Fish Fingers Inside the Factory


Fish Fingers

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They're a childhood favourite.

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Over the next week,

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we'll munch our way through 600,000 kg of fish fingers.

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That's the equivalent of more than 1 billion of them a year.

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Tonight, we're going to follow the journey of fish finger production.

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From the depths of the Atlantic Ocean...

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..To the meal on your plate.

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It's a process that relies on dozens of skilled hands.

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And they're all working away in here.

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I'm Gregg Wallace.

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That is somebody's tea.

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And I'll be finding out how the fingers are formed.

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Oh, it's really hot on the outside and it's frozen in the middle.

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I'm Cherry Healey,

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and I'll be getting stuck in at the start of the production line.

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This is a real biology lesson.

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And I'll be discovering the secrets of smoked fish.

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And historian Ruth Goodman reveals the origin of this traditional tea-time food.

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This isn't quite what I was expecting.

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In the next 24 hours,

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80,000 frozen fish fingers will fly out of this factory.

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Heading to a freezer near you.

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Welcome to Inside The Factory.

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This is the Caistor seafood factory near Grimsby in Lincolnshire.

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It employs 200 skilled workers across a 26,000 square metre site.

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They work around the clock to process 165 tonnes of fish every week...

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..from whole fish, to smoked fillets and fishcakes.

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Tonight, we're focusing on Waitrose's frozen chunky fish fingers.

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Whether you like your fingers breaded or battered,

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it's all about starting with the right fish.

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And here, that's cod.

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Cherry's been to see where it comes from.

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I'm in Grindavik, one of the largest fishing harbours in Iceland.

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Boats dock here every day, bringing in more than 100 tonnes of fish.

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And almost half of that is cod.

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I'm waiting for a fishing boat that has been at sea for about 20 hours,

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it's freezing cold, even here in the port,

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so goodness knows how they've been.

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Oh, I think I can see the boat coming in now.

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This boat goes to sea six days a week,

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and the crew catch about eight tonnes of cod each time.

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The captain has been fishing here for 28 years.

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This is cod. Wow, wow.

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I had no idea it was so huge.

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-Yeah.

-It's beautiful.

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-Yeah, it is.

-So, how long ago did you catch this, do you think?

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This one was about two hours ago.

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Two hours?

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-That's the freshest caught fish I've ever seen.

-Yeah.

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The cod are caught using a responsible technique called long line fishing.

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14 miles of fishing line with 20,000 baited hooks

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is placed on the sea bed.

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This method is sustainable and has a low impact on the ocean floor.

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Will these cod make good fish fingers?

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Yeah, this is the best size for fish fingers.

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The fish are between four and six years old.

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Any older and they're too big to handle.

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So you're helping with your catch.

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-Yeah...

-You've got a lot of work on your hands.

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-Yeah.

-I'll step aside and let you get on with it.

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-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-OK.

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His haul is loaded onto a truck and driven less than a mile to a fish

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factory for processing.

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Factory manager Alda is showing me how the whole fish begin their

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transformation into fish fingers.

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-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

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-So, here's the cod.

-Yeah.

-What happens now?

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Now, we will gut it and grade it and get it ready for production.

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First stop, fish gutting.

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I'm feeling a bit nervous.

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But expert filleter Eli makes it looks easy.

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-Hi.

-Hi.

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-Hi, Eli.

-Hi, hi.

-Wow.

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I'm just going to say, that I'm a real city girl,

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and this is the first time I've ever seen this.

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-OK.

-This is a real biology lesson.

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Wowee.

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-You want to try?

-Yeah, definitely.

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I don't think I've ever touched a raw fish like this in my life.

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Professional filleters like Eli gut up to ten cod a minute.

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You don't want any of the insides?

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I'm struggling with just one.

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I am learning.

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Right, now what happens with the fish?

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-I put that down there.

-Next to the production area.

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-OK.

-I'll show you.

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Next, the gutted fish are sorted by size.

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And their heads cut off.

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There are so many fish heads coming out of that machine.

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How many fish go through this factory in one day?

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5,000 and more.

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-And more?

-Yeah.

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The headless fish are filleted by a machine.

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And the skin is removed.

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Just 12 hours since they were pulled from the sea,

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the fillets arrive at one of 12 trimming stations.

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This is the trimming area.

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So, we have our lovely fillet of fish.

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So, which is the bit that goes into fish fingers?

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I'll show you. Like this fillet here, we take out the bones first.

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-OK, take out the bones.

-We take the line, we separate the line.

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And the rest goes to the fish fingers.

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So, the fish that goes into a fish finger is almost exactly the same as

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the fish you get in a prime cut of cod?

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-It is exactly the same.

-It's just a different shape.

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It's not ALMOST exactly, it IS exactly the same.

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Exactly the same.

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We only need the prime cuts, but nothing goes to waste.

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The livers have their oil extracted,

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the skeleton and head are dried for soup,

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and the skin is turned into animal feed.

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The fillets for the fish fingers are packed tightly into

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rectangular cardboard boxes.

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We lay them like this.

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-OK.

-And we have to fill this box and freeze it.

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Why is this done by hand? Why does the machine not do this?

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Because the pieces are not all the same size.

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So, you have to do it by hand.

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The boxes, each weighing just over seven kilos,

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are put into a freezer at -30 degrees for four hours,

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until the cod is frozen solid.

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It's absolutely amazing, that in just a few hours, I've seen cod cleaned,

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cut and frozen into cod blocks ready

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for its next stage at the fish finger factory.

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To get to the factory, the cod heads from Grindavik to Reykjavik harbour.

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And onto a ship where the containers of fish are kept frozen for the

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entire 1,200 mile journey

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to Immingham in Lincolnshire.

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As each container is unloaded,

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it is instantly plugged back into a power supply to keep its cargo frozen.

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Its final destination is nine miles away,

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at the NH Case fish cutting factory.

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In charge of receiving this morning's batch of cod is site manager Nick Wilson.

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Nick, Gregg.

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-Nice to meet you, Gregg.

-I'm taking it for granted that this is our cod?

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This is our frozen cod, yes.

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How many fish fingers will this cod actually make?

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There's ten pallets in here,

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each pallet will give us about 27,000 fish fingers,

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so just over a quarter of a million fish fingers

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will come out of this lorry now.

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So, this has got to stay frozen and we've had the doors open for a while.

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That's right, we need to get a move on and get it into the cold store.

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The transformation from fillets of cod to breaded fish fingers starts now.

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The pallets are forklifted out of the freezer truck

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and into the factory.

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Right, so we've got our pallet of blocks of fish, now what?

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We have to take them out of the cardboard.

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-Oh.

-And we have nice fish blocks.

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I don't know what I expected, but I didn't expect that.

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That looks like a lump of marble.

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You never been tempted to take these home and do your kitchen worktops in them?

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No, not really. Sort of tends to defrost a bit on the way!

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THEY LAUGH

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First, we need to get the cardboard off.

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Why don't you just bring it in without the cardboard on it?

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Because if you bring it in without the cardboard,

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it starts to get freezer burn on it.

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So this all starts to dry out.

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You want to go from the sides first.

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Then fold that over.

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So then when you have that,

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you just flip it over

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and then you can peel it back.

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This must take ages.

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We need three people to feed them machines.

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-Three people work on a pallet?

-Yes.

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Do I look really ridiculously slow to you?

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Yes.

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-Hooray!

-And that's it, done.

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Chip off the old block.

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Now there's a quick check to make sure the block

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is at least -14 degrees.

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The factory isn't refrigerated, so the team have to work fast.

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If the temperature of the fish increases,

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the machines won't be able to cut it.

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-Is it OK?

-Yes, it's OK, temperature's good to go.

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My palette of 160 frozen cod blocks is ready for the next step.

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Those are standard blocks worldwide, same size, 7.484 kilos.

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Hang on a minute. That is the standard weight around the world?

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-Yes.

-Around the globe?

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-Around the globe.

-Don't matter where you buy a block of frozen fish from,

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-it's always going to be that?

-Always that.

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-All fish?

-All fish.

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-Is that it?

-Yeah, seriously.

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That is the standard currency of global frozen fish trade?

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-Yeah.

-Brilliant, that's brilliant!

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Each 7.484 kilogram block is basically one big fish finger.

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Now it's time to cut it down to size.

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How many fish fingers does one of those blocks make?

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168 fish fingers from one block.

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-168?

-168.

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To do that, the block is first sliced into four pieces, called bricks.

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It's making four cuts.

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One...two...

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-Are you going to count up to four?

-Three...

-You are, aren't you?

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-Four.

-Then each brick is cut down again.

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-Right, well, we had blocks.

-Yeah.

-You then made bricks.

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-Yeah.

-What are these?

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-These are planks.

-Planks?

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-Planks.

-Right, so how many of them are there?

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One, two, three, four, five, six.

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-Six...

-Planks in a brick.

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How many bricks in a block?

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How many bricks in a block, will be four bricks in a block.

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How many planks in a brick?

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-Five. Six.

-Six!

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THEY LAUGH

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My frozen block is now in 24 pieces.

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The next cut requires considerable precision and concentration.

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It's Daniel McCann's job to slice the planks into individual fish fingers,

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each weighing exactly 42g, using a super-sharp saw.

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I didn't want to talk to you while you were cutting up the fish.

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Yeah, it's not a good idea, Gregg.

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-You've got to focus, right?

-Yeah, very much so.

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It takes Daniel just one minute to produce 168 fingers of fish.

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We get seven fingers from each plank.

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And a tiny little strip...

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A tiny little off-cut.

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And that's the trickiest bit to cut, isn't it?

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That is the hardest part, that is where you've got to stay most focused.

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Just two hours after my pallet of frozen cod block arrived at the factory,

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I've got 27,000 naked fish fingers,

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all ready for the next step in the process.

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For millions of us, childhood tea-time without the fish finger is unimaginable.

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Ruth Goodman has been tracing the history of this family favourite.

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-ARCHIVE:

-They're catchier.

-They're bunchier.

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-They're different.

-They're new.

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# Yes, Birds Eye Fish Fingers are much better too! #

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The cod fish finger - the food of British childhood,

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easy to cook and easy to eat.

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They feel like they've been around forever,

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but when did they first land on our shelves?

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To find out, I've been invited to the Metropole Hotel in Brighton.

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-Hi, Ruth.

-Hello, Peter.

-Welcome to the Metropole.

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To meet Peter Lack, who is head chef for Birds Eye.

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He's brought me here to explain how the company first introduced the fish finger.

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Goodness!

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This is a pretty grand space.

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And what's this got to do with fish fingers?

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This is where the fish finger was born.

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-Really?

-Right here, in this room.

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Yes, in 1955 we got 30 of our sales reps in here and we presented them

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-with the fish finger.

-It's funny, isn't it?

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I think of fish fingers as a very simple food.

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This just seems so incongruous.

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Peter's brought along one of the original adverts used to promote them.

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"Sea fresh fish, ready cooked and easy to serve fingers.

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"Your family will love them, the children especially."

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It was the first fish product we developed that was designed specifically for children.

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No bones, nice and clean,

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easy for Mum to cook, and lovely fresh fish inside.

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-ARCHIVE:

-When they know it's Birds Eye Fish Fingers for dinner,

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they certainly need no coaxing.

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So this was 1955.

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Did many people actually have freezers in 1955?

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Only about 3% of people had freezers.

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You actually had to go and buy them on the day you were going to eat them.

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And you ate them straightaway.

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They were an instant hit.

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542 tonnes were sold in the first year.

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And in the second year, sales rocketed by 600%.

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But it could have been a very different story.

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The idea of a breaded finger of white fish came from North America,

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where they were called Fish-Sticks.

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They wanted to introduce a British version,

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but planned to make them from a fish

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that might not have been everyone's first choice.

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This isn't quite what I was expecting.

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No, these are herrings, they're lovely, aren't they?

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Herrings? Yes, it's a lovely fish, herring,

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but it's not what I think of when I think fish fingers.

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Well, when we first started out, everything was herring.

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So this was the fish that was most available in Britain?

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-Yes, exactly.

-And that's what British people like,

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that's what you're going to make your fish fingers out of.

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Except that they're very small fish,

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and getting them bone-free is quite a lot of work.

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-And there's still a few there.

-And there's still a few.

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Despite the difficulties, the company persevered,

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and in 1954 they tested out these

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breaded sticks of herring on the great British public.

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And over 60 years later, I'm getting to try them too.

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I'm looking forward to trying these.

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It's a much stronger taste than a modern fish finger, isn't it?

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-Yes.

-I can see it if you were a child,

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the stronger flavour and the presence of bones

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might be a bit off-putting.

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Taste and bones weren't the only problem.

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Can you imagine what we were going to call them?

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Well, Fish Fingers I presume?

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Oh, no. Herring Savouries is what we came up with.

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Hmm.

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Perhaps not surprisingly, Herring Savouries never made it to our shelves,

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because they also trialled an alternative in those 1954 taste tests.

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A breaded cod stick, which was a surprise hit.

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One year later, the product as we know it was born.

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Fish fingers changed the tastes of the nation

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and they allowed children to enjoy the health benefits of fish

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without any squeamishness of dealing with skin or bones.

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But imagine if they'd never tried out the cod,

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we could now be eating Herring Savouries for our tea.

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GREGG: Two hours after arriving at the cutting factory,

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my frozen fish fingers have been cut down to size.

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From here, they head to the main factory 14 miles away

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and the start of the 32 metre long production line.

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Here, they'll be coated, fried, flash frozen and packed.

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Right, brilliant.

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A load of frozen fish, leave this with me - it's in safe hands.

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Waiting for me at the start of the line is assistant manufacturing manager Mel Nichols.

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Right, do we have to get these out of here by hand?

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We do unfortunately, I'm afraid.

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Literally just pick them out, put them onto here...

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..and then empty them onto this trough.

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Why can't you just tip them straight on to the conveyor belt?

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Because they sometimes come out like that,

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so when they've been in the freezer they'll just stick together.

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So we tip my naked fish fingers...

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-Yep.

-Cos they've got no coating on them yet.

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-Yep, yep.

-They're naked, to me. So we tip those onto here and then they

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-manually have to be checked to make sure they're not sticking together?

-Yeah.

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My fish fingers are whisked away into the first machine.

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Wahey!

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Right, that looks like a steamer to me.

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It's like a great big kettle really, in there.

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So it's just producing steam and it's just taking the top layer of ice off.

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So as you can see, that's just passed through

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and it's all nice and wet.

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It's not just the top layer, is it?

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It's all over it, it's the top, the bottom and the sides.

0:19:170:19:22

The outer layer of ice is melted to make the finger wet and sticky,

0:19:220:19:26

ready for its first coating.

0:19:260:19:29

And what do you call this bit?

0:19:290:19:30

-That is a pre-dust.

-A pre-dust?

0:19:300:19:34

Yeah. Not dust as in your dust off your telly.

0:19:340:19:37

That pre-dust is flour?

0:19:380:19:40

-Yes.

-And I'm guessing you put flour round it to make the batter stick?

0:19:400:19:43

Yes.

0:19:430:19:44

My naked fish fingers are just about to get covered over in a blanket of

0:19:440:19:47

flour, or dust, as you call it.

0:19:470:19:50

They are, so they'll not be naked any more.

0:19:500:19:52

It's a shame, really.

0:19:520:19:54

Mind you, it'll hide their blushes, won't it?

0:19:540:19:56

Like having their underwear on.

0:19:560:19:58

GREGG LAUGHS

0:19:580:19:59

Fish fingers are one of the most popular products in our freezer,

0:20:060:20:09

but many people consider frozen to be inferior to fresh.

0:20:090:20:13

Cherry went to find out if that's true.

0:20:130:20:15

To be honest, I think of the stuff in my freezer

0:20:190:20:21

as what I use when I need to get a meal on the table quickly.

0:20:210:20:25

It's certainly not what I would turn to

0:20:250:20:27

if I was going to make something special.

0:20:270:20:30

But one chef is hoping to change my mind.

0:20:310:20:35

Hi guys, I'm Miguel Barclay, welcome the One Pound Meals YouTube channel.

0:20:350:20:38

Today, we're going to be cooking a lovely

0:20:380:20:41

fresh and vibrant pea cannelloni.

0:20:410:20:43

Internet star Miguel made his name devising recipes

0:20:450:20:49

that cost less than £1 a portion,

0:20:490:20:52

and he's passionate about the cost savings you can find in the freezer aisle.

0:20:520:20:57

So I've set him a challenge...

0:20:570:20:59

Can he use frozen ingredients to produce

0:20:590:21:01

two top-notch dinner party dishes that can pass for fresh?

0:21:010:21:05

-Hi, Miguel.

-Hey, Cherry.

0:21:060:21:07

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

0:21:070:21:09

So what are we cooking? That is a lobster tail.

0:21:090:21:12

Exactly. We're going straight in

0:21:120:21:15

with a classic high-end posh dish and I'm

0:21:150:21:18

going to show you how to do a lobster Thermidor with it.

0:21:180:21:20

All the ingredients Miguel's using were bought frozen.

0:21:210:21:25

So, you've got your lovely defrosted lobster tail,

0:21:250:21:28

and because it's been frozen, is it cheaper?

0:21:280:21:32

Yes, so this one comes in at £5, and if you were going to buy this fresh,

0:21:320:21:37

you're looking at about the £7.50 mark.

0:21:370:21:40

So that's a lot cheaper.

0:21:400:21:42

It's a high cost gourmet ingredient,

0:21:420:21:44

but Miguel's pairing it with something a little less high-end

0:21:440:21:48

which I've never seen before.

0:21:480:21:50

Frozen cheese sauce?

0:21:500:21:52

My head says I understand, my heart says no, it's wrong!

0:21:520:21:56

These cheesy pellets can be tipped straight into the frying pan without defrosting.

0:21:570:22:03

We finish the sauce with some frozen onions and garlic.

0:22:030:22:06

Frozen onions?

0:22:060:22:08

Why are these not in my life?

0:22:080:22:10

Well, a lot of people A, don't know they exist, and B,

0:22:100:22:14

just don't have any faith in them.

0:22:140:22:16

Frozen onions and garlic are a revelation.

0:22:190:22:22

Exactly. So this dish here, we only need like a quarter of an onion,

0:22:220:22:26

so what would we do with the other three quarters of an onion?

0:22:260:22:28

Well, no, you put it in the fridge and you let it rot.

0:22:280:22:31

-Exactly.

-That's what happens.

0:22:310:22:32

And then one day you stumble across it and throw it out.

0:22:320:22:34

And you go, "Oh, that's what that smell is!"

0:22:340:22:37

In Britain, we throw away over 7 million tonnes of food every year,

0:22:370:22:41

mostly bread, fruit and veg.

0:22:410:22:44

Frozen food allows you to use only the amount you need,

0:22:450:22:49

so you chuck less in the bin.

0:22:490:22:50

I suppose the only other big question is, does it taste OK?

0:22:520:22:57

It's got to be good, you know...

0:23:000:23:02

-A lovely bit of crunch.

-It's so good, I'm so happy!

0:23:070:23:12

I'm loving the lobster starter,

0:23:120:23:15

but will Miguel's main course turn out as tasty?

0:23:150:23:19

It's duck breast and cabbage mash,

0:23:190:23:21

garnished with something I'd never think of buying frozen -

0:23:210:23:25

asparagus.

0:23:250:23:26

With some frozen items, do you lose some of the nutritional value?

0:23:260:23:30

Well, actually, some frozen items you get more nutritional value.

0:23:300:23:34

So the peas are packaged within two hours of picking,

0:23:340:23:38

so you're actually preserving them at their absolute peak.

0:23:380:23:41

So this is as nutritionally good

0:23:420:23:45

-as if it were fresh potatoes and fresh cabbage?

-Yep, definitely.

0:23:450:23:51

It looks fabulous, but does it taste good?

0:23:510:23:54

It just tastes really nice.

0:23:570:24:00

It just goes to show how frozen produce can taste as good as fresh.

0:24:000:24:04

You have revolutionised my freezer use with pellets of mash.

0:24:040:24:08

I would not have guessed that, I'll be honest.

0:24:080:24:11

Well, I'm won over, but are Miguel's dishes good enough

0:24:110:24:15

to convince other people to rethink frozen produce?

0:24:150:24:18

We took them out onto the street to find out.

0:24:190:24:23

-Wow, that's lovely.

-The lobster's extremely good.

0:24:230:24:26

-You like the lobster?

-Absolutely.

0:24:260:24:27

Oh, I say!

0:24:300:24:32

Is that a winner, winner?

0:24:330:24:35

What would you say if I told you it was made entirely out of frozen

0:24:350:24:38

-ingredients?

-No way.

-Yes, way!

0:24:380:24:40

Is this frozen?

0:24:400:24:42

Yeah, 100% frozen ingredients.

0:24:420:24:45

-Tastes very fresh. I'm surprised.

-That really is lovely.

0:24:450:24:48

It is really nice. I mean it doesn't look like frozen food.

0:24:480:24:50

A delicious gourmet meal and every one of the ingredients was originally frozen.

0:24:500:24:56

I like him!

0:24:560:24:57

At the factory, it's been four hours and 20 minutes

0:25:060:25:09

since my frozen cod arrived.

0:25:090:25:11

On the production line my naked fish fingers

0:25:130:25:15

are heading for the coating

0:25:150:25:17

area, where Nick Hill's in charge.

0:25:170:25:20

Nick, I've been sent over here to learn about the batter.

0:25:200:25:24

Yeah.

0:25:240:25:26

This 150-litre vat of batter must be constantly topped up to make sure it

0:25:260:25:31

never runs out, and today that's my job.

0:25:310:25:35

-What do I have to do?

-I've topped this up with water already,

0:25:350:25:37

next thing is a couple of shovels of ice in there.

0:25:370:25:40

-Why ice?

-Keep the temperature of the batter down.

0:25:400:25:44

-You want me to do it?

-Yes, please.

0:25:440:25:45

-It's rock hard!

-Iced up.

0:25:490:25:52

The ice will keep the temperature of the batter mix at 10 degrees,

0:25:520:25:56

which stops it getting sticky and over coating the fingers.

0:25:560:26:00

Perfect. The next bit is bag of the batter mix.

0:26:000:26:04

So, basically this is like any batter at home - this is flour and water?

0:26:040:26:07

-Yeah, yeah, that's all it is, yeah.

-And a bit of ice to keep it cool?

0:26:070:26:10

Yeah.

0:26:100:26:11

-But on a much bigger scale.

-Yeah, big, big scale.

0:26:110:26:13

Whoa! HE GRUNTS

0:26:150:26:17

If you shut the lid,

0:26:270:26:30

now we've got some controls just around the other side.

0:26:300:26:33

That one and them two.

0:26:330:26:34

-That one?

-Yeah.

-Then them two.

-Yeah.

0:26:350:26:39

Batter!

0:26:390:26:41

Inside the mixer, a blade turns 1,200 times every minute,

0:26:410:26:46

blending the flour, water and ice together.

0:26:460:26:49

Can't take long to mix, can it?

0:26:490:26:51

No, you'd like to leave it for five minutes to get all the lumps out.

0:26:510:26:54

If I lift this up, will it go everywhere?

0:26:540:26:56

-A little bit.

-Let's have a look.

0:26:560:26:58

-There you are. All mixed.

-There we go!

0:27:030:27:05

Looking good.

0:27:050:27:06

Next job would be, if you just lift the lid all the way up,

0:27:080:27:10

there's a little visco cup just at this pocket here.

0:27:100:27:13

A little disco cup? What's it called?

0:27:130:27:16

Viscosity. Checks how thick the batter is.

0:27:160:27:19

'We need to measure how long it takes for the batter...'

0:27:190:27:21

Go! '..to pour through a hole in the bottom of the cup.

0:27:210:27:25

'We're aiming for between 8-15 seconds.'

0:27:250:27:28

Nearly! Five seconds. A little bit more batter and we'll be there.

0:27:280:27:32

It's a matter of trial and error.

0:27:320:27:34

Do you want to turn the machine on again, please.

0:27:410:27:44

This place was really clean when I arrived.

0:27:520:27:55

I've held up the world's fish finger production,

0:27:560:27:59

messing about with a bag of flour.

0:27:590:28:01

Making a mess with a bag of flour!

0:28:020:28:05

-There we go, it's stopped.

-It's stopped.

0:28:050:28:07

Oh, that's so thick, so thick it's unbelievable.

0:28:070:28:10

-Stop!

-Ten.

0:28:100:28:13

Yes!

0:28:130:28:15

I've never been so happy to see the inside of a visco cup.

0:28:150:28:19

I'm in a right mess. I've got to go and have a shower.

0:28:190:28:23

It's going to take an hour to clean up.

0:28:230:28:25

-Nick, I'm so sorry.

-No problem.

0:28:260:28:28

My freshly mixed cauldron of batter is enough to coat almost 8,000 fish fingers.

0:28:310:28:37

It's pumped directly from the mixer to the battering station.

0:28:370:28:40

As the fish fingers arrive,

0:28:430:28:44

they're trapped between two wire mesh conveyors

0:28:440:28:47

and carried into the river of batter.

0:28:470:28:50

Why are they between two cages like that?

0:28:500:28:52

Just to help drag them through, otherwise they'd just be floating.

0:28:520:28:55

Of course they would. What's this bit called?

0:28:550:28:58

Batter enrober.

0:28:580:28:59

-A batter enrober.

-Yep.

0:28:590:29:02

So that guarantees that these fish fingers are well and truly coated...

0:29:020:29:05

-Yep.

-..in my brilliantly made batter?

-Yeah.

0:29:050:29:09

-Hey!

-That's it.

0:29:130:29:15

-Straight to the roto-crumb.

-The what?

0:29:150:29:17

-Roto-crumber.

-Roto-crumber?

-Yeah.

0:29:170:29:21

Posh name - breader.

0:29:210:29:23

Premade breadcrumbs are poured evenly across the conveyer from a nearby drum.

0:29:250:29:30

And the fingers are plunged into an avalanche of crumbs.

0:29:300:29:34

-Do you know what? It looks like they are diving into a wave.

-Yeah.

-Doesn't it?

0:29:340:29:38

-Does look pretty good, though.

-Come on! Last one in is a rotten egg!

0:29:380:29:41

I've had naked fish fingers.

0:29:450:29:47

-Then I've seen them put their underwear on.

-Yeah.

0:29:470:29:50

Now they've got a robe on.

0:29:500:29:51

They will be fully dressed in a minute, I can tell.

0:29:510:29:54

Yeah. Hopefully.

0:29:540:29:55

-Erm... Where've they gone?

-Disappeared.

0:29:580:30:02

They are somewhere... Here we go.

0:30:020:30:04

It's like fishing for fish fingers.

0:30:080:30:10

NICK LAUGHS

0:30:100:30:11

Hang on, this is a game, this, isn't it?

0:30:110:30:14

-That's a lot of bread crumbs.

-Oh, yeah.

0:30:140:30:16

And that's to make sure they are completely and utterly coated?

0:30:160:30:18

Yeah, fully covered all the way around.

0:30:180:30:22

Any excess is removed by an air blower,

0:30:220:30:25

leaving an even coating all around.

0:30:250:30:27

And these are still frozen rock hard, right?

0:30:290:30:31

-Still rock hard. Yeah.

-How many of these are we making, Nick?

0:30:310:30:35

150 a minute.

0:30:350:30:36

-Really?

-Yeah.

0:30:360:30:38

-Quite a lot of fingers.

-Absolutely.

0:30:380:30:41

-I think they've journeyed more now than when they were actually whole fish.

-Yeah.

0:30:410:30:44

That's a beautiful thing, mate.

0:30:450:30:47

-Beautiful!

-That is somebody's tea.

0:30:470:30:50

-Yeah.

-Actually, I wouldn't mind if it was mine, to be honest.

0:30:500:30:52

I was going to say, I could do with one right now.

0:30:520:30:55

My frozen sticks of cod are heading for the fryer,

0:30:570:31:00

where Mel is standing by to answer my questions.

0:31:000:31:04

-What oil do you use?

-Rapeseed oil.

0:31:040:31:06

-Do you know what temperature?

-200 degrees.

0:31:060:31:09

-For how long?

-45 seconds.

0:31:090:31:11

-That's quick.

-Very quick.

0:31:120:31:14

-Can I see them up the other end?

-Yep.

0:31:140:31:16

That's not enough heat to cook them, is it?

0:31:220:31:24

No, they're not cooked.

0:31:240:31:25

It's just literally cooking the breadcrumbs, if you like.

0:31:250:31:28

So what's the fish like inside?

0:31:280:31:30

Shall we pick one up and try?

0:31:300:31:32

It's still frozen.

0:31:320:31:34

Oh!

0:31:340:31:35

Oh! Ow!

0:31:360:31:38

Very hot, so be careful.

0:31:380:31:39

It's really hot on the outside and it's frozen in the middle.

0:31:390:31:42

That's supposed to be like that, right?

0:31:420:31:44

-Yes.

-So you've just cooked the breadcrumbs?

0:31:440:31:46

Literally. The intention is not to cook the fish at all.

0:31:460:31:48

It is literally just to cook the breadcrumbs.

0:31:480:31:50

-Yes, it's frozen.

-Yeah.

0:31:500:31:52

-They came in as a block frozen. They're going out frozen.

-Yes.

0:31:520:31:55

-The fish is in exactly the same condition as it was when Cherry saw it in Iceland?

-Yes.

0:31:550:32:01

They're a little bit dark, aren't they?

0:32:010:32:03

They are at the moment, but over the next couple of days they'll actually

0:32:030:32:06

-come down in colour?

-What, they'll fade?

0:32:060:32:08

They'll fade, but it doesn't affect the flavour.

0:32:080:32:10

I get it, you don't actually want them this dark,

0:32:100:32:14

you cook them this dark because you know they're going to fade?

0:32:140:32:16

That's right.

0:32:160:32:18

Hey! A bit like me with my suntan on holiday.

0:32:180:32:21

Get a bit red and lobstery cos I know I'll be golden at the end.

0:32:210:32:24

That's surprised me. I love that.

0:32:250:32:27

My fish fingers are almost ready for somebody's plate.

0:32:300:32:33

Meanwhile, Ruth is in London discovering what seafood they were putting on

0:32:350:32:39

their plates back in the 19th century.

0:32:390:32:42

RUTH: Rewind 170 years and this place,

0:32:430:32:47

Billingsgate, was the biggest fish market in the world.

0:32:470:32:50

Over 3,000 people here shifted 120,000 tonnes of fish a year.

0:32:560:33:03

And the most popular seafood product was something rather surprising.

0:33:070:33:11

Food historian Drew Smith is here to fill me in.

0:33:130:33:16

-Drew, lovely to see you.

-Lovely to see you.

0:33:160:33:19

So, what exactly was the best selling fish in Victorian London?

0:33:190:33:24

-Oysters.

-Oysters!

-Absolutely.

0:33:240:33:27

Cos all of this bank here would have been full of oysters.

0:33:270:33:31

There would have been eight, nine, ten barges bringing them up here

0:33:310:33:34

and they would be shovelling them up here,

0:33:340:33:36

and from here they'd put them on a horse and cart,

0:33:360:33:39

take them all around London.

0:33:390:33:40

In 1851, Billingsgate fishmongers sold 500 million oysters.

0:33:430:33:49

That's 200 for every Londoner.

0:33:490:33:52

At a penny for four, they were affordable for everyone.

0:33:520:33:56

So, this really is a food of everybody?

0:33:570:33:59

Rich, poor, makes no difference, there's lots of it about,

0:33:590:34:02

-everybody's eating them?

-Yep, and it was London's food.

0:34:020:34:04

I mean, they come sort of pre-packaged, really, in a way?

0:34:040:34:08

In their own shell?

0:34:080:34:09

Yes, they were the convenience food of the Victorian era.

0:34:090:34:12

You know, they were easy to handle.

0:34:120:34:14

You could eat them on the street, of course, without needing any cooking.

0:34:140:34:17

Victorians also believed this protein-packed shellfish

0:34:180:34:23

had a rather saucy side effect.

0:34:230:34:25

Oysters are a very healthy food and it's one of the reasons they got the

0:34:250:34:28

reputation as an aphrodisiac.

0:34:280:34:30

Because actually you'd feel a lot better

0:34:300:34:32

because you were probably so depleted.

0:34:320:34:34

Of course, if you had been living on bread, bread, bread, and bread,

0:34:340:34:37

with your bit of tea... HE GROANS

0:34:370:34:38

Yeah. And then you get a sudden hit of all that protein,

0:34:380:34:41

it's going to have a big impact on a person.

0:34:410:34:43

-It did, yeah.

-THEY LAUGH

0:34:430:34:45

Oysters were so cheap and popular that pubs like this one in Bethnal Green

0:34:480:34:53

would offer them free with your pint.

0:34:530:34:56

Oh, they look good.

0:34:560:34:57

So, what changed?

0:34:570:34:59

Why is it we now think of oysters as purely posh food?

0:34:590:35:03

Well, you can track it down through these newspaper cuttings we've got

0:35:030:35:05

-here, right down to November 10th, 1902.

-As specific as that!

0:35:050:35:12

On that date, guests at an oyster-laden banquet in Winchester

0:35:120:35:16

suffered catastrophic food poisoning.

0:35:160:35:18

Half the guests at the banquet went sick.

0:35:180:35:22

And it says here... This is a first report.

0:35:220:35:24

"Nearly a dozen of the most prominent citizens of Winchester,

0:35:240:35:26

"including the Dean, the headmaster of the college and a councillor are on the sick list."

0:35:260:35:32

Good gracious.

0:35:320:35:33

In all, 63 guests at the Winchester banquet became ill,

0:35:330:35:37

some of them diagnosed with typhoid.

0:35:370:35:40

And things went from bad to worse.

0:35:400:35:43

"Mr E Douglas Godwin, one of the best-known legal practitioners in Hampshire,

0:35:430:35:47

"died yesterday at Winchester, the fourth victim of the illness."

0:35:470:35:52

These are really prominent people who are dying, aren't they?

0:35:520:35:55

The cause of death was traced back to the oysters and a stretch of

0:35:550:35:59

the south coast that had been contaminated with sewage.

0:35:590:36:03

The town Emsworth had built their drains over the oyster beds

0:36:030:36:08

and had polluted the oyster beds, which had caused typhoid.

0:36:080:36:12

Unfortunately...

0:36:120:36:13

Typhoid passed straight through the oysters and back into people.

0:36:130:36:16

-Exactly.

-Oh...

0:36:160:36:17

This highly contagious waterborne disease had spread through the oyster beds.

0:36:190:36:24

When word got out, the press had a field day.

0:36:240:36:27

This is the Worcester Chronicle.

0:36:270:36:29

This is the Yorkshire Post, and this is the Manchester Courier.

0:36:290:36:32

So the story spread right across the country.

0:36:320:36:34

This isn't a local Winchester story, this is a national scandal.

0:36:340:36:38

One that sounded the death knell for the British oyster industry.

0:36:380:36:42

The oyster beds were closed down and actually it was the start of

0:36:420:36:45

what we call public health these days,

0:36:450:36:47

and oysters just went into complete decline.

0:36:470:36:51

So it's absolute as definite as that.

0:36:510:36:53

We have one incident of an outbreak.

0:36:530:36:55

Bonk. End of the oyster industry.

0:36:550:36:57

This completely killed it, yes, absolutely.

0:36:570:37:00

So Britain's original convenience fish product disappeared from our tables.

0:37:000:37:05

As recently as 1990s,

0:37:060:37:08

you could almost say the oyster industry was over in this country.

0:37:080:37:12

And it's only in the last 20 or so years that things have started to pick up.

0:37:120:37:17

Today, oysters are carefully cultivated and regarded as a luxury food.

0:37:170:37:22

In fancy restaurants they can cost upwards of £2 each.

0:37:220:37:26

That's a far cry from their glory days as an everyday staple in Victorian London.

0:37:260:37:31

Back in Caistor, my fish fingers look finished.

0:37:360:37:39

But before I can pack them,

0:37:400:37:41

I have to oversee a rather surprising delivery.

0:37:410:37:45

-Hello, brother.

-Hello there. Are you all right?

0:37:450:37:47

Every week, the factory receives two 25-ton tankers of liquid nitrogen.

0:37:470:37:54

Is this a particularly scary product?

0:37:540:37:56

It can be scary. You've got to be trained,

0:37:560:37:58

but it can be scary in the wrong hands.

0:37:580:38:01

What's dangerous about it?

0:38:010:38:02

It's very cold, so it can burn you.

0:38:020:38:04

And what happens if a load of liquid nitrogen goes flooding out of the tank?

0:38:040:38:08

Well, you don't want to be around.

0:38:080:38:11

Cos it will just freeze everything what's around it.

0:38:110:38:13

Nitrogen occurs naturally in the air around us.

0:38:130:38:16

Most of the time it's a gas, but when it is cooled down to minus 196 degrees Celsius,

0:38:160:38:23

it becomes a liquid, making it easier to transport.

0:38:230:38:26

And it's just what I need to freeze my fish fingers.

0:38:260:38:30

Are we ready to unload, boss?

0:38:300:38:31

-We are, mate.

-Come on, what do we do?

-Right.

0:38:310:38:34

I've got to press these two buttons, start the engine.

0:38:340:38:37

-That's started.

-That's started.

0:38:380:38:40

Make sure that the delivery valve is open

0:38:400:38:42

and now I'm going to start the pump.

0:38:420:38:45

-PUMP WHIRS

-There goes the pump.

0:38:460:38:50

The liquid nitrogen is pumped into the on-site storage tank.

0:38:500:38:55

How long is this going to take to unload?

0:38:550:38:57

-About an hour.

-Mate, I'll leave you to it, shall I?

0:38:570:39:00

Thank you very much. I've seen lots of lorries being unloaded.

0:39:000:39:03

-This is my favourite.

-Great. Pleased to have met you.

-Thanks, mate.

0:39:030:39:05

My frozen cod arrived five hours and 21 minutes ago.

0:39:100:39:15

Now, my coated fish fingers are heading to the freezer.

0:39:160:39:19

That's a serious big freezer.

0:39:210:39:23

That must be the liquid nitrogen that I saw being delivered, right?

0:39:230:39:25

-It is.

-How cold is that?

0:39:250:39:28

It's currently at minus 50.

0:39:280:39:29

Nitrogen gas is sprayed in the top of the freezer,

0:39:310:39:34

rapidly reducing the temperature of the fish fingers

0:39:340:39:38

to minus 15 degrees.

0:39:380:39:40

This is called flash freezing.

0:39:400:39:43

It preserves the fish, giving it a shelf life of up to 12 months.

0:39:430:39:47

Does it just go straight through a flat conveyor and come out the other side?

0:39:480:39:52

No. Inside there is like a corkscrew.

0:39:520:39:54

The fish fingers slowly move upwards on a 110-metre spiral conveyor.

0:39:550:40:01

They make 16 rotations, and after 18 minutes they emerge from the top.

0:40:020:40:08

GREGG CHUCKLES

0:40:100:40:12

Hang on a minute. So these fish fingers go up on a corkscrew and come down on a slide?

0:40:130:40:18

Yes, it's like a fairground for fish fingers.

0:40:180:40:21

It certainly is, isn't it?

0:40:210:40:23

180 fish fingers slide out of the freezer every minute.

0:40:280:40:32

-OK, can I get one?

-Yes, you can, if you are quick.

0:40:340:40:36

Wow, that is frozen solid.

0:40:370:40:39

-Wow, that is...

-You can't get much more frozen than that.

0:40:400:40:42

FISH FINGER CLANGS

0:40:420:40:44

Do they start to get warmer after they come out the freezer?

0:40:440:40:47

No, total opposite.

0:40:470:40:48

It's so cold in there that they continue to get colder.

0:40:480:40:51

Do they really?

0:40:510:40:52

-Honestly.

-How many degrees colder can they get?

0:40:520:40:55

They come out there roughly minus 15 degrees and they end up minus 18.

0:40:550:40:59

There are so many things in here I find remarkable.

0:40:590:41:01

I kind of like to think the fish fingers are having a nice time, don't you?

0:41:010:41:04

I think it looks like they are.

0:41:040:41:06

This factory is packed to the gunwales with hi-tech equipment,

0:41:130:41:17

like this nitrogen freezer.

0:41:170:41:19

But there is a proud history of low-tech fish production

0:41:190:41:22

right here in Grimsby. Cherry has been to lend a hand.

0:41:220:41:26

Some modern preservation techniques, like freezing,

0:41:320:41:34

have been around for about a century.

0:41:340:41:37

But there's one way of preserving that's been around since the dawn of time.

0:41:370:41:42

This smoke house has been here for the last 90 years and produces

0:41:440:41:50

15 tonnes of fish every week.

0:41:500:41:52

Third-generation fish smoker Angie King is going to show me how it's done.

0:41:520:41:58

-What kind of fish are we using?

-This is fresh Icelandic haddock,

0:41:580:42:02

and it doesn't get much better than that.

0:42:020:42:05

That is a perfect, perfect fillet of fish.

0:42:050:42:07

And you're going to make it into a perfect fillet of smoked fish.

0:42:070:42:09

It all begins with a 165-litre bath of water, and 25 kilos of salt.

0:42:120:42:19

-Oh, wow!

-Now you have the special brining shovel.

0:42:210:42:24

Now they are mixed together, we have created a brine.

0:42:260:42:28

Why do you brine the fish first?

0:42:300:42:33

We brine fish because it's a preservative

0:42:330:42:35

that is added to the fish. It gives the fish extra life.

0:42:350:42:38

So we've got our briny water.

0:42:380:42:40

-Is that it? Are we done?

-No, not at all.

0:42:400:42:42

We've now got the important ingredient, which is the colour.

0:42:420:42:45

I thought that the colour developed while it was smoking.

0:42:450:42:48

I think that's an old adage.

0:42:480:42:50

People have always thought that,

0:42:500:42:51

that the fish became yellow when it went into the chimneys.

0:42:510:42:54

And actually it isn't. It's the colour that we add to the fish.

0:42:540:42:56

So, why bother dyeing it?

0:42:560:42:58

Tradition.

0:42:590:43:01

The traditional bright yellow colour comes from adding the natural spices

0:43:010:43:05

turmeric and annatto.

0:43:050:43:08

You'll see now the colour's starting to take.

0:43:080:43:10

Gorgeous.

0:43:120:43:13

The colourful salt bath is ready for the fish.

0:43:150:43:18

Gently just tease the fish into the brine and let it drop to the bottom.

0:43:210:43:24

You're now going to leave it for five minutes to allow

0:43:290:43:33

the salt to infuse into the fish.

0:43:330:43:35

It's like when I have a bath and I ask my kids to just give me

0:43:350:43:38

-five minutes peace.

-Absolutely.

0:43:380:43:41

The fish are hung out on what's known as speets.

0:43:410:43:44

Try and get them just not touching, just slightly apart from each other.

0:43:440:43:48

They hang for two hours, so the excess moisture can drip off.

0:43:500:43:55

-So now what?

-Now the magic begins.

0:43:550:43:58

-Are we going to smoke?

-We're really going to smoke.

0:43:580:44:00

-Is it time? Finally.

-It's that time. Yes.

0:44:000:44:04

Oh, my goodness. Wow!

0:44:040:44:07

The factory has 11 chimneys, each ten metres tall.

0:44:080:44:12

The walls are encrusted black with tar from decades of use.

0:44:130:44:17

You would be the runner.

0:44:190:44:20

You will pass this fish to a guy in that chimney.

0:44:200:44:23

He will be harnessed up there.

0:44:230:44:25

There will be another guy above him,

0:44:250:44:27

and that speet of fish will literally be passed from you, to him, to him.

0:44:270:44:32

This I have to see.

0:44:320:44:34

That's it.

0:44:380:44:39

120 kilos of fish are loaded into the chimney.

0:44:410:44:45

Once this job is done, it's known as a full house.

0:44:460:44:50

Eddie, that's the last one.

0:44:540:44:55

-Righto.

-Up she goes.

0:44:550:44:58

All we need now is the smoke.

0:45:000:45:02

Embers are added to a pile of sawdust made from oak,

0:45:050:45:08

beech and European softwoods.

0:45:080:45:10

And all that will do, in time, is start to smoulder,

0:45:120:45:15

just like that bucket is.

0:45:150:45:17

That's what'll smoke your fish.

0:45:170:45:18

That's the magic.

0:45:180:45:20

The cool smoke, never more than 20 Celsius, infuses into the flesh,

0:45:210:45:27

giving the fish its characteristic delicate flavour.

0:45:270:45:31

The haddock hangs in the chimney for between 14 and 16 hours.

0:45:330:45:37

Meanwhile, Angie has yesterday's batch ready to be packed.

0:45:380:45:42

-So you literally...

-That is beautiful.

0:45:420:45:45

-It's...

-Delicate smell.

0:45:450:45:49

Springy to the touch and very glossy.

0:45:490:45:52

So you'll pack three fillets on the bottom, normally.

0:45:520:45:54

Now you'll put another piece of paper on,

0:45:540:45:56

you put in two more fillets in this box,

0:45:560:45:59

and that's your first box packed.

0:45:590:46:02

Well done, girl. Well done.

0:46:020:46:04

I am absolutely as proud as punch with this box of fish.

0:46:040:46:07

Well, I'm so pleased you are, but would you now finish the rest?

0:46:070:46:10

No.

0:46:100:46:11

GREGG: Cherry may have abandoned her task,

0:46:150:46:17

but the smoked fish need a bit more work.

0:46:170:46:19

And for that, they've come to our factory.

0:46:210:46:24

The fillets go through a laser scanner

0:46:250:46:28

that precisely measures the fish.

0:46:280:46:30

Then a blade divides it into portions,

0:46:310:46:34

cutting it so fast that even in slow motion you can't see it move.

0:46:340:46:39

Finally, perfectly uniform sized pieces are packed,

0:46:400:46:44

ready for the supermarket shelf.

0:46:440:46:46

Back on the production line, my fish fingers are also ready for packing.

0:46:520:46:56

So they've come out the freezer.

0:46:590:47:01

Now we've just got to pack them.

0:47:010:47:03

So just three fingers on top of each other in a stack like that.

0:47:030:47:06

Open the bag, put them in.

0:47:060:47:08

Then you just put your next three in.

0:47:080:47:11

Then just take the bag off,

0:47:110:47:14

fold it over the top.

0:47:140:47:15

-Not veg days.

-Now, Mrs Miggins, here's your artichoke.

0:47:180:47:22

Packing them by hand means that each fish finger can be given a quick

0:47:240:47:28

visual check.

0:47:280:47:29

But you have to do it fast, to prevent a fish finger pile up.

0:47:290:47:33

I don't think you're quite the speed of the girls, though.

0:47:330:47:36

Yeah, give me a chance!

0:47:360:47:37

The bags move down the line and are sealed shut,

0:47:410:47:44

while the next machine prepares the cardboard boxes.

0:47:440:47:48

The machine folds it into a carton, folds it over, glues it,

0:47:500:47:54

and the ladies and gentlemen that side put the fingers directly into the box.

0:47:540:47:58

Then the other side gets folded, glued, comes out the other side.

0:47:580:48:02

I like those metal knobs, gently turning the boxes round the right way.

0:48:060:48:10

Good bit of engineering, that.

0:48:100:48:12

Isn't that? The simplest of things, it's really clever,

0:48:120:48:14

and it works perfectly every time.

0:48:140:48:17

The boxes continue past the printer.

0:48:170:48:20

-What's this tube?

-That's date coding.

0:48:200:48:23

That doesn't even touch the box.

0:48:230:48:25

It's just kind of spraying it on.

0:48:250:48:27

-That's great.

-That there is a unique code to that product.

0:48:270:48:31

When you trace it back, you can go back to exactly where it was caught.

0:48:310:48:35

That code there tells you who caught the fish

0:48:350:48:38

-that was turned into the fish finger?

-Yep.

-No way.

0:48:380:48:42

Seriously. The life of that fish, from the second that we've caught it,

0:48:420:48:46

all the way through until it lands on somebody's plate,

0:48:460:48:48

we can trace it all the way back.

0:48:480:48:50

Well, this bloke is a pretty good fisherman,

0:48:510:48:54

because he caught all 12 of these fish fingers.

0:48:540:48:57

Finally, my boxes of fish fingers are in a delivery carton.

0:48:590:49:03

Their 32-metre journey along the production line is complete.

0:49:030:49:07

Is this it, Mel, is this the last stage?

0:49:090:49:11

This is the last stage in here.

0:49:110:49:13

We're just putting our outer case label on,

0:49:130:49:16

palletising it up, and then it will go out to logistics.

0:49:160:49:19

Do you know what's different about this than other factories I've been to?

0:49:190:49:22

This is normally always done by machine.

0:49:220:49:24

I like it that there's people here.

0:49:260:49:28

How do you feel when you see them on the shelves?

0:49:310:49:33

-Proud.

-Do you? Why?

-Cos we've made them.

0:49:330:49:36

1,600 finished boxes come off the line every hour.

0:49:390:49:44

That's a whopping 9,600 individual fish fingers.

0:49:440:49:49

Six hours and 32 minutes after my frozen cod arrived at the cutting

0:49:500:49:54

factory, the finished fish fingers

0:49:540:49:57

are being taken to the dispatch area.

0:49:570:49:59

Soon to be in a freezer near you.

0:49:590:50:02

Nearly all of us have a freezer in our homes,

0:50:050:50:07

but only one in ten of us is confident about the rules of freezing and defrosting.

0:50:070:50:14

Cherry went to put that right.

0:50:140:50:15

I've got to admit a little bit of uncertainty

0:50:190:50:22

when it comes to the dos and don'ts of freezing and defrosting food.

0:50:220:50:26

I'm pretty sure I know what's safe and what isn't,

0:50:260:50:29

but mostly I'm guessing.

0:50:290:50:32

I've come to Abertay University in Dundee to meet

0:50:380:50:41

food scientist Professor Costas Stathopoulos, who can answer my questions about freezing.

0:50:410:50:47

So, when you freeze food, what happens?

0:50:490:50:53

You freeze water and everything it contains.

0:50:530:50:56

Most food has about 90-95% water.

0:50:560:51:00

And bacteria use this water as a source of food.

0:51:000:51:03

So when we freeze,

0:51:030:51:05

we are freezing this water, turning it into ice,

0:51:050:51:08

and therefore the bacteria can no longer access this food.

0:51:080:51:12

In the fresh meat case, if you press it,

0:51:120:51:15

you can see that there is moisture around,

0:51:150:51:17

so that indicates that there is the possibility of bacteria being fed.

0:51:170:51:22

While in the frozen, there is no movement of water at all,

0:51:220:51:27

therefore the bacteria, although they are there,

0:51:270:51:30

-they just cannot be fed.

-So, when you freeze food,

0:51:300:51:34

you don't actually freeze or kill the bacteria.

0:51:340:51:38

No, you do not kill them, no.

0:51:380:51:39

You freeze the water, which means the bacteria have nothing to eat,

0:51:390:51:43

-which means they can't grow.

-Yes.

0:51:430:51:45

Freezing preserves food by keeping the levels of bacteria in check.

0:51:470:51:51

But when it thaws, they can start to multiply.

0:51:510:51:54

So, how do you defrost safely?

0:51:540:51:57

As an example, frozen turkey. What would you do with it?

0:51:590:52:02

OK, so I would get this out of my freezer and I would be very hungry

0:52:020:52:06

and I'd want food immediately,

0:52:060:52:08

so I'd put it in the microwave on the defrost setting

0:52:080:52:11

and wait until it was not cold in the middle.

0:52:110:52:14

That's my technique.

0:52:140:52:16

It is really not the best of techniques.

0:52:160:52:18

It is always a recommendation to follow the instructions on the packaging.

0:52:180:52:22

So, Costas, I have a confession.

0:52:220:52:24

I didn't even know that there were defrosting instructions on the packets.

0:52:240:52:29

I have never, ever read even a single one.

0:52:290:52:33

The standard advice is to defrost all meat products in the fridge.

0:52:350:52:39

The lower temperature slows down bacterial growth,

0:52:390:52:43

reducing the risk of an upset stomach.

0:52:430:52:45

So, I just wanted to show you how important it is to thaw food properly.

0:52:470:52:52

In this Petri dish, we use the frozen turkey we had before,

0:52:530:52:57

and then thawed it in the refrigerator,

0:52:570:53:01

as per instructions on the packaging.

0:53:010:53:03

What are these spots?

0:53:030:53:04

Every spot corresponds to a colony of microorganisms having grown there.

0:53:040:53:09

For example, the blue ones are E. coli.

0:53:090:53:12

You see, that, to me, sounds dangerous.

0:53:120:53:15

At low levels, it is not a problem.

0:53:150:53:17

That's completely fine. Yeah.

0:53:170:53:19

-OK.

-However, if you defrost at room temperature,

0:53:190:53:22

say you just leave it on the kitchen bench overnight,

0:53:220:53:25

it's the same sample, but you see how much more growth we have had.

0:53:250:53:30

Right, that is startling.

0:53:300:53:34

I do that a lot.

0:53:340:53:36

I leave the food out on the side overnight

0:53:360:53:39

because I think that's how you defrost things.

0:53:390:53:43

Things will defrost, but as you see,

0:53:430:53:45

it is not the way to do it.

0:53:450:53:46

That's because the outside of the meat reaches room temperature faster than the inside,

0:53:480:53:53

providing the perfect breeding ground for microorganisms.

0:53:530:53:57

So, let's just say that I have defrosted my turkey mince,

0:53:570:54:01

but then decided actually what I quite fancy is going out for pizza,

0:54:010:54:05

but I don't want to waste the meat. Can I refreeze it?

0:54:050:54:09

That would be a bad idea.

0:54:090:54:10

We did that, actually, just to check.

0:54:120:54:14

And you see here. This sample has been frozen and thawed twice.

0:54:150:54:20

This sample has been frozen and thawed three times.

0:54:200:54:23

Oh, my goodness me.

0:54:230:54:26

It's the whole universe in there.

0:54:260:54:28

Every time you defrost food, the bacteria multiply.

0:54:290:54:33

If you refreeze it, you are also freezing more bacteria.

0:54:330:54:38

So if you do defrost something but you don't fancy it...

0:54:380:54:41

-Cook it before use.

-Cook it and then refreeze it.

-Yes, that's fine.

0:54:410:54:45

And once it's been frozen, keep it in the freezer about six months.

0:54:450:54:49

I wouldn't want to go past six months.

0:54:490:54:51

After that, you start losing the quality of the food as well.

0:54:510:54:53

Today's been a real eye-opener for me.

0:54:560:54:58

From now on, I'm going to take a good look at the defrosting instructions

0:54:580:55:01

on the packets, and make sure I keep those tricky bacteria under control.

0:55:010:55:07

Oh, crying out loud!

0:55:110:55:13

My fish fingers are waiting for me in the distribution area.

0:55:130:55:17

To keep them frozen, they are stored in a giant walk-in freezer.

0:55:180:55:23

In charge of this chilly operation is logistics manager Lee Kelly.

0:55:230:55:28

Lee, are these my fish fingers?

0:55:290:55:31

-They are, Gregg.

-I'm sorry,

0:55:310:55:33

this has to be the coldest place I've ever been.

0:55:330:55:35

Pretty chilly, minus 24 at the minute.

0:55:350:55:37

Mate, I really want to get out of here.

0:55:370:55:39

Can we get someone in here to take these away so we can get out?

0:55:390:55:41

-Let's do it, yes.

-Can we?

-Yes.

-Got any cocoa?

0:55:410:55:44

The pallets are forklifted out of the freezer and straight onto a truck.

0:55:480:55:53

Well, there it goes, solidly frozen.

0:55:580:56:01

-Is that a frozen truck as well? It must be.

-It is, yes.

0:56:010:56:04

It will be set at minus 24, same as the cold store.

0:56:040:56:07

So, how fast do you have to work?

0:56:070:56:09

Pretty fast. The vehicle arrived moments ago,

0:56:090:56:12

so the lads have been unloading from the cold stores directly onto the vehicle.

0:56:120:56:16

How many fish fingers on there?

0:56:160:56:18

I would say over 150,000 fingers, actual fingers on there.

0:56:180:56:23

-Yeah, approximately 26 pallets.

-150,000 fish fingers.

-Yeah.

0:56:230:56:26

When are they likely to be on the supermarket shelves?

0:56:260:56:30

Depending on stock in store, they could be there tomorrow.

0:56:300:56:34

So my fish fingers could actually be in somebody's freezer

0:56:340:56:39

-in the next day or so?

-Yeah, yeah, possibly.

0:56:390:56:41

The fish fingers will be transported to distribution depots

0:56:420:56:47

before heading to supermarket shelves all over the country.

0:56:470:56:51

They are particularly popular in Cambridge and Cheltenham,

0:56:510:56:54

but the biggest fans are in Salisbury.

0:56:540:56:57

-Shall we let it get loaded and get it on its way?

-Yeah, let's do it.

-Cheers, mate.

0:56:570:57:03

Just over eight hours ago, I saw cod arriving at the cutting factory.

0:57:060:57:10

Since then, it has passed through the hands of more than 20 skilled

0:57:100:57:14

workers, and now my fish fingers are finally ready to go.

0:57:140:57:18

I've realised there are more people in this factory than there are robots,

0:57:210:57:25

and I like that. But what I really like is that as soon as the cod is

0:57:250:57:28

landed, it's put into blocks and frozen, and it remains frozen,

0:57:280:57:33

and only thaws out when it's in our ovens.

0:57:330:57:36

That is brilliant.

0:57:360:57:37

Next time, we are in the Netherlands,

0:57:470:57:49

taking you inside one of Europe's largest sauce factories.

0:57:490:57:54

It makes three quarters of a million bottles of mayonnaise every day.

0:57:540:57:59

I come face-to-face with some cracking technology.

0:57:590:58:02

That may be the best machine I have ever seen.

0:58:020:58:05

And Cherry's getting hot under the collar,

0:58:070:58:09

making jars to put the mayo in.

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So fast!

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