0:00:02 > 0:00:06It's a fairly rare thing to see a scarecrow outside a pub.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08Is that a sign that they don't want us to go in there?
0:00:08 > 0:00:12I don't know but he's very similar to your dress sense.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15He's got a natural grace, there's no question of that.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18- I've got to go and wee, Tel. - Have you?
0:00:18 > 0:00:20I'm a man of iron in this regard.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27'It's taken 50 years in broadcasting,
0:00:27 > 0:00:29'but I've finally cracked it.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32'The chance to meander around the country, see the sights,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36'meet the people and, yes, eat and drink.'
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Is melt in the mouth a suitable phrase.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43'I've hailed a cab with one of London's finest cabbies,
0:00:43 > 0:00:48'Mason McQueen, to steer me around Britain's highways and byways.'
0:00:48 > 0:00:51- I'm looking forward to a decent meal, are you?- Oh, I'm starving.
0:00:51 > 0:00:52I can't wait, Tel.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55'Our route has been mapped out by an adventurous gourmand,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59'Samuel Chamberlain, in his book British Bouquet.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02'Almost 60 years later, we're following in his footsteps...'
0:01:02 > 0:01:04I'll do all the work, Tel.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07'..to seek out weird and wonderful regional British cuisine
0:01:07 > 0:01:11'and discover how our tastes have changed over the years.'
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Do it right, son.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15Oh, oh, oh!
0:01:15 > 0:01:17- What's that?- A nice bit of tongue in there.- Tongue.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20A bit of tongue? Was it his tongue?
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Today, me hearties, we're in the heart of Wiltshire, in Devizes.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38So crammed full of culinary curiosities,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41I honestly don't know how we're going to fit it all in.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Devizes is famous for its limericks. Would you like to hear a little...?
0:01:48 > 0:01:49I'd love to hear one, Tel.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52There was a young man of Devizes,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56Whose ears were of different sizes. One was so small,
0:01:56 > 0:01:58It was no use at all,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00But the other won several prizes.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Very good. Very good. I like that.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10Devizes takes its rather curious name from the Latin word divisas,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14meaning boundaries, because it was built on the edge of three parishes.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18There's been a market here since the 12th century,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20so it's about due a visit from me and Mason.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24- I love these markets.- Good morning, gentlemen.- Good morning, sir.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28Every Thursday, the square is crowned with local food producers
0:02:28 > 0:02:30and their wares.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Come on! We've the mush to make you rush today!
0:02:33 > 0:02:36In my view, a market's the perfect place to start
0:02:36 > 0:02:41a culinary investigation into the tastes and flavours that make a town tick.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Standby, Devizes. We're going in.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48- Morning.- Morning. - Good morning, Sir Terry. How are you?
0:02:48 > 0:02:50- I'm bearing up, thank you. - Very good.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54I'm waiting for the sun to shine. What have you got here?
0:02:54 > 0:02:58- Do you like mango chutney?- Do you know, I never eat anything else.
0:02:58 > 0:02:59SHE LAUGHS
0:03:01 > 0:03:04This is different because it's in slices, not in bits.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Do you know, already I'm really glad that we came and stopped here.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Although it's a small town with a population of 12,000,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Devizes' market is one of the largest in the West Country,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19giving the five local supermarkets a good run for their money.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24How long is it since you seen a goose egg?
0:03:24 > 0:03:25I've never seen a goose egg.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26They've only just come back in.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Hey!
0:03:29 > 0:03:32- That's the size, innit? - It is.- That's a nice size egg.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35- You want an ostrich egg is what you want.- You don't do ostrich eggs!
0:03:35 > 0:03:37We can get them but they're £25 each.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40You've come right out your shell, ain't ya?
0:03:43 > 0:03:46These days, Wiltshire is most famous for its pig products,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48but 100 years ago, it was equally renowned
0:03:48 > 0:03:50for its many different cheeses.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56One, the Wiltshire Loaf, had completely disappeared
0:03:56 > 0:03:59until nine years ago, when an enterprising dairy maid stumbled
0:03:59 > 0:04:03across an old recipe and decided to bring it back from the dead.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08And what's a Wiltshire Loaf taste like? Is it crumbly, is it...?
0:04:08 > 0:04:12- Do you want to try?- Yeah, go one. You don't give away a lot, do you?
0:04:12 > 0:04:14SHE LAUGHS
0:04:14 > 0:04:17- This is delicious. - Thank you.- It's very...
0:04:17 > 0:04:20- very flavoursome, very sharp.- Yes.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22This is the traditional Wiltshire cheese that
0:04:22 > 0:04:25my great-grandfather used to make. It stopped being made in Wiltshire.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27A lot of our regional cheeses did die out,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31but when I started cheese-making, I love looking back to the past
0:04:31 > 0:04:34and this is the cheese that my great-grandfather would've made.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Where did you get the recipe for it?
0:04:36 > 0:04:40On the wall in the Lackham Agricultural College Museum.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44- You took it from there? - Yes, yeah.- Such work here.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46You've obviously revived the tradition.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49I don't understand why there isn't a plaque to you...
0:04:49 > 0:04:53- somewhere on a wall in Devizes. - SHE LAUGHS
0:04:53 > 0:04:54Maybe one day.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Back in the far-flung '60s, this market,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04mainly a place for local farmers to buy and sell livestock.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06After they'd concluded their business, they congregate
0:05:06 > 0:05:10across the road in The Bear Hotel for much-needed refreshment.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Our culinary guide Sam Chamberlain stayed here too, soaked up
0:05:14 > 0:05:17the atmosphere and where the great man leads, we must follow.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21- Cheers, Tel.- After you, sir, senior man.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25Chamberlain called The Bear a "good, honest country hostelry."
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Can't see any cattle farmer, but a group of locals who meet here
0:05:28 > 0:05:32every week for breakfast are carrying on the noble tradition.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36- Good morning, good morning. - Good morning.- The breakfast club.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39So, reading old Chamberlain's book,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43he says when he came down here, the place was full of farmers
0:05:43 > 0:05:47and drovers and they were drinking their pints and smoking their pipes.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52Now, you're all far too young to remember anything like that...
0:05:52 > 0:05:56aren't you? You remember it? So, tell me about it.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58My father was a farmer, as you say.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03Instead of the flat cap, he had the trilby and the pipe.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05And he'd be in here drinking the pint?
0:06:05 > 0:06:08He'd be here after the market had closed.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10He would be in here and the table would be laid out,
0:06:10 > 0:06:12right across there, for everything
0:06:12 > 0:06:17you could think of in the way of farmers' eating - ham, whatever.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20And I was a little schoolgirl at the time
0:06:20 > 0:06:24and he used to come out to the car and get me in here, and I used to
0:06:24 > 0:06:27be able to go along that table and choose what I wanted to eat.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30In them days, children weren't allowed in pubs
0:06:30 > 0:06:33and I used to have to go back out to the car,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37my glass of orange squash and my goodies and eat.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42So, it was here at The Bear that old Sam Chamberlain sat down to
0:06:42 > 0:06:45what he described as his "best breakfast of the summer."
0:06:45 > 0:06:49He speaks lovingly of piping hot eggs, lean bacon, tender toast.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51I prefer mine crisp.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Service, please!
0:06:54 > 0:06:56'Quick, Mason, to the dining room!
0:06:56 > 0:06:58'Time to get our knees under the table
0:06:58 > 0:07:02'and hear a bit more about this great British institution.'
0:07:02 > 0:07:03Well, the English breakfast -
0:07:03 > 0:07:07what we're eating is a centuries-old tradition, part of our culture,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11has been for a long, long time, ever since the days of the gentry,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14landowners, and for them,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18breakfast was a hugely important social event before a hunt,
0:07:18 > 0:07:19before the day began,
0:07:19 > 0:07:23so they used to display the wealth of their estates,
0:07:23 > 0:07:27the produce that came from their estates in the breakfast feast.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30It was a spread they put on for their guests.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Over the years, the fry-up gradually filtered down from the fine folk
0:07:34 > 0:07:35to the rest of us and by 1956,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39half of all adults started the day with a cooked breakfast.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43But a mere 20 years after that, the figure had halved
0:07:43 > 0:07:48as we developed a liking for foreign foods like croissants and muesli,
0:07:48 > 0:07:53and the old full English was relegated to being a weekend treat.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57So, Guise, in '62, when Chamberlain came to The Bear,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00would it have been the same breakfast? Not, literally, this one.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02I think back in those days they had more ingredients to it.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04There would've been some fried bread,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07there might have been a pork pie down there too, possibly some liver.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09But they wouldn't have had baked beans all over their plate.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12No, they didn't have baked beans. They would've had a form of beans.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14There's nothing wrong with baked beans.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16There's more wrong with that black pudding.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18There is nothing wrong with a baked bean,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21but it shouldn't be on your breakfast plate.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29- So, Mason, another lovely day in paradise.- Absolutely, Terry.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33- Look at it, it's beautiful. Sun's out.- And of course bacon.
0:08:33 > 0:08:40Bacon, pigs - that appears to be the main selling point.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Order of the day, meeting a pig farmer.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47To get the full picture of a region's food story,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50you need to go back to the land.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Devizes is surrounded by wide, chalky pastures
0:08:53 > 0:08:58where pigs have rootled and grazed since the Bronze Age.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05- Ah, Mason, the glories of Wiltshire. - Look at this place, Terry.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09- Beautiful.- It's not the scenery, it's the pigs.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13The pigs are Wiltshire's glory, you know?
0:09:13 > 0:09:18Wiltshire bacon, Wiltshire ham, far famed, far famed.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21- Oh, look, I think he recognises you. - MASON LAUGHS
0:09:24 > 0:09:28At this point, dear viewer, those of you of a sensitive disposition
0:09:28 > 0:09:30should perhaps leave the room.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34The next phase of our food journey does get a bit close to the bone.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Here on Sandridge Farm,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43the Keen family have been raising pigs for generations.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49Have you ever seen so much dead meat in all your life?
0:09:49 > 0:09:53It's like a spare parts for a pig factory, innit?
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Unfortunately for pigs, but I just love my ham, you know?
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Well, if you didn't eat it, they wouldn't be grown.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01That's a nice way of looking at it, Rodge.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05None of this pork is going to be sold fresh.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Instead, it'll undergo a process known as the Wiltshire cure,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12which emerged in the 19th century when a butcher discovered
0:10:12 > 0:10:14that by storing meat in a cold room,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17you could cut down on the salt needed to preserve it,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20producing a milder, sweeter rasher for your plate.
0:10:23 > 0:10:24This is what we call a brining tank
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and this is the heart of what makes proper Wiltshire bacon,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32so the pig, which at this moment is still considered to be pork,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35will gradually over the course of the next four, five days
0:10:35 > 0:10:40take up this brine, which is a living culture. By allowing it
0:10:40 > 0:10:44to take up brine naturally, you don't get the excessive amount
0:10:44 > 0:10:47of water that you sometimes get. In a factory environment,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50they're what you call multi-needle injection pumped,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53where they want to cure it much quicker than we do
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and, therefore, in order to get the brine into the centre
0:10:57 > 0:11:02of the meat, into that big block, they pump it in with a needle.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Which is all very well, but why am I wearing this ridiculous outfit?
0:11:06 > 0:11:11Well, we do have to comply with all the regulations that are about.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14I wasn't going to dive into the brine.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16'Besides, I haven't brought my budgie smugglers.'
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Once all this pork has taken the cure,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23it's removed from the tank before moving onto the next process.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25We're going into the smoker.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28I mean, we sell more...a higher percentage smoked bacon
0:11:28 > 0:11:30probably than anybody else.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34We still use the traditional method - oak and beech sawdust,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37- so it's like a little forest fire, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40- It's clearing my sinuses perfectly. - Absolutely, yes.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42TERRY INHALES AND EXHALES
0:11:42 > 0:11:45- I think we'll let Mason carry something out a minute now.- Will we?
0:11:45 > 0:11:47- Good man, Mason!- Am I?
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Not a lot of people like doing this job, so we'll get...
0:11:51 > 0:11:54- While he's here.- He loves it! - Never enter a burning building.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56What one's coming out, any one?
0:11:56 > 0:11:59- Well, whichever meat takes your fancy.- I won't bother, lads.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02I'll just watch you, if I may, and encourage you.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Before we leave,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09we receive probably the best invitation I've had all year.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Rosemary, Roger's wife, has prepared a small tasting menu
0:12:16 > 0:12:19of cured pork dishes for our delectation.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23So, this is Wiltshire cure.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27Wiltshire cure and then smoked for two days, over oak and beech.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31- You've got cloves on this.- Yes, cloves and apricots and brown sugar.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35I can't keep my hands off it. Is that too big for me?
0:12:35 > 0:12:39- Oh, I'd say not for your mouth. - Will I be able to eat that?
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Do you know? I love a bit of fat.
0:12:42 > 0:12:47- Do you like fat? - No. I like the lean bit.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51- But it's the fat that gives the flavour.- Absolutely.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Fats take up flavour. I don't worry about eating fat at all.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59My father lived till he was 95 and he had cream in his tea every day
0:12:59 > 0:13:01and we had rib of beef every Sunday.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03But why do they always say, Roger,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07- whatever is really nice is bad for you?- Well, there we are.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10- Jealously, I suppose.- Yes. - But I can't get enough of this.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13- This is lovely, Rosemary. Absolutely lovely.- Have a bit more.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28- What do you think of Devizes? - I like it. I like the market square.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31It's very... It's busy.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35These Wiltshire towns are lovely, but the only thing I have
0:13:35 > 0:13:39against them is they're slaves to roundabouts.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42Oh, don't you worry yourself sitting there, relaxed in the back.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47- Leave that to me.- I'm just thinking of you, Mason. Always considerate.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50If I have a fault, I'm too considerate.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52THEY LAUGH
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Like the galloping gourmets that we are,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58we've rushed back to town on the trail of a great culinary mystery.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01Devices cheesecake was made famous in the 18th century
0:14:01 > 0:14:05when Jane Austen sampled it and gave it her seal of approval,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08but in 1982, the last remaining baker in Devizes to sell
0:14:08 > 0:14:14the cheesecake closed down and the recipe then disappeared.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16To find out more about this most English of dishes,
0:14:16 > 0:14:20I've been pointed in a rather surprising direction.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24- Dolcipani.- This'll do nicely. - Sounds good to me.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26Look, I'll go first and see if they'll let you in.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30- No, I'm sorry.- Come on!
0:14:33 > 0:14:37The hero of our story, Giovanni Campanella, comes from a long
0:14:37 > 0:14:40line of Sicilian bakers whose skills and recipes he's inherited.
0:14:41 > 0:14:48- Giovanni, when did you come to the UK?- 1977, a young fella.- '77?- 1977.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52- And what was the food like when you got here?- Well, I didn't like it.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55But I was wrong. I wasn't looking correctly.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58As soon as I started making a few friends and being invited
0:14:58 > 0:15:02in people's homes, then I discovered that this country has as much
0:15:02 > 0:15:07as a food legacy as anywhere close in Europe, particularly in Italy.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11When Giovanni heard about the long lost Devizes cheesecake,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15his interest was piqued and he embarked on a one-man mission
0:15:15 > 0:15:18to bring back this sleeping beauty back to life.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23So, it took somebody who had come from Italy to come here to Devizes,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27to reinvent a traditional Devizes cheesecake?
0:15:27 > 0:15:32This is a voyage of discovery, it's not just a cheesecake.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36It's really a cheesecake that has been found in people's memory
0:15:36 > 0:15:38and we had to extract it.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42We knew the ingredients, but it was nowhere to be seen.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Eight or nine years ago, we started this process.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50As puddings go, this one has had quite a build-up.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54Time to put old Jane Austen and Giovanni to the test.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57First step is to make the cheese for the filling.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Turns out curd, or ricotta as it's known in Italy,
0:16:01 > 0:16:02is very simple to make.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Boil a pan of milk and then add the crucial ingredient.
0:16:06 > 0:16:12- We're going to introduce my cider vinegar in there.- Well introduced.
0:16:12 > 0:16:13I start stirring it.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16I give it really three or four stirs, but not more than that,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19but if you can see, the ricotta is already rising.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Can you see the ricotta rising already there? It really is magic.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25- It's a little miracle. - It is a miracle.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30The curd is then drained and removed from its muslin bag.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33And out comes the beautiful ricotta.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39It's mixed with beaten eggs and spices - cinnamon and nutmeg -
0:16:39 > 0:16:41as well as sultanas and almonds.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47So, here I had to use a little bit of fantasy.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51I mean, how do I get this cake not to go soggy?
0:16:51 > 0:16:55Basically, we created a double armour around it.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57- You're letting us into your deep trade secrets now.- No, no.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01- We're OK, we won't say nothing. - It's not unlike cement.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11It has to look a little bit like a medieval pie, that's how I saw it.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14It's carrying a lot of...a burden of history.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17And you don't want to let Devizes down, do you?
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Devizes has given me a lot and I think I really owe it back.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24- Or indeed Sicily. You don't want to let Sicily down.- No.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26There you go, my little baby.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30An hour and a half later, time to taste the goodies.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35- I wouldn't think that was a cheesecake.- No.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38It doesn't look like a cheesecake, does it? But it's beautiful.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42- It doesn't taste like a cheesecake. - Yes, it's got its own character.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44It's got its own character.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47It's only a cheesecake because there's ricotta.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50And that nutmeg really gives it a signature, doesn't it?
0:17:50 > 0:17:52- Gives it a kick.- That's great.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55- Bravo! Bravo!- Good, I'm pleased. I'm so glad you like it. Thank you.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Look at them locks, Tel.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12You know, I've never been through a canal lock in my life.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17I see you more speed boat, French Riviera, eh? Is that what...?
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Yeah, and don't lead me to a sailboat anywhere.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23I have no wish to be putting up sails and gibbing
0:18:23 > 0:18:26and doing all the rest of the things that you're supposed to do.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30- I like a gin palace. - There's some serious locks there.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32Don't talk to me. I don't even want to see them.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37- Got more locks than a Rasta! - THEY LAUGH
0:18:37 > 0:18:39What am I doing in this cab?
0:18:42 > 0:18:44This flight of 16 locks was the last part
0:18:44 > 0:18:49of the Kennet and Avon Canal to be completed. Stretching for two miles,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53they allow barges to climb 130 feet to the top of Caen Hill.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01Back in 1963, when a lone Chamberlain was roaming these parts,
0:19:01 > 0:19:05they were in a sorry state, silted up, completely unnavigable,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08but now restored, they're once an engineering marvel to behold,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11so all things considered, they do deserve a closer look.
0:19:16 > 0:19:17MAN SINGS
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Is that the sound of an old malojian I hear?
0:19:20 > 0:19:24I haven't had one of those since the last Eurovision Song Contest.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27And there's singing. Follow me.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31# Well, Sally is a girl that I love dearly... #
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Life on a canal boat seems like a lot of hard work to me.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41- There are some diehards who wouldn't have it any other way.- Hello.
0:19:41 > 0:19:48- Flipping heck!- Me hearties!- A free stater. What are you doing here?
0:19:48 > 0:19:52- How are you doing, my old Northern Ireland friend?- I'm Tom Lewis.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55- How you doing, Tom?- This is my wife. - Nice to meet you.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57- And this is your boat.- It is.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01It's our boat and our home for a while. Step on over here.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03I'll only step on if I can step off again.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05- Well, I don't know about that.- OK.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07We'll take you somewhere else to step you off.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09I'll take your word for it.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12- Are you going to go up all these 16 locks?- We are.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14Who's the one going... You're the one going to do the work?
0:20:14 > 0:20:16We share, we share.
0:20:16 > 0:20:22And when the one who's not on the tiller... Has a windless handle
0:20:22 > 0:20:24to open the valves that are called paddles.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28I'm afraid there's a lot to learn here, Terry, in a very short time.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31That's something I'm not going to bother learning, OK?
0:20:31 > 0:20:33THEY LAUGH
0:20:33 > 0:20:37It takes experienced canal boaters four hours to pass through all these locks.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41Luckily, I've brought someone along to do the heavy lifting.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46- Ahoy, skipper!- Ahoy, Mason! Go on, do something useful.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50Help Lynne with the locks, man! Aarh! Aarh-aarh-aarh-aarh!
0:20:50 > 0:20:54Take her into the wind, Mr Christian.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56- Great.- All right?- Thank you.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58All right? I'm going to leave you there,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00I'm going to walk up to the top to open the paddles.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04See, he's got a life of luxury as usual. I'll do all the work, Tel.
0:21:04 > 0:21:05Enjoy it.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08# And now I find a sailor ain't a sailor any more... #
0:21:08 > 0:21:12- Whoo!- # ..Haul on the rope... #
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Gates are opening. King of Ireland is coming through.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Mind those ducks!
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Aarh-aarh! It's a sailor's life for me.
0:21:25 > 0:21:26But before I take the King's shilling,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30I'm reminded of our real purpose on this journey - food.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33I'm happy to say the estimable Lynne has knocked up
0:21:33 > 0:21:37a delicious bread and butter pudding in her tiny galley kitchen.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39Lynne, this is absolutely beautiful.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42And I'd like to be associated with the remarks of the last speaker.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Thank you very much, both of you.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Mason and myself are travelling gently around the country
0:21:48 > 0:21:52and we're some sampling all sorts of things on the way.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55You must have the same kind of variety of food as you
0:21:55 > 0:21:57travel up the canals.
0:21:57 > 0:22:03Yes, and, of course, over the 30 years that we've been going on canals,
0:22:03 > 0:22:10we have seen the standard of cuisine in canalside pubs soar out of sight.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13It's not egg and chips any more.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17There are different varieties of food as you go from locale to locale.
0:22:17 > 0:22:23- What about some rivioli, huh? - Ravioli, rivioli? Oh, dear!- Sorry!
0:22:23 > 0:22:28A punster in our midst! That was pretty bad.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Somebody, some thinking person, has written a special limerick for us.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Two men went off to Devizes - that'll be us -
0:22:44 > 0:22:47The streets were full of surprises.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49They learnt how to bake, Got a mouthful of cake,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52And rode a canal boat that rises.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55- Wahey! I like that one.- Yeah.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01No gastronomic tour of Devizes would be complete without trying
0:23:01 > 0:23:04to track down another famous pie that bears its name.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08Having cracked the mystery of the missing cheesecake, we now
0:23:08 > 0:23:13turn our attention to something much meatier, the long-lost Devizes pie.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18Tel, this is The Black Swan. You're in for a treat here.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22A lot of locals neck a few in here. Get it? Neck it, yeah? Come on in.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24Can I trust him?
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Devizes pie was first mentioned in the 15th century and its meat-heavy
0:23:28 > 0:23:31ingredients were listed in a recipe book of 1820
0:23:31 > 0:23:33called The Practice Of Cookery.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Since then, it's fallen out of favour but today, we are
0:23:36 > 0:23:40going to have a go at raising this ancient dish from the dead.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46- OK, Florence, it's all yours.- Right. So begins our mission.- Devizes pie.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50Yep. Begin by lining it all in the streaky bacon.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53And then, well, you can choose which thing you want to start
0:23:53 > 0:23:56- layering it up with. What do you reckon?- I like a bit of tongue.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59- A bit of time first, yep. So, do you want to do it?- Do you like tongue?
0:23:59 > 0:24:04- I've never tried tongue.- What? Try a bit of tongue. Mm! Oh!
0:24:04 > 0:24:07- It's lovely.- I've never eaten tongue.- It's delicious.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11This has been pickled in brine for over a week
0:24:11 > 0:24:17and then boiled up for three hours. Be pretty liberal with the spices.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21- So we've got white pepper... - Fling it on.- ..allspice.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25OK, let's just start doing this. A bit of allspice.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29- That's aftershave, innit? - A bit of cayenne pepper.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34- Who told you how to make this? - I simply read... I just read...
0:24:34 > 0:24:35- On the internet!- Yes!
0:24:35 > 0:24:39- You're making it up as you're going along, aren't you?- Yep.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42- You didn't get this recipe anywhere! - No, it's all genuinely...
0:24:42 > 0:24:45I've tried to follow it as closely as I could actually, apart from the...
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Have you just walked in off the street?
0:24:47 > 0:24:51A side benefit for eaters of Devizes pie is that
0:24:51 > 0:24:53it'll do your digestion the power of good.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57Offal is rich in chemicals called nucleotides, which are said to
0:24:57 > 0:25:01ease conditions like irritable bowel syndrome.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04- Trust me, I'm a medical man. - In goes the pig's head.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07Bits of chap, bits of round the back of the neck.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11Pretty good respect for... You know, shows real respect for the animal,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14doesn't it, to use all of the... every single bit.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16We're not ignoring any small part of the animal.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18So, what are you pouring in now?
0:25:18 > 0:25:21So, this is some jelly from boiling up the pig's trotters
0:25:21 > 0:25:24and the pig's head and a bit of sherry,
0:25:24 > 0:25:25just to give it a little edge.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30Any vegetarians will be doing backflips now, wouldn't they, Tel?
0:25:30 > 0:25:33But it's more of a terrine dish really.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36- It's layers like a terrine, yes. - Terry's terrine.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42- It's got a ring to it. - Suddenly I'm very proud.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47My masterpiece needs an hour in the oven, which leaves
0:25:47 > 0:25:50plenty of time to absorb a bit more local colour.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53# ..The vly be on the turmut
0:25:53 > 0:25:57# The vly, the vly The vly be on the turmut. #
0:25:57 > 0:26:01Bravo! Well done, sir.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04- A bit handy with them, aren't you, mate?- Oh, yeah.- What are they?
0:26:04 > 0:26:07These are known as clackers. They're actually ox ribs.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10You boil up the ox ribs, put them in bleach
0:26:10 > 0:26:13and they're very brittle and they clack.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16- Is this a traditional Devize instrument?- Very much so.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20All the old codgers in the old clubs have all got the clackers, you see.
0:26:20 > 0:26:25- Oh, they've all got the crackers! - Yes, clacking away.- Right.
0:26:25 > 0:26:26Yes, very, very local.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29And that little song you were singing?
0:26:29 > 0:26:31Is the Wiltshire Regiment Song,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33the marching song of the old Wiltshire Regiment.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36But marching a song as they'd go to battle,
0:26:36 > 0:26:39they'd be singing of... # Vly be on the turmut. #
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Let's have a look at them.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Now, you keep one rigid and clack them together.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49Yes, I just ain't getting it, John. Can I use the knee?
0:26:50 > 0:26:53- Not really but I'll let you off. - Go on.- I'll let you off.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57- Seeing I'm a layman. - It sounds right. It sounds right.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01The moment of truth is here.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Luckily, I'm big enough to stand back
0:27:03 > 0:27:05and let Florence take the applause.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12Come on. Oh! THEY CHEER
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Whoa!
0:27:15 > 0:27:18- It looks really good. - It's a triumph.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26- This stands up on its own.- Tasty. - Oh, my goodness!- Delicious.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Is this a pie Devizes should be proud of, Tel?
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Don't talk to me while I'm eating.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39'By the way, everyone is cleaning up their plates.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42'It looks like this Devizes pie could be heading back from obscurity
0:27:42 > 0:27:45'and straight onto the specials board.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48'There'll be queues back to Swindon, you mark my words.'
0:27:49 > 0:27:53- Well, we've had enough food today. - Oh, yeah.- Do us for a week.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Sink a battleship. That was beautiful that pie though, Tel.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Started with a wonderful breakfast, finished with a magnificent pie.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02- Don't forget the cheesecake. - Oh, for goodness' sake.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04- Come on.- Let's get out of here. - Let's walk it off.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06MASON LAUGHS