Browse content similar to Gregg Wallace on Potatoes and Clarissa Dickson Wright on Pork. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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-The best British produce is under threat. -At the mercy of foreign invaders, market forces... | 0:00:02 | 0:00:06 | |
-..and food fashion. -Produce that has been around for centuries... | 0:00:06 | 0:00:09 | |
..could die out within a generation. | 0:00:09 | 0:00:12 | |
So together, we're on a mission... | 0:00:12 | 0:00:14 | |
-..to save it. -We'll give the best tips how to find it, grow it and cook it. | 0:00:14 | 0:00:19 | |
And, crucially, how to put sensational British produce... | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
..back on the food map. | 0:00:22 | 0:00:24 | |
When you look at the supermarket shelves nowadays, you simply don't see | 0:00:59 | 0:01:03 | |
the hundreds of potato varieties that used to be available to us. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:07 | |
Well, I am on a mission to bring those varieties back to our dinner plates. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:12 | |
Growing potatoes is a vital part of our heritage. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:17 | |
We've done it for over 500 years, and for centuries, | 0:01:17 | 0:01:20 | |
potatoes have played an important part in the British diet. | 0:01:20 | 0:01:23 | |
But shockingly, over the past 40 years, 97% of potato farmers have left the industry, | 0:01:23 | 0:01:29 | |
and heritage varieties have all but disappeared from our supermarket shelves. | 0:01:29 | 0:01:33 | |
In my campaign to revive the ailing British potato, I'll be meeting | 0:01:33 | 0:01:37 | |
the unsung heroes who are striving to secure our heritage varieties. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:40 | |
That is the maddest thing I have ever seen! | 0:01:40 | 0:01:44 | |
I'll be showing you what you can do to save our great British spud. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:48 | |
The fun of digging them up is you never know what you're going to get underneath. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:52 | |
And I'll be wowing you with three mouth-watering recipes, including potato dauphinoise. | 0:01:52 | 0:01:59 | |
That's the closest you'll get to a snog on a plate. | 0:01:59 | 0:02:02 | |
Because I'm a greengrocer, I often get asked what my favourite vegetable is, | 0:02:07 | 0:02:12 | |
and I think people are really disappointed when I tell them it's the humble potato. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:16 | |
But it's the most versatile thing I know. | 0:02:16 | 0:02:19 | |
I've got lovely memories of my grandmother's roast potatoes. | 0:02:19 | 0:02:22 | |
I can remember the first time I tasted a Jersey Royal. | 0:02:22 | 0:02:25 | |
I can also remember my first batch of Pink Fir Apples I sold to the restaurants. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:29 | |
Where would we be without mash? | 0:02:29 | 0:02:31 | |
Where would we be without chips? | 0:02:31 | 0:02:33 | |
It breaks my heart to think we are not making the most of this beautiful crop. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:37 | |
Here in Britain, we know how to grow great spuds. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:42 | |
We produce over six million tons of them every year, and most of the spuds we do eat are homegrown. | 0:02:42 | 0:02:48 | |
But our tasty tubers have taken a bit of an image battering in recent years. | 0:02:48 | 0:02:52 | |
One in ten adults think they don't contain any nutritional benefits, | 0:02:52 | 0:02:56 | |
and the younger generation are turning to foreign rivals. | 0:02:56 | 0:02:59 | |
I prefer rice or pasta, because they're a lot easier to cook. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:03 | |
They take less time to cook. Potatoes take a lot longer. | 0:03:03 | 0:03:06 | |
And I also think you can kind of jazz up pasta and rice a bit more interestingly than potatoes. | 0:03:06 | 0:03:12 | |
They tend to be quite boring, I suppose. | 0:03:12 | 0:03:14 | |
Healthy? Absolutely not! Not the way I coat them! | 0:03:14 | 0:03:18 | |
I put so much olive oil in them that I don't think you'd call that healthy. | 0:03:18 | 0:03:23 | |
I think potatoes do have an image problem. | 0:03:23 | 0:03:27 | |
My children definitely seem to think so. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:29 | |
If I give them a choice and I say, "Do you want mashed potato or baked potatoes?" They go, "No! Pasta!" | 0:03:29 | 0:03:35 | |
I want to find out how the industry is combating this huge threat. | 0:03:37 | 0:03:42 | |
So I've come to this commercial potato farm at Aberlady in East Lothian, | 0:03:42 | 0:03:46 | |
where the owner also happens to be the chairman of the Potato Council. | 0:03:46 | 0:03:50 | |
What is happening to potato growing in this country? | 0:03:50 | 0:03:54 | |
One of the challenges is that | 0:03:54 | 0:03:55 | |
we have structural decline in demand for potatoes. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:58 | |
Some people think potatoes can be unhealthy, but also some people feel that | 0:03:58 | 0:04:03 | |
there are more convenient and immediate ways in which you can cook a meal, using rice and pasta. | 0:04:03 | 0:04:09 | |
How can that be right, that people are turning their back on the British spud? | 0:04:09 | 0:04:13 | |
Well, people don't necessarily want to have to peel a potato. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:16 | |
But we are able to offer now a whole range of potato products, from fresh to processed, that provide | 0:04:16 | 0:04:23 | |
immediate convenience, just as easy and quick to cook as rice or pasta, but much more nutritious. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:31 | |
There's as much vitamin C in a potato as in a glass of tomato juice. People don't realise. | 0:04:31 | 0:04:36 | |
Are people just going for all-rounders, and is it making potatoes a bit dull? | 0:04:36 | 0:04:40 | |
It's a challenge, yes. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:42 | |
There are many people who don't know one potato variety from another, and it's up to the industry to | 0:04:42 | 0:04:48 | |
make sure we show consumers how to make the best use of potatoes. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:53 | |
Now, the best way to fall back in love with the potato is to get cooking with it. | 0:04:56 | 0:05:02 | |
I've got here one of my favourite potatoes in the world, and that is the King Edward, OK? | 0:05:02 | 0:05:07 | |
It's a really good mixture of waxy and floury, and I'm going to prove | 0:05:07 | 0:05:11 | |
that the only starch that you need in your cupboard is the spud. | 0:05:11 | 0:05:17 | |
I'm going to make the Italian classic potato gnocchi. | 0:05:17 | 0:05:20 | |
I've boiled the potatoes in salted water for about ten minutes. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:27 | |
Now, I'm going to leave those to cool, and I'm going to start my sauce. | 0:05:27 | 0:05:33 | |
Gnocchi is no different to any other potato dish in that, | 0:05:36 | 0:05:40 | |
once you've learnt how to make it, like mash, | 0:05:40 | 0:05:45 | |
or chips or boiled potatoes, once you've learned how to | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
do them probably, they will go with any flavours you like, OK? | 0:05:48 | 0:05:52 | |
Tomato I'm doing now, because I think everyone should know how to make a good tomato sauce. | 0:05:52 | 0:05:57 | |
Pasta and rice is not part of our heritage. | 0:05:57 | 0:06:00 | |
They're nice things, but that's not what we grew up with. | 0:06:00 | 0:06:03 | |
That's not what our culinary tradition is built on. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:06 | |
We are northern Europeans. We don't grow rice. | 0:06:06 | 0:06:09 | |
We grow spuds, it's what we do! Right. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:11 | |
Onions in. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:16 | |
I'm going to lightly flour this surface. | 0:06:18 | 0:06:22 | |
I've got here one of my favourite contraptions... | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
..a potato ricer. Look. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:32 | |
Stick that in there... | 0:06:32 | 0:06:35 | |
..and then you just squeeze, gently squeeze, | 0:06:35 | 0:06:39 | |
onto the floured surface. | 0:06:39 | 0:06:43 | |
More flour, | 0:06:44 | 0:06:46 | |
lightly... | 0:06:46 | 0:06:48 | |
..over the top. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:51 | |
And now, all you're doing is bringing this together | 0:06:51 | 0:06:54 | |
like a dough, and work it. | 0:06:54 | 0:06:57 | |
Work it and work it, | 0:06:57 | 0:07:00 | |
like a lump of Play-Doh. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:02 | |
Look. | 0:07:02 | 0:07:04 | |
And all we've got is the moisture in that potato and flour. It's light. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:09 | |
Look at it. Beautiful thing. | 0:07:09 | 0:07:12 | |
To my base of tomato sauce with onions and garlic, I'm adding some puree to give the flavour more depth. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:21 | |
You take your gnocchi dough. That's still warm. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:23 | |
Break a bit off and roll it. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:27 | |
Now look, that's perfect. | 0:07:27 | 0:07:30 | |
It's up to you, the size of your gnocchi. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:33 | |
I just want to break the end bits off. | 0:07:33 | 0:07:37 | |
I reckon about there, OK? | 0:07:37 | 0:07:40 | |
That's about the size of it. | 0:07:40 | 0:07:42 | |
And then you just press your fork into it like that. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:46 | |
If it starts to come apart on you, put a little bit of flour to hold it. | 0:07:47 | 0:07:52 | |
Feel it. Get to know it. | 0:07:53 | 0:07:56 | |
So it's all coming together. | 0:08:01 | 0:08:03 | |
Before I cook the gnocchi, I need to add herbs to the sauce. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:06 | |
If it's a soft, leafy herb, it goes in at the end. | 0:08:06 | 0:08:11 | |
And I've heard chefs say that you shouldn't cut basil, | 0:08:11 | 0:08:15 | |
you should rip it, cos you lose flavour. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:17 | |
Well, I'll give any blindfolded chef 50 quid if he can tell me | 0:08:17 | 0:08:21 | |
the difference between a cut and a ripped basil. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:25 | |
Stir that in there. | 0:08:25 | 0:08:26 | |
Then, cook the gnocchi. | 0:08:26 | 0:08:29 | |
Remember, we've already cooked the potatoes, OK? | 0:08:31 | 0:08:35 | |
So when they start floating up to the surface, they are done. | 0:08:35 | 0:08:39 | |
Come on, baby. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:42 | |
Drain off the excess water, then add the gnocchi to the tomato sauce. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:47 | |
Mmm. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:52 | |
OK, one last bit of basil. | 0:08:53 | 0:08:56 | |
There it is - my great British potato gnocchi. | 0:08:56 | 0:08:59 | |
It's firm, the potato, yet it's soft. | 0:09:03 | 0:09:05 | |
You may have never had potato like this before. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:08 | |
I told you, you don't need pasta. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:11 | |
Go on, please, just have a go. | 0:09:11 | 0:09:13 | |
On my campaign to revive the ailing British potato, I've found that | 0:09:18 | 0:09:23 | |
it's not just farmers who are working hard to produce great-tasting spuds. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:28 | |
This is the unseen world of potato growing. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:30 | |
Most people think to grow potatoes you throw seeds in the ground, | 0:09:30 | 0:09:34 | |
but it's a lot more complicated than that. | 0:09:34 | 0:09:37 | |
Here in Edinburgh, at Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture, | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
there's a whole department devoted to potatoes. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:44 | |
Some are researching new ways of combating crop-threatening diseases, such as potato blight, | 0:09:45 | 0:09:51 | |
whilst others test the properties of new varieties | 0:09:51 | 0:09:53 | |
to make sure we have the very best chippers and boilers. | 0:09:53 | 0:09:57 | |
But what gets me really excited is there's a massive data bank of heritage potatoes. | 0:09:57 | 0:10:04 | |
OK, so in here we have our living genetic resource collection of over 1,000 potato varieties. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:10 | |
About 1,000 varieties of potatoes growing here? | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
Every year we grow 1,000 varieties of potato | 0:10:12 | 0:10:14 | |
so that we can keep maintaining the right trueness of type. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:18 | |
So, are they all stored here? | 0:10:18 | 0:10:20 | |
Yep. We can see something you might ask for. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:22 | |
-So is there any particular variety you haven't had? -Really? -Yep. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:26 | |
Do you have any Pentlands? | 0:10:26 | 0:10:28 | |
-Yeah, sure. Heather will bring one up for us. -This is mad! | 0:10:28 | 0:10:32 | |
This machine is like the Noah's Ark of potatoes, and it houses | 0:10:32 | 0:10:37 | |
some varieties which are no longer grown anywhere else in the world. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:41 | |
Here at the front we've got Pentland Falcon... | 0:10:41 | 0:10:43 | |
-Loads. -Pentland Hawk, Pentland Ivory, Pentland Raven. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:47 | |
So, all Scottish-bred varieties which aren't very much grown any more. | 0:10:47 | 0:10:52 | |
Beautiful potatoes, but these probably haven't been on the shelves for 20 years. | 0:10:52 | 0:10:56 | |
That's right. That's right. | 0:10:56 | 0:10:57 | |
-Can I have another go? -Of course. -A game! | 0:10:58 | 0:11:01 | |
Salad potatoes - a Roseval? | 0:11:01 | 0:11:02 | |
Yeah, we should have a Roseval for you. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:05 | |
Ha-ha! | 0:11:05 | 0:11:06 | |
That is the maddest thing I have ever seen! | 0:11:08 | 0:11:11 | |
-Roseval. -There it is. There you go. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:18 | |
It's a little bit sad that you can't access these anymore. You can't get 'em. | 0:11:18 | 0:11:23 | |
Not in supermarkets, but if people want to grow them, | 0:11:23 | 0:11:26 | |
they're here, ready for us to supply to people. | 0:11:26 | 0:11:29 | |
One of the reasons we've lost so many of the old-fashioned heritage potatoes | 0:11:29 | 0:11:34 | |
is that they were prone to the dreaded disease, potato blight, | 0:11:34 | 0:11:37 | |
which is exactly what happened with this particular potato, | 0:11:37 | 0:11:40 | |
which contributed to the deaths of over a million people from starvation | 0:11:40 | 0:11:44 | |
in Ireland in the 19th century. | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
-This is Lumpers, and this is the potato which is famous for the Irish potato famine. -You're kidding! | 0:11:46 | 0:11:51 | |
And it's now fallen into complete disuse. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
Was the blight that great because they were all growing the same variety? | 0:11:54 | 0:11:58 | |
-Yeah, that was one of the main reasons. -I didn't know that. Crikey! | 0:11:58 | 0:12:02 | |
I kind of want to keep one! | 0:12:02 | 0:12:04 | |
No, you can have it. | 0:12:04 | 0:12:05 | |
Incredible. And what is that thing that looks like a turnip? | 0:12:05 | 0:12:08 | |
This is a new variety bred by a Scottish breeder, | 0:12:08 | 0:12:13 | |
which is a general-purpose variety called Apache. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:17 | |
Obviously, it's got a particular look to it, | 0:12:17 | 0:12:21 | |
and it's a very flavourful potato. | 0:12:21 | 0:12:24 | |
Mate, that is just weird. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:26 | |
That's true, but it's eye-catching, though. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:29 | |
But at the end of the day, it all comes down to taste, | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
and I can't be in a room full of spuds without wanting to eat them. | 0:12:32 | 0:12:36 | |
This is the Apache, which is the new one. You can see already the colour of the flesh. | 0:12:36 | 0:12:42 | |
And here's the Lumpers, which is much paler flesh colour. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:46 | |
-Dig in? -Yeah, go for it. Apache. | 0:12:46 | 0:12:49 | |
I have to say, | 0:12:52 | 0:12:54 | |
that is really nice. | 0:12:54 | 0:12:56 | |
Firm but slightly creamy, really earthy flavour. I really like that. | 0:12:56 | 0:13:01 | |
And what the potato breeders try and do, is blend | 0:13:01 | 0:13:04 | |
the best of the old flavour with new disease-resistant characteristics. | 0:13:04 | 0:13:09 | |
Go for the Lumpers. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:10 | |
See if it was worth all the angst of the famine. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:14 | |
The Lumpers has got nowhere near the flavour... | 0:13:14 | 0:13:18 | |
..of the Apache. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:20 | |
It's almost slightly watery. | 0:13:20 | 0:13:23 | |
Whoa! The science of it! | 0:13:28 | 0:13:30 | |
You know, I had absolutely no idea. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
I find that comforting, that people are working really hard to make sure | 0:13:32 | 0:13:36 | |
we've got the best chippers, the best boilers, the best roasters. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
I tell you, this has got to help potato sales. It's got to. | 0:13:40 | 0:13:43 | |
The new varieties, they're just cousins of the old ones. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:46 | |
The old ones are still living. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:48 | |
They're living inside the new varieties. They are great. | 0:13:48 | 0:13:51 | |
If you want to get the most from your spuds, you have to remember that different potatoes do different jobs. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:57 | |
If you want to make perfect mashed potato, you want a floury potato. | 0:13:59 | 0:14:03 | |
And the one I've picked here, that you'll be able to get, is the Arran Victory. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:07 | |
For chips, you want something really, really starchy. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:11 | |
I've picked the King Edward. It's one of my favourite chippers, OK? | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
And for boiling, you want something really waxy. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:18 | |
This is a beautiful, nutty potato. It's a Charlotte. | 0:14:18 | 0:14:20 | |
That's a really good salad potato. | 0:14:20 | 0:14:22 | |
Boils really well. It also roasts really well. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:25 | |
For my second recipe, I'm going to cook a good, old favourite of mine. | 0:14:25 | 0:14:29 | |
I've got here a beautiful red Duke of York. And the reason I've picked it is it's slightly waxy. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:38 | |
I need it waxy, because I don't want it soaking up loads of liquid. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:42 | |
Start by peeling the potatoes. | 0:14:42 | 0:14:45 | |
The dauphinoise is a buttery, garlicky, absolute delight. | 0:14:47 | 0:14:51 | |
I don't know anybody who doesn't like it. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:53 | |
You bring one of those steaming out of the oven... | 0:14:53 | 0:14:56 | |
Basically, it's layers of potatoes with pepper, salt, butter and garlic. I mean, who wouldn't love that? | 0:14:56 | 0:15:03 | |
Would you like me to tell you a story? | 0:15:05 | 0:15:08 | |
When potatoes were brought to Europe, people wouldn't eat them. | 0:15:08 | 0:15:11 | |
They were scared of them. The reason is, | 0:15:11 | 0:15:13 | |
they grew underground and the leaves are related to deadly nightshade, which is poisonous. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:20 | |
Parmentier said to Louis XVI - the last French king who had his head cut off - | 0:15:20 | 0:15:25 | |
"I can get the poor to eat potatoes. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:27 | |
"I'm going to grow some outside the walls of Paris, and would you lend me the Royal Guard?" | 0:15:27 | 0:15:33 | |
People thought they were valuable because they were being guarded, | 0:15:33 | 0:15:36 | |
and like all good, blue-collar city dwellers like me, | 0:15:36 | 0:15:39 | |
they came out at night and nicked 'em. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:42 | |
And they caught on really quickly, as clever Parmentier knew they would. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:46 | |
And his name is still celebrated in France with a cut-up potato. | 0:15:46 | 0:15:50 | |
Peeled 'em, they're clean, we now need to slice 'em. | 0:15:50 | 0:15:54 | |
Get yourself a mandoline. | 0:15:54 | 0:15:55 | |
Which is one of these, not a musical instrument. | 0:15:55 | 0:15:59 | |
You want them about that thick. | 0:16:01 | 0:16:03 | |
Any thicker, they take too long to cook. | 0:16:03 | 0:16:05 | |
Any thinner, and they might actually dissolve into mush. | 0:16:05 | 0:16:10 | |
Keep these in water. | 0:16:12 | 0:16:15 | |
Can you see how the water's changed colour? That's the starch coming off the potatoes. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:19 | |
Starch is what makes them sticky. | 0:16:19 | 0:16:21 | |
Now for the other main ingredient - garlic. | 0:16:23 | 0:16:26 | |
Sprinkle with some sea salt and crush together. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:29 | |
I don't know how much you use garlic. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:33 | |
I'm going to do a dish that big, | 0:16:33 | 0:16:36 | |
and I'm going to do probably three cloves, OK? | 0:16:36 | 0:16:39 | |
But I really like garlic. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:41 | |
There's an old cooking adage which is, you can put in, but you can't take away. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:46 | |
So if you're not sure, do a little bit. | 0:16:46 | 0:16:48 | |
And then next time, do a little bit more. | 0:16:48 | 0:16:52 | |
Drain the potatoes, dry them off, and then you can begin to build your potato layers. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:58 | |
Once you've covered all the holes in the first layer, OK, finer salt now, | 0:17:00 | 0:17:06 | |
twist of pepper... | 0:17:06 | 0:17:08 | |
..little knobs of butter scattered in there. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:13 | |
It will melt and cook and all ooze in, don't worry. | 0:17:13 | 0:17:16 | |
And then little bits of garlic that you crushed up, smeared over it. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:21 | |
It's a messy job. You're going to have it all over your hands. | 0:17:21 | 0:17:25 | |
That's the beauty of it. | 0:17:25 | 0:17:27 | |
On MasterChef, | 0:17:27 | 0:17:29 | |
everybody has to get everything done at breakneck speed. | 0:17:29 | 0:17:33 | |
It's not like that, cooking at home. If you're late, pour your guests another glass of wine. | 0:17:33 | 0:17:37 | |
You don't have a bald bloke behind you shouting, "You've got ten minutes!" | 0:17:37 | 0:17:42 | |
For the sauce, I'm mixing milk and double cream. | 0:17:43 | 0:17:48 | |
Yum, yum, yum. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:51 | |
Then pour the liquid over the potatoes until it just covers the surface. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:56 | |
Stick it in the oven at 180 degrees for about an hour. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:04 | |
'Ave a butcher's! | 0:18:10 | 0:18:12 | |
Look at that. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:14 | |
Oh, baby, baby! | 0:18:14 | 0:18:18 | |
Mmm! | 0:18:18 | 0:18:21 | |
A few more little crispy ones on top. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:24 | |
One of my favourite ways of serving this dish is with | 0:18:25 | 0:18:28 | |
a good, old-fashioned British pork chop and succulent red cabbage. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:32 | |
Mmm! Mmm, mmm, mmm! | 0:18:38 | 0:18:42 | |
It's getting through that crunch to that beautiful softness underneath. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:46 | |
There's a little hint of garlic there, but the main flavour there is of | 0:18:46 | 0:18:50 | |
good, British, earthy potatoes, straight out of the ground. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:55 | |
It's our heritage. It's beautiful. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:57 | |
That's the closest you'll get to a snog on a plate. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:02 | |
The past 40 years have been tough for potato farmers, and for many, | 0:19:07 | 0:19:12 | |
the only way to stay in business was to concentrate on growing | 0:19:12 | 0:19:16 | |
just one or two varieties, such as the Maris Piper or King Edward. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
But there are some brilliant growers out there who are actually bucking the trend, | 0:19:19 | 0:19:23 | |
and they are keeping some amazing heritage varieties alive. | 0:19:23 | 0:19:26 | |
Carroll's Heritage Potatoes in Northumberland | 0:19:26 | 0:19:29 | |
is a relatively small 50-acre farm, | 0:19:29 | 0:19:32 | |
but amazingly, they grow 20 different types of heritage potato, | 0:19:32 | 0:19:35 | |
including this very rare Red King Edward, which dates back to around 1900. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:40 | |
What's special about them? What would people get from heritage varieties they can't get from the big shops? | 0:19:40 | 0:19:46 | |
Some of the conventional varieties, Maris Piper, | 0:19:46 | 0:19:49 | |
they're fine, nothing wrong with them, | 0:19:49 | 0:19:50 | |
but they tend to be Jack of all trades, master of none. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:54 | |
If you want a fantastic roast potato, use something like Arran Victory. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:57 | |
You can have yellow mashed potato out of Yukon Gold. | 0:19:57 | 0:20:00 | |
You can have some absolutely snow white out of Witch Hill. | 0:20:00 | 0:20:05 | |
So there's a whole series of things you can do with these | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
heritage potatoes that you can't do with the more modern varieties. | 0:20:08 | 0:20:12 | |
Anthony's lifting his last crop of the season, and now, | 0:20:13 | 0:20:17 | |
they'll be cold stored, ready to be shipped to customers when they're required. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:20 | |
Ooh! | 0:20:20 | 0:20:22 | |
We have some Red King Edward that we were harvesting today. | 0:20:23 | 0:20:26 | |
Fantastic potato. It's a red potato with the white eyes. | 0:20:26 | 0:20:30 | |
The opposite to the King Edward that you are probably familiar with, | 0:20:30 | 0:20:34 | |
which is basically pink eyes with a white skin. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:37 | |
We think a slightly better taste, but then we would say that! | 0:20:37 | 0:20:41 | |
-Still a good all-rounder? -Fantastic. | 0:20:41 | 0:20:42 | |
Ooh! | 0:20:42 | 0:20:44 | |
What you have with you is some Shetland Black and some Highland Burgundy. | 0:20:44 | 0:20:49 | |
I'll just cut through this one here, and you see that it has some blue flesh through, which is fantastic | 0:20:49 | 0:20:56 | |
if you want to saute potatoes, which keeps the colour. | 0:20:56 | 0:21:00 | |
And are these ones the equivalent in red, then? | 0:21:00 | 0:21:02 | |
Yeah, these are Highland Burgundy Red you have in your left hand there. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:06 | |
And that's it there. So, again, you could call it | 0:21:06 | 0:21:09 | |
a novelty potato, but it does produce a wow factor on the plate. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:14 | |
The reason I love heritage spuds is that they have better flavour, | 0:21:14 | 0:21:18 | |
better texture, colour, and a real taste of history. | 0:21:18 | 0:21:21 | |
So before I leave, I want to sample Anthony's wife's Union Jack potato recipe. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:26 | |
Wonderful! Wonderful! | 0:21:26 | 0:21:28 | |
-For you, Gregg. -Thank you. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:30 | |
You've got Salad Blue, Yukon Gold, Red Duke of York and Highland Burgundy. | 0:21:30 | 0:21:36 | |
Mmm. | 0:21:39 | 0:21:40 | |
Smashing my way through these. These are delightful. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:45 | |
This is delicious, which is quite surprising, as I've never been a fan of the Salad Blue potato. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:50 | |
I thought they were hopeless, the only thing to recommend them was their colour. That's not right. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:55 | |
Well, they don't yield very well, but they are pretty brilliant potatoes. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:59 | |
Mmm. | 0:21:59 | 0:22:01 | |
The fact is, it produces something which gets people thinking, looking, | 0:22:01 | 0:22:05 | |
discussing food, which is really what we're about. | 0:22:05 | 0:22:09 | |
I've got to say thank you. | 0:22:14 | 0:22:16 | |
If it wasn't for people like Lucy and Anthony, we'd lose loads more varieties. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:20 | |
They've got this wonderful potato, the Arran Victory. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:23 | |
Beautiful heritage variety. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:24 | |
The reason I've chosen it, it's light and fluffy. | 0:22:24 | 0:22:27 | |
It makes wonderful mash, which means it's perfect for | 0:22:27 | 0:22:30 | |
my last recipe which is the good old British traditional shepherd's pie. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:35 | |
First thing, get the potatoes on, and I'm starting with cold water, | 0:22:35 | 0:22:39 | |
no salt, and I'm leaving the skins on. | 0:22:39 | 0:22:43 | |
And the reason I'm going to do this is the nutrients, the flavour of these beautiful potatoes... | 0:22:43 | 0:22:47 | |
They're not everyday potatoes. I want to treat them with love and care. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:51 | |
All the flavour is just under the skin. I don't want them waterlogged. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:55 | |
I don't want them absorbing loads of water, so we're going to boil them up | 0:22:55 | 0:22:59 | |
with their skins, and peel them afterwards. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
Whilst they're cooking, slice up the veg. | 0:23:02 | 0:23:05 | |
Just rough, OK? Because we're going to put them all in a blitzer. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:12 | |
Blitz the living daylights out of it. | 0:23:13 | 0:23:15 | |
I still think the best thing about the shepherd's pie... | 0:23:15 | 0:23:18 | |
And, you know, I'm a very enthusiastic carnivore. The best thing about it is the mash. | 0:23:18 | 0:23:23 | |
Mash - soft, buttery, white mash - I think is probably the ultimate comfort food. | 0:23:23 | 0:23:30 | |
It just goes with absolutely everything. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:33 | |
Onions and potatoes. An absolute marriage made in heaven. | 0:23:33 | 0:23:37 | |
They're very similar because they're both sort of humble. | 0:23:37 | 0:23:40 | |
Always the backing singer, never the star. We'll make it into a star. | 0:23:40 | 0:23:45 | |
Right. Pulse the vegetables in a blender. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:48 | |
Then fry the veg on a medium heat until they go soft, but don't let 'em go brown. | 0:23:51 | 0:23:57 | |
For shepherd's pie, of course, I'm using lamb, and I think there's nothing better than leftovers. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:03 | |
As I slice this, the temptation to just | 0:24:03 | 0:24:05 | |
stick it between two slices of bread is almost overpowering. Cor! | 0:24:05 | 0:24:09 | |
Mmm! | 0:24:10 | 0:24:11 | |
Medium-sized chunks are OK, as they're also going to be blitzed in the blender. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:16 | |
Voila... | 0:24:18 | 0:24:19 | |
..as they say in Lambeth. Now... | 0:24:20 | 0:24:23 | |
Can I just make a plea? | 0:24:25 | 0:24:26 | |
If you don't cook, just learn how to do this, cos it's wonderful, and everyone will love it. | 0:24:26 | 0:24:32 | |
Can you see now, look, the colour it's taking on, the little speckles? | 0:24:32 | 0:24:36 | |
Now, I've got some pretty sexy flavourings I want to stick in there. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:42 | |
Anchovy sauce, OK? | 0:24:42 | 0:24:45 | |
Now, all of these things are big, distinct flavours. Taste as you go. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:49 | |
Redcurrant jelly next. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:51 | |
Anyone who watches me knows I've got a really sweet tooth! | 0:24:51 | 0:24:55 | |
Mmm! | 0:24:55 | 0:24:58 | |
Mushroom ketchup, right? You may not have used it. | 0:24:58 | 0:25:01 | |
Readily available. Quite sour. | 0:25:01 | 0:25:03 | |
Add Worcester sauce, tinned tomato and a few sprigs of thyme. | 0:25:05 | 0:25:12 | |
And remember, these herbs are powerful. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:15 | |
Don't go putting a whole bush in. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:18 | |
So, the potatoes have been boiling away for about 20 minutes. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
Wow! Just look at those beauties! | 0:25:24 | 0:25:26 | |
Now they're ready to be peeled. | 0:25:26 | 0:25:29 | |
Now look, the skin just comes away really easily, and we've protected all that lovely flesh underneath. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:36 | |
The water hasn't gone near it. | 0:25:36 | 0:25:38 | |
And using the ricer again, press the flesh through to get that light and fluffy consistency. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:45 | |
You want them to be like that - I'll get milk | 0:25:45 | 0:25:48 | |
and butter in there in a moment, and you want 'em to incorporate that liquid. | 0:25:48 | 0:25:53 | |
And that's what fluffy potatoes do. | 0:25:53 | 0:25:55 | |
Waxy keeps the liquid out. | 0:25:55 | 0:25:57 | |
Look at that. | 0:25:57 | 0:25:59 | |
Not a lump anywhere. | 0:25:59 | 0:26:02 | |
Apart from in my throat at the beauty of the mashed potato. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:06 | |
So, back on the heat. Butter. I'm going to put a big knob of it. | 0:26:08 | 0:26:13 | |
Ta-da! | 0:26:13 | 0:26:14 | |
A little bit of milk. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:17 | |
Who was the first man to decide to mash a potato? | 0:26:17 | 0:26:20 | |
I want to give him a kiss. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:23 | |
Done. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:28 | |
Done. Perfect, absolutely perfect. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:31 | |
And let's put the whole thing together. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:33 | |
Place the lamb in an oven-proof dish, followed by a liberal helping of mash. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:40 | |
In the oven. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:45 | |
Right. Depending on the size of your shepherd's pie, between 20 minutes | 0:26:45 | 0:26:49 | |
and 30 minutes at 180. Pour yourself a beer. | 0:26:49 | 0:26:53 | |
You know what? | 0:26:56 | 0:26:58 | |
I've got an oven full of childhood memories! | 0:26:58 | 0:27:02 | |
Oh, my word! Oh! | 0:27:03 | 0:27:07 | |
Bubbling, singing to you! | 0:27:08 | 0:27:11 | |
Mmm! | 0:27:11 | 0:27:13 | |
Don't be stingy. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:17 | |
Nice, big helping. | 0:27:17 | 0:27:19 | |
Served with some green cabbage, lightly cooked, still got its crunch. | 0:27:19 | 0:27:24 | |
And there you have my traditional shepherd's pie, | 0:27:24 | 0:27:27 | |
topped off with those truly wondrous Arran Victory heritage potatoes. | 0:27:27 | 0:27:32 | |
If the British potato is to stand any chance of being revived, | 0:27:32 | 0:27:36 | |
we've all got to play our part, and that includes growing our own. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:40 | |
The great thing about potatoes is they only need a small container, | 0:27:40 | 0:27:44 | |
so you can grown them in soil on a balcony, or an allotment. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:48 | |
Best to plant your seeds around April. | 0:27:48 | 0:27:50 | |
It'll take roughly five months, and then you'll be cooking your own spuds. | 0:27:50 | 0:27:54 | |
The fun of digging them up, you never know what you'll get. | 0:27:54 | 0:27:57 | |
So far, I've been getting some really good results. You know, a good couple of kilos per plant. | 0:27:57 | 0:28:02 | |
It really is that simple, and I promise you, you will love the results. | 0:28:02 | 0:28:07 | |
Mmm! | 0:28:09 | 0:28:11 | |
That tastes delicious. | 0:28:12 | 0:28:13 | |
That is truly wonderful. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:16 | |
I've been on a bit of a journey here and, yeah, I'll admit that | 0:28:16 | 0:28:21 | |
bog-standard potatoes, they do do a decent job, | 0:28:21 | 0:28:24 | |
but if you want something truly lovely - I mean, outstanding - | 0:28:24 | 0:28:28 | |
then you have to track down some of these old heritage varieties. | 0:28:28 | 0:28:31 | |
Look, right now, why don't we just start a great British spud revival? | 0:28:31 | 0:28:37 | |
Now you've heard from me, but here's someone else who is just as a passionate | 0:28:37 | 0:28:42 | |
about reviving the fortunes of a great British meat. | 0:28:42 | 0:28:45 | |
My name's Clarissa Dickson Wright and I'm going to introduce you to | 0:28:52 | 0:28:56 | |
an ingredient that you may very well never have tasted, | 0:28:56 | 0:29:00 | |
rare-breed British pork, and you are going to love it. | 0:29:00 | 0:29:03 | |
From the humble bacon sandwich to the glorious Sunday roast, | 0:29:03 | 0:29:07 | |
pork is one of the most popular meats in Britain. | 0:29:07 | 0:29:10 | |
That looks lovely. | 0:29:10 | 0:29:12 | |
I'm passionate about pork, so join me on a sumptuous odyssey | 0:29:12 | 0:29:16 | |
through the forgotten world of our traditional British breeds. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:20 | |
As part of my revival, I'll be meeting one of our rarest pigs, the British Lop. | 0:29:20 | 0:29:26 | |
Our breed secretary described them as being more rare than the giant panda. | 0:29:26 | 0:29:31 | |
I'll be finding out what you think of some of our traditional pork dishes. | 0:29:32 | 0:29:38 | |
-Can I offer you a piece of Lincolnshire chine? -No, that's all right. -I'm a vegetarian! | 0:29:38 | 0:29:42 | |
And I'll be using pork lard in the revival kitchen to make a wonderful pudding for Sunday lunch. | 0:29:42 | 0:29:48 | |
You only get pastry like this using lard. | 0:29:48 | 0:29:51 | |
As well as revealing my secret for the perfect crackling. | 0:29:51 | 0:29:55 | |
CRACKING | 0:29:55 | 0:29:56 | |
Hear how lovely the crackling is. | 0:29:56 | 0:30:01 | |
Hey! Off we go! | 0:30:01 | 0:30:03 | |
I first fell for pigs when I was really quite small and I came to love pigs, | 0:30:06 | 0:30:13 | |
both for the pleasure of their company and the joy of their flesh. | 0:30:13 | 0:30:17 | |
Here, piggy, piggy, piggy. I'm not going to eat you yet. | 0:30:17 | 0:30:20 | |
Yes, I love pigs. Pigs are wonderful. Piggy, piggy, piggy. | 0:30:20 | 0:30:24 | |
Go out and meet the pigs, look at the pigs, talk to the pigs, but eat them, by all means eat them. | 0:30:24 | 0:30:33 | |
There is no question that we are a nation who loves our pork. | 0:30:35 | 0:30:39 | |
But 98% of all the pork we eat is from commercial pigs, | 0:30:39 | 0:30:45 | |
bred to suit the demands of the supermarkets. | 0:30:45 | 0:30:48 | |
In our drive for profits, have we forgotten our heritage? | 0:30:48 | 0:30:53 | |
Some of these handsome, traditional breeds have been brought back from the edge of extinction | 0:30:53 | 0:30:59 | |
by a few brave farmers. And now it's up to us to safeguard their future. | 0:30:59 | 0:31:06 | |
For the first stop on our revival of rare-breed pork, | 0:31:07 | 0:31:11 | |
I want to discover a little more about rich pig heritage, | 0:31:11 | 0:31:16 | |
so I'm meeting Richard Lutwyche, | 0:31:16 | 0:31:18 | |
a wonderful pig historian. | 0:31:18 | 0:31:22 | |
You've got to think that everything was dominated by the | 0:31:22 | 0:31:25 | |
local lord of the manor, the squire, | 0:31:25 | 0:31:27 | |
and he would be the only one who kept a boar for breeding purposes. | 0:31:27 | 0:31:32 | |
Whatever boar type he had, if he had a black pig, then gradually in that area, | 0:31:32 | 0:31:36 | |
all the pigs were dominated by the genes and they became black. And so it spread out. | 0:31:36 | 0:31:41 | |
But everybody kept pigs, didn't they? | 0:31:41 | 0:31:43 | |
Oh, they did, certainly in the country. I mean, people had a very close relationship with pigs. | 0:31:43 | 0:31:49 | |
And that shows up in our folklore and our English language, very much so. | 0:31:49 | 0:31:54 | |
My father kept pigs in St John's Wood on a bit of land in Hamilton Terrace. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:59 | |
People said, "Who killed them for you?" | 0:31:59 | 0:32:01 | |
and he said, "I'm senior surgeon of St Mary's, Paddington. | 0:32:01 | 0:32:04 | |
"Who the hell do you think killed them?" So they're our heritage. | 0:32:04 | 0:32:08 | |
We should be proud of them. | 0:32:08 | 0:32:09 | |
It was a government publication in 1955 that would change the fate | 0:32:09 | 0:32:15 | |
of our traditional breeds forever. | 0:32:15 | 0:32:18 | |
Ruddy government, interfering again. | 0:32:18 | 0:32:21 | |
I mean, this... | 0:32:21 | 0:32:22 | |
the Howitt Report, | 0:32:22 | 0:32:24 | |
makes me so angry. Listen to this. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:28 | |
"In the first place, we have formed the view that one of the main handicaps facing | 0:32:28 | 0:32:33 | |
"the British pig industry today is the diversity of the type of pig | 0:32:33 | 0:32:36 | |
"which is found throughout the country. | 0:32:36 | 0:32:39 | |
"The pig industry will, in our view, only make real progress when it concentrates on a few main types | 0:32:39 | 0:32:46 | |
"and, if it were at any time found possible, on a single type of pig for commercial production." | 0:32:46 | 0:32:53 | |
Absolutely. | 0:32:53 | 0:32:54 | |
How angry does that make you? | 0:32:54 | 0:32:57 | |
The sort of pigs they were going for are the ones that | 0:32:57 | 0:33:01 | |
we've now been blighted with in our commercial life, | 0:33:01 | 0:33:04 | |
which are very fast growing, very, very lean and taste of nothing at all. | 0:33:04 | 0:33:08 | |
A single type of commercial pig! | 0:33:08 | 0:33:11 | |
All our heritage, all those delicious pigs. That's what they're asking for. | 0:33:11 | 0:33:15 | |
That's what they wanted. Just one dull, dull type of commercial pig. | 0:33:15 | 0:33:20 | |
Makes me so angry. | 0:33:20 | 0:33:22 | |
After the Howitt Report came out and there was all this move to intensification, | 0:33:22 | 0:33:27 | |
we actually lost four unique, distinct breeds from this country. | 0:33:27 | 0:33:31 | |
Once it's gone, it's gone. It's extinct. | 0:33:31 | 0:33:33 | |
Gone forever. There are people who say you can recreate them, | 0:33:33 | 0:33:36 | |
but it is really just science fiction, it will never happen. | 0:33:36 | 0:33:39 | |
So that was lesson number one. | 0:33:42 | 0:33:45 | |
A history lesson. How we got to where we are now. | 0:33:45 | 0:33:48 | |
If you're still not convinced, stick with me and watch this space. | 0:33:48 | 0:33:55 | |
One of the best ways to get rare-breed pork back on our food map is to cook it. | 0:33:55 | 0:34:00 | |
For my first recipe, I'm going to cook... | 0:34:00 | 0:34:04 | |
The great thing about rare-breed pigs is the fact that they have a good covering of fat on them. | 0:34:08 | 0:34:15 | |
Between the skin and the fat there is a little line of muscle | 0:34:15 | 0:34:20 | |
which raises the skin and just gives the most perfect crackling. | 0:34:20 | 0:34:25 | |
And you won't find that in a commercial, numbered breed pig. | 0:34:25 | 0:34:30 | |
Start by making the walnut and caper stuffing that will soak | 0:34:30 | 0:34:34 | |
up any extraneous fat and really bring out the flavour of the pork. | 0:34:34 | 0:34:39 | |
Put the garlic and onion on to a gentle heat until they are soft. | 0:34:40 | 0:34:45 | |
I'm now going to add these morsels of bread, day-old bread, so they're not too fresh. | 0:34:45 | 0:34:51 | |
Otherwise it just falls apart. | 0:34:51 | 0:34:53 | |
For texture, I also use walnuts in the stuffing | 0:34:53 | 0:34:58 | |
and then, for flavour, some capers and lemon juice. | 0:34:58 | 0:35:02 | |
These ingredients will offer a sharp contrast to the sweet meat. | 0:35:02 | 0:35:07 | |
Then take the pan off the heat and bind the stuffing by mixing in two eggs. | 0:35:08 | 0:35:15 | |
Leave it to cool and start to prepare your meat. | 0:35:16 | 0:35:19 | |
In order to get the crackling to crackle, you need to score it | 0:35:21 | 0:35:25 | |
and for that you really need a craft knife. | 0:35:25 | 0:35:29 | |
The whole point of scoring your skin is so that it can rise up into crackling. | 0:35:29 | 0:35:37 | |
If you were doing this with a commercial pig, | 0:35:37 | 0:35:40 | |
you'd be straight through to the meat because there's not enough fat. | 0:35:40 | 0:35:44 | |
Once scored, rub the fat with oil and salt. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:48 | |
And then take your stuffing and put it into the pocket in your meat. | 0:35:51 | 0:35:57 | |
Then tie up the shoulder as tightly as possible. | 0:35:57 | 0:36:01 | |
So not only will you hold your stuffing in, but you will also | 0:36:03 | 0:36:07 | |
form a cohesion in the meat, so that when it's cooking, it'll be tightly bound together. | 0:36:07 | 0:36:15 | |
You may say, "Oh, it's too much trouble! | 0:36:15 | 0:36:17 | |
It's too much to go out and "find rare-breed pork. | 0:36:17 | 0:36:21 | |
"It's a little bit more expensive." | 0:36:21 | 0:36:24 | |
Well, put your children in expensive trainers and watch them grow up without the benefit of good food | 0:36:24 | 0:36:32 | |
and the better the quality of the food we eat, the healthier we will be. | 0:36:32 | 0:36:36 | |
Good food takes effort and time, and this shoulder will roast in the oven for almost three hours. | 0:36:36 | 0:36:44 | |
But the results are spectacular. | 0:36:45 | 0:36:47 | |
Remove the crackling to reveal one of the many advantages of rare-breed pork. | 0:36:47 | 0:36:53 | |
You see the little ridge of muscle that runs under the fat | 0:36:53 | 0:36:59 | |
and raises the crackling up so you get really good crackling? | 0:36:59 | 0:37:02 | |
And there again you see how lovely and crisp the crackling is. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:17 | |
And let's have a little bit of kale on this | 0:37:17 | 0:37:19 | |
for colour. | 0:37:19 | 0:37:20 | |
And there you have it. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:24 | |
Really nice stuffing, too. | 0:37:29 | 0:37:30 | |
That's very satisfactory. | 0:37:30 | 0:37:33 | |
I don't only want you to enjoy the taste of rare-breed pork. | 0:37:37 | 0:37:41 | |
I want you to fall in love with the pigs themselves. | 0:37:41 | 0:37:44 | |
So I'm taking you to Oakham in Leicestershire. | 0:37:44 | 0:37:48 | |
Here we are at Northfield Farm and I'm here to meet a dear friend of mine, Jan McCourt, | 0:37:48 | 0:37:55 | |
who is almost as passionate about saving rare-breed pigs as I am. | 0:37:55 | 0:37:59 | |
Jan McCourt was once a high-flying City banker, but now he invests in | 0:37:59 | 0:38:05 | |
one of our rarest breeds of pig, the British Lop. | 0:38:05 | 0:38:08 | |
I'm really excited about seeing the Lops. | 0:38:08 | 0:38:10 | |
We've got quite a few more from the last time you saw them. | 0:38:10 | 0:38:14 | |
We've had a couple of litters born and we've brought in a few from the rare-breed sale at Melton, | 0:38:14 | 0:38:19 | |
including a very smart, young, new boar. | 0:38:19 | 0:38:21 | |
Oh, very exciting! | 0:38:21 | 0:38:23 | |
So it's all aboard as we start our rare-breed safari. | 0:38:23 | 0:38:27 | |
Hey! Off we go! | 0:38:28 | 0:38:30 | |
When you took over the farm, presumably, | 0:38:35 | 0:38:37 | |
it would have been a lot easier for you just to have ordinary breeds. | 0:38:37 | 0:38:42 | |
When I left the City, I was made redundant and I decided this was | 0:38:42 | 0:38:46 | |
an opportunity, so I opened the farm shop within a very short time. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:51 | |
And the biggest challenge was finding pork, rare-breed pork. | 0:38:51 | 0:38:54 | |
So I thought the only obvious thing to do was to start them ourselves. | 0:38:54 | 0:38:59 | |
There's a couple of our Saddlebacks. | 0:38:59 | 0:39:00 | |
-Yes. -Good old girls. | 0:39:00 | 0:39:03 | |
It's wonderful to see these pigs in so much space, a world away from most commercial pig farms. | 0:39:04 | 0:39:11 | |
-Look, British Lops, surely. -There you go, yep. | 0:39:13 | 0:39:16 | |
There's our new boar in with one of his girlfriends. Do you want to have a look? | 0:39:16 | 0:39:20 | |
Yeah, why not? | 0:39:20 | 0:39:22 | |
Ah! Look at them. | 0:39:23 | 0:39:25 | |
You can see why they're called "Lop". Look at the ears on her. | 0:39:25 | 0:39:28 | |
Yeah, they're absolutely fantastic. | 0:39:28 | 0:39:29 | |
-Amazing. -Some of them have even bigger ears. | 0:39:29 | 0:39:32 | |
They'll end up the size of the average, decent-sized kitchen table. | 0:39:32 | 0:39:35 | |
And his ears will be probably twice the size of that. | 0:39:35 | 0:39:39 | |
How rare is the British Lop? I know it's one of the very rare ones. | 0:39:39 | 0:39:43 | |
Well, our breed secretary, in the latest newsletter, | 0:39:43 | 0:39:47 | |
he described as them as being more rare than the giant panda. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:50 | |
More rare than the giant panda! | 0:39:50 | 0:39:52 | |
-Think of it. -A colourful character in his own right, I don't know whether that's statistically correct, | 0:39:52 | 0:39:57 | |
but when you think that this breed was saved from extinction by just three families in Cornwall, | 0:39:57 | 0:40:02 | |
it's still very delicate. | 0:40:02 | 0:40:03 | |
You're talking in the hundreds of breeding females, not thousands or tens of thousands. | 0:40:03 | 0:40:08 | |
If people understood that the most simple way to save these breeds | 0:40:09 | 0:40:13 | |
is to encourage and the support the farmers that are rearing them. | 0:40:13 | 0:40:17 | |
And you do that by saying, "I want to eat rare-breed pork," | 0:40:17 | 0:40:21 | |
and taking as big an interest as you possibly can. | 0:40:21 | 0:40:24 | |
This is all about passion first. Because one of the things... | 0:40:24 | 0:40:27 | |
-it certainly isn't making money. -No. | 0:40:27 | 0:40:29 | |
What a lovely rub. | 0:40:31 | 0:40:33 | |
That's a fantastic image of a happy pig, isn't it? | 0:40:33 | 0:40:36 | |
If I can get you to eat more rare-breed pork, then together | 0:40:38 | 0:40:42 | |
we will be safeguarding the future of these beautiful animals. | 0:40:42 | 0:40:46 | |
But before you eat it, you need to buy it | 0:40:46 | 0:40:49 | |
and for that you will need to find a good butcher or farm shop. | 0:40:49 | 0:40:54 | |
Most people will never see this. They're afraid of this. | 0:40:54 | 0:40:59 | |
They are afraid of it and I think the simplest way to distinguish it, | 0:40:59 | 0:41:03 | |
go and buy a piece of pork, | 0:41:03 | 0:41:06 | |
particularly a leg of pork from a supermarket. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:08 | |
You might as well chew on that block. | 0:41:08 | 0:41:10 | |
You might as well chew on cardboard or a paper bag | 0:41:10 | 0:41:13 | |
for the comparison. | 0:41:13 | 0:41:16 | |
Once people discover quite how good it is, do they mind the extra cost? | 0:41:16 | 0:41:21 | |
No, I've found they don't, because people that understand, | 0:41:21 | 0:41:24 | |
what they can't afford, they'll reduce the amount. | 0:41:24 | 0:41:27 | |
Because eat less and eat better is fundamental to the whole thing. | 0:41:27 | 0:41:31 | |
You can see the marbling that runs through and that is all important. | 0:41:31 | 0:41:36 | |
No fat, no flavour. | 0:41:36 | 0:41:37 | |
If you cook it with the fat on, | 0:41:37 | 0:41:40 | |
cut the fat off and give it to me, if I happen to be sitting at the same table, | 0:41:40 | 0:41:45 | |
it's the flavour, it's the taste. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:47 | |
Pig fat has a variety of uses, not least in pastry and, in particular, pork pies. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:56 | |
This is the hand-raised Melton Mowbray pork pie with our own pork | 0:41:56 | 0:42:01 | |
and, of course, with lard, which is the pig ingredient as well, even in the pastry. | 0:42:01 | 0:42:07 | |
Very good. | 0:42:09 | 0:42:10 | |
It's delicious. | 0:42:10 | 0:42:12 | |
So there you are, the end of lesson two. | 0:42:12 | 0:42:16 | |
What have you learnt from this? | 0:42:16 | 0:42:19 | |
Passion and good husbandry make perfect pigs and farmers make food for you. | 0:42:19 | 0:42:26 | |
You must be convinced by now. | 0:42:26 | 0:42:28 | |
For my second recipe I'm going to make... | 0:42:31 | 0:42:34 | |
Now this type of pastry | 0:42:37 | 0:42:40 | |
is made by heating together lard and water to a rolling boil. | 0:42:40 | 0:42:46 | |
As the lard and water begin to boil, add a pinch of salt to the flour | 0:42:49 | 0:42:56 | |
and then pour in the boiling liquid. | 0:42:56 | 0:42:58 | |
Begin by stirring the mixture, but as soon as it is cool enough to handle, it is time to knead the pastry. | 0:42:58 | 0:43:06 | |
It cools quite quickly and it's quite important to do it as soon as you can, so that the | 0:43:06 | 0:43:12 | |
fat doesn't cool too much, otherwise it won't mix in well with the flour. | 0:43:12 | 0:43:18 | |
Now do you see? It's a very soft, malleable crust. | 0:43:21 | 0:43:25 | |
And what I have here is a dolly. | 0:43:25 | 0:43:29 | |
This is a traditional implement. | 0:43:29 | 0:43:31 | |
It comes in all sorts of different sizes for raising a pie crust round. | 0:43:31 | 0:43:35 | |
You just want to mould your pastry up the dolly. | 0:43:35 | 0:43:41 | |
As well as the pie crust, it is vital to remember to shape a lid for the pie at this point. | 0:43:42 | 0:43:48 | |
Once the pastry has been prepared, allow it to cool in the refrigerator. | 0:43:49 | 0:43:54 | |
The lard solidifies and it will help the crust to hold its shape for the damson pie filling. | 0:43:54 | 0:44:00 | |
So here is a ready-chilled raised pie. | 0:44:00 | 0:44:04 | |
I'm something of an authority on raised pies, | 0:44:04 | 0:44:07 | |
because I have judged the great Yorkshire pork pie contest on three separate occasions | 0:44:07 | 0:44:13 | |
and, I have to say, it was one of the most terrifying things | 0:44:13 | 0:44:17 | |
I ever had to do in my life, because I could have lost all my reputation in Yorkshire if I'd got it wrong. | 0:44:17 | 0:44:23 | |
Layer the pie with quince paste, a thick jam that will turn to liquid in the heat of the oven. | 0:44:24 | 0:44:31 | |
Then the damsons. | 0:44:31 | 0:44:32 | |
These have been stoned and frozen to give them a delicious texture. | 0:44:32 | 0:44:37 | |
A sprinkle of sugar will help to sweeten the filling, but the pie should still have a sharp kick to it. | 0:44:37 | 0:44:44 | |
And finally, all I have to do is put the lid on and crimp it. | 0:44:44 | 0:44:51 | |
And then make a little hole in the top to let the steam out. | 0:44:51 | 0:44:56 | |
It takes only 25 minutes for the ingredients to melt together and make the perfect pie. | 0:44:56 | 0:45:02 | |
So the "moment critique". | 0:45:02 | 0:45:06 | |
You see how it's sunk down on itself | 0:45:06 | 0:45:09 | |
and has gone into this rather nice sort of medieval look really, hasn't it? | 0:45:09 | 0:45:14 | |
And... | 0:45:14 | 0:45:16 | |
See, look at that. Look how lovely and gooey and sticky. | 0:45:16 | 0:45:20 | |
And you only get pastry like this | 0:45:20 | 0:45:25 | |
using lard | 0:45:25 | 0:45:26 | |
and you only get really good lard from old-breed, rare-breed pigs. | 0:45:26 | 0:45:32 | |
Mm. Lovely acidity with the damsons. | 0:45:39 | 0:45:41 | |
The real crunchiness of the pastry. | 0:45:41 | 0:45:44 | |
There you are, you see? Terribly simple. | 0:45:44 | 0:45:46 | |
Nice little pie for your pudding. | 0:45:46 | 0:45:48 | |
What could be more delicious? | 0:45:48 | 0:45:50 | |
The great tragedy of my revival campaign is that we are too late for some our rare-breed pigs. | 0:45:55 | 0:46:02 | |
They have already died out. | 0:46:02 | 0:46:05 | |
I'm heading to Louth in Lincolnshire | 0:46:05 | 0:46:08 | |
to find out about a massive beast of a pig that is sadly extinct... | 0:46:08 | 0:46:13 | |
the Lincolnshire Curly Coat. | 0:46:13 | 0:46:15 | |
Is it true that you remember the Lincolnshire Curly Coat as a boy? | 0:46:15 | 0:46:20 | |
Yes, I do. | 0:46:20 | 0:46:21 | |
When I was a lad, almost everyone kept a pig down the garden | 0:46:21 | 0:46:26 | |
and traditionally | 0:46:26 | 0:46:27 | |
they were unhappy unless the pig reached 40 stones at least. | 0:46:27 | 0:46:31 | |
40 stone! | 0:46:31 | 0:46:33 | |
And the fat on the back would be that deep. | 0:46:33 | 0:46:35 | |
It's sad, isn't it, that today's youngsters will never have the chance to sit on the back of a | 0:46:35 | 0:46:41 | |
Lincolnshire Curly Coat and never see a pig like that? | 0:46:41 | 0:46:44 | |
Although the Curly Coat has gone, its legacy lives on through the work of local butchers like Jim Sutcliffe. | 0:46:45 | 0:46:53 | |
In Lincolnshire, we used to butcher our pigs very differently, | 0:46:54 | 0:46:57 | |
because the Lincolnshire Curly Coat was so fat that they couldn't get in | 0:46:57 | 0:47:02 | |
very well with a saw to cut down the middle of the spine. | 0:47:02 | 0:47:05 | |
So they had to go through the rib bones, | 0:47:05 | 0:47:08 | |
and that then produced a cut that is exclusive to Lincolnshire. | 0:47:08 | 0:47:12 | |
This exclusive cut follows the line of the pig's backbone and includes the meat on either side. | 0:47:13 | 0:47:19 | |
The chine, when it is released, is a long meaty cut, perfect for curing. | 0:47:21 | 0:47:27 | |
Jim uses the cured meat to make Lincolnshire stuffed chine, a traditional regional dish. | 0:47:27 | 0:47:34 | |
Given that this was a dish that was associated with the Lincolnshire Curly Coat, | 0:47:35 | 0:47:40 | |
was it ever in danger of going out because there wasn't a suitable pig? | 0:47:40 | 0:47:44 | |
I think there was a possibility that it would have done had | 0:47:44 | 0:47:48 | |
certain people not carried on curing a chine no matter what. | 0:47:48 | 0:47:53 | |
And, luckily, there's been quite a good number of rare-breed pigs in the county | 0:47:53 | 0:47:58 | |
to fall back on a substitute. | 0:47:58 | 0:48:00 | |
But I'm quite sure that the stuffed chine probably | 0:48:00 | 0:48:03 | |
isn't a patch on what it used to be when it was made from a Curly Coat and matured for months. | 0:48:03 | 0:48:09 | |
The pork is stuffed with fresh parsley, before being steamed in an oven for eight hours. | 0:48:09 | 0:48:15 | |
Only then is it ready to eat. | 0:48:15 | 0:48:19 | |
That's lovely, really lovely. | 0:48:19 | 0:48:20 | |
I think you should cut me a few slices and I can take it out | 0:48:20 | 0:48:25 | |
-to the people of Louth and see what they think about it. -Certainly. | 0:48:25 | 0:48:30 | |
And if you can give me a meat cleaver in case they don't like it. | 0:48:30 | 0:48:34 | |
Hello. Can I offer you a piece of? | 0:48:38 | 0:48:40 | |
Chine! Do you know, we were teaching this to children the other day, | 0:48:40 | 0:48:44 | |
all the products of Lincolnshire. | 0:48:44 | 0:48:45 | |
Yes, please. My mother always used to buy chine. Thank you. | 0:48:45 | 0:48:48 | |
I would offer you a piece of chine but I think you've got your hands full. | 0:48:48 | 0:48:52 | |
I've got a spare hand now. | 0:48:52 | 0:48:54 | |
-Well, done. -Oh, that's lovely. -Isn't that good? | 0:48:54 | 0:48:57 | |
It is. Chine's lovely. | 0:48:57 | 0:48:59 | |
-Can I offer you a piece of Lincolnshire chine? -No, it's all right. -I'm a vegetarian! | 0:48:59 | 0:49:04 | |
Yes, I can do that with this. | 0:49:04 | 0:49:06 | |
It's great to see that most of the people of Louth | 0:49:06 | 0:49:10 | |
still have a healthy appetite for their traditional food. | 0:49:10 | 0:49:14 | |
Before I leave, I want to investigate one farm | 0:49:15 | 0:49:19 | |
which claims to have brought back the Curly-Coated pig to Lincolnshire. | 0:49:19 | 0:49:25 | |
-Good morning. Brian Codling. -Hello. -And this is my wife, Sylvia. | 0:49:25 | 0:49:29 | |
-Welcome to the Old Rectory, Clarissa. It's lovely to meet you. -Lovely old rectory. | 0:49:29 | 0:49:32 | |
So this property would have known the Lincolnshire Curly Coat? | 0:49:32 | 0:49:36 | |
They used to have some here and just at the farm, across the road. Do you want to see some? | 0:49:36 | 0:49:41 | |
I'd love to see some of your pigs. | 0:49:41 | 0:49:44 | |
-Walk this way. -Thank you. | 0:49:45 | 0:49:48 | |
Well, they're certainly curly coated. | 0:49:48 | 0:49:51 | |
-Hello. -These three are very good examples of Curly Coats. | 0:49:51 | 0:49:54 | |
They've got lovely thick coats. | 0:49:54 | 0:49:56 | |
So what are these pigs? | 0:49:56 | 0:49:58 | |
These are pure-bred Mangalitza curly-coated pigs. | 0:49:58 | 0:50:01 | |
They're native to Austria and Hungary. | 0:50:01 | 0:50:04 | |
And you have a theory that they are related to the Lincolnshire Curly Coat? | 0:50:04 | 0:50:10 | |
There's some of the Lincolnshire Curly Coat genes in. | 0:50:10 | 0:50:13 | |
We don't know how much, but definitely Lincolnshire Curly Coats | 0:50:13 | 0:50:17 | |
were exported from this country to the Austro-Hungarian area and cross-bred with the Mangalitza. | 0:50:17 | 0:50:24 | |
-And so now you think they've come back to Lincolnshire? Well, they have come back to Lincolnshire! -Exactly. | 0:50:24 | 0:50:29 | |
It's nice to have curly-coated pigs back in Lincolnshire. | 0:50:29 | 0:50:33 | |
Yes. Very good. | 0:50:33 | 0:50:34 | |
-Delilah's next door to these... -Oh, right. | 0:50:34 | 0:50:37 | |
Oh, look. | 0:50:37 | 0:50:40 | |
Now there's a magnificent pig. | 0:50:40 | 0:50:42 | |
Hello, Delilah. | 0:50:42 | 0:50:43 | |
My, my, my, Delilah. | 0:50:43 | 0:50:45 | |
Wonderful, and look at the size of her. Magnificent. | 0:50:45 | 0:50:49 | |
Like the Lincolnshire Curly Coat, the Mangalitza is bred for its fat. | 0:50:49 | 0:50:53 | |
It's a tallow pig, but it produces a very agreeable meat. | 0:50:53 | 0:50:58 | |
Although, technically, not a British pig, it is interesting to see them where the Curly Coats once stood. | 0:50:58 | 0:51:04 | |
For my third and final recipe I'm going to cook... | 0:51:06 | 0:51:10 | |
Start by pouring some anchovy oil into a baking tray with a dash of olive oil. | 0:51:14 | 0:51:20 | |
Into this, place chopped onion and garlic. | 0:51:20 | 0:51:25 | |
The trick with not crying when you peel onions, or chop onions, | 0:51:25 | 0:51:32 | |
is to leave the pointed end intact, cos that is where the gland is that causes you to weep. | 0:51:32 | 0:51:39 | |
There you are, not a tear in sight. | 0:51:42 | 0:51:45 | |
Once the onions begin to simmer, crush the garlic. | 0:51:45 | 0:51:50 | |
One of the advantages of being my sort of weight | 0:51:50 | 0:51:55 | |
is that when you lean on a garlic clove... | 0:51:55 | 0:51:58 | |
It stays leaned on. | 0:52:00 | 0:52:02 | |
There was a time in my life when I used to get rugby forwards to come and roll out my pastry for me. | 0:52:02 | 0:52:08 | |
I don't need to do that any more. | 0:52:08 | 0:52:11 | |
One met a lot of nice rugby forwards. | 0:52:11 | 0:52:13 | |
When the onions have softened, add the anchovies | 0:52:15 | 0:52:19 | |
and the chestnuts. | 0:52:19 | 0:52:21 | |
Then score the meat. | 0:52:22 | 0:52:24 | |
The secret to good crackling is to rub salt and oil deep into the fat of the belly. | 0:52:26 | 0:52:32 | |
As Fanny Craddock used to say, | 0:52:32 | 0:52:34 | |
rub it as if into the face of your worst enemy. | 0:52:34 | 0:52:39 | |
And then take your piece of pork and just put it on top | 0:52:39 | 0:52:44 | |
of everything that's in there. | 0:52:44 | 0:52:46 | |
Then add some beer to the bottom of the pan, making sure not to cover the skin. | 0:52:46 | 0:52:54 | |
This is providing some liquid just to help cook the pork and to stop things | 0:52:54 | 0:53:00 | |
sticking to the bottom, cos it's going to cook for quite a long time. | 0:53:00 | 0:53:04 | |
It's going to have half an hour in a hot oven just to | 0:53:04 | 0:53:07 | |
set the crackling and then it's going to have about three hours | 0:53:07 | 0:53:12 | |
in a cooler oven just to gently cook away and bring out the flavours. | 0:53:12 | 0:53:17 | |
This pork belly is so simple to prepare, but the results are magical. | 0:53:18 | 0:53:25 | |
Look at that. Doesn't that look lovely? | 0:53:27 | 0:53:29 | |
The extra fat, the texture of the meat and that indescribable sound of Sundays. | 0:53:31 | 0:53:39 | |
CRACKING | 0:53:39 | 0:53:40 | |
Hear how lovely the crackling is. | 0:53:40 | 0:53:43 | |
Look at that. You see how soft and lovely it is now? See that? | 0:53:47 | 0:53:51 | |
The knife just goes straight into it as though it were butter. | 0:53:51 | 0:53:55 | |
And, of course, the advantage with rare-breed pork is that it will hold together | 0:53:55 | 0:54:01 | |
until it's soft as butter, rather than just fall apart as it would if it was a horrid commercial pig. | 0:54:01 | 0:54:07 | |
Excellent accompaniments to this delicious meat are celeriac puree and wilted spinach. | 0:54:08 | 0:54:16 | |
The final touch is to flambe the sauce with a ladle of brandy. | 0:54:16 | 0:54:22 | |
Brandy, of course, will not ignite until it's hot enough, as those of you who've failed | 0:54:22 | 0:54:27 | |
to ignite your Christmas pudding will have learnt the hard way. | 0:54:27 | 0:54:30 | |
So there we are, you see? | 0:54:30 | 0:54:32 | |
Just pour it into the pan | 0:54:32 | 0:54:35 | |
and it burns off not only all the alcohol but any extraneous fat that you might have. | 0:54:35 | 0:54:43 | |
A few chestnuts and the beer sauce with melted anchovy complete the plate. | 0:54:43 | 0:54:51 | |
So there we have it, belly of pork with anchovies and chestnuts. | 0:54:51 | 0:54:55 | |
And what more could you ask in life really? | 0:54:55 | 0:54:58 | |
Scrumptious. | 0:55:03 | 0:55:05 | |
I would hope that you are now ready to jump up from your sofa and hunt down your local rare-breed supplier. | 0:55:10 | 0:55:17 | |
Of course, you could always keep rare-breed pigs yourself, like these pig fanatics. | 0:55:17 | 0:55:23 | |
As long as you register with DEFRA, anyone can do it. | 0:55:23 | 0:55:28 | |
Tony York runs a one-day pig-keeping course for the hobby farmer | 0:55:28 | 0:55:32 | |
and he thinks there will be a big increase in the number of us keeping pigs. | 0:55:32 | 0:55:37 | |
I think over the next five to ten years, | 0:55:37 | 0:55:40 | |
we're going to see such a dramatic increase in rare-breed | 0:55:40 | 0:55:44 | |
pig keeping and people keeping pigs on a small scale that we will almost | 0:55:44 | 0:55:48 | |
be getting back to those days around the end of the Second World War when so many families had their own pigs. | 0:55:48 | 0:55:55 | |
It's not difficult to keep a pig. | 0:55:55 | 0:55:56 | |
It's very easy. Probably almost the easiest farm animal to keep. | 0:55:56 | 0:56:01 | |
But don't think you have to work alone. | 0:56:01 | 0:56:03 | |
You could form a co-operative, like this group of friends in Staines. | 0:56:03 | 0:56:09 | |
We were all a bit fed up with the quality of the pork we got in supermarkets | 0:56:09 | 0:56:13 | |
and, for me, the biggest benefit of keeping my own pigs is knowing the provenance of the meat. | 0:56:13 | 0:56:19 | |
I know exactly what they've eaten and I know therefore that the meat is going to be good quality. | 0:56:19 | 0:56:26 | |
So there we are, the end of the journey, | 0:56:29 | 0:56:32 | |
and I hope you are now convinced to eat British rare-breed pork | 0:56:32 | 0:56:37 | |
and that you will save lots of species from extinction and enjoy the journey. Have fun. | 0:56:37 | 0:56:43 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:56:46 | 0:56:49 | |
E-mail [email protected] | 0:56:49 | 0:56:53 |