Cambridgeshire 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 doorstep.

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 glorious city of Cambridge.

Built on the banks of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire,

the city is steeped in history.

And it's home to the world famous university, founded in 1209.

'Great historical figures like William Wordsworth, Oliver Cromwell

'and of course Charles Darwin studied here.'

It's absolutely sensational.

It does look glorious, of that there is no doubt.

'I find my sea legs, or rather fen legs, on the trail of Darwin

'himself with a trip round the oldest nature reserve in the country.'

'And I discover some rather special cattle

'that not only taste great,

'but they also do their bit to protect the local environment.'

I have to say, these beasts look really placid and calm

and content, which has got to be good news.

I'm the responsible pensioner aboard.

'I try to enjoy punting along the River Cam.'

-Oh, for God's sake, Brian.

-We're turning round now.

We're turning round.

'And provided we don't fall in,

'I catch up with one of Cambridgeshire's kitchen legends,

'working his magic on the first local asparagus crop of the season.'

It's like a very sophisticated scotch egg.

'We meet and interestingly named breed of pig.'

They're a maternal line called The Duchess.

-The Duchess?

-Stop it! Don't.

-I never said a word.

'And after tasting our way around the area,

'Brian cooks up his version of a taste of Cambridgeshire.'

I can see you can wait no longer. Come and taste it.

-Absolutely sensational.

-It's good, isn't it?

Come along, Brian.

Where on earth are we?

We're at the top of the Pitt Tower,

named after William Pitt the Younger, the Prime Minister.

It's designed by the same architect

that remodelled Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria.

Cambridge, founded in 1209

by a breakaway group of scholars from Oxford.

-And what's that building there, then?

-That's King's College Chapel,

where the annual carol service comes from that makes my Christmas.

Check that beautiful gargoyle over there. Who does that remind you of?

HE LAUGHS

Well, if it had an anorak on it, I know exactly who that would be.

Shut it.

Well, if it wasn't misty, we'd see East Anglia off to the east.

And to the west, towards the Midlands.

Fens that way.

Ah, The Fens. Now, I know someone that produces great cattle up there

so we've got to go and have a look at that.

And I want to see the nature reserves as well,

because I've never walked round there.

-And there's a fabulous restaurant round here.

-Somewhere.

-Somewhere.

-We're going to find it.

-Anyway, food's going to drive us.

-Perfect.

Luckily for us, the typical British weather has perked up

just in time to do the one thing any visitor to Cambridge has to do.

Well, it's not getting a law degree, Janet,

so I have a frightening suspicion we're going on the river.

I'm looking forward to this, Brian.

I'm not looking forward to this.

First time I've ever done this.

Your life in my hands, Janet Street-Porter.

-It's never too late to learn a new skill.

-This is also true.

All right, fine.

I'm the responsible pensioner aboard.

-So let me just...

-Brian, don't push off till I've got on it.

Right. I'm right where I want to be, and that's by a bottle.

-Right are we off yet?

-Shouldn't you be looking at me?

No, I'm looking at the bottle of champagne.

OK.

-Right.

-Right, we're off.

-Which way's it supposed to be?

Oh, for God's sake, Brian.

We're turning round now, we're turning round.

I didn't think I'd have to row, I thought you'd be doing the punting.

Well, I'm trying to.

Well, Brian, I think this is the best way to see Cambridge

but perhaps not us as a pair.

Go into the middle, you fool. You'll take your head off.

I think you're being a bit unfair.

-It's the first time I've ever done this.

-Brian...!

HE LAUGHS

I hope you're getting a shot of this!

-Get away, swan.

-Go away!

-You're rowing the wrong way!

-You're rowing the other way.

-Am I?

Oh, whatever.

My plan was to go on an architectural tour

but the reality has been a nightmare.

This is The Mathematical Bridge.

'The Mathematical Bridge, also known as The Wooden Bridge,

'connects two parts of Queen's College.

'It got its name thanks to the intricate

'geometric arrangement of the timbers.

'It was originally built by James Essex in 1749,

'although it's been rebuilt twice since then.'

Look at that. It's worth all the anxiety.

King's College Chapel. Founded in 1446 by King Henry VI.

It's absolutely sensational.

And every Christmas, I listen to the carol service from there.

'King's College Chapel is widely regarded as one of the greatest

'examples of late gothic English architecture, and you can see why.

'It's also one of 31 colleges at the University of Cambridge,

'which is the third oldest university in the world.

'It was founded back in 1209 by scholars who left Oxford University

'after a dispute caused by the execution of two of their peers.'

It does look glorious, of that there is no doubt.

-OK, Brian.

-Off we go again.

-Off we go.

Let's find a place to moor up and have a drink.

Brian, stick to handling a frying pan

because you're absolute rubbish with an oar.

THEY LAUGH

'I think it's time the Duchess had a go at driving this thing.'

'No, I think it's time for a drink. Bring on the designated driver.'

He does a good job, a professional chauffeur now.

Thank you very much for taking over,

otherwise we would've been going round Cambridge all hours of the day

and night, and Brian, you've earned a reward.

-Oh, fantastic.

-Let me be the person.

-Don't point it at me.

-I'm not pointing it at you.

-And mind that girl,

you don't want to shoot her up there, she'd fall off.

Brian, you're talking to a woman

that's poured more gallons of champagne...

-There you are, darling.

-Merci beaucoup.

-Thank you very much.

Janet, here's to a long life.

Yeah, and here's to learning a new skill at 70.

I'll tell you what, I'm a really good professional passenger.

You're joking! You were screaming every time my pole hit the water.

The rich drained Fenland in Cambridgeshire

has been used to grow crops for centuries.

It's also used to graze cattle.

I'm keen to get cooking so I've come out to the Welney Wetland Centre

to see some beef farmed in a rather unusual way.

The cattle have been introduced to the nature reserve to help

enhance the environment for the birds,

and in turn the lush grazing makes for a sweet, tender meat.

It's a mutually beneficial arrangement

that Darwin would approve of.

Local butcher Miles Nicholas is an expert on this beef.

This looks wonderful.

And these birds sound fantastic, lovely wetlands.

And I can see the cattle. How does that fit in with you as a butcher?

Well, the main thing, and the reason it all began was for the birds.

They actually wanted the cattle to be here.

The way the cattle graze works for the nesting birds.

Other animals would've over-grazed so having cattle here will help

the bird life and that was the whole reason behind what we see here.

So the system actually works. The birds are protected.

They flourish in these lands here.

The cattle then are looked after, pampered if you like.

They've got good feed

and so it produces great beef at the end of the day.

And that's what it's about.

What it's grazing on adds to the flavour of the beef,

other things, the fat cover to the meat.

Exactly as you say.

It's got to be marbled through the meat, a good covering of fat.

You buy it with fat on it, you cook it with fat on it, you don't

actually have to eat the fat because it gives the flavour to the meat.

The flavour's there.

The scene is idyllic. The cattle look really calm out there.

-I suppose we should go and see a farmer.

-OK.

Good man.

'Chris Jackson has been grazing his herd

'here at Welney for the last four years.'

Chris, you've been a farmer, three generations of farmers.

-Yeah, I'm a third generation farmer.

-Arable farmers.

But then you decided that this system worked for you.

Tell us how you got into it.

Well, we ventured down here because it's more of a natural system.

And we don't have to take valuable arable land out of production

to graze them.

So the birds have their ecosystem developed because these cattle...

Round the cattle, yeah.

So it's the way they graze on the land that protects the birds and the chicks, isn't it?

They graze the grass shorter so the birds can move about readily

and find the insects.

But the insects are attracted because of the cow dung.

Because of the cow dung and the insects,

the flies and things are on the cows anyway. Which the birds quite like.

And so it's a cooperative, I understand.

I'm one of a group.

We supply Riverside with a certain type of beef

that's been grazed on this type of situation.

And how many cattle do you have on this land?

In total, I will have about 70 down here in the end.

And what breeds do you favour?

Predominantly South Devon but there is an Angus bull in here

and the odd Shorthorn but predominantly we're South Devon.

I have to say these beasts look really placid and calm

and content which has got to be good news.

So what I really want, Miles, if you can.

I'm going to use brisket which is not used very often, bit cheaper,

but I've got a nice little twist for it

-so I hope you can supply that, OK?

-Definitely can.

'I've rounded up some of the locals to see what Brian's going to do

'with their Riverside beef.'

'It's an oriental glazed beef brisket

'from Chris's locally reared cattle, with a broccoli salad.'

This is a piece of brisket.

Now, you will remember from your childhood days, as I remember,

brisket was all we could afford. I don't know about your house.

And it's a fantastic piece of meat. From the belly, trimmed down.

You can either buy it salted, rolled, but this is neither.

If it's salted, you need to soak it a while before you cook it, OK?

And of course this piece of beef, typical of the stuff

that they produce on the wetlands,

comes from the farm shop here at Gog Magog.

Butcher's over there, smiling,

so I know it's going to be a belting piece of meat.

I tend to cook it the way my granny

and my mother used to cook it which is a pot roast although

-I like to think my way's a little bit better than theirs.

-I'm sure it is.

So, in it goes to cold water and then lots of vegetables.

And of course they used to cook this, got a great stock out of it

and you'd actually get dumplings cooked in it and it was delicious.

We're not going to use the juice for this but whatever you do,

-don't throw the juice away.

-Oh, no. It makes a great stock.

Absolutely right, yeah. You can freeze it if you need to.

Bit of carrot and it's really those leeks

and perhaps celery are the vegetables that we'd actually

put in here but these are the main two, carrots and onions.

I'm going to put a wee bit of salt in there

because it's not a salted piece of meat but if it was salted beef...

OK, so bit of salt in there.

And then, in here, bay leaf and peppercorns, and the only thing

I'm going to put in there... We often throw away the stems,

so I'll stick it in there and bring it to the boil.

Now, the thing about this recipe is

it's what we call a 'day before' recipe.

You do this the day before and it takes about three hours

I think, a piece of meat like that.

So, do you let it just bubble really gently?

Bring it up to the boil and then it trembles

so just let it sit there like poaching eggs, it actually poaches,

it doesn't boil, and you end up with a piece of meat looking like this.

Look, it's shrunk quite a bit.

The trick to make sure it's cooked is it just slides off.

-OK?

-Yeah.

Right, so when it's cooled down, this has cooled a little bit,

I want to press it to get what I want for tomorrow.

So, get rid of the juice there.

On to clingfilm and then we wrap it over.

And fasten it up nice and tight.

Obviously, your grandma and my grandma wouldn't have done this.

What would they have done? I wonder what they'd use. Just cloth?

Just cloth, probably, yeah.

So it goes, then, on to a tray, and then

this is the real technological moment of Brian Turner, OK?

So, that goes on top there.

-And you need a brick!

-Stick a brick on it.

It just seems to work well with a brick.

And you put that overnight

and actually, I've got a piece here that I've done overnight,

so you see the colours changed, it's got that nice flat shape

so I can get a steak out of it.

It's holding together as well.

That is my only concern, to make sure it all holds well together.

Lovely cold like this with piccalilli.

Great if you want to heat it up in some of the stock.

But what I want to do now is make a dressing.

We start with some sweet sherry.

And I've got some soy sauce here as well. Dark soy sauce.

I've got some ginger.

Dry ginger. This dressing's sounding very oriental, Brian.

It is a bit because I wanted to make this dish slightly different.

I've got some brown sugar to go in there.

Squeeze of lemon juice, not too much.

Just make sure I don't get too many pips in there.

-And then a bit of oil.

-What kind of oil?

This is groundnut oil, it works. Vegetable oil works perfect.

All got coatability...

and then we get the pan nice and warm.

And there are those of us who want some hot pepper sauce in there.

-Yeah. I agree with that.

-That's it. We've got that ready to go.

-Can I taste it?

-You can.

-That is good.

-Don't sound so surprised, lass.

-No, because it's a dressing I never would've made.

-It's meant to be good.

You wouldn't use that as a salad dressing

-because of the raw ginger in there.

-Yeah.

OK, so I'm going to cook this now.

I've got to be careful to make sure it holds together.

I mean, I think that looks fantastic.

I'm really quite pleased with that.

I think it's a grand piece of meat.

It's got big flavours in there but it is different,

the way we're doing it to the way people have traditionally...

And you're leaving the fat in there which is, some people might say,

"Oh, why aren't you cutting it out?"

But that's part of the flavour, isn't it?

A, the fat holds it together, and B, it's the flavour.

I'm going to put this in my pan here.

Now remember, it's cooked

so all I need to do is make sure it's heated through.

-And then I'll brush it with this marinade.

-OK.

-Right, while you're doing that... Miles?

-Yes.

-It's your meat. Are you impressed?

-Really impressed at the moment.

-He's not going to say any different.

-I know, but I want to ask,

Miles, have you ever seen brisket cooked like this?

Never.

I think the trick is to keep glazing it.

Now, the texture will...

Oh, look at that. Really pleased with that.

Miles, this is a cheap cut, isn't it?

-Yes, one of the cheapest cuts of meat.

-How much is a brisket?

Well, you can have it cut to any size, but about £8 a kilo.

-So it is really cheap.

-Yes.

You have to be careful, because of the sugars in here,

it will caramelise and burn so you just have to be sensible with it.

We've got to serve something with it.

I'm just going to serve a little broccoli salad with it.

I've got some little gem lettuce here.

Looking good.

So, my dressing, I'm going to use some grain mustard

because it's got little seeds in there which has got a great texture.

And then I've got some sherry vinegar which will marry well

with our sweet sherry there.

And a bit of rapeseed oil.

Four to one, I like to use. One of vinegar, or acid,

to four of oil. Give it a whirl like that, that's looking good.

And then a bit of salt.

And a bit of pepper.

And I'm going to put these leaves in here and give them a whirl.

All I want to do now is, I've got some tenderstem broccoli here

and I'm just going to make a little bit of broccoli salad.

Florets, just lightly cut,

and then just cut these into little pieces, so there's bags of it.

What I'm going to do is make sure they're nicely covered

and we'll stick those on the end so it will give it a bit of direction.

Yeah.

I'm going to put a bit more oil in there to make sure I've got enough.

Salt and pepper.

Make sure it's lovely seasoned. This is a smashing dish.

You could do this on the barbecue if you wanted, outside.

Well, it's a very quick dish to do. Provided you plan it the day before,

actually finishing it off isn't that hard.

You're so right, good food is all about good planning.

Turn that off.

Now you've got to be careful

because it's starting to get soft, therefore it might just...

But you want it warm all the way through.

That is warm all the way through, that's looking good.

-There you go.

-Just a little brush with the marinade, not too much.

So, there you have it, Janet.

Glazed brisket steaks with a broccoli salad, just for you.

Have a go, gal.

Thank you. Oh, yeah. Look how it breaks up.

Oh, it looks lovely.

Well done meat is nice to have every now and then.

Mmm.

-I love the glaze.

-I love the beef, and that bit of fat.

-Try the glaze with a bit of broccoli salad.

-This looks really good.

-Terrific.

-You would say if it wasn't, wouldn't you?

-I would.

-I suspect you would.

But I'm feeling guilty because Miles is over there.

Miles, come over and have some. Come on, all of you.

-Come and join in.

-It's fantastic. I've got to share it.

Oh, that bit by the fat. Trust you to do that, I'm going to have that.

That tastes great.

-All right now, Miles. What do you reckon?

-It's fantastic.

-Really tender.

-So are you tempted to try it?

-Yeah.

Yeah. I could easily sell it as well. I think it'd be really good.

It is just finding different ways to sell a cheaper cut of meat.

What do you think, guv'nor?

I think it's excellent, it's really refreshing to see another cheaper

cut of meat being cooked in a different way. I've never seen it

cooked like this, and it's a really nice marinade as well.

I've actually never cooked brisket at all, so I'm really impressed

because it's not something I would've even thought of doing.

But the question is would you be tempted to have a go at it,

-or is it too much faffing for you?

-No, actually, I think...yeah.

It's all really good. The salad's lovely.

'Your beef went down well, Brian.

'So, you're going to have to pull out all the stops

'for your celebratory dish.'

'While Brian hunts for more ingredients,

'I'm off to Wicken Fen, Britain's oldest nature reserve -

'a place where Charles Darwin collected beetles back in the 1820s

'when he was a Cambridge undergraduate.

'Howard Cooper, from the National Trust,

'has offered to take me on a tour.'

Here we go, Janet. This is the Mayfly, which is going to

take us for a trip down Wicken Lode into the heart of The Fens.

-Nice to meet you.

-Hi.

-Step aboard. Sandy, our boatman today.

Take a seat.

'And surprise, surprise, it's another boat.

'I'm just grateful Brian's not driving.'

'I heard that, Janet.'

Why is this particular part of The Fens so important?

This is so important

because it's one of the very last remnants of undrained Fenland.

The Great Fen Basin once covered nearly 3,000 square kilometres from

Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. A vast area.

And it's all been drained apart from a few square kilometres

of which Wicken's Sedge Fen is one of them.

Tell me how Wicken Fen was preserved in the first place.

Well, Victorian entomologists, and of course there's

lots in Cambridge University, Darwin was there.

They realised that when The Fens were being drained,

that lots of wildlife species were just disappearing

and they actually managed to convince the fledgling

National Trust to buy some land so, in 1899,

the National Trust paid £10 for two acres of the Fen.

Now, the National Trust managed to acquire more land

so, by the end of the last century, we had about 330 hectares.

'Darwin would've been delighted.

'That's over 815 acres preserved for his beloved wildlife.'

Andy, what wildlife would've lived here before The Fens were drained?

A wide variety of bird life.

the people here would've lived by...

wild fowling, fishing, eel catching.

Eels especially were very important,

hugely important part of the economy for hundreds of years, eels.

In the old days, in medieval times, you could pay your taxes in eels.

Really? So, going back to the Middle Ages, how did people live,

given that it was so boggy and getting from one place to another

must have been so difficult?

It was difficult but The Fen did support communities. Wicken itself,

there was a whole hamlet who lived and earned their living

on The Fen here. They harvested sedge, they dug peat,

did wild fowling and eel catching.

-So they lived on the eels from the water, hunted the wild ducks.

-Yeah.

-What's the sedge?

-The sedge is a very long thin blade.

-It grows in the undrained Fen.

-So it's not a reed?

-It's not a reed, no.

It was traditionally used as a roofing material and also as a fuel.

They used to take it by boat to Cambridge University

and it used to fire the furnaces there.

So how important is it to keep pristine areas

of wetland like this one?

This is all that's left and, if this disappeared,

a lot of the species that are here now would be gone for ever,

so it's vital that we keep these areas open and expand them

to make them more self sufficient, because the bigger this is,

the more it looks after itself.

Cambridge is a growing city, there's lots of housing development

planned and these people need somewhere to come and recreate.

The vision is that we expand Wicken Fen southwards,

so, hopefully, in about 100 years or so,

we'll be literally down to the outskirts of Cambridge.

'I think I'm going to enjoy my peaceful boat ride a little longer.

'But being the typical chef,

'Brian just can't go more than an hour without getting into a kitchen.'

'I've headed back into Cambridge to watch someone else

'working hard for a change.

'Daniel Clifford has been the chef-owner

'of his two Michelin-starred restaurant for 16 years.

'For him, local, seasonal produce is king.'

-Chef, it's the first time I've been here.

-First time, I know.

-You should've been here a long...

-I'm sorry, chef.

Show us what you're going to cook us.

So, basically, what we're going to do is a simple veloute,

freshly cooked asparagus, poached hen's egg we've wrapped in potato

and some smoked duck from a local smokery.

-I hope you enjoy it.

-Fantastic.

Asparagus is about six miles away from here,

a place called Burwash Manor.

We wait till the season starts, it's got a short season,

about six or eight weeks

so to be honest this is the first time we've used it this year.

So, really happy because we've been waiting for it to come in.

So, basically all it is is a simple veloute.

So we've got half an onion and half a garlic,

that's just going to get sweated down.

By veloute you mean it's slightly thickened?

It's slightly thicker, so instead of putting potatoes in there,

the actual vegetables are going to thicken it, so we reduce the amount

of liquid that we put in to it.

What we're adding is chopped asparagus.

-This gets another sweat really quickly.

-Yeah.

Now we put the chicken stock.

The idea behind this is it boils, seven minutes,

and as soon as that seven minutes is off, I put the cream in, boil that

for two minutes and then I blend it and I don't season it now,

I season it afterwards because I need to season it when it's cold so I can

add the lemon juice and that'll change the flavour of the asparagus.

-Do you serve it hot or cold?

-It's served hot,

but what I do is pass it over ice so I keep that really green colour.

That cooks for seven minutes, your water's on here.

So, water's on now for poached eggs, just drop the eggs in,

don't do too many.

I think that's the secret, not too many,

and it's just got this wonderful turnover of water,

you don't need to do the stirring bit because it's already...

And if the eggs are fresh enough, you'll get a beautiful...

Which they obviously are. You don't have your own chickens?

No, we don't.

Right, so that's happening. Now I'm going to add the cream.

So, no seasoning yet.

That's also a good trick, is that. A lot of people season too early.

-Then it's salty.

-Yeah.

-And that's the thing.

Check the eggs, quickly. They go into the ice just to chill down.

-Yeah.

-So now, get this veloute in. Going to blend this really quickly.

-It's a great colour.

-Oh, it's beautiful.

It's a natural product.

So, now what I'm doing is passing it over ice.

That ice will keep the chlorophyll of the asparagus.

This is why it's called a veloute

because it's actually thickened with the vegetables we've put into it.

-It looks lovely, I have to say, and it's a lovely colour.

-That's it.

That's what we're looking for.

So now, lemon juice.

This is something that we've always done at Midsummer,

it's a trick that I learned in France,

we finish everything with lemon juice.

-It brings that natural...

-It brings, right at the back...

-Another dimension, it's fantastic.

-So, what I do now...

I'm just going to write that down.

That's a trade secret.

So, what I do now just to check the seasoning,

I always try a tiny bit more salt on the spoon.

And if it's too salty there, I don't add any more salt to that.

So it's absolutely perfect. So now the veloute's done.

Now what we're going to do is we're going to wrap the poached eggs,

-so the wrapping of the egg.

-Wrapping of the egg?

So, it's a poached egg which we wrap in potato.

It's something that we've done at Midsummer for 15 years.

So it goes really crispy because what I want is textures on the plate.

Any particular potatoes? Local potatoes I assume.

No, this is a chipper's choice,

it's the best chipping potato that I can find.

-We use two, we use this and we use a Maris Piper.

-OK.

As local as possible.

-These machines...

-They're amazing, eh?

-Did you have one of these when you were training?

-No, we didn't.

-We didn't either.

-We had the Japanese straight mandoline.

-Yeah.

We didn't even have mandolines when I was training,

we had what they call a knife. Have you ever seen one?

Yeah, it's just here for token value.

So, now I take a nice poached egg.

Trimmed up, they look lovely those, don't they?

-Right, so we'll do this together.

-Uh-oh, I could be in trouble now.

-Pull up my sleeves now, eh?

-Right, so take your egg. Yes, Chef.

And all you do is take a strand like that and pull it up.

Right, strand like that and pull it up, yeah.

You take it and put your finger on it like that and we just work round.

So, all we're doing is trying to make an elastic band ball.

Oh, right.

I've seen these in competitions but I've never made one.

It's not as classical as I am, chef.

-No, but we all learn something every day.

-Don't we just, eh?

I'm getting bored with this now, but I have to say, I'm quite pleased

with the way that is, I just hope that's going to work out all right.

-There you go, chef.

-That's brilliant.

-A Turner egg.

We'll save that one for Janet, shall we?

-We're going to crack on. So, there's our veloute.

-Ready to reheat. Lovely.

That's an asparagus puree,

so basically this is the exact same process as this but less stock.

Yeah, perfect.

So we're going to put two spears of asparagus in the pan.

-And that'll take how long to cook?

-I reckon two minutes.

-Perfect.

Here, we've got two different types of smoked duck.

This is the breast fillet which has had the fat taken off it

and cut into lardons.

And here, what I've got is the same but cut lengthways

-so we've got this beautiful natural product.

-Have you got plenty there?

Yeah, I've got loads of this.

It smells delicious.

The fryer's ready.

Want to use yours, or mine?

-If I were you, chef, I'd put them both in.

-Really?

And see which comes out best?

-Oh, pressure, Turner. Pressure.

-Yeah. You've been there.

I love the idea of those smoked duck lardons, nice and crisp.

Just take them out.

-So, they're ready. Now we're going to drop the eggs.

-Yeah.

So they go down. Puree goes in the bottom of the bowl.

Nice and green.

This gets swiped up the plate like that.

And then this is burnt onion powder.

Oh, right.

All this is is onions that have been burnt on both sides

but the centre has been left raw, and we dry them out in the oven.

So, we get a sprinkle of that onto the powder like that.

-It is quite bitter.

-It is, but you don't need too much.

With the sweetness of the asparagus, it works really well.

A few lardons like that.

It is quite artistic as well, Chef.

-Of that there is no doubt.

-Well, we try our best to make people happy.

So, a few rings of smoked duck.

There you go.

Just pour that in there.

Fantastic.

JANET: 'I'm a massive fan of asparagus

'so I can't wait to join Brian in tasting Daniel's dish.'

-Hiya.

-Chef.

-Hi.

So, this is Cambridgeshire asparagus with a veloute of asparagus.

It's got a poached hen's egg we've wrapped in potato

and some smoked duck form a local smokery.

-I hope you enjoy it.

-Thank you, chef. That's very kind.

-Thank you.

-I know how to do this because I've seen it done.

-Terrific.

-OK, my precious one, there you go. Lots of local produce.

-Lots of different flavours.

-Shall I taste the sauce first?

A veloute of asparagus, local asparagus.

Delicious.

I could eat asparagus every day.

I think I actually made this egg.

Perfectly undercooked. Isn't that terrific?

It's like a very sophisticated scotch egg.

-It could be called a Cambridge egg.

-A Cambridge egg.

And can you taste a hint of bitterness at the back?

-Just a little bit.

-I've just had a bit of smoked duck.

That's lovely, isn't it?

And he puts a little burnt onion powder on there.

Isn't British asparagus

so much better than asparagus from anywhere else?

I couldn't agree more and he only uses this asparagus

when it grows outdoors. Six week season, that's it.

I think that's brilliant.

This is the kind of dish I really like to eat.

And I know why.

Because the colour of that, if it's dropping down your front,

you won't see it too much.

You can't beat Great British produce,

and Daniel really took that asparagus to the next level.

Daniel buys his asparagus from Burwash Manor,

an organic farm just down the road in Barton.

Here, they grow a variety of crops as well as farming

a wide selection of animals.

I'm interested in some of their rather special pigs,

and farmer Matt Radford has kindly agreed to introduce us.

So, what was the reason why you decided to go organic?

Well, it was idealistic, really.

We've done a lot of conservation for many years.

My dad planted hedgerows and encouraged wildlife

and it just seemed like the next step.

He thought that the new millennium was a good time to do it.

It seems a strange way to make a business decision

but it's worked out quite well for us.

So you based it on a new century, a new way of farming.

Yeah, well, OLD way of farming really, I suppose.

This is our latest litter of piglets in this sty here.

These pigs are Essex Saddleback crossed with Duroc Boar,

to give us a better meat.

They're about ten days old so they'll be on the farm till they're

about six months old and will go into the butcher's shop

and be unique to us.

The saddlebacks have got a nice story.

-They're a maternal line called The Duchess which...

-The Duchess?

-Stop it!

-I never said a word.

-The Duchess, yes.

My great, great grandfather bred Duchess Saddlebacks.

Many years ago, there was a particularly good sow that was

called Duchess someone or other, and so they bred from that line.

We thought it had died out,

but my sister came across a lady

who'd found the last known Duchess sow in a petting zoo in Wales,

so we tried to get hold of some.

We got hold of several of her female offspring

and that's what you see here.

We think we've probably got the only Duchess Saddlebacks in the country.

The Duchess pig were originally bred to be a bacon pig.

They're very long so we get a lot of bacon.

They've got a very high fat content. They grow very slowly.

Don't you think that's changing?

You're quite right, there was a moment

when everybody said no fat, but actually we've realised,

without the fat there is no flavour and it tastes like cardboard

-if you're not careful.

-Particularly pork.

-Yeah.

Do you think people misunderstand pigs because they think

they're dirty and they're stupid, and they're neither?

Yeah, I think that they're very clever creatures.

They can get out of here very easily.

You can see the barricades we have to build to control them.

This pork sounds really delicious.

Just talking about the rearing, I can't wait to cook with it.

Good. Well, I can't wait to taste it.

Time for Brian to see if he can pull off his taste of Cambridgeshire.

I've rounded up some willing volunteers from the farm

to help try his dish.

'I'm going to cook a Cambridgeshire pork fillet with bacon and apples

'and pan-fried, locally grown chard.

'I do hope they like it.'

We have got some fantastic local produce for our celebration dish.

For all these... Just look at those wonderful, smiling faces.

Expectant, Brian.

We've got some local bacon, and then we've got local cider, apple juice.

This is a local pork fillet. Now, it is not from a Duchess, so you're OK.

Yeah, I haven't noticed any missing body parts.

Now, Brian. This is Tyler. Now you work on the farm.

What do you do here?

Mike Radford, the farmer here has very kindly rented me three acres

just down the road there where I grow a variety of vegetables,

some of which I've brought here today.

-Some salad mix and some rainbow chard.

-Lovely rainbow chard.

It looks so great when it's growing, doesn't it?

It does, and I'm doing it all organically up there as well,

same as the rest of the farm.

Perfect, my pans are getting hot, it's time to kick off.

Right, see you later, Tyler. You can taste it.

Now, I've chosen fillet of pork because it's lovely,

it's quick, it's tender.

My piece of preference would probably be a leg,

long slow roasted, but today...

-Look at the hunger etched on their faces.

-You're quite right.

This just very quickly peels off, does that skin.

You don't want to throw all the fat away, keep a little bit there.

I'm going to cut it into 3oz, in old money.

And I'm going to bash these out.

Now, I've got a rolling pin, so now I'm in charge, OK?

Not for long, I hasten to add.

Very carefully tap it. It's a lovely soft meat.

There it is. Fine. Got the frying pan on here,

bit of olive oil.

In they go now.

-Will they shrink much?

-Not a lot.

So, the trick with this...

-treat it like a lady.

-Brian, you're cooking a piece of pork,

not making love to something!

I'm treating this with love, care and attention.

But the trick is not to move it about too much

and try and turn it over.

See, that's not quite ready.

And once again, keep it underdone.

I know it's pork but fillet of pork is fine, keep it medium rare.

So whilst that's on there,

I'm going to quickly chop up some apples.

I'm just going to cut it into batons.

OK, how we looking? Right, now let's turn these.

You can see it's starting to boil a bit when I've turned it over.

I really don't want them to cook any more.

So let's put those apples, quickly...

..in there.

See, all the sediment from the pork now is just gathering

round those apples.

I've got this wonderful bacon here.

And then we're going to cut that up.

Cut into similar shaped pieces to the apple.

I'm putting plenty in here

because I think the whole thing works well together.

So we'll put those in there.

We've lost a lot of the fat now, it's in the apple,

but it doesn't really matter

because we've got bacon here which has its own wonderful fat in there.

Right, so whilst that's just frying there,

we've got the three major elements. We've got our fillet of pork,

we've got our apples, we've got our bacon in there all coming together.

So let me just turn this one on.

Put a bit of butter in there, not a lot.

-I'm going to put a few shallots in there.

-Yeah.

-Or chopped onions.

Just a little bit.

It's coming on nicely. That looks good.

Now let's have a look at this wonderful rainbow chard

of our mate over there.

So, just the bigger ones we're going to put in there.

Then we're just going to stew the leaves very quickly

when we're ready to go.

OK, so bacon's now ready.

I've still got a bit of sediment in there.

I've got all that flavour of smoked bacon

so I want to just get that into the sauce.

I've got some local apple juice, local cider and some chicken stock.

-OK.

-So I've married those together,

and reduced it down to get a concentration of flavour.

I've already done that, I've cheated a little bit.

Just to get that...

So now with a hot pan, we put these in here

and stew them down a little bit.

That's all we're really going to do.

I'm going to season it with a bit of nutmeg, just like you would spinach.

Mind your fingers on here. These things are bloomin' sharp.

A little bit of butter in there.

And I found here some chervil in the farm store. I do like chervil.

I just like something green in there.

So just that little bit. Parsley will do.

That's ready to go, so we're looking almost perfect.

What I'm going to do quickly, the juice coming out of the meat,

you mustn't lose that.

I'm just going to sit this in there. It's nice and hot.

Here we've got these wonderful salad leaves that you've grown, Tyler.

-Picked this morning.

-Yes.

-Couldn't be any fresher.

Local asparagus and a bit of dressing.

The chard's got lovely colour, I have to say.

Really nice flavours.

So, we take the pork.

Put the chervil in the sauce.

Oh, lovely.

Apple and bacon is going to go right down the middle.

Our taste of Cambridge on a plate.

Fillet of pork with smoked bacon, apples and a cider sauce.

-Right.

-Come on, then, tell us what you think, lady.

That pork is absolutely sensational.

It's good, isn't it?

I can see you can wait no longer. Come and taste it, please.

-Tyler, you better come up.

-Have you got forks?

I've got forks, I'm ready. Come round this way.

-You liked it?

-Mmm, perfect.

-Perfect.

-I think you've done the piggies justice.

-Thank you, sir.

Nicky and Emily, you provided the cider and the apple juice.

-That's right, yes.

-I thought the cider was dry, just how I like it.

Lovely, great flavour.

But what do you think of the pork and the sauce with it?

-You going to have a go?

-Yeah, definitely.

-We were just talking about that.

-Yeah, we'll do that tonight.

-Definitely, yeah.

-Fantastic. Thank you very much.

Well, what a journey we've been on.

It started on the rooftops of Cambridge, gloomy day.

-Then we did punting.

-We met Daniel Clifford. Wonderful.

-I went out on The Fens.

-And that beef on The Fens was fantastic.

Medallions of pork with local apples, local bacon.

It's been a great day, but for me, I think we just cracked it.

That was a taste of Cambridge on a plate.