Dragon Fire

Let’s do lunch – a BBQ lunch. Ingredients: Sporting and cooking legends, the best of Welsh produce and the finest of grills. RUPERT BATES invited himself to the feast

A former Wales rugby captain in search of a barbecue, and a masterclass on how to cook on it. Little did Ieuan Evans know at the time, but the answer lay a mere four miles from his 19th-century barn conversion in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Enter Sam Evans and Shauna Guinn, better known as Sam & Shauna, Hang Fire. Sam joked with Ieuan that they were very probably related if they shook their family trees a few generations, but an idea that evolved over rugby talk ahead of last year’s British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, with Ieuan Evans – seven Lions Tests across three tours on top of 72 caps for his country – Lions chairman and tour manager, culminated in a veritable feast from the Welsh larder cooked over fire. It wasn’t just the students and teachers who were hyper-local; so was the produce.

But first the product, and where tractors roll in the rural lanes near Cowbridge a huge Weber Summit Smart Gas Grill hove into view – the most technologically advanced, versatile and premium BBQ in Weber’s gas portfolio.

“When I saw the giant utensils, yet alone the size of the grill and what it could do, I assumed it was meant to be delivered to the BFG, not me!”

Pride of place on the Evans patio, this was better than a shiny new car in the driveway. But the Weber Summit came with an L plate; 15 minutes later enter Sam and Shauna – I told you they were local. Ieuan and his wife, Kathyrn, a very accomplished and natural cook, immediately joked that they would have Sam and Shauna on speed dial whenever they threw future barbecues; sneak them round the back to do the cooking, while friends and family are distracted and then take the culinary credit.

After the tutelage of Sam and Shauna, such deception won’t be needed, with Ieuan and Kathryn proving star pupils, learning quickly and intuitively. It was a day punctuated by ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ as the food was tasted. Cwm Rhondda talks of celestial bread, but this was burnt leek gratin of heaven – a clumsy lyric, but I’m sticking with it.

When the leeks hit the grill to char, we knew we were in that happy, smoky place – we knew we were in Wales – and the unique power of BBQ to trigger the senses the moment the food meets the fire. Ieuan and Kathryn learnt the value of building sauces and seasoning in layers – simple tips that elevate simple things. Another sauce was chermoula with its vibrant herbs. Chimichurri hasn’t had its day, said Sam, but today wasn’t that day.

The ribeye steak was provided by Farmers Pantry butchers, with Rosedew Farm, a tomahawk throw away in Llantwit Major, a model of ethical farming and sustainable produce, the coley from a local fishmonger, and the Black Bomber courtesy of the Snowdonia Cheese Co. Even the flowers for the lunch table came from the village and Wild & Fabulous.

“We don’t have to cast the net too far from our front door to gather all the great ingredients for a wholesome, nutritious, delicious barbecue, supporting local farmers and producers. I have always been deeply embedded in agriculture, with huge respect for farming communities,” says Ieuan, whose grandfather, Ernest, was a farmer and father, John, a cattle dealer.

Even the drink was Welsh of fire, with a red, via Provence, from Domaine des Jeanne and Lord Mervyn Davies, a Monmouthshire White Castle red and white supplied by Cardiff’s Fine Wines Direct, a Bacchus white from the Llanerch vineyard, the Great Frampton rose showing the diversification of Rosedew Farm, while another legend of Welsh rugby Alun Wyn Jones provided a bottle of his Mimosa Rwm Espiritu coffee infused rum. As a Celebrity MasterChef finalist we really should have invited the former Wales and Lions captain too.

Fish invariably strikes fear into BBQ mortals. It’s going to stick; too delicate; it will collapse. Pass the burgers. But Kathryn is a pescatarian and we learnt about the fish basket, with herbs from the Evans garden – think bay, rosemary, thyme and start humming Simon & Garfunkel – to create a barrier between the fish and the basket, with the fillets marinated in lemon zest, parsley and garlic with a Welsh brown shrimp, caper and butter sauce. Even the potatoes were different class, with rosemary, garlic and smoked salt, and turmeric adding a vibrant yellow colour, which threatened to visually steal the show.

And then we feasted. An extraordinary meal and difficult to wipe the smiles off the faces of Ieuan and Kathryn, realising they had learnt from the best. The rain was still lightly falling in the vale, but you knew the aga in the kitchen was set to be switched off, and outdoor cooking the future in the Evans household.

The food digested, it was time to talk to Sam & Shauna – the most natural of teachers and communicators and hugely engaging and talented ambassadors for BBQ the world over. But today was all about Wales.

“Wales is still too often overlooked in the wider food conversation, sitting in the shadow of louder regions despite producing some of the finest ingredients in the UK.

The truth is, the quality of Welsh farmers, livestock and seasonal produce is world-class, rooted in landscape, tradition and care,” says Shauna.
As for their ‘secret sauce’ when it comes to teaching BBQ: “It’s about stripping things back, building confidence and showing people that great food comes from good ingredients, patience and understanding fire rather than ‘cheffy’ tricks,” adds Sam.

“Whether it’s a Welsh rugby legend or a complete beginner, the magic is in making it feel relaxed, hands-on and fun, so people leave not just with a recipe, but with the confidence to cook over fire themselves.”
Shauna puts the remarkable and sustained rise in British BBQ down to a mix of people becoming more curious about where their food comes from and wanting to cook outdoors, together with a new wave of chefs and pitmasters sharing skills that used to feel niche.

“There’s also a real appreciation now for regional produce, slower cooking and gathering around fire. It taps into something social, seasonal and satisfying. Moving forward, we’d like to see an even stronger focus on British produce, vegetables and whole-animal cooking, with people slowing down, cooking with the seasons and really celebrating where their food comes from because that’s where the real flavour and the future of it all sits.”

2026 will see plenty more classes at their BBQ Cookery School, while Meatstock BBQ events in Australia await. There is also Mabon, Wales’s first fire festival, launched last year, curated by Sam and Shauna, with Caldicot Castle in Monmouthshire hosting the event in September.

And should Ieuan and Kathryn call Sam and Shauna this summer, it will surely be to join as party guests, not the BBQ emergency service arriving within 15 minutes. And, if I’m invited back, I promise, this time, I will do the washing up. Diolch.