Thames Valley A Taste of Britain

He's Brian Turner.

And she's Janet Street-Porter.

I'm passionate about walking.

These feet have taken me the length and breadth of Great Britain.

I've been privileged to cook all round the world,

but it's Britain that I love, fabulous produce,

great ingredients right here on the doorstop.

We're joining forces to explore Britain's rich heritage.

And the landscape that's given us such wonderful produce.

He's in charge of the food.

And guess what, she's in charge of everything else!

This is...

..A Taste of Britain.

Today we're in the Thames Valley, a scenic corner of the country

covering Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire

and the Royal County of Berkshire,

playground to the British monarchy for over 1,000 years.

We've been granted an audience with royalty.

Of the duck variety that is!

That duck's got a better blood line than I have!

That's posher duck than I am!

We'll meet some of the area's artisan food producers...

..where we get some hands-on experience of cheese making.

Just look at the state of you.

You look like you're going to help somebody give birth...

Brian, I'm wearing a supervisor's hat.

And we're on the hunt for the ideal ingredient for a celebratory dish

that sums up the taste of the region.

So is it as good as your mum's?

-Not bad.

-It's better!

Our journey through the Thames Valley begins

in the shadow of Windsor Castle, home to Her Majesty the Queen.

And what better way to get acquainted with

Royal Berkshire than with a hike along the Thames.

I should have brought the corgis, but instead I've got Brian!

That's if I can persuade him to get his walking boots on.

Well, here we are on the fabulous Thames path that

runs 184 miles from the Thames Barrier to the

source of the Thames, all the way down there in the Cotswolds.

It's one of my favourite walks.

And here we are outside Windsor Castle.

And we're so close to London but yet great producers.

We've got wonderful cheese and these swans remind me

that we are not far away from the iconic Aylesbury duck.

That's true.

I've walked quite a lot of this and, behind us, a few miles down there,

is Runnymede where the Magna Carta was signed.

And if we carry on, the Thames goes in a great big loop along here,

it goes past Mill End near Hambledon

and then finally it swings round in to Henley.

It's so beautiful.

Now are you going to walk with me?

I am definitely going to walk with you...probably!

All the way to Henley? Get out of here!

You haven't exactly come kitted out for a long distance path.

-I've got me boots on!

-You haven't got a rucksack,

you haven't got your bottle of water, I'm holding the map...

Are you running it or what, cos it's not a sprint?

Well, we could walk a bit faster.

Hang on a minute, I thought this was A Taste Of Britain,

not A Walk Of Britain?

Brian, you should never turn down the chance to explore a beautiful

area like this on foot.

Yes, Duchess!

But the Thames Valley also has a rich variety of specialist

food producers to discover.

I've heard there's a family-run cheese company not far away,

which could just be worth a detour.

Now, how did I know that our first stop would involve dairy products?

Is this the right place?

It's like, erm, round the back of someone's house in suburbia.

It's a nice shed, but...

Ah, there you go, that's it.

Two Hoots is run by husband and wife team, Andy and Sandy Rose.

Operating in converted outbuildings in their garden,

the dairy produces a large array of handmade blue cheeses,

some made using the milk from their own herd of goats.

Andy and Sandy are making the latest batch of their award-winning

Barkham Blue cheese.

I think that Brian may live to regret bailing out on our walk

as I've volunteered us for a bit of hard labour.

At the stage we are now the curds and whey are in the vat.

I think the curds and whey will be getting very frightened!

Just look at the state of you!

You look like you're going to help someone give birth or something!

Brian, I'm wearing a supervisor's hat so...

Doesn't she look like Su Pollard!

-That's it, got it!

-Superior!

Not Su Pollard.

-So tell us what you got here.

-Right, this is the one that's called Barkham Blue.

The vat's been heated up, so the curd has set.

We've cut it. It's now into these small cubes.

We've just kept it moving now before we whey off.

The texture of that now is telling us that's ready to whey off.

Janet you can get your hand in and just...

Don't go in too deep, you'll sink!

Remember how deep your glove is.

-Do you normally do this by hand, this stirring?

-Yes.

-We always do it by hand because...

-So it really is a handmade cheese.

-Yeah.

I'm fascinated that you spend a large part of your day

swimming through cheese without ever putting your head under water.

Now we are actually ready to whey off.

We just need to separate it.

-When you say whey off, you don't mean weigh it in weight.

-No.

You mean to take the whey away.

It's not easy to say for people to understand, is it?

Time important is this, you have to do it at the right stages,

-at the right time?

-Yeah, yeah, because you can end up

with a too acid cheese that'll make it dry,

erm, hard, so it's quite crucial to get the whey off when it's ready.

The modern machinery that Andy and Sandy use today is a far cry from

when they first began experimenting with cheese making 11 years ago.

I decided that I wanted to have a go at making soft cheese,

and we just had our own goats that we've had a little bit of milk from.

So I made the curd cheese, hung it in the bag in the shower!

As you do, as you do!

And we didn't sell any of that.

We, within six months of really doing the first Barkham Blue

in a tiny little 100 litre vat,

we won best new cheese at the World Cheese Awards.

-Oh, right!

-The best new cheese at the World Cheese Awards!

That is some award for your first award.

That's like winning an Olympic gold at your first attempt!

We're now ready to take the curds out into the moulds.

Basically we want to get a lot of the whey off like that,

-a quick little shake.

-Can you press it down with your hands?

-No.

Because it's a soft cheese, it doesn't get pressed at all.

-No pressing. The shake is the trick.

-Yeah.

So is this it? Am I doing it right?

Put it on there, it saves your wrist, that's it.

-Till it's just under level.

-That's it.

Shake it a bit more down. Probably a bit more, Janet.

Oh, no, more?

That's it!

Cor, no wonder you're thin. This is great weight lifting!

-Is that right?

-That's lovely.

-Yeah.

If I could apply for a job here, I might be in with a chance.

I think you would be.

-Look, you're racing to do it.

-I know, I'm on a roll.

I'm on a roll, I want a gold medal for cheese making!

-Is that a cheese roll?

-Put it on there, Janet, save your wrist.

No, I play tennis and I lift weights.

That's my tennis arm.

-Can I just ask you a quick personal question?

-Yeah?

-Not you!

-Oh!

How much are we getting paid to do this?

Oh, you'll have to sort that out with Andy!

Brian, I'm sorry I've done six and you've done one.

-It's not a race!

-Speed up!

Seven!

Nine. Come on. I'm queueing up here.

Brian's taking short cuts.

Brian, you need to give it a little shake. That's it.

-That's it.

-15...

Ah, have we done enough?

Please, please.

-I'm not doing it for much longer!

-Oh, she's chickening out now.

-I've obviously done the most!

-You've done nothing like it!

Andy, take over from me because I want to taste the cheese.

-You go and take it easy now!

-Good lad, you know what to do.

-As long as you know what you're doing. Don't mess up my cheeses!

-I won't.

Well, Janet, your tennis arm may have served you well,

but, after all the hard work, I think we deserve

to sample the fruits of our labour.

-So that's the Barkham Blue

-That's the young one.

When you say young, how old is that?

This one is three-weeks-old.

Shall I tell you something, I was in a restaurant once

and the cheese waiter told me the order to eat the cheese in.

-Yeah.

-And you think he was doing me a favour.

I had a bit of a strop, really.

You are different to most people, in all fairness.

-I thought he was being really patronising.

-Yeah.

If they eat the strongest cheese first what's the point

-in having the mild one afterwards?

-That's right, Janet.

It knocks out all your taste buds

She said Brian's right!

-Brian, thank you.

-Oh, dear.

Barkham Blue has dark blue veins and a smooth buttery texture,

without the harshness that you get with some blue cheeses.

-It's creamy.

-Yeah.

It is the blue, it's not as strong as I would like,

-even though it looks blue

-Ah, but it's young, that's why.

That wouldn't go out at that age, so although it's got the nice, buttery

texture, we've still got to wait for those flavours to come through.

-I wouldn't want it any stronger than that.

-No, I wouldn't.

-Do you like it stronger?

-You would.

Try this then, Brian. Try this then, Janet.

Now how old is this cheese?

Erm, nearly ten-weeks-old.

-Do you like that?

-So we're in the business!

I just thought you could have a real difference.

-That's right up there.

-Is it?

Like Saint Agur or Roquefort.

-To me that's too strong but other people...

-No, bring it on.

-I like this cheese.

-Do you?

-Well, you can take the other bit with you, then!

-Whoo!

-Don't say that.

-I want to do more of this, I'll go back and do more curd!

Barkham Blue is a great example of the kind of top quality,

local produce driving the food revolution that's sweeping Britain.

And, as part of our quest to sample a taste of this region,

we're visiting a chef who's well known for embracing

the Thames Valley's rich larder of flavours.

Well, that's if Janet can find the way!

So do you know where we're actually going now?

I've got the map if you don't know.

-I don't want you to read the map.

-You what?

-Do you know what,

there's a pub back there I used to go to every Sunday.

I used to call it The Dog And Badger, it's some swanky restaurant now.

Fantastic, isn't it? Lovely restaurants round here.

-And that's really nice if you...

-That changed because here there didn't used to be

very many restaurants, you know,

when I was in my 20s and I used to come down here on a weekend.

-Oh, that's The Dog And Badger.

-Ah, there we go, yes...

It's for sale, as well.

Janet Street-Porter spent many happy hours completely

paralytic in The Dog And Badger.

Well, Janet, you'll have to be on your best behaviour

at The Royal Oak, where we're headed next.

Owned by non-other than Sir Michael Parkinson,

this Michelin-starred restaurant prides itself

on using locally sourced produce to give a whole new twist

to traditional British recipes.

And you can't get more British than the dish its head chef,

Dominic Chapman, is about to make for us.

Dominic, this looks like my kind of kitchen.

Small, controllable, everything where you want it.

Exactly, lots of lovely foods and

-I'm looking forward to cooking for you.

-Fantastic.

What you going to make?

-I'm going do a wild rabbit and bacon pie.

-Fantastic!

So, kick off, what are you going to do first?

I've got some lovely wild rabbit, which was shot by a local farmer.

There's so many rabbits in the UK, it's a shame not to use them.

So marinating the rabbit, 12 to 24 hours.

What have you got in there?

I've got carrots, celery, garlic,

leeks, onion, rosemary,

thyme, bay, some aromats

and some spices, as well.

-Any liquor in there?

-There's white wine, olive oil.

Perfect, lovely, OK. So now you're going to drain it off.

Yep, I'm going to get rid of all the veg.

The reduction of the wine, that will go in to my sauce.

Put the wine through there.

OK, next, I'm going to brown all my meat off.

-I've got my hot pan, nice hot oil.

-Yep.

PAN SIZZLES

That's what I like to hear when someone's cooking,

-you hear that heat.

-A lovely sizzle.

-Exactly.

Do you have pies on the menu all the time?

-I've always got a pie on the menu.

-Really?

Always, whether it's oxtail and kidney, hare and trotter,

chicken and leek, there's always some kind of pie on the menu.

Are you a shortcrust pastry or a puff pastry man?

Er, different pie, different pastry.

-Chicken and mushroom always in puff pastry.

-Yeah.

-Rabbit and bacon always a suet crust pastry.

-Oh suet? I love suet.

Oh, that's fantastic, yeah.

So what is it about wild rabbit that you like?

I love the fact that it's local.

I love the fact that the farmer comes to the back door, or,

you know, a guy called Barry that we buy rabbits from, you know,

he's just brilliant, and then you get it

and you eat it and it's delicious.

Erm, for me, if I go duck shooting, or if I go mackerel fishing,

that's the most delicious food you're ever going to eat

because you've actually shot it yourself,

or pulled it out of the sea, put it on a grill, eat it, it's delicious!

-I love that.

-It is slightly gamey.

But it's not over gamey for those who haven't tasted it, is it?

It's not really. All of this game, erm, is only

kind of a little bit too strong if it's been hung for too long.

If you literally go out,

shoot it, skin it, cut it up,

eat it, it's not strong at all.

So my rabbit's beautifully caramelised.

Nice and golden brown.

It's really important to love everything.

I'm not going to put the leeks in first cos they cook too quickly.

I put the onions in, carrots in, celery in, got it?

-Everything has a process.

-You're making rabbit pie.

As I said, my mother used to make rabbit pie,

she never used garlic cos we didn't see garlic in those days.

Now, added to it, it's an extra bit of punch.

-I know, I put garlic in everything, you know.

-I love it, yeah.

-So much flavour, it's delicious.

-Put it in there, eh.

Now my vegetables, I want a lovely caramelisation.

And, again, the more caramelisation, the more flavour I'm getting into my sauce.

You just put the tomatoes in there, cut side down,

-and all you're going to do is caramelise them?

-Caramelisation.

-You don't put them into the sauce yet?

-Not yet.

Not until those tomatoes are evenly caramelised.

-The wine from the marinade, I need to bring that down.

-Yeah.

Bring that down just a little, white wine reduction.

So how's that looking, Chef, now?

This is really getting there now.

Now, I want to say something, if I may, Mr Chapman,

you sneaked a bit of butter in when no-one was looking.

Do you know why? Just to help with the caramelisation.

But I agree, I love it, I think it's great.

-A bit of butter in there helps it, doesn't it?

-It does.

Otherwise it dries and the vegetables, or the rabbit,

-can slightly, slightly burn.

-Yeah.

Now I'm just going to put a few mushrooms...

-So next job is just to make a little spice bag.

-Yeah.

And that's going to add another flavour to the sauce, basically.

There's my spice bag, into the pot,

my vegetables are now caramelised.

Aromats going in - just a few bay leaves, thyme.

So there's my spice bag, my thyme, my bay leaves.

I've got a lovely reduction of white wine,

so that can go into the pot.

Chef, do you mind passing me that sieve please?

-How sweet you are!

-Thank you.

-Certainly, my privilege, Chef.

-Thank you very much. So, I just want to drain any excess fat...

-Yeah.

..out of these vegetables,

cos I don't want lots of fat swimming around

on the top of my sauce later on.

This veg can now go into the pot.

Never have vegetables smelt so good!

Next, just literally, some beautiful chicken stock.

-I've also made a veal stock.

-Right.

and that will just give the pie a little bit more body.

And, finally, caramelised tomatoes

and they'll go in there.

Next, all we do is wrap it up in tinfoil, into the oven...

-200 - leave it in there for about 20 minutes.

-Yeah.

Then turn it down to about 150, 170, let it tick away.

Er, just a gentle simmer, gentle, gentle simmer.

-Let it tick away and then beautiful, falling off the bone.

-Yeah.

-Out of the oven. I'll let it cool for a couple of hours.

-Yeah.

Then, I'll take the rabbit off the bone,

-and then I'm ready to build the pies.

-Right.

OK, first job, nice pie dish.

-I'm going to put some melted onions...

-Yeah.

..which have been, literally, melted in butter for about three hours.

Don't tell Janet that, the Duchess, cos she doesn't like butter,

-cos she says...

-She does.

-She loves it, really!

-I like to put a little bit of red pepper.

-Yeah.

A couple of bits of bacon.

The bacon that was cooked with the rabbit.

Some ham hock.

Erm, and then the rabbit.

I'll season the rabbit a little bit.

-Pepper.

-It's a good healthy portion, I have to say.

-Rabbit seasoned.

-Yeah.

In it goes.

Then finally the mushrooms go in.

And that's it, beautiful layers.

Onions, peppers, bacon, ham, rabbit and mushrooms.

-Final ingredient is the sauce.

-Yeah.

That's just the reduced stock, slightly thickened, yeah?

That is the reduced...

..rabbit stock and then I finished it with some cream

and I've put a little teaspoon of mustard in there, as well.

OK, so that's my finished pie.

Pastry?

Pastry, suet pastry.

-A little bit of flour on the board.

-Yeah.

Just roll it out.

A bit of egg wash, just to stick it to the top of the dish.

Lay the pie pastry on top, and I want it nice and flat now.

If you make the pastry too wet then it's very, very hard to work with.

So, nice and flat across the top and then it will crisp up nicely.

You make it look so easy.

Here we go...

-200 degrees for 12 minutes and...

-It's done.

..you've got a delicious rabbit and bacon pie

and I like to give it a nice little egg wash, as well,

cos it makes it shine.

OK, so that's it.

Dominic, I can't wait to taste it.

OVEN BEEPS

That looks fantastic, Chef.

I cannot wait for this.

One pie.

You can't serve pie without a nice mashed potato so,

-that's simply pie and mash.

-Fantastic, yeah.

The pie, a little bit of salt on top,

straight on there.

There it is, wild rabbit pie and mash.

Chef, that looks fantastic, well done! Can't wait.

Thanks a lot. Good to see you, a pleasure cooking for you.

Well, I'm sure the mixture of local herbs and vegetables

in Dominic's pie will hit the mark with Janet.

-Here we go.

-Ah, fantastic!

-Just look at that!

Rabbit and bacon pie with mashed potato.

But does rabbit tickle her taste buds?

Before you go, it looks brilliant but...

..talk me through the etiquette.

Do I take the lid off, or smash through it?

-You can do whatever you like. I'd smash through it.

-Exactly.

I'd put a bit of mash in there, mix it all up

Oh, put the mash inside it!

Just enjoy it.

-Thank you, Chef!

-All the best.

-Look at that.

-Hurry up, please.

Brian, some things need to be savoured.

-Oh, that looks lovely.

-Oh, look at that pastry!

-It's a suet pastry, as well.

-I love suet.

-Me too, huh

-Right, OK.

-Right so...

Dig in Brian, I'm going to also dig in.

And you first, dear.

Mmm...

Mmm...

Oh...

Mmm...

Oh, that is a dish.

Don't you think the silence says it all?

Oh, it's my favourite kind of food.

I'm just going to eat it with a spoon cos I'm such a pig.

He put a bit of mustard in the sauce

which I thought was a great idea to sharpen it up.

It's lovely seasoning.

You can taste the mustard. I'll you what...

..that mash has got your accepted level of butter in it!

Nothing to do with me mate, I did nothing!

I did watch him put it in there.

And in the bottom, look, he's got some red peppers in there, look.

Mmmmm.

And these wonderful, fondant onions...

This is exactly the kind of food I cook at home.

-Go on, tell me you cook it better as well.

-No!

-Good show.

-Hats off to him, this is brilliant.

I've got..I'm learning things.

Even I will defer to the pie master.

Do you eat rabbit much?

I eat rabbit a lot. We get the road kill.

THEY CHUCKLE

I love it!

We still need to decide what will be in our celebratory dish

that sums up the area.

I'd like to create something that typifies the Thames Valley's

long, royal history.

So, to get some inspiration, we're off to visit a farmer whose

animals descend from a rather impressive blood line.

What I want to do now is go and see Aylesbury duck.

Richard, who I met, would you believe, nearly 20 years ago

is still the only man who produces the iconic Aylesbury duck.

So, that's where we're going. Are you game for that?

Yeah, game for that!

Well, Richard, it's lovely to see you again. It's been a long time.

-How long?

-It's 17, 18 years, must be.

-It can't be that long.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Hi.

I've been telling this lady this is the place to see the ducks.

-Let's have a quick look, shall we?

-Yes, let's.

Don't help me over, Brian, it annoys me!

Come on little ones.

Come on little ducks, out you come, then. Come on.

Come on, time to come out for a drink.

Everybody out.

Once called White English, Richard Waller's Aylesbury ducks date back

to the early 18th century, when the town began supplying

London's markets because of their preference for white plumage.

By the Second World War, competition from bigger producers,

meant duck rearing in the Aylesbury area

had almost disappeared completely.

Today Richard is the last remaining breeder.

Richard, you're the expert, but what exactly is an Aylesbury duck?

Well, of course, the Aylesbury duck is the large white,

table duckling, reared in their thousands

for the last 200 or 300 years around the Aylesbury area.

For 200 years it was duck to eat.

So your ducks are pure bred Aylesburys?

But 200 or 300 years ago they weren't just bred for the meat, were they?

-Quite right. There was the by-product of feathers.

-Yeah.

Feathers were actually more valuable than the ducks were.

When I was a very small child, in the late '50s,

my mother's wages was the feather money.

That was her wages for the year.

But that used to amount then to probably £500 a year,

which was a fair, considerable sum.

Let's go and look at some little, some real nice little babies,

some little cuties, shall we?

Aylesbury ducks are said to be at their best at eight-weeks-old

when they weigh around two-and-a-half kilos.

After hatching, ducklings are reared inside for the first two weeks,

and then free-ranged for the remaining six weeks of their lives.

They do look beautiful, don't they? How old are these?

Those are now just two-days-old.

So how does the actual process work? You rear them here?

Oh, yes, because they are the last of the real Aylesbury strain,

I have to hatch them.

I always tell people I actually match and hatch 'em and dispatch 'em!

And what about these ones over here, how old are they?

Well, these, if I get one.

Come on, babes.

Come on. I mean, to show you the comparison.

-Can I get hold of one of these?

-Yeah, just get one.

-Hold on.

-Oh...

-Come here, you.

It's not going to poo on my hand!

-Well, if it does, you know, don't worry.

-Is it, yeah.

Now, believe it or not, look at that, that is exactly a week's growth.

-Good Lord above!

-God!

-It's quite amazing.

This duck is just seven days older than the two of those.

These ducks are the direct descendants of flocks bred

by Richard's ancestors, so they're truly the royalty of the duck world.

So do you feel a huge responsibility to keep the breed going

if you're the last person breeding them?

I suppose, in one way, it's a kind of duty.

These have come from stock that's been in the family since about 1775.

-That duck's got a better blood line than I have!

-Well, absolutely!

That's posher duck than I am!

The old duck breeders years ago, once they'd got themselves a good duck...

-Yeah.

-..in the family, they'd keep it.

They might add to it, but you never got rid of your blood line.

You always kept that and added to it.

So these, they have got a rare pedigree, a rare pedigree.

Really, all I want is to talk about how this duck eats.

For a start, I've got to say, what do I know,

I've never actually eaten another duck!

You really, your entire life, you've only eaten your own ducks?

-You've never gone out taste testing?

-I've got to say,

I just think that would be tantamount to treason!

-No, it's not your concern!

-I think that's hilarious!

No, no, it is treason!

So someone who's never eaten your duck, what would say to them,

-cos you've eaten lots of them obviously.

-Right.

Number one, Brian, is the fact, there's some fat on them.

-You've got to have fat on your meat to cook it.

-Absolutely.

Don't go cutting it off and then cooking the bird,

cook the bird, get rid of the fat.

When you cook the duck because it's got that layer of fat, it keeps the meat moist.

-Absolutely!

-Yeah.

-Absolutely.

So a classic question, do you eat them roasted?

I've got to say, Brian, I really am a dyed in the wool,

traditionalist, roast Aylesbury duck.

So you're not doing a quick stir fry, fried duck breast? That's out?

This is all... I've just been told, I am not doing a quick stir fry

-but I never was anyway...

-I'm just checking!

Are you going to come and have a taste?

-Well, I've never eaten your food, so perhaps I should.

-Oh, fantastic, that's a result then!

I think the rich meaty flavour and the ancestry

of these Aylesbury ducks really captures the tastes and traditions

of the Thames Valley.

And where better for our celebratory cook than alongside the river?

Historic Henley-on-Thames is the perfect spot,

and it's only a few miles upriver,

so I'm dragging Brian off for a stroll to work up our appetites.

-Enjoying your walk, Brian?

-Where are we now?

That's Hambledon village is up there,

-and there's the old mill over there at Mill End.

-Yeah.

A big weir.

A fantastic bridge across the weir.

It's so exciting to walk across it.

You're slowing down, you're slowing down.

Well, I have enjoyed this, it's been fantastic but I've got to get myself cooking now.

So, I'm going to leave you, if you don't mind,

and I'll probably catch up later to walk in for the last little bit.

Two-and-half miles to Henley. Can't you do it?

Henley's history has always been linked to the River,

with records of settlements along this section of the Thames

dating back to Medieval times.

Today, the town's world famous Regatta

has become one of the highlights of both the summer sporting calendar,

and the social season.

I'm meeting local historian, Robert Treharne Jones,

to find out what makes this annual event so special.

So, Robert, how did Henley become so famous for its regatta?

-Well, the regatta started, what, 1839?

-Yeah.

It started for a very special reason.

But before that, way back in the 14th century,

Henley was a very established commercial centre,

it was a big port, believe it or not,

because in those days, before locks were built on the river,

this was the highest navigable point

-for the commercial river traffic.

-So it was a big trading point?

-Absolutely so.

-And then what killed it off?

Well, much to the chagrin of the townspeople of Henley,

the Great Western Railway, which Brunel built between London

and Bristol, bypassed Henley some miles to the south.

And so in the 1830s, obviously there's going to be this big

fall-off in the commercial traffic and the townspeople seized

the initiative and said, "Well, here we've got the longest

"straight stretch of river on the non-tidal Thames,

"what a fantastic idea to have a regatta."

So that was how Henley Regatta was born.

They dreamt it up as a tourist stunt?

Yeah. To bring people to the town.

What a brilliant idea!

Do you know, I've never thought that that was the reason!

The first regatta, there were three events.

I think there were only about seven races.

it was all over in the space of one evening.

And it grew and grew. And in 1851, 12 years later,

Prince Albert came along and gave it its royal patronage.

So it's been Henley Royal Regatta ever since.

And it's grown to the point now where it's held over five days.

There's 20 different events,

racing from the top international open events

at the top end of the scale

right down to the schools at the other end.

And how many people come now? It's thousands and thousands?

The standard visitors over the five days about 250,000,

in a good year, 300,000.

And, Robert, they're all adhering to your very strict dress code.

No, they're not! It's only in one tiny area, the members-only area.

Right, because I've always been too frightened to come

for a fear of offending the fashion police here,

which are legendary for their strictness, aren't they?

90% of the course is public access towpath.

You can come along in your T-shirt, your shorts and your trainers.

But, if you're in the swanky bit, where the Pimm's are and you

want your cocktails, what have you got to wear?

There's a traditional dress code,

and for the ladies, it simply means a hem line below the knee.

No trousers, culottes, split skirts, that sort of thing.

Well, luckily for you, that's in at the moment, so I can tick that box.

And what, men wear blazers, don't they?

Yes, jacket and tie.

In fairness, the stewards regularly ask the members

what they think about the dress code,

and the overwhelming proportion say, "Look, keep things as they are."

You know, changing the world, it's the unchanging nature

of Henley Royal Regatta that gives it that stability.

Well, that's all fascinating, Robert,

but one thing I do know about rowers and oarsmen is that they have

massive appetites when they're in training.

So, I've got Brian down there cooking us up a special celebration

dinner, and let's see if we can round some of them up to have it.

Well, tracking down a few hungry rowers in Henley was pretty easy.

And they all look they can't wait to sample Richard's Aylesbury duck.

Well, Brian, here we are at the world famous

Leander Rowing Club in Henley, and I've just found out that

when champion rowers are in training, they need 6,000 calories a day.

So what are you going to come up with?

That little girl does not need 6,000 calories! That is ridiculous!

-All right!

-Anyway, what I'm going to cook is this,

actually equally world-famous, Aylesbury duck,

with a five spice marinade on top, a nice glaze and a green salad.

Look at the size of these birds. They're wonderful birds.

Yeah, they're fantastic!

And please, whoever you are, you included,

-don't forget to take those out!

-Take the guts out!

I've got the fire on here, let me put that on.

And try to get a bit of colour. So, it's such a big duck, is this,

and the legs don't cook at the same time as the breast.

So I'm going to take the legs off.

If you slow cook them, they're fantastic

and in lots of duck fat, which you'll have

when you've finished this dish, that works wonderful.

What we're going to do is you're going to crown the duck:

so I don't want this backbone here and I want a nice shape here.

So just, cut around the fat, break the backbone

and then with a swift chop with a knife, there it is.

Keep that, it makes great stock, lots of fat in there.

Don't throw anything away, we use everything.

Have you put any fat in there at all to start it?

-I put a little bit to set it off.

-Not much.

-But look, that's already on its way.

-Yeah.

It does take quite a bit of time, but it's well worthwhile, OK?

Right, while that's happening, these are lovely young, white turnips.

Blanche them in boiling, salted water

-and I'm going to cut them in half.

-They're slightly peppery as well.

-Absolutely right, Janet.

-These are the ones I grow and they're...

you mustn't let them get too big, cos they lose that fabulous flavour.

And this is a classical pairing, duck with turnips.

OK, right, see how we go in here now, look.

We should be all right. Turn that down.

Have a look.

Super. Lovely, that's what I want.

It looks slightly scorched.

That's not a problem right now, it'll look good.

So what I'm going to do now, very carefully,

is just prick all the skin so that we get some of that fat out.

And what I decided to do to make it different,

Chinese five spice and oil.

That will also give it that colour. So you brush it well here,

and we'll brush it halfway through cooking as well.

And what we don't want the thing to do is to taste of Chinese

five spice, we want there to be a hint of, an aroma of.

And now I'm going to take my turnips

and I'm going to throw them in at the same time.

So they're cooking in the duck fat.

They'll cook in the duck fat, you're quite right.

Lots of lovely colour.

Now we're going to go to the world of Alice in Wonderland,

we're going to go through the looking glass

-and into this wonderful hot thing over here.

-Yeah.

Most people won't have one of these at home,

so you're going to cook this at around 200, 210 degrees

and it'll probably take about 15, 20 minutes to cook.

So you put it on really high?

As high as you can and, and when you cook it in a conventional oven,

210, 220 and you want to get bags of heat.

So, Richard, have you ever cooked your duck with five spice?

Well, no, this is a completely new take on my sort of way of cooking

roast duck, so I'm looking forward to the proof of the pudding.

-Crossing the new frontiers here!

-Absolutely.

Well, it's never too late in life to do something different.

This is true.

Right, so they've been cooking for about 15, 20 minutes,

I'm also going to serve olives as well as turnips.

Both are French.

OK, that's coming on nicely, it's looking good.

So we put olives in there.

Never mind "Yuck, I don't like olives," as people will say,

but they actually are lovely for the flavour of the sauce.

We'll give it one more brushing and glazing there.

It'll cook probably for another five, ten minutes. Cool.

Now, guys, has any of you eaten duck cooked like this before?

No, never.

Have you even eaten duck before?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, you have right, obviously, you're sophisticated!

How do you normally have duck?

In a wrap.

Wrap down the Chinese takeaway! Why did I even ask?

OK, well, are you looking forward to it?

-Obviously, yeah.

-Definitely.

Right, so, I'm going to serve a bit of green salad with this.

-Yeah.

-So we're going to make a bit of dressing.

-We've got mustard, grain mustard, some red wine vinegar.

-Yeah.

And we've got some olive oil.

Salt and pepper, that'll make a lovely dressing, will that.

There we are, that's lovely, that's ready to go whenever.

Do you know, it's at moments like this

when I realise just how good I am. That is delicious!

Right, so, I'm going to take this out. What's the matter with you?

I put honey in mine.

Sweetener in it!

No, honey!

Honey's a sweetener!

So I'm going to take, now, the ducks out,

and let them sit for a couple of minutes.

Take the olives and the turnips out.

Right, OK.

Just put them to one side for a little minute.

-That's ready.

-Right, OK.

And then into this here,

I'm going to put some chopped shallots. Wonderful.

Give it a stir.

Now, I've got a bit of red wine. Have you been drinking that?

-No, I wish I had though.

-Are you sure? Right.

Take it off the heat so it doesn't flare up.

All right, OK. Thank you.

Right, lovely.

So I'm going to reduce that down there with a bit of stock.

I want to take my little gem lettuces and my watercress,

-and dress that.

-Right.

Bit of salt and pepper.

This cooking outside lark is all right. It's a bit difficult,

but actually suddenly I'm starting to feel

this is going to work, is this.

And it really has to do, otherwise I'm in big trouble, cos some

of those lads and lasses look...they're smiling now!

They're hungry, they're starving.

They're smiling now, but I think they'll turn

if they don't get anything decent to eat.

So that's coming up to the boil now, we want that to reduce.

So our salad now is almost ready.

So we've got a mountain of salad here,

fresh, green salad there. And I've got some green beans here.

-I'm just going to put those into the dressing.

-Yeah.

A few raw shallots. A bit more of the dressing.

And nothing wasted at all, eh?

Beautiful.

Right, have a quick look at the sauce here.

Yeah, that's looking good, is that.

I'm going to put just a wee bit more chicken stock in there.

-Are you guys hungry?

-Obviously.

-Definitely.

We're almost there.

So I'm going to put now my olives and turnips,

which have actually roasted so they're cooked through.

So we're going to taste the seasoning now

cos olives, as you know, are a little bit salty.

Ah, chef, you have a taste of that.

I bet you've never tasted anything like that in your life, huh?

-Very good.

-Right.

-Very good.

-It's missing one thing, though.

I'm going to put a bit of butter in there.

-Little bit of butter.

-A bit! That's a great big handful!

They need calories! So that's lovely over there.

-Right, now, chives, OK?

-What are you putting them in?

-I'm going to put them in the sauce.

-Oh, right, OK.

I thought you were using them as decoration.

There we go. So are we ready guys?

That goes in there. Give it a whirl round.

That bit of butter gives it that lovely shine.

Just watch when it goes on. This is a lovely sauce, is this.

Oh, oh, it's good red wine in there.

The stuff you didn't drink, we've used.

And then, I'm going to take the breast off now.

Down the bone, through the side here and then just...

so I don't want this too pink,

but on the other hand, I don't want it overcooked either.

That is real duck.

And I think it's really nice if we cut this now,

in pieces, lengthways.

Now, we just pile these...

..on top, one, two, three, four.

And there you've got it.

You've got Richard's wonderful roast Aylesbury duck

with a five spice marinade on top, and a green salad.

Ladies and gentlemen, there you have it.

APPLAUSE

Come on, then, have a taste.

That's what they call real duck.

Hmmm. That duck's fantastic!

Come on in. Don't hold back, Richard, you've got to come in first.

-Go on, get it in there, lad.

-Get stuck in!

Dip it in the sauce, would you please?

Not exactly a rush for the salad!

LAUGHTER

So is it as good as your mum's duck?

-Bit better.

-Bit better!

THEY LAUGH

So what do you reckon, Richard?

It's very, very nice.

This really is a new twist on a really old recipe.

Very, very nice indeed.

Yeah? Did you like it?

Oh, it was absolutely fantastic, best duck I've ever tasted.

Yeah? Finish it off!

Well, I've had a fantastic walk down the Thames path.

Tasted some great cheese.

Yeah, that cheese was lovely. All those different ones as well.

I loved the duck. It was a first for me.

I'd never have cooked it with five spice. It was terrific.

I think these people over here have all enjoyed it.

It was different for them, they've never had it quite like that.

So for me, that sort of sums it up.

Here, the duck was a real taste of Britain along the Thames at Henley.

Now I'm going for a walk.

I might come with you.

-That'll be fine.

-Well, I might not.