There are road trips for pleasure and road trips for work. This one was technically the latter, but it didn’t feel remotely like it.
Catering manager Sophie, the rest of the Spitting Pig Lancashire team and Penelope – our beloved mascot pig, who travels everywhere with us and takes her role very seriously – loaded up the catering van and pointed it north. Not just a bit north. All the way north. Halkirk, to be precise, which sits at the very top of mainland Scotland, a stone’s throw from John o’ Groats and about as far from Lancashire as you can get without boarding a ferry.
Nine hours of driving. Scenery that shifted from motorway grey to something genuinely spectacular the further north we got. And at the end of it, Morven House – a secluded, tranquil spot in the countryside that felt like it existed in its own quiet corner of the world, well away from everything. It was worth every mile.
Abi and Jamie had chosen this extraordinary setting for their wedding, and 150 guests had made the journey to be there for it. Spitting Pig Lancashire set up quickly on arrival and got straight to work on the Southern Slow Roast Menu – BBQ pork butt, Texan beef brisket and Cajun-spiced whole roasted chickens, with Greek salad, mac and cheese, seasonal veg and a mix of sweet potato and classic fries alongside. Grilled vegetable kebabs made sure the veggie guests were just as well catered for as everyone else.
Then there was the small matter of dessert – which Abi, a baker by profession, had taken entirely into her own hands. She baked fifteen wedding cakes – one for each table – along with trays of cupcakes in more flavours than we could keep track of. It felt less like a wedding dessert and more like a full-blown bakery takeover in the best possible way.
From the first toast to the last dance, everything about the day felt warm, personal and full of energy. Even the weather behaved itself, which is never guaranteed that far north.
By the time Spitting Pig Lancashire packed up, tired but happy, it was clear this wasn’t just another event. It was one of those rare jobs that reminds you how far food can travel – and how many people it can bring together.