May has come in at full speed for the Hog Roast Liss team and, honestly, we’re thriving on the chaos. Summer events are starting to pile up, diaries are filling fast and earlier this month we found ourselves heading over to Oxford Brookes University for what turned out to be a brilliant evening with their hockey club.
The uni team were celebrating the end of the season with an awards night event and, after months of training, matches and probably more than a few muddy away days, they definitely deserved a proper reward.
With around 150 guests coming together to mark the occasion, the pressure was on Hog Roast Liss to make sure everyone was fed well and kept happy throughout the evening. Thankfully, that part is very much our thing.
Olly, our catering manager, was leading the event and got straight to work on the star of the menu: the hog roast itself. There’s something about seeing a whole roast slowly cooking away that immediately gets people’s attention. And before anyone had even grabbed a plate, guests were already drifting over to see what smelled so good.
The pork was cooked low and slow until it pulled apart effortlessly, then piled into soft bread rolls with crispy crackling, sage and onion stuffing and a generous spoonful of applesauce. It might sound like a simple combination, but it’s one that never fails to impress. And judging by how quickly people came back for seconds, it definitely landed well.
To balance things out a bit, Hog Roast Liss also rustled up fresh mixed salads and gourmet coleslaw, which added a bit of crunch and colour to everyone’s plates. We find people love building their own combinations, and playing around with different flavours, which keeps things interesting and exciting as well as inclusive.
And speaking of inclusivity, the non-meat eaters weren’t stuck with “just salad” either. Far from it, actually. Our grilled vegetable kebabs went down brilliantly, packed with fresh mushrooms, bell peppers and courgettes, plus optional halloumi and tzatziki on the side. The BBQ jackfruit sliders disappeared amazingly fast too – even among some of the meat eaters!
By the end of the evening, the atmosphere was exactly what you’d hope for after a successful season – plenty of laughs, lots of stories being retold and more than a few people loosening ties and kicking off shoes under the tables.
Not everyone walked away with a trophy that night, but at least nobody left hungry – which, in our opinion, still counts as a win.