Episode 4 A Question of Taste

APPLAUSE

Hello, I'm Kirsty Wark. Welcome to A Question Of Taste,

the food show that puts the 'quiz' into cuisine.

As always, we have two teams of gourmet guys and gals,

about to take each other on in a virtual food fight.

Over a series of five rounds, we will test their gastronomic limit

to boiling point.

They'll be quizzed on ingredients,

techniques, equipment, recipes, history,

and anything else we see fit to throw into the mixing bowl.

Only one team can win, so before we begin grilling them,

let's meet our culinary quizzers.

First up, we have the Cannons And Dragons,

and their team captain, Joe.

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Joe, can you introduce us to your team? Tell us about yourselves.

My name's Joe Cannon and this is my brother, Sean.

We run a business together,

selling artisan British Charcuterie at Borough Market.

We're from Norfolk originally. And at the far end,

Dylan Moses is a Welshman, a friend from university, an excellent cook.

Knows his stuff about food and wine.

Because he's from Wales, he's the Dragon,

so it's two Cannons and a Dragon.

Well, lovely to have you here.

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And taking them on this week, we have the Northern Stars,

and their team captain, Joby.

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So, Northern Stars,

tell me about them.

We're all Northern Stars in our own way.

I'm from Northern Ireland. I write a food blog with my sister.

We live at opposite ends of the country.

I definitely pick up the northern end of the equation.

I met SJ Clegg here,

who is a fantastic local food producer

in a little town near where I live.

And I know Ben, who's a chef in a deli in South Manchester,

where I also tend to hang around as well.

Those are the teams, but there's one more person I need to introduce.

In Kitchen Corner, our very own quiz maitre d',

the man behind one of the UK's most popular culinary publications,

William Sitwell.

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What do you think? Is maitre d', is that an apt title for you?

It's better than other things you've called me.

I'm here in Kitchen Corner,

my job is to elaborate on some of the finer points of the questions,

hopefully serve up some tasty morsels of trivia

for the teams and also for the viewers at home.

OK. Let's get quizzing with round one, See Food.

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We begin with a fingers-on-buzzers round.

I'm going to ask you 15 questions, each relating to a picture.

If you buzz in with a correct answer, you'll score a point.

However, an incorrect answer means

the question will be thrown over to the opposing side.

So, fingers on the buzzers.

Here's your first question.

What is the name of the type of French patisserie

pictured here?

-BUZZER

-Cannons and Dragons.

Mille-feuille?

-That's the right answer.

-APPLAUSE

Very good start, quick off the buzzer.

Now, what is the name of this implement?

-BELL RINGS

-Northern Stars.

Espuma?

It IS an espuma gun. There's the chef among you, very good.

What is the technical term for the culinary knife-cut shown here?

-BUZZER

-Cannons and Dragons.

-Julienne?

-Julienne.

That is correct.

-APPLAUSE

-Very quick to the cut.

What is the British name for this cut of beef?

The answer is flank.

What foodstuff have we zoomed in on here?

-BUZZER

-Cannons and Dragons.

-Tinned pears.

-Tinned pears.

I'm afraid that is incorrect.

Northern Stars, have a close look.

-Pineapple?

-It is indeed pineapple. Well done.

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What thickening agent, pioneered by Ferran Adria,

has been used to create these gels?

-BUZZER

-Cannons and Dragons.

Silicon.

LAUGHTER

They look pretty hard to crack! No.

Any idea, Northern Stars?

Agar-agar.

It's something like seaweed extract.

Seaweed extract is correct. William, tell us about it.

You extract it from seaweed.

Ferran Adria, from the great restaurant El Bulli,

pioneered the use of this. The great thing about them is,

you have these little jellied balls with jellied edges.

The liquid, When you put it in your mouth,

it literally explodes. Extraordinary.

Which country hunts this animal

-with a technique...

-BUZZER

Cannons and Dragons.

The Faroe Islands.

I'm afraid that is incorrect. I'll pass this over to the other side.

Which country hunts this animal with a technique called sky fishing?

It was on St Kilda, while St Kilda was occupied.

So if it's a country, it would be Scotland.

That is a very knowledgeable answer.

It's not right.

LAUGHTER

The answer is actually Iceland.

William.

In Iceland, the delicacy is the fresh, warm heart of the puffin.

That's what you eat.

Everything else goes to waste?

You could boil it up, and turn it into a stock, if you wanted.

Now, these ingredients can be used to create which kind of paste?

-BELL RINGS

-It's Northern Stars.

Hummus.

I'm afraid that is incorrect.

Look carefully, Cannons and Dragons.

You're one point behind at the moment.

You're out of time. It was harissa.

In which month are these three all in season?

-BUZZER

-Cannons and Dragons.

-February.

-I'm afraid that is incorrect.

You've 11 to go, Northern Stars. Which are you going to choose?

April?

-April, was that a guess?

-Yes.

Well, you guessed very well indeed. It IS April!

APPLAUSE DROWNS SPEECH

Name this chef.

-BUZZER

-Cannons and Dragons.

Atul Kochhar.

That is exactly right.

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What's the name of this baked French dessert?

-BUZZER

-Cannons and Dragons.

-Clafoutis.

-It is indeed clafoutis.

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For which foodstuff is this the chemical formula?

Oh! Nobody knows their vinegar?

Oh, vinegar.

Who wrote this book?

It was Marco Pierre White.

What is the seafood-based national dish of this country?

-BUZZER

-Cannons and Dragons.

-Ceviche.

-Exactly right, ceviche.

-Have you actually had that in South America?

-I have.

I've never been to Peru, but I've eaten ceviche in Ecuador.

In Ecuador. William.

It dates back to the Incas. It's an ancient way of preserving fish.

Lime, chilli, salt.

There's a lot of debate about who claims ownership of ceviche.

Because my girlfriend's Chilean,

and they will claim that they own ceviche as well.

Probably the Ecuadorians, as well.

Now, the final question in this round is,

can you identify this classic French cured meat?

-BUZZER

-Cannons And Dragons.

-Saucisson.

-It is indeed saucisson.

APPLAUSE

So, at the end of that round, William, what are the scores?

The Northern Stars are on four.

But just edging ahead at this stage,

the Cannons And Dragons are on six points.

APPLAUSE

There's a lot more to play for now,

because this is a rather glorious round.

It's called TV Dinners.

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In this round, we'll be showing you six classic culinary clips

from the TV archives past and present.

This first clip is Rick Stein, from 2000.

In this extract, we have bleeped out a key word,

and all we want you to do is buzz in,

identify that word.

One of the great things about this market

is species that I don't get a lot of down in Cornwall,

-particularly this one, which is one of my favourite fish,

-BLEEP.

-It's SO good.

-BUZZER

You buzzed in, Cannons And Dragons.

-What was it?

-BOTH: It was a turbot.

-You said that in unison.

-That's how we work.

You said it unison, but you hadn't conferred. That's amazing!

-Is it right, or wrong?

-No, it's wrong.

LAUGHTER

I'm going to pass this over to the other side.

THEY CONFER

-We'd say halibut.

-You think it's halibut. Let's see.

Particularly this one, which is one of my favourite fish,

halibut. It's SO good.

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Now, next up, another missing word for you to identify

from the wonderful Antonio Carluccio in 1996.

'This is the raw material'

just picked by Robert and Roberto and his father,

in the last two generations.

-The raw material - green walnuts, to make the famous

-BLEEP.

It's a wonderful liqueur.

Cannons And Dragons, you're coming in.

Amaretto, but that's the brand.

Amaretto is incorrect, which means, Northern Stars, think hard.

Can't think.

-I'm stumped.

-We're drawing a blank here.

Let's see what Antonio Carluccio was enthusing about.

..To make the famous nocino, it's a wonderful liqueur.

A wonderful liqueur, drunk at a particular time, William?

Drunk in Italy around Christmas. It's a sort of sweet, unctuous liqueur.

The tradition is, you're supposed to pick an odd number of walnuts

and you then steep it in the alcohol for about 40 days,

and then drink it at Christmas.

Delicious.

This time, it's a very young Mary Berry, from 1971.

Watch the clip, this time. A question will follow.

It's a lovely Yorkshire Christmas pie on the sideboard.

That's several birds, one inside the other.

You bone the birds, and start with something small, like a lark,

and then you put a larger bird over that,

and a larger bird over that, and end up with a turkey.

And then you put in the pastry case.

But all the birds are boned first.

It's quite a difficult job to get it back in to the shape of the bird,

but it's a delicious thing.

And beginning with a lark.

Well, Yorkshire pie is a dish from the 18th century.

But, beginning with a T, what is the alternative portmanteau name

for Yorkshire pie?

The answer is turducken.

Turducken, William, is just a combination?

You can start with the goose, then have a turkey, then have a duck, then a hen.

Sometimes people put hare in it,

and then down to the smallest bird you can find.

Then you encase it in pastry. The idea is you then slice it up.

It's a bit lick a terrine.

I've had it once, it's incredibly dry.

You need a lot of gravy.

Don't bother trying that at home then.

Next up, it's Madhur Jaffrey, from 1982.

And see if you can guess this bleeped-out word.

After an Indian meal, most Indians like to refresh their mouths,

-and there's nothing more refreshing than a

-BLEEP

-leaf.

-You've probably heard about

-BLEEP

-leaves.

These are also called beetle leaves. BELL RINGS

I was going to say beetle.

You did say beetle. Unfortunately, it is not beetle.

Cannons And Dragons, you've a chance here.

-THEY CONFER

-No idea? Give up?

Let's see Madhur Jaffrey one more time.

There's nothing more refreshing than a pan leaf.

You've probably heard of pan leaves.

So there we have pan leaves.

He's married to an excellent Indian chef. He'll be in trouble.

When you go home tonight,

you probably WON'T be married to an excellent Indian chef!

Now, here's a delightful Pathe clip from the 1950s.

Again, you're looking for the missing word.

Something well worth trying for the next party.

Something you can let the older children try for themselves -

orange baskets.

-The peel cuts are called

-BLEEP BLEEP.

The peel cuts are called...

Any ideas?

-I don't know.

-No idea?

I think we'll put you out your misery.

The peel cuts, by the way, are called vandykes.

Vandykes. Is that random?

No.

Little did Van Dyke know

that one of the things he's be remembered for is vandyking,

where you basically cut your fruit,

resembling an upturned Van Dyke beard.

Our final clip is from the brilliant Keith Floyd, from 1988.

Watch the clip. A question will follow.

Many of you will be wondering,

cos I've spoken earlier about the elver fisherman's survival kit.

There it is. You see, out it comes.

That is the water,

that is the whisky,

and that is the gin.

Only for emergencies, I hasten to add.

What you really drink with elvers,

at one o'clock in the morning on the banks of the River Parrett,

is a glass of cider.

Good Somerset cider.

Now, you also wondered...

No, they're not quite ready yet.

Bon viveur Keith Floyd, and here's the question.

Keith was cooking with elvers.

In Spain, they're traditionally eaten

during the Tamborrada festival, celebrated by which town in Spain?

Out of time, I'm afraid.

The answer is San Sebastian.

At the end of that round, William, what are the scores?

The Northern Stars are on five,

but still JUST nudging ahead,

Cannons And Dragons have six points.

APPLAUSE

Moving on to round three, Smorgasbord.

APPLAUSE

Now, in this round,

each team will take it in turn to be in charge of a question board.

First up, Cannons And Dragons, let's have a look at your board.

Now, we can see ten pictures of food.

We want you to identify the five dishes created before 1900.

You'll get a point for each one you get right, but if you get one wrong,

your go if over, we throw it over to the other side.

They simply have to get the first one right to score a bonus point

and take out all your points.

Before we begin, William has more detail.

Very simple. There are five points on offer.

You're looking for dishes that were invented before 1900.

Think very carefully.

Cannons And Dragons, do you have your first selection?

THEY CONFER

-We'll go for pavlova first, please.

-You're going for pavlova.

Lets see if you're the rising stars of the smorgasbord or not.

So, this is interesting, because you can score a quick point here.

The board is wide open now, you just have to get one right

to score a point.

-Coronation chicken is definitely new.

-Yep.

We'll go for something classic and say... Shall we say vichyssoise?

-Mm-hm. Yeah.

-Vichyssoise.

-You're quite sure about that?

-Yeah.

Well, lets have another look at the smorgasbord.

No.

Vichyssoise was invented, actually, around 1917, by a chef who lived

in the French town of Vichy, so it's not as old as you thought.

So, then, please put six contestants out of their misery, William,

and give us all the dishes pre-1900.

First of all, peach melba.

That dish was invented in honour of Dame Nellie Melba by the famous

Auguste Escoffier in the 1890s.

Then we have gumbo. Then we have Parmesan ice cream.

You might think this is a sort of Heston Blumenthal-style dish,

but actually, it's a very old dish - its first mention is in 1760.

That's when that dish was invented, so much older than you thought.

-Then we've got peanut butter.

-Now you're kicking yourselves.

Peanut butter was patented by two different people -

a Canadian called Edson, and then Kellogg, the famous cereal inventor.

They had two different kinds of peanut butter, both 19th century.

-And the final one?

-Fondue.

-Fondue.

Fondue is a very old dish.

The first ever published recipe was in 1699,

in a German cookbook called Kass Mit Wein Zu Kochen.

Now, Northern Stars, you've a chance to redeem yourselves.

Here's your board.

Of course, this is a case of life or death sometimes.

We want you to identify the five mushrooms which ARE edible.

-William, this is a serious business.

-Yes.

There are ten mushrooms on the board, five are edible,

the other five are inedible, which we classify as completely inedible,

toxic, or in the most extreme case, deadly.

OK.

Northern Stars,

let's go for your first edible mushroom on the smorgasbord.

-We're going to go for enoki in the first instance.

-You'd eat enoki?

-Yeah.

-Let's have a look.

APPLAUSE

-Number two, we'll go for chanterelle.

-Chanterelle.

Do you think chanterelle might make it onto the dinner plate? Let's see.

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Three more to go, think carefully.

The trumpet de mort? The trumpet de mort.

-The trumpet of death?

-LAUGHTER

The trumpet of death on the smorgasbord.

Entirely edible.

APPLAUSE

You have two more to go, what are they?

-We're going to go for hedgehog.

-Are you right?

APPLAUSE

Now, you are cooking with gas on this,

but you have to get the fifth one right,

or you could lose all your points and the other side can better you.

-We have to go.

-Going to plump for a common earthball.

-You're plumping for common earthball.

-Yeah.

-Mm, yeah.

Now, the common earthball,

would that be in any self-respecting restaurant?

So, therefore, we're in a position where the Cannons And Dragons

are one point ahead at the moment.

If they get the final one correct, they will get a bonus point

and you will lose every point you worked for in this round so far.

-No pressure, then(!)

-No pressure whatsoever.

You have one to get right, which is it?

We think it's the one they almost went for and didn't - the beefsteak.

Let's see if beefsteak's good for breakfast.

APPLAUSE

Well done. Well done.

Just before we leave this smorgasbord, a beefsteak mushroom?

The beefsteak mushroom is extraordinary, cos it looks and tastes quite like a beef steak.

It's got a pink interior, it's gelatinous,

it's got marbling, so it's very much like beef steak.

Also, the very young kinds of beefsteak mushroom,

when you cut them, they actually sort of bleed a reddish juice.

-It's an extraordinary mushroom.

-How deadly are some of the others?

Oh, very deadly.

The galerina marginata can cause severe liver damage, vomiting,

diarrhoea, hypothermia and even death if not treated rapidly.

So, that's pretty terrible.

-Avoid that if you can.

-Avoid that at all costs.

At the end of that round, William, what are the scores?

The Northern Stars are on five,

the Cannons And Dragons are just ahead on seven points.

APPLAUSE

The next round is called Food Clues.

APPLAUSE

How does it work? There are two questions in this round.

For each, I'll reveal a series of clues all related to

a particular food.

The more clues we reveal, the more apparent the answer will become.

You can buzz in at any time to guess, but you're only allowed one guess per team.

If you get it wrong, the other team can have the rest of the clues.

Each question is worth two points.

Will you be brave and go in early to steal the points, or sit back

and potentially be beaten to the buzzer?

Here are your first set of clues. Clue one is actually on your desk in front of you.

Remember, you're trying to identify the food associated with the item, not the item itself.

OK, take off the silver lids.

What do you think? Pass it along.

-Put something through it, squeeze?

-It looks like something sharp.

Like it sits on something. Put something in and it burns down.

Something like a smoker.

Would you like your second clue?

Hindle wakes and tampumpie are dishes containing this.

Yeah.

-BUZZER

-Oh, Northern Stars are going early.

-Chicken?

-What made you think it was chicken?

I've had hindle wakes before and it's a chicken stuffed with fruits.

Very well interrupted, absolutely brilliant. It is chicken.

APPLAUSE

I'll just give you the other clues before we talk to William

about the actual implement.

Breeds of these are Yokohama and Sicilian Buttercup.

In 1961, the city of Gainesville, USA, passed an ordinance that made

eating a version of this with anything but your fingers a crime.

They're the closest living relative to the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

And in 1955, Colonel Harland Sanders developed a world-famous

fast-food franchise dedicated to this.

It is the chicken, but William, what is the implement?

That implement is a beer can chicken holder.

You get your beer can chicken holder,

then your can of beer,

which you open, put it on there.

Then you grab your...

LAUGHTER

-Your hopefully-dead chicken.

-You grab your chicken.

Pop it on it.

Then you light your barbecue, put your chicken on the barbecue,

and the beer spills out and infuses the chicken with beeriness.

I just know that all over the UK this summer,

there'll be a run on these barbecue chicken beer things.

Here is your second set of clues.

THEY CONFER

Any ideas?

I'm going to give you your second clue.

It was first created around 4800 BC.

THEY CONFER

I'm going to give you your third clue.

It's made using the mould Aspergillus Oryzae.

BUZZER

Cannons And Dragons are coming in.

-We reckon it's soy sauce.

-And you get soy sauce in that?

-It's a lot of soy sauce, isn't it?

-So you're not right.

LAUGHTER

Which means I'm giving the remaining clues to the Northern Stars

and - wait - you get the final clue now, there is no rush.

It's believed it was originally made by whole villages

chewing acorns, nuts and rice, and spitting the mixture into a communal pot.

One of the highest luxury grades of this is Daiginjo-shu.

Many people call this a rice wine,

but its brewing process is more similar to that of beer.

What is it?

-Sake?

-It is sake. Very good.

APPLAUSE

Presumably, the techniques are so old and they haven't changed.

That's right, the ancient way of selling this stuff was to put it

into a wooden box, which contained 180ml of sake.

They're called a masu.

In smart Japanese restaurants, you'll be poured your sake

into a wooden box and that's what you'll drink it from.

As a result of that, what, at the end of this round, are the scores, William?

A change in fortune - the Cannons And Dragons are on seven,

but the Northern Stars have leapt ahead on nine points.

APPLAUSE

It's a change in fortunes but, of course, we have now the final round,

Gastroknowledge, when everything could change.

APPLAUSE

You'll have two minutes of questions on the buzzer,

so lots of points on offer here.

Plenty of chance for you to catch up or zoom ahead even further.

Can we have two minutes on the clock, please?

What is the Indian spice mixture traditionally made up

of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin and black pepper?

-Garam masala.

-Correct.

What is the French term for coating the sides or bottom of a mould

to enable it to be turned out easily?

Chemiser.

What M is the process of letting dried fruit soak in liquid?

-Macerate.

-Correct.

In a classic Queen Of Puddings,

the bottom layer comprise of eggs, milk, sugar and breadcrumbs

and the top is meringue, but what goes in the middle?

-Lemon.

-Incorrect. Cannons And Dragons?

-Strawberries.

-Incorrect. It's jam.

What added ingredient turns a croque-monsieur

-into a croque-madame?

-BUZZER

-An egg.

-Correct.

Banana, grey French, and pink, are all types of what?

BELL RINGS

-Shallot?

-Correct.

Which condiment is traditionally made

by mixing seasoned duck or veal fat with pureed, blanched garlic?

Gascony butter. How many bottles are there in a Nebuchadnezzar?

-20?

-Correct.

What E is a sauce that can be used as a marinade and as a preserve?

Escovitch.

Which word indicates the usage of chopped onions in a dish?

Lyonnaise.

Which B is a soup comprising of a mix of fish, shellfish

and vegetables...

-Bisque?

-Incorrect. ..vegetables flavoured with herbs and spices?

-Bouillabaisse.

-Yes.

Which spirit is used in a Harvey Wallbanger?

-Vodka.

-Correct.

Which Italian cake is made with dough enriched with egg yolks

and contains raisins, glazed orange...

-Panettone.

-Panettone is correct.

From which country does Demerara sugar hail?

-Guyana.

-Guyana is the correct answer. Very well done. That's it.

Time is up. William, can you tell us the all-important final scores, please?

Cannons And Dragons are on 12,

-but the Northern Stars are on 13 points.

-Wow.

APPLAUSE

That means this week's loser, who didn't quite cut the mustard,

is Cannons And Dragons, but congratulations to today's big cheeses, the Northern Stars.

-APPLAUSE

-Please join us next time, where we'll meet some other

food fanatics hoping to prove themselves in A Question Of Taste.

From all of us, goodbye.

APPLAUSE

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