Mighty M’s - Bacon Baps & Jerk Chicken On The A49
We live in a world of endless questions. Particularly when it comes to love! Foreigner approached the subject straight up. They demanded to know what love is, they wanted someone to tell them. They weren’t willing to investigate, they just wanted answers. Haddaway seemed to take a more philosophical approach to essentially the same question. Both however were quite bogged down with defining what love is. Neither willing to let it be and allow love to just exist. It wasn’t until the Black Eyed Peas came along that finally people attempted to find the love. They had one big question and I assume they were well versed in where both Foreigner and Haddaway had gotten to in their respective quests.
My journey with good food has taken a similar path. Starting with naive attempts to work out what good food is (or was). The more experience I gained in the world of food, the more I educated my palate, the more I created a connection to food, the more I immersed myself in the food world and the more I started to lean towards Haddaway’s approach. Things started to get a little more philosophical, which in turn actually raised more questions than answers.
What is good food? What is it? How does it exist? What defines it? I need to know!
I never thought I would say it, but maybe we could learn a thing or two from Will.I.Am, Fergie (not the royal one - although I am convinced that there is plenty we would all love to learn from her inside knowledge of certain people) and of course ‘the other one’. After wondering for too long, trying to define good food, I decided to start trying to find it. The only way I could think how, by eating. Hunting, searching and physically getting out there to find where it is. As with any naive person, I took the obvious route to begin with. I went to look around the places other people have already been and written about. The places that might have a plaque on the wall, some stars on the door or the places with the notoriously long queues that you have to join 3 hours before opening time. A wait full of anticipation that almost every time results in the utter disappointment of mundane normality. Places that would always bring a deep sigh and internal anxiety every time they produced a bill. I would have to play my face to pretend that this was not a crippling punch to my bank accounts liver. Of course I can afford it! This is what you have to pay for good food.
I had a very judgemental approach to eating. Concerning myself more with only eating in ‘hot spots’ than focussing on the important things. The foundation of these eating habits were set around selfish bragging rights to appear ‘cool’ and ‘ahead of the curve’ to all 400 of my social media followers. I collected restaurant awards and wore them myself as badges of honour. Medals as if I had been to war for the greater good. Leaving my bank account very much feeling like it had been to war and had very much lost.
It’s a sad memory to think of a time where I may have missed so many opportunities to eat. The fantastic meals I may have missed out on, solely down to my ignorance but with experience comes wisdom (apparently). This wisdom formed the shape of an unsustainable eating habit for a hungry chef extremely strapped for cash. What that eventually created was a more resourceful eater.
I thought I knew what good food was and where to find it. I just could no longer afford it. I now had an itch that needed constant scratching but could no longer reach it. Eventually that itch will always get too much to handle. A change of approach was needed. Maybe, just maybe good food didn't have to cost endless amounts of money and it didn’t have to be situated in fancy surroundings. This all coincided with the sudden appearance of street food and a definite increase in cafe culture. Suddenly people were talking about great food coming out of dodgy looking burger vans and it didn’t cost the Earth. With it my connection with food changed. I started to view it differently. I was unwittingly forming a deeper connection to food. It was starting to become more than just how it looked and even tasted. It was the celebration around it. The meaning behind it, the gift it represents. Cooking, eating and sharing in equal measures became my focus. As a young, inexperienced cook, it's very easy to get bogged down with focussing entirely on the food. The food must be the driver for a great meal. I soon started to realise that actually the food was way down the list. It became more about the circumstance and the event that the food merely carried. I stopped hunting for awards and started looking for authenticity. Real food being served by real people who really care. I realised that care, attention and generosity in its many forms, trumps technique. I now marked good food by its effects and as Michael Jackson said, its about the way it makes you feel……I assume this banger was about good food, right?
With any change in philosophy, it can sometimes feel like you're back to square one. The game’s been blown wide open! I’d learnt that maybe The Black Eyed Peas were wrong to be looking for where love is. It could be like good food, right under your nose the entire time, you just never bothered to notice!
There is a freedom to eating with an open mind. Approaching every meal without prejudice, willing to accept the risk. Picking up every set of cutlery with the thought that this could be the greatest meal of your life. The markers of so-called good food had gone for me. I ditched my judgemental gut instincts and stopped judging places on the sign above the door, the awards on the wall, the type of glasses they served the drinks in and the font they used on their menus. All irrelevant now, my eyes were wide open! In a way, good food had now become good meals. This new world order was formed with an open mind and an eagerness to eat without breaking the bank but resulted in me eating more richly than I ever had before. I had a realisation that good food doesn't have to cost huge amounts of money nor do the surroundings have any prerequisites to follow . Much like love, it's everywhere and can exist anywhere. With an open mind and a bit of patience, eventually you’ll find it or it might even find you.
Food was no longer the sum of its ingredients, plus the reputation of the person putting them together, multiplied by how many awards it had won. In fact, there were no rules at all.
If you drive from Shrewsbury to Ludlow regularly, you’ll have passed a seriously unassuming portacabin set amongst an old petrol station, come car dealership, now car valeting venue and who knows what in between. It sits under a sign advertising English and Jamaican food. Caribbean flavours are amongst my favourite. Seriously exciting food and very very real. I lived in Brixton for a year and became completely hooked on it all. The food, the culture, the people - just amazing! Mighty M’s is almost too easy to fly past on the side of the very busy A49. You can hurtle by at speed and if you’re like me, you’ll pass this portacabin regularly, giving out a glancing ‘ooooh I really want to try that place’ as you watch it disappear in your rear view mirror each and every time.
I think back to the start of my food journey. It’s not somewhere I would have given the time of day. There are no notable chefs working there. No awards, no social media. No self absorbed bragging rights. What’s the point? And this is where the old Steve was missing out. Where he had it all wrong. There is the most notable chefs of all working there. People absorbed in this style of food, with a life long experience cooking it. These days my tastebuds and ultimately my belly has all the bragging rights. The happiness of a fully satisfied appetite is all I need. The natural glow of eating somewhere delicious is me bragging!
We called ahead when we finally decided we were going to stop. We weren’t sure if the Jerk Chicken would be ready by 10.45 and from experience, I know that with good Caribbean cooking, times are determined by the food, not the signs on the door or the times on the menu. It’s served when it’s ready, unapologetically and rightly so. A style of service that only solidifies my anticipation for really good food and something so many eateries could do with learning. They seemed slightly taken back by such an early request for jerk chicken. They were sorry that it would have to be yesterday's batch of chicken as the BBQ hadn't been fired up yet. Even though it is a prerequisite for jerk chicken, the fact that it was cooked over fire was already exceeding expectations. Let’s not forget, we are in Shropshire, not Kingston! The fact it was only cooked yesterday was never going to be a problem for us, especially at that time of the morning. There were clear signs for love, care and attention before we even got there. I mean, come on, it's a portacabin in a layby on the A49 - what real expectations are there?
This place is a bit of a sensory oasis. There's the synonymous sounds and smells of cooking oil and bacon sizzling on a plancha only it's accented with roasting chicken and spices. There are bright colours and Bob Marley posters dotted around with reggae music blaring. It all drowns out the sights and sounds of the A49 and even the railway tracks on the other side of the fence. You get transported out of Shropshire. You almost forget where you are.
The English food is proper truck stop breakfasts and sandwiches. The usual suspects lined up across the grill, sizzling away happily. Pre-orders are in for local ground workers and drivers. It’s a busy place at 11am. Deliveries being unpacked, boxes being moved, proper sandwiches being stuffed with sausage, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, the whole shebang. Red or brown sauce being splodged across everything. Labourers arriving in vans, leaving with white paper bags bursting with honest, real food; no doubt on a tight time schedule to get back to site for the morning break time.
When it comes to the Jamaican food, they have everything you might want. Chicken, Goat, Plantain, Steamed Veg, Slaw, Rice and Peas, Gravy - all the words I want to hear. More music to my ears! Small or large meal boxes; I can't think of a time that going large was ever a mistake.
It’s not just the hunger inducing smells that are noticeable here. There is an atmosphere of authenticity. You can feel the generosity of the people running it. It feels about as real as you’ll ever find. That all translates straight into the food. What arrives in front of you is a box full of generous, flavoursome, real food. It’s delicious and it’s really genuine. The chicken is well cooked, juicy and tender and even more excitingly, really well seasoned. The goat in the curry is cooked on the bone - the way it should be. There’s some necessary theatre when eating goat curry. Your hands must be involved as you munch through the tender pieces, never quite sure which part of the animal you just ate. You try to work it out but ultimately it’s irrelevant as you get totally bogged down with just how delicious it is.
The meat is still attached to the bones but needs nothing more than a slight nudge to part ways and be free. Both are rustically marinated, the spices are lightly crushed more than powdered, and the herbs are roughly chopped and just the right side of ‘stalky’. It's very exciting to eat. Not every mouthful’s identical but there’s a harmony in its balance across the entire dish - the art of rustic cooking. In our opinion things could have been spicier, but we are hardened spice fiends. Let’s not forget, this is a layby on the A49 in the middle of Shropshire - it’s perfect for its environment!
There is an undeniable value that comes with Mighty M’s - at £8.50 per portion for a large box of curry or chicken. A box that includes rice and peas and steamed veg, it’s almost impossible not to love the place. At this sort of price point, with these sorts of flavours, any misgivings can be breezed past as easily as the traffic and trains passing by!
While it’s all tasty, the winner by far is the gravy that comes with the chicken - in fact, there aren’t really words for it, it’s beyond delicious. The sort of sauce that needs to be available in large vessels or maybe pint glasses. Maybe it should be kept in an urn on the counter and served in mugs, the new mug of Bovril! If I was on a worksite nearby, I would be bringing my thermos and asking them to fill that bad boy right up to the top!
Trains and traffic flying hecticly past either side of the layby seem to enhance the experience. It's all magnificently juxtaposed. It’s a windy day but the food and the warm welcome are enough to counteract any negative impact this might bring for some people. A far cry from any experience in a swanky pants restaurant in so called comfortable surroundings.
I’m in the happiest place sitting in a busy, windy, cold layby on the A49 in early March. A place that I never would have thought would bring this much happiness. An experience that would have previously passed me by thanks entirely to my own narrow mindedness and selfish outlook. A stark reminder not to allow the old Steve back to the dining table!
Mighty M’s is honest, authentic and genuine. Whether it’s the English or Jamaican food, it’s generous and delicious way beyond its price tag. Real food, served by real people who cook and serve with real love.
What is Love? Well to me, it’s a good meal; it's good food with good people. It’s places like Mighty M’s. So if you see Foreigner or Haddaway, tell them they can find all their answers on the A49 near Dorrington, and if you see The Black Eyed Peas, tell them to stop looking. If they want to find love, it’s very much like good food; so just keep the faith, have an open mind, take risks and embrace every opportunity; sure enough it will show its face, more often than not it will be right under your nose and often in the last place you would expect!
