Wedding catering at Upper Court near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire - Whole roast lamb

Well 2 lambs actually - one feeds 45 - 50, and as this was for 105 (including more vegetarians than I have ever seen before) we did two
Although you can only fit one pig on to the roasting machine, you can fit two lambs if you fit the legs over each other.

Lambs, as always, came from Home Farm, just a couple of miles as the crow flies from where they were being cooked and served. I was up at the farm just after 6am. I carried one lamb down from the meat hanging room and Mickey, the farmer, took the other down the farmyard to the butchery where we attached them to the spit, just before he set off to the Stroud farmers market. Bit of early morning weight lifting is always good.
Must of been good - there was a long queue for seconds so there was only a little bit left which I carved up and left in the fridge for their picnic the next day.
Another good beneift of hanging the lamb (2 weeks for these) as well as the flavour and texture is the skin dries out, so as it roasts you get the most tasty crispy skin. One of the guests came over to where I was carving to get some of it (the rest I was putting in the chafing dish which the party angels served from) - it's the lamby equivalent to pork crackling.
Because there was a lot to get through I started carving as the Party Angels were taking out the starters (half and half parma ham salad & peppered goats cheese), then, as they cleared the kitchen tent, I took the lamb through to the marquee and carved it on the dance floor while everyone looked on - if you are having a whole lamb you do actually want to see it - it does make quite a spectacle.

Desserts - choice of 3 (pre ordered amounts)

Chocolate and 3 nut torte

(Hiding in the background)
Cheese - with St. Kennelm, St. Eadburgha & St. Oswold from Gorsehill Abbey Farm Broadway along with Blacksticks blue
Strawberries and cream - the all time wedding classic