best remedy for a successful marriage and we all had a good giggle. Hog roast hire had a great time and the couple were charming and they all thoroughly enjoyed the food. We sat chatting for an hour or so after the event and the couple could tell a good story they told us about all their exploits of being young and the things they got up to and to look at them you would think butter wouldn’t melt! We said our good byes and it really felt like the couple were friends and it was quite sad some times some people do get to you and you meet some terrific people and this was one of those times.
DIY hog roast? You can do it!
I always love it when people come up and have a little chat after another successful hog roast event, and more often than not it is people keen to pat you on the back and say how wonderful; they thought the meat was. In fact no-one has ever come up to and said it was anything but brilliant…but I digress.
The other week I was approached by one lady who had been at the event I had catered for. Before she talked to me, she was having a really long look at my hog roast machine. At first I was a little concerned and thought she had spotted something wrong with it, but every soon became clear.
‘That was quite the best meal I’ve had at an event in years’, said the lady. ‘And you cook the whole thing in this (pointing at the hog roast machine)? Well that’s just brilliant!’
I was obviously very pleased that she loved the food but I could tell that she had only just started and was worried about what was coming next. ‘So, can anyone do this?’ she said. ‘Cook a hog roast in one of these at home, in the garden or such? My husband would love one.’
I had had many people coming up me after events and saying that they’d love their own machine, but this lady was quite serious, in fact I thought she was going to make an offer to buy mine there and then. But what I did do was give her the details of our website so she could look at getting her husband his dream hog roast machine. Anyway it turns out they did indeed buy one and they are loving it, but she did get in touch to say that it did not mean she wouldn’t attend future events! Check hog roast Bristol for future hog blogs like this.
Another busy week of hog roasting
As you know we like to keep you up to date with all that is happening in our hog roast world and we are certainly keeping extremely busy of late. It seems to me that more and more people are developing a taste for hog roast, and whilst that is excellent news for all us hog roast caterers, it means that we are so busy that our feet are hardly touching the ground. Just check hog roast Bristol to see for yourself.
A bit of good weather always guarantees a lot of people at the pubs and with us providing hog roast at a beer festival over the weekend, it really has been quite manic. We actually do like attending beer festivals because you do tend to get people who actually appreciate a good beer and know all about what beer goes well with hog roast. It seems that knowing your hops and your regions helps you understand the beer better. One person was quite adamant that he liked a dark porter style beer with his hog roast roll whilst another insisted that his favourite honeyed beer was the perfect match. To be honest, we weren’t bothered…as long as people loved the hog roast, that was all that mattered.
There were some ciders being served up as well and we have heard from quite a few people that cider is an excellent partner for hog roast, which I guess makes perfect sense as apple and pork have always worked well together. Maybe when I next get a day off (which will be in 2017 at this point) I will try the two together and see what I think!
Beer festivals and hog roast do seem to work well together though, which is good because it looks we have about four more lined up over the summer months! Think I better learn more about those fancy real ales in my beer guide!
Still Pleasant Weather
Not as sunny as the previous two weeks but never the less still pleasant and it is May after all. Hog roast have been west at the weekend to host a very important event the “ladies annual dinner gala” and important event held each year and highly regarded by all Hog roast hire were so pleased when they were given the task of catering for the event and felt sure that after tasting our delicious food they would defiantly be asking us back again to cater again! Well that was our intention and we are confident that we pulled it off! We made a wonderful assortment of food starting with seafood starter in a warm salad with a lovely lemon dressing very refreshing and cleansing on the pallet ready for the main, which consisted of chicken, beef, turkey and pig. Hog roast made some lovely vegetables to accompany the meats and made some dips too, yogurt and lime, chilli and yogurt and a delicious apple sauce all bringing out the flavours of the meats we pride our selves in making the most wonderful potato skins which are quick and simple to make and an added bonus to any meal it really is one of the easiest additions to make and the tastiest! Hog roast hire made a wonderful summer fruit dessert with fresh cream and it tasted superb when the ladies arrived they were totally flabbergasted at the sight of the food it looked tremendous all plated beautifully and then when they sat down to eat the room fell silent as we looked around the ladies then all started to chatter enthusiastically at once and you can guess what about! Yes the food all were amazed at the taste and couldn’t believe the texture of the meat melt in the mouth and simply delicious we felt so proud and knew we had impressed it is always such a great feeling knowing that we did well. We cleared away and left the place immaculate and the lady in charge said we would be hearing from her within the nest week or so to confirm regular bookings we couldn’t be happier…
This year is flying by!
Can you believe it, it is the middle of May already this year is flying really quickly hard to believe to be honest! Hog roast have been inundated with catering requests since Christmas and we have been expecting a slow period but it didn’t happen we are pleased to say. Hog roast hire had a very pleasant weekend out in the lovely sunshine yes sunshine! We were catering for a wedding and it was a rather large affair catering for three hundred guests and we were catering at a cricket club. Hog roast had been asked to suggest an appropriate menu and we were keen to give our thoughts. We suggested doing a sit down lunch and did say that it would be a shame not to incorporate the pig so we thought cream of chicken soup or vegetable soup then delicious roast pork with crunchy cracking creamed mashed potato with green beans, sweet corn and baked parsnip with apple sauce and gravy. We were also asked to cater for four vegetarian guests so Hog roast hire made a lovely nut cutlet with peas, sweet corn, red and green peppers and a lovely yogurt and garlic dressing for dessert we suggested fruit cocktail with ice cream our hosts were more than happy with the menu and on the day so was everyone! The food was exceptional and everything made fresh the day could not have been more perfect! When we left the bride and groom asked all the guests to stand and give us a round of applause we were so grateful and felt so humble we were not expecting that and felt so humble ah we thought that so nice and really felt appreciated and that we had done an exceptional job nothing pleases us more than a thank you it makes our job so worthwhile. Sunday we were out and about again this time a smaller event we were catering for our very dear friend ours co colleagues 40th birthday and she was trying to keep it quiet cant do that with us around! She really did have a fab day we all did her proud!
A Wedding Anniversary
The hog roast team were out on Friday evening for a wedding anniversary at our local three hundred were expected to turn up and well over three hundred did! The menu was simple jacket potatoes with chicken and bacon, cheese and chive and hot chilli mix fillings, we also cooked rows of chicken and lamb and when the meat was cooked we then chopped and prepared the salads. We pride our self’s on our delicious bread buns as well as our wonderful meat, we have a fantastic baker who has been with us for the past 6 months and he has been amazing! On the morning of each event the baker is up at the crack of dawn making us the freshest buns ever and they are second to none. The evening was really good and the food was greatly appreciated a few guests mentioned that they had seen our website and were really impressed and couldn’t believe the pricing and thought there was a mistake as they thought hog roasting would be far more expensive. We left feeling very satisfied and we were so happy that people had seen our website too! As I am writing this piece I have just received a first order via the website very exciting! The first of many I do hope the booking is for a christening and that will be the first christening we have every done, things are really looking up for us!
What a lovely change in the weather spring is here!
What a lovely change in the weather spring is here! Hog roast chef and griddlecouldn’t be happier lately the orders are coming in fast and furious and we haven’t stopped, this weekend in particular has been exceptionally busy starting with Good Friday Hog roast hire set out full of confidence for the day ahead we had been booked to cater for a youth club Easter party and asked to cater for approximately two hundred. When we arrived we were shown where we could set up our machines and had lots of space inside the club, we had been asked to make a selection of dishes and the first job was to get the meat on the go, Hog roast hire placed fifty chicken, and 50 duck onto the machine and with no aid what so ever they cooked nicely, we then got the jacket potatoes onto the machine two hundred in total, when the meat was cooked we shredded the duck and chicken and placed them into tortilla bread added heaps of salad and mayo and placed them onto the tables and offered them as a cold alternative and always go down well. The jackets were just about cooked and we got to work with the fillings Hog roast made chicken and bacon filling with a spicy sauce and offered another chicken and bacon along with a hot chilli sauce along with cheese and onion and tuna and mayo these are by far the most popular fillings we do. Hog roast hire then set about the task of the rest of the food as the guests arrived we flipped the hot plate on and got more meat on the go, burgers and sausage sizzling nicely as we chopped onions and mushrooms we soon had a queue and we started to serve immediately the children had a great appetite everything was gone at the end there was not even a wrap left! But that’s all good we love to see clean empty plates we had a super day with super company and we couldn’t have asked for the day to go any better the children were so chatty and made us laugh, well looking forward to the week ahead busy, busy, busy!
We really thought we had seen the end of it.
We have been busy this weekend and we were not expecting snow! We really thought we had seen the end of it but it seems it is back with vengeance! We got caught in the snow and luckily we didn’t have to travel far yesterday it was a birthday celebration for a lovely lady just a small gathering but still important and as usual we pulled out all the stops. Hog roast were catering for four hundred at the weekend for an annual cricket club general meeting this is the first time we have been asked to do the catering and we are hoping that is won’t be the last! It is considered an honour in our community to be asked and we were so proud! Hog roast hire are out to impress the members of the cricket club and we are sure we will with the array of food we are going to cook. The pig naturally will be the centrepiece and to be honest we could not imagine an event without him he really gets everyone chatting and is the entertainment of any party! To accompany the pork Hog roast are making apple sauce, crackling and jacket potatoes with more than ten choices of filling so we are sure to please everyone’s pallet! We are also making wraps using freshly made tortilla and we are cooking chickens slicing up the meat and mixing it with fabulous sauces these are a great new addition we have added onto the menu and are proving so popular with our customers and since they have been added to the menu we are getting asked for them at each event! We are also cooking some lamb and slicing up the lamb and adding our unique mint sauce and new potatoes and we don’t stop there we are making a selection of salads with delicious dressings. Hog roast hire hope that the cricket club will be a regular event and this will be a most welcome addition to our portfolio business is really booming at the moment and hog roasting is proven to be popular yet again and we are not surprised!
We haven’t stopped!
Hog roast have been really busy this week we haven’t stopped! And did our biggest event in our seven -year history just the other day we were catering for one thousand and it went so well. We are extremely proud and we pulled out all the stops at Hog roast hire and will be remembered fondly in years to come. We were catering for the Boys Brigade Annual event where boys from all over the country gather and special awards are handed out to mark outstanding achievements we were really honoured to be asked to cater and boy did we cook some food! Hog roast cooked burgers and sausages and we popped them into our beautiful freshly baked buns, lashings of tomatoe sauce and mustard accompanied the sandwiches we also made baked potatoes served with tuna filling, baked bean filling and cheese and onion filling these were gone in literally minutes! Hog roast hire made a lovely hot tomatoe soup too and the boys loved this too we had a fantastic time and we really excelled we had never catered for that many before and were used to being busy and catering for a few hundred but a thousand was a first for us and it has made us want more big orders! Next week we are off south for a birthday celebration and this customer is becoming a regular as we have now catered for the past five years for this ladies birthday that is when we know we are doing a good job when customers come back to us time and time again, we are more like friends and the guests are always the same we really look forward to her birthday now and are now starting to presume it will be forever we hope! We have now started to make the lady a cake free of charge of course, for being so loyal and we can guarantee we will come back with other orders as we normally do word of mouth and recommendations works wonders for people like us and we are eternally grateful to our loyal customers/friends…