About BBQ Life

Who is BBQlife.ie?

I suppose the best way to start is with telling you a little bit about myself. I’m Leon born and raised in South Africa. I moved to Ireland in 2001 (Now that was a shock to my system!). I now live in a small town In the sunny South East of Ireland with my beautiful partner and our daughter.

Where did my passion for cooking and BBQ begin?

Growing up in South Africa, barbecuing or a braai as we call is a big part of our culture. You are taught from an early age how to light a fire and cook on the embers. In my early teens I started working in restaurants which introduced me to different styles of cooking. I loved looking at how the chefs prepared and cooked all the dishes, then going home and trying to replicate it.

Skip forward a few years and my parents bought an abattoir and butcher shop. I still remember helping my father doing the plumbing in the abattoir. So, weekends turned into making boerewors (south African style sausage) burgers and the rest and learning about the different cuts of meat. Nothing more rewarding than getting home on a Saturday night lighting a fire and cooking something that I made that day and sharing it with friends or family feeling proud to say I made that today.

BBQing in Ireland in the early stage

Back in the summer of 2002 after we moved in to our little flat with a small garden, we were in SuperValu doing our weekly shopping and they where selling little no name kettle style BBQ. I think it was €24 at the time. That was our first BBQ and my partners first taste of BBQ food, and she was hooked.

The following year on a holiday back in South Africa my parents introduced us to the Weber Kettle BBQ as soon as we got home we found a garden centre that sold Weber BBQs and we got a nice shiny black 57cm Master Touch. The old kettle BBQ from SuperValu was turned into a little herb garden which we still have!

How did BBQ Life begin?

Back in 2012 and the rise of all things social media I started posting some photos on social media, people started asking questions which I happily answered.

As social media got bigger and bbq started to take off in Ireland in 2017 I started BBQ Life Ireland to spread the love off cooking alfresco all year around.

Working with Brands

I’m proud to be part of Weber Barbecues demonstration team In Ireland helping people getting the most out of their barbecues.

I’m also a big fan of natural products and condiments so I’ve teamed up with Great Northern Larder to help me bring BBQlife.ie rubs and sauces to the market soon.

The future of BBQlife.ie?

I hope to grow this website not just as an online shop but also as a blog about all things BBQ related in Ireland and document my journey into competition bbq also.

I’ll post most of my recipes/ tips/ tricks on here, but you can find me on all the normal social media sites.

Regards

Leon