Feeding Time at an Archery Shoot

aka Feeding the 5000 about 70

Chef John creates the magic

Ignore the geometric exactitude of setting up the field, the military precision of moving bosses between distances, administering applications, working out the target list, totalling up the scores, the Scottish records broken, the variety of fancy dress … judging by the feedback, one of the highlights of our American shoot on 5 July was the catering. Like a lot of the other work involved with this competition, much of this is thanks to our John Strang, aka Captain Sausage. Just in case you’re not aware of the work John puts into feeding both hungry GA and visiting archers, here ‘s a bit of a round-up.

Any regular attendee of our outdoor Sunday morning shoots will know the first thing John does on arrival is set up his tent. This is of course not just to shelter from the occasional shower (or a brief blizzard as we had at Easter), but to house the table and portable gas burners he’s dragged across the field. He’ll have sourced both meat and veggie sausages, vegan lard to cook the latter, plus red, brown and yellow sauces. The batons to go with the sausages are normally fresh from Partick Lidl that morning, Geo having queued up impatiently for their doors to open at 8 am on the dot. (Hey Lidl, want to sponsor us?) Unfortunately, John cannot feed the masses using miracles, as he is not the messiah (he’s just a …), and all this is provided at his own expense (sausages, lard, sauces and gas), so donations in the tip jars are actively encouraged. Oh, and he occasionally gets to shoot an arrow on a Sunday.

At the American, John’s efforts went into overdrive but at least he wasn’t shooting. First the planning: sausages or bacon in a bun for the judges and field party pre-shoot.  Burgers and hot-dogs with associated buns, plus tea, coffee, soft drinks and sugary snacks for everyone post shoot. In additional another gas burner would be needed plus a gas barbecue. Second, sourcing it all: John had a little help getting the veggie burgers and hot-dogs from GA’s chief vegan, a large pan of the ‘legendary’ veggie chilli was provided, Meredith sourced Syrian pittas (she cleared out the bakers) and Jordan got the cans of juice. But John had to scour the East End’s supermarkets for the rest. However, unlike Sunday sausages, thanks to the Glasgow 2026 Festival grant, John’s financial outlay was covered, and all catering could be provided to participants for free.

John's second favourite archery toy

Finally, setting up and delivery on the day: John had a bit of help, with field party members assisting with setting up the tents, cooking and serving. Altogether this kept the 56 archers participating, the field party, judges and a few supporters too, about 70 in all, going throughout the day … and not just going given the compliments on the quality of the catering received via GA’s social media.

So big thanks to John for all his work and planning in delivering one of the key parts of what made a very successful and well received competition. And let’s not forget his regular Sunday efforts (remember to make those donations). Next up will be the West of Scotland Open we’re hosting on 2 August, although with much more basic catering .. so remember to bring a packed lunch or your own glamping kitchen. Sadly, even Captain Sausage has limits to his powers.

The Holy Chilli pot of Henri - praise his name

... and as there’s been a couple of requests, here’s the veggie chilli recipe.

Ingredients:

• A large onion - diced
• 6 large cloves of garlic - minced
• Olive oil
• A large aubergine – diced in approx. 1 cm cubes
• A large courgette – halved length ways and sliced
• A sweet pepper – quartered and sliced
• 200g of mushrooms - sliced
• A packet of meatless mince (a number of frozen varieties available)
• A tin of kidney beans - drained
• A tin of tomatoes
• Passata or tomato puree (about 200g)
• A large teaspoon of cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (more if you want it a bit hotter)
• Creamed coconut - about 2 cm cube, roughly broken up
• Salt and pepper

Heat some olive oil and fry the aubergine (adding more olive oil as needed) until it stops absorbing oil, softens and starts to brown. Add the onion, fry for a couple of minutes until starting to go transparent, add the garlic and fry for another minute. Turn the heat down a bit, add the courgette, sweet pepper and mushrooms, and fry until mushrooms start to soften and release moisture. Pour in the meatless mince, and if from frozen make sure it has cooked through before adding the cumin and cayenne, stirring them in for about a minute. Then add the tinned tomatoes and passata/puree, stirring them in, and do the same with the kidney beans. Turn down heat and simmer, add the creamed coconut, and salt and pepper to taste. Add water if mixture too dry and then leave to simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Should now be ready to serve (6-8 servings) but recommend making in advance so can be left to marinate for a while and reheated as enhances flavour. Freezes well and I often make double quantities to do so.

If you do like your chilli a bit hotter and spicier, add either chopped jalapenos or red chilies with the courgettes/sweet peppers/mushrooms (or whichever veg you’re using). If you’re on one of those weird carnivore diets, pretty sure you can swap the meatless mince for minced meat.

*           *           *

Many thanks to Henri for crafting the above article and the chilli.