Dorset 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 have 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 are joining forces to explore Britain's rich heritage...

..and the landscape that has 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've come to beautiful Dorset.

Nestled in the south of Britain,

it's a county of contrasts

offering the very best of countryside -

and coastline.

I'll be searching for the naked truth

on one of the most famous men in the country...

of the chalk variety, that is.

Now, George, he's got a very small brain area -

but do you think his power lies in another part of his anatomy?

I think all his strength has gone somewhere else, yes.

We'll also be heading to the hills to meet some Dorset goats.

Oh, this is vertical!

-Come on, give me your hand. Come on!

-No!

Along the way, we'll be hunting for the perfect ingredient

for a celebratory dish that sums the essence of Dorset's rich larder.

Is everybody ready?

That's if Janet ever stops playing with the produce.

SHE LAUGHS

Right, the dog's eaten them all!

Brian, I've brought you here for a fantastic view

out over the rolling hills of Dorset, with beautiful little villages.

And down there is Dorchester.

Near there is fabulous Apple Hampton House, with lovely gardens,

and way over there is Christchurch on the beautiful estuary.

It's a lovely part of the world down there.

I'm told there's a fabulous restaurant called the Jetty

that I would really like to go and see.

And there's also a couple of guys who are making charcuterie

here in Dorset with local produce.

I think that's brilliant.

And also a guy who breeds goats.

Fantastic terrain here for goats.

Yep. Very hilly, very good for walking.

And I'm off for a date with a giant!

I can't think of a better way

to begin sampling the real taste of Dorset

than with a trip to one of the many small independent producers

in this area.

Based close to the fertile Purbeck region,

the Dorset Charcuterie Company has a great reputation

for producing high quality dried meats.

They butcher, cure, season and mature all their products

from start to finish.

And its owner, Lee Moreton, is going to give us a step-by-step crash course.

-Morning.

-Morning, Lee. How you doing, all right?

-Hello, good to meet you. Welcome.

-Hi. Wow, I feel like I'm in Italy!

-Fantastic.

-And not in Dorset!

-With a bit of a Dorset twist, indeed.

So, come through and I'll show you around.

-Perfect!

-Thank you very much.

Lee has his very own butchery on-site,

where he prepares his amazing range of dried meats.

So this is our fridge, where all of our meat is hung.

Today we're going to show you

-how to make a Parma-style ham on the bone.

-Right.

If you want to put an apron on,

just so that we don't get mucky.

And keep the pig fairly clean as well, ideally.

Quite right, too.

If you can just touch the hook, Brian, just so it pops off...

Do you want to grab my hook, mate?

All right. Have you got it?

-I've got it, I've got it, yeah...

-What are you doing?!

-I've got it!

-There you go.

-It's heavier than I thought, is this.

-It is...

Aah! Don't whack me with that foot!

Fantastic.

So, we're going to start by removing the leg.

And you are going to make a nice straight cut, straight through.

Like that.

You have butchered before, haven't you?

-Of course, sir!

-Perfect.

No, no, not there!

No, that's fine. Carry on.

SHE LAUGHS

-That'll do.

-Sorry.

Don't encourage him, look.

Perfect. So we're going to then just make a little cut through...

Lee, were you a butcher before you started this?

Yes, I have been a butcher for about eight years, nine years now.

I was a landscape gardener beforehand, would you believe it?

-Which is the normal thing to do, is it not?

-Indeed, yeah.

Probably comes in very handy.

-Easy to go from topiary to butchery.

-Indeed.

OK, so what we are going to now do is prepare this for salting.

OK?

As what you want is a nice shape to the ham,

as you can imagine, once it's dried.

So, Lee, does all your meat come from the local area?

Indeed. We're very hot on sourcing our meat locally,

so everything that we have is minimum free-range, or wild,

-so we are very hot...

-So it really comes from within 20 or 30 miles.

Indeed.

Now, Lee, can I ask you something else?

I mean, whenever we go to the Continent,

we go mad for Italian and Spanish ham,

for Serrano ham and Parma ham -

but there's no reason why the hams that you are making here,

-aren't just as fantastic?

-Not at all.

But I think that the most important bit in any charcuterie

is obviously the meat, so if you start with pretty good meat,

you're going to finish with something pretty good anyway.

-Sure.

-And I think there is no reason why we can't beat

the French, Italians and Spanish at their own game.

-Take those gold medals!

-Exactly.

-We're going to do it!

Lee, to get a ham of really high quality, how long do you hang it for?

It's years, isn't it?

It is - a minimum of a year, really.

You can cut into a ham after six months,

but I think that the whole point of it

is that you get that amazing flavour that develops on the bone -

that cheesy, musty, farty smell, if you would,

-that is, you know, a good quality...

-A farty smell?

Yeah, it's got that, you know, cheesy "je ne sais quoi" about it,

-and I think that comes with age.

-It's what we call a ripeness.

-Ripeness, that's the one.

-So how does that look now, Chef?

Is that the shape you are looking for?

That looks absolutely perfect.

I'm pretty happy with that.

The next step in producing perfect Parma-style ham

is to cover the legs in salt to start the drying process.

Is this a special salt?

No, it's sea salt.

It's an unprocessed salt,

so nothing that's got any anti-caking agents,

because that will interfere with the cure.

So, it's about that much, till it's covered.

So, if you just chuck it on.

Now, if you just want to work that salt.

Is it like giving someone a massage?

It is just like that.

-All right.

-OK, so slowly, with love.

-So we want to get...

-No, Lee!

Really! How long do you have to rub this stuff in for?!

A little bit longer.

You want to get into all the little orifices, if you can.

This salting process is there, obviously, to impart some flavour

but also to kill the bacteria, which then in turn preserves it.

And then this is going to be left in the fridge,

so that the salt can draw the water out, kill any bacteria,

and start to dry this, OK? And once we've done that...

-Yep.

-..we can go and try some of our charcuterie that we make.

That sounds fantastic. We must have a taste -

-and can I make a little pickle to go with it?

-Perfect.

-Wonderful.

-Sounds almost like a lunch, I'd say.

-Lunch!

-Let's do it.

Fantastic! Let's go!

Once they've spent a couple of weeks in the fridge,

the legs are hung in a temperature-controlled environment

for at least a year.

But we haven't got that long to wait,

so Lee's laid out a mouthwatering platter

of the very best in charcuterie.

Before we tuck in, though, I'm going to create the perfect accompaniment.

This looks fantastic here, I tell you what -

we are so privileged. But I'm going to cheat a little bit,

I'm just going to do a little job, and just make a little pickle,

a sweet pickle,

to go with this wonderful stuff you've got over there.

I've got the pan on over here,

and I've just got these lovely ingredients here.

And all you really need to do is just marinade those all together.

We've got white wine vinegar,

we've got some water,

and 12 peppercorns.

-Sugar.

-Yep.

That goes in there.

Now chilli flakes is really up to you,

-how many you really want to use.

-I like it with a bit of a kick.

Yeah, well, not everybody does.

Cloves, we put a couple in there.

Star anise - we'll just give it a bit of a bash,

because you are not going to leave it too long.

And a squeeze of lemon juice.

This is a slightly sweet pickle -

that lemon juice will counteract it a little bit.

And all I am going to do then,

I'm going to marinade in that some radishes and some shallots.

I'm going to chop these up, but that just looks fantastic.

Lee, show us what you are going do to with that.

It's time to crack it open, I think, now.

So I am going to take that fat off here...

Wow, look at that. It's like Christmas!

-Come on, Janet.

-What am I doing? Hang on...

-You're watching.

-I'm just going to prepare it for you.

-Prepare it for me?

Whoops - yeah. And then you're going to have a go. OK?

How many years did you train to be a butcher?

-Er, about ten... About ten.

-Ten years.

Lee, ten years, and I've got ten seconds.

That's fine, it's OK.

The trick is just to keep the knife flat

and let it glide through the meat. OK?

We want it nice and thin, and ideally we do not want to ruin this,

if we can. This is our best ham that we have, I think.

It's a two-year-old Mangalitza.

You know what? If you look at me, you're going to put me off.

Well, I won't look at you!

-I'll close my eyes, then.

-No, just go and stir your pot.

You want someone to hold... Oh, for goodness' sake!

OK, so nice and gentle.

Back and forward.

You got to wiggle the hips. Go on. Get in there.

That's it.

-That's going for a steak, there...

-Oh stop it!

-Whoa, that's a gammon! Anyone for gammon?

-Stop it!

Do you want pineapple on that?

Right we'll let you carry on with that, you're doing a great job.

-Right, how's your pickle coming on?

-Right we've got muslin here.

I'm just going to strain out all those bits and pieces.

I just want the actual pickling juice.

That's all I really want now, which is fine.

And you leave it in there to cool down.

So I've cut the radishes into thin strips...

-So you don't want to cook it?

-No, no, I just want to marinade it

and get that lovely flavour.

And some shallots, just cut them across there.

-OK, right, there - that's your lot. Goes into there.

-Yeah.

Ten minutes in here, no more. You really want to keep it crunchy.

You just want to get a bit of flavour in there.

So we put that in there.

I have to say I do feel a bit of a fraud,

cos it's very simple to do, is this.

A bit of chopped parsley, we need.

Have a quick taste.

Oh!

That is really good.

A bit more salt, OK... Don't sound so surprised!

No, because it is such a few ingredients.

We just finish off this seasoning,

and we leave it to sit for about half an hour.

And it looks, then, just like that.

It takes on that lovely colour. Have a taste of that.

Go on, there you go. See what you think.

It's crunchy, and sweet and sour all in one.

This just looks brilliant - so many different things on there.

-Tell us what you've actually got.

-So we have got our Kimmeridge ham,

we've got our Dorset truffle lomo, so a loin of pork

and that's just with a little bit of truffle oil

and local truffle grated into it.

We've got our Dorset air-dried beef,

and then we've got our two-year-old ham on the bone,

that Janet's very expertly sliced.

The only thing with it - it doesn't last very long,

so we'll have to eat it fairly quickly.

I don't think I will have a problem with that.

So, you should start with the ham, I think.

I love the smell of it.

It's quite pungent.

So much meat you eat now, has got no guts to it at all.

Indeed.

Lovely balance of salt in there.

Well, two years ago I went to the salami capital of Italy, Norcia,

and I thought that I would never experience anything like that

in England, but Lee...

Fantastic, thank you very much.

-Kind words.

-It's happening in Dorset.

Thank you very much, Brian - amazing pickle.

Well, that was really tasty, was it not?

And look - I got a bit of chorizo.

I might just be able to use that when I cook.

But anyway, I'm going down to see a great chef down at the seaside,

-at the Jetty.

-I'm going to see a man who's not going to answer back.

Bless him!

I've got a date with the most famous man in Dorset,

who stands head and shoulders above the rest.

But I like to keep my men waiting,

so first I'm heading into the village, Cerne Abbas, below.

It originally grew around a great Benedictine Abbey,

founded in AD 987,

that was destroyed by Henry VIII in the 16th century.

All that's left today are the former guest lodge and gatehouse,

where I'm meeting local historian George Mortimer.

What's the story of Cerne Abbas?

How did it get its name?

-The river is called the Cerne...

-Yes.

..and the Abbas would have been added

after the abbey was founded in 987.

It was a Benedictine monastery,

and it would have been in that ground over there -

but it all disappeared after 1539 with the Dissolution,

and literally, within 50 years, there was nothing to be seen.

-So Henry VIII razed the whole thing to the ground...

-He did indeed.

-..except the gate.

-Except the gate, that was saved.

And, over to your left, the only other part that survives

is the guesthouse, which was built in about 1460, 1470,

which is where the guests for the abbey would have stayed overnight.

So we are very lucky to have just those two pieces still surviving.

Well, it's a very nice guesthouse, if you don't mind me...

It's very comfortable, very pleasant.

It's a lovely piece of architecture, actually.

Cerne Abbas is also famous for its successful breweries,

that exported to the Americas as early as the 1800s.

I'd love to pop in for a pint,

but I think I've kept my date waiting long enough.

So, time to meet the man in person.

Size isn't everything, they say,

but the Cerne Abbas Giant stands proudly

as Britain's largest chalk figure.

Right. So here we are, alongside his head.

Yes, indeed.

Er, not a very large brain area... HE CHUCKLES

..but I would suspect his power lies in another part of his anatomy.

It does actually, yes.

From head to toe he is about 180 feet,

but the part you are talking about is about 30 feet of it -

so, yes, in proportion, yes...

So that's about, what? Six to one.

THEY LAUGH

Perhaps that's where all his strength has gone!

Now, do you think the Giant is old or relatively new?

There are two basic schools of thought.

One, that it goes back to British or Roman times,

based on Hercules, which was one of the Roman gods.

And the other one is that it's more recent,

perhaps done in the 17th century as a lampoon of Oliver Cromwell,

because the owner of the land at the time hated Cromwell ever so much,

so it's suggested he did this.

But there is no written history of this thing surviving until 1694,

and that's the first known historical reference,

and it is in the church accounts,

where they paid three shillings to "repair ye Giant".

-"Ye Giant"?!

-"Ye Giant"!

And that's it, three shillings to "repair ye Giant".

So, down there on the site of the abbey

there could be a load of monks reading the scriptures...

-Yep, that's right...

-..praying to God, renouncing sex,

and up here in the hillside, a big fertility symbol...

Well, yes - it seems very unlikely,

but that's just one of the arguments.

All we can say is, whoever did it, it's a lot of work to do it.

There is myth that if a lady is looking to become pregnant,

they can go and sort of bed themselves down for the night

further on down there, on his manhood, and erm...

Do women do that?!

Yes - oh, yes! It has been known, has been known...

-But it's a one in two slope!

-Yes, it is.

I think you'd choose your weather better as well.

-George, thank you.

-My pleasure.

I can't wait to go and tell Brian about this.

HE CHUCKLES

-I hope he won't feel threatened.

-Yes!

I'm still on the lookout for more tasty ingredients

to use in our celebratory cook.

As well as thousands of acres of arable farmland,

Dorset's also blessed with almost 100 miles of coastline.

A local chef making the most of the ocean's rich variety of produce

is ex-trawlerman Alex Aitken at the Jetty.

His restaurant is set right at the water's edge.

And I've asked him to cook us a dish

to showcase some of the local seaside delicacies.

-Morning, Alex.

-Good morning, Brian.

So what are you going to cook for us, Chef?

Well, we've got these wonderful ingredients locally on our doorstep.

We get lots of brown crab landed here,

so I am going to do a Mudeford crab croquette,

and I done a slight twist on it - I've got a brown crab butter

that runs through the middle of the croquette.

On top of that we've got the marsh samphire, which is brilliant.

But, what a lot of people don't use, which we get round here,

-is the rock samphire.

-Do you collect it yourself?

I collect it myself. This one I went out this morning and collected.

And it does literally grow on rocks -

and it tastes like carrot.

And it is a member of the carrot family, although it's green.

-We've got our dry potato mash...

-Yep.

-..and I want to put some parsley into there.

-Yep.

And then just mash that parsley up.

Then what I want to mix into there is the white crab meat,

and that's got that nice, iron-y crab flavour -

but not as strong as the brown crab meat.

I'll put a little bit of seasoning in there, but not too much,

because I find that there is quite a lot salt flavouring

in the actual crab that we put in there.

And we'll be using samphire in the dish as well,

so samphire's got that saltiness from the sea.

Right, and now it's the slightly messy bit

where we are going to shape these croquettes.

So I put a little bit of flour on my hands,

and then...into the middle of there.

The brown crab meat -

what I've done here is already mixed that in with some butter.

These are the crab butter...

-Oh, they are like pellets, aren't they?

-They're like pellets.

What we've done is we've frozen that

so that we can handle it to make the croquettes.

We just wrap that with the potato,

so that pellet or lozenge of crab meat butter...

So when you actually deep-fry that, will it...?

It will soften, it will flavour,

and really brown in the middle, almost like a lovely butter -

like a Kiev.

I can feel my little saliva glands just working extra hard here.

So, the traditional ingredients to do our croquettes.

-So, it's...

-So you've got flour, mixed egg and...

..breadcrumbs. So, flour, egg wash...

So you are quite lucky around here - you do get some wonderful fish.

What's fantastic at the moment?

At the moment, it's the flat fish.

Dover sole, plaice... We're getting some lovely little turbot as well.

And a bit later on we will get red mullet, which will be really nice.

Oh, you are going to do it twice?

I'm going to do it twice, just double panne, just to make sure.

And how do you do for meat in this part of the world, is it local?

Meat - where possible, local.

The other day we did a hogget.

and it was slightly gamey - almost a goaty feeling to it.

That's actually quite good, is that,

because I am actually going to cook a celebration meal

that has a representation in this particular part of the world -

-I think goat is a good idea.

-A very good idea.

Right, these croquettes I'm just going to drop into the fryer.

And how long would you actually leave them in there for?

-They want to be in there about five or six minutes.

-OK.

And the sauce I like to serve with this -

I like to call it a warm tartare sauce.

So what I've got on here

is just a white wine reduced with a little bit of white wine vinegar,

and in there I'm going to put some shallots.

And they're all looking good.

Let me just lift those croquettes out for a minute.

And then we're just going to add cream,

and then I'm just going to put in a little bit of butter.

-Yep.

-So, the butter in cold.

I just love the way you whisk that butter in.

It's now changing colour, it's got a deep golden colour

-and it's got a shine.

-Exactly - you can see the richness in that sauce.

Exactly, you're right.

And now that butter is all whisked in, in go my...

..ready-chopped gherkins. I want all of those in there.

And I've noticed you've got midget gherkins and midget capers,

so the finer, the smaller, the better they are. Yes?

Exactly. The small ones are really delicious.

I wasn't really going to tell you this, Chef,

but my wonderful colleague Janet Street-Porter

doesn't like cream and doesn't like butter!

So, it'll be interesting to see how she reacts to this.

Right, what I'm going to do now is,

to bring the samphire to temperature,

-is drop them in the sauce as well.

-Yeah.

Right, we're now ready.

Grab my croquettes...

So, there we are, Brian.

Mudeford crab croquettes

on rock and marsh samphire with a warm tartare source.

That looks fantastic. That is definitely my kind of dish.

I'm not sure about my mate, but we'll see.

Well, let's hope she enjoys it.

It may contain a dollop of cream or two...

but with Alex's clever combination of local seaside flavours,

this is definitely a dish fit for a duchess.

-Hi, guys.

-Hi.

So there we are.

Thank you.

-SHE GASPS

-Your kind of dish, girl?

It's SO my kind of dish.

-Samphire I adore.

-Yeah.

Crab, absolutely.

And it's nice, as you've got rock AND marsh samphire in there.

Yes.

Oh, God, I can hardly speak, I'm enjoying it so much.

It's quite a rich dish.

Yeah!

But...

..the creamy sauce balances out the crab cakes,

cos they can be quite dry.

I am amazed to hear to hear you say that,

that you like the creamy sauce.

I do.

In moderation.

In the right circumstances, under the right conditions.

It's delicious.

Oh, I just tasted that crab nugget.

It's good, isn't it, eh?

Very good.

Another treat.

Well, now your stomach's satisfied, how about your brain?

I have got a fantastic village to show you called Milton Abbas.

Full of history.

Fancy a little stroll down the high street?

Of course.

Few things epitomise the splendour of the English countryside

more than its quaint picture-postcard villages.

And there's certainly no shortage of those in Dorset.

Characterised by its identical thatched cottages,

Milton Abbas near Dorchester

has a particularly interesting history,

as one of the first planned settlements in Britain.

So why have you brought me here?

Well, first of all, it's a fantastically interesting village -

-it looks modern, almost.

-Yes, it does.

-20th century.

-Yeah.

-But in fact Milton Abbas was built in 1773.

-Good Lord!

And the original village was down the road,

but the Earl of Dorchester didn't like the noise.

It disturbed his rural tranquillity.

And so he simply demolished the original village

and rebuilt it here.

So it's called a planned village or a model village,

and it was all built at once, and most of the old villagers moved here.

So he just told them, "You've got to shift and live here"?

They had no choice - he was the local landowner,

and he built them the village, so that was it.

Where the village was, down the road,

it was then knocked down completely and now it's an ornamental lake.

Doesn't exist!

So they could go fishing?!

Yeah!

Having got rid of the villagers,

Lord Milton set about redesigning the grounds,

and replaced the decaying abbey building

with a Gothic-style mansion that today houses the local school.

But I think the villagers got a great deal.

By the standards of the day,

this would have been luxurious living -

look, semidetached houses or detached houses -

today they're probably worth a fortune!

But back then they were villagers' hovels.

Well, just near here there's a very famous goat farm,

and I'm desperate to see it.

-So shall we go and see some goats?

-Let's go see!

There's a long heritage of livestock farming in Dorset.

But at Steeptonbill Farm, Steve Gould and Tess Evans

are venturing into new territory by adding a herd of goats

to the wide range of animals they breed.

I still have to decide on our celebratory dish,

and I think goat would be just the perfect main ingredient.

-Hello!

-Hello.

-Nice to see you.

-Hi.

-Hello, hello!

-It's good to see you.

Come on in.

Steve and Tess thought their steep banks overlooking Milton Abbey

would be the perfect terrain for rearing goats.

The only trouble is that we've got to climb to the top

to appreciate the view.

Oh, this is vertical!

Go on, give me your hand.

No, I don't want a hand.

-Come on!

-No!

Just think of the view.

Oops!

I'm thinking of the goat...

cooked!

So, with this farm, you specialise in rare breeds.

Rare breeds, sheep.

And we have just gone into goats in the last couple of years.

Where we've crossed South African Boer goat

with an ex-dairy goat like these here,

to produce a meat goat which seems to be going very well.

So what made you actually decide to make that decision?

Because it's a big decision, surely?

It was various chefs that we deal with locally

seemed to want it and demand it...

So these were the chefs that were buying your other meat...

-Buying other things, vegetables.

-Yeah, buying your mutton. Yeah.

..other vegetables, eggs and all of that sort of stuff.

And then we started to sell it through the farm shop.

I think that possibly people have been experimenting with it,

-or having it when they've been on their holidays...

-Yeah.

..and want to come back and just try it at home, really.

It is, I am told, the world's most eaten meat,

-which I never realised.

-Yeah...

In this country it's regarded as a delicacy still, isn't it?

It is, relatively, a delicacy.

People have become quite interested in it

because it's very healthy meat.

-Yeah, I was going to say, it's got lots of advantages.

-Yeah.

I think it's next to venison in regards to health.

It's low cholesterol, low saturated fat, high in iron,

comparable to beef in iron content.

So we've quite a few people coming into the shop

who are interested in eating healthily,

and that's sometimes appealing as well.

Isn't the other thing,

you couldn't get much more free-range than this?

Look, Brian and I have staggered up this hill...

-Speak for yourself!

-Well!

-These goats, they're so nimble, aren't they?!

-They are!

They've got the most fantastic grazing here, I mean you know...

-They are quite picky about what they will eat, as well.

-They are.

They've rejected my trousers, my socks and my shoes!

-And your designer trainers!

-Yeah!

When people come in to you, and see goat meat

and say to you, "What does it taste like?"

How do you describe it?

Well, it's like a cross between lamb and beef, really, I suggest.

-There's not a lot of fat on it.

-It's very, very, very low in fat.

I mean, you can see, none of these animals are fat,

and none of them will ever get fat.

And that influences, Steve, how you cook it, doesn't it?

-Well...

-Because it's so dry.

It could be dry, if you didn't cook it right.

-But, I mean, my favourite joint is the leg.

-Yeah.

And our butcher cuts it into steaks,

and just to fry that in the frying pan,

just literally flash fry it and turn it over,

it's absolutely fabulous.

I could eat it all day and all night!

Well, Brian, got any inspiration?

Great inspiration.

With you in mind with these leg steaks, I've got a fabulous idea.

Slow-cooked, braised...wait and see.

Right. New twist on Dorset, then.

Absolutely right.

Armed with a couple of goat steaks,

we're all set to cook up a taste of Dorset.

Given the county's rich historical heritage,

I can't think of anywhere more appropriate for our celebratory cook

than a 15th-century Tudor mansion.

What do you think?

Athelhampton House - isn't it beautiful?

Fantastic, isn't it, eh?

Absolutely sensational.

Well, I'm off to go and have a look at the gardens.

Well, I'm going to get my celebration goat ready, then.

-See you later, bud!

-Perfect place for you.

Considered to be one of the most outstanding manor houses in Britain,

Athelhampton's been granted Grade I listed status.

Current owner Andrea Cooke is continuing a long tradition

of restoring the house and gardens for future generations.

So, what date is the house?

Was it all built in one period,

or has it been added to over the centuries?

Oh, no. Well, the Pidele family moved here in the 1350s,

which was where the Piddle Valley gets its name from.

So, there was a Norman house here,

but before them was a Saxon building.

The house that you see now, the hall dates from 1485,

but there was a building here from the 1350s.

But there's Elizabethan, Georgian,

going right the way through to the 20th century.

-There has been an evolution...

-So, it has been added to.

So, with every family, and the need of each of each family,

people have just added on rooms.

So, as each member of the family has inherited the house,

how have they altered the gardens?

The original gardens only started -

this gardens you see now - in the 1880s.

The owner at the time, Cart de Lafontaine, imported 40,000 tonnes

of hamstone and they terraced the whole garden up from this base.

The Cooke family, my husband's family, started adding to it.

The Palace of Westminster has an area called New Palace Yard,

with a beautiful fountain system,

so we have a miniature version of that, here.

So, the gardens are not one garden,

they are a series almost of rooms, aren't they?

Oh, very much. I think that's the joy of this garden,

because when I've come to plant it,

I try to be really pure about the colours in each room,

so they are distinctive from one to the other.

And they sort of lead in from one room to the next.

Andrea, thanks so much for hosting us here.

Will you join me for a bit of celebration goat?

I'd love to! Yes, please. Thank you.

Time to head back to the manor house to see what Brian

has on the menu for our celebratory dish.

Well, this is it.

I have got some fantastic local ingredients.

And what a great sight, and look, lots of people!

-Lots of locals!

-Fantastic! Local it is. These are local vegetables.

This is what I'm going to cook with.

Leg steaks from Steve's goat. That looks fantastic.

-Very little fat on it, looks good.

-Yes.

Going to be fantastic, is that.

And then, what I've decided to do is to make it a little bit spicy.

So, I have got here, I have got some cardamom,

some cloves and some peppercorns.

I've got ginger, green chilli,

cinnamon stick and this belter.

This is Lee's charcuterie place,

this is wonderful chorizo.

I'm going to do a goat steak in a spicy tomato sauce,

with potatoes and chorizo on top.

So, I'm just going to chop this up.

And I have got some of these onions here, local onions.

Everything is local as you say, today.

Lovely golden brown with a bit of oil.

Takes ages, but they smell fantastic.

Don't know about everybody else, but fried onions...

They're starving! They're starving!

Oh, be good!

So, those go in there, and we put the chorizo in there,

to give that little bit of spicy flavour as we kick off.

Okey-cokey. So once I have got that on the go, bit of chicken stock.

So, we put that in there

and we'll just let it start to cook away, there.

Get a bit of flavour all mingled in together,

whilst that's happening, bit of olive oil...

That chorizo is really colouring the onions.

It has! It's lovely, isn't it?

And it will go lovely with the tomato colour, so that's fantastic.

In here, then, we're going to colour the goat steaks.

And what I want to do is make sure we get

a really lovely caramelisation on the outside.

So, we put those in now, nice and gently, mind your hands.

But the thing about this is, don't play with it.

Just let it sit there, caramelise it. Don't get the juices out if it,

or else it will start to boil and toughen up.

And we're going to braise it anyway,

so, we don't want to toughen it too much.

Anyway, on there, lots of nice colour.

Whilst that's happening, into here, remember, chicken stock,

chorizo and onions.

Cinnamon stick.

Going to put half a green chilli.

Is that a hot chilli or...?

It is a fairly warm chilli, I have to say.

I hope it goes well with the chorizo, but of course,

in this part of the world, they are already growing their own chillies.

Yes! I grow chillies on my balcony!

-Of course you do!

-No, it's amazing,

-I always thought that chillies only grew in hot climates.

-So did I!

-They're easy to grow.

-So, in that goes.

Give that a stir.

And ginger.

Now I do like ginger. Right, so...

So, that's looking good. Let's have a quick look at our meat.

What do you reckon to that, Steve? There you are, there's the man.

He can see, just looking at it, he can tell how beautiful it is.

-Wonderful, mate.

-Fantastic.

-You're just colouring the outside.

Colouring the outside. Sealing it all up there.

And then over here we have got cardamom seeds,

just crush them,

peppercorns, and cloves.

And the idea here is that you

stick it into a little muslin bag, and tie it up.

Why? Because you don't want them floating around there,

and they're difficult to take out.

If you forget to do that, you have to pick out of your teeth.

It's terrible. You get these lumps of wood in your stew.

-This sounds like a party game they play at your flat!

-I know, I know!

I can't stand it when people have bits of cardamom floating around.

So, that goes in there, so we have got bags of flavour.

Then our steaks go in.

A bit of oil in there.

Lovely.

And I am going to put that on,

and leave that to simmer for about 30 minutes.

-After 30 minutes...

-And don't fiddle around with it...

You are absolutely right. Don't fiddle around with it.

Just bring it up to a nice simmer,

just let it sit there and chug away.

All those flavours marrying together

to give you this wonderful big flavour that we're going to have.

So, whilst that's happening,

I've got these fantastic local tomatoes.

Just chop them into bits.

Now, this is a great use for those overripe tomatoes

that you have forgotten about.

Now, you're not taking the skins off, or anything fancy?

Oh, no, no! Nay, lass! I'm from Yorkshire,

-we don't throw owt away.

-No, because I take my skins off,

but then you think that's a bit over-fussy?

So, that's been cooking now for half an hour.

We stick this in here,

and everything has been assimilated. It's got a good flavour.

Have a smell.

Smells great.

I can smell all the herbs.

That's right, yes. The spices.

The ginger is coming through.

That's what I like about this, I like the ginger in this.

So, those are all in there now.

I've got to put some salt and pepper in there. OK.

So, we cooked it for half an hour to start with, OK?

And then, we put the tomatoes in there,

and it's got to cook again for another half hour.

What I need to do, is get these parboiled local potatoes...

-Yes.

-Delicious.

There we go, and all we need to do is stick these around the outside.

And you need to do it fairly quickly,

so that the liquor doesn't all disappear,

and if it does, top it up with some extra stock.

So, look at that. You put the lid on,

and you turn it down and you let it simmer for half an hour.

Now it's Dorset knob time!

Hurray! Look, these things here,

they are like... rock-solid dumplings.

They have been dried out. A special recipe.

Only make them in this part of the world

and I think they will go fantastic with my stew, you can dunk them in.

Well, I tell you what I've heard, Brian,

that the locals have got a knob-throwing competition,

that takes place annually.

I don't know how I said that, but I managed it!

So, what I'm going to do, is run my version of it.

And whoever wins - chucks one of these the furthest -

can taste your stew and see if it's ready! You OK with that?

You just do a bit of stirring?

OK? Anyone up for a bit of knob-tossing?

Come, follow me. I've prepared a court.

A pitch, or whatever you want to call it!

Can I line you all up, please? Thank you.

Now, is everybody ready?

Are you poised?

One...two...

three...CHUCK!

ALL LAUGH

Right! The dog's eating them all!

-Who threw this one?

-Andrea.

-It was me!

Andrea! Andrea, you've won!

-Here is our winner. Brian, please let Andrea taste it.

-Congratulations!

Right, here we are.

Tell me what you think.

A bit of Steve's goat.

Local tomatoes, bit of Lee's chorizo.

-Right, you take the spoon.

-OK.

It's a big moment.

Roll on drums...

-It's beautiful. Really nice.

-Thank you very much.

Take a seat, ladies and gentlemen. Well done, that young lady!

APPLAUSE

Right, the nice thing about this is it's a big platter,

put it on there, cut it up. Let people help themselves.

So, we get those two lovely steaks.

Starting to fall off the bone.

I think it's probably better if you let these rest

for a while after they come out.

Potatoes. We will do what we did with them before,

stick them around the outside.

You could, of course, be extremely rustic

and you could just serve the whole thing in the pan.

And just let people dig in and help themselves.

That's what I'd be doing at my house,

but I'm no good on presentation.

That lot are going to demolish this in two minutes.

-Do you reckon?

-Yeah!

There we go. Look at that.

OK. So take that cinnamon out.

We don't want that.

Pour this all over the top.

I have actually just got here

these wonderful chorizo slices,

just to go on top.

For those that like it really spiced up.

And you know me, I do like to have

a bit of fresh, local, chopped parsley.

So, there you have it, my dear.

Goat steak in a spicy tomato sauce with potatoes and chorizo on top.

APPLAUSE

-What do you reckon to that?

-Oh, very local.

Give me some, I'm starving!

I can only admire something for so long!

-Right, OK.

-Off you go.

I have got some tomato, with the skin on...

Yeah, yeah, yeah...

That is so tender.

Fabulous.

And did you like the spices?

I love the spices. It's delicious.

It's not too hot, it's got a bit of a kick afterwards.

OK, girl, so what do you think?

You've done it again, it's fantastic. Very, very good.

-Shall we let all the others have some?

-Come on, team.

Come and join us. Steve, come in. Alex, get in.

That's really delicious.

Get stuck in, get some more.

George is on thirds!

So what did you think to that?

Fabulous, you did it proud.

Absolutely wonderful, Brian.

The flavour is delicious and those spices just accentuate it.

-Beautiful.

-Really very, very tender.

Very, very good indeed with a Dorset twist.

Look at that. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

-That's all that is left. Two bones.

-Prehistoric teeth.

I think that Steve and Tess, Lee did a great job.

-Fabulous products.

-Local producers.

-Do you think they liked it?

-Look!

There is hardly anything left, except these two bones.

I ate tomatoes with the skins on and survived!

I think your dish was absolutely terrific.

So, there we've got it yet again.

-A Taste Of Britain in Dorset, it works.

-Fabulous.