Cookbooks Hairy Bikers' Best of British

You know, we believe that Britain has the best food in the world.

Not only can we boast fantastic ingredients.

-Piece de resistance.

-Ah, nice.

-Which is which?

-Lamb.

-Mutton.

BAAS

'Outstanding food producers.'

It's brilliant, isn't it?

'And innovative chefs.'

'But we also have an amazing food history.' Oh, Brilliant.

Oh, wow!

Don't eat them like that. You'll break your teeth!

'Now during this series,

'we're going to be taking you on a journey into our culinary past.'

Everything's ready let's get cracking.

'We'll explore its revealing stories.'

BOTH: Wow!

'And meet the heroes who keep our culinary past alive.'

'Pontefract liquorice, it's been my life.'

And I've loved every minute of it.

'And, of course, be cooking up a load of dishes that reveal our foodie evolution.'

Look at that.

That's a proper British treat.

We have a taste of history.

Quite simply... the best of British!

'Today's show is a celebration of the great British cookbook because

'they're not just great references for recipes...'

'They're also a fascinating historical document of our culinary past.'

-Aubergine and olive strudel.

-Ooh. It's good stuff, isn't it?

-Look at that. It makes you hungry just looking, doesn't it?

-It does, doesn't it?

Cookbooks are big business these days.

Last year, we bought 8.7 million.

And, it's a marketplace that's dominated by British cooks.

From Delia, to Elizabeth David.

From Constance Spry to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Our long, rich history of recording recipes in print

has made Britain one of the culinary wonders of the world.

Over the centuries, cookbooks have recorded the secrets

of royal kitchens, and of the humble farmhouse.

They've given us advice on dinner table etiquette

and taught us how to make ice cream.

And, you know what? Cookbooks form the foundation of our great British cuisine.

And, without them, we wouldn't know nearly so much about ourselves.

'We've been infused and excited by some truly brilliant cookbooks over the years.'

'And today we're going to turn back time and recreate

'the two recipes that first inspired us to become cooks.'

'First, an absolute corker, moules a la bordelaise from Elizabeth David's French Country Cooking book.'

'I've never quite had the guts to cook for me mam,

'until I read this amazing book, and I decided to take the plunge.'

'Elizabeth David made the simplest of recipes come alive.'

'Elizabeth David, undoubtedly one of the most important British cookery writers of the 20th century.'

# C'est si bon... #

'When her book of Mediterranean food came out in 1950,

'it completely changed the way we cooked and ate.'

'She was born in 1913, and was just 17 when she went to Paris and discovered

'that food wasn't just something to fill you up quickly.'

'The unconventional lass set sail for Greece with a boyfriend,

'and continued to travel and taste her way around the Mediterranean,

'even as World War II raged on.'

'Elizabeth returned to Britain in 1946,

'but was dismayed at the food on offer,

'and the attitude towards the cheerless meals served up at the British table.'

'She decided to do something about it.'

'She put pen to paper, and quickly published her first book.'

'Post-war rationing was still in place,

'and olive oil was something you bought from the chemist in a bottle marked "For external use only".

'Proud British housewives,

'who had once whipped up some amazing culinary creations,

'were now having to make do with Spam, dried eggs and over-boiled spinach.'

'But, within the pages of the book of Mediterranean food,

'post-war Britain was introduced to a world of mouth-watering Mediterranean cuisine.'

'It was a tantalising read, as thrilling as black market nylons.'

'And it unleashed an army of home cooks determined to try out previously unheard-of delights,

'such as olives, aubergines, figs and basil.'

'In short, Elizabeth David revolutionised how the British thought about food.'

'She was the guru to top all gurus.'

'In the Best of British kitchen,

'we're going to be cooking Elizabeth David's moules a la bordelaise,

'the first ever dish I made for me mam,

'with a lot of help from my very own well-thumbed copy of the totally brilliant French Country Cooking.'

'This beautiful, simple dish, is still one of my favourites,

'and has certainly stood the test of time.'

'Ooh, it sounds tres jolie!'

They were more writing books than very prescriptive cookbooks.

And the way that she laid stuff out. Look.

It's not in the way that we think, with a list of ingredients. It's all part of the text.

She very much wanted to be a cook of the people, didn't she? She wasn't elitist.

She believed that good food, exciting food, should be available for everybody.

It's all there, there we go.

Clean mussels. Glass of white wine.

I love the beginning on the chapter for fish.

"For all cooking, particularly for the preparation of fish, vegetables and salted meat,

"gros sel or coarse sea salt is infinitely preferable to refined salt."

"Sea salt can be bought by the pound and in packets in Soho shops and health food stores."

Yeah. Brilliant, man. You know.

-Oh dear, I live in Barrow in Furness, I'll have to go to Soho to buy my sea salt!

-Ho ho!

"In a small pan, melt one ounce of butter."

"And in this, two chopped shallots and a pound of tomatoes cut up."

Use the flesh. Don't use the seeds and the watery bits.

-Basically, you want them seeding and skinning.

-Yeah. Just the flesh.

-These are nice tomatoes.

-Nice, aren't they?

They're coming up nicely.

What'll happen is, when you add heat to the mussels, they'll start to open,

and what we're going to do is, the bit with the flesh in, we're going to keep.

And the shell that doesn't, we're just going to take off and discard.

-So, just half shells, are they?

-Yeah, mate, exactly that.

Now, what is important, with this stock, you've got to keep it.

Because, if you don't, you're daft.

Because we're going to add that into our little bordelaise sauce a bit later on.

I tell you what, look at those. How beautiful are they?

Look at them, Dave, aren't they gorgeous?

Do you know what's interesting as well is, half the mussels which are in Europe

come from the Menai Straits near Caernarvon. Half of the mussels.

-See, another great British export.

-Aye.

See? It's opened up.

That one, discard.

This one, you keep, cos the mussel's just sat there in its lovely shell.

Listen, it's a bit of a laborious process, but it's worth it because it's so lovely.

Not as laborious as these tomatoes, mate. I think we're on a par here.

But, if a job's worth doing...

You see this one that hasn't opened?

You can tap it. And it's just not opening. OK.

I'd discard that.

Some people wouldn't but I would, because the thing is, that it's dead in my view,

because it hasn't reacted to the heat of the pan.

So there's a chance of food poisoning there.

I have had mussel food poisoning. Oh, it was hideous.

-If in doubt, chuck it out.

-Exactly that.

These are so, so beautiful, these mussels.

-You've got to admit, Kingy, you know this dish, although it's simple, it's very pure.

-Yes.

-You know it's going to be delicious.

-Yeah. And I think that's the thing,

it doesn't need to be complicated to be delicious.

No, no.

Really, I think Elizabeth David, it was a life in cookbooks, a life lived.

-And a life put down for everybody's benefit.

-Absolutely.

It was a life spent in food.

And that's what her cookbooks said to a lot of generations,

generations that had been through a pretty tough time.

-People needed to be given permission to enjoy food.

-Absolutely.

Whereas food was basically for survival.

Somebody came along and said, there's more to it. There's a bit of art, a bit of fun.

Now, this we want to save. Oh look, we've got an escapee.

We're going to add that to our bordelaise sauce.

Now, the next stage is I've got to chop some shallots.

Now, again, she doesn't tell you how to do it, but

judging by the scale of the mussels, it has to be pretty fine.

A good knob of butter in the pan.

Nearly 25 grammes, something like that.

'Soak a couple of handfuls of breadcrumbs in some milk, and throw in a bit of parsley.'

-Stalks and all?

-Yeah, everything, absolutely.

"In a small pan, melt one ounce of butter."

-"In this, saute two chopped shallots." You've done that?

-Yeah.

-"Add a pound of tomatoes."

-Thank you.

-The seasoning.

-Now. This is key.

Me mam and our Jane and me brother as well, because he's a fabulous cook, always used to say,

if you don't know how to season, you don't know how to bring the flavour of your food out.

And it's very true. Not to overseason, but just to get it right.

-Now it says now, we put in the parsley and the breadcrumbs.

-Yeah, just stick it in.

The key to this is you have to strain it.

-Because this really, the breadcrumbs is like a bit of a thickener.

-It's a bread sauce, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Your handful can be as big as your hands, or as small as them.

I think I've got a decent handful of parsley here. So should I cleave it in, Mr K?

Yeah, stick it in there, yeah.

Look at that. Now it's going to come to life.

Yeah, look at those colours.

"Stir the sauce until the tomatoes are cooked. Then add a little of the strained sauce from the mussels

"and a teaspoonful of grated lemon peel."

-Shall I do you some peel?

-Yeah. When that goes in, man, that is epic, because it just goes whoosh!

-You've got your mussel juice.

-I've got me mussel juice.

So wait, look, taste that. It just needs a touch more seasoning.

It's hot, mind.

Dead pure, isn't it? Beautiful.

Oh God, that's good. Tomatoes go on forever. Garlic's kicking through.

-Needs the citrus, mind.

-Yeah, it does, it does.

-Mussel juice goes in with the lemon.

-Yeah.

-Should I?

-Please.

-Look at that.

-Go on, mate.

-Gosh.

-And then...

-One...

-She doesn't say how much.

-..two, three.

And then, stir it in.

Now, what you've done is you've pushed that fish flavour back in.

Dave, get us another spoon, mate, and see what you think.

Just my thoughts entirely, sir.

That looks good.

Oh.

-Beautiful.

-It's epic, isn't it?

-Oh yeah.

"Now, pour the sauce over them."

"And then simmer for three or four minutes until the mussels are hot."

And she says, "Messy to eat, but a dish with character."

You know it's good to be messy because you'll need your hands in there and scoop them.

This is so good, Kingy.

And we just, literally, just like that.

And what's great, when you put all those elements together,

you start to get that real sense of the dish. The smell of the mussels, the sea.

-Those lovely fresh ingredients, the big hit of citrus.

-That's a beautiful dish. Shall we?

I think we should. Lovely.

Right. Straight onto the table.

A bit of French bread.

Bit of a dunker.

-Loads of Breton butter.

-Whoar!

-After you, mucker!

-Ooh, chanson d'amour.

# Chanson...

It looks good. It smells amazing.

# ..d'amour...#

-Oh.

-Oh yeah. That's it.

You can imagine, in the '50s,

after those years of austerity, having this,

it's like a cancan on your tonsils.

That is a seriously, seriously good recipe.

It's very, very pure tasting.

It tastes probably like what you'd imagine it to through your telly.

Do you know what? I think Elizabeth David is alive and well in that pan.

She definitely is. That's what I love about the recipe. It just epitomises her. Fabulous.

# Every time I hear

# Chanson, chanson d'amour! #

'Up and down the country, kitchen shelves are positively groaning under the weight of literary gems.'

'Cookbooks aren't just for grabbing off the shelf when you need to rustle up something for tea.'

'There are also brilliant social documents that tell us how we were,

'what we ate, and why.'

'To get to the bottom of this ever-growing pile of literature,

'we need to pay a visit to our resident food historian, Ivan Day,

'who has one of the largest collections of antique cookery books in the world.'

'Ivan is keen to prove to us that the Brits have been thinking with their stomachs.'

'And recording recipes for centuries.'

When did cookbooks start?

Well, they really started in the Royal Courts.

We have a number of manuscripts, the earliest of which is from about 1390, from the time of Richard II.

-Wow.

-It's a wonderful book, it's called The Forme of Cury.

"Cury" means cookery.

If we jump forward a little bit, into, say, the 16th century,

we start to get little cookery books being printed.

-Look at this, Delights For Ladies.

-Gosh.

-Oh wow.

-It was published in 1601.

-This book goes back to 1601.

And Elizabeth I was on the throne.

So that's a lovely little Tudor book.

And it's interesting, just the pages that have fallen open,

there's mentions of cinnamon, rosemary, sage.

So then, they were very aware of herbs and spices?

We mustn't think that these people were unsophisticated in their taste.

You know, Si, I think us, like many people,

would think that the "sophisticated"

British cookery started in Victorian times, maybe late Georgian.

Quite clearly, that's not the case.

I'll give you an example, going back to the time of Shakespeare.

This book here, which is called The English Hous-wife,

was written by a contemporary of Shakespeare published in 1615.

Shakespeare's still alive, just, when it's published.

It was written by a man called Gervase Markham.

-He's got a section in it on sweet dishes, like gingerbread.

-Right.

You think about the gingerbread man now, which is funny, little guy like that.

Look, this is actually a gingerbread mould from about the same date as that book.

-This is a Jacobean gingerbread mould.

-Good grief.

That could be one of the Merry Wives of Windsor on there.

-Look at this, compare an Elizabethan gingerbread from a bakers shop.

-Wow!

To, say, one of our modern gingerbreads.

-What is that on the side?

-It's gold leaf, solid pure gold leaf.

There's an expression, the gilt's wearing off the gingerbread.

I didn't realise it had come from the gilding of gingerbread.

I must confess, I've never heard of that phrase before. It makes perfect sense.

I heard something from my aunty, with regard to marriage. You know when a marriage goes wrong,

they say the gilt is wearing off the gingerbread now.

Ee, God!

To this point, the food that we've talked about is the food of the aristocracy

and the wealthy and it's very clearly documented

because they had the money to do that.

What about the blokey in the street, what happened to him? What did we eat?

If we want to know what industrial workers were eating in the 19th century, they had books too.

For instance, there is this lovely book which is published

by one of the most well-known Victorian cookery writers who was called Alexis Soyer.

LAUGHTER

It is Soyer's Shilling Cookery For The People.

-This was a little book that only cost a shilling.

-Yeah?

Actually, this has got the very first recipe in it for chips,

for chipped potatoes. Funnily enough, it also has a fried fish recipe,

-which came from the Jewish community of Whitechapel.

-Right.

He doesn't talk about fish and chips, but they're in there.

So, the beginning of that great working-class tradition.

-Somebody put the two together and a legend was born.

-Yes.

-And we're stuck with it now!

-And mighty fine it is too!

Cookbooks aren't just a compilation of recipes,

they are a fantastic insight into our history.

Dave and I are absolutely itching, is there a recipe that we can do together

where we can travel back in time and actually get a sense of the proportions

and what they ate and cooked in those times?

-I think we'll make a lamb pasty from Edward Kidders' 1720 cookery book.

-1720.

This cookery book, to me, is probably the most beautiful,

and one of the most influential, that was ever published.

Unlike most printed books,

-all the recipes are in beautiful hand engraved copper plate.

-Oh, God.

It's very fancy because food was ornamented in the same way that the room was.

That looks a bit like a Georgian cushion, but it's actually a pasty.

-Let's have a go at that, gentlemen.

-Fantastic. Yes, I'm up for that.

We're going to try to turn this into this. A lamb PAFTY!

It's pasty, you dafty! That's just how the Elizabethans wrote their "s".

So here's the recipe.

To make a lamb pasty, bone the lamb, cut it four-square,

lay beef suet at the bottom of your pasty.

Season the lamb with salt, pepper, minced thyme, nutmeg, cloves and mace.

So, I think, we've got to get cracking.

'While I get stuck into the pasty, Si gets a bit spicy.'

Just for fun, let try some pepper that you don't often see nowadays,

called long pepper.

-Wow, I've never seen that.

-Which goes right back to the Roman period.

We need to get that ground. This was called pasty pastry.

-What's in this pastry?

-It's a very basic pastry.

It's quite good to eat

but the important thing is here we've got something

which we can actually decorate with.

-Smell that long pepper, that's an old-fashioned smell.

-It's gorgeous.

But the spicing, it's clever cooking, isn't it?

You've got the suet there to make sure the lamb gets juicy,

because spring lamb is quite lean.

-Yes.

-It's got the mace, the cloves. They're quite adventurous flavours.

-They are big flavours, aren't they?

-Yes.

'Pastry making in the 1700s was all about telling a story

'with the design, and being as elaborate as possible.

'Basically, showing off.'

The way they did it was they took cardboard

and they drew out the shapes so they had templates to cut from.

-If you lay that down on there.

-Like so?

-Perfect, yes.

I'm going to give you a small blade.

That's crafty. Ow!

I nearly cut my fingernails. Nice, crisp corners.

Crisp corners, do crisp corners. Look at that.

I think it's safe to say you wouldn't be buying this down your local bakers, would you?

This is one for Greggs for the future.

'Because the lamb is so young and lean,

'beef suet is sprinkled onto the pastry to keep everything moist.'

Look at that meet, isn't that lovely?

We're going to put that down onto the suet.

I'm thinking while we're making this.

There'll be people all thinking, I'd love that for my Sunday lunch.

The battle will start about Wednesday making the templates.

-It's not that easy, is it?

-This bit is the easiest bit.

It's the decorations which are going to be a bit more taxing.

'Now it's time for the thyme, nutmeg, pepper and mace.'

-This well and truly is a posh pie.

-It's very spicy.

They liked that strong seasoning.

'In the 18th century, pastry wasn't necessarily part of the edible feast.'

'More like a container for the food,

'although the overcooked crusts often became supper for the servants.'

Interestingly enough, these pies, I've got on the table over here,

you could keep these for four months before you open them.

People don't realise that.

It was a way of preserving meat for a long time.

'Well, it's on with the lid.

'A little trim of the edges.

'That's the pastry, not the beard! And, we're ready to decorate.'

Well, to make it possible in the very short time you're with me,

I've been busy this morning.

I got up very early and I've been cutting out leaves.

What we really need is the book, actually. If you get the design.

His head is a little bit off centre. That's the middle there.

His tail, actually touches the edge, like that.

'A decorative topping like this

'would've taken a good six hours to prepare.

'And that's with a kitchen full of servants!'

We need some little leaves which will go on ornaments around the outside.

We've actually got a wonderful thing to make those with. Look at this.

That's fabulous.

This is called a pie board.

This enables you to make really spectacular ones.

If you cut out a shape like that.

You then push it into the edges like that.

This is fabulous.

It doesn't have to go right up to the edge.

Then, you should be able to, with a gentle tap, knock it out.

-Bravo.

-Ten out of ten, look at that. Perfect.

This is as much about art as it is about food.

'Even our not so nimble fingers

'managed to get to grips with the pastry decoration.'

I think you've done pretty well

but let's see what Mr Kidder has to say about it.

Let's have a look at that. What you think?

It's nigh on perfect.

-It's stunning, isn't it?

-A minter, as they say.

That's what's exciting about food. It's not just what it tastes like, it's what it looks like.

You eat with your eyes first.

-It's like Georgian plasterwork, Georgian cornicing.

-Yes.

-There you've got your Victorian, much more rounded.

-Exactly.

-Much fuller.

'The pasty cooks in the oven for a good hour and a half,

'giving us a chance to sneak a peek at Ivan's jelly moulds.'

-They are so beautiful.

-A wonderful collection.

# Hallelujah! #

Oh, wow!

Pasties, hot pasties!

Yes!

That's fantastic.

That's the Prince of pasties.

That is fabulous.

-Right, let's open it up.

-Yes.

I'll be the surgeon.

What we do is we make an incision along the top of that little panel.

This is the formal way of cutting this pie?

Yes, this is bordering the pasty, I run that along there,

make sure there's no meat sticking to it.

We should...

Oh, wow! Look at that.

I think we need to taste it, see what it's like. It's melting.

It's just falling apart. Let's have a little bit there.

-You don't mind using your fingers?

-Absolutely not.

Are we going in for seconds?

I think you're wanting a bigger helping.

LAUGHTER

He's not shy, Ivan.

It's swimming in its own...

We didn't put any liquid in there.

That is pure jus, as they say in France.

I prefer to call it gravy myself.

Spoonful of that on your potatoes.

Oh, it's good.

-It's beautiful.

-It's lovely, isn't it?

-Oh, yes.

What it is, it's a pastry casserole.

The meat's just melting.

It isn't overcooked, it's like stringy and falling apart.

The spices are just so delicate.

How about that, it's British heritage on a plate. It's beautiful.

# Everyday, every day

# Every day, every day

# I write the book #

Now you may have thought the age of the celebrity chef

started with Gordon Ramsay swearing at his first waiter or Jamie Oliver getting naked.

But in the 19th century, cookery writers like Mrs Beeton

and Agnes Marshall, they were household names.

'Mrs Beeton's iconic Book Of Household Management

'was THE domestic Bible for the middle class Victorian housewife.

'Since it was first published in 1861,

'it has sold millions of copies worldwide

'and there have been over 60 editions.'

'And did you know, Mrs Beeton wasn't actually a middle-aged matron.

'She was a savvy, young lass with a very keen marketing mind.'

'Isabella Mason was born in 1836 in Cheapside London

'and was one of 21 siblings.

'When she was just 23, she married childhood friend, Sam Beeton,

'a dashing, ambitious magazine publisher.

'But far from staying at home, sewing and flower arranging,

'she joined her husband on the daily commute into town,

'where she worked for him as a journalist and editor.

'Bella Beaton wrote in her husband's weekly magazine about fashionable frocks,

'domestic disasters and, of course, culinary creations.'

'Mrs Beeton's cookery column became highly popular

'so Sam and Isabella collected all the recipes together,

'added sections on general household management

'and turned the whole thing into a comprehensive encyclopaedia.'

As with the commander of an army, or the leader of any enterprise,

so is it with the mistress of a house.

Her spirit will be seen through the whole establishment

and just in proportion as she performs her duties intelligently,

and thoroughly, so will her domestics follow in her path.

'Over 2,000 mainly "borrowed" recipes were printed in monthly issues

'of the Book Of Household Management, each costing six pence.

'And two years later, they were published in a huge single volume.'

'This essential wedding present was a revelation

'and sold 60,000 copies in its first year,

'outselling Great Expectations.

'It was avidly read by the burgeoning middle-class wives and mothers,

'desperate to learn how to cook, choose servants, budget and to dress.'

'Sadly, Isabella didn't live long enough to enjoy the success of her own book.

'The grand dame of domestic bliss was just 28 when she died,

'with no idea of the impact she would have on the culinary world.'

'Cookbooks are a brilliant way of looking at how we used to live

'but, since the '50s we've also been able to tap into another vintage source...

'TV, cookery shows.

'These are a visual feast of nostalgia,

'showing the rise of interesting and exotic ingredients,

'the steady influence from other cultures,

'the development of culinary kitchenware and, of course, some fantastic hairstyles and outfits.'

You'll be giggling, won't you?

'Starting in the '70s, a young cook took the British back to culinary basics

'and presented a step-by-step guide to simple cooking techniques,

'along with a book to accompany each of the three series.

'It was called The Cookery Course.

'The young cook was the siren of the stove, Ms Delia Smith.'

-Delia sold over 20 million cookbooks, you know.

-Did she?

-Yes.

-It's a lot of books.

-Oh, aye.

If you think there's 50 million people in Britain,

that's practically every other person has a Delia cookbook if they had one each.

-Which Delias have you got?

-The Christmas book.

Ah, the Christmas book. I've got that, too, yeah.

Oh, here she goes. Stocks and soup.

Do you know, she hasn't got an O-level?

Today's programme is all about how to make home-made soup

and we're going to start off with a word about making stock.

All you do, at the butcher's,

is ask him to give you some bones, some marrow bones.

-You put them into a meat...

-See, all these just classic techniques.

Yeah, but...

two and a half million books sold that went with the series

so two and a half million people learnt to make stock.

-Yes.

-The proper building blocks of cookery.

Then, you put the bones in, and the vegetables, on a high shelf

and let them brown for about 40 minutes.

But a bit like Elizabeth David,

I think Delia and her books made it accessible to all.

But I noticed when she put the vegetables into that roasting tin,

there was no finesse there, it was just vegetables, chopped.

They were there for a purpose. That's what we're after.

You can baste them a couple of times to get them really nicely browned.

The techniques like this making stock, to most people,

were the reserve of restaurants.

-Yes.

-And Delia brought that into people's homes.

-Yes.

Now, I'd like to show you how to make a real, proper Italian minestrone.

If you're the sort of person who's only ever had minestrone out of a tin or a packet,

then, forget all that because this is so much better.

Ooh, minestrone in the '80s, that was so exotic!

Yeah, back then, convenience food was all the rage

and supermarkets were stacked high with microwaveable ready meals.

Soften one chopped onion and two ounces of chopped streaky bacon.

And now, an Italian herb, one of my favourites, and that's basil.

I'm going to add a teaspoon of dried basil.

-It's difficult to grow basil.

-Who uses dried basil these days?

I find dried basil is a very good alternative to fresh,

especially in a soup or a sauce.

Dave, what do you think, for you, is Delia's attraction?

-Cos she's hugely successful.

-I think, summing up, her recipes work.

She makes cookery accessible. In her books, you read her books,

you cook what she says, you get a great dish.

She teaches you how to cook.

There we have it. Real, proper Italian minestrone.

And take it to the table and have ready on the table

freshly grated Parmesan cheese, which you sprinkle over.

-Oh, bellissimo!

-We're heading back to the Best of British kitchen

to find out which recipe book got Dave's cooking Mojo motoring.

The first cookbook that I ever had was this one. The serious one.

The Reader's Digest Guide To Creative Cooking And Entertaining.

This was when I thought I'm going posh.

There was great faith in them, wasn't there?

Great faith in the method and how it was going to work. So, today,

what we're going to do is we're going to put our faith in this method.

Forget everything that we know and learnt.

We're going to copy this.

Chicken stuffed with veal, pistachios and peppers.

Ooh, it was the most exciting recipe I had ever read.

I wanted to cook it straight away.

It sounded clever and sophisticated,

something James Bond would have ordered.

I had to know how to make it. But it was a bit of a faff on.

-You're not wrong, dude.

-So, I sat there in my flat,

I put my Thompson Twins album on and set to work with a chicken.

-The Thompson Twins!

-Yes. This is going to look like that.

MUSIC: "Hold Me Now" by The Thompson Twins

-The art of using a cook book.

-Right, crack on.

-First, bone the chicken.

HE SCREAMS

There is a certain assumption made... "Bone a chicken!" "Right-oh!"

-Not with the Reader's Digest!

-Oh, no!

-Turn to page 378.

-378, here we come.

-And there it is.

-Chicken boning.

-The sum of all parts.

-How to bone a chicken.

-Now, shall we see if it works?

It worked that chilly day

in autumn 1980-whatnot.

About '86, I think.

Or even earlier.

-So, we've got a board, we've got a knife, we've got a chicken.

-Right, let's get on.

Boning a chicken. OK.

-Cut off the parson's schnozer.

-Parson's nose in hand.

-Cut off the wing tips at the last joint.

-Off.

Parson's schnoz off. Now, what?

Now, it says, lay the chicken on its breast.

Working from the neck,

cut along the ridge of the backbone to expose le backbone.

-'And so on, and so on.'

-Next!

'This cracking cookbook gives a step-by-step guide to boning a chicken.'

Look, look, it's working!

Twist off the wing free from its socket.

'Now, boning a chicken is a tricky business.

'And it's very time consuming. But it's going to be worth it. 'Trust us.'

Lift the ribcage. Lift. You're not lifting the ribcage.

And with great care, cut along the ridge of the breastbone to free it.

The carcass of the chicken can now be removed. Completely.

-It's a beautiful thing, dude. Look at that.

-Wooh! Wooh!

-Woah, give me... Maybe not.

-Maybe not, no.

Now, I would say, what do you reckon, Kingy,

does that look like the picture?

-It does, mate.

-And this is the truth time. Is the skin intact?

-Turn it over.

-Yes.

-Minter, dude. Minter.

-Right.

'Now, for the stuffing.

-'For this, you will need veal.

-Chicken livers.

-Egg whites.

'And a handful of pistachios.'

Chop the veal and the liver very finely until almost a puree.

-This is best done in a food processor.

-It might be quite nice not too fine.

Yeah, it says finely until almost a puree. That will do.

What do you reckon?

That's lovely. Yeah. Brilliant.

'And then it's onto the roux.

'We're mixing a level tablespoon of cornflour into some melted butter and whisking in the milk.'

-Right, this is going to be one thick sauce.

-Go on, then.

Bring to the boil, simmer for a minute until thick.

Right, leave that to cool for five minutes. That's one thick sauce.

Look at that.

Now...

-Stir this into the meat?

-Yeah.

-Look at that.

Crikey, this is like having a roux that's the basis for the stuffing.

-Cos there is no bread in this, is there?

-No. It's just solid meat.

Beat in the egg whites and fold in the green peppers and pistachios. Yeah, green peppers.

-Washed, seeded, and chopped.

-Do you want to separate a couple of eggs?

-I'll do the pepper. It's a lovely recipe.

-It is, actually. Very nice.

Cos I always do my peppers like this in bits, flatten it,

cut it into strips, like so.

Then cut the strips in a one-er.

-Now, the pistachio nuts.

-Shelved and halved.

-Halved. Right.

Now, the pistachio nut is unique.

In fact, it is the only nut that is green.

But more than that, it is green all the way through.

It's chlorophyll that gives you a green nut.

It's quite special.

The egg whites, pistachios and green pepper are added to the stuffing.

Ooh, look at that.

Listen, dude, there's no seasoning in this, is there?

-No, there must be.

-It doesn't say.

-Not a mention. Not a mention.

-I want seasoning in it.

-I think we should.

-A knob of lard in anticipation for the chicken.

-Yes.

Now...

we have string, a bodkin and skill.

-And stuffing. In a square chicken.

-Yeah. Stuffing.

This is going to be like, well,...

trying to dress a jellyfish, won't it?

'OK, so this may not be the most attractive looking dish so far.

'In fact, it looks positively disgusting.

'Stay with me on this one. It wowed me all those years ago.

'It's going to do the same for you.'

-I think it might just all fold together.

-It might do.

If you get the stitching in.

-Have you got it, mate?

-I have.

-Right. Ooh, er.

But because there are no holes, it's looking all right.

-How are we going to sew this?

-I'm going to get it going.

-Doctor, do you think you can save him?

-I'm doing my best.

-OK.

#..hold my heart... #

-Lift it up!

-I cannot help it, man!

I'm not clumsy. It's not easy.

-Oh, Kingy.

-I know, man, but it's greasy, isn't it!

Yeah, I know. Just hold it while I sew it.

That's what I'm trying to do! I can't let go, it's slipping!

-I did this on my own.

-You're lying.

THEY BOTH LAUGH

Nice, right. It looks like a rugby ball. Oh!

For God's sake! That's my finger!

'It will come as no surprise to hear that neither of us got our needlework O-level.'

And breathe.

I mould it into the rugby ball shape. Imagine how lovely that will be when I bring it to the table.

No bones, no mess, no confusion. Just slices of perfection.

-Tastes very...

-What do we do with it now?

-Er...

Yes, we put it in a preheated oven,

190 degrees C or 180 if you have a fan oven.

-And you cook it for an hour and a half.

-And baste occasionally.

Dude, I have to say, it took a while to get there but it's a minter.

-Don't even think about it.

-I won't think about it. You can't get chicken fat out.

-Well done, well done. You did very well.

-I won't be doing that again!

Basting the bird occasionally will crisp the skin up a treat.

# If I could turn back time... #

and have a boned chicken with pistachio nuts in.

-We have, dude, we've cooked it.

-Ooh, it has contracted a bit.

-Look at that!

-It's held together.

Is it going to look like the picture in the book?

-Or have we been cheated?

-I don't know. But your suspenders are killing us.

I can't face it. Go on, you cut it.

-Oh! Look at that beauty!

-Come on, let's get rid of the string.

It comes out easy, look. Ooooh!

Oh! Oooh!

-Huh! Ooh!

-Look at that.

-Look at that, it is beautiful, isn't it?

-It is lovely, Dave.

It's like chicken Viennetta.

-Oh, come on, let's have a slice.

-Right.

-Minter.

-Oh, yes, look at that.

-That is nice.

-The nuts look great.

-They do. They look very good.

Right. Oh.

Oh, it is just how I remember it.

I tell you what, I'm glad we seasoned this.

-It would be really boring without.

-Yeah, it would.

So, sometimes with cookbooks, you have to go off piste.

Look, it was an ambitious thing to do.

You know. Good, we've pulled it off. The cookbook worked.

It tastes great.

Nice little different textures in there, with the pistachios.

And then there is the veal and the liver, nice.

And then you've got the succulent chicken surrounding it. Perfect.

Thanks to that book, that's an eternal memory on a plate.

Perfect. That's what it should be, mate. Lovely.

# ..a night to remember

# Get ready, baby

# Tonight, darling

# Going to make this a night to remember. #

So, we Brits have been reading recipes and writing about food

since, well, since we could read and write, basically.

A good cookbook is a recipe for success.

They've given us inspiration,

ideas and a wonderful insight into the past.

They've introduced us to textures and tastes from around the world.

And they've shaped our culinary heritage

into the jelly mould of deliciousness that it is today.

If you want to find out more, visit...

..to discover some amazing facts about the history of food...

..and to find out how to cook up the recipes in today's show.

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