As a Lincolnshire-based family business, we do hog roast catering, and hire out hog roast machines, all over the area. This morning we were in Cranwell; it’s a little village with an RAF base. There’s a market cross in the centre that looks Victorian but one of the locals told us it’s much older.
We were catering for an engagement party in the function room of a hotel. We got there early thanks to the SatNav and had all the balloons up and the tables arranged in a semicircle as the couple and the groom-to-be’s mother watched. Then we did the finishing touches: bread rolls, serviettes, condiments. The hog roast machine was put in the centre of the semicircle. The engaged woman was interested in the machine. I think she works in engineering, so maybe that’s why. Anyway, I explained how the spit constantly turns, maintaining an even temperature on the meat at all times. This ensures that it’s piping hot all the way through, and extra tasty.
The guests – there were about 40 of them – began to arrive, some of them taking a keen interest in the machine as the bride-to-be had done. Her fiancé told our team that the decorations were perfect, which I love hearing; no matter how many times we get told we do a great job, it’s always nice to hear it again.
Soon after that, it was time for my favourite bit: the carving. As I carved the roast, the succulent juices came seeping out and was filling the air with the roasted scent of hog meat and apple sauce. The roast was served and everyone was clearly enjoying it.
Afterwards, when the meal was over and we were clearing up, the fiancé said we’d done a good job and that it was the first time he’d had a hog roast. He said he and his fiancée how wanted to have a hog roast at the wedding reception. They were considering hiring us for the wedding reception, but they’d already arranged that the reception would be catered for by their friend’s company, which doesn’t do hog roasts. I suggested that he and his fiancée could just hire a hog roast machine from us; that way the machine could spit the hog but their friend’s company could provide the hog roast and do the catering. He seemed really pleased with that idea.
We quickly finished clearing up and restoring the function room to its orginal state, and were soon driving out of Cranwell and off to our next job…but that’s a story for another blog.