North Yorkshire 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 around 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, our culinary and cultural voyage of discovery brings us

to North Yorkshire.

The county is home to the historical city of York.

The rolling moors.

It really is so serene, that.

Yeah, that's some of the richest farming land in England.

And some of the friendliest pigs I've ever seen.

Will you stop rubbing yourself, he's rubbing himself against me

is this one here, he's having a whale of a time, aren't you?

I introduce Brian to some of my favourite birds.

It's Auntie Janet.

Janet drags me up a hill for some fresh Yorkshire air

and stunning scenery.

And I get to indulge in my passion for great design.

Isn't it amazing that they're still making this

furniture in the village down the road?

Yes.

And, after tasting our way around the county,

we visit the stunning Ampleforth Abbey to create a celebratory

taste of North Yorkshire fit for a duchess.

Fantastic, thank you very much, that's very good.

Well, here we are in York, and what a fantastic day it is,

and how completely untypical of Yorkshire weather.

No, the weather's always like this in Yorkshire for a Yorkshire man.

I love York, I love the fact it's got these perfect medieval

walls, probably the best set of medieval walls in Britain

and they're built on top of Roman walls.

This is a Grade I listed monument, a bit like me actually, Brian.

Yorkshire is God's own country, on a day like today it's marvellous.

I know, it's certainly had its fair share of invaders,

because after the Romans they had the Anglo-Saxons,

then the Vikings, then finally William the Conqueror came up here

and took York.

But look at that Minster, it is surely the most beautiful

cathedral in Britain and it took 200 years to build.

I just think, today, we just captured it perfectly, that blue sky,

it just looks so good down there, you're absolutely right.

But you see, this is a great part of the world, it is just fantastic.

Great food, it's because we've got great produce.

-Kent is no longer the Garden of England.

-Mm-hm.

This is where it's at.

Fantastic produce, apples, great cider, great pigs, great beef.

I mean, it's all here to be seen

and I know a few people that you should meet.

-And what about the black pudding?

-Oh, I forgot about the black pudding.

Where else do you get such a wonderful taste of Britain?

I'll tell you what, Brian, I'm going to go on a lightning tour of York.

There's so much to see and I think I'm going to start with the Minster.

I'm going to go to the deli,

because they've got fantastic Yorkshire produce.

I'm going to give you a picnic like what you've never had.

Brian might be a Yorkshireman born and bred,

but Yorkshire's a place especially close to my heart, too.

As I've lived here for the last 35 years.

So, I'm starting with one of my favourite local landmarks,

York Minster.

In 71 AD, 5,000 Roman troops arrived in York

and set up camp.

By 208 AD, they were running the Roman Empire from their

headquarters which were built here underneath the York Minster.

York was an incredibly important city in the Roman Empire.

In fact so important that, by 306 AD, Constantine was actually

proclaimed Emperor here.

Two of York's most important shopping streets, Stonegate

and Petergate, are actually 2,000 years old

and run exactly along the lines

of the two most important Roman roads,

Via Principalis and Via Praetoria.

They led to the headquarters underneath the York Minster.

With the Minster keeping our history buff amused,

I'm hoping to score some brownie points by giving Janet a real

taste of North Yorkshire.

And Henshelwoods Deli in the centre of York is just the place.

-Morning, ladies.

-Morning.

-How are we today?

-Very well indeed, sir.

It's a grand day out there, the market's going well.

Oh, it's fantastic. Every day they're out there.

-You're Ali, yes?

-I am indeed.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you. Hello.

That looks lovely, does all this.

Now, you are very famous for having loads of Yorkshire gear, is that right?

Absolutely. We've got at least 27 regular

Yorkshire suppliers out of 50.

-So, do you make the potted beef yourself?

-We do indeed, yes.

I remember, when I was a lad, my mum would every now

-and then think, "Go and get some potted meat."

-Yeah.

Nobody knew, in those days, what was in it.

We all used to call it "potted dog".

We knew it wasn't,

but that's what we used to say, "Get some potted dog".

And you've got a great selection of cheeses,

-but some good Yorkshire cheeses in there, as well.

-Indeed.

And at least 40% of that is Yorkshire, I would say.

Yeah, and it can't be far from here, Wensleydale is not too far.

-That's right, Wensleydale.

-Swaledale, over there.

Yeah, over to Halifax with the Barncliffe Brie, so, yes...

Ah, Doreen's Black Pudding, now that's a firm favourite,

that's the triangular, isn't it, eh?

-It is indeed, yes.

-I know that you like to prepare stuff for picnics.

I have to take a special lady to a picnic in Yorkshire, here.

And I need to have a hamper.

If you'd like to take that one with you.

-Tell me quickly what we've got in there so I know.

-OK.

-So, we've got lots of home-made bits and pieces down here.

-Yeah.

The potted beef, the crab pate. There's a bit of Wensleydale.

There's a couple of beers here,

Hop Studio and Rudgate Breweries.

If this doesn't keep this lady happy, I don't know what will.

I'll get someone to come and pay for it later. It's a Yorkshire trick.

Have a good day now, thank you very much.

-Thank you very much, Brian.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

I reckon this will definitely put a smile on Janet's face,

especially as I have her beloved black pudding.

She wants to introduce me to another of her favourite local

ingredients, so I'm off to a farm to meet her.

The chickens from Edward Wilkinson's farm

just outside York, are all free-range.

He rears them on something rather special,

which I think makes them extra tasty.

I'm curious to see whether Brian can taste the difference.

So, Edward, are they like flock animals in that normally when they

know you're going to feed they all rush towards you,

those have just dived out the place.

Yeah, well, running into the huts is a bit of security

-from the likes of you and I, to be honest.

-Oh, right, OK.

-Edward, they don't know that you've brought them dinner in.

-That's it.

Now, these herbs absolutely smell fantastic, don't they?

I'm just gobsmacked, I thought it was just throwaway rubbish

-but this is not actually all rubbish.

-Very good quality.

It's stuff that's gone past its very best.

And in another two days it would be in a bit of dire straits

and you probably wouldn't want it on your plate.

How many chickens are you selling a week?

Just short of the thousand birds a week.

Right, I'm going to go and feed a chicken.

Well, in that case, so will I, turn this over.

Prove that I'm a friend of poultry.

Yeah, we just literally want to be a few yards away from the hut

and just chuck it along here.

Here's dinner!

Come on, chickens, come and feed.

It's Auntie Janet!

-Janet, just be careful, you're frightening 'em.

-I'm not.

Just talk to them nicely.

You shouldn't have told them you buy your chickens here.

Edward, there's a fantastic variety of herbs.

There's probably every type of herb that is available mixed in this lot.

Do you think it actually makes any difference to the

taste of the meat, because to me they're really juicy?

Yeah, I don't think they taste herby, so to speak,

but I do think that it makes a great chicken.

All the health aspects of feeding an animal on herbs

and the innate nature of animals to know what to eat,

to create that fully healthy, balanced diet.

And I think once it's got that it's the healthiest animal it can be

and therefore the best-tasting animal it can be.

Well, thanks to Janet,

the reputation of these birds does actually precede themselves.

So, I'm looking forward to tasting these chickens

as I've never tasted them yet.

You sing their praises so well, so it looks to me like we should

get back in the van and we should go back to the shop.

-What have you forgotten, Brian?

-What have I forgotten? Oh, yes!

-The key ingredient.

-I keep forgetting that.

-And what is it?

-The black pudding.

-Thank you.

-You'll love it.

I'm feeling the pressure using Janet's favourite chickens

and the black pudding.

I'm expecting great things, Brian.

Let's head to the farmhouse to get cooking.

I'm doing a Yorkshire farmhouse chicken dinner,

braising Janet's favourite Yorkshire chickens with mushrooms,

tomatoes, chipolatas and, of course, that famous black pudding.

Ready to go, young lady.

Right.

To start, I've portioned up a chicken and saved the leftovers for a stock.

Let's turn this one on here now and get a bit of heat going.

Whoa! Fantastic.

And get some oil in there to heat up.

A bit of seasoning on there.

What I'm really trying to do here is just to get colour because

when I cook it, it'll get washed down a bit,

I want it to look really proud.

So, we've now got the first stage, we've got the chicken brown

so it's looking nice and attractive.

So, chipolatas go next.

We've got nice, good local pork sausages, small sausages,

so they're going to braise away there.

So just get that bit of colour on there, these look lovely.

-So, I'll just take those out now.

-Yeah.

We're going to cook everything in the oven together once we get it all

back in order, so don't worry about it that

they look underdone, because they are underdone,

we're just getting the colour in them at the moment.

And then I've got some mushrooms here.

It really is a peasant dish, so it's just button mushrooms in there.

-Yeah.

-I love that cupboard.

-I just love that cupboard over there.

-Oh, no!

-Just a little bit more.

-The butter's back.

Just a little bit of butter, darling, because I can't do it without butter.

I know you love butter, yeah. What's that?

This is a glass of dry white wine.

-Oh.

-And this is the moment you must always check that the products

you're using are good enough for the people that are coming.

Yes, Chef.

That's perfect, OK.

I've turned it off.

Doesn't your assistant get a sip?

I'll leave you a bit.

Turn the gas off before you put it in, cos you know how it flares up.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-And you don't want that to happen so.

There you go, my love.

Thanks, I'll just test it's OK.

-Reduce that a little bit.

-Yeah.

So, I'm going to light this back up again now, that's great.

So, the idea now is just to get that concentrated flavour.

In here, we have chicken stock and I put the chicken bones

-and bits and pieces.

-Yeah.

Let's just drain all that in there

and make sure that we've lost no flavour at all.

So, now we can put the rest of it in there, put it in there carefully.

-You going to fit all that in there?

-I'm going to try.

-Yeah.

So, what I'm going to do now, I'm going to put the lid on,

it's up to the boil, that's nice.

I'm going to put it in the oven about 180 degrees, in the Aga who knows

what temperature, I don't know how these things...

I think that Aga is fine, it's up to the line.

That's what I like, someone who knows what they're doing.

-So, we put that in there.

-Yeah.

About 15 minutes.

OK, I'll shut the Aga for you.

You are very kind, thank you very much.

Right, that looks delicious.

Let me get rid of that, it's red hot.

Out of the way and then let me just put it down here.

Now the secret is, you couldn't pass me a plate could you please, Janet? That's very kind, thank you.

Now, the secret's to take everything out that's cooked together here.

Look at that, it looks delicious. I'll take those.

-You're having trouble with your chipolatas.

-It's been the story of my life, is that.

-Yeah, quite.

-Right.

Just keep those out of there.

OK, so now I want to reduce this sauce in here.

Now, here's where I need you to help me.

I'm going to cut Doreen's famous black pudding into slices.

And what I want you to do is to cut me a little ring from there, OK.

-Uh-uh.

-And see, keep the fat.

-Brian.

I'm going to put tomatoes in here now.

Do you want these leftover corners?

I'm going to use those little bits in the sauce, yes.

Right, lovely. How many have you got?

One. I'm doing it perfectly, don't rush me!

You want a perfect round, I don't want to mess it up.

-That's why I gave you the cutter.

-If I rush it...

What I'm going to do, I'm going to chop these bits of black pudding

to get all the flavour into the sauce, it's fantastic.

-I like the fat in it.

-And it'll help to thicken up that sauce.

In it goes, in there. Right now these.

Going to put those in there.

-Right, here.

-So, you haven't put any fat in that pan, have you?

I've put a little bit of oil in there.

because I don't want the pan to burn.

Right, so, the rest of it there.

So, we've wasted nothing, I think that's the really the big point.

We waste nothing, we get lots of flavour in there.

Now what I'm going to do now, quickly,

whilst that's happening there,

is now put on my chicken.

I think the nice thing about this dish here,

it's going to be for seven or eight portions,

so I'm going to make it look really impressive when it hits the table.

-Yeah.

-So, lots of chipolatas. Them just hanging about there.

You're not doing them symmetrically, I'm quite impressed.

I can't do symmetrically.

-No, that looks good.

-I've cooked these, so I'm going to take these

and lay these on the top.

You know what I like about this dish,

-it looks like a Desperate Dan dish now.

-Hey.

This is for a Desperate Janet.

Right, make sure it's hot.

So, I'm just going to put it back

in the oven, just before we serve it.

To make sure it's nice and... Just put it in back for a bit.

You have to make sure you've got a dish that's not going to crack.

This is also true.

One other little trick, take a slice of bread.

Cut it in half and then just...

Like that.

To make it heart-shaped, just for you, a little heart shape.

There we go.

So, I'm going to put that

in there. Oh, that's looking lovely is that.

Right, just put a little bit of oil in there, that's good.

Turn that off, it's looking good.

Oh, look at that, oh, delicious colour, delicious colour.

That's just what I wanted.

Sauce over the top.

The other little trick is to take the point in there

and dip it in there, so it just gives that wonderful, a bit more colour.

Yeah.

-Smells fantastic.

-And a bit of celery on the top.

That's what I call a farmhouse chicken dinner.

Right, I'm going to start with the black pudding, obviously.

Mm, oh.

The taste of the black pudding is sensational. Mm.

Have a taste of that chicken.

Mm.

Got a big mouthful.

-Good, isn't it?

-It's lovely.

What I like about it, it's full of flavour and it's not arty farty.

It tastes great.

I must admit, Brian's Desperate Dan-style chicken dish

was really delicious.

But I think we need to walk it off, as there's plenty more food

still to come.

I'm sure you've got some sort of exercise in mind as payback, Janet.

Not payback, Brian, fresh air and some cracking

views of the Yorkshire countryside.

Are you much of a walker, Brian?

-Not really.

-No.

-I don't see why.

-I can tell by your pace.

Well, this is my television pace.

No, I don't. Something strikes me that if you're going to walk too

fast, you're not going to take in everything that's going on.

So, an ambler rather than a sprinter.

No, I'm afraid I walk at 4mph.

Anyway, this is the Cleveland Way which runs

right along the edge of the Hambledon Hills.

And look at this view. It takes your breath away.

It don't stop you talking, does it?

But it does take you...

-Less of the sarcasm, Brian.

-Yeah.

I noted that.

Anyway, Sutton Bank, down there.

Yeah, I've stopped there many a time by accident, eh.

Scene of huge traffic jams, but what a view!

It really is so serene, that.

Yeah, that's some of the richest farming land in England.

The Vale of York. And then in the distance, the Yorkshire Dales,

-my neck of the woods. Wensleydale, straight ahead.

-Yeah.

And then down there, Thirsk.

So, that's facing west?

Yeah, we're facing west. Behind us...

-That's towards the coast.

-That's towards the coast.

Keep on going, put up with a lot of traffic jams,

and you'll eventually get to Scarborough or Whitby

where you'll have to have fish and chips

to get over the whole experience.

All this fresh air's given me an appetite.

With the White Horse in sight, I think it's time to crack out

my Yorkshire picnic hamper, and our head of geography, Janet,

knows just the spot.

Well, I don't know about you,

but I've eaten in some lovely places but this is just a fantastic...

I've had a few picnics up here when it's been absolutely freezing.

I thought you were going to tell us one of those awful stories.

No, I've had a few picnics in the pouring rain,

I've had me sandwiches in this very spot.

Look, it's so hot, I can't believe it.

-It's wonderful, but it's so tranquil and it's so calm.

-Right.

Anyway, look we've got all this wonderful Yorkshire produce here.

-What have you got?

-We're not going to have it all.

-Well, I am, so.

-Some bits of cheese, a bit of Wensleydale cheese.

-Yeah.

And that's a bit of blue there, you've got.

I like the blue Wensleydale,

in my opinion, that is as good as Stilton, easily.

-That's an interesting one, yeah.

-Yeah.

Blue cheeses like that are not my favourite.

Well, I only eat blue cheese, Brian,

so that's another important point of difference.

-We have a pie here, I think it's a pork pie.

-Give me that pie, Brian.

-Share it, share it, there's a good girl.

-Oh, all right.

Brian, you can have half of this pork pie.

Ah, oh!

Just look at that, it's so packed full of meat is that,

-it's wonderful.

-Has it got enough jelly in it?

It might have, yeah, it's got jelly in there.

-I like a bit more jelly than that.

-So do I.

-But I like the pastry.

-The pastry's good.

Some other cheese there.

Oh, look, I love the colour of this Yorkshire chutney, yeah.

-Can I have a smell?

-I make a mean chutney, Brian.

Ooh! That smells good, the sweetness and the vinegar.

Good.

It's got to be judged against mine, though.

-What about this? Crab pate.

-Yeah.

Now, they make it themselves at the deli and it's from Whitby crab.

-I think it would be wrong not to have it. What do you think?

-Mm.

Are you going to have some?

Yeah, I'm going to try it without the bread.

Well, I'm going to be the judge of it on the bread.

It looks delicious, Whitby crab pate.

Mm.

-Like that.

-It's as if we were next to the sea.

-It is delicious.

-Well, lovely produce.

I'm going to try this Yorkshire Parkin, for me,

that's what it's all about.

If it comes out.

Look at that, so moist.

-Oh, it's like malt loaf.

-It does look fantastic.

What's it like.

Aren't you having any?

I can't eat it, Brian. If I eat that, I'll be stuffed.

If you carry on eating that, I've got one thing to say to you,

I'm not carrying you down here on a stretcher.

Whilst Janet makes the most of the weather,

exploring more of the breathtaking landscape, I'm heading back into

town to meet up with a real star of the North Yorkshire food scene.

Andrew Purn is an old mate of mine

and he's an enthusiastic advocate of all the local ingredients.

-Morning, lad.

-Hello, Brian. How are you?

-Are you all right?

I'm going to call you "Chef", cos I've never called you "Chef" before.

-I know.

-Tell us what you're going to cook, first.

-You have, indeed.

Well, being a Whitby lad, I thought we'd better do some seafood.

-Yeah.

-So, Whitby cod with hairy tatties, which is a new one.

Fantastic.

And then make a little stew of North Sea food.

So, lobster, langoustine, some scallops, some mussels, yeah.

-Well, crack on, get your fish in.

-We're not doing it in batter today.

But it's a... I was going to say a slightly healthier version,

but probably not with all this cream.

Andrew pan fries his Whitby cod with a squeeze of lemon,

shallot butter, and pink peppercorns.

-Do you mind putting that under the grill?

-Yeah, absolutely, yeah.

Just get a top heat on it.

-Just gently cook it.

-Send them under there, pull the grill down slightly.

I'm a chef today look. Fantastic.

And I'll have that kipper back, if you can pass that kipper back.

-Kipper, yeah.

-Brilliant.

-OK, so this is...

-Grand looking kipper that is, eh?

..the world famous Fortune Kipper.

This is where the hairy tatties is going to come from.

You know when you're having kippers and those little bones,

those little hairs, basically that is the hairy essence, if you like.

These kippers come from the top of Henrietta Street under

the shadows of Whitby Abbey.

-Up the steps?

-Exactly, just there.

And I remember as a kid, a friend of mine used to live on Henrietta

Street and we used to wake up with the smell of the kipper

wafting down the street and I've been a fan ever since really.

OK, so I'm just going to bind this into the mash,

-to make it pipeable for cheffy sort of reasons, really.

-Yeah.

Allows us to charge a bit more, you know.

Being a true Yorkshireman.

You're giving too many secrets away, lad, eh? We taught you too well.

Exactly. So, a little bit of parsley, a little

bit of lovage into here, as well.

Now, lovage, that's a nice herb, is that?

Lovely deep, deep flavour and that sort of robustness

is very much what we're about with our cookery.

OK, so is that all right for you, Chef?

Yeah, great, perfect.

OK, so, for the actual stew itself.

A splash of white wine.

-Good hot pan.

-Good hot pan.

'Andrew then poaches some mussels in the white wine reduction with

'cream, and adds North Sea scallops, langoustine

'and lobster for that real taste of the Yorkshire coast.'

OK, so next, just to finish off the sauce,

I'm going to add the bits of root veg.

Again, for the restaurant trade, cut the corners,

lots of things blanched off.

-Local produce, I take it?

-Of course, all from the Vale of York.

-Good man.

-Yeah.

And then we've got the traditional tartare ingredients

just to finish off,

so caper, gherkin, all that sort of thing.

It's like a posh fish pie, really.

I'm keen to get a taste of Andrew's celebrated take on British

classics, using the amazing larder available on his doorstep.

-A lovely bit of cod there, lad.

-Cod goes on to there.

Then, of course, the little garnish with a kipper just to give it

that oomph, if you like.

Then just finish it here with a few nice garden herbs which

I got off my kitchen garden in Harome,

classical sort of herbs to go with the fish.

-See, I haven't lost it, have I?

-No, no, it's grand.

-Exactly.

-Oh, I'm looking forward to this.

-You can smell it already.

-There we go.

-Oh, look at that.

-Fantastic! Thanks, Chef! Good man, huh?

-Thank you.

Get digging. What do you want to taste first?

I want to taste the hairy tattie, because I love potatoes.

And it's a great idea is this, because it actually...

What's in a hairy tattie?

It's got herbs in there but basically it's got cooked kippers.

Oh, I can taste it.

I hope it's from...

Fortune's.

-Fortune's in Whitby.

-Yeah, that's the one, yeah.

A pilgrimage site for me.

-That cod is fantastic.

-Lovely.

-Perfectly cooked.

-Perfectly cooked.

I think we're very lucky today.

I mean, this is a typical Yorkshire coast dish,

you've got lots of things that are good on the Yorkshire coast, eh.

Yeah, but it's like a modern reinvention of it

because if you go to the coast, what do you get?

-Fish and chips.

-Yeah.

And it takes a great chef to turn it into something that's a lot

more exciting.

Because Andrew's got a lovely sense of humour and,

tongue-in-cheek, he said, "It's really like a posh fish pie."

He's not wrong but you can't call that a fish pie, can you, eh?

But it's the kind of fish pie I'd eat because my main hatred

of fish pies is not a lot of fish, with a load of potato on the top,

disguising the fact that people are too mean to put enough fish in it.

And look at the amount of fish on that plate.

That is fantastic.

Andrew has really captured the essence of the region with his dish,

but I still have to decide what I'm going to cook to pay tribute to

this amazing landscape.

So, I'm off to see a man about a hog.

Good luck.

I'm heading on up to the magnificent Ampleforth Abbey.

Ampleforth is an impressive Grade II listed Benedictine monastery

and school, situated in one of North Yorkshire's

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

It's home to an incredible collection of world famous,

hand-carved Mouseman furniture, that I've been collecting for years.

Father Prior has kindly agreed to show me round.

Well, Father Prior, thank you so much for showing me

your Mouseman collection of furniture, because I'm a huge fan.

-It is wonderful stuff, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Absolutely.

This is all by Robert Thompson

and this was one of the rooms that he was most proud of.

And it's got this surface, I mean, this is what makes it

so special for me.

It's quite distinctive, really.

You can see all the chisel marks. That's the key thing.

The only really annoying thing is that if you've got

a table with this, a desk,

and you try and put your computer on it then the,

you know, the keyboard goes all over the place.

-Writing a letter on it wouldn't be easy.

-Absolutely. No.

And what's his signature? It is the mouse, isn't it?

-It's the mouse, absolutely.

-Now, how did that come about?

Well, he admired the way a mouse would just gnaw away

at a piece of wood and persist until he got

the hole or whatever it was that he was trying to do, and thought that

was a wonderful illustration for his own work really as a carpenter.

So, he adopted the mouse.

So, all this furniture, the pews and the lectern

and everything, will all have a little mouse hidden on it somewhere.

Exactly, exactly.

-And that's what the people who collect it...

-Yeah.

-..are always looking for, aren't they?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

How did Ampleforth start collecting it?

Did you commission it?

Well, yes, we did.

The headmaster at the time, Father Paul Nevill,

had been parish priest down in the village,

at Ampleforth village and had commissioned Thompson to make

-an enormous cross as a war memorial after the First War.

-Yeah.

And because of that connection, he then started commissioning to

do work for the school.

And then, when we built this part of the Abbey church,

we wanted Thompson to come and do all the furniture here.

I started to collect it

when I bought some Arts and Crafts furniture

for my farmhouse but I quickly discovered

that, when you go to an auction house, you're

bidding against Americans, Chinese, people from all over the world...

-Yeah, yes, yes.

-..now want to own a piece of this furniture.

We're very proud of this stuff that we've got

and we're delighted that it's used so much, of course.

Because the monks sit on this every day, six times a day

when we come in here to pray.

It's the heart of the whole of Ampleforth.

It's why people join the monastery, in order to come here and be part

of the praying community and it's part of what helps us to do that.

Janet's enjoying her mice,

but I'm interested in a larger local animal.

Charles Ashbridge has been farming rare and traditional breed pigs

and cattle in Thirsk for the last ten years.

Charles, it's good to meet you and I hear great things about your pork.

What is it about rare breeds that excites you?

Basically, Brian, the eating quality of rare breed pork,

beef and lamb is second-to-none.

The marbling, the fat cover, gives a far superior product.

How many different breeds have you got in here?

We've probably got about eight or nine different breeds.

-What's that there?

-Well, that one's actually a kunekune cross.

-Oh, right.

-A bit of a pet pig.

Oh, OK, right. It looks grand, eh.

So, we've got all sorts of different

breeds in here, from the typical Gloucester Old Spot.

We've got Saddlebacks, which are the black and white striped ones.

But the one I'm really interested in is a Middle White,

because I understand that's a Yorkshire pig

-and a rare breed, as well.

-It is, yes.

-It is typically what we class as a Yorkshire Porker.

-Yeah.

The reason why they class it as a Porker is because

that is when it's at its best, really.

-Yeah.

-It gets a little bit too fat as it gets too big.

Will you stop rubbing yourself!

He's rubbing himself against me, is this one here.

He's having a whale of time, aren't you, eh, yeah?

-Yeah, it's quite...

-He's after me trouser leg.

-He's quite chilled out, he just wants a scratch.

-Yeah.

The reason why we choose so many different breeds

is because lots of our different customers,

they've got different attributes that lend themselves

to either bacon, pork, suckling pigs or porketta.

Now, the porketta. I'm glad you said that,

-Because I hear you do this pork which is a boned out pig.

-It is.

-A small pig.

-Yes.

-And you stuff it then, yeah?

-We do.

-It's a suckling pig that's put on a milk diet.

-Yeah.

Because the sow can't sustain it's suckling

after it's sort of eight weeks old.

So, it's one of those things, we've got full control over this

animal, we breed it and rear it, we take it to the slaughter house.

-In-house butchery.

-Yeah.

All the ingredients that we use are local to us, being, you know,

grown probably within a ten-mile radius from here.

That's really what I want.

I mean, we're looking for the taste of Britain

here in North Yorkshire and it strikes me

that that does represent what it's all about.

-So, can you organise one for me?

-Of course, I can. My pleasure.

What a gent you are, eh?

I can't wait to cook up something that epitomises

the taste of North Yorkshire

with Charles's delicious pork.

I'm off to catch up with Janet over at Ampleforth Abbey

as she's found me another fantastic local ingredient.

It's not just the furniture

and architecture that's of interest here at Ampleforth.

They also have their own orchard, boasting over 2,000 trees.

I bet Brian will love their collection of apples and,

more importantly,

their own brewed cider.

Father Prior, how old are these orchards?

Well, we've had orchards for a long time,

probably most of the 20th century,

but this field here I think was probably done in the '60s.

And you're the furthest north commercial apple brewers in the UK?

That's right. So, I believe, yes.

-You've got a huge variety of apples here.

-We have.

We've got about 40 varieties of apple,

of which 20 are particularly local to Yorkshire.

That is amazing.

So, of the Yorkshire variety, some are very old, aren't they?

Some of them are and the one that we like best is the Ribston Pippin,

that's the er, the sort of...

-Great name, isn't it, Brian?

-It's a great name.

But we wanted a balance of apples for two reasons -

first of all, we don't want them all to ripen at the same time

-otherwise they've all got to be picked the same week.

-Yes.

We want them to come out slowly.

And, secondly, in order to make the cider,

we need a good balance of different varieties of apples.

It's quite interesting that monasteries have a great reputation for brewing and for beverages.

-They do.

-How does that work?

I wouldn't like to say historically, but it is true, yes.

-Partly, you know, we brew for our own consumption.

-OK.

But also, you know, we have to make money somehow.

-Yeah.

-Because the place costs a fortune to maintain

-and it's one of the things that we can do.

-Yeah.

You know, Belgian monasteries have beer,

and we make beer ourselves, as well.

Dom Perignon, he invented certain Champagne, you know, he was a monk.

That's the classic for some of us who are great Champagne drinkers.

-Yeah, yeah.

-But you produce a beer.

-We do.

And a cider, and a cider brandy,

and a cider brandy liqueur, as well.

That sounds fantastic.

I would dearly love to have either the cider brandy

or the brandy liqueur

just to finish off my cooking today.

-You would be very welcome.

-You'll organise it?

And we'd love to, and I'd love to taste it, too.

You know they won the world medal,

they've got the gold medal in the entire world for their cider.

I never shook the hand before of a gold medal cider-maker.

-Fantastic, yeah.

-Brilliant.

Now I've got my hands on some apple cider brandy

and a superb suckling pig, it's time I got cooking the dish

that I think celebrates North Yorkshire perfectly.

And we've invited some of the locals along, including Father Prior

and my mate, Andrew Purn.

We've seen such fantastic produce here in Yorkshire.

-We certainly have.

-And, in fact, not in just Yorkshire,

in North Yorkshire, it's brilliant, eh.

The fish was fantastic that we ate,

-we've seen these lovely apples this morning.

-Correct.

-We saw the chickens.

-My favourite chickens.

Lots of herbs in there, fantastic.

But the one thing that I really think sums up this

-part of the world were those lovely pigs.

-Yeah.

Those rare breed pigs and they actually do what they call

-a porketta or a porchetta, and it's almost a whole pig, rolled.

-Yeah.

Stuffed with herbs and then strung up to roast, OK.

So, what I've done, I've put some salt in there.

-And a good bit of oil.

-To make it crispy?

-Yeah, exactly, OK.

-Right.

And this is where you get really quite handy with it all

and just massage it in there.

Now, you will notice over here, I have got a barbecue oven

and we're going to cook it on this.

A barbecue is a recipe for marital breakdown.

We're very fortunate that we're not married yet, so there is no problem.

Yeah, but we could have a very early divorce.

We'll move rapidly on.

So, I'm going to put this on here,

get it to sizzle there

and it'll blister the skin up.

Big heat on there for about half an hour

and it'll probably take another hour or slightly more to cook.

It wants cooking through well, it doesn't want drying out.

It's got the herb stuffing in there, that'll make it fantastic.

So, what I'm really going to do now,

I'm going to produce accompaniments to go with this wonderful porketta.

So, I'm going to do not a bread sauce but a bread pudding.

I was brought up in Yorkshire, we used to have bread pudding all the time, different shapes and forms.

And this is lovely.

It's a bread pudding that goes with the main course, with meat?

It goes with the meat, yes.

Oh, because we have, down south, we have bread pudding for pudding.

Really, this is to use up all the stale bread, of course.

Now, Yorkshire teacakes you can't find in London

and they're grand at these Yorkshire teacakes, they're very...

-They're very big.

-We do like Yorkshire teacakes, don't we, eh?

-Yes!

-There, you see, that's better.

-They're huge.

-They're not really huge. OK, right.

So, what I'm going to do first, I'm going to put a wee bit of butter in.

We're going to put these onions in there.

What I don't want it to do, I don't want to colour it,

I just want to sweat out some of the flavour, and garlic, as well.

So, whilst that's happening, I'm going to chop just a little bit

of sage, sage and onion, pork and all that, all work well together.

So, what I'm going to do now, I'm going to put the bread in there.

That's looking good.

I'm going to put the sage in there so I don't forget.

I'm going to put some chopped parsley in there so I don't forget.

A bit of salt and pepper, governor. Salt.

So, it's like stuffing but not inside anything.

I don't know about you, and this is actually true this is,

whenever I make stuffing separate from the chicken or whatever,

everybody gets that first,

the outside crispy bits are by far the best bits.

Exactly. The soggy stuffing's a bit boring.

I've got a bit of chicken stock.

Just to moisten it up a bit so it doesn't burn.

Bags of flavour in there.

And a couple of eggs, so we'll just give them a quick whisk up.

-How's it looking, all right, Chef?

-Very good.

I've noticed, Andrew Purn's making notes already, eh.

-He's going to nick it, eh.

-Exactly, Chef, yeah.

Stop it, that's a good man, there.

-It's going to be on the menu tomorrow.

-Absolutely right, eh.

In it goes, in there. It'll bind it together, will that.

Just mix it up there.

That's just what I want is that.

Now it's all cooked together, I'm going to put it into here,

because this acts as an oven now.

So, the first thing I need to do is have a quick look at our porketta.

-Look, it's starting to get that lovely crispy crackling on it already.

-Nice and crispy.

We want to be careful not to burn it, we've got to control the heat.

I'm going to turn that over.

And because it works as an oven,

I can also put this in there to bake if I've got enough room.

Which, as luck happens, it is just perfect, eh.

And how long does that go in for, Brian?

-Till it's ready.

-Well, meaning what?

Well, it really depends on how temperamental the barbecue is.

I reckon 30 minutes but the beauty of that is,

you can't really overcook it, because you want all the crispy bits.

-OK, so you put that in there and off it goes.

-Yeah.

So, now we need to do the apples, so I get the pan on here.

-Over here I've got some of the cider on to boil.

-Yeah.

And I'm going to put in there a little bag of spice,

I've got cloves in there and I've got cinnamon stick.

Then we take these apples,

so I'm just going to put these into here just to get a wee bit of

colour and then I'm going to turn them over

and I'm just going to braise them.

You've got very big chunks of apple.

What I thought was, rather than do an apple sauce which is a puree,

we'd go other side, nice chunks, and so you get a couple of pieces.

But what you want is an apple that's not going to fall and break down.

-Yeah, you don't want like a cooking apple because that would disintegrate.

-Exactly right.

OK, so now we're starting to get a bit of colour there from that butter, lovely.

-It's just blistered the skin but that's lovely.

-Yeah.

Just giving it a bit more character.

So, the first thing I'm going to put into there is, I'm going to

put some of my cider here.

Then we've got a bit of local honey, fantastic,

that goes in there, as well.

Just like to give it a real sweet glaze there.

And, the secret.

Father, we've got a bottle of your very special apple cider brandy,

-it's just fantastic, eh.

-That's the great stuff.

So, basically it's apples and a lot of alcohol.

No, it's a lot of alcohol with apples.

-Exactly.

-And that's how it should be.

I would suggest, because this is quite alcoholic,

take it away from the fire.

-I'm standing well back.

-Thumb over the top and then just

a "hosing", as we say in Yorkshire.

That's a very large swig.

OK, so now I'm just going to leave that to actually simmer away.

When my bread pudding and my pork's ready, I'm ready to serve.

Here's the test, listen to this crackling.

-It's true.

-In the key of F.

Aye, that's not bad, is it?

So, we've got some nice slices.

Do you find that people fight over the really crispy end bits?

No, because I put those over here.

-For you.

-For me. You're quite right, I'll tell you what, eh.

So, what I'm going to do, I'm going to cut in about there.

And I'm going to take the crackling off it, which is

delicious I have to say.

Yeah, and then you can ration out the crackling portions.

-Right, now, I'm going to slice it up, OK.

-Right.

I have to say.

That's very big, chunky, Yorkshire-style slices.

I was in Andrew Purn's restaurant this morning,

everything is good, chunky Yorkshire portions.

OK, so now this should go on the table

for everybody to help themselves.

Let me just now get these apples which are lovely,

just smell those apples now.

Just pile them there so everybody can help themselves.

And the bread pudding.

So, there you've got it, this is roast porketta with a bread pudding

with mulled apples, and I hope you think like I do,

as far as Yorkshire is concerned, this is the real taste of Britain.

Give it a round of applause and smile.

Fantastic, thank you very much, that's very good.

Come on, everybody, come and have a taste.

Right. OK.

Tuck in. Come on, don't be shy, take a fork.

-The flavour of those herbs comes through a lot, doesn't it?

-It does.

-It's as good as the Italian.

-Yeah, it is.

-But using the Yorkshire produce.

-Well, I like this bread pudding.

-This is a first for me, bread pudding.

-It's nice flavours.

-It's like a little sponge.

When my mum made this, it was always with stale bread

so to make sure nothing got lost.

-So, that would absorb more, as well.

-Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

This apple's delicious. You can taste the honey,

you can taste the brandy.

They are good and they've really held their shape.

Father Prior, empty plate.

Look at that, eh, the man's a hero.

-Empty plate, yes.

-That's a good advert.

Have you ever seen a guilty look like that.

He gave up his lunch for this.

Oh, did you really?

I think it's absolutely beautiful.

I'm amazed with this bread pudding, yeah,

-it's really good.

-You'll be putting this on in your cafe before long.

-He's got the apples here, he could actually sell them.

-We could.

Well, we've had a fantastic time in North Yorkshire, haven't we?

-We have, lass.

-We've enjoyed York, the countryside's been fantastic,

-the weather has been perfect.

-Brill.

I've seen my beautiful Mouseman furniture

and you've come up with some stunning food.

I thought the pork dish worked extremely well.

Look, they're still there, they're still eating it.

I thought it was fantastic,

because I've had a version of that in Italy, but you've trumped it.

Ah, the Yorkshire vote.

But we always know, here in Yorkshire, it's the best there is.

And, for me, North Yorkshire's taste of Britain,

that says it all. Come on, kid.