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-Some of the best British produce is under threat. -It's at the mercy of market forces. -And food fashion. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:07 | |
-Produce that has been around for centuries... -Could die out within a generation. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:12 | |
-So together we're on a mission... -To save it. | 0:00:12 | 0:00:15 | |
We'll give you tips on how to find it, grow it and cook it. | 0:00:15 | 0:00:19 | |
-And crucially, how to put sensational British produce... -Back on the food map. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:24 | |
I'm Ainsley Harriott. I'll be championing a great British product that is under grave threat. | 0:00:56 | 0:01:02 | |
It's been prized since Roman times, | 0:01:02 | 0:01:05 | |
yet it could slip away from right under our noses - British honey. | 0:01:05 | 0:01:09 | |
'Bees have been producing honey for around 150 million years | 0:01:09 | 0:01:13 | |
'and honey has been a vital part of the British diet for centuries. | 0:01:13 | 0:01:17 | |
'We buy 30,000 tonnes of honey every year, but shockingly, 90% of that is imported, | 0:01:17 | 0:01:23 | |
'mainly from China and Argentina. | 0:01:23 | 0:01:25 | |
'In my campaign to revive British honey, I'll don my white suit and head to the front line | 0:01:25 | 0:01:30 | |
'to meet the hard-working keepers of the amber nectar.' | 0:01:30 | 0:01:34 | |
There's a great demand for English honey. The big problem is producing it in our current climate. | 0:01:34 | 0:01:40 | |
'I'll be showing you how you can play your part.' | 0:01:40 | 0:01:43 | |
This could be your honey, guys. You too could be an urban beekeeper. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:47 | |
'And in the Revival Kitchen, I'll wow you with three fabulous recipes | 0:01:47 | 0:01:52 | |
'to show off the delights honey can bring to your dinner plates, | 0:01:52 | 0:01:55 | |
'including my mouth-watering honey duck breast.' | 0:01:55 | 0:01:58 | |
Honey is just not honey. There are so many varieties and flavours. | 0:01:58 | 0:02:02 | |
Hmm! | 0:02:15 | 0:02:17 | |
It really takes me back, this. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:20 | |
When I was growing up, South London boy as I am, we had a beekeeper that lived at the top of the road. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:26 | |
He looked like a Martian when he had all his gear on. We were petrified of him. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:30 | |
We were intrigued. What is he doing? | 0:02:30 | 0:02:33 | |
My dad, it's something he introduced to us, he brought it home, | 0:02:33 | 0:02:37 | |
massive tins, almost as big as paint pots. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:40 | |
But it just meant that we could slap it on our bread or put it on our cereals or into our drinks. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:46 | |
And the taste has stayed with me. | 0:02:46 | 0:02:48 | |
'Honey is one of nature's wonder foods. It's 100% natural and incredibly versatile. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:57 | |
'But we can't have honey without the honeybee and in recent years, | 0:02:57 | 0:03:01 | |
'our British buzzers have taken a battering. | 0:03:01 | 0:03:04 | |
'In the harsh winter of 2008 alone, their population fell by 30%. | 0:03:04 | 0:03:08 | |
'In a bid to revive the fortunes of the British honeybee, I've come to Sussex University | 0:03:08 | 0:03:13 | |
'to meet the UK's only Professor of Apiculture | 0:03:13 | 0:03:17 | |
'to get to the heart of the problem.' | 0:03:17 | 0:03:19 | |
I want to know what's going wrong with the British honeybee. | 0:03:19 | 0:03:24 | |
The British honeybee has declined from a million hives | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
-100 years ago to a quarter of a million hives now. -That's dramatic. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:31 | |
Three-quarters of the honeybee population has just disappeared. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:35 | |
The biggest reason is there's less flowers in the countryside for bees to forage on | 0:03:35 | 0:03:40 | |
and we've got certain new honeybee diseases. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:43 | |
'So the professor and his team have established the British Bee and Honey Restoration Project. | 0:03:43 | 0:03:48 | |
'Their mission is to reverse the spiralling decline of the British honey industry.' | 0:03:48 | 0:03:54 | |
If you look to the right, you'll see a real beehive, an observation hive. | 0:03:54 | 0:03:58 | |
Here we're filming them and here we can see bees which are dancing. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:02 | |
So these are the forager bees who have been visiting flowers | 0:04:02 | 0:04:06 | |
and they've been collecting nectar and now they're telling their nest mates. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:11 | |
I know that this bee, because we've just been decoding some of their dances, has been foraging on ivy | 0:04:11 | 0:04:17 | |
which is blooming one or two kilometres to the north of here. | 0:04:17 | 0:04:21 | |
By analysing these dances the bees make, we'll be able to say the bees are telling us | 0:04:21 | 0:04:26 | |
this is where they make their honey from, so to help honeybees, this is what we need more of. | 0:04:26 | 0:04:32 | |
'Here they're also trying to breed more disease-resistant honeybees, | 0:04:32 | 0:04:36 | |
'such as the British black bee.' | 0:04:36 | 0:04:39 | |
There is so much more to the bee than just making honey, isn't there? | 0:04:39 | 0:04:43 | |
Yeah, if the honeybee didn't make honey, people would still study it as it's such a fascinating animal. | 0:04:43 | 0:04:49 | |
Nowadays, the pollination that the honeybee does for crops like apples and so on | 0:04:49 | 0:04:55 | |
is worth a lot more to us than the honey that's produced. | 0:04:55 | 0:04:58 | |
'That's true, but these tireless workers are responsible for producing their amazing product | 0:04:58 | 0:05:05 | |
'that I for one can't live or cook without.' | 0:05:05 | 0:05:08 | |
I'm going to be doing three recipes for you today. The first of them, I'll use Professor Ratnieks' honey. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:15 | |
It's like a floral honey. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:17 | |
Each honey has an individuality and a special flavour about it | 0:05:17 | 0:05:21 | |
and that's what I'm going to try and get across today, incorporating it into my recipes. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:27 | |
And for the salad base, I've got some pre-washed watercress. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:37 | |
I like to do watercress in a spinner because it kind of dries it out. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:42 | |
There's nothing worse than wet lettuce or watercress leaves. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:46 | |
I've chosen to use Comice pears in this salad which work so well with watercress. | 0:05:47 | 0:05:54 | |
I cut these into quite sort of thin strips here. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
They don't all have to be perfect, of course, | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
because that kind of adds to the different style and texture of the food. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:07 | |
Season, add a squeeze of lemon juice... | 0:06:07 | 0:06:10 | |
..followed by a drizzle of olive oil, and work it through the salad. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:16 | |
I like the idea of using a combination of seedless grapes. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:20 | |
They're a bit on the large side, so I'll just cut these in half. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:25 | |
I'll just lay them like that, get that knife into the middle | 0:06:25 | 0:06:29 | |
and then just slice all the way through like that, carefully. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:33 | |
You've got all your grapes sliced. | 0:06:33 | 0:06:36 | |
In we go, into our saucepan. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:39 | |
And now for the star ingredient, the honey. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:44 | |
I'm putting in a good, liberal dose which equates to about four tablespoons. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:50 | |
As soon as that starts bubbling, take it off the heat. | 0:06:50 | 0:06:54 | |
That allows the grapes to slightly bleed, open up, release some of their juices | 0:06:54 | 0:06:59 | |
and that creates the perfect dressing to complement the honey. | 0:06:59 | 0:07:03 | |
Next up, the goat's cheese. They're easier to cook by keeping their rinds on. | 0:07:03 | 0:07:08 | |
I'll pop that into my oven now at 200 degrees Centigrade, 400 Fahrenheit, Gas Mark 6. | 0:07:08 | 0:07:14 | |
That is only going in there for two or three minutes, no more than that. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:18 | |
OK, let's have a look at those grapes now. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:26 | |
That's lovely. If you can see that, | 0:07:28 | 0:07:31 | |
the colour of the grapes has just changed ever so slightly there, | 0:07:31 | 0:07:35 | |
blending itself in with that lovely floral honey. | 0:07:35 | 0:07:38 | |
It will give it that lovely balance to go along with the goat's cheese. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:42 | |
Speaking of which, let's get that out. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:45 | |
Lovely. | 0:07:47 | 0:07:48 | |
Now I'm just glazing the top of my goat's cheese here | 0:07:51 | 0:07:55 | |
and that gives it a lovely crust. | 0:07:55 | 0:07:58 | |
And when the honey hits that, it just gives it a real kind of... Hmm! | 0:07:58 | 0:08:04 | |
It's just so exciting on the palate. | 0:08:04 | 0:08:07 | |
I'll just pop that on the top there like that. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:12 | |
And just sprinkle those round there. | 0:08:16 | 0:08:18 | |
There you have it - my warm goat's cheese salad with seedless grapes and wild honey dressing. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:24 | |
Oh, it's so good. First you get the goat's cheese, | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
then you get the slight pepperiness of the watercress, | 0:08:33 | 0:08:37 | |
followed by that lovely, floral honey taste. | 0:08:37 | 0:08:40 | |
Just a combination that works perfectly. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:43 | |
'I'm on a mission to revive British honey. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:51 | |
'What's apparent is buying British isn't always top of our agenda.' | 0:08:51 | 0:08:55 | |
Where my honey comes from, I wouldn't have a clue. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
I buy a branded label. I'm not sure where it's from. Maybe England. | 0:08:58 | 0:09:02 | |
I don't think I've ever checked to find out where it's from. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:05 | |
'I think our apathy towards buying British honey is alarming, | 0:09:05 | 0:09:09 | |
'but that's just one of the many challenges facing the honey industry. | 0:09:09 | 0:09:14 | |
'David Bondi runs the UK's largest honey manufacturer. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
'His company bottles over a third of all the honey sold in our shops.' | 0:09:17 | 0:09:23 | |
The total British honey production is only about 10% of everything | 0:09:23 | 0:09:27 | |
that we consume in this country, | 0:09:27 | 0:09:29 | |
so clearly we have to import lots of honey. We buy all the British honey we can. We'd love to buy more. | 0:09:29 | 0:09:36 | |
Our difficulty has been the limited supply, | 0:09:36 | 0:09:39 | |
but we work with our beekeeper colleagues to encourage them to produce as much as they can. | 0:09:39 | 0:09:44 | |
'They're obviously struggling to keep up with the demand, | 0:09:44 | 0:09:48 | |
'so I've come to Buckinghamshire to meet a leading UK commercial beekeeper to find out why.' | 0:09:48 | 0:09:53 | |
-Hello, Ged. -Hi, Ainsley. | 0:09:53 | 0:09:55 | |
I'm looking forward to meeting your bees. | 0:09:55 | 0:09:58 | |
'Ged has 200 hives spread across the farm | 0:09:58 | 0:10:02 | |
'and in a good year, he can produce up to 15 tonnes of honey.' | 0:10:02 | 0:10:06 | |
What's it like being a commercial farmer, Ged? | 0:10:06 | 0:10:09 | |
Well, it's changed radically from when I started 20 years ago. | 0:10:09 | 0:10:13 | |
We've got so much more to contend with these days. | 0:10:13 | 0:10:17 | |
We've got a lot of problems with disease, bee losses over winter. | 0:10:17 | 0:10:21 | |
We've also got a lot of the good agricultural crops that were grown, | 0:10:21 | 0:10:26 | |
that were very helpful for beekeepers, have been stopped or greatly reduced. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:31 | |
So it's more difficult to find good sites where the bees can get a good crop of honey in the summer. | 0:10:31 | 0:10:37 | |
What about producing honey for you? | 0:10:37 | 0:10:39 | |
How long would it take for a bee to make a jar of honey? | 0:10:39 | 0:10:43 | |
For one bee to make a jar of honey, it would travel the equivalent of one and a half times round the world. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:49 | |
That's why you need something like 50,000 to keep a hive active? | 0:10:49 | 0:10:53 | |
Yes, the idea is you get an awful lot of bees and they don't have to travel as far. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:58 | |
They're just going over there to the flower meadows. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:02 | |
-That's a mixture of clover and bramble. Would you like to try some? -Oh, yeah. -Dig in. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:08 | |
Yeah, I know. I'm right in there. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:10 | |
Go on, they'll all be after me now, all the bees. | 0:11:10 | 0:11:14 | |
I'm in there. Yeah. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:16 | |
Oh, yeah. You can taste the wildness coming though that. That's definitely there. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:26 | |
Hmm! Gorgeous. | 0:11:26 | 0:11:28 | |
-And a bit of wax too! -LAUGHTER | 0:11:28 | 0:11:31 | |
'So what can we do to help our bee farmers? | 0:11:34 | 0:11:37 | |
'Planting more bee-friendly flowers would be a start, but we can take it further than that.' | 0:11:37 | 0:11:43 | |
The thing that the British public can do is simply to buy honey. | 0:11:43 | 0:11:47 | |
Let's make sure that British honey, | 0:11:47 | 0:11:50 | |
when it's in the supermarkets, in the farmers' markets, that people buy it. | 0:11:50 | 0:11:55 | |
Very simple. We can all do that. | 0:11:55 | 0:11:57 | |
Wow! And I'm going to be using this, Ged's honey, for my second recipe. | 0:12:00 | 0:12:05 | |
The sauce is fairly straightforward. Loads of different flavours going on, notably the honey. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:17 | |
It really works beautifully with this. | 0:12:17 | 0:12:20 | |
So I'm talking about four tablespoons of honey. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:24 | |
I know I just pour things in, but that's the real beauty of being a cook. You kind of measure by eye. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:30 | |
That's followed by a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, | 0:12:30 | 0:12:35 | |
balsamic vinegar and ketchup. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
And to that, add a couple of tablespoons of muscovado sugar and a few cloves. | 0:12:38 | 0:12:44 | |
When that starts to boil down and that clove oil starts to be released into the honey and everything, | 0:12:44 | 0:12:50 | |
it's got a real pungency. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:52 | |
And last but not least, some beef stock. | 0:12:52 | 0:12:55 | |
Let's get some heat under there now. There you go. | 0:12:55 | 0:12:58 | |
All you want to do is bring that up to the boil. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:01 | |
Let's slice up that onion, shall we? | 0:13:01 | 0:13:05 | |
You see this end here where the root is? Because I'm using sliced onions as opposed to just chopping them, | 0:13:06 | 0:13:12 | |
I want to cut a little wedge out of that either side. | 0:13:12 | 0:13:16 | |
The idea of removing that root is the onions just separate beautifully. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:23 | |
If I hadn't taken that out, they'd be all glued together. | 0:13:23 | 0:13:28 | |
Add some butter and oil to the pan, followed by the onions. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:32 | |
While that's sorting itself out, we can get on with preparing the meat. | 0:13:34 | 0:13:38 | |
This is what they'll go with - lovely duck breast. | 0:13:38 | 0:13:41 | |
What we want to do is just score that skin. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:45 | |
Ducks are waterproof and their skin's like that, | 0:13:45 | 0:13:48 | |
so you need to score the skin a bit to release some of that fat. | 0:13:48 | 0:13:52 | |
Let's get our pan on now. The pan's cold, as you can see. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:58 | |
A lot of chefs will say, "Put it into a hot pan, so it sears straight away." | 0:13:58 | 0:14:03 | |
I'm not sure if it really matters. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:06 | |
I think you can put it straight into a cold pan and we'll let that render down to release some of that fat. | 0:14:06 | 0:14:12 | |
I think cabbage works wonderfully well with duck. | 0:14:12 | 0:14:15 | |
Cabbage in my house is a big thing. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:17 | |
Sometimes I cook it down with carrots and bacon and ginger and chilli, one of my dad's favourites. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:24 | |
-SIZZLING -Hey! Can you hear that duck? | 0:14:24 | 0:14:26 | |
That duck is just kind of starting to release its fats now. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:31 | |
Give the cabbage a quick wash | 0:14:31 | 0:14:33 | |
and pop it in with your onions. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:36 | |
You don't need to put a lid on it. There's a real attractiveness about watching your food cooking sometimes | 0:14:36 | 0:14:43 | |
and just seeing it steam and starting to relax a bit. It's enjoyment. You do get hot though! | 0:14:43 | 0:14:49 | |
I'll turn those duck over. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:52 | |
Just look at that. Crispy there. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:54 | |
I'm just going to pour off that excess fat. | 0:14:56 | 0:14:59 | |
Carefully do this, guys. They do move around the pan there a little bit. | 0:14:59 | 0:15:04 | |
That doesn't need to go to waste. It makes the most wonderful roast tatties or rostis. | 0:15:04 | 0:15:10 | |
I'll do a few of those later. | 0:15:10 | 0:15:12 | |
Duck fat is really good for that. | 0:15:12 | 0:15:14 | |
Pop that into an oven, 200 degrees centigrade, 400 Fahrenheit, Gas Mark 6 again. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:20 | |
For that thickness, no more than six to eight minutes. | 0:15:20 | 0:15:24 | |
It'll just be beyond pink then. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:26 | |
If you want it deadly pink, four, five minutes, no more than that. | 0:15:26 | 0:15:30 | |
If you like it well-done, which is a shame because duck doesn't need to be eaten well-done... | 0:15:30 | 0:15:36 | |
I won't even tell you how long you've got to cook it for. There you go. | 0:15:36 | 0:15:41 | |
So back to the cabbage... I've lowered the heat, so it begins to cook down. | 0:15:41 | 0:15:46 | |
Ears are a fabulous thing when you're cooking. My mum always used to say, "Grab the steam." | 0:15:46 | 0:15:51 | |
She'd grab the steam and smell. That will tell you a lot. But it's the sound of stuff. | 0:15:51 | 0:15:56 | |
You can tell that something has reduced down, it's drying out, so we need a bit of water in there. | 0:15:56 | 0:16:03 | |
That's it now, look. That's cooked down really, really lovely. | 0:16:04 | 0:16:08 | |
So at this stage, in with my crispy bits of bacon. | 0:16:10 | 0:16:14 | |
Add a splash of cream and stir well. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:19 | |
I'm going to take my duck out now. | 0:16:19 | 0:16:21 | |
For that final minute, all I'm going to do is take some of Ged's honey | 0:16:21 | 0:16:26 | |
and just drizzle on top of that. Look at that. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:31 | |
It's just going to give it that lovely sheen. Beautiful. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:36 | |
Pop that back in for another minute. | 0:16:36 | 0:16:39 | |
Now what we're going to do is just pass off our sauce. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:43 | |
It smells of cloves, the honey, it's slightly caramelised. | 0:16:47 | 0:16:52 | |
OK, let's take those beautiful honey ducks out. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:56 | |
You can see I'm carving it. | 0:16:58 | 0:17:00 | |
It just presents so much better than just having that lump there. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:04 | |
It's not chicken. This is duck. It demands respect, as my old head chef Malcolm used to say. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:10 | |
-JAMAICAN ACCENT: -"Respect the duck." He wasn't from Jamaica! | 0:17:10 | 0:17:14 | |
And there you have it, guys. Look at that. | 0:17:19 | 0:17:23 | |
Gorgeous. Honey-glazed duck... | 0:17:23 | 0:17:25 | |
I should say Ged's honey-glazed duck with rosti potatoes and creamed cabbage and bacon. | 0:17:25 | 0:17:30 | |
I've just got to try that. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:34 | |
Oh... | 0:17:34 | 0:17:36 | |
Honey just works so well with savoury because it brings out the natural flavours. | 0:17:37 | 0:17:42 | |
I can taste the duck beautifully. It's gone into the sauce | 0:17:42 | 0:17:46 | |
and the cloves, so you get that spicy taste, followed by that honey. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:50 | |
Ged's honey is wonderful. Honey is just not honey. There are so many different varieties and flavours. | 0:17:50 | 0:17:57 | |
If you can find out what works with your cooking, you're in for a real treat. | 0:17:57 | 0:18:02 | |
In this country, we're consuming far more honey than our bees and commercial farmers can produce. | 0:18:05 | 0:18:11 | |
So it's up to us Brits to step into the breach. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:16 | |
One misconception is that you need wide open spaces in order to keep beehives. | 0:18:18 | 0:18:24 | |
You can produce local honey without breaking the bank and you don't need a massive field to do it in. | 0:18:24 | 0:18:30 | |
'In fact, within reason, you can set up a beehive anywhere, even on top of a roof, | 0:18:31 | 0:18:36 | |
'which is what this amateur keeper in East London has done. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:40 | |
'Mel took up this hobby six months ago and she along with 25,000 other amateurs up and down the country | 0:18:42 | 0:18:48 | |
'are filling the honey void by producing their own.' | 0:18:48 | 0:18:52 | |
It seems to be the perfect location to keep bees, isn't it? | 0:18:52 | 0:18:56 | |
Yeah, in the city not everybody has a garden. | 0:18:56 | 0:18:59 | |
I've only got a really small space. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:01 | |
I was thinking about where I could keep my bees out of harm's way, but with access to plants and flowers. | 0:19:01 | 0:19:07 | |
Did you expect it to be as exciting as this, being a beekeeper? | 0:19:07 | 0:19:12 | |
I had no idea how great it was going to be, to be honest. | 0:19:12 | 0:19:16 | |
There have been lots of surprises, some good, some bad, | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
but it's really fascinating watching the bees, seeing how they work, then tasting the honey. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:25 | |
So you can see, with the sun glistening, the uncapped stores, | 0:19:26 | 0:19:30 | |
and the ones here are capped stores, so the honey is underneath that. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:35 | |
That's what we'll take a sample of. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:37 | |
-We're going to scrape that off, are we? -Yes. -That's fantastic. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:41 | |
You can see it oozing out and the bees are feeding on it. | 0:19:41 | 0:19:46 | |
Wow! Do you have this on your toast in the morning, Mel? | 0:19:46 | 0:19:50 | |
-Yes, I'm a big fan of honey. -So am I. We love it in our house. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:55 | |
-Great. -I'm going to pop this back. -Yeah. Look, this is just perfect. | 0:19:55 | 0:20:00 | |
This could be your honey, guys. You too could be an urban beekeeper. | 0:20:00 | 0:20:05 | |
Come on, you go back, guys. Go on, back you go. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
Go and join your friends. That's it. | 0:20:08 | 0:20:11 | |
'Keeping bees as a hobby requires dedication and training, | 0:20:11 | 0:20:14 | |
'but it's becoming the backbone of the British honey industry. | 0:20:14 | 0:20:18 | |
'In fact, it's estimated that 99% of known keepers are amateurs just like Mel.' | 0:20:18 | 0:20:24 | |
-I can't wait to have a taste of this honey. You don't mind if I pop my finger in there? -No, go for it. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:30 | |
Oh, yeah, that's good. | 0:20:32 | 0:20:34 | |
-You like it? -It's the wildflowers. Probably all those flowers from Victoria Park. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:39 | |
-Well done, you. -Well done, the bees. -Well done, the bees. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:44 | |
'Without hobbyist beekeepers, we could never buy locally produced honeys, especially urban ones, | 0:20:44 | 0:20:50 | |
'but sadly, you'll never find them on your supermarket shelves. | 0:20:50 | 0:20:55 | |
'However, if you visit your local farmers' markets or honey shops, | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
'like this one in South London, you'll be in for a real treat.' | 0:20:59 | 0:21:03 | |
Wow! I've never seen so many British honeys. | 0:21:03 | 0:21:07 | |
I get frustrated in the supermarket because it's all imported stuff, but you've got a fabulous selection. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:14 | |
There are 20-odd different British varieties. | 0:21:14 | 0:21:17 | |
The most local that we have is Wandsworth honey. Try that. | 0:21:17 | 0:21:21 | |
And is it easier to produce sort of urban honey than what it is like out in the wild? | 0:21:22 | 0:21:28 | |
Yes, in the city, there is such an abundance of flowers in parks, cemeteries and people's back gardens. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:35 | |
The bees don't have to fly very far and the diversity is fantastic. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:40 | |
How much of your honey comes from local people? You're encouraging people to have their own beehives. | 0:21:40 | 0:21:47 | |
A lot of these honeys will come in from hobbyist beekeepers all around the country. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:52 | |
They might come in with one bucket, 30 little jars of honey. | 0:21:52 | 0:21:55 | |
We've got some West Sussex honey that we got from a chap. We've got some honey from the Hampstead Heath area. | 0:21:55 | 0:22:02 | |
-Again not much of it, but we're supporting them and it's a nice way of... -Keeping urban honey alive. -Yes. | 0:22:02 | 0:22:08 | |
It's encouraging people to take up beekeeping, it's helping to sponsor their hobby. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:14 | |
It was a pleasure talking to you and it's nice to know people like you are supporting the locals, | 0:22:14 | 0:22:19 | |
just to keep the buzz alive, metaphorically speaking, because that's what we've all got to do. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:25 | |
We've been eating honey for thousands of years and I think you can almost call it a superfood. | 0:22:25 | 0:22:31 | |
In its raw, unprocessed state, it's rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants | 0:22:31 | 0:22:37 | |
and many people swear by local honey as a natural antidote for hay fever. | 0:22:37 | 0:22:42 | |
If you're feeling under the weather, there's nothing better than a home-made hot toddy. | 0:22:42 | 0:22:47 | |
I've got some grated ginger, some cloves and lemon which I've sliced and also squeezed into some water. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:53 | |
I'll strain some of that off. Don't worry about bits of ginger in there. | 0:22:53 | 0:22:57 | |
That really helps to clear your "nozzies". | 0:22:57 | 0:23:00 | |
And then a spoonful of honey. | 0:23:00 | 0:23:04 | |
That will take the old... | 0:23:04 | 0:23:07 | |
Take? Clears everything, I should say. Absolutely delicious. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:13 | |
When it comes to cooking with honey, there are many wonderful flavours, | 0:23:13 | 0:23:17 | |
but I've selected this wildflower variety for my final recipe. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:21 | |
Figs are one of my favourite fruits. | 0:23:26 | 0:23:28 | |
I like this recipe because of the idea of nestling them inside a beautiful sweet pastry tart | 0:23:28 | 0:23:34 | |
with a base of ground almonds and a wonderful reduction of wildflower honey spread on to the figs. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:41 | |
All that hard work the bees have done hasn't gone to waste. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:45 | |
First, we'll prepare the pastry. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:47 | |
I'll get that butter... | 0:23:47 | 0:23:50 | |
Add plain flour, icing sugar and butter to a blender. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:54 | |
I prefer to pulse it instead of just leaving my machine running. Let me show you. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:02 | |
Be careful. It's got a very sharp blade. Look at that. It's like fine breadcrumbs. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:07 | |
To bind the mixture, add beaten egg. | 0:24:07 | 0:24:10 | |
And then blitz again until the mixture starts to stick together | 0:24:12 | 0:24:16 | |
and can be rolled into a ball. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:19 | |
After chilling for 15 minutes, roll out onto a floured surface. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:24 | |
There really is something about making a tart. It's so satisfying. It's almost like making bread. | 0:24:27 | 0:24:32 | |
You know how much I love bread with honey, so the idea of making a tart, | 0:24:32 | 0:24:36 | |
the combination of the two, just for me is perfect. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:40 | |
200 degrees Centigrade, 400 Fahrenheit, Gas Mark 6 if you've got an old style gas oven. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:47 | |
And after baking for 15 minutes, glaze the pastry cases | 0:24:47 | 0:24:51 | |
with the leftover beaten egg and cook again for a further ten minutes. | 0:24:51 | 0:24:56 | |
Meanwhile, I can get on with my orange and honey glaze. | 0:24:56 | 0:25:00 | |
This is a really, really good little tip. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:03 | |
That's my tablespoon there, my measuring tablespoon, and if you put a little bit of oil on that... | 0:25:03 | 0:25:10 | |
Just a touch of oil. | 0:25:10 | 0:25:12 | |
..what that will do is protect your spoon, so your honey won't stick to it. | 0:25:13 | 0:25:18 | |
Three tablespoons of honey. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:22 | |
Look at that, just flies off the spoon. | 0:25:22 | 0:25:26 | |
To the honey, add a few knobs of butter and some freshly-squeezed orange juice. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:35 | |
If you've got loads of mates coming round for a bit of an adult supper, | 0:25:35 | 0:25:40 | |
then why not use just a little bit of orange juice... | 0:25:40 | 0:25:44 | |
and a little bit of orange liqueur? | 0:25:44 | 0:25:47 | |
Perfect. | 0:25:48 | 0:25:50 | |
So whilst that's heating up, I can prepare my figs. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:55 | |
I've just cut the top off there and I want to cut these into six, but don't cut all the way through. | 0:25:55 | 0:26:01 | |
So a little bit of control here. Turn that around and one half of it, cut into three. | 0:26:01 | 0:26:06 | |
Follow the knife almost all the way down, | 0:26:06 | 0:26:10 | |
then you can just open that up like a little flower. Can you see that? | 0:26:10 | 0:26:14 | |
I wish you were here now. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:17 | |
I can just smell that honey. It's coming alive now. It's beginning to release its lovely aromas. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:23 | |
Next, line the pastry cases with some ground almonds. | 0:26:23 | 0:26:27 | |
I'm just using the back of a spoon to push it into the corners, so it soaks up all that lovely juice. | 0:26:27 | 0:26:33 | |
Then it doesn't seep through into your pastry. You don't want soggy pastry. Soggy pastry is awful. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:39 | |
We're just going to pick that up now and just sit that inside our pastry case. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:46 | |
That's quite syrupy now. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:49 | |
There you go. Just spoon that around like that. | 0:26:49 | 0:26:52 | |
You've got the ground almonds on the base there to soak up any of these juices, | 0:26:52 | 0:26:58 | |
but try and get most of that on top of your figs. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
It's interesting that in this country we don't tend to eat that many figs, do we? | 0:27:01 | 0:27:07 | |
But it's such a gorgeous fruit. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:09 | |
If I wanted to use something alternative, I might use something like a damson or a bit of peach. | 0:27:09 | 0:27:15 | |
And pop those back into the oven for a further 10 to 15 minutes. | 0:27:16 | 0:27:20 | |
Now... | 0:27:21 | 0:27:23 | |
Look at that, the juice has just started to come out and... | 0:27:24 | 0:27:28 | |
The honey just kind of rises up into your nostrils. Just gorgeous. | 0:27:29 | 0:27:34 | |
And for the finishing touches, I'm adding a dollop of creme fraiche, | 0:27:35 | 0:27:39 | |
a touch of orange zest and finally, a drizzle of my scrumptious honey glaze. Hmm! | 0:27:39 | 0:27:45 | |
Just a few more drops around there. | 0:27:47 | 0:27:50 | |
There you have it - my caramelised fig and wild honey tart. | 0:27:50 | 0:27:55 | |
Oh! | 0:27:56 | 0:27:58 | |
This is great. I can taste the wildflower honey really coming through in the figs. | 0:28:06 | 0:28:12 | |
When you add something that has got that lovely floral kind of taste, | 0:28:12 | 0:28:16 | |
it just heightens the whole thing. It really, really is stunning. | 0:28:16 | 0:28:20 | |
It's been stunning, my journey. | 0:28:20 | 0:28:23 | |
I have been so excited about meeting these people who care passionately about honey | 0:28:23 | 0:28:28 | |
and the revival of British honey. | 0:28:28 | 0:28:30 | |
Unless we do something about it collectively, guys, it will just disappear, | 0:28:30 | 0:28:36 | |
so let's all of us get behind the Great British Honey Revival. | 0:28:36 | 0:28:41 | |
Now it's time for someone else who is as passionate about reviving British produce as I am. | 0:28:41 | 0:28:47 | |
One carpaccio, one duck, one lamb. | 0:28:56 | 0:28:59 | |
Oui. | 0:28:59 | 0:29:00 | |
'I'm Glynn Purnell, head chef at my own award-winning restaurant in Birmingham.' | 0:29:00 | 0:29:07 | |
One duck, one lamb. | 0:29:07 | 0:29:09 | |
'If there's one ingredient I believe is in need of revival, then it's British cheese.' | 0:29:09 | 0:29:15 | |
We forget how much we use cheese in cooking. | 0:29:15 | 0:29:18 | |
We do a goat's cheese emulsion with things, we gratinate things. And you can't beat cheese on toast. | 0:29:18 | 0:29:25 | |
I'm sort of concerned that we're not giving cheesemakers enough credit for what they do. | 0:29:25 | 0:29:31 | |
It's frightening that we've neglected them. | 0:29:31 | 0:29:34 | |
Over half the cheese we buy each year in the UK is imported, | 0:29:35 | 0:29:40 | |
so our own cheeses face stiff competition on the shelves. | 0:29:40 | 0:29:44 | |
Copycats, imitations, misleading labelling. We need to bring it back, we need to revive it. | 0:29:44 | 0:29:50 | |
'I want to see British cheeses in your basket, so I'm doing the hard work for you | 0:29:50 | 0:29:56 | |
'by tracking down some of the country's best cheeses.' | 0:29:56 | 0:30:00 | |
You get that dimple of sweat. | 0:30:00 | 0:30:03 | |
'By finding out how we're fooled into buying the foreign stuff.' | 0:30:03 | 0:30:07 | |
53% of the cheddar sold is pre-packed own label. We don't even know who made it. | 0:30:07 | 0:30:13 | |
'And in the Revival kitchen I'll be sharing three fantastic recipes to help you | 0:30:13 | 0:30:18 | |
'show off our great British cheese.' | 0:30:18 | 0:30:21 | |
We've got that fantastic wibble wobble. | 0:30:21 | 0:30:25 | |
'I've always loved using British cheeses in my recipes.' | 0:30:28 | 0:30:32 | |
One of my first experiences of cooking with cheese, when I was 10, with a little brother and sister, | 0:30:32 | 0:30:39 | |
we used to grate the cheese over hot beans for cheesy beans on toast | 0:30:39 | 0:30:44 | |
and the other one was when we'd grate the cheese into the bowl and pour hot soup over it. | 0:30:44 | 0:30:49 | |
Let it stand for a second then create fantastic, sort of elastic-y cheese string. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:55 | |
They thought I was a genius. Still do. | 0:30:55 | 0:30:59 | |
'Now there's no denying that we Brits love our cheese. | 0:30:59 | 0:31:03 | |
'We eat around 600,000 tonnes of the stuff a year. But do we know enough about the great British cheeses | 0:31:03 | 0:31:09 | |
'that are out there?' | 0:31:09 | 0:31:11 | |
I could name five British cheeses. I think so. Cheddar... | 0:31:12 | 0:31:17 | |
No, sorry! | 0:31:17 | 0:31:19 | |
Stilton, Wensleydale, Cheddar, obviously. | 0:31:19 | 0:31:22 | |
Cheddar, um... | 0:31:22 | 0:31:25 | |
-Cheddar, Wensleydale... -Obviously, Cheddar. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:29 | |
Red Leicester? | 0:31:29 | 0:31:31 | |
Hmm, it's not so easy, actually. | 0:31:34 | 0:31:37 | |
'Clearly, for my revival to succeed, we all need to become more aware | 0:31:38 | 0:31:43 | |
'of the variety of British cheeses available.' | 0:31:43 | 0:31:47 | |
Nigel, what's happened to British cheese? | 0:31:47 | 0:31:51 | |
Well, in WWII, our cheese production virtually came to a standstill | 0:31:51 | 0:31:55 | |
and any cheese that was made was made to a national recipe, | 0:31:55 | 0:32:00 | |
which was essentially a Cheddar style in the rationing system. So we lost a lot of skills in that period. | 0:32:00 | 0:32:06 | |
Cheesemaking didn't start in earnest until the early 1950s. | 0:32:06 | 0:32:10 | |
'So that explains our obsession with Cheddar, but we're talking half a century ago. | 0:32:10 | 0:32:16 | |
'Surely our British cheese industry has moved on.' | 0:32:16 | 0:32:20 | |
We're now making over 700 named cheeses in this country, | 0:32:20 | 0:32:24 | |
many of which are similar to imported cheeses we've had for some time. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:30 | |
Things like our Cornish and Somerset Brie and Camembert are a match for any cheese in the world. | 0:32:30 | 0:32:36 | |
The idea of having an English Camembert is fantastic. | 0:32:36 | 0:32:39 | |
Just looking round this shop, it's amazing, really. There's so many varieties of British cheeses. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:49 | |
I'm surprised how many there is. As a nation, are we not trying enough different British cheeses? | 0:32:49 | 0:32:55 | |
Probably. I think part of the reason is that Cheddar is the nation's favourite. More than half the cheese | 0:32:55 | 0:33:01 | |
-we eat is Cheddar in one form or another. -It's being brave and having a go. -It is. | 0:33:01 | 0:33:07 | |
And you don't have to buy a lot. I try a different cheese every week. | 0:33:07 | 0:33:11 | |
I only buy 100 grams to get a taste of the flavour. | 0:33:11 | 0:33:16 | |
Cheddar plus one is the little motto we've got. Cheddar plus one and see how you get on. | 0:33:16 | 0:33:22 | |
-Have you tried all 700? -Not yet, but I'm well on the way. | 0:33:22 | 0:33:26 | |
100 grams at a time, working your way round all 700 of them! | 0:33:26 | 0:33:31 | |
'It turns out we're making lots of different types of cheese, but not yet buying enough of them. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:40 | |
'So I'm going to show you how easy it is to substitute British cheeses for your foreign favourites. | 0:33:40 | 0:33:46 | |
'And what better place to start than the most famous of all cheese recipes, a cheesecake?' | 0:33:46 | 0:33:52 | |
Normally I would use a typical soft foreign cheese, but today I've got a fantastic West Yorkshire, | 0:33:53 | 0:33:59 | |
British cheese, which is pretty unusual. I'm excited making this. | 0:33:59 | 0:34:04 | |
This will be a perfect recipe to showcase how fantastic and brilliant British cheese is. | 0:34:04 | 0:34:10 | |
'The first step is the biscuit base.' | 0:34:10 | 0:34:14 | |
I normally use digestive biscuits. If you've got broken biscuits, throw them in. The odd ginger, | 0:34:14 | 0:34:20 | |
the odd cookie that's lost its way. | 0:34:20 | 0:34:23 | |
'Blitz together the biscuits with melted butter. I use salted butter to cut through the sweetness | 0:34:23 | 0:34:30 | |
'of that real cheesy topping. | 0:34:30 | 0:34:33 | |
'Tip it into a loose-bottom tin, press it down firmly and whack it in the fridge to set. | 0:34:35 | 0:34:41 | |
'Stage two is the fruit topping.' Get the blackberries in with some sugar. | 0:34:43 | 0:34:49 | |
And crush as much of the juice out as possible. | 0:34:49 | 0:34:52 | |
Some people call it coulis, but I just call it a juice. Coulis is a bit too posh! | 0:34:52 | 0:34:59 | |
And we'll pass that off and get rid of all the little bits that get stuck in your teeth. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:05 | |
I've got some now, actually. It should make an absolutely stunning pudding. | 0:35:05 | 0:35:10 | |
'Leave it to cool and get on with the main event - | 0:35:12 | 0:35:17 | |
'the sweet cheese filling.' | 0:35:17 | 0:35:19 | |
We've got this lovely West Yorkshire British cream cheese, which people probably haven't seen. | 0:35:20 | 0:35:26 | |
It's fantastic. It's got a slight acidic smell, which is really nice. | 0:35:26 | 0:35:31 | |
And we've got a really nice vanilla pod, which we're going to split. | 0:35:31 | 0:35:36 | |
It'll flavour our cheesecake. | 0:35:36 | 0:35:38 | |
'And here's a top tip - before you split it, run your knife over it to loosen up those little black seeds.' | 0:35:38 | 0:35:46 | |
I just want to scrape... as much of that out as possible. | 0:35:47 | 0:35:51 | |
You can also save these and use them in your sugar. | 0:35:55 | 0:35:58 | |
'Next, get the cream cheese in a mixer with those vanilla seeds. | 0:35:58 | 0:36:02 | |
'Then, add three eggs and some cream that have been whisked together. | 0:36:05 | 0:36:10 | |
'And finally, feed in some flour and sugar.' | 0:36:13 | 0:36:18 | |
Once you've mixed it, you might have to run your paddle through it. | 0:36:19 | 0:36:23 | |
If you over-beat it, it'll be too thin and take too long to cook. Don't ask me why. It just doesn't. | 0:36:23 | 0:36:29 | |
'Simply pour the cheesy mixture onto the biscuit base. | 0:36:29 | 0:36:33 | |
'And drizzle on the cooled blackberry juice.' | 0:36:37 | 0:36:41 | |
I'm making a feathered effect. It's a little bit retro, | 0:36:41 | 0:36:46 | |
but it's a classical recipe, so it's quite nice to keep that sort of theme, really. | 0:36:46 | 0:36:52 | |
I'm going to pop this in the oven for around 45 minutes, but not too hot. Don't overcook it. | 0:36:54 | 0:37:01 | |
You want it to cook really gently all the way through. | 0:37:01 | 0:37:06 | |
In the middle, we want a little wibble wobble. | 0:37:06 | 0:37:09 | |
'I'm serving it with zingy blackberries and honeycomb, | 0:37:09 | 0:37:12 | |
'dusted with black pepper.' | 0:37:12 | 0:37:15 | |
Just give it a... | 0:37:15 | 0:37:16 | |
'Smash it into shards of peppery sugariness.' | 0:37:18 | 0:37:22 | |
I'm going to cut up some of the blackberries, leave some whole. | 0:37:24 | 0:37:29 | |
And you always have to nick one. | 0:37:29 | 0:37:32 | |
Whack a bit of that in there, give it a little stir up. | 0:37:36 | 0:37:40 | |
'And after 45 minutes, it's done.' | 0:37:43 | 0:37:46 | |
It's exactly what we're looking for. | 0:37:46 | 0:37:48 | |
We've got that fantastic wibble wobble. | 0:37:48 | 0:37:52 | |
'Now for the hardest part - leaving it to cool before diving in.' | 0:37:52 | 0:37:58 | |
So, this is the moment of truth to see whether it's set. | 0:37:58 | 0:38:02 | |
We need to run a knife round the outside. | 0:38:02 | 0:38:06 | |
You can hear the crunchiness of the biscuits on the bottom. | 0:38:06 | 0:38:10 | |
And there we go. | 0:38:12 | 0:38:15 | |
I'm going to serve it with the blackberries and honeycomb, | 0:38:15 | 0:38:20 | |
and that should give the dish even more texture, and a little bit of spice with the black pepper. | 0:38:20 | 0:38:26 | |
So there we have it. My baked blackberry cheesecake. | 0:38:28 | 0:38:32 | |
In Britain, we love our cheese. We buy it in supermarkets, delis, farmhouses, markets. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:52 | |
60% of that is Cheddar, but a third of it isn't even from the UK. | 0:38:52 | 0:38:57 | |
'Originally made in its namesake village in Somerset, Cheddar is now produced all over the world.' | 0:38:57 | 0:39:04 | |
If you go back into the 1860s, | 0:39:04 | 0:39:06 | |
there's a guy called Harding who lived in Somerset | 0:39:06 | 0:39:11 | |
who sent his recipe to America. And because of him, Cheddar went global. | 0:39:11 | 0:39:16 | |
It can be made anywhere, in any sort of factory, and imported here. | 0:39:16 | 0:39:22 | |
People are confused. They think they're buying home-produced Cheddar. | 0:39:22 | 0:39:26 | |
In fact, they're buying cheese that could come from anywhere. | 0:39:26 | 0:39:30 | |
And that is a great problem. | 0:39:30 | 0:39:32 | |
'Buying your cheese from a farmer's market is always a good way to know where it comes from. | 0:39:32 | 0:39:38 | |
'What about the cheese you buy in shops and supermarkets?' | 0:39:38 | 0:39:43 | |
This is a block of mature Cheddar. | 0:39:44 | 0:39:49 | |
Right? 53% of the Cheddar sold in this country is in pre-packed own label, | 0:39:49 | 0:39:55 | |
-so we don't even know who made it. It's a supermarket. -So, supermarket Cheddar, which most people get, | 0:39:55 | 0:40:02 | |
-thinking they're having British Cheddar. -Right. | 0:40:02 | 0:40:07 | |
-I turn that over... -OK. | 0:40:07 | 0:40:08 | |
..and it just tells me not even that it's packed in the UK, | 0:40:08 | 0:40:12 | |
it just names the retailer. No clue where it comes from. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:16 | |
Where could it come from? | 0:40:16 | 0:40:18 | |
-An awful lot comes, believe it or not, from Australia and New Zealand and Canada. -Australia? -Absolutely. | 0:40:18 | 0:40:25 | |
-A long way away. -It is. Considering you're thinking you're buying Cheddar. | 0:40:25 | 0:40:30 | |
'And for the cheesemakers, this is the critical issue.' | 0:40:30 | 0:40:35 | |
We do need desperately to clarify the labelling laws | 0:40:35 | 0:40:40 | |
so if you do want to buy English Cheddar, you can buy it. | 0:40:40 | 0:40:45 | |
'Some supermarkets are starting to clarify their labelling. | 0:40:46 | 0:40:50 | |
'One good way of guaranteeing your cheese is made in Britain is the red tractor, | 0:40:50 | 0:40:56 | |
'an independent mark of British farming quality. | 0:40:56 | 0:41:00 | |
'But there's another label.' | 0:41:00 | 0:41:03 | |
What can we do to make people more aware of what they're buying? | 0:41:03 | 0:41:08 | |
We have about nine or ten Protected Designation of Origin cheeses. They are protected across Europe. | 0:41:08 | 0:41:15 | |
-The most famous is Stilton. -Stilton. -We always had that one. | 0:41:15 | 0:41:19 | |
And around about eight or nine years ago, West Country Farmhouse Cheddar, | 0:41:19 | 0:41:23 | |
that was accredited with a PDO, so it has to be made in Dorset, Devon, Cornwall or Somerset. | 0:41:23 | 0:41:29 | |
On the farm, using the farmer's own milk. | 0:41:29 | 0:41:33 | |
-And there, you see the logo there? -Yes. -Even the supermarkets | 0:41:33 | 0:41:38 | |
-have to put that on their packs now, which is great. -So we know exactly what's going on. -You've got it. | 0:41:38 | 0:41:45 | |
'And there's a very important reason why now is the time for us to revive our cheese industry.' | 0:41:45 | 0:41:51 | |
We've got a critical situation. We've lost half our dairy farmers in 15 years. | 0:41:51 | 0:41:58 | |
-The average age of a dairy farmer now is 59. -Which is ridiculous. | 0:41:58 | 0:42:03 | |
So we need to start buying more British cheese. There's plenty. | 0:42:03 | 0:42:08 | |
The best thing people can do is to shop more carefully. | 0:42:08 | 0:42:12 | |
What a fantastic story it's turned out to be. | 0:42:16 | 0:42:19 | |
Cheddar seems to have lost its way, so we're here in Somerset | 0:42:19 | 0:42:23 | |
to meet a guy who wants to bring Cheddar back to its home county. | 0:42:23 | 0:42:28 | |
'The Montgomeries have been making their award-winning Cheddar on their farm near Yeovil | 0:42:28 | 0:42:34 | |
'for the last 100 years. | 0:42:34 | 0:42:36 | |
'Unlike most supermarket Cheddars, they use unpasteurised milk, | 0:42:38 | 0:42:43 | |
'which gives every batch of their cheese a unique flavour.' | 0:42:43 | 0:42:47 | |
Because it's unpasteurised, | 0:42:47 | 0:42:49 | |
we're trying much harder to get more flavour | 0:42:49 | 0:42:53 | |
to come from that milk. You can make Cheddar with a lot of acidity, and a lot of people like that, | 0:42:53 | 0:42:59 | |
something that'll blow their head off. But we're not about that. | 0:42:59 | 0:43:03 | |
Because it's unpasteurised, we can supply that flavour to the market. | 0:43:03 | 0:43:07 | |
'James makes cheese every day of the year, with each truckle left to mature for at least 12 months.' | 0:43:07 | 0:43:14 | |
Oh, fantastic smell. | 0:43:17 | 0:43:20 | |
It is really complex. | 0:43:25 | 0:43:27 | |
You put it in your mouth and it's changing all the time, which is fantastic. | 0:43:27 | 0:43:33 | |
That's the best feature, the really progressive feature of unpasteurised cheese. | 0:43:33 | 0:43:38 | |
With a little hint of sweetness, but it's a spicy sweetness. | 0:43:38 | 0:43:42 | |
It's not sickly. That's what you get from unpasteurised cheese. | 0:43:42 | 0:43:48 | |
The complexity. When you pasteurise the milk, you kill all the flavour. | 0:43:48 | 0:43:52 | |
-Then you put a starter in to give you the flavour. -OK. | 0:43:52 | 0:43:56 | |
That means the flavour you get is very defined, exactly what you want it to be. | 0:43:56 | 0:44:02 | |
-For supermarkets, that's fantastic. It's always exactly the same. -Is that too good to cook with? Or... | 0:44:02 | 0:44:08 | |
What you can do is you can get all that flavour into a dish only using a little bit of cheese. | 0:44:08 | 0:44:15 | |
That's right, yeah. I'm sure at a nice room temperature with a glass of cider, it'd do the job. | 0:44:15 | 0:44:21 | |
Well, that's king. That's everything from the farm. | 0:44:21 | 0:44:26 | |
I want to have a go at cooking with it. I've got the ideal dish to bring out the best of your cheese. | 0:44:26 | 0:44:32 | |
So for my next dish, what I want to do is emphasise how great British Cheddar is. | 0:44:39 | 0:44:46 | |
First, we need to get the custard going, so cream and grated Cheddar. | 0:44:52 | 0:44:57 | |
'All right, custards are normally sweet, but this one's savoury. | 0:44:57 | 0:45:01 | |
'It's a bit like a quiche without the pastry. It starts with double cream - quite a lot, in fact.' | 0:45:01 | 0:45:07 | |
Now I need to grate some of that delicious, sharp mature Cheddar. | 0:45:07 | 0:45:12 | |
I want to grate some rind into it, because the rind has still got the smell of the farm | 0:45:15 | 0:45:21 | |
and the orchards over the back. So if we grate it down... | 0:45:21 | 0:45:26 | |
'Once you've got a big enough handful, chuck it in with the cream | 0:45:26 | 0:45:31 | |
'and give it a good stir to encourage it to melt. | 0:45:31 | 0:45:37 | |
'Now it's time for some bold, punchy flavours, starting with a pinch of ginger.' | 0:45:37 | 0:45:44 | |
And then a tiny bit of English mustard, just to help bring that flavour of the Cheddar out. | 0:45:44 | 0:45:51 | |
Not too much. So what I've got now is a fantastic consistency, | 0:45:51 | 0:45:56 | |
almost like a cheese sauce consistency. What we need to do is add the eggs. | 0:45:56 | 0:46:01 | |
This will be our setting agent to give a fantastic consistency | 0:46:01 | 0:46:06 | |
and let the Cheddar sing out. | 0:46:06 | 0:46:08 | |
'Once the eggs are whisked in, | 0:46:09 | 0:46:11 | |
'pass the mixture through a sieve to make sure there's no lumps. | 0:46:11 | 0:46:15 | |
'Then, pour boiling water into a baking tray around an oven-proof dish and tip the custard in. | 0:46:21 | 0:46:28 | |
'This will make sure it cooks slowly and evenly.' | 0:46:28 | 0:46:32 | |
A little bit more grated cheese on top to almost get that cheese-on-toast taste. | 0:46:32 | 0:46:38 | |
It colours and melts onto the custard. | 0:46:38 | 0:46:41 | |
I'll cook that at 160 for 40 to 50 minutes. | 0:46:41 | 0:46:44 | |
Whilst that's cooking, we'll do the beetroot salad. | 0:46:47 | 0:46:50 | |
'Beetroot is the perfect partner for cheese. | 0:46:50 | 0:46:53 | |
'There's lots of varieties, like these colourful beauties.' | 0:46:53 | 0:46:58 | |
When I was a kid, when you had a ploughman's, you'd have pickled beetroot or crunchy red cabbage, | 0:46:58 | 0:47:05 | |
so this really is reliving that sort of flavour. | 0:47:05 | 0:47:10 | |
We'll have a little splash of really reduced balsamic. | 0:47:10 | 0:47:15 | |
So, you've got beetroot, the crunchy veg to go with the creamy, sharp Cheddar. | 0:47:15 | 0:47:20 | |
We're just about ready for our Cheddar custard. | 0:47:25 | 0:47:29 | |
Got that cheese-on-toast smell. | 0:47:29 | 0:47:31 | |
It's just started to colour, which is absolutely fantastic. | 0:47:31 | 0:47:36 | |
I can't wait to taste that now. | 0:47:36 | 0:47:38 | |
I just hope I've done that Cheddar justice. | 0:47:38 | 0:47:41 | |
That, to me, sings. | 0:47:42 | 0:47:45 | |
Great British Cheddar. | 0:47:47 | 0:47:49 | |
'If we're going to succeed in reviving British cheese, | 0:47:54 | 0:47:58 | |
'we need to open our eyes to the different varieties that are as good as foreign equivalents.' | 0:47:58 | 0:48:04 | |
We're off to Lancashire today to meet a cheesemaker making a more continental-style cheese. | 0:48:06 | 0:48:13 | |
These guys are making cheese more like the French, so it'll hopefully knock them off the shelves. | 0:48:13 | 0:48:19 | |
'Gillian Hall and her family have made Traditional Farmhouse Lancashire for three generations | 0:48:19 | 0:48:25 | |
'at their dairy near Preston.' | 0:48:25 | 0:48:28 | |
This is the original Lancashire recipe that my mum's made | 0:48:30 | 0:48:34 | |
-for over 40 years. -And the blue one's six years old. | 0:48:34 | 0:48:37 | |
-It's the new artisan modern recipe. -The future, is it? -Hopefully, yes. | 0:48:37 | 0:48:42 | |
'It took two years of trial and error to produce a British soft blue. | 0:48:42 | 0:48:47 | |
'They even built a separate dairy to keep the blue cheese mould away from their Traditional Lancashire. | 0:48:47 | 0:48:54 | |
'This mould sets the cheeses apart. | 0:48:54 | 0:48:57 | |
'That and the careful handling required to give it a soft, creamy texture.' | 0:48:57 | 0:49:03 | |
-We've got to treat it very gently. -Gently. -With kid gloves. | 0:49:03 | 0:49:09 | |
-What'll happen to this now? -We call it the Miss Muffet stage. -I like that. | 0:49:09 | 0:49:14 | |
-It's got a bit more romance to it. -You're a romantic! -I am. | 0:49:14 | 0:49:18 | |
You've got the whey and this curd. Actually, only 10% of the milk ends up as curd. | 0:49:18 | 0:49:24 | |
So you can see from these 700 litres of milk, we'll get very little. | 0:49:24 | 0:49:30 | |
-So it's a passion as well as a job for you. -It is. | 0:49:30 | 0:49:33 | |
If you see how gentle this is. It really is hand-made with love. | 0:49:33 | 0:49:39 | |
'It's this passion, shared by all our artisan cheesemakers, | 0:49:39 | 0:49:43 | |
'that has seen Britain produce Camemberts, mozzarellas, ricottas, Bries, soft blues all of our own.' | 0:49:43 | 0:49:51 | |
This is the beautiful blue cheese curd. | 0:49:51 | 0:49:54 | |
-It looks like really overcooked scrambled egg. -And it tastes a bit like that at this stage. | 0:49:54 | 0:50:00 | |
It's not until it's matured for about six weeks that you get the creamy texture and blue flavour. | 0:50:00 | 0:50:06 | |
'Once separated from the whey, the curds are packed into circular moulds and left to drain. | 0:50:06 | 0:50:13 | |
'Then the cheeses are pierced with needles to encourage blue mould. | 0:50:15 | 0:50:19 | |
'After six months, they're ready for the table.' | 0:50:19 | 0:50:23 | |
My L plates are not on. I love blue cheese. | 0:50:25 | 0:50:30 | |
It's so subtle. I'd say it's as good as any Roquefort or Gorgonzola I've tasted. | 0:50:32 | 0:50:40 | |
-Thank you. -And it's British. -That's right. -Let's give it to the French! | 0:50:40 | 0:50:45 | |
Thank you. | 0:50:46 | 0:50:48 | |
It was fantastic. The colour was great. There was a lot of blue, | 0:50:51 | 0:50:55 | |
but it wasn't overpowering. It was subtle, smooth... | 0:50:55 | 0:50:59 | |
It was starting to make the sides of my cheeks gently sweat. | 0:50:59 | 0:51:03 | |
You know you're enjoying the cheese when you get that dimple of sweat. I'm really excited. | 0:51:03 | 0:51:09 | |
'What better way to help put British cheese back on the food map | 0:51:09 | 0:51:14 | |
'than by making it yourself? | 0:51:14 | 0:51:17 | |
'You could start with the handful of courses for wannabe cheesemakers.' | 0:51:17 | 0:51:21 | |
More and more people are interested in cheese and how it's made | 0:51:21 | 0:51:26 | |
and they want to have a go. | 0:51:26 | 0:51:28 | |
'You can even buy kits and try making it at home.' | 0:51:28 | 0:51:32 | |
People get right into it, get really enthusiastic, excited, | 0:51:32 | 0:51:37 | |
really proud of themselves. | 0:51:37 | 0:51:40 | |
After dinner, how nice is it to bring out a cheese that you've made from scratch? | 0:51:40 | 0:51:46 | |
'You definitely don't need a dairy when a bedroom's just as good.' | 0:51:46 | 0:51:51 | |
That's better. The first cheese I made was a Camembert. | 0:51:51 | 0:51:55 | |
I decided to jump in and make a ridiculously difficult cheese. | 0:51:55 | 0:51:59 | |
I just progressed from there, thinking, "I want to make every type of cheese," and now I've settled | 0:51:59 | 0:52:05 | |
on a goat-y blue cheese. | 0:52:05 | 0:52:07 | |
It's really about just jumping in and trying it. It's not difficult. | 0:52:09 | 0:52:14 | |
You just need lemon juice and some milk. Simple. ..Pretty good. | 0:52:14 | 0:52:19 | |
For my last recipe, we're going to use some of Gillian's really rich blue cheese. British blue cheese. | 0:52:23 | 0:52:30 | |
And in the past a lot of chefs like myself have used typical blue cheese like Roquefort to cook with, | 0:52:30 | 0:52:37 | |
foreign blue cheeses. I'm so excited to cook this beef dish with a great, soft British blue cheese. | 0:52:37 | 0:52:43 | |
We're going to cook slow-cooked fillet of beef | 0:52:43 | 0:52:47 | |
with blue cheese bonbons, rocket and shallot puree. | 0:52:47 | 0:52:52 | |
The first part is to get the beef on. This is a fantastic cut. | 0:52:52 | 0:52:57 | |
British, of course. It should go fantastic with the cheese. | 0:52:57 | 0:53:02 | |
What's great about this dish is it doesn't have to be an expensive piece like the fillet. | 0:53:03 | 0:53:09 | |
You should get that for a good price. It's the end of the fillet. You could use rump steak | 0:53:09 | 0:53:15 | |
or a big roasting joint. It'll work. | 0:53:15 | 0:53:17 | |
I'll cook that in a quite hot oven for around about 15, 20 minutes, depending on how you like it. | 0:53:17 | 0:53:24 | |
'But it's Gillian's blue cheese I can't wait to get my hands on. It's got a fantastic creamy texture, | 0:53:25 | 0:53:32 | |
'perfect for my blue cheese bonbons, which are like potato croquettes.' | 0:53:32 | 0:53:37 | |
We want to basically mix in the blue cheese so it all breaks down. If the worst comes to the worst, | 0:53:37 | 0:53:43 | |
you have to roll your sleeves up and break it down. | 0:53:43 | 0:53:47 | |
Already you can see the potato is taking on the blue cheese colour. | 0:53:49 | 0:53:53 | |
When you cut open the bonbon, it has a beautiful yellowy colour. | 0:53:53 | 0:53:57 | |
What I'm going to do is make these into nice, round bonbons, like the sweets we used to buy. | 0:53:57 | 0:54:03 | |
That sort of shape. | 0:54:03 | 0:54:06 | |
They're all cooked the same and will all be encased in a little crispy coat. | 0:54:07 | 0:54:13 | |
Roll my sleeves up. | 0:54:13 | 0:54:15 | |
'And here's some Brummie advice. To get them really crispy, dip them in flour, then egg, | 0:54:15 | 0:54:22 | |
'then breadcrumbs, not once, but twice.' | 0:54:22 | 0:54:27 | |
Until the outside's golden brown, crispy with a lovely gooey sort of yellowy cheese centre. | 0:54:27 | 0:54:33 | |
Now what I'm going to do is take the meat out. It's crying, "Get me out," so we will. | 0:54:33 | 0:54:39 | |
We take that out and give that a good 5-10 minutes to rest. | 0:54:39 | 0:54:43 | |
'So the meat relaxes, always a good idea.' | 0:54:43 | 0:54:47 | |
There's a few juices left which I'll clean down with wine to make sauce. | 0:54:48 | 0:54:53 | |
We don't want too much sauce. The bonbons give us all the flavour. | 0:54:53 | 0:54:57 | |
'While that's reducing, you can get them in to fry.' | 0:54:57 | 0:55:02 | |
What we're looking for is a nice, golden outside, soft in the middle. | 0:55:04 | 0:55:09 | |
A nice bit of colour. | 0:55:09 | 0:55:11 | |
There we go. Nice, crispy little jackets. | 0:55:12 | 0:55:16 | |
Tip them out onto there. | 0:55:17 | 0:55:20 | |
Season them up. A bit of rock salt. | 0:55:21 | 0:55:23 | |
The beef should have had plenty of time to rest. Still relatively pink. | 0:55:27 | 0:55:32 | |
'And that, with a dollop of creamy shallot puree, and two cheese bonbons and some peppery rocket | 0:55:32 | 0:55:38 | |
'is what I call a taste of British heaven on a plate.' | 0:55:38 | 0:55:42 | |
Glaze the plate with the red wine. | 0:55:42 | 0:55:45 | |
And then we should have a finished dish - roast half fillet of beef with British blue cheese bonbons, | 0:55:45 | 0:55:52 | |
shallot puree and rocket. | 0:55:52 | 0:55:54 | |
'Criss-crossing the country, meeting truly passionate hard-working people | 0:56:02 | 0:56:09 | |
'and tasting some of the amazing cheeses that are out there has made me realise | 0:56:09 | 0:56:14 | |
'how important it is to keep our cheesemaking industry alive.' | 0:56:14 | 0:56:19 | |
The farmers and cheesemakers are making the effort with bringing different varieties to the market, | 0:56:19 | 0:56:25 | |
but when you go to the supermarket, pick up the cheese, look at it, read the label | 0:56:25 | 0:56:31 | |
and we can put British cheese back on the map. | 0:56:31 | 0:56:36 |