0:00:03 > 0:00:05FOGHORN SOUNDS
0:00:05 > 0:00:07ENGINE STARTS
0:00:09 > 0:00:12CAR MOVES OFF
0:00:19 > 0:00:22MUSIC: "Autobahn" by Kraftwerk
0:00:27 > 0:00:30My German relatives are having a bit of a get-together,
0:00:30 > 0:00:32so I thought it a great opportunity
0:00:32 > 0:00:35a) to play Kraftwerk on the Autobahn,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39and b) to try the fabulous new season's herrings.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45So this is my Deutschen Bissen - my German Bite!
0:00:49 > 0:00:52This trip to Germany came as a lovely surprise
0:00:52 > 0:00:54and I want to keep it as a surprise,
0:00:54 > 0:00:58because really I don't always know what's just around the corner.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Of course, I'll be meeting my relatives in the vineyards
0:01:03 > 0:01:05of the Rheingau.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08You didn't like me so much because I was so terribly boring.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10I was always... LAUGHTER
0:01:12 > 0:01:15I'll be trying the new season's herrings from the Baltic.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17Oh!
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Oh, and I'm meeting Germany's answer to Jamie Oliver.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Put in that some olive oil, some lemon juice and all that.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27It's OK like that. That's my boy. THEY LAUGH
0:01:27 > 0:01:29And for some reason
0:01:29 > 0:01:33I was ambushed by a German film crew that wouldn't leave me alone.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Honestly, we just moved the camera back a bit to get a wider shot
0:01:36 > 0:01:40and get the house in too, and the Germans are in here.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47My first stop is Hamburg. Why?
0:01:47 > 0:01:49Well, as John Lennon once said
0:01:49 > 0:01:52"I grew up in Hamburg, not Liverpool."
0:01:53 > 0:01:55I've always wanted to come here.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Mainly, I suppose because of The Beatles.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01This is where they made it and they were a big part of my life.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04But also, it's on the sea. Well, nearly!
0:02:04 > 0:02:08And for a seafood cook, it's a great place to start a journey.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13I was slightly indignant about ten years ago. I asked the BBC.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18I mean, it's just because I've got German ancestors,
0:02:18 > 0:02:23German relatives, I really wanted to make a programme about German food.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25And I asked the BBC, and they just said,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28"No, I don't think anybody wants to go to Germany."
0:02:28 > 0:02:31And I thought, "Well, they've probably got a point."
0:02:31 > 0:02:34I mean, there's no point in doing something if nobody's interested.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38But all the time I've been, sort of, thinking about German cooking
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and reading articles about it.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44And I just thought it's probably time to come here and just prove
0:02:44 > 0:02:48to everybody that they're wrong, that German food really is good.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51And, well, that's what I'm hoping to find.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59This is the place of my ancestors. MAN OFF CAMERA: Ze Fatherland.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01LAUGHING: Ze Fatherland, yeah.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08Well, I've always wanted to come to Hamburg,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12because in the '60s, I got a job on a freighter.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14I worked my passage, it used to be called,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17out of New Zealand to New York,
0:03:17 > 0:03:19and my job was a greaser down in the engine room,
0:03:19 > 0:03:24but because the ship was on its way back to base at Hamburg,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26everything had to look lovely.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30And I had a job of going down next to the turning propeller shaft
0:03:30 > 0:03:33where they stored the spare bolts.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35These are the spare bolts for the main engine,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37which were about that long.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41And I had to undo them and take them up to the workshop,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45give them to the lathe man, who would take a tiny bit of metal
0:03:45 > 0:03:49off each of those bolts just to make them beautifully silver
0:03:49 > 0:03:51and then I'd take them back to the prop shot.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55And when I'd finished looking down the prop shot, I just thought,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57"That says so much about the Germans,"
0:03:57 > 0:03:59because, OK, you can say they're very, very precise,
0:03:59 > 0:04:04but the enthusiasm for turning that engine room into something
0:04:04 > 0:04:10really clean and delightful said a great deal to me about Germans.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19This restaurant specialises in Hamburg's most famous dish.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21I love it!
0:04:21 > 0:04:25It also happens to be Liverpool's iconic dish too.
0:04:25 > 0:04:26And it's called...
0:04:26 > 0:04:28This is lobscouse.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35Well, this is the legendary lobscouse or labskaus... Labskaus.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37..which is common not only to Hamburg,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39but also, of course, to Liverpool.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Hence some people say the word Scousers.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45And it was actually a staple diet of all northern European
0:04:45 > 0:04:50maritime nations. In here we have salt beef, corned beef.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54And that would have been a staple on all boats, cos it keeps so long.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56We've got onions.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00We've got beetroot juice, which is making it red in colour,
0:05:00 > 0:05:05but also the saltpetre in the corned beef would also be making it red.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07And we've got water, we've got salt, pepper...
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Anything else? Vegetable stock. Vegetable stock.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Just tell me, how long have you been cooking this for?
0:05:14 > 0:05:19Oh, for a very long time. Should I say ten years? Really? Yeah.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Do you eat it regularly. Actually, I like more fish than meat.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Being from Ghana... From Ghana.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27..You like fish. From the coast, yeah.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33So Mensah takes the lumps of beef out, saving the precious stock
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and then he puts them through this fearful shredder.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39It's like something Sweeney Todd would have had
0:05:39 > 0:05:41at the back of his wife's pie shop!
0:05:41 > 0:05:45I think you can make this with a tin of corned beef at home.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Then he simmers the shredded beef in the stock
0:05:47 > 0:05:50and adds a load of butter AND marg
0:05:50 > 0:05:52in gargantuan quantities.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59Finally, more butter in the mashed potatoes and that goes in too.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05It's one of those dishes, it may not look very beautiful being cooked,
0:06:05 > 0:06:10but it smells divine and it really tastes fabulous.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13Well, an hour's gone by...
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Well, not really, because we can't afford to wait for an hour,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18and so we've got another one.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20But this is how it would look anyway.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23And I was just thinking as I was watching him making it, I mean,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26it would be an ideal thing for a ship's cook to make,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30because it's very, very easy to do, and making it quite easily
0:06:30 > 0:06:34in vast quantities for the crew. So it's obvious, innit?
0:06:37 > 0:06:40Some Liverpudlians say that it should be firm enough
0:06:40 > 0:06:42for a mouse to trot over it,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46but mushy and capable of being spread on bread
0:06:46 > 0:06:47to make a lobby butty.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57That is truly wonderful. Yummy is the word. It's just like - wow!
0:06:57 > 0:07:02Fried eggs, the labskaus, the beetroot, the beer - yes.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05It's good. Very, very, very good.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11MUSIC: "My Bonnie" by The Beatles
0:07:27 > 0:07:32This is The Beatles' first claim to fame, recorded here in Hamburg -
0:07:32 > 0:07:37My Bonnie, sung by Tony Sheridan and backed by The Beatles.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40It made number five in the German hit parade in 1961,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42but not a sausage in Britain.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45And on the B-side, Ain't She Sweet.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47I know, cos I bought it!
0:07:50 > 0:07:56OK, this is where it all happened. Here we have music clubs.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01Allow me to introduce this wonderful lady, Steffi Hempel.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04And this was the favourite pub of The Beatles. This one.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Yes, The Gretel And Alfons.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09'A passionate aficionado of The Beatles,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12'especially in the years when they played here.'
0:08:12 > 0:08:15So this is where they first played, here then?
0:08:15 > 0:08:16And it's still a live club.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21In August, 1960, they had their first concert here as The Beatles.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26They came here, and on the ferry they still called themselves
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Long John And The Silver Beetles.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Beetles still spelt with double E, and then they changed it to B-E-A.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34Why, do you know?
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Yes, of course, because they wanted to have the music, the beat.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Oh, I see. I really didn't know that. I should know.
0:08:41 > 0:08:42They played, they were five,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46they still played with Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best on drums.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50And Pete joined the group only two days before they came to Hamburg.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53And what were they like in the early days in the Indra then?
0:08:53 > 0:08:56They were not very good. They were real amateurs.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00But then they had to play night after night after night after night,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03and they became a professional live band here, so...
0:09:03 > 0:09:07It's a really great story here. But they also...
0:09:07 > 0:09:10There's some sort of like schnitzel sandwich they used to eat.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14We're into the food here as well. Yeah, of course.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17What was it like, and have you had it, and what's it called?
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Er, it's called the Rundstuck warm.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24And it was something that you could have after a whole night
0:09:24 > 0:09:28of playing and drinking alcohol and taking pills.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32Then you needed something real at the end of the night.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38So this is it. Just remind me, Steffi, what's it called?
0:09:38 > 0:09:42Rund...stuck... Ro..ru...
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Rundstuck warm.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Warm, because it's warm, it's with warm sauce, brown sauce. Wow.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Yes, and you see, this is really something.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53I don't know quite what to say.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58I'd imagine after a sort of hard day's night playing...
0:09:58 > 0:10:01A hard day's night, yes. It'd be...
0:10:01 > 0:10:03You'd look forward to it, you really would.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Yes, you needed a piece of real meat, probably.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Without being rude, but a lot of people would think
0:10:09 > 0:10:14of a lot of German food as quite, sort of, bulky like this.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16But I'm here not just for The Beatles,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I'm here because I'm one of... Yeah.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22What I want to do is go back to the UK and say,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25"Look, German food - you've got it all wrong.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28"There's some really good food in Germany."
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Not quite sure this is the right place to start!
0:10:30 > 0:10:33I mean, I'm not knocking this, but it's not quite
0:10:33 > 0:10:35what I'm looking for, if you know what I mean.
0:10:35 > 0:10:36THEY LAUGH
0:10:39 > 0:10:42OK, live in 1962.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49# Well, she was just 17
0:10:49 > 0:10:51# You know what I mean
0:10:51 > 0:10:53# And the way she looked
0:10:53 > 0:10:56# Is way beyond compare
0:10:56 > 0:11:00# And how could I dance with another?
0:11:00 > 0:11:02# Woo
0:11:02 > 0:11:06# When I saw her standing there
0:11:06 > 0:11:09# Well, my heart went boom
0:11:09 > 0:11:12# When I crossed that room
0:11:12 > 0:11:14# And I held her hand
0:11:14 > 0:11:19# In mine
0:11:19 > 0:11:22# Oh, we danced through the night
0:11:22 > 0:11:25# And we held each other tight
0:11:25 > 0:11:26# And before too long
0:11:26 > 0:11:30# I fell in love with her
0:11:30 > 0:11:34# Well, I'll never dance with another
0:11:34 > 0:11:36# Woo
0:11:36 > 0:11:39# When I saw her standing there
0:11:39 > 0:11:47# Well, since I saw her standing there. #
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Yeah!
0:11:51 > 0:11:53Fab. Thank you.
0:11:53 > 0:11:59I forgot my plectrum, so... Doesn't matter. Fantastic!
0:12:10 > 0:12:13MAN SHOUTS IN GERMAN
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Wenn einer zehn Euro hat?!
0:12:18 > 0:12:24Zehn Euro, zehn, zehn, zehn, zehn.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Hier ist ein Raucherlachs dazu! Schillerlocke oben drauf.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33Die Aalrauchfilets dabei. Fur zwanzig...
0:12:33 > 0:12:38This market in the middle of Hamburg is a Sunday morning institution
0:12:38 > 0:12:40with the hung-over late-night revellers.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44When the effect of the booze starts to wear off, hunger kicks in
0:12:44 > 0:12:48and the young Germans here don't think of doner kebabs
0:12:48 > 0:12:50or even the eponymous hamburger.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54It has to be fish - smoked eel or new season's herring.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Guck da mal die Ware an. Weg fur zwanzig Euro, gratis dabei.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02Beide zwanzig Euro.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Wer isst gerne Raucherlachs?
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Now, he reminds me of someone, someone famous.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19But he's got quite a reputation here. Some say he's rather rude!
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Excuse me, can I buy some?
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Es geht sofort los.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30'But I think he reckons his eels are the best in the business,
0:13:30 > 0:13:34'and he has the confidence to know that he'll sell
0:13:34 > 0:13:35'every single one of them.'
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Can I taste some eel? Ja.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40He's too busy doing his laces up.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Ich hore gerade... Egal.
0:13:43 > 0:13:44So!
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Taste. Taste.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Ja, jetzt. Pass mal auf. Nimm du mal ein weg.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54Just one, yeah? Yes, too much. Two. OK, two, why not?
0:13:54 > 0:13:56I just want to taste a bit first.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Ich verstehe da nichts. Wer kann...?
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Er will mal probieren. Er will mal probieren?
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Das will ich gerade zeigen.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Hier, mein Junge.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17That is really good eel. Lovely fatty quality to it.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21Sometimes it has a pond-water taste. This hasn't got it.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25It's just beautiful. So succulent.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35I've come here with my interpreter, Vera Feller.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38She said it's her favourite place in the whole of the city.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40To come to Hamburg without trying the herring
0:14:40 > 0:14:44in this particular fish market is a sin.
0:14:48 > 0:14:54I love that contrast of the salty herring and the sweet onion. Mm-hmm.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56Just a bit undignified eating it.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00But it's the right kind of breakfast if you party hard, I think.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Yeah. Yeah, that's what you want to eat, right then.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08It's totally delicious.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12I mean, raw herring, just a bit of salt in it like this is...
0:15:12 > 0:15:14And the fattiness, the taste of it
0:15:14 > 0:15:17with the onion and the pink peppercorns and the spring onion,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21it is just total, total luxury.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26So, Vera, what's your thoughts about British food, then?
0:15:26 > 0:15:30We're very rude about German food back home. Are you, are you?
0:15:30 > 0:15:33I think that the Germans are quite rude about English food as well,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and they don't know a lot about English food.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39I mean, they know, of course, Jamie Oliver, but, um...
0:15:39 > 0:15:43But I think it's mostly about fish and chips and pasties,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46as I just learned, or mince pies, something like that.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48But it's not really... I think
0:15:48 > 0:15:52that Germans are much more into Italian cuisine, something like that.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56But the funny thing is, what I'm beginning to realise here,
0:15:56 > 0:16:01is there's a lot more to German cooking than sausages. And Kraut.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03Yeah, good, good.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Those that live around these parts
0:16:11 > 0:16:14are truly blessed with the new season's herring.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18For a few weeks in the spring, everyone is allowed to catch
0:16:18 > 0:16:20these "silver darlings".
0:16:20 > 0:16:23That's the name they give them in Scotland.
0:16:23 > 0:16:29These lovely fish are best dusted in oatmeal and simply fried in butter.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31They're sweet and highly nutritious,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34and this little fish, hundreds of years ago,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37was the key to the wealth of virtually all of the countries
0:16:37 > 0:16:39surrounding the Baltic.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Even Bismarck had a herring dish named after him -
0:16:42 > 0:16:47raw salted fillets marinated in wine vinegar and spices.
0:16:47 > 0:16:53He once famously said, "This dish will immortalise me."
0:16:53 > 0:16:58Well, it has done and it's lasted a lot longer than his battleship!
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Now, this restaurant, I think,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07has all the charm of a defunct typewriter factory,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10but I have to say, the food is fabulous.
0:17:10 > 0:17:11It's the headquarters
0:17:11 > 0:17:15of Germany's answer to Jamie Oliver, Steffen Henssler.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17He's really famous here.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21I like the classics, like fried fish with fried potatoes, mustard sauce.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24You got the herring and all this stuff.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27And these classics are really nice. A little bit old but nice.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31But you just take it and then mix some ingredients up,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33do some new things, and you get a nice taste, you know?
0:17:33 > 0:17:37And you don't have to change it. Just take it and bring it up to the next step.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41That's what always gets me about a lot of modern cooking,
0:17:41 > 0:17:46you know, the chefs don't understand the traditions.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51And food is like language, it's part of what you are.
0:17:51 > 0:17:52That's what I do.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Don't get me wrong when I say this,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56but the reputation of German cooking,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59rather like the reputation of British cooking, is...
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Fish and chips! Exactly! It's not great...
0:18:01 > 0:18:04It's sitting in the sun without cream.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06That is what we think about English cooking.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08And the Germans nicking the loungers.
0:18:08 > 0:18:14It's true! But it's true! It's a problem, that's true. I know.
0:18:14 > 0:18:20What I'm here for is to prove to people that German cooking
0:18:20 > 0:18:24is on the move, really. And this is the sort of dish I think...
0:18:24 > 0:18:28I think the main problem is that most people think about German food,
0:18:28 > 0:18:32they always think about the south of Germany, like Bavaria.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37So there is much Bratwurst, sausage, Knodel, and all this stuff.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40But Germany is much more than just Bavarian,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43so if you go to the north you have nice fish dishes,
0:18:43 > 0:18:45very nice meat dishes.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47And you get very much tourism now in Germany,
0:18:47 > 0:18:51so much international influence, so everything is changing.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53But the classics are still there, they're still nice.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55But you just have to mix it up a little bit.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Steffen does a really refreshing and tasty dish
0:19:00 > 0:19:02with the new season's herring.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06He uses cucumber cut into long thin ribbons,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08mango for sweetness,
0:19:08 > 0:19:13to offset the saltiness of the herring, and spring onions.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18It's Oriental, simple, but based on a classic dish.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Now we have to fry the cubes. I'll get out of your way.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25No, don't worry.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Because what I like in this kind of dish,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32to make them a little bit new, is to mix up the temperatures.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35So we got the herring, which is cold, and the cold mango.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39And you've got the warm...black bread!
0:19:39 > 0:19:41THEY LAUGH
0:19:41 > 0:19:47This pan was way too hot! That's television for you.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49The bits that people don't generally see.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54And the problem is we can't cut it out because we are live.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57So we just do it again.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Put some olive oil, put some... So what you said...
0:20:01 > 0:20:03What I like is the temperature.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Now the bread is getting crispy and warm and when you mix it
0:20:07 > 0:20:10under the salad and you eat it and you get the warm bread,
0:20:10 > 0:20:15the cold fish, the mango, the fruit, all this mashed up in your mouth.
0:20:15 > 0:20:16I hope you like it.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23So, very deftly, Steffen throws together this salad made with
0:20:23 > 0:20:26those fatty, oily, salty new season's herring.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31Just a bit of rocket for that peppery bitterness, and that's it.
0:20:31 > 0:20:32For the moment.
0:20:32 > 0:20:39Fantastic. So now we do the warm bread into the salad, like that.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41Now...
0:20:41 > 0:20:43Now I really have to take care,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47because you have to taste this, so it has to taste well! OK.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51Normally, on TV, I just put it there,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54nobody cares about the taste, but today it's different.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55I certainly do!
0:20:57 > 0:21:02So you've got some soy... Just a little.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03Mix it up.
0:21:07 > 0:21:13I'm a little bit nervous. Oh, don't be silly! You're so famous. No, YOU!
0:21:13 > 0:21:15OK. That looks great.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18I do like Jamie Oliver bit of olive oil,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21some lemon juice and all that. It's OK like that.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24OK, now the moment is coming.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27I'll go straight for the herring.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Take some bread. Definitely. And some mango. Yeah.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34And a little bit of cucumber.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39Sensational!
0:21:39 > 0:21:45The fruit of the mango takes the fat, like in Germany, "umschlingt es".
0:21:45 > 0:21:49What a lovely word! Say it one more time. "Umschlingt es."
0:21:49 > 0:21:50"Umschlingt es."
0:21:50 > 0:21:55Oh, wow! What a good language. "Umschlingt es."
0:21:55 > 0:21:56"Umschlingt es."
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Fantastic.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07I'm driving south now in our cantankerous old camper van
0:22:07 > 0:22:09to Dusseldorf, where my relatives come from,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12and it's here I'm meeting up with my son Jack,
0:22:12 > 0:22:17because he's very keen to get to grips with our German heritage.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19Hello.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21How are you?
0:22:21 > 0:22:23I'm very well. How are you? It's very nice to see you.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24How's Germany? It's good.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27It's really good, actually.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30But I bought you a beer. I know how much you don't like flying.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Morbid fear of flying over.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34Cheers. Cheers.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37How's it been? It's great.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39Absolutely fantastic.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43I am quite keen to get into a beer house.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46A beer house. Yeah. Is it true they keep filling you up until...
0:22:46 > 0:22:47Well, apparently,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51if you want to finish, you have to put a beer mat over the top.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53I see some Wiener Schnitzel down there.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Oh. Not your favourite. Not my favourite.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58TRADITIONAL MUSIC
0:23:00 > 0:23:02It's Fathers' Day today.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05An excuse for all dads to get a bit merry.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Germans really need an excuse to do something a little naughty,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11it's true. And this pub, Zum Uerige,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15is probably the best known pub-cum-brew house
0:23:15 > 0:23:16in the whole of Dusseldorf.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23I'm liking... I've been looking at that dark Alt beer. Yeah.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26I'm just thinking...everybody seems so, sort of, like...
0:23:26 > 0:23:27Relaxed, don't they?
0:23:27 > 0:23:30I mean, yeah, if this was in England -
0:23:30 > 0:23:32this many people drinking in the sun, in the middle of the day -
0:23:32 > 0:23:34it'd be a recipe for disaster.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36But they all seem really happy and...
0:23:36 > 0:23:40They're almost like I would like all English people to be -
0:23:40 > 0:23:43in other words, polite, and, sort of, well mannered.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45And friendly.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48But they still enjoy life, and they still like to have a drink
0:23:48 > 0:23:51and eat food, but they don't necessarily want to throw it up
0:23:51 > 0:23:54or launch glasses of lager at you. Exactly.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58I'm afraid that at my age, I'd sooner be with them, because...
0:23:58 > 0:24:01I think at my age I'd sooner be with them, as well.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Let's see if we can get a drink.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13Got money? I haven't got any money.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Can we have some money please? JACK LAUGHS
0:24:28 > 0:24:32It's just an observation, but I thought it worth a mention,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35that each barrel of this fabulous Alt beer - that means old beer -
0:24:35 > 0:24:39lasts an average of half an hour.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Half an hour for a barrel this size!
0:24:42 > 0:24:47And old is an old recipe - not an old beer.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Apart from the excellent beer,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53these brew houses do really good food.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55This is a speciality of the house -
0:24:55 > 0:24:58pork knuckle smothered with spices and then baked.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01It's for the serious trencherman,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03and served traditionally with coleslaw.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11'While the revellers were outside enjoying the spring sunshine...'
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!
0:25:14 > 0:25:16'..Jack and I met up with cousin Paul,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20'who's pretty hot on the Stein family history.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23'It's a fitting location to meet up as the early Stein family
0:25:23 > 0:25:26'made a fortune out of booze.'
0:25:26 > 0:25:31Well, that's you, that's me, that's my dad,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33that's Julius William my great-grandfather,
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Julius, also my great- great-grandfather, and this is...
0:25:37 > 0:25:41That is the grand-grand-grandfather of Rick and me.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45So, do you see a family resemblance there, Jack?
0:25:45 > 0:25:48I can see, yeah, in this part. This area here.
0:25:48 > 0:25:49Yes, with...
0:25:49 > 0:25:51THEY LAUGH
0:25:53 > 0:25:57So you're the same generation as Rick? Yes, same as Rick.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00He was the one that really built the whole Stein business up,
0:26:00 > 0:26:01almost, wasn't he?
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Yes. This one. I can't read upside down. Julius William.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08What prompted him to move to London? He was sent there.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11He went to London because they wanted to open
0:26:11 > 0:26:16a branch of the Stein Brothers business in London.
0:26:16 > 0:26:17And my father, Eric...
0:26:17 > 0:26:22That's what Eric took on? That's what Eric took on, yes.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26No, it's really nice to... I like it being on the back of an envelope!
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Why didn't they return back to Germany?
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Why did they stay in England to found what is our generation?
0:26:35 > 0:26:39Well, I think, actually, they became British.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43The problem was that my grandfather
0:26:43 > 0:26:47and my father Eric were there in the First World War.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50In London.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54And being German, they were totally...
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Well, they had bricks thrown through their front window
0:26:57 > 0:26:59in their house in Walton-on-Thames.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02And people shouting at them in the street.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05And I think they decided we don't want to be German.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08We don't want to be associated with all that...
0:27:08 > 0:27:09Like our royal family did?
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Like the royal family. I suppose so, yeah.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15My aunt, two days before she died,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17started speaking in German again.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Really? All her life she... Didn't want...
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Simply because they were ostracised in the First World War.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Wow, look at that.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38I think that's not a very British food.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41THEY LAUGH
0:27:41 > 0:27:43The gravy is exquisite,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46really, really thick and concentrated,
0:27:46 > 0:27:51But...also you've got great crackling
0:27:51 > 0:27:54and it's coated in spice.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56The combination of this lovely, fatty pork,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00the crackling and this coleslaw, which is just, it seems to me,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03made with vinegar - really good contrast.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06It goes very well with beer.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12I couldn't see the resemblance earlier but after a couple of beers,
0:28:12 > 0:28:14you're starting to look more and more alike,
0:28:14 > 0:28:16so I might just get a quick picture of you.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Same hair, for sure.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22# Don't let's be beastly to the Germans
0:28:22 > 0:28:26# When our victory is ultimately won
0:28:26 > 0:28:30# It was just those nasty Nazis who persuaded them to fight
0:28:30 > 0:28:33# And their Beethoven and Bach are really far worse than their bite
0:28:33 > 0:28:37# Let's be meek to them And turn the other cheek to them
0:28:37 > 0:28:41# And try to bring out their latent sense of fun
0:28:41 > 0:28:42# Let's give them full air parity
0:28:42 > 0:28:44# And treat the rats with charity
0:28:44 > 0:28:47# But don't let's be beastly to the Hun! #
0:28:49 > 0:28:52So it seems very well-to-do, this street.
0:28:52 > 0:28:58This is Johann William's street. They had plenty of cash.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01It's like a Regent Street or... Yeah, it is.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04..whatever that one in New York's called.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Fifth Avenue. That's the one. Yeah. Yes.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12They were the richest family in Dusseldorf in the 19th century.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16And that's all from booze? From booze, yeah.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Where's the money now?
0:29:18 > 0:29:20Don't know, actually. Good point.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22I remember saying to some German,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25"Well, we've got a street named after us," and he said,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28"Most cities in Germany have got Steinstrasses,"
0:29:28 > 0:29:30so I felt a bit, like, "Oh, OK"...
0:29:30 > 0:29:34Say you've got a small town in Cornwall named after you.
0:29:34 > 0:29:35What, Padstow? Yeah.
0:29:35 > 0:29:36That's not a joke.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42You don't talk about Padstein in polite circles, Jack,
0:29:42 > 0:29:43you know that.
0:29:43 > 0:29:44Steinstrasse, though.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47It's pretty...you know. Cartier...
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Don't know what that is. Let's move on, anyway.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59You got sat nav? Uh...no.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02JACK LAUGHS
0:30:06 > 0:30:08Do you think you know the way?
0:30:10 > 0:30:13You know we're going to Lintorf, which is where the family came from,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16or a farm just outside. Yeah.
0:30:16 > 0:30:21They decided to go into distilling alcohol out of grain,
0:30:21 > 0:30:24because there wasn't much money in farming,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27and it got bigger and bigger - in Lintorf, first of all,
0:30:27 > 0:30:30but latterly in Dusseldorf.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32And at that stage,
0:30:32 > 0:30:37they gave a lot of money to the local Protestant church,
0:30:37 > 0:30:44and between them, they built this hostel for alcoholics.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46I find that quite ironic -
0:30:46 > 0:30:48they're making money out of booze, right?
0:30:48 > 0:30:52And they put this money into... Treating alcoholics. Yeah.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54But I sort of think, because I...
0:30:54 > 0:30:58I see our German family as being quite...do-gooders, you know?
0:30:58 > 0:31:01Although they made the money out of alcohol.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04I quite like that, in a way.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06It's a bit like us giving loads of money
0:31:06 > 0:31:08to the lobster hatchery, I suppose.
0:31:08 > 0:31:14Well, yeah, I suppose it is, in a funny sort of way, actually.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19That looks suspiciously like a Cornish flag up there.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22That's Manfred's friend. They've both been to Cornwall.
0:31:22 > 0:31:28I was just talking to him earlier and they've put it up in our honour.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33Lintorf is not far away from Dusseldorf,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36and this is where the Stein family started.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40They were farmers initially before making tonnes of cash -
0:31:40 > 0:31:44first from spirits and then from wine.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51Jack and I are about to meet Manfred Bauer.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54He's Lintorf's local historian and actually,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57I've had the pleasure of meeting him before.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01Manfred! Very nice to meet you again.
0:32:01 > 0:32:02Yes. This is my son, Jack.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05Very nice to meet you for the first time.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07Thank you very much.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10OK. Welcome to Lintorf - Willkommen in Lintorf.
0:32:10 > 0:32:11Thank you. Danke schoen.
0:32:11 > 0:32:17So your great-great-grandfather Wilhelm bought the vicar's house.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21The first vicar who lived in that house
0:32:21 > 0:32:24established the first...um...
0:32:25 > 0:32:30..clinic or asylum for alcoholics in Europe.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33It was the first in Europe.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37And did they put the money up for the church? Which is now, on cue...
0:32:37 > 0:32:39The bell works!
0:32:39 > 0:32:40When the church was built,
0:32:40 > 0:32:44he bought some things for the church.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46Wow.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51So they didn't forget their roots when they made it big in Dusseldorf.
0:32:51 > 0:32:52They did not.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57And do you know that the three brothers first were farmers?
0:32:57 > 0:33:02Farming and, er, smithy was not good enough,
0:33:02 > 0:33:07so they wanted to make money and they founded the distillery.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11So they were public-spirited people, albeit the money came from booze.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15So without all this ingenuity of our ancestors,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18to create this distillery and the wealth,
0:33:18 > 0:33:21we probably wouldn't have a restaurant.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23That's absolutely right, but more to the point,
0:33:23 > 0:33:25you probably don't know this,
0:33:25 > 0:33:28but I had a great-uncle, who would be your great-great-uncle,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31called Otto... Yeah. ..who had no children.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35He was part of the Stein family business in Dusseldorf,
0:33:35 > 0:33:40so he left all his considerable fortune to his grandchildren
0:33:40 > 0:33:44and the money then passed on - because my father was dead -
0:33:44 > 0:33:47to the great-grandchildren, one of whom was me.
0:33:47 > 0:33:53And I got 12,000 quid from the Stein family in the early '70s
0:33:53 > 0:33:55and that's what I used to buy the restaurant.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57Wow. I never knew that. Absolutely.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01So they're directly responsible for us now,
0:34:01 > 0:34:05and we're in the same business. It's extraordinary.
0:34:05 > 0:34:10It's like one restaurant to a bistro and a deli and...
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Everyone plays Monopoly in this family.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15You've heard that expression "Rags to rags in three generations"?
0:34:15 > 0:34:16No.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19Well, it's just simply that the first generation -
0:34:19 > 0:34:23me and your mother - build up the business.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26The third generation... Blows it all. Yeah. Brilliant.
0:34:26 > 0:34:27THEY LAUGH
0:34:48 > 0:34:49Was soll es sein?
0:34:49 > 0:34:51Two.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55'Now, this is Schinken Toni's - celebrated in Dusseldorf,
0:34:55 > 0:34:59'famous for real, unfancified German food
0:34:59 > 0:35:01'guaranteed to make your mouth water.'
0:35:01 > 0:35:05This is real garlic sausage -
0:35:05 > 0:35:09Bratwurst with garlic for the second breakfast.
0:35:09 > 0:35:10I like this second breakfast.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Very good with beer.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15Second breakfast with beer? Yeah, yeah.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20And here, we have pure beef sausage, real frankfurters,
0:35:20 > 0:35:26and here, we have wiener sausage with herbs and made from veal.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30This is weisswurst - it's very mild, typical in Bavaria.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34That is red cabbage with mashed apples,
0:35:34 > 0:35:40with a lot of onions, bay leaves and mace and pepper.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44My Aunt Zoe's favourite dish, that. Red cabbage? Yeah.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48This is a grilled knuckle, we call it Hachse,
0:35:48 > 0:35:53and this is very popular in combination with cabbage.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57The stew is made with meatballs and stew sauce.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01We're getting a real lesson in German food. What about that?
0:36:01 > 0:36:06That's a speciality of Northern Germany. It's green cabbage.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10It's made in wintertime and autumn, when it's very cold outside,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13and in combination with Mettwurst,
0:36:13 > 0:36:17it's a traditional raw sausage which is raw and then smoked.
0:36:17 > 0:36:18Uh-huh.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25This is so good, don't you think?
0:36:25 > 0:36:28And everybody wants Mediterranean food -
0:36:28 > 0:36:32it doesn't matter where you go, they want light Mediterranean food.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34And this is so good.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37The regional kitchen of Germany is very popular,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40but not so well known for foreign people.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44We're really enjoying this, Toni. Is this just sauerkraut? Yeah.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47This sauerkraut, we make ourselves.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Our recipe is we take a lot of onion,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53therefore the sauerkraut is not so acid.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56In earlier times, they needed more fat.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58Now we have this recipe today -
0:36:58 > 0:37:00people don't work so hard
0:37:00 > 0:37:04and are not always outside in the cold.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07They are sitting on their laptop and so...
0:37:07 > 0:37:11Sitting on their bottoms, working on their laptops.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13They need not so much fat. Yeah.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15Let's go back to England
0:37:15 > 0:37:19and get some of these cabbage dishes on and sauerkraut.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Yeah, fine!
0:37:52 > 0:37:57Here it is. Have you met him before? Yeah, I have. Yeah.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00'We are going to meet up with cousin Eckhardt.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04'He and I go back to our great-great-grandfather - the one
0:38:04 > 0:38:07'the main street in Dusseldorf was named after.'
0:38:07 > 0:38:13Hello. Guten Tag. You do speak German! Good to see you again.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16Very nice to meet you.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19And this is my son, Jack. Good to meet you.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23Showing him the German relatives. Come in. Let's.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27It was a miserable day so Eckhardt, being a bit of a foodie,
0:38:27 > 0:38:31took us to his favourite market in the middle of Frankfurt.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35He steered straight for this store selling ingredients
0:38:35 > 0:38:40for Frankfurt's famous green sauce, Frankfurter Grune Sosse.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42Smell it, it's really great.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46You cut it with a knife small, small, small
0:38:46 > 0:38:50and then blend it with mayonnaise and add lemon.
0:38:50 > 0:38:51Parsley.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56Sorrel, chives, chervil,
0:38:56 > 0:38:59I love my chervil.
0:38:59 > 0:39:04That's Pimm's. Borage. What's that?
0:39:04 > 0:39:08Burnet. Burnet. And that looks like cress.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13It's a dish mainly for the spring months, because later in summer
0:39:13 > 0:39:18the herbs are growing too fast and they don't produce that rich aroma.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22You should smell the different flavour of the different herbs.
0:39:22 > 0:39:27So, this is how to make the famous Frankfurter green sauce.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31Chop up the herbs very finely
0:39:31 > 0:39:36and then add a generous dollop of sour cream and mayonnaise.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Now, chopped gherkins.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41And chopped-up eggs.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Very finely chopped shallot
0:39:45 > 0:39:47and German mustard.
0:39:47 > 0:39:52I love German mustard. It's pleasantly mild.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55Lemon juice, a good dish for the summer, this.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57And then add some zest.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59A sprinkle of salt.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01A quick whisk.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06And a bit of brine used to preserve the gherkins.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13It was reputedly the poet Goethe's favourite dish.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Sehr gut!
0:40:16 > 0:40:23That looks very nice. How do you say bon appetit in German? Guten Appetit.
0:40:23 > 0:40:24Guten Appetit!
0:40:25 > 0:40:27That's lovely.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31I think it's great when food is about a season.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35And it has to be prepared rightaway.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39You can't keep it for hours or a day.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43I said to Jack, it's nice to be sitting
0:40:43 > 0:40:49here in Frankfurt in May eating a meal from the fields around.
0:40:49 > 0:40:54Yes, it's great. It's what food is all about.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59Great. A pleasure. Shame you aren't making the reunion on the Rhine.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02No worries. There's always another day.
0:41:02 > 0:41:07My son, Jack, he's just like me really. Always off somewhere.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09And he's into his surfing big-time.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12I think my surfing days are numbered.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Where's he gone?
0:41:15 > 0:41:18He's gone to Bali. He's lucky.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25I have a few days to go before I meet up
0:41:25 > 0:41:27with my relatives for a special lunch.
0:41:27 > 0:41:32Friends had told me about the town of Laboe on the Baltic coast.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35They knew I was a fan of the film Das Boot
0:41:35 > 0:41:40an anti-war film made unbelievably over 30 years ago.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44They said the scene is so surreal it's like a massive shark
0:41:44 > 0:41:48washed up on the beach, not quite dead.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54But anyway, the film was about the utter futility of war
0:41:54 > 0:41:57and yet, I suppose, celebrating the amazing comradeship
0:41:57 > 0:42:00that went on in this pressurised piece of metal.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05A naval historian, Dr Witt, an expert on submarines,
0:42:05 > 0:42:08showed me around the U-boat.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Crikes. It's so small.
0:42:11 > 0:42:18I feel like I'm in Das Boot. I remember that rushing down there.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21It's unbelievable. The film is also popular in Britain?
0:42:21 > 0:42:24Terribly popular. Particularly with me and my mates.
0:42:24 > 0:42:29It reminds me of a nice story, modern U-boats don't look much different.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31A friend of mine, who was a U-boat commander,
0:42:31 > 0:42:36told me on his boat he commanded they had a ritual every Wednesday
0:42:36 > 0:42:40evening they met in the officers' wardroom to watch the movie,
0:42:40 > 0:42:42but with the sound turned off.
0:42:42 > 0:42:47So, they were speaking in different roles the dialogues of the movie.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51They liked it that much, they knew everything. They knew everything.
0:42:51 > 0:42:56By heart. So, noise, stench, can you imagine the living conditions?
0:42:56 > 0:43:01There was one thing that kept their spirits up which was food.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04Usually they say the cook was the second most important
0:43:04 > 0:43:08man on board, some even say the most important.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10I think the most important, but I would.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12He was not only a chef, he was an artist
0:43:12 > 0:43:14and I'll show you his galley.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17Brilliant, let's have a look.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19So, you are a chef.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23Just imagine yourself standing here cooking three meals
0:43:23 > 0:43:27a day for a 50 man crew. For 50? Just here?
0:43:27 > 0:43:29Where would you keep the food?
0:43:29 > 0:43:34All over the boat. I see. This is the aft toilet.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37But it was used mostly as a provision store.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42And, as you know, a bad cook is the most hated person on board.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46You couldn't even swing a cat a few inches here.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50Three hobs and an oven, not much more than you get in a camper van.
0:43:50 > 0:43:55And here, in this old film, the cook has just made a Christmas cake
0:43:55 > 0:43:58and I would say that's a triumph.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04What sort of types were the submariners?
0:44:04 > 0:44:05Very young people, of course.
0:44:05 > 0:44:10The average age was about 20, 21 years of age - even the commanders
0:44:10 > 0:44:12were only 25 or 26 years of age.
0:44:12 > 0:44:17And so they were young, enthusiastic and...
0:44:17 > 0:44:21Most of them were volunteers, but on the other hand, well,
0:44:21 > 0:44:25if you have the choice between the Eastern front in winter
0:44:25 > 0:44:28and serving on a U-boat, I think the choice would be obvious.
0:44:28 > 0:44:29At least for me.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33Yeah, I keep getting sort of panic attacks almost
0:44:33 > 0:44:36just thinking how claustrophobic it would be.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Did they regard themselves as an elite in the Navy?
0:44:39 > 0:44:43Yes, this was also part of the propaganda of course.
0:44:43 > 0:44:47They tried to create this imagery of elite force,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51the Grey Wolves and all that stuff.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54But most of them did not survive.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58So, they had losses of about three quarters. Good Lord.
0:44:58 > 0:45:04From 40,000 German U-boat men in the Second World War,
0:45:04 > 0:45:06more than 30,000 perished.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29The Germans have a great love for all things surreal
0:45:29 > 0:45:32and they were determined to make a documentary about us
0:45:32 > 0:45:34with two film crews...
0:45:34 > 0:45:36We've only got one!
0:45:36 > 0:45:41..Going about our business, but it became, well, very odd indeed.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50The presenter, a very nice young man called Jared
0:45:50 > 0:45:54who originally came from Ethiopia wanted me to cook him lunch...
0:45:56 > 0:46:02..On a nearby beach, conveniently called, well, Stein.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06You need a hand? No, I think I'll be all right.
0:46:06 > 0:46:11But first Jared decided to give me a lesson in the local dialect.
0:46:11 > 0:46:16There are four words in northern Germany you need
0:46:16 > 0:46:21and when you say them just right away people think you're from here.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24So, we don't say OK here. We say, "loppt".
0:46:24 > 0:46:27Loppt. Great. Loppt.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32You can it a bit bored and just "by the way". Right.
0:46:32 > 0:46:37Loppt. And then if somebody asks you, "Everything OK?"
0:46:37 > 0:46:40You say, "Joh!" Say that again.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42Joh! Eyoh!
0:46:44 > 0:46:47That's good. Say again. Joh!
0:46:49 > 0:46:51Der lernt das so, langsam. So langsam.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54Das ist ein kleiner Integrationskurs fur den Englander.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56I said it's an integration course
0:46:56 > 0:47:00when people come to Germany, want to get the German citizenship,
0:47:00 > 0:47:04so I, as a German, give you an Integrationskurs,
0:47:04 > 0:47:09so you afterwards can say you are one of us. OK, everything OK? Yeah.
0:47:09 > 0:47:11All right, yeah.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16All right. OK. And now in German!
0:47:16 > 0:47:20Alles klar? Loppt! All right. Start again!
0:47:20 > 0:47:25We do it very dry in a northern German way.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27Rick, alles klar? Joh.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30Loppt? Loppt.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32Loppt.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40Rick, ist der Butter heiss?
0:47:40 > 0:47:41Loppt.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45It's OK. Loppt. Loppt.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49Well, I thought I'd serve fillets of turbot called Steinbutt here.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53With the new season's asparagus with a green herb sauce,
0:47:53 > 0:47:58very simple. Vinegar, oil, mustard.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02Eine Menge Kochen gelernt. Was machst du? Das ist Senf.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06I can't use my fingers.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08I don't know where I put the cloth!
0:48:08 > 0:48:11I would lick your fingers, but I don't know
0:48:11 > 0:48:12if that is OK for your TV station!
0:48:12 > 0:48:14Certainly not!
0:48:14 > 0:48:18Good mustard. I like your German mustard.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21German mustard, yeah. Er mag gerne den deutschen Senf.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25It's hot but not too hot.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29There we go. Now then, what I'd really like would be a bit of pepper.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32You are a very famous cook in your country.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35And I'm a lousy cook here in Germany.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39So, what is the difference when you make the Steinbutt
0:48:39 > 0:48:43and when I make the Steinbutt? What makes the...?
0:48:43 > 0:48:47Well... He charges you ?45 for it.
0:48:47 > 0:48:48LAUGHTER
0:48:48 > 0:48:50He always has his jokes.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54He doesn't understand the economies of restaurants, do you see, Jared?
0:48:54 > 0:48:55He doesn't get it.
0:48:55 > 0:48:57Right, 'scuse fingers.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00I never had something like this.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04No, well, it's like a salade tiede.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08Right. Oh, the potato's done! Yeah... Whoa!
0:49:08 > 0:49:09They're a little bit...
0:49:09 > 0:49:11Die Kartoffel sind tatsachlich fertig geworden.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14Right, go on, try it. Just try... I try first?
0:49:14 > 0:49:18Yeah, yeah, you can, you must. Is that an honour, or...?
0:49:18 > 0:49:22Do I risk something? Well, we've only got one fork!
0:49:22 > 0:49:25One fork and one knife. Yeah, yeah. That's good.
0:49:25 > 0:49:26No other fork?
0:49:26 > 0:49:28I thought there was one, but I seem to - oh, we've got a spoon.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30You know how we do it? What?
0:49:30 > 0:49:32I eat with fingers, because I am from Ethiopia,
0:49:32 > 0:49:35and in Ethiopia we eat with fingers. Do you?! Seriously.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38I tried to do that in India, tried to master the art of it.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41But it just dropped down my shirt. It's difficult, yeah.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44Ich hab gesagt ich esse mit Fingern, er kann mit den Gabel essen.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48Go on, I'll use the spoon.
0:49:50 > 0:49:51Oh, it's a good fish.
0:49:51 > 0:49:57It could do with a bit more salt, but it's a lovely fish. Rick! Mm?
0:49:57 > 0:49:59You can cook. Oh...
0:49:59 > 0:50:03This needs a tiny bit more, but it's really nice.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07See, I'm learning to... Is that good? Mm, I like it.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Rick, is that good? Yeah.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13Joh. Joh.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24Seasonality is something the Germans take seriously.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27The Spargel, or the asparagus,
0:50:27 > 0:50:31is looked forward to with great relish in the Rhine valley.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35I've never seen this before,
0:50:35 > 0:50:39the harvesting of the white asparagus, so unlike our own green.
0:50:39 > 0:50:44As soon as the asparagus breaks through this light alluvial soil,
0:50:44 > 0:50:46it's time to cut.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49If it's left for more than a few hours in daylight,
0:50:49 > 0:50:53the tip darkens, and it's deemed second-rate.
0:50:58 > 0:51:03At my cousin Eckhardt's house, his wife Suzanne boils asparagus
0:51:03 > 0:51:06and then makes an exquisite hollandaise sauce
0:51:06 > 0:51:08using some of the boiling liquor,
0:51:08 > 0:51:13and she serves them with just a bit of ham and some boiled potatoes.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17This was, I think, the very best thing I tasted on my journey,
0:51:17 > 0:51:19simple and fresh.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23What do you think of the green asparagus
0:51:23 > 0:51:25that we prefer in Britain, then?
0:51:26 > 0:51:30Yes, we do like it, but of course it's not comparable to this one.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34Of course. It's the queen of asparagus.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39I must say, there is a real affinity with this white asparagus
0:51:39 > 0:51:43and hollandaise sauce, to me. There's a sort of like... Ja.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46Made-in-heaven match. Ja.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49Boiling the asparagus this way makes perfect sense,
0:51:49 > 0:51:52because the base is thick, and will get more heat,
0:51:52 > 0:51:57whereas the tips are more delicate, and will cook well in the steam.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59I've done this a million times.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01Suzanne puts egg yolks
0:52:01 > 0:52:05into some of the water the asparagus was cooked in, and whisks.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07The water has good flavour,
0:52:07 > 0:52:11because she cleverly put the peelings from the asparagus in it.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17Now lemon juice, whisking all the time, over heat,
0:52:17 > 0:52:19to thicken the egg yolks.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24How do you know when the - what we call a sabayon -
0:52:24 > 0:52:26how do you know when it's ready?
0:52:26 > 0:52:29It's the sound. Is it? The sort of...
0:52:29 > 0:52:33WHISK TAPS Yeah, yes, I do, I do.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36You use your ears a lot in the kitchen, actually.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40And now the butter, whisking all the time, to build up a thick
0:52:40 > 0:52:42but fluffy sauce.
0:52:42 > 0:52:47One of those completely satisfying tasks in the kitchen.
0:52:47 > 0:52:52It was an absolute lesson in how to cook asparagus hollandaise.
0:52:52 > 0:52:53Thank you.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56So, it's nice to have you here.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58To the next season. Yes.
0:53:02 > 0:53:07This is the Rheingau, the most famous wine production area
0:53:07 > 0:53:10in the whole of the country, and my family,
0:53:10 > 0:53:12a long time ago, had vineyards here,
0:53:12 > 0:53:15producing a very popular Riesling
0:53:15 > 0:53:18that was well known all over the world as Hock,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22because that's the name of the local village, Hochheim,
0:53:22 > 0:53:24where it's made.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30It used to be really popular with Queen Victoria,
0:53:30 > 0:53:33and there's even a monument to her right in the middle of the vineyard.
0:53:33 > 0:53:38It was also supposed to be the favourite tipple of Oscar Wilde.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Anyway, I'm here to meet up with my German family,
0:53:44 > 0:53:50at the home of Dr Franz Werner Michel, a wine maker extraordinaire.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53He thinks this is the best white in the world,
0:53:53 > 0:53:56with a natural, racy acidity. I like that.
0:53:56 > 0:54:01And he's kindly hosting a lunch for us all today.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03So, this is one of the reasons I came to Germany.
0:54:03 > 0:54:10First of all, Heidi, very nice to see you. Paul. Paul's wife, Ursula.
0:54:10 > 0:54:15Conrad, Frederica, Heidi's son and daughter,
0:54:15 > 0:54:19and Franz, who owns this beautiful vineyard.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22First of all, I would like to speak to Heidi,
0:54:22 > 0:54:26because you came to our farm in Oxfordshire a long time ago, didn't you?
0:54:26 > 0:54:32Yes. I was 17 of age and you were six or eight, I guess.
0:54:32 > 0:54:37And I was sent to you because I should learn better English,
0:54:37 > 0:54:42and I was happy enough to be outside in the farm,
0:54:42 > 0:54:48Mere Farm, near Churchill, and I was very happy in your family.
0:54:48 > 0:54:54But I'm afraid you didn't like me so much, because I was terribly boring.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56LAUGHTER
0:54:56 > 0:55:00I was always asking questions, the name of flowers,
0:55:00 > 0:55:03the name of trees, of animals,
0:55:03 > 0:55:09and you thought I was so stupid that I had to ask all those questions.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13You didn't like it. I'm so sorry.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17But you were... That was soon after the Second World War, wasn't it?
0:55:17 > 0:55:24Ja, and I felt it, because I felt pity for the English,
0:55:24 > 0:55:26because they didn't like me.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30Of course, they immediately found out that I had a German accent
0:55:30 > 0:55:32and would turn around -
0:55:32 > 0:55:35every time I was alone in the street and asked a question,
0:55:35 > 0:55:37they would turn around and would not...
0:55:37 > 0:55:42And I was terrified, because what could I do about it?
0:55:42 > 0:55:45It was not my fault, and I felt very guilty.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49And this was a strain on my visit.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52But then I had wonderful times on the farm,
0:55:52 > 0:55:57and your father invited us, together with my sister,
0:55:57 > 0:55:59who was working in London at the time,
0:55:59 > 0:56:04we went to Sadler's Wells, and it was just out of this world.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07It was the greatest experience.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11However, one of the things I firmly believe in
0:56:11 > 0:56:17is that food and drink bring us together. Like today. Absolutely.
0:56:17 > 0:56:23So I'm here to celebrate great German food. Cheers. Cheers!
0:56:26 > 0:56:31Ja, sehr gut. I would say we make our next family meeting in Cornwall.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33That would be great!
0:56:38 > 0:56:43Isn't that fantastic, this ham? And all these good sausages.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46And here. This is something special.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50Asparagus, white asparagus, which is so soft,
0:56:50 > 0:56:53so it's melting on your palate.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56Especially with this wine. Yes.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01It's pretty hard to cut.
0:57:03 > 0:57:08'German food is what it is. It's seasonal and extremely robust,
0:57:08 > 0:57:12'just like those excellent Mercedes taxis that go on for ever.'
0:57:13 > 0:57:18Well, I'd like to thank you very much for inviting me here,
0:57:18 > 0:57:22and I'm really looking forward to eating a bit with you.
0:57:22 > 0:57:28Here's to Riesling and here's to racy acidity. I like that.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33Racy acidity, in all walks of life!
0:57:33 > 0:57:36Cheers.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40To me, food is always accompanied by a sense of romanticism.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43But from what I know,
0:57:43 > 0:57:46I think after the war, the Germans really didn't feel like
0:57:46 > 0:57:49flying their gastronomic flag very high.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55They felt a certain sense of shame about being patriotic and German,
0:57:55 > 0:58:00and one of the ways of expressing your enthusiasm for your country
0:58:00 > 0:58:04is through your food. Now they're beginning to do it.
0:58:04 > 0:58:09Speaking to people, there's a great excitement about German cooking.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16I've heard German food described as Cinderella,
0:58:16 > 0:58:18waiting to meet a handsome prince.
0:58:19 > 0:58:24Well, maybe when Europe tires of olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes,
0:58:24 > 0:58:29pasta and balsamic vinegar, her prince might come.
0:58:29 > 0:58:31I do hope so.
0:58:50 > 0:58:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd