"I smoke everything..." That's what the tee shirt should say... In fact, that is what the tee shirt will say and it will say it loud and proud as I want everybody to taste what it is we are doing at Boardwalk BBQ - Smokin' at The Normanby, because quite simply it's smokin' hot it's that good.
I want to make it my smokin' mission in this world (well let's start with Blighty, to begin with) then we can start to think global not local and really get the word out there about what I believe all this excitement is about. I want to change people's perceptions as to what BBQ is really about and that it simply isn't a Summer vocation, that it's an all year round event that should be celebrated with that wonderful smoky aroma be it from the woods supplied from Green Olive Firewood like the applewood we use to smoke the free range pork from Orchard Farm or the olive wood whilst we are smoking those whole corn-fed chickens imported from France on a weekly basis and even the huge chicken wings (which if you love wings yet have never tasted smoked chicken wings then wow you're in for a treat as they will blow your mind they're lick-smacking good) and even the lush dark deep flavours achieved using the oak wood when we smoke those specially prepared beef briskets or venison haunch's or my favourite the beef ribs. You may think I am bonkers conkers and wonder what all the fuss is about. But after almost two decades in the food industry and working as a chef at all levels with a number of cuisines especially through my career working with numerous clients as a development chef, I discovered that going back to basics with fire and smoke blew everything else out of the water. Now for me, the most important and integral part of the food is first and foremost flavour. It always has been. I have lost count of the number of how many multi-starred restaurants I have been to where hands down I will admit the food looks out of this world... Literally out of this world it is simply beautiful, gorgeous in fact to lay your eyes on... But then it reminds me of landing a hot date, I mean I am talking about that girl you've fancied for ages and always had your eye and one day you can't believe your luck as she has agreed to go on that date you've yearned for. Only to finally go on that date and discover she is tasteless and bores the pants off you... Yes that's exactly how I would describe some of those meals, gorgeous on the eye, cracking ass, but tasteless and totally mind boggling under seasoned with zero spice thrown into the mix. What I want most and what you should always get from eating my food and this is even before I discovered my love and passion that has put me on this journey, on this mission, is and always has been flavour. Flavour for me is key to everything. Seasoning and spices are what make my world rock. I truly believe that when food hits that tongue it should be an assault on the senses. There should be layers that build and little surprises along the way, there should be additional side dishes which bring new dimensions and compliment what you taste. In this new dawn of social media yes I agree food has to look good. I never suggested it shouldn't. Especially with people tweeting and posting photos here there and everywhere (yes I am just as guilty) with the likes of Instagram and Facebook... But if I eat a meal that looks stunning but lacks flavour then I forget that meal and everything other than the company with whom I experienced it. Now I have been smokin' for a number of years now but only at a very amateur level. Using wood chips and stove tops (due to living in a studio flat of course) and in all honesty thinking what I was achieving was fantastic (which it blatantly wasn't) I mean as far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangst... Sorry, that's a whole other story entirely.... What I meant was that as far back as I can remember I always held America close to my heart. From growing up listening to my Grandfather's tales of when he lived there working as a Sports Correspondent after the second World War, where he interviewed for various US newspapers the likes Mohammed Ali (AKA Cassius Clay the first time he interviewed him and Mohammed the next time round he interviewed him) and the undefeated Rocky Marciano... He would talk endlessly about how great America was and vast and different it was compared to the UK. I always felt, as much as he loved his family, he was at his happiest there watching and reporting on endless boxing matches and other sporting events. This along with his wife, my Grandmother, Nana Dharma who lived and breathed food, especially the use of various spices and herbs is where my passion stems from. I may not have realised back there and then at the time, but this was the roots of where my two main obsessions in life have brought me to. So after my second East Coast to West Coast jaunt Stateside, that started in The Gulf of Mexico on the East Coast of America, up to Nashville, across to New Orleans before dropping in on Texas and completing the belly busting venture on the West Coast in La Jolla and Laguna Beach before missing my flight at LAX due to being admitted to LA County... But that's a whole other story. As you can imagine I ate my way across each State and threw myself knee deep into whatever took my fancy from some amazing street food vendors (mouth watering food from the bizarre to the most amazing cheeseburgers and some of the funniest characters I have ever met along the way) To fine dining establishments (not sure what they made of me ordering up to ten dishes at a time) to hotel bars (where I discovered you can get yourself into all kinds of mischief and mayhem) To holes in the wall (some of the best Mexican scran I have ever tasted) and not forgetting the array of different diners you simply cannot miss nor ignore (with menus that were like encyclopaedias they were that thick and had so many dishes from all corners of the earth) and where in some diners the food absolutely rocked. It was simply unpretentious yet delicious food. I discovered a new love for seafood along the way (and let's just say I had a great evening after devouring oysters all afternoon and going back for another round in the evening) But the one thing that ties this yarn together is that I totally fell in love with and found my passion reignited with what I have been working on for a few years now and that was as you doubt by this point figured out but the low slow smoking process of cooking meats, game and poultry and the totally kick ass BBQ joints from State to State. It threw everything I'd previously known and tasted out of the window. Seriously... It was like tasting food for the first time again. It was like that assault to the senses I mentioned earlier. It changed my entire perception of what I now believed to be the beginning of a new journey for me. I relished every minute of it and couldn't get enough of it. It was like all food I had previously been cooking now seemed dull to me. This was it... This was the beginning of a new dawn for me (rather melodramatic there I know...) I am just trying to put into words how it was I felt and how my senses were reignited and excited like they hadn't been in a long time. I returned with a vengeance. I returned as I said on a mission... Now don't get me wrong here, of course I am not reinventing the wheel here or doing something others aren't already doing in the UK, but my aim is for people to understand and appreciate what it is that we do so that when what we have painstakingly spent hours burning and smokin' so that you'll truly benefit and enjoy that smokin' kick ass flavour more so than ever. In return, you'll get to taste some totally awesome food along the way. We launched the trailer back in September but we had everybody asking where we would be the following week and to be honest we never really knew. Then after a trip to Sial in Paris to meet a whole host of manufacturers that could make our range of sauces and rubs we realised we really needed a base. I mean we were taking basics like pulled pork, but because every Tom, Dick and Harry does pulled pork we added smoked ham hocks into the mix then using the stock from the ham hocks we were making Dirty Deep South Carolina BBQ sauces to mix it with... Adding the smoked pulled pork, ham hock and smoked wild boar sausages to my four cheese Mac 'n' Cheese has turned into our biggest seller. Even when it came to burgers I refused to sell any old crap. I, therefore (painstakingly) took bone marrow and hollowed it out then along with a secret recipe blended it all down and added 10grams into every 7oz burger we made (whether that was a good ol' fashioned cheeseburger or one of our elevated Juicy Lucy or Juicy Lucifer burgers) ensuring that they were simply the best burgers available at these events... But we needed somewhere where we could really go to town with a full on menu covering more than what we were doing at the events and allowing you guys somewhere to come 7 days a week to have those taste buds tantalised. Which brings us round to our latest venture and opening at The Normanby in Putney which will not only act as our base kitchen, it will allow people to be able to come and taste our full food menu. We are smokin' everything here from beef brisket to venison to the best wood smoked pork and beef ribs in London. Through to amazing small bites like our most popular mac 'n' cheese fritters with apple and chilli chutney to bourbon and coke glazed baby back rib starters. Not forgetting, of course, our outrageously good range of burgers as mentioned featuring the likes of our best sellers The Mack Daddy which is topped with a crisp panko crumbed mac 'n' cheese or our Piggy Back topped with 12 hours smoked pulled pork and ham then finished off with the fresh crisp spiced pork scratchings we make daily in house. However, the thing that's got everybody talking is our totally awesome Stateside inspired Smoked Sunday Roasts with Smoked Brisket, Cornfed Chicken and Pork Shoulder Confit all served with goose fat roasted potatoes, maple glazed parsnips, roast root vegetables, sweet potato mash and collard greens (better than I even had in the States... Even if I do say so myself...) and American Popovers (Yorkie Puds to me and you...) It doesn't stop there... We are launching our food to be delivered and available via UberEats and Deliveroo from January. So be sure to follow Boardwalk BBQ Blogs as I will be posting all manner of things from recipes to videos to reviews of products we are testing or simply having a blast whilst smokin' and we want to invite you guys along for the ride so be sure to sign up to our mailing list to be kept up to date and not miss anything...
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