Watch Kentishtowner “Texas” Joe on this weekend’s Dragon’s Den

He’s Texas Joe the Original Jerky man (although he lives on, er, Kelly Street) and Kentishtowners have been able to chew on his addictive “slow-cooked” meat for a year or so now at the Camden Brewery Bar. We first wrote about it last summer, in fact.

But this Sunday is the start of something pretty, well, damn big. Why? Well the boy has only got himself on bleedin’ Dragon’s Den. And not only that, he may even win one of the four infamously tough cookies over. You’ll have to watch to find out.

“Original Jerky was born on Kelly St right down from Mario’s Cafe,” he says. “I started slicing and drying meat at home in the kitchen, took some down to Jasper at Camden Brewery and he loved the stuff, so much so he decided it would be his only bar snack. From there more and more joints got interested and we ended up in BrewDog bars nationwide. Joel was just opening the Grafton and offered me space free of charge. We couldn’t keep up with orders. Then Lucky Chip happened…and I was back at home slicing 160 kilos of beef a week.”

Earlier this year the phone rang – and it was “Zoe” from Dragon’s Den. “My wife Daisy had started filling out an application which I finished in October or so last year. They had me in for an audition and seemed real keen on me. I told them that we had a jerky theme song with my wife’s band, Kitty, Daisy and Lewis. They wanted me to sing it but I said I couldn’t.”

But the Beeb were persistent and wanted Joe on the show to film his piece in March. “In the shower the song came to me,” he says. “We rehearsed it three times before it was filmed. The Dragons were a rough crowd, but I think the song was a great ice breaker. I wiggled around like a nervous git hopped up on an eternal goofball, shining like a discoball in my rhinestone Nudie suit. They didn’t know what hit them.”

What happened next? Well tune in Sunday to find out, but here’s the trailer featuring Joe’s Jerky song which also stars Kitty, Daisy and Lewis. Don’t miss Deborah Meaden’s expression. Yikes.

“Over the coming months,” he says, hinting at a possible outcome of the show, “we’ll be adding other jerky flavours, introducing our BBQ sauces, opening a Shoreditch restaurant and spreading the meaty word all over London via our pop-up BBQ.”

And while you’ll soon be able to get your jerky in supermarkets, remember to buy it from the Brewery and keep it independent. Our only bone of contention? Why choose over-subscribed Shoreditch over K-Town? C’mon already!