Albies BBQ Feast Night! May 2020

Last month we took over Albies café in Carlton, with a Pop Up BBQ Feast Night. It was epic. The Fire Cage was lit early in preparation for all the majorly delicious cooking that was to be sent out that afternoon. Ed cooked his speciality de la maison, Porchetta – stuffed with garlic, sage and N’djua, cajun wedges and slaw.

He began by butterflying the pork belly, sourced locally, then filled it with the N’djua, mashed up garlic and fresh sage. He then it rolled up and tied it with Butchers twine, before scoring, salting and oiling the meat. It was then placed rind down onto the standing grill for 20 minutes to get it crackling. The Smoke Box then came into play, heated up to 180c and cooked for 90 minutes. Once it came out the box, he wrapped it in foil and allowed it to rest for 2 hours before slicing up and serving. Bloody gorgeous.

This dish is massively tasty and something the whole family will enjoy. If you haven’t used N’djua yet, you’re missing out – we love it so much we are devoting an entire blog to it very soon! But Porchetta is amazing in any setting, as a Saturday night BBQ, as your Sunday Roast, or its equally delicious cold for lunch with salad and slaw.

Ed has also cooked in on the Rotisserie on the Fire Cage – which looks great as a very impressive party piece when you have friends round for the evening. It tastes equally delicious this way, but takes much longer to cook. But the smell and sight of it cooking and crackling up is absolutely salivating!