Two Tribes Campfire Presents ‘The Bellord & Brown Experience’
Saturday October 3rd was the day of the Two Tribes Campfire ‘Bellord and Brown’ experience at Woodfire Camping in Petworth, owned by the amazing Stella & Griff.
On arrival we were treated to a huge selection of Two Tribes craft ale by the Chief Justin Deighton before commencing a foraging expedition which included two hours of walking through mixed terrain including, pine forest, deciduous forest, open rough, field and farmland. It had just been raining so perfect conditions for a mushroom hunt. We were not disappointed. A rich selection of fungus was on show from ‘chicken in the woods’ to birch boletes, amanatia muscaria, tawny grisettes, russila, false chanterelles, beefsteak, driads cap, and even regular field mushrooms. We sampled ‘jack-by-the-hedge’ and yarrow, alehoof and spruce needles, beech nuts and acorns all interspersed by the shrill calls of greater spotted woodpeckers in the canopy above.
The walk culminated back at the campsite were the chefs had prepared an interesting selection of snacks for the participants to ward off hunger before the main event.
During our walk the mighty ‘Asado’ was primed and fired up! Asado is an Argentine form of slow cooking over charcoal, similar in theory to a bbq, however, way more technical. The people behind the flames were Tom and Ana of Country Fire Kitchen.
The night was introduced by the hilarious and charismatic compare Julian Brown of Treewood Harvesting who without him none of this would have been possible, maximum respect!
The dinner kicked off with a first course cooked by writer and chef Genevive Taylor. A delicious selection of New Forest wild mushrooms smoked over the most insane creamy smelling pear wood then complimented with a sauce flavoured with whisky and black pepper and served with a charred crostini. This course set the tone for the evening with smoke, char and of course whiskey!!
Once the plates were cleared and the revellers calmed down, the second course was well underway as it had been cooking in the Asado for hours already.
The second course was conceived and implemented by the talented Neil Campbell head chef of the Otto lenghi’s Rovi and the dish was a celeriac shawarma in ‘fire cooked pitta’ and fermented chilli sauce. I think most of the guests would agree this this was a revelation! Clever, fun and very very delicious!
Each course was paired with excellent wine from the incredibly knowledgeable Italian sommelier from Passione Vino in London who did an amazing job of matching the complexities of various grapes to the wild flavours of campfire cooking, thank you!!
The main course had been cooking since 9am by Tom, Ana 7 Julian and was finally served around 7pm after hours of skilful perseverance and impeccable timing the local black faced lamb was ready for the diners complemented by local Maris peer mid potatoes and ratatouille with a Jus made from the bones and a side order of estate muntjac deer for those who couldn’t stop themselves.
It’s our turn to promote the onset of autumn by showcasing some of England’s finest figs cooked over a ‘portico’ in fig leaves and herbs until they were caramelised, we made a granola from oats mixed with Alexander’s, sunflower, sumac and chia seeds. Served atop a dollop of oat creme fraiche, fig leaf oil and a lemon verbena syrup, and finished with oregano (risky but it really worked!!).This drew our first ever event to a close and we can thank everyone involved enough as it was a resounding success for everyone involved and I think the campers got quite a treat!
Thank you and we hope to see you all again!
Jason and James,
Bellord and Brown.
