Barbecoa is the love child of Jamie Oliver, and Adam Perry Lang, both well known chefs within the food lover’s world. The venue is split into two, the restaurant, and the incredible butchery on the street below, which is where our event took place.
Having been a big fan of meats, and the arts of butchering, this was right up my street and I couldn’t wait to dive on in. Being it the view of St. Paul’s Cathedral, the butchers is in a prime location for grabbing those all important ingredients for your hearty hangover breakfast on Saturday morning!
Not only do they do delicious sausages and bacon, they run master classes of how to butcher a 170 kilo side of beef, and how to get the best cuts of beef from the carcass. With Marco, our lead butcher, being from the Netherlands, Zach from New Zealand, and Adam from Poland, we learnt a great deal about how the art of butchery differentiates between countries. Even Johnny, the chef from upstairs, came to have a little nose on his day off and to share a few of his cooking tips!
It was clear from how the lads spoke whilst demonstrating that they really do have a love for their job, and live to pass on their knowledge to anyone who is willing to listen. I learnt a whole lot from them including that fillet isn’t actually the best cut for flavour, and the off cuts such as shin make great slow roasting joints if you stuff it full of marrow, garlic and rosemary, then roast it in a casserole dish with some wine, balsamic and shallots and in a few hours you will have one of the most beautiful roast meats nature can provide. Bet you didn’t know that!
Within two hours the whole side of beef and been diced and sliced into more cuts than you can imagine, and left us standing in awe of the skill they possess. Luckily for my plus one and I, we were joined by Paul Green the head Sommelier at Barbecoa, so we were given a class on the best red wines to spoil ourselves with to bring out the flavour of the meats. Such valuable knowledge and a great tasting session!
I really would recommend taking one of these classes to realise how amazing these lads are at their job! I can’t put into words how skilled they are and the passion they omit is more than inspirational.
Disclaimer: This was a press only event.
I'm Squibb Vicious, better known as Haydy!
Happiest with a craft beer in hand, eating til my heart is content or exploring somewhere new.
Here you can read about my adventures!