Bath Terry and Mason's Great Food Trip

Hello, my flower. They're for you. Put that behind...

LAUGHTER

Come on, jump on the front, Tel. I'll take you for a spin around Bath.

I have enough trouble with you and the black cab, all right?

'It's taken 50 years in broadcasting but I've finally cracked it.

'The chance to meander around the country, see the sites,

'meet the people

'and, yes, eat and drink.'

Is "melt in the mouth" a suitable phrase?

'I've hailed a cab with one of London's finest cabbies,

'Mason McQueen, to steer me around Britain's highways and byways.'

-I'm looking forward to a decent meal, are you?

-Oh, I'm starving.

'Our route has been mapped out by an adventurous gourmand,

'Samuel Chamberlain, in his book British Bouquet.

'Almost 60 years later, we're following in his footsteps...'

I'll do all the work, Tel!

'..to seek out weird and wonderful regional British cuisine

'and discover how our tastes have changed over the years.

Do it right, son.

SCREAMS

So we've got our red cabbage water,

pickled cucumber and a beetroot sorbet...

stroke ice cream.

'Our caravan rests today in Bath, Somerset.

'Scouring the famous squares and crescent,

'relentlessly seeking what culinary curios

'this ancient spa city has to offer.'

You've been to Bath before, Mason?

I had an American couple I brought here from a London hotel.

It was a long day, Tel, I tell you, and he didn't stop moaning.

He looked like your good self. "Are we there yet?" and all that.

-What was he moaning about?

-I think he was looking at the meter.

LAUGHTER

I'm bound to say, anybody would be looking at the meter

driving from London all the way to Bath and back again.

I don't do nothing for nothing, pal.

'The architectural glories of Bath are a wonder to behold.

'The so-called Rome of the North pulls in hundreds of thousands

'of tourists a year,

'but there's no time for us to stop and ponder pediments.

'Our classical order of the day, our very duty,

'is to feed the body, not just the eye.

'Do I hear the siren call of "Breakfast!"?'

So is this Guildhall Market, Terry? Is that where we're going?

-Is there food in prospect?

-Yeah.

-Let's get in there, eh, Tel?

-Yeah, I'm with you.

'We've come to the ancient Guildhall Market,

'one of two food markets in the city,

'in search of a local delicacy invented in the 18th century

'but now almost impossible to find.'

-Morning.

-Who's this?

-This is Miranda.

-Miranda.

It's a treat to see you.

Are all these Bath specialities?

A chicken samosa is scarcely a Somerset speciality.

It isn't a speciality but very popular.

But Bath chaps are.

It looks dangerous.

'Chap - simply a variation on the old word, chop,

'meaning the jaws and cheek of an animal.

'I'm a keen follower of the nose to tail philosophy of eating.

'Mason, erm, not so much.'

This is pig cheek and tongue.

-Your favourites.

-My favourites.

It's all cured, ready to eat.

Why is it that slightly violent colour?

It's the breadcrumbs on the outside. It's just the traditional colour.

And Brittons, our butchers that make them,

have been making them for a long, long time.

'When Samuel Chamberlain was here in the early '60s,

'Bath chaps were already becoming a bit of a rarity.'

-Thanks, Miranda.

-I shall wear it always.

'Rationing was over and no-one wanted to eat

'the cheaper cuts of meat any more but there are still Bathonians

'who recognise a good chap when they see one.'

-Good morning, gentlemen.

-Morning.

-We've got a Bath chap.

My grandfather used to eat these from the market back in the '50s

and he used to eat it cold with a pickled egg and a bit of cheese.

Would you have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner?

I think it's very nice if it's griddled with a couple of eggs.

-Would you do it for us?

-Absolutely. My pleasure.

-Pass it on.

-Let's have a look. That's a good one as well.

-How can you tell the difference?

-It's nice and fat at the end.

That's the way we're going to be at the end of this series.

Two fat chaps!

-Tell me this, do you come here every breakfast time?

-Every day.

The man that's cooking your chap is my chap.

Oh, look at that!

-Does he cook a chap for you every so often?

-No.

I have to watch my lumps and bumps.

For goodness' sake. Nobody would eat a chap if they worried about that.

-Unlike you. You look like a god.

-Yes, quite. A racing snake.

-Indeed.

-Here we go, gentlemen.

'Just the smell of it is enough for me.

'Mason's going to be harder to convince.'

You see...I love that.

-But then...I like most food.

-Yeah, it's nice.

You're going to say it's a bit fatty.

It is a bit fatty for me, Tel. It is.

How many times, if you haven't got fat, you haven't got taste.

This book, a British Bouquet: An Epicurean Tour of Britain,

old Sammy Chamberlain, one of our favourite authors.

-Good old Sam.

-It says here it was originally a Roman settlement,

taking its name from the healing warm baths here

since the time of the Caesars.

It was vital for the Romans because, coming from a warm climate,

they came here and were frozen to death.

So can you imagine their delight when they found the warm springs

and the warm baths?

They must have had aches and pains

and I know all about pains in the back of the cab.

Who's that, then?

Pardon?

I just thought that might be a personal slur.

'Anyway, as I was saying, the Romans built this great city

'in the first century AD

'No culinary journey through its flavours past and present

'would be complete without harking back to antiquity.

'It seems like my luck is in.

'These two look like just the sort to help with my enquiries.'

And so you find me in the Roman baths

being greeted by some ancient Romans.

-Salve.

-Ave.

-Ave, indeed.

This is Flavia

-and this is Marcus.

-Marcus. Pleased to meet you.

Tell me about these baths.

Believe it or not, when my legions first came here,

it was no more than a swamp where the locals went to worship,

where the hot water bubbled up through the algae

and the Romans drained it and started to funnel the water up

and build a great bathhouse and temple.

-How is the bathing here?

-It's always warm, even in winter.

Never changes. It's always nice and warm. We of course bathe naked.

Flavia, are you allowed to bathe with the legionnaires?

Yes, of course. I'm very wealthy.

Wealthy people come here and bathe all together.

In the altogether, if you pardon the non-Roman expression?

Yes, of course.

If I had the nerve, I'd dive in there with you.

'Unlike myself, the Romans famously had huge appetites

'and the bath was as good a place as any

'to indulge themselves in a bit of grub.'

What would you eat as you bathed?

My favourite is snails fattened on milk.

Nice, fat, plump snails and of course oysters

and, if you're lucky, a dormouse or two glazed in honey.

Lovely and sweet.

Yes, you're leaning against an open door with me there, I can tell you.

Nothing like a dormouse.

'The baths were used for medicinal purposes up until the mid-'70s,

'but for years at the beginning of the '60s,

'just the time when Sam Chamberlain was here,

'they were thrown open for what can only be described

'as a bacchanalian revel.

'Could that be the man himself I spy splashing around in the shallows?

'Dragging myself away from these scenes of debauchery,

'I'm off to find out what else these waters have to offer

'the gastronomic explorer

'by taking a trip upstairs to the famous Pump Room.'

-What a place, Tel, eh?

-Isn't it extraordinary?

What do you reckon it's like? It's like your front room. Indoors.

Yeah, it could do with a little more space.

'1,300 years after the Romans left,

'the Georgians reinvented Bath as the social centre of England.

'You couldn't move in here for breeches and bonnets

'as they all rushed to take the cure.'

What were the waters supposed to do for these Georgian people?

It was about all the minerals, so you either bathed in the waters...

That waters they were floating around in, that's not the waters

they were drinking or we're going to be drinking?

Yes. So, ideally, if you came to drink the waters,

you would try and come first thing

before too many people had been bathing

because the more people bathed, the probably less good for you...

Finding things in your water.

What was it supposed to be good for, drinking the water?

Gosh, lots of things.

It was supposed to be very good if you had, erm, gout.

-Salmon and trout.

-That's me. Salmon and trout?

Too much red wine, but also it was supposed to be good for breathing

and for general muscle complaints because it's just full of minerals.

'Sounds like the elixir of life!

'But, by all accounts, a glass of this stuff

'tastes like the wrath of God.

'Still, at my age, can't look a gift horse in the mouth.'

-Line 'em up, barman.

-Here we go.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

Good health.

This will guarantee good health.

-Do you know, I feel better already.

-It's miraculous.

-Instant.

-My eyes brighter, my teeth shinier.

I can feel it going right down to my feet. See how spritely they are?

Whenever you see this, it's just unmistakable. You know it is Bath.

This is a magnificent place and I'm sure any of the houses

cost several millions,

but I tell you one thing about this great Royal Crescent,

there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of parking

and you're attached, you're not even semidetached.

LAUGHTER

'Like most places in Britain, you can't take two steps in this city

'without bumping into a venti latte.

'Bath also has a growing number of craft coffee shops

'that take a more purist approach.

'One which boasts the king of coffee himself -

'the reigning champion UK barista.

'Who better to serve us a revitalising cuppa?'

-Wake up and smell the coffee, Tel.

-Lovely.

In we go.

We know already, that's why we're here,

you're the number one barista in this entire nation.

-This is the best.

-You are the Ronaldo of coffee making.

-That's exactly how I like to...

-You like that one?

Most of us were reared on instant coffee.

-Have you no time for instant coffee?

-Well...no, not really.

-So...

-That's brutally frank.

-I'm giving you the geisha, which is grown in Panama.

-Excellent.

When they first tasted it, they wrote a book about it

called God in a Cup because it was like seeing the face of God.

That's a treat.

'Maxwell's bar reminds me of my school chemistry lab.

'The instrument he's using for our coffee is called an Aeropress.

'Works like a giant syringe.'

We put all the coffee and water together.

We've done a lot of work on water, especially with Bath University.

We had a chemistry paper published on the way the mineral content

affects the flavour of your coffee. That has a huge impact as well.

Good water, good coffee.

The idea is to not drink it until it cools down a bit.

That's how we get a lot of the subtle flavours come out.

-Would you add milk to this?

-No.

-Would you add sugar to it?

-No.

It's a bit like a glass of wine. It's the finished product.

This should be very floral to start with, then get a bit sweeter,

some notes of stone fruit, a bit of milk chocolate.

You sound like the people who write about wine.

The parallels are huge, actually. That is what we use as a reference.

Different effects, though, right?!

I tell you what, it's...

much superior to the waters in the Pump Room.

I'm looking for the floral notes.

Some people are much more sensitive to floral than other people.

-Do you find it too delicate?

-I find it very different.

Different from every other coffee I've tasted.

-It seems to bear more relationship to tea.

-Correct.

Yeah, absolutely.

'Even champion baristas need to keep their hand in

'and Maxwell agrees to show us some of the artistic flair

'that keeps him at the top.'

This is what we call a tulip.

-Look at you, Maxwell.

-You're just showing off now.

There you go.

-Anybody can do that.

-I'd like to see you do that.

-We're both going to do this now.

-Keep it spinning.

More into the middle of the coffee. A bit higher. Pour.

We're going to do one...

..two, and then up and through.

Look at that. That's good. I want to keep that.

-It's a triumph.

-I want to see how Terry's comes out.

The pressure's on you, Mr Wogan!

I'm pale but determined.

-You've got to wait until it comes out.

-Don't help him too much, Max.

-Look at that.

-Well done, Tel.

Yours is straighter that way but more off to the left-hand side.

-Look at the definition in mine.

-Mine is more impressionistic.

'High on our success and a lot of caffeine,

'we were just planning our assault

'on the World Barista Championships 2016,

'when I spot a funny fella making off

'with Maxwell's used coffee grounds.

'Our curiosity well and truly piqued,

'but keeping a safe distance,

'our Bath food adventure now takes a turn for the mysterious.'

Where could he be going with that?

'Arriving at an unknown destination,

'I enter what can only be described as a chamber of horrors.

-Hello.

-Excuse me, but I've never seen so many mushrooms in my life.

They're kind of like cadavers.

-They're oyster mushrooms.

-Oyster mushrooms? Just oyster mushrooms?

Just oyster mushrooms. They grow just on the coffee grounds.

-Can I have a look at this?

-Please.

-Now that...

-Is a mushroom.

It's an oyster mushroom to remember, is what it is.

What is the magic about coffee grounds and mushrooms?

We were looking at how we could use our urban organic wastes

and with a bit of research on the internet we discovered that you can

use coffee grounds and cardboard to grow mushrooms.

Who would have thought it?

They're all made of the same stuff, which is cellulose,

which is what mushrooms eat.

'Apparently, each of these bags contains coffee grounds, lime,

'a big wadge of cardboard and the all-important mushroom spawn.'

When they start off down here, they are like that -

just a plastic bag, and we cut holes in it.

-And out they pop.

-Out they pop.

What gave you the idea?

It seemed silly transporting coffee grounds into the cities,

using them for a couple of minutes to make a cup of coffee

and then transporting them back out again.

Why not make use of them in the city?

-It's a blow for ecology as well, and the environment?

-Absolutely.

So you don't grow a variety of mushrooms, just concentrate...

-On the oyster mushrooms.

-On your hearty oyster.

But there's millions of them.

I'm aiming to get 50 kilograms per week out of here.

Is there demand in Bath and surrounding district

-for that many mushrooms?

-Easily.

We sell at least 25 kilos every Saturday

on the farmers' market upstairs.

I can't believe the people of Bath or Britain eat that many mushrooms.

Part of the thing is to convince people to eat more mushrooms.

Less meat, more mushrooms.

'A rallying cry for a food revolution

'echoing through the catacombs of Bath. Stirring stuff!

'One of Bath's finest institutions is the old Rec.

'The hallowed rugby ground sitting right in the heart of the city.'

Do I hear right that you are going to attempt...to play the great game?

Yes, I'm having a training session

with some of the up-and-coming young prospects

of Bath Rugby Club.

Don't be too vigorous with them.

I don't want people coming off the pitch injured after your gouging.

-I'll go easy with them, Tel.

-I'm sure you will enjoy it.

-Are you going to be wearing shorts and everything?

-I believe so.

Excellent. Always something for the ladies.

LAUGHTER

'After two glorious years as prop for Old Belvedere Rugby Club,

'I was forced into early retirement through lack of talent,

'so I'll be continuing our foray into Bath's food culture

'from the comfort of the stands.'

Here we are.

I'd love to go myself but it's the old injury and all.

I have to sit and have a pie and a pint.

I'll do it. I'll do it.

Come back whole, would you?

Take no nonsense from them.

I'll give it my best shot, Tel

-You take it easy.

-Get the old jockstrap on.

-See you soon.

-Careful of yourself.

-OK.

'While Mason contemplates the challenge that lies ahead,

'I take my seat to enjoy a traditional match day treat -

'talk tucker with some keen followers of the game.'

I am privileged to sit here.

-Is beauty the word I'm looking for?

-Yes. It is.

With five extremely beautiful

if somewhat big and hairy rugby players.

All who've played for Bath,

many who have played for England.

'Eating pies is all well and good for the hungry fans,

'but how do these finely-honed athletes prepare for the big match?'

Back then it was a fried breakfast in the morning.

Nowadays the guys are eating broccoli and steak

to get the energy up.

There was a big screen in the corner.

You always kept your eye on the big screen because as the years went on

the shirts got tighter and tighter

and when you get on the big screen, you see your mug on the telly,

everyone goes... and sucks themselves in.

Speak for yourself.

That was my overriding memory,

of trying to look thin on a rugby field.

Here comes Mason.

As you can see from the way he's handling that rugby ball,

he has no idea what he's doing.

Give him a red. Get him off!

Five more. Here we go. Four more, Mason. Keep going. Keep going.

'You've got to hand it to the plucky lad from Essex,

'he's putting his back into it.'

They're lifting him.

Just think about Tom's thumbs.

I don't want them going any closer. That's virgin territory.

I aim for it to stay that way.

Big jump.

Happy with that.

-He could have been a line-out jumper.

-Maybe, maybe.

If he'd been about five foot taller.

'By the end of it all, we're on the edge of our seats

'for Mason's Jonny Wilkinson moment.'

Right, Mase, two simple things.

Head down, follow-through.

Nice try, Mase, but no cigar.

It's been a real pleasure to talk to all of you.

-Cheers, fellas. Thank you.

-Cheers.

'Everyone knows the secret to long life and happiness

'is a balanced diet.

'I've had my meat pie so now we're off in search of my five a day.

'One place that would certainly have been around

'when Chamberlain was visiting Bath is this small greengrocers

'in the heart of the city.

'With the fifth generation of the same family now in charge,

'it survived the Bath Blitz and the onslaught of the supermarkets,

'so I think it's well up to a visit from me and Mason.'

-Go on, ladies first.

-Thank you, darling.

Hello, there.

Hiya.

There's something wonderful about a fruit and veg shop.

Look. And this is a terrific one.

This always fascinated me... on the stall, you know?

The cocky barrow boy.

There ain't enough of this going on.

"How are you today, Mr Wogan?" and all that.

-And then you're chatting away while you're...

-You missed your vocation.

You were born for this.

'Leaving Mason to frighten the customers...'

I can't wrap it now. Look.

'..I'm going to conduct a bit of market research

'into this greengrocer business.'

Do you come in here every day for your fruit and veg?

No. A couple of times a week or even pop by for the odd thing.

-Do you have your five a day?

-No. My children do but I am terrible.

What do you like?

Bacon and egg?

-Chocolate.

-You don't do chocolate here, do you?

-They do.

-Yes.

-You do!

It's the only fruiters in the world that do chocolate.

'The secret of this shop's success can be found in the rich soil

'to the north of the city, where the Eads family

'have been growing their own produce to supply their greengrocers

'since 1914.'

-So how many acres have you got here?

-We're around about 60 acres now.

Enough vegetables to feed the good people of Bath

for the next millennium.

Hopefully. That's the way forward.

The growing side of it was introduced by my grandfather.

-Your grandfather did it to supply his greengrocers.

-Indeed he did.

-Which was a shrewd move, wasn't it?

-Well, it's fantastic.

The fulfilment you get...myself, I love it to be able to produce

a product, sell it to a customer and then them comment

how much they've enjoyed what they've eaten.

-Do you come and pick this stuff yourself?

-We do, yes.

-Wow.

It's the perfect model of self-sufficiency.

'Mike and his family grow everything here,

'from onions and leeks to soft fruits,

'but, at this time of year, the undoubted stars of the show

'are the great British brassicas.'

If we walk down here, Dad's actually cutting the cauliflower.

-This is Tony. Hiya, my dear fellow. You know Mason.

-Nice to meet you.

I love a cauliflower, I'm bound to say.

-You particularly like it with a bit of cheese on it.

-A bit of cheese.

You try the cauliflower.

You don't have to worry about any bugs in it

because we grow it in a special way and we don't spray at all

or put any poisonous chemicals on.

Hang on, there's a worm!

You wouldn't even be able to go fishing with that!

-It comes from nothing.

-Delicious!

-That's good.

-It's different.

I never thought I would be eating raw cauliflower in a field

overlooking a beautiful scene of Bath in the mist.

'But time and fresh cauliflower wait for no man.

'We're taking these beauties to a long-standing customer.

'The chief proprietor of one of the current dining sensations of Bath.'

-Gordon? Gordon Jones?

-Yes.

-I have the very thing here for you.

-We can do something interesting with that.

-I bet you can.

-From the best looking delivery driver I've had.

-Thank you.

'When Sam Chamberlain was here in Bath,

'he wrote about the exotic fare he came across.

'Dishes like curried chicken with mango and banana.

'But I wonder what he would have made of Gordon's menu.'

We're going to do something funky and interesting.

We're going to make beetroot ice cream, red cabbage water

and pickled cucumber - the thing you have with winter time brassicas.

Excuse me, I'm going to be sick.

That's what you might say but wait until you try it.

'Against my better judgment, I agreed to lend a hand

'with the preparation of this outlandish dish.'

-OK, what you got?

-Nice and simple, diced pickled cucumber,

that goes into the bottom.

There's no need to be so picky.

This is the beetroot ice cream kind of sorbet.

You can't make a beetroot sorbet.

-And then our red cabbage water.

-You're really scaring me now.

To make it interesting, we'll pour it into a venus vase -

this little plant.

We'll pour it in.

-And you have served people with this without...

-Every single night.

Never been arrested?

-Pour this over?

-Give a wee splash in there.

You're not a son of Heston Blumenthal by any chance?

No, just a stingy Scot. You make good money off this sort of stuff.

-Can you?

-Yeah.

Do you have people beating their way to your door to eat this stuff?

Well, on weekends, we've almost got a six-month waiting list

for a Friday, Saturday night.

So, yeah, they seem to be enjoying it.

Would you mind reserving a table in the name of Mason McQueen?

It would be a pleasure.

'Locally grown, cooked fresh -

'surely if anything is the true taste of Bath, this is it.'

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

Oh!

-Isn't that extraordinary?

-That's lovely, Terry.

-This is delicious.

-That's really nice, Tel.

I like doing it with a tiny little spoon because it makes it seem more.

I think it's great. It's unusual, but why not?

-Yeah. Experiment with food. Give it a go.

-Of course.

But who would have guessed a beetroot sorbet

would taste as good as this?

Do you like this kind of cuisine, this kind of food?

Of course I like experimenting.

I regularly eat snails in France, I eat pigs' ears, quails' brains,

everything.

-Quails' brains?

-I'm making that up.

'Having supped our fill

'and explored every inch of Bath's culinary landscape,

'it's now time to take our leave of this fine city.'

-What a great place, Bath.

-I love it.

-I do as well.

-Absolutely love the city.

Now, the Romans and the Georgians, you know why they came to Bath.

Absolutely.

It's in the water, you know?

Yeah, yeah...

-we've tried it, haven't we?

-Oh, yeah.

-Tasted like old Roman coins.

-LAUGHTER