Bristol Terry and Mason's Great Food Trip

If I take another picture of this fella...

You love it.

I wouldn't do it at all, if it was not for you, Mason.

-Have you ever seen A Cabbie Abroad?

-No.

-Have a picture of me.

-I'm only joking!

-Oh!

-Don't look so startled, love, I was only joking!

Haha!

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

The chance to meander around the country. See the sights.

Meet the people. And, ah, yes, eat and drink.

Is "melt in the mouth" a suitable phrase?

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

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

I am looking forward to a decent meal. Are you?

Oh, I am starving. I can't wait, Tel.

Our route has been mapped out by an adventurous gourmand,

Samuel Chamberlain, in his book, British Bouquet.

Almost 60 years later we are 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.

-Woooh!

-Whoa, whoa, whoa!

And these are all floating, are they?

-Yes, they are floating.

-Floating on the poo.

-Floating on poo.

-I hope we're not putting people off lettuce.

-No, no!

Today we are in Bristol, in the south-west.

Where we will be seeking out the finest flavours

that this grand old port city has to offer.

-So, Mason McQueen, we find ourselves in Bristol.

-That we do.

A very fine commercial city.

And, you know, according to old Chamberlain,

a great manufacturing city famous for its aircraft, as its cigarettes,

and of course, famous for its chocolate as well.

And it is also rhyming slang for something else, isn't it?

Bristol City?

Bristol City, yeah,

you've got Bristol City and Bristol Rovers.

-So there is a pair of Bristols.

-Haha!

Being an American and ignorant of cockney rhyming slang,

Bristol did not have quite the same ring for our Mr Chamberlain.

He describes this fair city as "the metropolis of western England.

"A powerhouse of trade and industry."

Our first port of call is Corn Street,

right in the heart of the old commercial district.

-So...

-Look at that. You see this, that is an old Midland bank.

-Yeah.

-I used to work in a bank, you know.

-Did you?

-Yeah.

-And that closed as well.

-Did you lose interest?

-Haha!

At 56 Corn Street stands a fine Georgian building

where, we've been told, we can grab a reviving cup of coffee

and begin our acquaintance with the city.

-A snug little place we got here, at the window seat.

-Nice and cosy, eh?

Yeah. Will you have a coffee? What will you have?

-I will take a coffee, start the day right.

-Oh, hang on. Good morning.

-Good morning.

-Good morning.

-You're very tall for a cafe proprietor.

I am incredibly tall, but, you know, Bristol's oldest coffee house,

-a tall building...

-It's the oldest coffee house, is it?

Oldest coffee house in Bristol. 1752 it was built.

There has been a coffee house, nearly, on and off, ever since.

Our location here, we are right by the corn exchange.

In Georgian Bristol, all the merchants

used to do deals in coffee houses.

There were something like 20 coffee houses

within about a 500 metre radius of here.

Back in the 18th century, a cup of coffee was a luxury item

and only really accessible to the well-off.

So it was for merchants, the aristocracy,

and veteran TV and radio personalities.

-We will have two coffees. He is paying, Mark.

-Is he?

Would you like to play with the Bristol pound?

Don't tell me this town has its own currency.

We are that special, that unique, have our own currency.

-I don't believe it.

-Well, look. It is legal tender.

In Bristol, we like to use our own currency.

The benefit of it is it means the money stays

within the local economy.

I do not believe you can walk into a shop here

with that garish currency

and say, "Here is the money."

They will say, "What, are you kidding?"

-Absolutely, absolutely.

-Well, I have never heard anything like it.

All authorised by the Bank of England.

-Can I have a look at that, Mark?

-Course you can.

-Is that a tenner, yeah?

-That is a tenner.

-We will have two coffees, mate, keep the change.

-Hello!

Last of the big spenders(!)

The most important stop

on any journey through Bristol's food heritage

has to be its historic port.

There was a period in the 1760s when it was the busiest in England,

with often 300 ships moored here at a time,

off-loading their cargoes of sugar, fruits, and spices.

But it turns out the first people

to bring these exotic delicacies back to Britain

were not merchants, but a bunch of local reprobates

who became known as the Pirates of the Caribbean.

-Aaar, ye scurvies!

-Unfortunately, Johnny Depp was unavailable.

So they sent along Pirate Pete instead.

-Ahoy.

-Oh, who is this then?

-I am a land lover meself.

-You look like a pirate to me, I can tell by the way you walk.

-Ah-ha!

I can't help that, I have got a sore leg.

Tell me this, and tell me no more,

what are you doing here, and why are you dressed like this?

This be the home of pirates.

3,000 pirates lived here, and not London.

When you left London and went down the Thames, you hit Europe.

When you went from here, you went round the Caribbean direct,

on the triangular trade.

Every British colony was found from this quay here.

Africa, Australia, America.

The Pirates and merchants of Bristol have one man to thank

for opening up these trade routes.

The legendary navigator, John Cabot, left here in 1497.

He became the first European since the Vikings

to set foot on mainland America.

-And it was the great Cabot who started it.

-He started it all, yes.

That is his ship over there. Wooden one. Called the Matthew.

-So Cabot was from Italy.

-He was from Genoa.

-And so was Christopher Columbus.

-Well, I thought he was from Spain.

No, it was on behalf of Spain, but he was originally from Genoa.

-I know nothing about these things, I thought you would!

-Haha!

I am feeling a bit more confused than when I started.

But I allow myself to be borne off by Pirate Pete to his favourite haunt.

The infamous Hole In The Wall pub,

where many an unsuspected Bristolian

was press-ganged into service on the high seas.

-Come on in, and meet the motley crew.

-Aaar!

-Aaar!

I have never seen a more desperate bunch of villains in all me days.

And they have clearly been at the rum.

But that one at the end doesn't half look familiar!

-Doubloons! Pieces of eight!

-Diamonds! Only one carrot!

What is it about dressing up as a pirate

that makes everybody go, "Aaar"?

-Aaaar!

-Aaar!

Would you like a beer with a rat in it? It gives it body.

I will just suck the tail.

-Ratatouille!

-Ratatouille! Oh, my! It gets worse.

This is the most famous pub in England, actually,

to do with pirates.

Tell us about all this then.

This is what pirates brought back on their journeys, you see?

-They brought back potatoes.

-Walter Raleigh, wasn't it?

Then went off to Ireland to be planted.

-Yeah. And look what happened.

-Yes!

They brought back lots of different things from all over the world.

Because originally the Pirates went to Madagascar,

and India, before they started going to the Caribbean.

-Are you sure you're not making all this up?

-I am making it up, yeah!

-I thought so.

-Haha!

-Aaaar!

With the Pirates cries echoing in our ears,

it is time for Mason to take that silly hat off

and for us to take our leave.

We may not be much the wiser about the finer points

of Bristol's maritime history, but at least we know

who to thank for the pineapple.

Well, as they say, Bristol has seen all sorts over the centuries.

-Yes, very transient, like London. Right,

-Tel? Exactly.

-Very diverse.

A lot of trading. And obviously trading in all sorts of things,

not just fruit, spices...

-We have got to try a few spices.

-Variety is the spice of life.

-You fancy a spice?

-Oh, yes.

-Good man.

One of the most sought-after commodities

to ever be off-loaded in Bristol harbour

was spices from North Africa and the Orient.

Cinnamon, cardamom, and even the humble black pepper

made the fortunes of many an 18th century merchant.

300 years on, we are headed to a modern-day spice bazaar

to find out which are the current hottest flavours in town.

-Hello.

-Hello, there.

-How are you?

-You will be...?

-I am Rashid.

-And this is your supermarket?

-Well, it is a family run business.

How long has it been here?

Since my late father and mother founded the business in 1978.

-And where did they come from?

-From Uganda.

-Driven out by Idi

-Amin? Yes.

This place is an Aladdin's Cave of exotic food and spices.

Rashid stocks over 8,000 different products from all over the world.

Piri Piri is very popular.

A lot of things, like sumac,

is quite popular in some of the Lebanese dishes.

The other thing you have got now,

which is becoming very popular, fresh turmeric.

-Oh, turmeric.

-We never used to be able to sell a box in a year,

today we are selling five boxes a day.

-Looks like ginger, doesn't it?

-Yes, but obviously this is fresh.

So you are catering for an increased sophistication,

-an increased sort of universal kind of cooking?

-We cater for everything.

In amongst the kaffir leaves and the rose petals,

one exotic item in particular catches my eye.

The oddly named Bombay duck is actually salted, dried lizard fish.

Bombay duck, very hard to source all around the UK.

Stick it on my bill!

A lot of people will love this kind of thing.

-My father was a grocer.

-OK.

And in the little grocer's shop he had in Limerick,

he actually kept this

for the gentry that lived in Tipperary and Limerick.

Before they went to Uganda,

Rashid's family were initially from Gujarat, in India.

And we are now heading to the on-site kitchen where his wife, Tahsin,

is going to show us how to make

one of their favourite Gujarati vegetarian curries.

-This, I believe, is what you call a Ruby Murray.

-Indeed.

-I am happy to be here and see these lovely ingredients.

-Good man, yes.

What we are going to do is prepare a chat.

Which is a street food in India.

It has a variety of textures and a lovely range of spices.

Chat is a vegetarian curry based around the humble chickpea.

But the real beauty of this dish

lies in the skilful preparation of the spices.

The first job is to mix turmeric, chilli powder, and garam masala,

with a bit of water so they don't burn whilst cooking.

-Can I do anything for you?

-Yes, you may stir that.

And you can add the spices as well if you want.

Always sticking your nose in, sticking your spoon in.

The best way to learn!

Can you get something for my apprentice to do?

He can chuck the spices in.

I would rather learn from watching you, Master.

Next up, mustard, cumin, fennel and curry leaves are added to the mix.

-Excuse me, but my...

-Are you all right there, Tel?

My apron has dropped.

Thank heavens it wasn't my trousers.

-For all of us!

-For everybody's sake!

Will you be able to eat this?

I mean, yours is not the most sophisticated palate in the world.

See what I have to put up with?

Finally it is time to add the chickpeas, tomato puree,

and a sprinkle of fresh coriander.

Oh! Professional!

How professional and delicate!

Well, I don't want to ruin this wonderful dish

and have people complain,

"He ruined it, he just threw the stuff all over."

-Look at that.

-Yes.

-Almost artistic.

And you have now made chat.

Gujarati curry, cooked in Bristol by a Cockney and an Irishman.

Now, that is what I call a melting pot.

How does it taste?

Time to take our curry to the masses.

Let's see if we can get anybody to have a little chat.

Because as you know, I used to do a chat show! Do you get it?

-It was lovely.

-It is good.

-Really nice.

-You try it. Nice.

-Thank you very much.

-I'm not hungry.

-You're not hungry, no?

-Is that good?

-Mmmm.

-Indian street food.

-You like that?

-That is good, isn't it?

That is very nice. Thank you very much.

Not that we are looking

for an unsolicited testimonial, you understand!

Back in the '60s when Sam Chamberlain was in Bristol,

your average meal out

could be described as a pretty plain experience.

Exotic food and spices may have been arriving on the docks

but they had not yet made their way into the restaurants.

Imagine his surprise if he was to wander into St Nicholas market today,

where the hungry traveller can stop

and taste cuisines from the four corners of the earth.

It looks like a salad bar.

-It is a falafel, humus, pitta and salad bar.

-Full of goodness.

Full of goodness, all fresh, made every day.

-Pleased to meet you. What is your name?

-Tam.

-Tam, when they come here, what do they want to eat?

-Banana breads.

Salted caramel banana bread, that is what they want to eat.

This looks fantastic. It is all fresh and green.

So what is that great big thing there?

-Fresh bread.

-Middle Eastern?

-Yeah.

There is one dish that would definitely

have been available to our Sam,

if he'd have known where to find it.

Jerk chicken has been cooked and consumed in Bristol

since the first Jamaicans arrived here in the 1950s.

-There is nothing I like more than watching people eating.

-Really?

Apart from eating myself.

There's nothing I like more than eating while people are watching me!

-If it's jerk chicken.

-Jerk chicken is traditional Caribbean food.

-Mmm.

-And yet it has kind of become Bristolian food, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

I mean, the thing is about this,

it is as much Jamaican as it is Bristol.

Traditionally the West Indians and Jamaicans

all set up their takeaways in the black areas.

And it is only now through commercialisation

of West Indian food

that they are coming out to areas in the town centre

where people are more accessible, or know they are there.

Yes, and of course, Bristol people, it is a very cosmopolitan town.

Yes, there's over 90 different nationalities and dialects here,

that is why street food has taken over, all these people

setting up stalls that represent the countries they come from.

I feel as if I have ruined your lunch.

You have! I'm trying to eat this!

What are you talking to me for?

I used to listen to you for 20 years, on the radio, and on TV!

That doesn't make you a bad person!

I used to eat my breakfast listening to you on the radio,

now you are here in person!

Look, I have written a limerick for you.

-Are you a poet?

-I am a poet, yes.

Terry has a passion for the British cuisine.

His mate Mason seems an expert in the culinary scene.

He knows nothing!

They sample dishes galore, munch jerk chicken until they were sore,

and licked their fingers until they were clean! Haha!

You, da, man!

-All right!

-Now, eat, eat, eat.

Thank you, thank you, I don't know what you're disturbing me for!

As well as being a port city,

Bristol will always be thought of as being at the forefront of change.

The great Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel,

built the Clifton suspension bridge across the Avon Gorge

and his mighty iron steamship, the SS Great Britain,

now rests in the dockyard here.

Some might argue it should be equally famous

as the home of the world's first commercially produced chocolate bar,

made by JS Fry and Sons, in 1847.

But who could have imagined these two towering achievements

would one day be brought together in a Bristol sweet shop?

Who is this?

-Hi, Terry. I am Zara.

-Zara.

-Nice to meet you.

-What are you at in there, Zara?

-I'm making a chocolate SS Great Britain.

-Is this edible chocolate?

-This is all edible.

-Tell me why.

Why are you doing this?

There is a chocolate festival in Bristol on Easter weekend

at the SS Great Britain, which is why we wanted to do this,

it is a big part of Bristol.

A very important part of the Bristol scene.

So, Zara, I am interfering in your fine work here.

We are holding you back, aren't we? You have got much to do.

Well, we need to paint the top, you can help with that, Terry.

Go on, then.

So what we're going to do is paint the decking onto the ship.

Just to make a nice, neat surface. Do you want to have a go?

-Sorry, am I making a mess?

-No, you are OK.

-You are very kind.

I am just dribbling, aren't I?

People will say, "It is a really good ship, Zara, but who did the decking?"

-I think the decking will be the best part.

-Will it float?

-I doubt it, no.

It is currently 30 kilos of chocolate.

I don't think that is going to be floating anywhere.

So how long will this take now? What is your sort of time limit?

Well, it has got to be ready for next weekend.

So that is the time deadline.

Well, we wish you good luck with that.

-Thank you.

-And bon voyage!

-Thank you very much!

How are you feeling, do you feel as if you've put on a bit of weight?

-Yeah, my Derby feels like it is getting bigger.

-Your "Derby"?

-Yeah.

-Derby Kelly.

-Haha!

Tel, we're going to have to do a bit of walking,

or a bit of training, on this trip, I think.

I am very lucky, of course, Mason,

because of my highly strung nature, I tend to burn off all calories.

-So I usually eat what I want and never put on a pound.

-Haha!

The next phase of our food trip sees us head out to the countryside

where rumour has it Bristolian innovation is in action once again.

This fish farm is using techniques

that could turn out to be the future of agriculture.

Intrigued? You should be.

-What have we got here, Mason? Come with me.

-A Jacuzzi each!

-Excellent!

Antonio and Amanda.

Nice to see you. Thank you for welcoming us.

This is a very special place.

These two tanks contain roughly 400 trout each,

which are being reared to sell.

So far, so normal.

But it's what happens to the water they're in that interests us.

So tell me what they are doing here. Tell me about your fish.

These fish, they are providing the nutrients for our plants.

We grow also lettuces, salad, vegetables, tomatoes,

each indeed require nutrients to be grown,

-and manure, which comes, in this case, from our fish.

-Fish poo.

-Fish poo, yeah.

-So everything is being recycled.

-Indeed.

So you're selling fish that are at the same time growing your plants?

-Indeed, yeah.

-This is pretty shrewd. Tell us what's going to happen next.

Are you going to take a fish out?

-Well, what about you guys try and have a go?

-OK.

You hold the net, he is going to throw some food in,

when they all come up, you just want to go quickly in with the net

and scoop a few up.

-You could try here, one?

-Get it out?

-Yeah. Then kill it.

-Kill it?!

-Well, somebody has to do it! If we want to eat it!

-Come on.

-I've had enough of killing trout.

-Mason McQueen!

Whoa! Brilliant!

It's always the same, isn't it?

-Wahey!

-That's a good one.

-Just, what, this one, yeah?

-The bigger one.

Can you manage to hold on to it, please?

-You would think you'd never had a fish...

-Whoa, whoa, whoa! Haha!

It nearly went down his jacket!

Having frightened the poor fish half out of their wits,

it's time to go and see what a fish poo-fed lettuce looks like.

-If you grab that corner.

-Grab that corner, will you? Grab both corners.

-Oh!

-That is the world underneath the surface.

-Just floating on water.

-It is slightly weird.

There is something just vaguely scary about that.

And also, you notice they grow so close together.

Whereas in normal sort of farming you would have to space them out.

So we can achieve a greater production

in a small amount of space.

This method of farming is called aquaponics,

and is inspired by the Aztecs,

who created floating gardens on the lakes of Mexico.

It uses 95% less water than conventional farming,

and when the plants have used up the nutrients,

the water can then go back to the fish tanks,

and the cycle starts all over again.

What are you growing here?

-We have monk's beard.

-Ah, the old monk's beard.

-Yes.

Which is an Italian variety.

-And beard, because the monks used to have a beard like that...

-Oh, yes.

We have Lollo Rosso, chard, ruby chard. You like to try some?

-Very zesty, very lemony.

-It tastes slightly of fish. No, it doesn't!

Oh, that is lovely.

The only thing left to do is to taste the trout, that provides the poo,

that grows the greens.

Well, I can only say, it is obvious that this fish

did not give up its life in vain.

Indeed.

Antonio trained as a chef and sells both his home-made fish balls

and fresh lettuce at local markets.

Right, so now we have got it all ready, we can fry our balls.

Fry away. Fry away, we won't feel a thing.

That is great.

-As good as ever.

-Better than ever.

Well, if your salads are anything like your fish balls,

success, and happiness, should lie before you.

Time now to return to where we began, back in the very heart of the city.

What better way to end this good journey

than to evoke the spirit of Chamberlain,

and one of the great restaurant experiences of '60s Britain?

And it all started right here.

Another little treat for us now.

This unremarkable Georgian building

was the site of the very first Berni Inn.

A chain of steakhouses started by Aldo and Frank Berni in 1956

that brought the feeling of fine dining within reach of everyone.

It changed the eating habits of the British public forever.

'What everyone likes at Berni Inns are the tender Berni steaks.

'There is a place for you at your Berni Inn. Why not join?'

Brian, you were the accountant

to a very highly successful chain of food stores.

Well, eating establishments.

They were the Berni Inns.

So, Brian, how many restaurants was there?

When I joined Berni in 1960,

there were about seven branches, that was it.

By the time I left, 1974, just about 320.

-320?

-320, yes.

That is an explosion of them, everywhere.

But that kind of success, they have got to be doing something right.

Oh, yes, it was a revolution, because it was a very simple menu.

Four items on the menu, that was all.

-Four?

-Just four.

-So what was the menu?

Three steaks and a fish.

That simple! So that was the secret, simplicity.

Simplicity, and also the fact that it was very fresh.

Freshly prepared, freshly cooked.

Berni Inn was bought out in the '90s and sadly there are no more.

But for one night only, Andy,

the accomplished chef of the Rummer Hotel,

has agreed to bring back the golden days of the perfect prawn cocktail.

Andy, it's yourself!

How are you? Are you well?

A simpler age when culinary perfection was to be found

in mixing ketchup, mayonnaise and iceberg lettuce.

-It really, really, really was that simple.

-Lovely. OK.

That is the prawn. On we go then. What have we got here?

-We're going to be doing sirloin.

-And how could you have them cooked?

There were only three ways you can have them done.

-Rare, medium, or well done. None of this...

-You couldn't have it pink?

None of this, here there and everywhere else.

-Yeah, medium rare...

-It was rare, medium, or well done.

Yeah, massively, massively hot smoking pan.

-Yes indeed.

-This is where a lot of people go wrong.

Leave it alone. Let it cook.

For rare we're going to leave it for one minute,

and then we're going to flip it, and then leave it for another minute,

and then going to take it out, and leave it to rest.

-That looks good enough to eat.

-I hope it is.

-I will be eating it.

-Lovely job.

-Thank you. Thanks, Andy.

Bristol has been a sort of taste sensation, hasn't it? Look.

-Lucky us. More food.

-Your 1960s Berni Inn three course meal.

-Exactly the same thing.

-Is that a Black Forest?

-It is a Black Forest.

Ah! Everybody had to have a prawn cocktail in the '70s, didn't they?

-Yeah.

-You were nothing if you did not have a prawn cocktail

in the Marie Rose sauce, you hadn't arrived.

-I still love a prawn cocktail.

-Oh, so do I.

-How is it?

-Really good. I'm getting a real feel now for Chamberlain.

We're getting closer now, we are really...

That is a Chamberlain meal.

Before the rains come in in Bristol, what did you think of the place?

-Really enjoyed it.

-Not a bad place. Going to come again?

-Oh, definitely.

-Definitely.

-Will you drive me?

-Yeah.

-What are you going to charge me?

-What? Not a Bristol pound! None of that funny money.

-Come on, mate.