Once upon a time, many moons ago, a plague swept the land. Schools, shops and restaurants were closed. People were confined to their houses, where they learned to bake bread, took up new crafts and even attempted to home school their children.
In this environment, a new idea emerged to escape the relentless drudgery, and find moments of joy. Moments that once used to be manifest by the pleasure of dining out. Restaurants began to offer their favourite dishes, packing the components in boxes and shipping them direct to peoples’ homes, where they could be recreated and served once more; a rare treat that offered succour for the cabin fever.
Before long, the plague lifted, people could venture out again, restaurants began to teem once more, and the home delivery box meal began to wane.
Fast forward to the present day, and four adventurous souls have recreated that concept once more, delivering their meal kits direct to the door, reinvigorating the notion that you can have your favourite restaurant’s dishes – served straight from the stove, not congealed in a Deliveroo bag – and enjoyed in front of Strictly Come Dancing.
But there’s more. These boys are on a mission. The dishes they serve are not attempting to recreate fine dining, nor are in the camp of convenience recipe kits and farm boxes sweeping the nation. These are burgers.
Burgers, you ask? As in ‘beef burgers’, that we buy from the supermarket and slap on a barbecue? What’s so special about that? And why on earth do that when the burger craze that’s been sweeping the nation for the last decade means I have a Five Guys five minutes away? No, sir, I don’t get it.
These, however, are no ordinary burgers. Their 100% Hereford Beef is sourced from their local farmer, sure, and butchered locally. But that 100% isn’t fudged either, they are 100% meat. There’s no egg, no fillers, no bread crumbs just two choice cuts of 21 day aged Beef ground fresh every day, and never frozen.
On top of that, their semi-brioche buns are baked locally to their own recipe using their sourdough starter. And then when you add their sauces, how they shape their patties, and their own tried-and-tested cooking methods to create a series of signature dirty burgers, you start to see why they’re winning awards galore. Little surprise, the likes of Tom Kerridge is a fan and they’ve just received glowing praise from Tim Hayward at the Financial Times.
The Beefy Boys’ story is as impressive as their burgers. Founded by four friends — Murf, Dan, Christian, and Lee — what began as a backyard BBQ in Hereford has grown into their thriving restaurants, a bestselling cookbook, and even TV shows. Their journey took a major turn in 2014 when they entered Grillstock on a punt. To their surprise, they won the award for Best Burger, which then led to their entry in the World Food Championships in Las Vegas. Competing on a global stage, they secured an impressive second place for the best burger in the world. Think about that. Is this just a burger?
It’s a story that’s since taken shape in a book, The Beefy Boys: From Backyard BBQs to World Class Burgers covering the origins and techniques behind patty styles like the smashed patty, Oklahoma style and animal style, as well as varying cooking techniques, tips and recipes for their most popular burgers; the Chipotle Boy, the Butty Bach, and the Chilli Cheese Boy. The cookbook also topped the Amazon best sellers on the week of its release, and has since made the prestigious Sunday Times Best Sellers list.
So, how can we try these beefy marvels? Well, that’s the thing. If you’re fortunate to live in Hereford, Cheltenham or Shrewsbury, you have a restaurant on your doorstep. But to get foodie tongues wagging and spread the word, they’re boxing their burgers and shipping them to all four corners of the land. So now they can, quite literally, land on your doorstep, and with selected styles to choose from, including the Cow Boy and Ultimate Bad Ass. For my part, planning for a Saturday night out ‘in’, I went for the classic.
So, how does it fare? Balled patties, buns, bacon and pickles aside, there’s a confection of sauces, seasoning and different cheese slices, all packed ready to go. Suffice to say that it’s the closest thing you can get to trying it straight off the pass. It’s simple to follow – it’s a burger, after all – but the secret to their winning formula is not just in the patty (and the canny sauces that come with it), but the little touches; toasting the buns in the bacon fat, steaming the burger before it’s served – right, I’m not giving away any more! Needless to say, until they open a restaurant in the South East, this is one weekend meal kit I’ll be coming back to.
Now, who’ll be going out of Strictly tonight, I wonder…
For more information about The Beefy Boys, including their range of DIY boxes, merch and their book, please visit www.thebeefyboys.com.
