0:00:02 > 0:00:07- Some of the best British produce is under threat.- It's at the mercy of market forces.- And food fashion.
0:00:07 > 0:00:12- Produce that has been around for centuries... - Could die out within a generation.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15- So together we're on a mission... - To save it.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19We'll give you tips on how to find it, grow it and cook it.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24- And crucially, how to put sensational British produce... - Back on the food map.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58One carpaccio, one egg, one duck, one lamb.
0:01:00 > 0:01:06'I'm Glynn Purnell, head chef at my own award-winning restaurant in Birmingham.'
0:01:06 > 0:01:09One egg, one duck, one lamb.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14'If there's one ingredient I believe is in need of revival, then it's British cheese.'
0:01:14 > 0:01:18We forget how much we use cheese in cooking.
0:01:18 > 0:01:25We do a goat's cheese emulsion with things, we gratinate things. And you can't beat cheese on toast.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30I'm sort of concerned that we're not giving cheesemakers enough credit for what they do.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34It's frightening that we've neglected them.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40Over half the cheese we buy each year in the UK is imported,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44so our own cheeses face stiff competition on the shelves.
0:01:44 > 0:01:50Copycats, imitations, misleading labelling. We need to bring it back, we need to revive it.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55'I want to see British cheeses in your basket, so I'm doing the hard work for you
0:01:55 > 0:02:00'by tracking down some of the country's best cheeses.'
0:02:00 > 0:02:02You get that dimple of sweat.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06'By finding out how we're fooled into buying the foreign stuff.'
0:02:06 > 0:02:1253% of the cheddar sold is pre-packed own label. We don't even know who made it.
0:02:12 > 0:02:18'And in the Revival kitchen I'll be sharing three fantastic recipes to help you
0:02:18 > 0:02:20'show off our great British cheese.'
0:02:20 > 0:02:24We've got that fantastic wibble wobble.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32'I've always loved using British cheeses in my recipes.'
0:02:32 > 0:02:38One of my first experiences of cooking with cheese, when I was 10, with a little brother and sister,
0:02:38 > 0:02:43we used to grate the cheese over hot beans for cheesy beans on toast
0:02:43 > 0:02:49and the other one was when we'd grate the cheese into the bowl and pour hot soup over it.
0:02:49 > 0:02:55Let it stand for a second then create fantastic, sort of elastic-y cheese string.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57They thought I was a genius. Still do.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02'Now there's no denying that we Brits love our cheese.
0:03:02 > 0:03:08'We eat around 600,000 tons of the stuff a year. But do we know enough about the great British cheeses
0:03:08 > 0:03:10'that are out there?'
0:03:12 > 0:03:17I could name five British cheeses. I think so. Cheddar... No, sorry!
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Stilton, Wensleydale, Cheddar, obviously.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Cheddar, em...
0:03:25 > 0:03:29- Cheddar, Wensleydale... - Obviously, Cheddar.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Red Leicester?
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Hmm, it's not so easy, actually.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43'Clearly, for my revival to succeed, we all need to become more aware
0:03:43 > 0:03:46'of the variety of British cheeses available.'
0:03:46 > 0:03:50Nigel, what's happened to British cheese?
0:03:50 > 0:03:55Well, in WWII, our cheese production virtually came to a standstill
0:03:55 > 0:03:59and any cheese that was made was made to a national recipe,
0:03:59 > 0:04:05which was essentially a Cheddar style in the rationing system. So we lost a lot of skills in that period.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Cheesemaking didn't start in earnest until the early 1950s.
0:04:09 > 0:04:15'So that explains our obsession with Cheddar, but we're talking half a century ago.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19'Surely our British cheese industry has moved on.'
0:04:19 > 0:04:24We're now making over 700 named cheeses in this country,
0:04:24 > 0:04:29many of which are similar to imported cheeses we've had for some time.
0:04:29 > 0:04:35Things like our Cornish and Somerset Brie and Camembert are a match for any cheese in the world.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39The idea of having an English Camembert is fantastic.
0:04:41 > 0:04:49Just looking round this shop, it's amazing, really. There's so many varieties of British cheeses.
0:04:49 > 0:04:55I'm surprised how many there is. As a nation, are we not trying enough different British cheeses?
0:04:55 > 0:05:01Probably. I think part of the reason is that Cheddar is the nation's favourite. More than half the cheese
0:05:01 > 0:05:07- we eat is Cheddar in one form or another.- It's being brave and having a go.- It is.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11And you don't have to buy a lot. I try a different cheese every week.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15I only buy 100 grams to get a taste of the flavour.
0:05:15 > 0:05:21Cheddar plus one is the little motto we've got. Cheddar plus one and see how you get on.
0:05:21 > 0:05:26- Have you tried all 700? - Not yet, but I'm well on the way.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31100 grams at a time, working your way round all 700 of them!
0:05:33 > 0:05:39'It turns out we're making lots of different types of cheese, but not yet buying enough of them.
0:05:39 > 0:05:45'So I'm going to show you how easy it is to substitute British cheeses for your foreign favourites.
0:05:45 > 0:05:51'And what better place to start than the most famous of all cheese recipes, a cheesecake?'
0:05:52 > 0:05:59Normally I would use a typical soft foreign cheese, but today I've got a fantastic West Yorkshire,
0:05:59 > 0:06:04British cheese, which is pretty unusual. I'm excited making this.
0:06:04 > 0:06:10This will be a perfect recipe to showcase how fantastic and brilliant British cheese is.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13'The first step is the biscuit base.'
0:06:13 > 0:06:19I normally use digestive biscuits. If you've got broken biscuits, throw them in. The odd ginger,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23the odd cookie that's lost its way.
0:06:23 > 0:06:29'Blitz together the biscuits with melted butter. I use salted butter to cut through the sweetness
0:06:29 > 0:06:32'of that real cheesy topping.
0:06:34 > 0:06:40'Tip it into a loose-bottom tin, press it down firmly and whack it in the fridge to set.
0:06:43 > 0:06:48'Stage two is the fruit topping.' Get the blackberries in with some sugar.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52And crush as much of the juice out as possible.
0:06:52 > 0:06:58Some people call it coulis, but I just call it a juice. Coulis is a bit too posh!
0:06:58 > 0:07:04And we'll pass that off and get rid of all the little bits that get stuck in your teeth.
0:07:04 > 0:07:10I've got some now, actually. It should make an absolutely stunning pudding.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16'Leave it to cool and get on with the main event -
0:07:16 > 0:07:19'the sweet cheese filling.'
0:07:20 > 0:07:25We've got this lovely West Yorkshire British cream cheese, which people probably haven't seen.
0:07:25 > 0:07:31It's fantastic. It's got a slight acidic smell, which is really nice.
0:07:31 > 0:07:37And we've got a really nice vanilla pod, which we're going to split. It'll flavour our cheesecake.
0:07:37 > 0:07:45'And here's a top tip - before you split it, run your knife over it to loosen up those little black seeds.'
0:07:46 > 0:07:51I just want to scrape... as much of that out as possible.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57You can also save these and use them in your sugar.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02'Next get the cream cheese in a mixer with those vanilla seeds.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09'Then add three eggs and some cream that have been whisked together.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15'And, finally, feed in some flour and sugar.'
0:08:18 > 0:08:23Once you've mixed it, you might have to run your paddle through it.
0:08:23 > 0:08:29If you overbeat it, it'll be too thin and take too long to cook. Don't ask me why. It just doesn't.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33'Simply pour the cheesy mixture onto the biscuit base.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40'And drizzle on the cooled blackberry juice.'
0:08:40 > 0:08:45I'm making a feathered effect. It's a little bit retro,
0:08:45 > 0:08:51but it's a classical recipe so it's quite nice to keep that sort of theme, really.
0:08:54 > 0:09:00I'm going to pop this in the oven for around 45 minutes, but not too hot. Don't overcook it.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05You want it to cook really gently all the way through.
0:09:05 > 0:09:12In the middle we want a little wibble wobble. 'I'm serving it with zingy blackberries and honeycomb,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15'dusted with black pepper.' Just give it a...
0:09:17 > 0:09:21'Smash it into shards of peppery sugariness.'
0:09:23 > 0:09:28I'm going to cut up some of the blackberries, leave some whole.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31And you always have to nick one.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Whack a bit of that in there,
0:09:38 > 0:09:40give it a little stir up.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45'And after 45 minutes, it's done.'
0:09:45 > 0:09:48It's exactly what we're looking for.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51We've got that fantastic wibble wobble.
0:09:51 > 0:09:57'Now for the hardest part - leaving it to cool before diving in.'
0:09:57 > 0:10:02So this is the moment of truth to see whether it's set.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05We need to run a knife round the outside.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10You can hear the crunchiness of the biscuits on the bottom.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15And there we go.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19I'm going to serve it with the blackberries and honeycomb
0:10:19 > 0:10:24and that should give the dish even more texture and a little bit of spice with the black pepper.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32So there we have it. My baked blackberry cheesecake.
0:10:45 > 0:10:51In Britain, we love our cheese. We buy it in supermarkets, delis, farmhouses, markets.
0:10:51 > 0:10:5660% of that is Cheddar, but a third of it isn't even from the UK.
0:10:56 > 0:11:04'Originally made in its namesake village in Somerset, Cheddar is now produced all over the world.'
0:11:04 > 0:11:10If you go back into the 1860s, there's a guy called Harding who lived in Somerset
0:11:10 > 0:11:16who sent his recipe to America. And because of him Cheddar went global.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21It can be made anywhere in any sort of factory and imported here.
0:11:21 > 0:11:22People are confused.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25They think they're buying home-produced Cheddar.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30In fact, they're buying cheese that could come from anywhere.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32And that is a great problem.
0:11:32 > 0:11:38'Buying your cheese from a farmer's market is always a good way to know where it comes from.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42'What about the cheese you buy in shops and supermarkets?'
0:11:43 > 0:11:48This is a block of mature Cheddar.
0:11:48 > 0:11:54Right? 53% of the Cheddar sold in this country is in pre-packed own label
0:11:54 > 0:12:02- so we don't even know who made it. It's a supermarket.- So supermarket Cheddar, which most people get,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06- thinking they're having British Cheddar.- Right.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11- I turn that over...- OK. - ..and it just tells me not even that it's packed in the UK.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15It just names the retailer. No clue where it comes from.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Where could it come from?
0:12:18 > 0:12:24- An awful lot comes, believe it or not, from Australia and New Zealand and Canada.- Australia?- Absolutely.
0:12:24 > 0:12:30- A long way away.- It is. Considering you're thinking you're buying Cheddar.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34'And for the cheesemakers this is the critical issue.'
0:12:34 > 0:12:39We do need desperately to clarify the labelling laws
0:12:39 > 0:12:44so if you do want to buy English Cheddar, you can buy it.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50'Some supermarkets are starting to clarify their labelling.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55'One good way of guaranteeing your cheese is made in Britain is the red tractor,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59'an independent mark of British farming quality.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02'But there's another label.'
0:13:02 > 0:13:08What can we do to make people more aware of what they're buying?
0:13:08 > 0:13:15We have about 9 or 10 Protected Designation of Origin cheeses. They are protected across Europe.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19- The most famous is Stilton. - Stilton.- We always had that one.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23And around eight or nine years ago, West Country Farmhouse Cheddar,
0:13:23 > 0:13:29that was accredited with a PDO, so it has to be made in Dorset, Devon, Cornwall or Somerset.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33On the farm, using the farmer's own milk.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37- And there, you see the logo there? - Yes.- Even the supermarkets
0:13:37 > 0:13:44- have to put that on their packs now, which is great.- So we know exactly what's going on.- You've got it.
0:13:44 > 0:13:50'And there's a very important reason why now is the time for us to revive our cheese industry.'
0:13:50 > 0:13:57We've got a critical situation. We've lost half our dairy farmers in 15 years.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02- The average age of a dairy farmer now is 59.- Which is ridiculous.
0:14:02 > 0:14:07So we need to start buying more British cheese. There's plenty.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10The best thing people can do is to shop more carefully.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19What a fantastic story it's turned out to be.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23Cheddar seems to have lost its way so we're here in Somerset
0:14:23 > 0:14:28to meet a guy who wants to bring Cheddar back to its home county.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33'The Montgomeries have been making their award-winning Cheddar on their farm near Yeovil
0:14:33 > 0:14:36'for the last 100 years.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42'Unlike most supermarket Cheddars, they use unpasteurised milk,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46'which gives every batch of their cheese a unique flavour.'
0:14:46 > 0:14:52Because it's unpasteurised, we're trying much harder to get more flavour
0:14:52 > 0:14:58to come from that milk. You can make Cheddar with a lot of acidity and a lot of people like that,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02something that'll blow their head off. But we're not about that.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07Because it's unpasteurised, we can supply that flavour to the market.
0:15:07 > 0:15:13'James makes cheese every day of the year with each truckle left to mature for at least 12 months.'
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Oh, fantastic smell.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27It is really complex.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32You put it in your mouth and it's changing all the time, which is fantastic.
0:15:32 > 0:15:38That's the best feature, the really progressive feature of unpasteurised cheese.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42With a little hint of sweetness, but it's a spicy sweetness.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47It's not sickly. That's what you get from unpasteurised cheese.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51The complexity. When you pasteurise the milk, you kill all the flavour.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55- Then you put a starter in to give you the flavour.- OK.
0:15:55 > 0:16:01That means the flavour you get is very defined, exactly what you want it to be.
0:16:01 > 0:16:07- For supermarkets, that's fantastic. It's always exactly the same. - Is that too good to cook with? Or...
0:16:07 > 0:16:14What you can do is you can get all that flavour into a dish only using a little bit of cheese.
0:16:14 > 0:16:21That's right, yeah. I'm sure at a nice room temperature with a glass of cider, it'd do the job.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25Well, that's king. That's everything from the farm.
0:16:25 > 0:16:31I want to have a go at cooking with it. I've got the ideal dish to bring out the best of your cheese.
0:16:38 > 0:16:45So for my next dish, what I want to do is emphasise how great British Cheddar is.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56First, we need to get the custard going, so cream and grated Cheddar.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00'All right, custards are normally sweet, but this one's savoury.
0:17:00 > 0:17:07'It's a bit like a quiche without the pastry. It starts with double cream - quite a lot, in fact.'
0:17:07 > 0:17:12Now I need to grate some of that delicious, sharp mature Cheddar.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21I want to grate some rind into it because the rind has still got the smell of the farm
0:17:21 > 0:17:26and the orchards over the back. So if we grate it down...
0:17:26 > 0:17:32'Once you've got a big enough handful, chuck it in with the cream and give it a good stir
0:17:34 > 0:17:37'to encourage it to melt.
0:17:37 > 0:17:43'Now it's time for some bold, punchy flavours, starting with a pinch of ginger.'
0:17:43 > 0:17:50And then a tiny bit of English mustard just to help bring that flavour of the cheddar out.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55Not too much. So what I've got now is a fantastic consistency,
0:17:55 > 0:18:01almost like a cheese sauce consistency. What we need to do is add the eggs.
0:18:01 > 0:18:08This will be our setting agent to give a fantastic consistency and let the Cheddar sing out.
0:18:09 > 0:18:15'Once the eggs are whisked in, pass the mixture through a sieve to make sure there's no lumps.
0:18:20 > 0:18:27'Then pour boiling water into a baking tray around an oven-proof dish and tip the custard in.
0:18:27 > 0:18:32'This will make sure it cooks slowly and evenly.'
0:18:32 > 0:18:38A little bit more grated cheese on top to almost get that cheese on toast taste.
0:18:38 > 0:18:44It colours and melts onto the custard. I'll cook that at 160 for 40-50 minutes.
0:18:47 > 0:18:53Whilst that's cooking, we'll do the beetroot salad. 'Beetroot is the perfect partner for cheese.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57'There's lots of varieties, like these colourful beauties.'
0:18:57 > 0:19:04When I was a kid, when you had a ploughman's, you'd have pickled beetroot or crunchy red cabbage
0:19:04 > 0:19:09so this really is reliving that sort of flavour.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14We'll have a little splash of really reduced balsamic.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19So you've got beetroot, the crunchy veg to go with the creamy, sharp Cheddar.
0:19:25 > 0:19:31We're just about ready for our Cheddar custard. Got that cheese on toast smell.
0:19:31 > 0:19:37It's just started to colour, which is absolutely fantastic. I can't wait to taste that now.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41I just hope I've done that Cheddar justice.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44That, to me, sings.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Great British Cheddar.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57'If we're going to succeed in reviving British cheese,
0:19:57 > 0:20:04'we need to open our eyes to the different varieties that are as good as foreign equivalents.'
0:20:06 > 0:20:12We're off to Lancashire today to meet a cheesemaker making a more continental-style cheese.
0:20:12 > 0:20:18These guys are making cheese more like the French, so it'll hopefully knock them off the shelves.
0:20:18 > 0:20:25'Gillian Hall and her family have made traditional farmhouse Lancashire for three generations
0:20:25 > 0:20:27'at their dairy near Preston.'
0:20:29 > 0:20:33This is the original Lancashire recipe that my mum's made
0:20:33 > 0:20:37- for over 40 years. - And the blue one's six years old.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41- It's the new artisan modern recipe. - The future, is it?- Hopefully, yes.
0:20:41 > 0:20:47'It took two years of trial and error to produce a British soft blue.
0:20:47 > 0:20:53'They even built a separate dairy to keep the blue cheese mould away from their Traditional Lancashire.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56'This mould sets the cheeses apart.
0:20:56 > 0:21:03'That and the careful handling required to give it a soft, creamy texture.'
0:21:03 > 0:21:08- We've got to treat it very gently. - Gently.- With kid gloves.
0:21:08 > 0:21:14- What'll happen to this now? - We call it the Miss Muffet stage. - I like that.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18- It's got a bit more romance to it. - You're a romantic!- I am.
0:21:18 > 0:21:24You've got the whey and this curd. Actually, only 10% of the milk ends up as curd.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29So you can see from these 700 litres of milk, we'll get very little.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33- So it's a passion as well as a job for you.- It is.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38If you see how gentle this is. It really is hand-made with love.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42'It's this passion, shared by all our artisan cheesemakers,
0:21:42 > 0:21:50'that has seen Britain produce Camemberts, Mozzarellas, Ricottas, Bries, soft blues all of our own.'
0:21:50 > 0:21:53This is the beautiful blue cheese curd.
0:21:53 > 0:21:59- It looks like really overcooked scrambled egg.- And it tastes a bit like that at this stage.
0:21:59 > 0:22:06It's not until it's matured for about six weeks that you get the creamy texture and blue flavour.
0:22:06 > 0:22:12'Once separated from the whey, the curds are packed into circular moulds and left to drain.
0:22:14 > 0:22:19'Then the cheeses are pierced with needles to encourage blue mould.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22'After six months, they're ready for the table.'
0:22:24 > 0:22:29My L plates are not on. I love blue cheese.
0:22:32 > 0:22:39It's so subtle. I'd say it's as good as any Roquefort or Gorgonzola I've tasted.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44- Thank you.- And it's British.- That's right.- Let's give it to the French!
0:22:45 > 0:22:47Thank you.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55It was fantastic. The colour was great. There was a lot of blue,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59but it wasn't overpowering. It was subtle, smooth...
0:22:59 > 0:23:03It was starting to make the sides of my cheeks gently sweat.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08You know you're enjoying the cheese when you get that dimple of sweat. I'm really excited.
0:23:08 > 0:23:14'What better way to help put British cheese back on the food map
0:23:14 > 0:23:16'than by making it yourself?
0:23:16 > 0:23:21'You could start with the handful of courses for wannabe cheesemakers.'
0:23:21 > 0:23:25More and more people are interested in cheese and how it's made
0:23:25 > 0:23:28and they want to have a go.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32'You can even buy kits and try making it at home.'
0:23:32 > 0:23:36People get right into it, get really enthusiastic, excited,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39really proud of themselves.
0:23:39 > 0:23:45After dinner, how nice is it to bring out a cheese that you've made from scratch?
0:23:45 > 0:23:50'You definitely don't need a dairy when a bedroom's just as good.'
0:23:50 > 0:23:54That's better. The first cheese I made was a Camembert.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59I decided to jump in and make a ridiculously difficult cheese.
0:23:59 > 0:24:05I just progressed from there, thinking I want to make every type of cheese, and now I've settled
0:24:05 > 0:24:07on a goat-y blue cheese.
0:24:08 > 0:24:14It's really about just jumping in and trying it. It's not difficult.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18You just need lemon juice and some milk. Simple. ..Pretty good.
0:24:23 > 0:24:30For my last recipe, we're going to use some of Gillian's really rich blue cheese. British blue cheese.
0:24:30 > 0:24:36And in the past a lot of chefs like myself have used typical blue cheese like Roquefort to cook with,
0:24:36 > 0:24:43foreign blue cheeses. I'm so excited to cook this beef dish with a great, soft British blue cheese.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47We're going to cook slow-cooked fillet of beef
0:24:47 > 0:24:51with blue cheese bonbons, rocket and shallot puree.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56The first part is to get the beef on. This is a fantastic cut.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01British, of course. It should go fantastic with the cheese.
0:25:02 > 0:25:08What's great about this dish is it doesn't have to be an expensive piece like the fillet.
0:25:08 > 0:25:14You should get that for a good price. It's the end of the fillet. You could use rump steak
0:25:14 > 0:25:17or a big roasting joint. It'll work.
0:25:17 > 0:25:24I'll cook that in a quite hot oven for around about 15, 20 minutes, depending on how you like it.
0:25:25 > 0:25:31'But it's Gillian's blue cheese I can't wait to get my hands on. It's got a fantastic creamy texture,
0:25:31 > 0:25:36'perfect for my blue cheese bonbons, which are like potato croquettes.'
0:25:36 > 0:25:43We want to basically mix in the blue cheese so it all breaks down. If the worst comes to the worst,
0:25:43 > 0:25:46you have to roll your sleeves up and break it down.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52Already you can see the potato is taking on the blue cheese colour.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56When you cut open the bonbon, it has a beautiful yellowy colour.
0:25:56 > 0:26:02What I'm going to do is make these into nice, round bonbons, like the sweets we used to buy.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05That sort of shape.
0:26:06 > 0:26:13They're all cooked the same and will all be encased in a little crispy coat.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15Roll my sleeves up.
0:26:15 > 0:26:21'And here's some Brummie advice. To get them really crispy, dip them in flour, then egg,
0:26:21 > 0:26:26'then breadcrumbs, not once, but twice.'
0:26:26 > 0:26:32Until the outside's golden brown, crispy with a lovely gooey sort of yellowy cheese centre.
0:26:32 > 0:26:38Now what I'm going to do is take the meat out. It's crying, "Get me out," so we will.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42We take that out and give that a good 5-10 minutes to rest.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47'So the meat relaxes, always a good idea.'
0:26:48 > 0:26:52There's a few juices left which I'll clean down with wine to make sauce.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57We don't want too much sauce. The bonbons give us all the flavour.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01'While that's reducing, you can get them in to fry.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08What we're looking for is a nice, golden outside, soft in the middle.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11A nice bit of colour.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15There we go. Nice, crispy little jackets.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19Tip them out onto there.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Season them up. A bit of rock salt.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31The beef should have had plenty of time to rest. Still relatively pink.
0:27:31 > 0:27:37'And that, with a dollop of creamy shallot puree, and two cheese bonbons and some peppery rocket
0:27:37 > 0:27:42'is what I call a taste of British heaven on a plate.'
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Glaze the plate with the red wine.
0:27:44 > 0:27:51And then we should have a finished dish - roast half fillet of beef with British blue cheese bonbons,
0:27:51 > 0:27:53shallot puree and rocket.
0:28:02 > 0:28:08'Criss-crossing the country, meeting truly passionate hard-working people
0:28:08 > 0:28:13'and tasting some of the amazing cheeses that are out there made me realise
0:28:13 > 0:28:18'how important it is to keep our cheesemaking industry alive.'
0:28:18 > 0:28:25The farmers and cheesemakers are making the effort with bringing different varieties to the market,
0:28:25 > 0:28:30but when you go to the supermarket, pick up the cheese, look at it, read the label
0:28:30 > 0:28:33and we can put British cheese back on the map.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd