Rosie McGlade butters up a very friendly taxi driver so that we can share his secret for the best barbecue ever.
The only thing about Andrew Brown’s taxi barbecue I’m not sure about is the colour – a bright tomato red. It’s eye-catching, but if he’d left this old London cab black, I think people would recognise it more readily.
She’s a special old lady with many thousands of miles ticked up in old London town and Andrew found her after stumbling upon the idea for a new business, having already fulfilled his dream of turning The County in Aycliffe Village near Darlington into a foodie pub.
“Traditional London taxis have to be retired after about 20 years,” he says, “though they’ll actually go on forever if you look after them. I found myself with this dream of converting one into a mobile barbecue with pulled pork and adaptations of favourites from around the world. I loved being a chef, but I wanted to cook in a way that allowed me to meet the people I was cooking for.”
He found his cab and a company which converted it in exchange for permission to use publicity shots of the vehicle. It has two enormous red smoldering metal BBQ pots full of glowing coals and slow-cooked meat. It’s a very cool-looking set-up altogether, here in the beer garden of one of Newcastle’s most cherished pubs, The Free Trade, a landmark between Byker and the Ouseburn Valley. There’s a huge umbrella-cum-sunshield standing over Andrew’s 6ft 5ins frame and a chunky bamboo worktop has been folded out to make a service area.
Beyond, are views right up the Tyne and Newcastle Quayside, where you’ll find Andrew at the Sunday market, weather permitting. He’s a talker and a good listener, and conversation flows at the BBQ Cab Co. “People want to know about the taxi and the food, and then tell me about their dreams, their businesses, their marriages, you name it,” he smiles. “I’m in the best job ever for a man who likes cooking and people.”
A couple of American students come over. They can’t choose between the pulled pork, refried beans and BBQ sauce, or the patatas bravas served in a huge taco shell with black pudding and an egg on top.
“Can we have half and half?” they stammer at last, and for a fiver they get an enormous portion. Word gets around and their friends appear. “What I’ve learnt is to keep things simple,” says Andrew. “This style of BBQ has been around forever in places like Japan. It’s the best way of cooking sinewy pieces of meat, which are some of the tastiest cuts if you give them enough time. They can stay in pots all day to develop their flavour and become tender.”
It’s all so good – the look, the taste, the friendly concept – that you have to wonder if people will copy. “If they do, there’s nothing I can do and I’m fine with that,” says Andrew. “You can lie in bed and have the best ideas in the world, but if worries like that put you off then you’ll never achieve anything.”
He’s also offered to share some of his marinades and rubs, the essentials that will lift your food from the OK to the spectacular. “I’m always suspicious of people who won’t share their recipes,” he says. “What’s in there they don’t want you to know about?
“You can do everything I’m doing here in a slow oven or you can buy these sort of barbecues on a smaller scale. If you give your meat the right rub or marinade and cook it slowly and long enough, you’ll have something very delicious.”
Twitter @BBQCabCo
