Origin BBQ August: Full Throttle!
- Victoria
- Aug 13
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 14
We're in the thick of the busiest time of year on the UK BBQ calendar - the August summer holiday!
The weather has been overall pleasant and agreeable here in the south, if a tad scorching at times.
Fair weather helps considerably when you are operating an outdoor kitchen with al fresco casual dining; so for these bountiful elements, we are grateful!
With holiday-makers visiting the New Forest and Jurassic Coast, both famous for being "AONB" (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) - folks are making the most of the abundance of outdoor activities here.
Not only that, these people are thinking about BBQ... As we all do when the sun shines!
Happy campers love a laid-back easy spot to eat hot freshly cooked food with the kids and/or the dog. It is our privilege to cook for these visitors along with treasured regulars from the area. Best of all, we use local ingredients sourced from the terrain they love to explore.
FESTIVAL FRENZY
The first weekend of August saw our Head Fire Cook Chris @bignosebbq away at Camp Bestival working with one of the industry's OGs... he's the King of Cater-tainment, he's @DJBBQ!
A week full throttle for Chris - working two roles as a DJ and fire cook at the DJBBQ stage, which is situated behind the iconic Purbeck Hills landmark, Lulworth Castle.
Operating such a food and entertainment business at a major festival means long days and nights, high energy stage shows and the intense heat of fire pits... with limited access to home comforts and a few hours kip in a Transit van.
Exhausting (especially in the height of summer heat) but such a buzz and a rewarding experience to work alongside some of the BBQ industry's most highly regarded professionals.
This year was Chris's forth year in a row working with DJBBQ, aka Christian Stevenson, best selling fire food author and BAFTA award winning TV producer and presenter from the USA.
Meanwhile back home, the Origin fort at East Close Farm was manned by second-in-command cook Rich @gastronaut.bbq and myself, supported by Jake.
Our team put out a menu of Butcher Joe classic burgers and beef chilli dirty fries on Friday, pulled pork on Saturday, along with meaty pit beans with pork belly, which is a Gastronaut special!
BOWLED OVER, WITH LOVE FROM BEIRUT
After a week away, Chris returned Camp Bestival and hit the ground running... full throttle into prepping for another awesome weekend of fire food and fun!
Our plan was to officially showcase our new signature dish, the Beirut Bowl, and this being a peak weekend of the summer holidays, was the perfect moment to do it!
The star of the bowl is our Lebanese spiced lamb, smoked so lovely and tender it just falls apart! Authentic, from-the-heart and popular... with a sell-out on Friday!
Have a look at this clip below, a glimpse at our Saturday smoke-show (hooray, more lamb for Saturday and Sunday)!
DEEP IN THE FOREST
On Sunday the Gods provided! Sunshine, good vibes, amazing people, and an abundance of brand new customers keen to try out Beirut Bowls!
...All these new faces from as far as Essex and beyond came along in their glad rags to East Close Farm.
This wasn't just any old Sunday here, we were all in for a treat - a stunning showcase of deep house music by some famous international DJs of that genre!
The wickedly cool 'Deep In The Forest' was the first event of this nature to be held in our humble yard, with organiser host Phillip Gill of @gillmanaudio along with DJ producer and promotor Gary Ellis running the show.
The yard was transformed into a day party venue for the old school crowd (a category I myself, fit). The barn and snug resounded with pumping tunes courtesy of some all-time master selectors of Deep House music.
We had the honour of @atjazzofficial, @jimpster_gram and @craigsmith67 lighting up the place, (IYKYK), and my goodness what a badass sound system setup they had to blow all the cobwebs out of the barn!
It was so nice to see everyone boogying the afternoon away, 300+ beautiful peeps bringing their good energy and smiles, celebrating all that's great about deep house!
Splendid work, and congratulations to the promotors and whole team who worked hard to make this event a blinding success!
It was wonderful to see a local face we know and love rocking up at Deep House In The Forest. That was, our talented friend DJ, Radio Presenter and Master of Ceremonies, Jay Rachet.
Jay sampled our Beirut Bowl, and became an instant fan!
Another very special thing about Deep In The Forest was the chef we drafted in to help us on the day.
Not just any old chef, a real pro in the fire food game! We are delighted to have him as an extended team member for some of our key event days.
The man we can always count on to bring the expertise for smooth delivery of epic fire food... it's Chris Chops Taylor!
Big love to the master of fires @tbone_chops (we'd have been stuffed without you commanding the grill and fryers), and big love also to our trusty friend, second in command Gastronaut.
Gastronaut was our warrior of Butcher Joe burger crafting on the day, calmly smashing them out one after the other.
THE UPCOMING WEEKEND
This coming weekend we are full throttle again, and on tour! Excited to have our first ever pitch at the New Forest Food Festival.
We are not travelling far. The food festival is set to take place next door to our yard, on the Hinton Events Field.
Please note: Due to our small business operation and the need to focus all of our energies on the New Forest Food Festival, we will be closed at East Close Farm Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
So if you were thinking of coming down to eat with us, please visit us on the field next door. The New Forest Food Festival is a super family friendly event and is always well attended. You can even take your dog(s) along, providing on a lead.
We are just adding the finishing touches to our menu for this upcoming weekend and we have some real gems for you!
We are featuring our New Forest Wild Venison Burger and we cannot wait!
If you're a red meat eater and love venison or have never tried it, why not come along and try it with us this weekend?
You will never taste venison as fresh and local as our venison... because it roams these fields of the Hinton Admiral Estate!
At the New Forest Food Festival you can also expect our delicious low 'n' slow pulled pork and sweet 'n' smoky pork belly bites.
Our popular Butcher Joe's classic cheeseburger will also be available for those who just fancy a juicy local steak burger.
We hope to see you on 16th or 17th August at New Forest Food Festival!
Big Love,
Victoria, Chris and the Origin Team.
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