Episode 6 A Question of Taste

APPLAUSE

Hello, I'm Kirsty Wark and welcome to A Question of Taste,

the food show that puts the quiz into cuisine.

As always, we have two teams of friends who are incredibly passionate about food.

They are going to battle it out over a series of rounds,

designed to test their gastronomic knowledge to the very limits.

We'll test them on everything from ingredients and techniques,

to equipment, recipes and food history.

In fact, anything and everything

that we think a self-confessed foodie should know.

Only one team can emerge victorious, so before we turn up the heat,

let's meet our culinary quizzers.

First up, the Rhubarb Triangle, and their team captain, Claire.

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Claire, introduce your team and tell us a bit about yourselves.

My team today, we've all come from different parts of Yorkshire,

So we've got Mel from Wetwang, Melanie makes handmade preserves and cordials.

And we've got Simon, who is a fantastic sausage maker.

We're all very much into food.

Tell me about the rhubarb bit of the triangle?

Well, the rhubarb triangle is an area in west Yorkshire

where they have the forcing sheds where they grow rhubarb,

which is considered a great delicacy locally.

Lovely to have you here. And taking them on, we have the Secret Suppers,

and their team captain, Jules.

APPLAUSE

Jules, introduce your team, please.

OK, I'm Jules and I run a restaurant in my home.

And Mark is a dear old friend who is my man at the market

and actually goes to Smithfield and Billingsgate early in the morning to buy fish and meat.

-And Charlie eats all my food!

-Well, those are the teams.

But before we start quizzing,

I'd also like to introduce you to one more person.

In Kitchen Corner, with even more foodie facts and nosh knowledge,

is Mr William Sitwell.

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You could say that you are an essential ingredient in the recipe for this show.

That's very kind of you. That's right, Kirsty.

I'm here in Kitchen Corner, it's my job to elaborate

on some of the finer points of the show and hopefully,

to give the viewers at home a few extra little culinary nuggets.

Let's get quizzing and let's begin, as always,

with round one, The Missing Ingredient.

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Now, we have raided the BBC's extensive archives to bring you

some of your favourite cooks doing what they do best, talking about food.

However, there is a twist.

In each clip, we bleeped out some key words

and all we want you to do is to buzz in and identify the missing word.

Now, we begin with this icon from 1975,

this is Fanny Craddock Cooks Christmas.

And welcome to my little series on Christmas know-how.

I'm going to take a piece of foil, I'm going to put it over the BLEEP.

Because it does....

BUZZER

Secret Suppers, you were first to buzz in.

-Parson's nose.

-Let's see if you're right.

Over the parson's nose...

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A good and gentle start. Now, Fanny Craddock, there's one to remember.

Yes. People think she's quite conventional, but actually,

she was very famous for various outlandish dishes.

I mean, she once invented a green cheese ice-cream.

She dyed some Gruyere green and turned it into ice-cream.

Heston Blumenthal must have learned from somebody, then!

Well, now one of television's most ebullient cooks.

From 1999, this is Ainsley Harriot's Big Cook Out.

I can't think of a better place to prepare for you the perfect drink

to accompany any barbecue, on top of Sugarloaf Mountain.

It's called Caipirinha and it's the national drink of Brazil.

Top your tumbler with lots of lovely ice and then drizzle on cachaca,

which is made out of BLEEP.

BUZZER

Cane sugar.

Cane sugar. Let's find out if you're right.

..Which is made out of sugarcane.

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Well, now somebody who did so much to introduce

the most delicious Indian food to our tables.

It's Madhur Jaffrey from 1989.

Just look at these chillies, they're so beautiful.

These red and green chillies are called BLEEP.

BUZZER

Rhubarb triangle, you were first to buzz in there.

-Birds Eye chillies?

-Let's see if you're right.

Now, these little red and green chillies

are called Birds Eye chillies.

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Well, now from 1996, one of Italy's best-loved exports.

Here is Antonio Carluccio's Italian Feast.

This is very typical of the periphery of Milan,

where the immigrants, the Sicilians,

brought with them all the wonderful tastes of Sicily

to please all the land people.

This is the finocchio, the wild BLEEP.

BUZZER

-Fennel.

-Let's see if you're right.

This is the finocchio, the wild fennel...

APPLAUSE

That was fantastic.

Of course, that is actually wild fennel,

and only grows in particular places in Europe.

Especially the Mediterranean.

It grows wild by road sides where you see other kinds of greenery.

You need to be careful as it looks like hemlock,

which isn't so good for you!

If it smells like liquorice, it's fennel.

-If it doesn't, run a mile!

-..It could be hemlock. Yeah, run!

Well, now it's somebody who lived life to the full.

It's Keith Floyd on France from 1987.

It goes back in the oven.

Don't bother to show them the oven glove,

I think they know what an oven is.

Just because we're in France, no need to go over the top. OK?

One of the other very important things that happens here is BLEEP.

It's a stew of vegetables with aubergines, peppers, courgettes...

BUZZER

-Ratatouille?

-Let's see if you're right.

One of the other very important things

that happens here is the ratatouille.

This is a stew of aubergines...

APPLAUSE

Well, now Norwich's most famous football fan,

and she's just a slip of a girl.

It's Delia Smith's Cookery Course from 1978.

Then the other flavours you add are a piece of celery,

a piece of carrot, piece of onion.

Then you put in half a bay leaf, a blade of mace.

Mace, if you're not familiar with it, is the outer casing of a BLEEP.

BUZZER

-Nutmeg.

-Let's see if she was talking about nutmeg.

Mace, if you're not familiar with it, is the outer casing of a nutmeg.

APPLAUSE

Brilliant. Do you use mace, or do you tend to use nutmeg?

-I tend to use more nutmeg than mace.

-Because it is stronger, and more fuller flavour?

-Yes.

-Jules, do you remember Delia from way back?

-I do, yes.

-Was she an inspiration to you then?

-I think she was. Because when I first left home,

I think she had a book for cooking for one.

So I guess she was my first introduction to using a cookbook.

Last, but certainly not least, culinary hero,

Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers from 2009.

I haven't been extravagant this week at all.

BLEEP the prawns...

BUZZER

-De-veining the prawns?

-Let's have a look if that is right.

De-vein the prawns, if you want...

APPLAUSE

At the end of the first round, William, what are those scores?

Well, the Secret Suppers have three,

but just nudging ahead, Rhubarb Triangle on four points.

APPLAUSE

Well, moving on now to round two, and this is Smorgasbord.

In this round, each team take turns to be in charge of a question board.

So, first up, the Rhubarb Triangle. Let's have a look at your board.

We can see ten pictures of food

and all we want you to do is identify the five foods

which are grown underground.

You'll get a point for every one you get right.

However, if you get one wrong,

we will throw it over to the other team and all they have to do

is to get one right, to eliminate all the points you scored

in this round and get a point for themselves.

William, could you just tell us a little more?

It's very simple.

You're looking for five foods where the major edible portion

was subterranean during its growth period.

-THEY WHISPER

-Yeah.

What's your first selection?

Ginger.

You think ginger grows underground. Are you correct?

APPLAUSE

OK, let see where

-you're going to go next.

-Peanuts?

-I know they are ground nut.

-Yes. Peanut.

-You're going for peanut.

Let's see if you're correct.

APPLAUSE

The confusing thing is, there is the word "nut" in it.

But unlike other nuts, they don't grow on trees,

they grow underground. They're actually a legume.

OK. You're doing well. What's your next choice going to be?

-Artichoke?

-Shall we say artichoke?

The Jerusalem artichoke.

Let's see if you're right about that.

Yeah.

APPLAUSE

But, William, the Jerusalem artichoke

is not geographically named...?

The word "Jerusalem" actually comes from "girasole",

which is the Italian word for "sunflower".

If you actually see these things grow,

the top of them is shaped like a sunflower.

So that's where the name comes from.

OK, you're cooking with gas,

but you have to get two more.

(Daikon radish, I'm sure.

OK, go with that.)

-Daikon?

-Let's see if you're right.

APPLAUSE

Is it because of the cooking that you do that you know about daikon?

-I don't know, I think it was more a guess.

-It was a guess?

-I grow it.

-You grow it? Quite easy to grow, daikon?

Very easy. It's a white radish. It comes up very quickly

and it's lovely to use in salads.

OK, Rhubarb Triangle, you're doing very, very well in this.

You have to get the next one right

or it could all go very, very badly wrong.

Thinking of the French pomme de terre.

Potato, pomme, apple. Could it be the red herring

that it's actually a potato, not an apple?

-Don't know.

-I think we should... We don't really know, do we?

-So I think we should go with that.

-OK, give us a guess.

-Mammee apple.

Let's see if you are right.

You are wrong.

At the moment you've got four points so it's down to you, now,

to make the correct choice and therefore destroy their points.

-THEY CONFER

-Fennel.

-You think it's fennel?

We do.

OK, well, let's see if you're right.

You're right.

APPLAUSE

-All your hard work has come to naught.

-I'm sorry!

Well done. OK, Secret Suppers. Now it's time for your board.

And, indeed, it's a cheese board.

So, I want you to identify the cheeses made from cow's milk alone.

William, tell us a bit more as we go into this.

That's right, so, all of the cheeses on the board are either made

from sheep, cow's or goat's milk, but what we're looking for

are cheeses that are traditionally and exclusively made from cow's milk.

-Shall we go for our first one?

-Yep.

-Our first one's Brie.

Your first one's Brie,

let's see if you're right or you're wrong.

APPLAUSE

That was a simple one. There are four left.

Where are you going next?

-Let's go for Gouda.

-We're going for Gouda.

-Gouda?

-Yes.

-APPLAUSE

-Correct.

OK, number three, please.

Parmesan?

-Yeah.

-Parmesan.

Let's see if Parmesan is cow's cheese.

APPLAUSE

Parmesan now, William, is something we're used to using,

but it's still incredibly expensive.

Oh, I mean, it has still great worth.

In Italy, for example, banks use it as collateral,

so if you're a Parmesan cheese-maker

and you want to borrow some money from a bank,

you can give them some of your cheese to look after in exchange for a loan.

All right, now you've got two more.

Remember, if you make a mistake,

Rhubarb Triangle could do to you what you did to them.

It's dog-eat-dog.

(Which one?

(I don't know.)

Mascarpone?

Mascarpone.

Yay!

APPLAUSE

You've got four right. There's one to go

and now it's just a little bit trickier.

(It's not haloumi, it's not Roquefort, it's not feta.

-(I think it's Petit Basque.

-Yes.)

OK, we're going with Petit Basque.

Let's see if that will be rewarded.

-GROANING

-Oh!

-Tell me about this cheese?

-This is a sheep's cheese.

It's actually the youngest cheese on the board.

It was first released in 1997 so, you know,

a lot of people may not have head of it.

All right. Now, you can get your own back, here,

cos a correct answer will obliterate their points.

-Gruyere?

-Gruyere.

Let's see if you're right.

-APPLAUSE

-Well done.

Well, there you are. I'm afraid it's all come out in the wash.

-But, Mark, you've got a special cheese fact?

-Oh, yeah.

Epoisses, it isn't on there, but Epoisses...

You can't take it on public transport in France.

It's illegal cos it's too smelly.

-Too smelly and you get arrested?

-You get arrested.

OK, at the end of that round, William, what are the scores.

OK, the Secret Suppers have four points, but ahead

the Rhubarb Triangles with five.

APPLAUSE

OK, the next round is called Food Clues.

And how does it work? Well, there are two questions in this round.

For each question I'll read out

a selection 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 and have a guess,

however you're only allowed one guess per team

and if you get it wrong,

the other team can have the rest of the clues to themselves.

Each question is worth one point,

so will you be brave and go in early and steal the point

or will you sit back and potentially get beaten to the buzzer.

Now, clue number one is actually on your desk in front of you.

Remember that you're trying to identify the foodstuff

connected with the item, not the actual item.

Now, you can reveal it now.

Oh!

(Is that a cheese press?)

This is going to press something down in there.

Any idea what you think this might be?

Here's your next clue.

The Iranian dish fesenjan usually contains this,

along with walnuts and pomegranates.

THEY CONFER

-No help to you at all?

-No.

-I'm going to give you another clue.

Balut, an oriental delicacy,

particularly associated with The Philippines,

is the boiled, fertilised egg of this creature.

Sounds...weird.

Yes. Doesn't sound very appetising.

THEY CONFER

OK.

-(We'll just wait for the next clue.

-Yeah.)

No, OK, here's your next clue.

In the 18th Century, Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire...

-BUZZER RINGS

-What do you think the answer is?

-Duck.

-You think it's duck?

-Yes.

-It is duck.

-Ah!

APPLAUSE

Let me take you through the next clues. In the 18th century,

Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire became a major centre for rearing this.

Indian Runner, Long Island and Muscovy are all types of this.

In Chinese restaurants,

this is often served with hoisin sauce, pancakes and spring onions.

I mean, it's an extraordinary thing, this, isn't it?

-Tell me a bit about it.

-It is a duck press.

And it's used for a dish, French dish,

called "canard a la presse", which is a slightly barbaric dish.

The first thing you have to do is you get your duck

and you strangle it to death.

You do that because you have to keep the blood

in the duck. You then partially roast it.

Then you put it in the contraption,

you wheel it down, you crush the duck...

-Which is why it's got this funnel.

-That's right.

So, then you take all of the juices from the blood and the duck,

you then cook that with butter and Cognac

and then you add that and finish it off with the breasts.

It's clearly a 15-minute Saturday-night supper.

-LAUGHTER

-Right, now it's time

for the next set of clues.

The first clue is in the cloche in front of you,

so, please raise the lid.

THEY CONFER

I don't think it's heavy enough to pound anything.

So, here's your next clue.

Ten types of this were tested at the 1976 Judgement of Paris

and the winning one was American.

(Hang on, it's... I think it's something to do with wine.)

It's something to do with...

-LAUGHTER

-Sorry.

-Would you like another clue?

-Yes, please.

-OK.

Cistercian monks cultivated this in 13...

BUZZER RINGS

This is either brilliant or dangerous.

Well, the French word is champagne

and if it was the American one that won, obviously,

they have to call it a sparkling wine but I think it's champagne.

-I'm afraid it is not champagne.

-Oh!

So, you can hear these clues and then give me the answer.

Cistercian monks cultivated this from 1330

and are believed to be responsible for its spread across France.

The name of this is derived from the Latin Cardonnacum,

meaning place of thistles.

In 1971, Murray Tyrrell launched the first Australian bottle of this.

In 2008, Oz Clarke blamed the slump in sales of this

on Bridget Jones' fondness for it.

(We'll go for that, yeah.)

I've no idea what that is, but Tyrrell rings a bell.

-Chardonnay wine.

-You think it's chardonnay?

-Yeah.

You are so right.

APPLAUSE

-Are you any clearer now, having won that point, what that's for?

-Yes.

OK, tell me what it's for.

It's a pipe to smoke while you're drinking it.

LAUGHTER

It's not, but, William, you probably do know what it is, don't you?

Yeah, this is called a wine drop. if you come back from the supermarket

and you're desperate for a glass of white wine

but you want to chill it,

you take this little thing out of the fridge, that's been chilled,

and you pop it in the wine glass and it will chill it

without you having to use ice which will dilute your chardonnay,

and you can also use it if your red wine is a little bit too warm.

So, that's what it is.

Well done to Rhubarb Triangle for getting that one right.

William, what are the scores now?

Uh, the scores are, the Secret Suppers are on five

but, ahead by one point, the Rhubarb Triangles on six points.

Very well done.

APPLAUSE

Well, time for round four and this is the VIP recipe.

This round is a practical round and, we hope, a delicious one.

We've filmed one well-known face in the Question Of Taste kitchen.

This week, it's ex-Eastender and Gavin And Stacey star

Larry Lamb making his signature dish.

In front of you we've recreated Larry's dish

and your job is to see if you can identify

the seven ingredients that Larry has used.

So, teams, please reveal Larry's dish

and dig in. Bon appetit.

-OK.

-OK.

So, whilst the teams test their taste buds,

for you, the viewers at home, here's what Larry cooked.

Hiya, I'm Larry Lamb and I'm going to be making spaghetti carbonara,

which is a favourite of our family. Particularly my daughter, Eva.

And the recipe was taught to me by my old friend Brizio Montinaro

when we were young actors together years and years and years ago.

I've got the spaghetti already on the boil.

Now we're going to put a little oil in this pan.

This here is guanciale

and guanciale is a bacon made from the jowls of big fat pigs.

Here we go.

Then, I've already grated some fresh pecorino romano,

which has got a very distinct flavour.

Then I'm going to put an egg in there.

The secret ingredient, and I think this is why people seem to think

that there's cream in a carbonara...

There isn't cream in it. What there is, is an extra...

egg yolk.

And a lot of pepper.

The name carbonara means, effectively, "sprinkled with soot."

So there we are, there we have the soot.

Now, a little tiny zest of lemon

will bring out the flavour of the pecorino.

Now, drain it off.

There we go. Bom-bom-bom-bom.

And there we go, straight in there like that.

And here it goes. And that starts to cook the eggs and the cheese.

And there you have the real McCoy.

Spaghetti carbonara a la Brizio Montinaro.

OK, thank you very much to Larry Lamb for letting us

into the secrets of his special dish.

Well, no points for guessing what he cooked

but what is the name of the dish?

-Carbonara?

-Carbonara.

-Carbonara.

-Carbonara it is.

Now, we have fed their answers into the hungry computer.

First ingredient, please?

Spaghetti.

Let's see if spaghetti was right, I think it might be.

Yes, it was right.

APPLAUSE

Second ingredient, please.

Black pepper.

Let's see if black pepper was correct.

APPLAUSE

Next lemon zest, you both got lemon zest. Very good.

Four more ingredients to go.

One says butter, one says olive oil.

Let's see who was right.

-APPLAUSE

-Secret Suppers get olive oil.

Let's see what was next.

Rhubarb Triangle says salt, Secret Suppers say eggs.

What is the correct ingredient?

Secret Suppers are right with eggs.

APPLAUSE Good one, Julie.

Just two more ingredients to go, here.

Both say parmesan. Were they both correct?

They were both wrong.

So. It's the final ingredient to come.

Both say pancetta.

They were both wrong.

So the two missing ingredients there were guanciale and pecorino romano.

William, those two missing ingredients.

Easy to get the parmesan and pecorino mixed up,

but tell me about the guanciale.

Well, it is from a pig, it is pork,

but what it actually is is cured pig's cheek.

OK, with that then, William, what is the score?

After that exciting round, the Rhubarb Triangles are on nine

but now just nudging ahead, the Secret Suppers are on ten points.

APPLAUSE

They've just crept ahead, but never fear, it's all to play for

because it's the final round and it's Gastroknowledge.

In this final round, you're going to have 90 seconds

of quick-fire questions on the buzzer,

so lots of points on offer here

with plenty of chance to catch up or take the lead.

Here we go. What is the Japanese name for the puffer fish?

-BUZZER RINGS

-Secret Suppers.

-Um...

Puffer fish...

LAUGHTER

Other side? You don't know.

Let's move on to the next one.

The answer, by the way, is fugu.

What is the name of this chef?

-BUZZER RINGS

-Secret Suppers.

-Tom Keller?

I'm afraid that's the wrong answer. Does the Rhubarb Triangle know?

It's Ferran Adria. Moving on to the next one.

What is the main vegetable in the dish Red Borscht?

-BUZZER RINGS

-Rhubarb Triangle.

-Beetroot.

Is correct. What's the name of this cauliflower?

-BUZZER RINGS

-Secret Suppers?

-Romany?

-No, handing over.

-Romanesco?

Romanesco is the correct answer.

The Americans call it broiling, what do we call it?

-BUZZER RINGS

-Rhubarb Triangle.

-Grilling.

-Grilling is the correct answer.

What is the name of this cake?

-BUZZER RINGS

-Rhubarb Triangle.

-Carrot cake?

That is incorrect, handing over to Secret Suppers,

do you know the name of this delicious cake?

Uh..no.

It's the red velvet cake.

Scrapple is made using the meat from which animal?

-BUZZER RINGS

-Secret Suppers.

-Pig.

Pig is the correct answer.

In this picture of a traditional pesto recipe...

-BUZZER RINGS

-..what ingredient... Rhubarb Triangle.

-Pine nuts.

What ingredient is missing, the answer is pine nuts.

Very well-answered at the end of that 90-second round.

-APPLAUSE

-So, it's time up.

William, this is the most important moment.

Can you tell us the final scores?

OK, Secret Suppers are on 11,

but this week's champions are the Rhubarb Triangles on 13.

APPLAUSE

Oh!

Commiserations to the Secret Suppers whose souffle sank,

congratulations to this week's winners the Rhubarb Triangle

whose Yorkshire puddings rose to the occasion.

APPLAUSE

Well done to both teams,

please join us next time where we'll meet some more food fanatics

hoping to prove themselves on A Question Of Taste. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE

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