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Meatopia On Fire
Meatopia On Fire is possibly the UK’s best festival showcasing open flame cookery. It pulls in some of the finest chefs from the UK and beyond in a spectacular event held at the stunning Tobacco Dock venue in London. Over four days, thousands of meat and fish-based dishes are served up, while the smoke rolls, the drinks flow, and the music entertains.
I first came to Meatopia in 2016 when I cooked on the Big Green Egg stand. I was fortunate to be cooking right next to Francis Mallmann, the Argentinian specialist, famed the world over.
Why should you go?
Quite simply, you’re not going to get such an amazing array of stunning food cooked over fire anywhere else. The array of chefs and the restaurants, or popups, they represent is second to none.
Yes, it’s not cheap to get in, and tickets can be hard to get. Yes, you have to pay for each dish on top. Yes, the drinks are London prices. Yes, it can be a pain to get there and back…. But, where else can you go, be fed like a king, entertained all day long, and be amongst so many like-minded people! Yes, it’s around £150, but it’s a lot of food and drink. You just have to try it once, or maybe more!
Why do I volunteer?
This year was my fourth year at Meatopia, and my third volunteering as a Fire Chef for House of Charcoal. For the past three years, and maybe longer, Meatopia has been fueled by British charcoal, some of the finest charcoal in the world. James, Head of Fire, from House of Charcoal, and his small team are bolstered by a number of Fire Chefs, people trusted to help the chefs light and maintain their fires, and I’m one of them.
There are several reasons I volunteer and do all four days of Meatopia each year.
- I love Meatopia – there’s nothing quite like it. A beautiful building, great chefs, meat, smoke, fire (see what I did there), and loads of people having fun.
- I love helping people – the chefs may not think they need someone to light their fires when they first arrive, but the vast majority are very appreciative of the House of Charcoal team by the end. Because of this, they don’t forget you, and year after year, they say hi, request you look after them, and become friends.
- I get so many ideas for dishes – some chefs will feed me as a thank you, some don’t, and that’s fine, they have to make a living too. If there is a dish I have to try, I’m happy to pay for it.
- It’s a challenge – I’m the only fire chef who volunteers for all four days. I must be mad. Thursday and Sunday are slightly shorter days, but Friday and Saturday are 8am starts with finishes late into the evening. By the time I have driven there and back from Cambridge, all I do is shower, sleep and turn around to go back. Maybe next year I’ll get a hotel room on the Sunday night and go to the after party, something I’ve not done yet.
An opportunity for Grace
You may have watched our live cooks and seen three so far where we have had Grace join us and cook. Grace is young and is a very talented BBQ cook. She worked with Luke from Highgrange Devon for a year, and that’s where we met her. Earlier this year, she contacted me to see if she could come and help us out.
We’re mentoring her, as best we can, so it seemed like a great opportunity to get Grace to come along, see what it’s all about, and meet some of the people involved.
Let’s just say she did really well. We introduced her to Laura from Boca Loco, someone I have supported in the past, and someone who is always lovely andremembers me. Laura organised her first BBQ festival in Sussex earlier this year, one I’ll have to look out for next year. Grace will be talking to Laura. Thank you, Laura.
Grace also got to meet the fabulous Bab Haus team. Not only did she get to tend their fires all day, but she even got to cook with them! They were so supportive.
Oh, and then there was the impression she made on Rasheed Philips. He was so kind, coming and finding her on the final day to give her a cap and a BBQ rub.
