Giant Pan Catering Cornwall | Live Paella, Tagine & Street Food

Giant Pan Catering — Dinner and a Show

There's nothing like watching your meal being cooked live in a massive pan right in front of you. The sizzle, the smell, the theatre of it — giant pan catering turns food into an event. At Salt Wind Catering, we cook fresh paella, tagine, noodle dishes, and more in oversized pans on-site at your venue.

What We Cook

Spanish paella loaded with seafood and saffron rice. Moroccan tagine with slow-cooked lamb and apricots. Asian-style noodle stir-fry cooked at high heat. Every dish is prepared from scratch at your venue using fresh ingredients — nothing pre-made, nothing reheated. Guests watch the whole thing come together.

How It Works

We arrive with everything — the giant pans, the burners, the ingredients, the serving equipment. We set up, we cook, we serve, and we clean up. You don't need a kitchen. You don't even need power in most cases. It works in gardens, fields, courtyards, barns, and beaches.

Events That Love Giant Pan Cooking

Giant pan catering works at almost any outdoor event, but it really shines at weddings, birthday parties, corporate away days, and festivals. We've cooked giant pans for 50-person garden parties and 300-person village events. The format scales beautifully.

What Guests Actually Experience

People gather around the pan as it heats up. The ingredients go in one by one — the oil, the onions, the spices, the rice, then the seafood or meat. The smell fills the whole venue within minutes. By the time we serve, everyone's hungry and they've seen exactly what's gone into their food. It builds anticipation in a way that no other catering style can match.

Dietary Options & Flexibility

Our giant pan menu includes vegetarian and vegan options — our vegetable paella and plant-based tagine are just as popular as the meat versions. For guests with allergies, the benefit of live cooking is transparency — everyone can see exactly what goes in. We're happy to adapt dishes for dietary requirements when you give us notice at booking stage.

Combine with Our Other Catering

Giant pan cooking works brilliantly as a main course alongside our grazing cart stations for starters and our sweet platters for dessert. Or pair it with our Pimp Your Prosecco bar for a complete evening event.

Available Across Cornwall and Devon

We bring our giant pans to events across Cornwall and into Devon. Based in Redruth, we cover the whole county. Ideal for 50 to 200+ guests. Check our pricing guide for an idea of costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What dishes can you cook in the giant pan?

Our core dishes are seafood paella, chicken and chorizo paella, Moroccan lamb tagine, and Asian noodle stir-fry. We can also do vegetable paella and plant-based tagine. If you have a specific dish in mind, ask us — the giant pan format is versatile and we can adapt.

How many people does one giant pan serve?

A single giant pan serves around 60 to 80 portions as a main course. For larger events, we bring multiple pans and can serve 200 or more. For smaller gatherings of 30 to 50, we scale down accordingly.

Is there a lot of smoke from the cooking?

Giant pan cooking is gas-powered, so there is no charcoal smoke. There will be some cooking steam and the aroma of the food, which is part of the appeal. We can set up near guests without any smoke issues, making it suitable for marquees and sheltered venues as well as open outdoor spaces.

How long does the live cooking take?

The visible cooking part takes around 30 to 45 minutes, which is perfect for a drinks reception slot. We do prep work beforehand so ingredients are ready to go. The cooking itself becomes entertainment and we time it so the food is ready exactly when you want to serve.

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Book Giant Pan Catering

Call us on 01209 206255 or request a quote. Browse our full event catering range.