The Joy of Sharing Food & Drink

How we eat and drink changes and adapts to suit our lifestyles.

These days, families spend less

and less time eating around the table but we still crave

a sense of togetherness and sharing what we eat really gives us that.

So I want to make the best of those moments we do have together.

'I'm teaming up with award-winning chef Richard Corrigan to

'share kitchen duties...'

Who said, "Too many chefs?"

THEY LAUGH

'..and cook the perfect recipe to eat with your loved ones.'

The crayfish with ham and chicken really, really works.

'We'll be debating the future of family dinner time with

'street food guru Andy Bates.'

Eat what you want with whoever you want.

And stop putting the dining table on a pedestal.

'Kate's feisty beer choices are going down a treat.'

-You can drink a pint of this no problem.

-Yeah. I reckon.

Or three pints, in my case.

THEY LAUGH

'And I'm going to be serving up

'a tapas take on some British classics.'

It's time to come together for Food & Drink.

Once upon a time, families eating together was part of daily routine.

Now, nearly half of British families struggle to share a meal more

than three times a week.

But the advantages of sharing food - conversation,

even health benefits - are as nourishing as the food itself.

Chef Richard Corrigan grew up as one of seven children

and knows a thing or two about sharing food.

He's won Michelin stars and even cooked for the Queen.

Service!

So I want him to show me

the ideal dish to eat with your nearest and dearest.

What does sharing food mean to you, Richard?

For me, it's your friends or your family around the table,

exchanging ideas, eating some food, drinking some wine.

I mean, it's a really good connection to be able to do that.

-I really enjoy it and I think you do as well.

-I do, too.

It's the best time of the day,

sitting at the table with friends and family.

So, what are we going to be cooking today?

We're going to be cooking chicken and ham pie

-with the addition of crayfish.

-Oh!

Pies are a great dish to share

and, by adding crayfish to the classic ham and chicken filling,

Richard's giving it an unusual twist

that will be a guaranteed talking point around the table.

Now, the beauty of a pie, whatever shape or form it takes,

I think, conjures up bringing it to the table

and then just breaking that crust and you see the steam

and everybody's face light up.

Yeah, and the other thing is there's very little washing-up to do.

'To start off, we need some tender meat so we've poached a ham hock

'with some chicken thighs in a bit of water, herbs and veg.

'This leaves a delicious stock and the meat just melts from the bone.'

Chicken thighs are relatively cheap, gammon is relatively cheap,

-but very tasty.

-They are fantastic in a pie.

They're incredibly great value and the residue,

the stock that's left over, is just fantastic. I mean, it really is.

So, you've got some crayfish there, Richard.

Yeah, which we've picked the shell off them

and you end up with a very fine specimen, really.

'You can buy freshwater crayfish from specialist fishmongers.

'They are bit of a treat

'and you can get a dozen for around the price of one lobster.'

So, the crayfish heads we have here, this is for the base of the sauce.

You don't need to cook this for hours.

We're just going to put a small bit of tomato puree in there and that's

really just for a visual, a little bit of colour,

and a tiny, little bit of flavour.

'After simmering the herby stock from the meat for 20 minutes,

'Richard adds it onto the crayfish heads

'to make a flavoursome base for the sauce.'

And in there, I'm just going to put a small bit of tarragon.

Oh, I love tarragon.

So, just bring that to the boil and it needs no more cooking.

A moment sharing is a special moment. Very, very special.

It's not just about the food, however good it is.

It's that moment in time.

The idea of someone just eating suppers on their laps,

watching TV, you know what I mean?

-I don't think there is a lot of fun in it, anyway.

-No.

You know, to take a little time out for yourself is not a bad

thing in life.

'I'm making a flour and butter mix which we chefs call a roux.'

-So, what makes a good roux?

-Good flour and good butter.

-Is it?

-That's it?

-Simple as that.

-And how far do you cook it out?

For this one, just a little bit of colour. Yeah. Not a blonde one.

-Yeah.

-Not a dark brown one, just a touch of colour. Like that one.

Get it in there. Come on.

'They don't call me Roux for nothing!

'Adding Richard's sauce base to my roux and mixing them

'together makes a thicker sauce.'

So, tell me, you were brought up in Ireland.

Family life, coming to the table

more than once a week for a lunch or a dinner.

Yeah, I think, you know, it's a kind of country farmhouse environment.

You know, we weren't kind of...

It wasn't high table but it was high taste. We ate well.

-Wild rabbits, pheasants.

-That's high taste. I like that.

-Tarragony enough in there?

-I think so.

-Yeah?

-Eh... Want a bit more?

-A little.

-It doesn't, you know...

-Who said, "Too many chefs?"

THEY LAUGH

'The chicken, ham and sauce go into the pie dish.

'On top of that goes the chunks of raw crayfish.

'Whatever you do,

'make sure to spread this special ingredient evenly

'so everyone gets a piece.'

So, you've put a little bit of chives...

Chives, a small bit of tarragon. It needs no more.

Just the puff pastry on it now.

'Giving the rim of the bowl a brush with beaten egg will

'ensure your pastry sticks perfectly.

'Shop-bought puff pastry is fine.'

-So, are you going to crimp or am I going to crimp?

-Yeah, go on.

-Go ahead.

-Oh, my word. Are you sure? No, I'll let you...

-No, no, no.

Well, you know, on a pie like this, I think

you should leave a little bit, you know, overhanging.

I don't think you should turn this into one of those, you know,

cheffy, happy little pies.

Just let a little bit out on the side

because everyone loves a bit of the pastry.

Yes, you're right.

Bring it together nicely.

Important that you press on the sides there so it'll stick.

Yeah, yeah, you want it to stick down.

'Richard brushes the pastry with egg,

'sprinkles on some thyme and, for the finishing touch,

'a couple of crayfish heads go into the pastry lid.

'As well as being a fun decoration, they let out steam,

'which helps crisp up the pie.'

There's something incredibly rustic about this

and I'd rather it rustic than made into something that it's not.

That's a very valid point because, very often, food for sharing,

food that you bring to the table is rustic. It's not fancy.

-It's not overworked.

-I mean, there is a temptation always

when you have pastry to start making little flowers and making...

And, visually, if you're going to put it in a shop window,

that's what you would do. But this is for your family.

Spoon, pastry, delicious filling

-and a delicious glass of something to go with it.

-I hope.

-Michel, in the oven.

-In the oven? 200 degrees for about 20 minutes.

20 minutes.

When we share food, we usually share a drink as well.

We often talk about wine

but it's not the be-all and end-all of a social event.

One drink that couldn't go better with a pie like ours is beer.

Gone are the days when going for a pint meant a musty ale

or a tasteless lager.

There are now over 800 breweries in the UK

and the production of small-scale craft ale is big business.

There's so much choice that choosing the right beer

can be a bit daunting prospect.

We've got drinks expert Kate Goodman to give us

the inside track for matching beer and food.

With the variety of beer so huge, it needs its own menu.

There's a beer out there to suit every taste and every dish.

There are several ways you can go about pairing beer with food.

The key is to treat it like you would wine.

So here are my three tips for the perfect match.

Use complementary pairings

where the flavours balance

and enhance each other.

Like a strong, punchy bitter with a sharp Cheddar cheese.

Dark red ales and traditional bitters have a rich, fuller flavour

so pair well with roasted or smoked meats and the darker, sweet flavours

of porter and stout complement a rich chocolate dessert.

The two key things that affect price are the hop content

and the alcohol content.

Usually, the more you get, the more you pay.

Of course, you can go the other way.

Choose different qualities that

contrast and cut through each other.

For example, a crisp, dry, light lager with a sticky

sweet-and-sour sauce or a fruit beer with meaty game.

Bear in mind that choosing beer rather than wine isn't

necessarily cheaper.

There is good value around for a few pounds

but craft ales can cost up to £30 a bottle.

Lastly, pay close attention to the label, as the alcoholic

content can be 9% or even higher.

So watch out - if you have a few too many of those, you won't even

make it to the chocolate dessert.

'The pie's ready and all we need is some fresh greens, some good

'company and a little glass of what Kate's found us to go with it.'

-I think you should do the honours.

-Thank you. I will.

Oh, that just sounds good, doesn't it? Just the sound of it is great.

It's quite a generous helping here as well. This must be...

-I think you'd do at least 4-6 people here.

-Oh, yeah.

Well, it depends what size they are, Richard.

Clearly, Michel, you have slimmed down since I used to know you.

-Yeah, yeah.

-We need our greens.

-You need your greens. There you go.

Thank you, Richard.

There's nothing like to see the joyous faces of people eating

real simple, tasty food. Forget about, you know, being stressed out.

Sit down, eat that and you're going to walk away, you know...

And it's a uniting dish, isn't it?

It's one of those that it's just sit around a table, it's big,

all dig into it, get stuck in.

You've got the salty tang from the ham and then all the meat's

so tender it's almost falling away in your mouth. It's just brilliant.

And the surf-turf,

the crayfish with ham and chicken really, really works.

So, I've got some lovely, refreshing beer here to go with your pie.

I've chosen three pale ales,

all from the lighter end of the craft ales spectrum

and costing between £2-3 per bottle.

This is from Thornbridge. This is Wild Swan.

-They're based in Derbyshire.

-Wild Swan White Gold Pale Ale.

But it's full of flavour.

When you think about, you know,

those bland beers that don't have much flavour,

these are totally the reverse. It's all about the flavour.

-The citrus, the aromatics, the floral.

-It's quite summery.

-That's what I was going to say.

-That's exactly it.

Well, do you know, this beer was actually made as a summer beer?

-Alcohol content?

-3.5, so...

-Yeah, I thought it was. It's lowish.

-It is low, yeah.

-So you can drink a pint of this no problem...

-Yeah.

-..and feel still pretty good.

-Yeah, I reckon.

-Or three pints, in my case.

THEY LAUGH

Well, let's go for the next one, which is

from the RedWillow brewery and this is Headless.

These guys are based in Macclesfield.

This is a classic story -

a guy who claims he kind of hit a midlife crisis

and decided to turn his passion for beer into a business

so he set up a microbrewery in about 2010.

-This is just a little bit more oomph.

-Punch, yeah.

-A lot of it more oomph.

When I think of northern England, I'm thinking real beers.

I just think of this. You know.

-Bags of flavour but, nonetheless, a light...

-Yeah.

-..light beer.

If you had something too heavy with this, it would be too much, I think.

You still need that refreshing sort of side to it.

So, the last one is Magic Rock.

This is called High Wire West Coast Pale Ale.

These guys are based in Huddersfield.

Again, this is a bit more tropical, again. There's a bit more...

-I think...I think this is yours.

-Yeah.

See, I find that a tad too bitter for food.

I mean, I would drink it

quite...well, very happily, actually, I would drink it.

But, for food, I think the middle one, Headless, is the best.

Sharing a hearty pie with your loved ones around the dining table

might be Richard's idea of how a family should eat

but not everyone agrees.

Chef Andy Bates thinks everyone should stop telling him how to eat.

How and where we eat our dinner has never been a hotter topic

than it is today and I've had enough of it.

If we don't sit around the dining table every day,

society will crumble(!)

These days, life moves too fast for that.

Everything is on demand.

We eat how we want, when we want and what we want.

We work so hard in Britain - longer hours than anywhere in Europe -

and, for working families, time is even tighter.

In 65% of families, both parents work

and nearly one in three of us live and eat alone.

When I was growing up, there just wasn't the time to have

a family meal every night.

I had two hard-working parents

and normally ate with my brother after school.

We'd still have family time together, just in a different way.

It's simply old-fashioned and impractical to think that

sitting around a table is the only way of being together.

These days, there's loads more choice about what and where you can eat.

Take street food - it couldn't be further from the dinner table

but it's nutritious and not a solitary experience by any means.

These days, we've got so many different ways of communicating -

phone, text, video messaging, social networking,

'I can spend a lunch time standing at a counter with people

'just as busy as me, eating delicious street food, talking to the cook...'

-There you go.

-Thank you, Katie.

..whilst messaging a friend across the world.

So let's embrace the now, enjoy the pace of life.

Eat what you want with whoever you want.

And stop putting the dining table on a pedestal!

The dining table, for me,

is the centre of the family and it should be revered.

In an ideal world, yes, but a lot of people just don't have the time to do

it any more and I don't want people to feel guilty that they can't do it.

I come from a working family where we weren't able to

sit around the table every night.

We'd get in from school, my brother and I, we'd do cheese on toast

-but we interacted in different ways.

-What, on the phone?

On the phone, on the internet, on Facebook, on Twitter? No.

We kind of turned out all right... so to speak.

What I think is fundamentally wrong with your argument is that

maybe you did it with just your brother

but that was an important moment of your learning.

Communicating with your brother, with whoever it is at the table.

Well, I think habits have changed,

the way a family do things together has changed.

-I think children do more activities than they've ever done before.

-Hm.

I think times are changing but, equally, I think

because we spend less time with our children, for me,

there will be a certain time in the day that we're all sat together.

So we will sit and eat together at breakfast before the day starts.

So, you know, I make sure I make that time.

There's nothing wrong with fathers or mothers banging the table -

"Eat your food!"

It's not a pleasurable occasion when kids

are young and they are looking at Dad with his big lump of salty

smoked fish. "This is lovely." And they really want to spit it out.

You know what I mean?

And then when they get into their teens they like these things.

And surely, nutritionally and physically, emotionally,

at lots of different levels, it is so important to sit around a table.

You say about nutritional values

but my mum would get up very early in the morning,

she'd cook a proper meal, you know, leave it in the fridge or

the oven, for us to come in home from school and turn it on.

We'd eat well. You know, we used to do a monthly shop.

We never went without good food.

Although we didn't like eating fruit, we were made to eat it.

Growing up boys, you know, it was always there.

So we did eat really well but times are changing. Kind of go with it.

I think we have to be careful, you know,

how blase we can have this conversation and say, "Oh, you know,

"the future is changing." Well, the future only changes if we let it.

And, you know, there's nothing wrong with tradition here.

'Do you have a passion for eating round the dinner table?

'Carry on the debate after the show

'by logging on to BBC.co.uk/FoodAndDrink,

'where you can also find all of today's recipes and drinks.'

We've been talking about sharing, but when it comes to sharing,

we've all got a pet hate.

Maybe at the dinner party or in the pub or something, I don't know,

wherever you do sharing. So what is it? Kate?

-I've got quite a big appetite.

-No!

So I don't like it when someone on the other side of the table

-is hogging the food and I can't reach it.

-Yeah.

What about you, Richard?

Well, having cooked and presented food to a table

-and then see people reach for salt.

-Before they even taste it.

I just feel like grabbing their hands - "Stop!"

Before they taste it, I think that's one of my really annoying things.

And then they'll probably say afterwards, "That was a bit salty."

What about you?

What I hate is when I buy chips and I offer them before.

I want all chips to myself.

"I will buy you a portion so you do not take one of them."

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.

"Can I have a chip?"

"I offered you..." It's something about chips, isn't it?

-I think you're right. It's chips.

-Something about chips.

-He's a bit chippy about his chips.

-Well, for me, it's that age-old one.

It really is. It's that one at the dinner party or the cocktail party

and it is the dreaded double-dipping.

I cannot stand that. You got that dip and somebody's gone in,

crunch, and gone straight back in.

And I just look at it and I go, "I'll pass, thank you."

'Sharing food has its hazards

'but, joking aside, it's becoming ever more popular.

'The success of food like tapas is proof that'

the culture of sharing food has captured our imaginations in the UK

but, as tapas king Omar Allibhoy has been finding out,

Spain doesn't have the monopoly on this way of eating.

Not all sharing is the same.

In Spain, traditionally, tapas is a way people come together over

a few drinks and snacks.

And, as a Spanish chef, I love that you Brits have embraced it too.

But Spain isn't the only country

with a deeply ingrained food-sharing culture.

Korean cuisine is causing a stir amongst food lovers

and it's not just about the food, it's the way they eat it.

Korean dining takes sharing to the next level.

They don't just share the odd dish for an evening out.

Traditionally, they share at every meal time.

Karen Choi has invited me to one of the growing number

of restaurants for my first ever Korean meal.

For Omar, the only similarity that he's going to have is little

dishes that you get to share.

The flavour itself is completely different to what our tapas is.

Because we shared a lot in the olden days,

you still see that around in the modern days.

I could say that it's within the Korean spirit.

Koreans call their cuisine hansik, and a food blogger is going to

show me how the dinner we are about to share gets its unique flavours.

Oh. Which are the staple ingredients in Korean food?

-We have a seasoning, basic seasoning sauce, which is soy sauce...

-Yes.

..chilli flakes. Korean chilli is much different than Spanish.

Korean chilli is milder, sweeter and a kick to it.

These dishes are completely different from what I'm used to

and you share them differently as well.

Karen, this seems like a lot of food. This is a real feast.

-Since you're here we are having a feast today.

-That's good to hear.

So, explain us the rules, Karen.

Just help yourself to whatever you feel like.

There isn't any order for you to eat so whatever you fancy, go for it.

'Unlike tapas, there are two dishes, rice and soup,

'which are just for you.

'Everything in the middle of the table is up for grabs.

'We've got an incredible spread of fried, grilled, pickled

'and raw dishes. There is noodles, dumplings or mandu,

'and galbi - grilled beef.'

That's one of the beauties of sharing culture, that even if you don't

like this dish, you still have another ten plates to tuck into.

The main stew dish is called sogogi jeongol, which arrives raw

and is cooked right in front of us.

You can eat directly from the bowl,

which makes everyone seem especially close.

I'm loving everything about this meal.

But it's not just the food, I think

it's the sharing that is second nature to me.

In Spain, we believe sharing food enhances conversation.

-Is it the same in Korea?

-Yes, very much so.

Food is most topic of conversation.

Even... We usually say the greetings - it's not say hello,

we say, "Have you eaten?"

'With delicious flavours and a really communal spirit,

'I can see why Korean food is beginning to take off.

'And, just like tapas,

'I think British people will take it to their hearts.'

The truth is that it's a complete different cuisine with a great

variety of flavours, you know, and jumping from one place to

another with all this, which makes it incredibly interesting.

But the philosophy of sharing is exactly the same

and I think it's a winning formula.

So we are the trendsetters.

THEY LAUGH

It seems us Brits are a bit behind when it comes to the small plate

revolution so I've come up with some British classics

and turned them into our very own national tapas.

I'm making delicious mini Scotch eggs,

a pea and mint soup that's great hot or cold and, first off,

a tasty baked British cheese - Tunworth.

This is a beautiful, ripe cheese, similar to a Camembert

but made in Britain. It's lovely and ripe, you can see from the rind.

It's just turning colour and if you press it, you can

feel there's a bit of give.

'I'm cutting slits on top to add in some rosemary, seasoning and

'a little bit of honey,

'which is going to enhance that creamy flavour.

So, the cheese goes in the oven and the oven does all the work for you

and it's going to come out

with beautiful, cheesy, molten honey sweetness.

'That gives us around 20 minutes to get cracking with

'the rest of our tapas.'

Now for the mini Scotch eggs, but made with quail eggs.

Very gently, delicately drop them into the boiling water

and cook them for two minutes.

Very precise, and you should have, that way, the yolk set

but still soft.

A tip about cooking eggs -

best to have them at room temperature, not fridge-cold.

Now we take the little quails' eggs out of the water

and into

iced water and that's going to stop them cooking.

'To make these miniature eggs easier to peel,

'soak them in vinegar for around ten minutes.

'You don't need the expensive kind for this.

'In fact, the cheaper, the better.'

So, whilst they're in the vinegar, I'm going to prepare the mince

or the forcemeat that's going to go around the egg.

'I'm using pork with some roughly chopped fresh sage

'and a bit of seasoning.'

As an alternative, you could use lamb mince and jazz it up

maybe with some cumin, turmeric, maybe even a hint of chilli.

'The best way to mix the herbs in properly

'is to get your hands messy.'

This pork mince is now really smelling delicious.

The sage is doing its trick. It's making me salivate already.

This is truly yummy.

Now, you can see there's some bubbles forming

so the vinegar has worked its magic.

And now we can just peel them

and it just literally comes off very, very easily.

'Now I roll the eggs in flour, then place one on a patty of mince

'and gently shape the meat around it into a perfect ball.

'The flour holds the mince in place like glue

'and ensures there is no gap between the layers.'

And you must work the mince really well here to seal that egg in.

And there you have it.

'I want everyone sharing these to have a crunchy bite.

'Roll them in flour and egg

'to make sure the coating picks up plenty of breadcrumbs.

'I'm using Japanese Panko breadcrumbs,

'which crisp up beautifully.'

These really are so simple to do.

You can do them with the whole family, with your kids,

and you can have little production line of your children making

these and rolling them in the flour. I mean, it's such fun. Such fun.

'When the eggs are ready, heat up a pan of oil to 180 degrees.'

To check to see if it's hot enough, just a few crumbs in there

and they should fry just like that. That's the sign.

We know the oil now is hot enough.

'Carefully put the eggs into the pan.'

They should take no more than three or four minutes, really,

cos the egg is already cooked. You don't want that to cook

any more, you just want to cook the mince.

'When they've turned a lovely golden colour, they're ready to lift out.'

Now, if you are a little bit worried about not having cooked them

all the way through, you can

just test by using a small knife. You go into the egg and...

the juice is running clear for sure, and then just test for temperature.

There. That's hot.

That tells me it's hot all the way to the very core.

So that's cooked.

The cheese is baking in the oven, the Scotch eggs are ready.

This is all about sharing, this is about tapas.

One final dish and that's the pea and mint soup.

'This couldn't be simpler.

'Add the peas to a pan of lightly salted boiling water,

'then separate the mint stalks from the leaves and add them in, too.

'Three minutes on the boil should make them nice and tender.

'Remove the mint stalks

'and add the peas to a blender along with a splash of the cooking liquid,

'creme fraiche,

'the mint leaves and black pepper.

'It just needs blitzing until smooth, and seasoning to taste.

'I could eat this little lot all by myself

'but this food is about gathering round and spending time with others.

'I suppose I'll have to share it.'

Right, there we go, guys.

British tapas.

Dive in. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, that crunch on the outside. That's brilliant.

The sage really comes through on that.

-That's as good as it gets, isn't it?

-It is.

-Yeah.

-And you know what?

-That's fantastic.

-That is so simple to do.

Baked in the oven - simplicity itself.

And it's the perfect food for sharing.

'Now all we need is the right tipple to go with it and Kate has chosen

'an interesting-looking cider

'you can buy for only a couple of pounds.'

So, not only a renaissance of beer but a renaissance of cider as well.

We're seeing lots more artisan cider producers.

6%? I won't give yous too much.

Yeah, yeah, we've got to be careful.

It's Orchard Pig Truffler Dry Sparkling Cider

but the carbonation is quite gentle

and it's just got that lovely bittersweet quality

on the finish that just cuts through the creaminess of the cheese.

Great drink. You know what I like as well?

It's the fact that it's not too fizzy.

Yeah, exactly, it's just gentle sparkling.

It's a gentle sparkle and it's...it's... Yeah, it's lovely.

'I've had some great drink, great food and some great company.'

It's always nice to have a little shot in a party, isn't it?

Especially a vegetarian one.

'Food is far more than just fuel.

'Eating is a social experience that makes us human.'

Wherever you ate tonight,

I hope you agree that sharing food is one of life's great pleasures.

'Next time, one Greedy Italian, Gennaro Contaldo, joins me

'to make a classic dish...'

-Generous?

-We have to be generous. It's for us!

Yeah.

'..Kate keeps us on our toes...'

-I'll give you one guess where it's from.

-New York!

'..and I'll be making gourmet hot dogs

'with only the best ingredients.'