The Bride: “Everybody is still talking about your amazing food and generosity. Thank you for being the perfect ending to our perfect day. Hope you are both well.” Charlotte Hannaford

The Deli Truck was approached by the wedding couple to see if we would like to do the late evening “fun and filling food” for the entire wedding party and a second group of guests who would be arriving later in the evening. The wonderful bride thought we would not be interested in just the late evening food – but for us this was perfect, because of the large number of guests and the absolute joy of the bride and groom at being able to use us. Yes, we are like everybody else – we are totally compromised by flattery…. Normally we would do all the catering throughout the day and into the evening for our weddings but we knew this was going to be fun so we said yes.

Anyway this is what we do best – not traditional sit down three course meals, but super tasty, filling food that everyone loves.

All up we had 160 people to cook for and we devised a simple menu all home made and sourced from local farmers, on a tight budget. When we arrived on site we were nearly mugged by some very hungry guests who knew our food from previous functions and wanted it immediately.  They had to wait a bit, while we did our normal preparation.

Some of the wedding party at the Deli Truck

We decided to serve our two most requested Texas BBQ dishes – our 10 hour smoked pulled pork and our now famous monster burger. You can see how we prepare both these dishes by clicking on the following – Pulled Pork Video – Monster Burger Video.

The party went really well and produced one of our most iconic images from any of our weddings.

The beautiful bride and groom

What a great day and our first really large wedding party for 2017. These guys wanted it all – Just after the ceremony, a groaning grazing table of biblical proportions to start with….  then a couple of hours later the full Deli Truck experience with very generous portions of Texas BBQ and Cajun specialities – all freshly home made i the Deli Truck.

The photos say it all. Thanks Herons Park Venue and thanks Andy and Lea Neaves – great day – superbly foodie guests – and a lovely couple.

Grazing Table for weddings

Deli Truck Grazing table for weddings

The monster Cheese platter.

Shiny Stainless Steel and fresh Brioche Buns – The “Deli Truck” ready to start service

Vegetarian Halloumi Burger from the Deli Truck        

There is always one guest who wants our ½ pound double cheese and bacon burger with extra pulled pork and BBQ sauce on top. We don’t advertise this but it seems word has got around as more and more guests ask for it.

Nicely turned out – and getting her Deli Truck monster burger – A guest at a memorable Wedding in Kent

A happy queue for the Deli Truck at the wedding of the year. Love that dress !!

 

We decided as a treat on the 1st of January to host a small brunch with friends as a “morning after” get together. Planning ahead, we made our much asked for home cured bacon loin*. The end result Bacon and egg butties on fresh bagels.

The bacon curing process started almost two weeks before we needed it. First step was to brine a small pork loin in a Deli Truck original recipe. Our brine is made up of dark muscovado sugar, sea salt, lots of finely chopped fresh bay leaf, a sprinkle of Korean chilli power, powdered cumin, garlic, crushed coriander seeds and fresh ground black pepper.

Home made bacon, with organic eggs on bagels, with HP.

The brine mix was liberally pressed into the surface of the pork loin and then placed in an air and water tight plastic bag – and in the fridge. About twice a day for 9 days the bacon was massaged and flipped over to make sure the brine was distributed equally. After 9 days the bacon was removed from the brine, washed and dried. Then air dried for another two days using the “fan in the fridge method”. Kids don’t do this at home…..

Pork turns to bacon. This is the finished product after 9 days on the brine and 4 days air drying. Even we were a little surprised how good it was.

The flavours were amazing – a little lingering sweetness from the muscovado sugar, the cumin flavour was quite prominent, with a spiciness from the pepper and Korean chilli. Served with lovely runny eggs on super fresh bagels this was a treat for all as we slurped Champagne and Bloody Marys.

The bacon being sliced ready for the pan.

*Our amazing home made dry cured bacon is available to any of our catering clients for brunches, bacon butties, corporate events and anything else you can imagine. Our you can visit us on the farm and purchase our bacon directly from us. As we all know – everything is better with bacon.

Our bacon being sliced. I prefer slightly thicker bacon and the texture you cut by cutting with a knife.

A very quick way to air dry. Using a small desk fan at lowest setting. 2 days makes it dry as paper on the outside but still luxurious and juicy on the inside.

This had to be one of the most atmospheric weddings we have catered for. The venue was Kingshall Barn on the windswept salt mashes of the Elmley Nature reserve on the Isle of Sheppey. The clients and guests are all committed lovers of wildlife and choose a perfect spot for their nuptials. On the day of the wedding even the local cattle were trying to find a place to hide from the stormy winds that blasted across the flat salt marshes. It was like stepping back in time – we half expected Dickens to walk past and nod a reserved good afternoon as he wandered though his favourite Kent landscape.

A large number of guests stayed overnight – Glamping on the grounds.

We set the Deli Truck up in the lee of the barn to protect us from the elements as much as possible. We ended up having to put the salads and condiments buffet table inside the barn, as our famous coleslaw was trying to make a break for freedom in the wind. We produced for these clients a particularly complex menu, mainly due to a large contingent of vegetarians and vegans. We produced a selection of off menu items as well, including sea bass sandwiches and halloumi burgers.

But the photos tell the story the best. It was a great day with really fun and enthusiastic clients.

The great barn at the wedding venue at the Elmley Nature reserve in Kent.

The Bride and Groom at the Deli Truck

Speeches in the Big Barn as the after ceremony party begins to warm up.

We loved the wedding cake – very of the moment and now. Forget those boring old wedding caterers, this is all so much more fun and relaxed.

Many of the guests stayed until the following day – glamping on the Elmsley nature reserve – what fun.

Some of the multi coloured mixers at the bar

The Menu for the wedding. The Deli Truck stayed open until late so guests could come back again and again if they wished to – and many did.

Those damn cows. Looking for shelter on a blowy cold day. This is part of the Elmsley Nature reserve

The Deli Truck

You would not believe the ingredients needed to make our famous chocolate brownies – especially if its for large numbers. We get asked time and time again why our brownies are soooooo good. It’s simply really – the quality and quantity of the ingredients. We use only the best chocolate, butter, coco and  free range eggs. Below is part of the ingredient list for brownies for 170 people for a wedding reception in London.

Some of the ingredients for making Deli Truck Chocolate brownies for 170.

For this recipe (for 170 people) Miri uses three different chocolates. All up 32 bars. Half the chocolate in this recipe is Lindt 70% cocoa solids for a bitter dark taste. Followed by 8 bars of Green and Blacks 39 % cocoa solids milk chocolate, and 8 bars of Lindt Milk chocolate. Then their’s the heart stopping amount of butter – 4 kilos, and 64 free range eggs, then flour and 1.25 kilos of coco powder. We always serve this with lightly whipped Amaretto cream, for this amount we will use a bottle and a half of Disaronno just for the whipped cream. In our small kitchen it will take around 6 hours to prepare and bake 8 large trays of brownies. We have found over the years that the taste gets better and deepens if you cook the brownies 48 hours before they are to be eaten and then store in an airtight container.