Norfolk One Man and His Campervan

'Today I take the campervan trail along the north Norfolk coast.'

The landscapes are just flat and big and wide with these most enormous skies.

'I show you the best way to break open a crab without all of the fancy tools.

'I have a go at a roadside roulette...

Here's one, let's go, let's see what they've got.

'..cooking food only from roadside stalls.

'A campervan gadget saves the day.'

Pretty warm.

'And I do battle with the finger snapping main course.'

Look at the size of those claws, they're amazing.

Ow, ow, ow! Have I got a pot that's big enough?

For the next leg in my campervan adventure, I said goodbye

to the New Forest and drove 230 miles northeast,

heading for the tip of Norfolk,

and as my trusted van sped merrily along at 50 mph,

it wasn't just the landscape that was changing.

Hey fantastic, from the New Forest ponies to the North Norfolk cobs.

The hedgerows are absolutely bursting with flowers.

There are really lovely crimson poppies, there's all sorts

of purple flowers in there,

but because I'm not travelling at massive speed,

I'm able to take it in and enjoy it a bit more than I would be

if I was travelling at 100 mph down the motorway.

As it's the easternmost county in Britain,

no-one passes through Norfolk en route to anywhere else.

This isolation gives it a much slower pace of life.

It's ideal for pootling along, exploring in a campervan.

The villages are kind of picture postcard perfect almost,

and the landscapes are just flat and big and wide

with these most enormous skies.

And reflecting the vast sky is the North Sea,

home to some of the best seafood around.

This part of Norfolk is world-famous for crab,

and something else that I'm going to go and look for today.

If there was one thing that you could eat that would say,

"that is the sea", it's this plant.

I pick it in Devon where it is known as samphire,

here, they tell me it's called sampher.

Samphire, sampher, who cares really?

It's absolutely lovely and I'm going to go and get some.

Samphire can be found in July and August growing on Norfolk's salt marshes.

Luckily this part of the coast is full of them so I was hoping to find some for my dinner.

The thing about samphire picking is that more than likely I'm going to

get a little bit muddy,

so it could be a good opportunity to try out my solar shower.

The basic idea is fill up this great big bag with water.

Hopefully when you get back,

you've got yourself some nice warm water to wash in.

Here we go, all I've got to do is leave it in a sunny spot

for a few hours and, bingo, hot water.

So I wandered across this wide open space to find the first part

of tonight's crab and samphire menu.

This kind of foraging trip is filled with hazards.

The salt marshes are only exposed at low tide so as the tide comes in,

the muddy channels and creeks are hidden in the flat landscape.

Checking the tide for the window of opportunity is vital,

one wrong step could spell disaster.

It helps to have some local knowledge so I've arranged to meet Lawrence.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hi, how are you doing?

Now I understand the samphire grows all round here but is there an area

that's better than another area?

Yes, there is some areas where there's better than others.

Do you think there might be some places where I can get just enough for a meal for one?

I would probably think I can put you in the right place for that.

I was in luck. Lawrence has been a daily visitor to these marshes

for a staggering 70 years.

Now that's what I call local knowledge.

So the best bits, you reckon, are in these creeks?

-At the moment they are.

-OK.

'Now samphire picking is not as easy as it might sound.

'Incoming tides are one danger,

'but so too are the crabs that live in these creeks.

'Step on one of them hidden in the mud...'

Is that a crab? Let's have a look...

'..and they'll give you a nip you won't forget in a hurry.'

Not really big enough to eat, he's a little feisty common crab

by the looks of things and he's trying to take a nip of my fingers.

Feeling a bit more relaxed about the potential crab danger,

we carried on looking for the samphire I was hoping to use

for tonight's dinner.

What do you think of that, this stuff here looks lovely, doesn't it?

Yes, there, and over there. That's good enough to pick.

This looks fantastic, really, really succulent.

The important thing I'm doing here is I'm snipping it,

not pulling it up by the roots, and I'm only taking what I need.

And I'm also only taking from a small area.

That's right. If everybody done that, we'd be all right.

'I could have left it there but as the old saying goes,

'the samphire always looks greener on the other side of the creek.'

Oh, that looks...quite deep!

'I'd spotted an even better looking patch.'

That's not unpleasant,

between the toes.

Success, this is why I've come here.

This is the point, this is a fantastic succulent green samphire

that people pay a fortune for

in restaurants, and we're out and about in the campervan,

pick it up for free.

Well, because this stuff is just young enough, it's the beginning

of the season and is just about ready, you can eat it

straight from the bank. The taste of the sea is just...

It really is divine.

-Well, you're not wrong, this is the best stuff.

-It is.

'This spot was perfect for samphire but down in the mud it was also home

'to a family of rather angry crabs.'

That's the good stuff. Hey whoa, that was...!

There's something eating my foot, I'm pretty sure,

so I'm going to get out of here now.

I've got just enough for a really good feed.

This type of foraging, it really is just about getting down and dirty

and having fun, but it's going to taste good too.

Now I'm going to go and look for something else to eat with this, maybe some of the famous seafood.

The samphire was free but I'd paid a price.

Salt marsh mud is oily and smelly

and I wasn't sure my solar-powered shower would be up to the job.

Let's have a feel.

Oh, well it's not exactly... Whoa!

No, actually that is...pretty warm.

I might have to set it up,

leave it out for a little bit longer,

go for the full thing

another day.

Getting muddy and getting messy is all part of it really.

All a bit sanitised at home so it's good to get some mud

between your toes and feel it squelching.

Bitten by the odd crab.

That's better.

With my first ingredient on board, it was time to head

to the local quayside for tonight's main attraction.

Well, now I've got the samphire, the tide should be on the way in

and that means if I'm lucky I might be able to catch some fishermen

and pick up some fresh crabs.

The best way to get the freshest seafood possible

is to stand on the quayside and wait for the boats to come in,

and see if they'll sell you your dinner straight from their haul.

After a short wait, a boat chugged into the quay at Brancaster Staithe.

Hello, how are you doing?

Good day? Not bad.

The waters around the north Norfolk coast are famous

for producing some of the best brown crab in Europe.

-So what type of crabs are these then?

-These are brown crabs.

Brown crabs, they're the edible crabs?

-Yes, that's right.

-Fantastic.

Peter Lewis and Andy Frery spend most of the summer catching

the brown crab, which only emerge from hibernation

in the warmer months.

Today they've landed about 800.

This looks pretty deadly, one of his mates has got hold of his foot.

Get off, get off, look there's a whole pile of them.

Look at the size of those claws, they're amazing.

I really, really wouldn't fancy getting pinched by

this big fellow.

I wonder if...

he's one for the pot.

The male crabs, or jacks, are the prize catch

as their bigger claws mean more white meat.

So it's the jacks that are the tasty ones.

They say the small ones are sweet, I don't eat them myself.

'Hang on, what is he just say?'

So you're a crab fishermen?

-Yes.

-And you don't eat crab?

-No.

What's your favourite food?

-Anything really.

-Except crab?

-I don't eat a lot of fish.

-Right, OK.

-That's odd, isn't it?

-No, my father he's a mussel fisherman.

-He's 67 and he's never even eaten mussels.

-Really?

-Yes.

Peter was clearly not the one to turn to for crab cooking advice.

Luckily, Andy was a crab fisherman who actually ate crab.

Bring it up to the boil and boil it for about 18-20 minutes,

then that'll be cooked then.

What's your favourite way of eating crab?

Just basically as it is really with a piece of bread and butter,

-the old-fashioned way.

-The old-fashioned way?

-Yes.

I've got some lovely samphire,

should be pretty good with that I would have thought.

That'll be lovely with that, yes.

Keep it simple, just going to boil the samphire

maybe with a bit of butter,

boil this up and I'm going to have a little lemon risotto with it.

Should be lovely, I can't wait.

-Thank you so much.

-You're welcome.

So finally I had my crab and was ready to cook my dinner.

After all that excitement on the quayside, I hardly even noticed

that the weather's cleared up again.

That should make for a great evening eating my lovely fresh crab.

But whilst crab and freshly picked samphire

were a pretty good base for tonight's meal,

the joy of campervan living means there's always the opportunity

to pick up a few extras on the way home.

There's loads of stuff growing here,

I might have something that would go really superbly. Yes, there it is.

Just as I thought,

wild fennel. It's the beautiful aniseed smell, it goes fantastically

with fish and seafood, so I'll pick some of that and save it for later.

So I got my crab, I got my samphire, all the ingredients of a great meal.

All I need to do now is camp up for the night.

Unfortunately on this part of north Norfolk

you can't just park anywhere, but I have heard about

a really great campsite and that's where I'm headed now.

The High Creek Sands campsite at Stiffkey is perched on top

of a picturesque hill, but that can create problems.

One of the things about having a great view, sometimes you don't get the flattest pitch,

so I'm just going to chock up.

What the chocks do is you drive up onto them and it

brings the van level so that your pots and pans don't slide around all over the cooker when you're cooking.

It's quite important actually because it's really difficult to cook on a slope.

With a level van, I could start prepping what was going to be one of

my more adventurous campervan dinners,

fresh crab with a lemon risotto and samphire.

First I had to make a tasty stock,

then I gently softened some onions and garlic in butter as a base to go with my risotto rice.

OK, so this is my stock I'm about to add, some of that wild fennel,

garlic and basil,

and a vegetable stock cube, very simple,

much, much better than just a stock cube with hot water.

So just adding the stock to the risotto, letting that bubble away,

and let the rice take on those

lovely flavours of the fennel and the garlic and the bay in that stock.

Then I'm going to add the lemon and the lemon zest.

However, more importantly, the water's on for the crab.

I hope the pot's big enough.

I've never done this in a campervan before so let's see what happens.

Leave him there for 20 minutes,

time...for a chill.

I couldn't totally relax however as I still had to keep topping

the risotto up with stock

and keep an eye on the ever-changing weather.

But 20 minutes later, it was time for the main event.

My crab was ready, all I had to do next

was get through its formidable defences.

Pull the claws off, oh, you can see that crab meat already.

Mmm...that really is fantastic.

I'm just using the tea towel on this because it's still a little bit hot.

Here we go...

Wow, look at that.

So what we're going to do,

get all these lovely bits

of flesh here.

As you can see, there's all this absolutely wonderful

crabmeat in there, that's the brown meat.

All the different parts of the crab

taste different.

They've all got their own special

little taste. There are few more pleasurable things in life

than doing this,

picking apart a crab that's so fresh it's bursting

with flavour, knowing that in just a very few minutes

I'm going to be tucking into this.

'But I spoke too soon,

'these Jack crab claws were far too big to break with my bare hands.'

That's a bit more difficult than I thought.

'Then I remembered a tip from our fisherman, just use the back

'of a spoon, anything heavier and you'll ruin the meat

'with splintered shell.'

That's the stuff we want to get out.

Ha-ha, can you tell that I really adore fresh crab?

Does it show because I'm feeling slightly

in love with

the whole campervan living thing right now?

This is what it's all about.

Right, I'm ready to plate up.

No point in being fussy, great ingredients speak for themselves.

First of all,

that gorgeous risotto, lovely and creamy

with the beautiful wild fennel in there.

Next some wonderful,

fresh Norfolk crab.

Finally, my boiled samphire foraged from the local salt marshes earlier.

That's something really special you wouldn't get in a supermarket.

A bit of zest.

Last thing...

a little bit of wild fennel from the side of the road,

you'll never get that in any supermarket, and my friend the crab.

That looks fantastic and I can't wait to dig in.

I'm really hoping it tastes as good as it looks.

Let's go.

OK, preparing the crab had taken slightly longer than I'd anticipated

and it was nearly midnight by the time I'd got it all ready.

But sitting by the van, lit by the pale moonlight,

this was a campervan meal to remember.

This honestly, seriously, I have to say,

this is one of the tastiest meals I think I have ever cooked.

Never mind in a field!

It's just these ingredients, fantastic.

So simple and the only things I brought with me,

an onion and some risotto rice, the rest is from out there.

And do you know what,

anyone can do it.

'Still to come, I show you how to brighten up the journey

'with a campervan game when I try to create a meal

'with food picked up only from roadside stalls.'

Thank you! See ya!

'And I try my luck with a recipe from the Australian outback.

'Next morning, it was time to pack up the van

'before my adventure in Norfolk continued.'

One of the things

about living in a camper

is organising the space.

When you've got the bed out,

all the stuff that normally lives in the boot has to go in the front.

It's OK with only one of you but when there's a whole family in here,

it can be a ballet or it can be a car crash.

My little tip, square storage boxes, you can get more in.

Having clocked up a few hundred miles on the trip,

I'd already exhausted my CD collection,

so now I was back on the open road, I decided to make my own entertainment.

It might be a good time to play roadside roulette.

In case you've never heard of roadside roulette, here's how it goes.

You nominate a chef and the next time you stop

at one of those roadside stalls that sells fresh produce,

slam on the anchors, grab what you can and cook anything

as long as you use just those ingredients.

So the game was on.

Oh, here's one, let's go, let's see what they've got!

Let's have a look.

'Now remember, whatever they have on sale, I had to cook.'

It seems they sell free-range eggs,

but they've run out and they sell something else as well.

To be honest with you, I don't fancy eating that.

So it was back to the van to find another roadside stall.

Before I could play another round of roadside roulette,

I found myself once again at the head of a long queue of traffic,

but then the opportunity for a small personal triumph presented itself.

Do you know what, for the first time on this trip,

I'm about to be not the one at the front of the queue.

This could be a momentous moment,

my first overtaking manoeuvre.

'Sad I know, but that makes me a very happy man. Back to the game.'

Once you start looking for roadside stalls, you start to see them everywhere.

Now I've heard that round here at this time of year,

the broad beans are the thing to go for.

It's a sunny day, I've got some wine vinegar in the back,

I've got some fresh herbs, it might be nice to make something,

a really zingy fresh broad bean salad.

The thing about roadside roulette, if you can't think of anything to cook,

you're just going to go hungry.

This looks like a likely candidate.

'The next roadside stall looked a bit more promising.'

Hello, how are you doing?

Wow, I've come to see what I can find. OK, lovely fresh spuds.

Well, here we go, this is what I was looking for, fresh broad beans.

Do you mind if I pop one of these and have a look?

No, that's all right.

Oh, they look fantastic,

so sweet and fresh.

I'm going to take a load of these. I'll take a massive handful.

I might look greedy but actually you may not get that many out of this.

£2.50. 'I bought the broad beans and a punnet of strawberries.

'Now I had to work out a recipe for tonight.'

You're very kind, excellent.

Thank you! See ya!

That's lovely.

'I still didn't have a recipe but I'd organised my camping spot for the night.

'I'd be cooking and camping in an orchard, part of a cider business.

'Cider in Norfolk?

'Time to find out more.'

I didn't know that Norfolk was famous for ciders.

We planted the orchard back in 1994 so it's 16 years old now.

We wanted to plant West Country cider apples, proper bitter cider apples,

so the cider has body and a bit of bite to it.

I live in Devon. Maybe a taste of home.

Have you got any I can try?

This is more Devon-like.

I was going to say, it looks like a scrumpy to me.

Oh, that's lovely. Unfortunately, I'm driving.

So with my cider drinking on hold,

I went off to find my pitch for the night.

Now this is what I call a camping spot!

These trees produce some of the best cider you'll ever drink.

But Peter and Jim, the orchard's owners,

were joining me for dinner in an hour and I only had broad beans

from my earlier roadside roulette game and a random packet of halloumi cheese in my cooler.

But of course, I had a plan.

I was going to make a damper bread on open fire.

It's an Australian recipe, it's one of those recipes

that just uses your staples, flour, sugar, salt, the kind of things that

the men of the outback would be able to carry with them.

I'm going to make it in a Dutch oven,

which is a really exciting piece of camping equipment

that goes straight on the fire.

With my apple wood burning down nicely, it was time to knead the dough.

What I've got to do now

is make that into a little loaf,

like so.

'The dough was ready,

'the Dutch oven was greased to stop the bread from sticking.

'It was time for some baking.

'My coals were really hot by now and just to be sure the oven reached

'a good temperature, I heaped more on the purpose-built lid.

'With my bread in the oven, it was time to sit back,

'enjoy the surroundings and finish shelling my broad beans.

'Campervan cooking is a piece of cake, what could possibly go wrong?'

Beautiful fresh broad beans from the side of the road,

deliciously sweet and tender.

'Hmm, black smoke is not supposed to bellow from my oven

'just 10 minutes after I put the dough in!'

HE LAUGHS

It's a bit overcooked. Let's get it out.

'The oven must have got much too hot,

'burning the outside of the bread without cooking it through.'

We'll give it another go.

'It turned out the answer to the problem was all in the name.

'The most important thing was the temperature.'

Of course, there is a very good reason it's called damper bread,

you dampen the fire before you put the bread on.

I had just enough dough and time to make another batch before my guests arrived.

Half an hour.

Time to use my lovely broad beans to make a summer salad with mint vinaigrette,

and use those hot coals to cook another campervan favourite of mine.

A little extra special something,

some grilled halloumi.

Just then, Peter and Jim arrived with a selection of ciders

from apples grown in this very orchard.

So nice of you to come, take a seat.

I've got some...some of this

damper bread that I've been trying out.

With my second attempt at damper bread still not ready,

I stalled them by suggesting some cider tasting.

First up, one of their more discerning single apple varieties.

What's so special about this one?

It's got almost no tannin, it's a nice easy drink for the summer.

Right. Wow! Look at the colour of that.

That's wonderful, isn't it?

It's a nice change for us to sit and taste our own cider.

That's all right, isn't it?

What about alcohol content? Is that up to you?

-That depends a lot on the weather.

-OK.

A hot summer, not much rain, lots of alcohol.

Whereas if you get a wet dull summer, it doesn't produce as much sugar in the apples, so less alcohol.

This is the least alcoholic of our ciders.

-The LEAST alcoholic?

-Yes.

I'm really glad I'm here and not driving now!

'For some reason I was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded.

'Must have been the fumes from my campfire.

'Time to serve up while I was still capable.'

Tomatoes and red onions?

Eat anything.

I hope you like broad beans.

I certainly do, grow them myself.

Next up, our fantastic griddled halloumi.

Cheesy salad, which then goes with our piece de resistance, the bread.

Now the moment of truth. There wouldn't be time

to make another loaf if this one was burned as well.

Wow! That, I would argue, is perfect.

It's still a bit hot but...

how about that for a bit of bread cooked over an open fire?

-Looks good.

-I'm not going to cut this, I'm going to break it.

So there it was, still warm damper bread with onion and tomato salad,

griddled halloumi, and local broad beans with a mint vinaigrette.

It looked delicious, but what would my guests think?

-It's lovely.

-Is it still warm?

-Mmm.

-No yeast in them?

-No yeast.

-That's amazing.

-Self-raising flour.

-It's lovely.

You can understand why it was so popular in Australia

because you just take a few really simple ingredients with you

and you're in the middle of the outback, all you need is a fire and you can cook it.

-A top-up?

-I could do with one, yes, thanks.

But who needs the Australian outback when you can sit in a Norfolk orchard

serenaded by evening birdsong, with plenty of cider to keep you company?

It's really special,

and it's another one of the brilliant tastes of Norfolk...

..that to be honest I never really expected.

Thank you for your campsite.

I hope the damper bread dampens your appetites.

Next time, my campervan tour around Britain

finds me in the beautiful county of Yorkshire,

home to a rather challenging landscape.

Here I find some rather unusual birds

with the biggest eggs I've ever seen.

Look at that!

A campervan accident leads to a hospital visit and threatens the entire trip.

Not allowed to drive!

And will I really be able to make an edible dish out of these huge eggs?

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