Can Cheap Food Taste Great? Gastronuts

Let's find out what our task is this week.

Can cheap food taste great?

ALL: Oh!

LAUGHTER

The Gastronuts joining me on today's show are -

There are some foods where it doesn't really matter

if they are cheap or expensive.

My dad thinks that if you keep food in the fridge,

it stays good even after the use-by date.

I think cheap food could taste good with something on it.

Coming up on today's show -

the Gastronuts try out a pedal-powered toaster.

-Look! There's smoke coming out of the toaster!

-Wow!

They eat out of a bin.

And go eye-to-eye with one of the most terrifying foods ever.

What d'you think about eating a sheep's head?

A sheep's head, OK, but eyeball, no way.

All that is coming up later, but first of all,

is cheap food less tasty? What do you reckon?

-Maybe.

-Maybe?

-Sometimes.

-What is your favourite food?

-Cheeseburgers.

-Cheeseburgers.

-Are cheap cheeseburgers worse than expensive cheeseburgers?

-Yes.

You like an expensive cheeseburger?

-Do you reckon you get what you pay for?

-Yes.

-OK.

Do you think that you can help your folks save money

-by eating different things at home?

-Yes.

-Sort of.

-Do you ever do that at home?

-Yes.

What else do you reckon? Other ways of saving money?

-Grow your own lettuce.

-Grow your own lettuce?

-And do you do that at home?

-Yes.

We had a lettuce called Beatrice, except it died, so...

LAUGHTER

This story is going nowhere!

We are going to explore the whole world of cheap food,

and find out whether it tastes great. Does that interest you?

ALL: Yes!

Excellent! Let's go and do it!

OK, Gastronuts. Who likes kebabs?

ALL: Me!

-Would you like to make a kebab?

-ALL: Yes!

-Excellent.

Knowing what you know about this programme,

do think we are going to make an expensive kebab or a cheap kebab?

-Cheap.

-A cheap kebab. I'm afraid so.

However, cheap kebabs don't need to be bad kebabs.

There is something very fashionable in classy restaurants these days,

but is traditionally some of the cheapest meat on the planet.

-Have you ever heard of offal?

-ALL: No.

-No? OK.

Offal is basically bits and bobs.

It is kind of the scrag ends and the funny bits of the inside of animals

that people don't use because they are not steaks.

They are not the usual bits of meat that you'd find on your plate.

-But are you willing to give it to go?

-ALL: Yes!

First of all, we have an identity parade.

-Do know what these fellows are?

-Kidneys.

-Livers.

Kidneys, top man! These are pigs' kidneys.

Ever tried them before?

No. It doesn't sound appetising.

It doesn't, but maybe we could make it appetising.

Number two, what d'you reckon these are?

-Hearts?

-Hearts? Nearly.

Anything else?

It is quite difficult to guess what this is.

-These are called gizzards. Ever heard of gizzards before?

-No.

-Where's the gizzard in a bird?

-The neck.

Brilliant. They're in the neck.

They keep stones in their gizzards and use it to grind up corn.

OK, next up we have...

-Tongue?

-You are good!

Give me five. Offal man!

OK. These are ducks' tongues.

It is an unusual thing for most of us to eat,

but it is meat,

and it would be a tragedy to throw it away.

OK, last of all, last but not least, we have...

These. OK, what you think these are?

-Hearts?

-Not hearts.

-Too big to be hearts.

-Too big?

-Knees?

-Getting better.

-Cheek?

-Cheek?

No. You are at the wrong end of the animal.

I don't know.

I don't want to say it!

I'll help you out. These, my friends, are testicles.

Exactly. Everyone...? I'm not even going to ask.

May I ask, what animal's testicles are they?

Brilliant question. Lambs' testicles.

So, what are we going to do, we'll chop these up separately

and then we are going to fry them off in olive oil and garlic,

and then skewer them onto a kebab.

We need to start adding some flavour to it now.

Let's get some of this.

We've got some thyme, a little bit of lemon zest and some garlic.

Take half the thyme, half the garlic and half the lemon zest.

Grab a whole handful of that, that's it. Chuck that in.

Half the zest.

That's it.

-OK, Gastronuts, are you ready to make your kebabs?

-Yes!

OK, grab a skewer. And skewer a piece of testicle.

Push it about halfway down.

And then, I think, a tongue.

Next, a piece of gizzard.

And last of all, a piece of the kidney.

If you're all ready, pick up your kebab.

First of all, I want to know what you think of kidney.

-Strange.

-Strange?

It is very nice. It is like chicken.

Cool. OK, next up, we have got the gizzards.

Have a little try of gizzard.

I can't even bite it.

It is quite tough, isn't it?

Pull it off. Pull it off the end.

-Actually, it is quite...

-Did you manage to get some?

-It is very chewy.

-Very chewy.

Very chewy and tough to bite into, but nice.

-It is almost crunchy.

-I still like it. It is quite nice.

OK, time to move on to what most people would find terrifying.

But a gastronut would take in their stride.

Let's have a little bit of tongue.

Mm, barbecuey.

Yuck.

It is. Really barbecuey.

It is quite lemony and subtle.

It just makes it seem beautiful. I like it.

I think it is delicious.

What is interesting, is there is a bone inside that you can't eat.

You are eating the bit around it.

It is just like you're eating a chicken wing,

where you chew around the bone.

OK, possibly one of the strangest bits of offal you can eat.

Have a little try of the testicle, tell me what you think.

-Um...

-It is actually quite good.

Mm!

-It tastes like sausage.

-It really does, doesn't it?

It is like a soft meat.

-It is not as chewy and tough as all the other meats.

-It's the best one.

-It is really nice.

-It is really soft.

-That is probably the best one.

-Definitely the best one.

That is amazing.

My favourite bit would have to be the tongue.

You really like the tongue?

It was really nice, and quite sticky and sugary, as well?

And what is absolutely amazing

is that these are some of the cheapest cuts of meat on the planet.

A lot of these are thrown away. They don't bother to cook them.

-What do you think about that?

-That is weird.

-It is just a waste.

When food and meat this great gets thrown away.

It is almost thrown away because it is cheap, which seems bonkers!

-Would you ever ask your parents to try this again?

-Definitely.

Excellent.

OK, Gastronuts, if we want to eat cheaply,

we don't just need cheap food.

We need to be able to cook in a cheap way.

-What do we need to cook with?

-Heat.

What do you use to cook at home?

-An oven.

-Powered by what?

-Gas.

-Gas, electricity. Lots of things like that.

All that electricity and gas costs a lot of money.

Do you think there is another thing we can use to cook our food?

-Sunlight.

-Yes, exactly.

I wondered if we could capture the sun's heat

and make our own solar oven. Would you like to try that?

-Yes!

-Cool.

So, what we are going to start with to try to make a solar oven

-is one of these, ever seen one of these?

-Yes.

It's just a cardboard box.

We need to line the cardboard box with some ordinary tin foil.

What does foil do? What does it look like?

It is metal, it's shiny. It reflects the sunlight.

We want to try and capture as much sunlight in here as we possibly can.

Next, you need to spray-paint a smaller box black

so it absorbs as much heat as possible,

and then you place it inside the bigger box.

This is where the actual cooking takes place.

Surround this box with screwed-up newspaper

to stop the heat escaping, and you're almost ready to start.

Then we need to lift the wings. These have to come up here.

Imagine the sun coming down,

it has to bounce off there and into there.

That kind of angle is pretty good.

-Now, how much do you reckon this has cost us so far?

-Not much.

It has cost us about 5p.

It is a little bit of foil, a little bit of tape.

That is what is amazing about this, it costs almost nothing to make.

But there is one thing missing, the only slightly technical bit.

A piece of glass to go over the top.

But because these can get incredibly hot,

they get up to about 160 degrees, if it is really hot,

you can't use normal glass, because it might crack,

you need specially toughened glass. Luckily, I have a piece right here.

Be very careful with the glass.

Lay that on top, and the brilliant thing about the glass

is it also keeps insects away.

If this was in the middle of the desert, there would be flies,

but if you put this on, it protects it.

So, all we need now is food.

Gastronuts, come and have a look at this.

-Ever seen one of these before?

-Yes.

-What fish is it?

-Mackerel.

Mackerel, exactly. Now, mackerel are amazing fish.

Not only are they one of the most beautiful fish in the sea,

they are also fantastically cheap.

To cook the mackerel, we have sliced it up, drizzled it with olive oil

and placed it in an ovenproof pot.

Now, all we need is the sun to shine,

which it will surely do, as it is summertime in Britain!

Now, we put the lid on, and all that heat should be trapped inside.

It should get in there and stay in there. That is the idea.

OK, everyone, cross your fingers.

Whilst the oven works well in hot countries,

the British weather makes it unpredictable.

Luckily, we do have a way of creating our own sunshine.

OK, so this is going to replicate the sun for us.

It is an infra-red heater.

So, this pot has been cooking for about 10 minutes under the lamp.

Let's see if it is raw or if it is cooked.

It smells nice.

Can you smell it?

-Wow! That is cooked! That is cooked!

-Can you see that?

-That is definitely cooked.

-Let's give it a try. Everyone grab a fork.

OK, guys, dig in.

-Mm, that is cooked.

-Mm!

That is amazing. Your solar oven has cooked the food. Well done!

ALL: Woo-hoo!

-Are you guys feeling energetic?

-Yes.

Good, because there's another way of cooking your food.

But you need to be super-fit. Are you ready for this?

-Yes!

-Are you sure?

-ALL: Yes!

OK, let's go!

OK, Gastronuts, Tim, Tim, Gastronuts.

-Hi, Gastronuts.

-Hi, Tim.

So, Tim, you have quite a bonkers idea

about using our own energy to cook food. Can you tell us about it?

Yeah. I decided to make a human power station.

With a human power station,

you can turn your own energy into electricity.

Tim's invention uses the spinning wheels of the bikes

to turn a generator which creates electricity.

Not only does it keep you fit, but it is good for the environment,

and best of all, it's free! The question is, does it work?

Right, Gastronuts.

When the toaster is put on, you're going to have to really go for it.

You see this meter here? This is the voltmeter on the pedal bin.

If this drops below nine volts, there will be no toast today.

Keep this above nine volts, and we'll have a piece of toast.

OK, Gastronuts? Start pedalling now!

Are you at top speed? Are you at top speed?

OK! Toaster's down. Toaster's not staying down.

Hang on.

-Sorry, the switches are off!

-LAUGHTER

That was just to get you warmed up! Stand by! Gastronuts, get pedalling!

-OK, tell me when you're at top speed.

-Not yet.

-Are you there?

-Are you there?

-No!

-OK!

The toaster's not staying down!

Sorry, I forgot to turn the inverter on.

LAUGHTER

-OK, are you really warmed up now?

-Are you sure everything is on?

He did that on purpose!

Gastronuts, pedal!

And the toaster's on! Quick, quick, quick!

-Go, go, go!

-How are the volts doing?

-They're dropping like a stone.

It is going down, guys! It is going down, look!

Can you smell the toast yet?

Look, it is burning!

There's smoke coming out of the toaster!

-I think the toast is ready.

-OK, toast is ready!

Whoo-hoo-hoo! Look at that, Gastronuts!

Brilliant. Jump off!

-How did we do, Tim?

-You did fantastically well.

We even burned the toast!

There we go, guys.

Everyone grab a finger of toast.

Gastronuts, tuck in!

Hard work, though, wasn't it?

That's nice!

Anybody want another piece of toast?

-No!

-No way!

We're trying to save money by making our own mean cuisine.

So far, the Gastronuts have eaten a shish kebab.

My favourite bit was the tongue.

-In a bit, they will be talking rubbish...

-That is a squash.

..then eating it!

And they will get their mouths round some sweetcorn ear.

When you eat a sheep's eyeball, the pupil is very bitter.

But first...

Have you ever listened to your kettle?

It makes some amazing noises.

Put the kettle on its base,

turn it on and watch very closely what goes on,

and you will see lots and lots

of tiny bubbles.

And at the same time, you can hear that hissing sound.

Those are the bubbles forming then collapsing again

as they reach the colder water.

And gradually, as the temperature of the water rises,

the bubbles are getting bigger and bigger.

And as they get bigger, the sound gets lower and lower.

The reason is because the big bubbles make a lower note,

while the smaller bubbles make a higher note.

A bit like a big bell goes, "dong" and a little bell goes, "ding."

Gastronuts, what have we got here?

-A bin!

-There is nothing exciting about a bin, is there?

-What normally goes into a bin?

-Rubbish.

-And what do you normally throw into your been at home?

-Some food?

Eight Wembley stadiums full of food is thrown away in the UK every year.

Oh, my God!

6.7 million tonnes of food.

Do you guys throw away quite a bit of food at home?

-Yes.

-And why do throw it away?

Because maybe it has gone out of date. You can't use it any more.

Or you can't finish your dinner, so throw it in the bin.

There is too much on your plate, so you throw it away.

OK, Gastronuts, I would like to introduce you

to somebody who thinks what's in here

isn't rubbish, it is lunch.

I would like to introduce you to Dave.

Hello, Gastronuts.

So, Dave, you think that you can get your lunch out of a bin.

-What's that about?

-I go through bins for food.

Usually smaller supermarket bins, not household bins like this.

-Guys, do you ever pick your food out of bins?

-No.

-Why not?

-It is disgusting.

-It is disgusting!

Dave always makes sure he gets permission

before going through bins, as it is illegal not to.

And beware, bins and their contents

contain some pretty horrible bacteria and germs.

I once found an entire bin of doughnuts.

That is when it started with me. There was probably something

like 100 doughnuts, all fine to eat, nothing wrong with any of them.

-Do you like doughnuts, guys?

-Yes!

-Would you like the idea of 100 doughnuts for free?

-Definitely.

You are practically shaking with desire!

And I have found entire Gouda cheeses and entire Edams.

Bread that is perfectly edible, really posh bread sometimes,

things like this, like olive bread.

I once found these, pain au chocolat,

and I found these around breakfast time.

So that made my breakfast for that day.

Fruit is another quite regular thing that I find.

Packaged, so it is not even touching some of the bad things

that might be in the bin.

Expensive coffee, chocolate.

And this was one of my prize finds.

This is one of the most expensive foods that you can buy.

Does anyone know what this is?

Saffron?

Yes. It is one of the most expensive

edible substances on the planet.

And all that was wrong with it was that some light had got into the box

and made it slightly brown, that was all.

Someone had chucked it away, and I found it. That is £4 worth.

Just for that tiny little box there.

Isn't there a good reason that these things are thrown away?

It is all to do with sell-by, use-by and display-by dates.

So if it is out of its use-by date, you shouldn't go near it.

It will be bad. But if it is just in its sell-by or display-by date,

it is fine, a lot of the time.

Take this for example. This would be perfectly edible,

but it is starting to go brown, so it would be best

to eat it, say, a day ago, but that doesn't mean it isn't edible.

So we think there is something wrong,

but it is actually fine to eat anyway?

-Absolutely.

-Dive in there, guys.

OK, that is a squash or a pumpkin.

That is in its own natural casing, so that'll be fine to eat.

That's chicken, so that can make you quite ill

if you are going to eat that.

-Personally, I would steer clear of meat.

-That is a weird carrot.

That hit a stone as it was growing, and split like that.

So that is no different to eat than another carrot.

They have thrown it away because they can't sell it.

Supermarkets throw away perfectly good food because it looks...?

-Because it looks funny. Yes.

-Is it still OK to eat?

-Absolutely fine to eat.

-What do you think of all the food

-we have found in the bin?

-Well, it is kind of weird

that you can pick it from a bin, but it looks OK.

It is also weird that it is sort of OK

even though it has been in the bin.

OK, Gastronuts, how about a bin feast, then?

Oh, yes!

Which would you like first?

A little strawberry.

-What do you think about this, guys?

-Mmm.

-Nice.

-Tastes great.

-Tastes like a normal doughnut.

-It is a normal doughnut.

-Taste like it's more chocolate.

You could buy it straight out of a supermarket.

So, the next time you're thinking about throwing out some old food,

save some cash and put it in your gob instead.

One great way to save cash is to buy in bulk. The more you buy,

the better the price you get and the less food that goes to waste.

OK, Gastronuts, I would like to introduce you to...

..Lily.

Lily is a whole carcass of lamb.

The thing about buying a whole animal is it's much, much cheaper.

This will cost you about £100, OK?

Now, when you've chopped it all up,

if you bought the separate parts in a butcher,

it would probably cost about £165.

So it makes it very, very cheap if you buy your own animal

and chop it up yourself.

If you fancy butchering your own lamb, make sure you get help

from someone who's used to handling very sharp knives, like a butcher,

a surgeon, or a magician.

OK, so there we go. Two halves of a lamb.

First, let's tackle the leg.

So, Nat, what I'd like you to do for me, very, very carefully,

is get the knife in there and see if you can cut along there.

OK, that's good.

All the way through.

That's good. Brilliant. Well done. Just that last little bit there.

Fantastic. You've done your first bit of butchery.

-OK, grab hold of that.

-Wow.

That is a beautiful leg of lamb and you chopped it up yourself.

That's your trophy.

This is the sort of cut that you would put into roast

and it should be absolutely fantastic.

OK, pop that over at the end.

Flip it back over again and look at what we've got.

It's cleaver time.

There you go. That is a lamb chop.

So that is cut in a slice across there.

So you'd have the long bit there and the big bit

where all the meat is there, there's a little bone

that goes across there.

OK, now I think it's time to move on to this section here,

which is the loin.

Now, again, we're going to need our cleaver

to get into this last section.

There we go.

OK, so, same kind of thing. This time, the steaks are getting

a little bit leaner at the top. You're getting right to the fillet.

You'd cut this into lots of sections

and pan-fry them really quickly.

And they taste fantastic.

OK, pop that in the tray.

Excellent, well done. Now I think we should

take off the most expensive bit, up here.

This is the rack of lamb.

There we go. You make these into steaks

by chopping all the way along here.

And that is incredibly tender. That's the fillet.

That looks like brilliant meat.

The last bit we're going to do up here, what's this bit?

-The shoulder.

-The shoulder. Exactly.

OK.

What is that? Is that all fat?

That's the ribs. This is the shoulder. And that is the neck.

Now it looks like it's a complicated, scraggy bit of meat

with lots of bones in, but you can take neck fillets out of here

and, again, it's really good for slow stewing.

OK, look at what we've got.

This is half of Lily.

Do you think you could eat all this in one go?

-Yes!

-Yes? Not a chance!

Now I've got something to show you.

Under this lid is a skinned sheep's head ready for cooking.

It looks very much like you'd expect a skinned sheep's head to look,

and then a little bit worse!

So if you don't want to see a skull that's about to be cooked and eaten,

then leave the room now and think of something fluffy.

Here we have...

..head.

Alex, do you want to...

grab that?

It's quite strange.

-Pass it around.

-Look at her teeth.

-She's heavy.

-The head's got a lot of bone in so it's very dense...

Her eyeballs are squidgy.

It seems odd, doesn't it, to have an animal and to kill it for its meat

and then throw bits away.

-What do you reckon is edible?

-The eyeballs.

-Eyeballs maybe.

-The tongue.

-There are lots of little pockets of meat around here

and, in a lot of cultures, this is a great delicacy.

And they're very, very cheap. How would you cook something like this?

Simmer it for a very long time?

Simmer it for a very long time. You would braise it. Exactly that.

Well, you're in luck, guys, because down here I have...

..a long, slow simmered head.

Let's have a little bit of stew.

There we go. OK.

Now, I'll tell you what's really interesting.

When you eat a sheep's eyeball, the pupil is very bitter

so a lot of people take that out and put it aside.

And you have the white of the eye instead.

So, guys, what do you think about the idea of eating sheep's head?

Sheep's head, OK, but eyeball, no way!

What we are going to do first is remove the pupil.

They look much cuter when they're alive.

Yes, that's true.

How does the white of the eyeball taste?

How does the white of the eyeball taste? Well, that's what you,

if you're feeling brave, and have your brave socks on...

-I'm definitely not trying the eyeball.

-I am.

Quite soft.

-Quite squidgy.

-Tell me if it's good.

The taste is actually quite nice. It tastes like bone marrow a bit.

It does.

-Quite nice.

-And strange.

-It's OK, actually.

-Give me five.

You guys are super-cool.

Now, what about trying some of the little bits of meat,

the pockets of meat around here?

That's the cheek you've got there. Pretty good, isn't it?

That's nice.

That's delicious.

That's very slow cooked.

Even though it's the head, it tastes like a leg of lamb

or the ribs or something.

-It doesn't taste that different.

-That's amazing,

because leg of lamb is unbelievably expensive.

The head is unbelievably cheap.

We've gone through the whole lamb and that's how

you make food cheaper, by using every last bit.

OK, Gastronuts, I've got a proper treat for you.

This is still the second cheapest cut of lamb

but this stuff is absolutely delicious.

-Ribs!

-Lamb ribs. Now, these are incredibly cheap.

They even get thrown away because they got quite a bit of fat on them.

OK, guys, you have been so cool. Tuck in!

Feast for kings.

This has to be the best barbecue ribs I've ever tasted.

Now that is something to say.

To begin with, the idea of eating the cheapest food

sounds a bit miserable

but a lot of these really cheap cuts of meat are things

we rarely get to see. So when you try them, you feel really brave.

You're being really adventurous.

The cheapest food is the most exciting.

The best thing about being a Gastronut has either been searching

through a bin for food, or cycling to make toast.

I'm going to teach my mum about dates more and throwing out less food.

Gastronuts has made me think differently about food

because it just makes me want to be more brave and to try things

that I haven't tried before.

I was surprised you could make toast with a bike

because I didn't know we could generate that much electricity.

By the end we were really sweating!

I even asked the question, could you make this toaster work with sweat?

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