Dinner Life : The G.O.A.T - Street King Smoke Shack
IN THE FIRST OF A NEW SERIES OF DELECTABLE DINING DIARIES, FOOD COLUMNIST AND FOUNDER OF DINNER LIFE (@DINNERLIFE) DAISY WATSON HEADS OUT TO SOME OF THE COUNTY’S FOOD HOTSPOTS TO SEE WHAT SHE CAN TAKE HOME TO HER OWN KITCHEN
Oh hey, I’m Daisy! I’m a home-cook, gone a little bit ✨extra✨. If you ask me, life’s too short to eat crappy food, so every meal should be a party. I don’t know much, but I know that you can learn a lot about a place and its people by the food they eat.
So, with Dinner Life I’ll be exploring Kent’s ever-growing food scene and getting stuck into the kitchen. I’ll be meeting grub-slingers from all corners of the county and learning about what they’re doing, why they do it and how it’s done! How FUN, right?!!
My first foodie excursion was to Street Kings Smoke Shack, which is now a permanent fixture at Ashford’s Coachworks. Proprietors Tony and Makalla moved to Whitstable from the capital a couple of years back, bringing with them their London-loved food truck. And they’ve been blessing Kent with some solid Deep-South-inspired flavours ever since.
There is no real ‘behind the scenes’ insight I can give you on this lot. Everything you could want to know about them is already out there, served up on the plate. They are a family who love to feed, and feed the love. Every patron is made to feel like a regular, despite only taking up their Ashford residence in July this year.
As the name suggests, Tony’s love of the smoker comes from a very real and enthusiastic passion for the tradition of BBQ. This is a guy who has tried every method, used every cut and made every mistake in the book. What’s born from that insatiable desire to perfect his craft is something special. You can feel it with the brisket between your teeth, trust.
I arrived on Reggae Sunday, when the guys open up the menu to share even more of their delicious food and culture with the public. Juicy jerk chicken was served straight off the bars and Makalla dished up her homemade curry goat with rice and peas. The flavour gave me that kind of warm, fuzzy feeling you only usually get when looking at pictures of cats on the internet. I was welcomed into the kitchen as if I were family. And family pitch in. Between pounding meat for the SKSS burgers and over-enthusiastically taking orders, I watched Tony, Makalla, Sophia and Kai function like any other household would. There was laughter, a few tears and an immense amount of love.
The Street Kings Smoke Shack is a true family kitchen serving proper soul food, cooked with heart and skill. Substance, tick. Style, tick. As Makalla cheerily shouted to me on my way out, it's all love. And it is, all love. And barbecue.
GOAT CURRY
• 700g goat, cut into chunks
• 4 heaped tablespoons of curry powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 white onions, roughly diced
• Minced fresh garlic
• 1 big pinch of salt
• 400g fresh or tinned tomatoes
• 2-3 medium potatoes, cut into quarters
• 1 lime
• Coriander to garnish
Makalla shared with me her recipe for curry goat. This is my interpretation of the Caribbean classic. If you can stand the wait, make this the day before you plan to eat it. A bit of patience will allow the flavours to get in there nice and deep. Worth it. Serve with rice and peas.
1.
Preheat your oven to 180. In a small bowl, mix together your curry powder, thyme, black pepper and salt. Take one heaped teaspoon of the mixture and sprinkle all over your goat meat with a big squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of water. If you have time, let it marinade. Even just half an hour will make a difference.
2.
Put a big’ol oven-safe stewing pot on the hob over a medium-high heat and add a glug of oil. When the oil is shimmery hot, throw in the goat. Seal the meat, making sure all of the edges are evenly browned. Good job, pour yourself a drink.
3.
Spoon the rest of your curry powder mix into the pan, let the spices sizzle in the fat and stir. Have a sip of your chosen beverage and take a moment to enjoy the smell. Add your onions, tomatoes, garlic and bay leaf. A squirt of ketchup for sweetness goes in, too, if you fancy it.
4.
Pour in enough boiling water to just cover the goat and let everything simmer for 10 minutes. Cover the pot and shove the whole thing in the oven.
5.
Stew for two hours, give or take. Peek on it occasionally, stirring and poking the meat to see how tender it is. We want it nice and soft but still holding its shape. When you’re nearly satisfied with the tenderness of the meat, submerge your spuds into the stew to cook. As soon as they’re soft, it's ready.
6.
Remove from the oven and observe your deep, dark, delicious curry goat. Serve with fluffy rice and peas and a big squeeze of lime. Eat this, drink whatever, and be happy!