Pub Grub 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.

-Aah, nice.

-Now which is which?

-Lamb. Mutton.

SHEEP BLEATS

'..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, so let's get cracking.

-We'll explore its revealing stories..

BOTH: Wow!

..and meet the heroes who keep our culinary past alive.

Pontefract liquorice has 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...

BOTH: The best of British.

Today, we're going to be looking at a distinctively British offering to the world of gastronomy.

Pub grub.

MUSIC: "We're Going Down The Pub" by Sham 69

Yeah! Pubs have been the mainstay of British society since the Middle Ages,

and our favourite venue for eating our traditional native cuisine.

'In the show, we'll be cooking up some pub-inspired classics...

'..revisiting a much-maligned bar snack...

Cooked by our own fair hands.

'..and celebrating a dining trend that has redefined pub culture.'

Throughout history, beer was seen as a staple of the British diet.

These days, a lot of British boozers not only serve great grub as well as beer,

they've been instrumental in shaping our food culture.

Cheers, mate.

-The great British pub.

-Yes.

It is incredible how food's come on, isn't it?

What was the first, kind of, piece of pub grub that you ever had, Kingy?

Three separate dishes on the bar, on Sunday, and only on a Sunday.

Cheese, raw black pudding and silver-skinned onions. That was it. Brilliant. What about you?

You had a pickled egg, you put it in the cheese and onion crisps, you gave it a bang on the bar,

and then you just kind of hoy it out like that -

the cheese-and-onion-crispy pickled egg. I still like it, actually.

But what was the last thing you ate in a pub?

A pave of turbot with a beer sabayon.

-THEY LAUGH

-What about you?

Oh, a saddle of rabbit with a duxelles of porcini mushrooms, wrapped in pancetta!

-Give over, man!

-I know!

-It's great!

-It is, isn't it?

THEY SIGH

The British boozer can trace its family tree back 2,000 years.

Decent pub grub, however, is a more recent phenomenon.

The Romans introduced us to drinking establishments, with taverns selling wine.

Beer, or ale made from hops, arrived in the 14th century,

followed soon after by pub signs reflecting local trades and political loyalties.

The Victorians built thousands of pubs as a place of relaxation for tired workers.

The pub really is a distinctly British institution.

And for many years, the food had a distinct flavour.

-Well, yeah, it was sh...

-Shocking.

Or just non-existent.

See, in the early days, the pub wasn't a place for women, children or food.

Food? In a pub?!

Time, gentlemen, please.

It just wasn't right.

There WERE bar snacks,

and if you were lucky, you might even get a curled-up sarnie or a cold sausage roll.

In all the pubs, there would be bread and cheese, and pickles,

and other things on the table for any of the customers, you know, and probably cold meat.

They would give that away, of course.

Naturally, that used to bring the people into the pubs.

Ee, well, those wouldn't. What's that? Cheddar? Ham?

I can't really tell!

But there was no hot food.

What you would call a proper meal.

Pubs survived like this for years, but by the 1960s, eating out had become fashionable,

and cafes and restaurants were booming.

So the pubs fought back, and used improved food and atmosphere to tempt in the fairer sex.

The pint tankard, though not replaced, is outnumbered by the daintier stemmed glass.

The businessman's lunch can be shared by the businessman's wife.

Flowers are a constant reminder of the feminine presence.

The man in a hurry will eat his sandwiches over the public bar.

But the woman would sooner not.

Then, some bright spark realised that if you could have the meals with minimal washing up,

you'd be on to a right good winner.

Chicken in a basket was born.

Soon followed by everything in a basket.

Sausage in a basket, scampi in a basket...

Hmm. Or for the more sophisticated palate, hope was just around the corner...

..at the Berni Inn.

'But what everyone likes at Berni Inns are the tender Berni Steaks.

'There's a place for you at your Berni Inn. Why not join the Berni set?'

The first Berni Inn opened in Bristol

in the mid-1950s,

but they were really popular in the '70s.

Oh, yes. By then, B-E-R-N-I spelt "class."

-Prawn cocktail...

-Steak and chips...

-Black Forest gateau...

You know how to treat a girl!

Breweries got in on the action, opening up endless chains of family pubs that did grub.

But while most stuck to the tried and tested,

a revolution was beginning at The Eagle in London.

In 1991, they brought in a real chef, making high-quality food in a real pub.

A decent British boozer with some - how would you say? - gastronomy!

A pub with gastronomy... You could call it "pubstronomy."

-SIMON SIGHS

-It was the birth of the gastro-pub.

Gradually, the idea spread, and by the Noughties, every smart pub worth its weight in sea salt flakes...

-..or freshly ground black pepper...

-..started remodelling as gastro.

Even supermarkets joined in, packaging ready meals as "gastro-pub style."

In 1993, just over half of all pubs served food.

But a decade later, it was nine out of 10.

Things have come a long way since pickled eggs.

And the pubs that have called time on bad food have helped revolutionise British cuisine.

Indeed, in the last two decades, the gastro-pub has led the way

in keeping traditional British dishes alive.

Aye, and you know, first up in our Best of British kitchen,

we're cooking a time-honoured dish that has become a great pub grub classic.

It's the Barnsley chop with Cumberland sauce.

Ee-up, landlord!

What's on't menu toneet?

Barnsley chop.

Oh, where would Barnsley chop hail from, then?

It is said to have originated from t'King's Head in Market Hill in Barnsley in 1849.

Ee, and it was an egalitarian sort of cutlet.

Because, you know, farmers would go in there on market day, and eat a whopper.

But also, in 1933, the Barnsley chop was served at the opening of Barnsley Town Hall,

and even the Prince of Wales had a whopper.

Now, this is a Barnsley chop, and this is proper pub grub.

-It's basically a slice off a sheep's back.

-It is.

Now, to start our Barnsley chop,

we have thyme, we have mint, and we have rosemary.

I'm going to make some Cumberland sauce, and ours is a lovely recipe.

It's got orange zest, port, stem ginger, redcurrant jelly, orange juice, lemon juice...

It's really aromatic and lovely. It's much better than the stuff you buy.

First off, I need to peel an orange. I want the zest.

Now, all I'm doing while Dave's doing that

is I'm just finely chopping the three herbs that we mentioned.

-It's a herby rub, isn't it?

-It is. That's what we're going to do with it.

-Mix it with some salt and pepper in a bowl, and then really push those herbs into our Barnsley chop.

-Oh!

Look at that. Orange peel.

Do you know, I remember Barnsley chops were judged as much on the quantity as the quality of the food.

-Yeah.

-And a Barnsley chop, you always do a whopper.

-It's the kind of T-bone steak equivalent, isn't it, of the sheep world?

-Yes, it is.

Now, you see this zest. I've done it with a potato peeler, which is what I want.

But I must cut that white pith out, because that's really sour.

Just get a knife, and just pare it down even finer.

See? Get rid of that. Get it going.

We're going to boil this zest for about five minutes, just to make it nice and soft.

That's where the orange oils are, all the good stuff.

Now for the herbs.

We're using two tablespoons of rosemary, one tablespoon of thyme, and four tablespoons of mint.

Ee, Kingy, hasn't pub food changed over the years?

I always remember, years ago, going to a pub in Langport in Somerset.

It was a real old scrumpy pub.

All the food they used to do was beans on toast.

-SIMON CHUCKLES

-But can you imagine it, being a scrumpy pub...

-it really was quite...

-HE LAUGHS

It was quite a heady mixture in there, really.

-I bet it was.

-You know?

I mean...

Like a lot of these things, you can buy Cumberland sauce in a jar,

but when you take the time to do it properly, with the real orange zest, you know, and the stem ginger,

it's just beautiful.

What do you think about the advent of the gastro-pub?

Well...

-I like it if it's still a pub.

-Yeah.

If it's a pub that's serving, kind of, spoonfuls of nonsense, then it's not a pub.

I mean, there's a place for fine dining, and I'm not sure whether the pub is it.

-gastro-pubs and pub food, it shouldn't be, kind of, small portions.

-No.

It's quite a difficult balance. Some get it right and some don't, don't they?

Yeah, but are we kidding ourselves, Si? Is a gastro-pub a term for simply a pub that does good food?

I want to go to a pub for a night out.

I want to have some proper good beer, or some proper nice cider,

and I want to have something...

No, I don't want to eat fancy food, I just want it to be really, really good.

-And if they've made a reputation on good, simple food, then all power to their elbow, in my view.

-Yeah.

-I don't want formality...

-No!

-..in my pub food.

You know, I don't want to have to dress up for it.

I love fine dining, I love the conventions of fine dining,

I love the etiquette and the history of it, but not in a pub.

-No. It's the wrong environment, isn't it, in essence?

-Yeah.

'Chop the orange into juliennes - ooh, sorry - matchsticks,

'this is pub grub we're cooking, after all.'

It's taken a bit of time, but that's the pared-down zest of one orange.

That's the substance of my Cumberland sauce.

'Place the orange matchsticks in a small saucepan, cover with water, and bring to the boil.'

'Simmer for about eight minutes, then drain and set aside.

'Now for the ginger.'

Now, stem ginger is preserved ginger.

And they do it in balls.

It's just root ginger that's been preserved in syrup.

It's either great with sweet or savouries.

'Now, chop it up, and set it aside.'

What I'm going to do is take the thyme, rosemary and the mint,

salt and pepper, and just push that into the Barnsley chop.

It even sounds big, doesn't it? A Barnsley chop.

You just know it's going to be, like, a big chop.

The cut's changed, hasn't it, Si, over the years?

A Barnsley chop originally, the weight of it would be around 1lb 6oz,

about three quarters of a kilo.

You know, but you only got two chops off each sheep.

-Which is not that economic.

-Oh, no, that's a man-size chop.

-It certainly is.

Nowadays, they butcher it differently

in that they take it off the saddle.

Now, extract the juice from the orange

and add the juice of half a lemon.

Don't forget, we don't want the pips.

There you are, in the pan I've got the juice of one orange,

the juice of half a lemon, about 15ml of port.

There's nothing that glugs like port, is there?

Some redcurrant jelly and all it is is jelly made from redcurrants.

-Cook for 7 minutes over a low heat.

-Oil in a pre-warmed pan.

Two things to remember when you are cooking meat.

Make sure that the meat is at room temperature

and you've got some heat in your pan

because it makes all the difference to how that meat tastes

and how succulent it becomes. That's a top tip!

Heat straightaway into the meat.

What we are doing is cooking these chops in a traditional way

in that the pan we are cooking them in is then going to be transferred

into the oven so we've got three minutes per side.

We finish them off for eight minutes in the oven.

Brilliant way of doing it

and that's how they would have done it all those years ago.

We were talking about gastro-pubs before?

It's important not to forget that one important role of the gastro-pub

is that it really supports local farmers and local suppliers.

It's one way that they can cut out the middleman

and sell direct to the consumer, the publican.

It's good, honest business.

Gastro-pubs are known and should be known for their fresh,

seasonal, local produce.

That's what they do.

When you're putting the meat in the pan,

don't move it about for the first couple of minutes.

Then, you'll get a nice, even colour around it.

See this bit here? We want some colour on that now.

We are going to stand the chops up, next door to each other.

It's funny lamb fat, isn't it? It's nice when it's crispy.

-But when it's not crispy, it's not...

-It's a bit... Aye!

Put them together like that, hold them in.

And then, as soon as we've got some colour on this fat,

pop them in the oven for about six to eight minutes,

depending on how you like your meat.

To finish off the Cumberland sauce,

I'm going to pop in that boiled orange zest.

That's nice and soft now.

And this lovely stem ginger.

It's great, stem ginger, it's sweet, it's sticky

but still got the fire of the ginger.

Now, Cumberland sauce can be served warm or cold.

Now, this can go in the oven between six and eight minutes.

We are not going to transfer them to a baking tray

because this frying pan has a metal handle and can go straight into the oven.

Thanks, mate.

Yours is ready in six, mine's ready in about seven.

Which gives the chop time to rest!

# Where hast thou been since I last saw thee?

# I love you, my fat Barnsley chop

# I'm loving my big Barnsley chop... #

Is it just me?

Oh, man!

We should leave it to rest for a minute, shouldn't we?

Yeah.

That's a minute. That's champion.

The sauce, as it's cooling, it's just like a syrup.

If we let this go cold, it would go back to jelly.

That's the one you put it in a jar and you have it with your ham sandwiches.

Yes, that's it.

When you're faced with such fine produce

and great pub food traditions, it's hard not to be greedy, isn't it?

It is, but the good thing about a Barnsley chop,

it can be a chop for sharing.

You start at an end each and meet in the middle.

-Like spaghetti.

-Yeah.

No.

Oh!

Oh, heaven. That's perfect. Really nice.

That is, isn't it? Do you know, the Barnsley chop, I can't see it not having a future.

Great British pub food.

-What's yours? Fancy a pint?

-Oh, yeah.

-Where we going? The local?

-Pub!

'Ee, lad. There you have it. The big, bad Barnsley chop.

'And with double the meat of a regular cutlet,

'it's value for money, too.

'You could argue that pub grub

'these days has had a bit of a posh makeover,

'but there's one foodstuff that still retains a more down-to-earth charm.

'We've come to the Black Country in the West Midlands,

'birthplace of the archetypical pub snack

'but one with a bit of a mixed bag.'

When it comes to pub grub, there's nothing that's as loved and loathed

in equal measure, and we love them, as the humble pork scratching.

That's perhaps due to the fact that it's hard to work out exactly what a pork scratching is.

I mean, they taste great but what are they?

For those of you who are undecided, we've come to meet Nigel Moore,

owner of this pork scratching manufacturers, to find out.

They make up to 60 tonnes of these little beauties here every week,

and they're going to show us how it's done.

But first it's time for a bit of health and safety.

That's better, I can breathe.

Right, guys. This is where it all starts.

What we do is we put it on the bandsaw.

Put all three together and just put them down the chute.

Like a chippy chunker.

We're now slicing at 18mm thick,

which is the perfect pork scratching width.

So when you start cooking the product, they're broadly the same size.

-Then they cook properly, of course.

-Even and right.

Nigel, when did the tradition for pork scratchings start in the Black Country?

As far as I'm aware, it started in the 1800s.

When they slaughtered a pig in their backyard, they didn't waste anything.

So they killed it for bacon, they made black pudding,

all the traditional Black Country favourites.

And what was left was pork rind.

So Mrs Housewife then cooked up the pork rind

and that's why it's a Black Country delicacy.

-And it was a snack?

-And it was a snack, absolutely.

Butchers took that to their shops,

cooked it at the back of the shops and then sold it over the counter.

And that's where the origins of retail packing of pork scratchings started.

Which is what you did, because you were a High-Street butcher?

Absolutely right. I've been in the meat industry for,

since Adam and Eve had boys and girls, let's put it that way.

'Today pork scratchings are big business,

'with over 20 million bags sold in the UK every year.

'But not only have sales increased in this country,

'these salted pork rinds are winning new fans.'

We go to Russia, we send some to China

and one of my customers is actually trying to get it into outer space with the astronauts.

Now that would be a first.

You could say it's a product that's out of this world. Aw!

-Oh, Nigel, man!

-Sorry, guys. Sorry.

You've got it, Kingy? You've got that one.

-Follow me, guys.

-Scratching paradise.

The edge of the fryer.

Brilliant.

How long do they take to cook?

At this temperature, which is about 170, 180C,

it will take about an hour and-a-half to two hours.

An hour and-a-half? I thought three to five minutes or something.

The scratching now has cooled down the oil

as you can see by there's no bubble.

It sinks to the bottom of the cooking pans.

What we have to do next, or specifically,

what you guys have to do next is actually agitate the scratchings

so they do not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Right.

MUSIC: "O Mio Babbino Caro" by Giacomo Puccini

Now, that, guys, is the perfect cooked pork scratchings. Well done.

Once cooled, it's over to quality control

and time to put to bed a popular misconception.

What part of the pig does the rind come from?

That's a good question, because most people think that a pig,

-it's all the rind - the ears, the snout, the tail...

-Yeah.

..dare I say it? - the nipples.

All we use is one particular part of the animal - which is the shank,

-which is this bit up here.

-Right.

It's the most tender, it's taken off and boned by hand,

and then comes into the processing site that we saw at the beginning.

-So it's the rind from leg of pork?

-Absolutely right.

Come on, Kingy, let's get crackling!

-Is it OK if we try and personalise our scratchings?

-Ohh!

It'd be hard to beat our secret seasoning,

but I'm willing to give it a go.

We thought about all sorts of flavours -

maybe lime zest and chilli - and then we thought we'd go traditional.

Good traditional, solid flavours on your pork scratchings.

Salt, pepper, sage and rosemary - can we give it a go?

-Oh, that sounds wonderful. Let's give it a go.

-Right - peppercorns,

sea salt...

rosemary, sage.

Sprinkle at will?

Sprinkle at will, generously, all over, so they all get a nice coating.

-The smell is wonderful.

-It's nice, innit?

So, if we move them down the chute, the magic arm will take over

and we can see them disappear into the mechanical part of our process, which is bagging.

What shall we call them, Kingy? Hairy Scratchings?

-No, Dave, that's not a good name for a food product.

-No.

-What do you think, Nigel? Biker Scratchings?

-Biker Scratchings is a good name.

-Bikers' Busting Black Country Scratchings!

-That's great.

Do you think he's humouring us, Si? The final stage is the packaging.

This way, guys.

-There it goes!

-Dave, this is a big moment, mate, this! Look at that!

Our first scratchings!

Aw, yes! Like dominoes, innit?

The proof of the scratchings is in the taste, Dave.

THEY MUMBLE WITH THEIR MOUTHS FULL

There you have it - pig skin plus salt.

It's like culinary alchemy. There is only one place to test our porky snacks...

The pub!

Pork Scratching Central.

For hundreds of years, people have been connoisseurs of the scratching.

And these are Northern tapas!

Oh, I think we're flattering ourselves there.

-They're Northern tapas!

-Northern tapas.

-They are.

A little amuse-bouche? Hey! Come on, man.

How are you doing?

Ladies and gentlemen, we've been making scratchings this afternoon.

Oh, yes.

Proper Black Country scratchings with our own seasoning - sage, rosemary, salt and pepper.

-We'd love to know what you think.

-I'll try...

-Cooked by our own fair hands.

CUSTOMERS CHATTER

I wouldn't like to say!

-They were bagged about an hour ago.

-We've seasoned them ourselves, straight off the fryer.

I have to say, that's delicious. I'll take another one.

-I'll have one.

-Go on, then. That's a good one!

-Where's the biggest one?

-Cheers! You didn't waste long, you sweet-talker!

-Have a little one. They are good, aren't they?

-They're excellent.

Well, you can't argue with the good people of Wolverhampton.

I think it's fair to say, dude, that they are a success.

Scratchings are a pub-grub tradition, and they're going to be here for ever.

-I sincerely hope so.

-Oh, aye.

The scratching is a bona fide British delicacy...

-but there's more to pubs than snacks.

-In recent years,

British food has been recognised as being some of the best in the world...

with some of the most gratifying dishes coming not out of restaurants

but from that national treasure - the humble public house.

As a result, we Brits now eat more meals in pubs than we do in restaurants.

Sadly, though, the Great British boozer is in decline,

with an average of 25 closing every week.

Some ARE stopping the rot by offering great food

and keeping the locals happy with a real pub atmosphere.

Like our Best Of British food hero and pub saviour...

-I'm not overdoing this, mate, am I?!

-No!

-Give the lad a big build-up, like...

-..pub super chef Dominic Chapman,

at the Royal Oak in Berkshire...

one of only 13 pubs in the country to hold a coveted Michelin Star.

And the power behind it is someone

who remembers the Great British boozer in its heyday.

In my generation, they were where you went - to gossip, to talk, to cash a cheque.

Well, we didn't have cheques in those days! To borrow money.

They defined village life for me, growing up in Yorkshire.

They had a very important part to play in my life.

Food wasn't on the agenda. You had that at home. They were drinking places.

Places where you played snooker, cribbage, where you gambled.

There's a generation that wouldn't understand what I'm talking about.

I might be talking about igloos, for all that they would understand what I'm talking about!

That's been the trick, my trick, is to understand the difference, the change, what's happened here.

Nowadays, you have to give people a different reason for going to a pub than I had.

After years as Britain's best-known TV chat show host...

..Sir Michael Parkinson sunk his money into a pub partnership with his son Nick.

I can remember showing you it, and you said, "Are you mad?"

MICHAEL GUFFAWS

Cos it was a fairly rundown, horrible place.

That doesn't describe it half what it was like.

It was an absolute shambles. It was like buying a ruin, wasn't it?

-Yeah, it was horrible.

-You saw the potential before I did, that's for sure.

They opened the pub in 2001, and whilst Sir Michael and Nick front the business...

..behind the scenes, Dominic is busy cheffing.

He joined the team in 2007, and raised their game,

earning the Royal Oak a Michelin Star in 2010.

It's amazing. It took a few years, but when we got the news, you know,

that's the best day of your life, it really is.

I mean, that's... You know, I was...

Michelin stars are pretty special within our industry,

so we now need to work hard and protect that,

because all the effort and hours you put in to achieve a Michelin star,

you don't want to throw it away. It's all about performing every day

and making sure you're consistently very, very good. That's what it's all about.

Just because you've received one doesn't mean you'll hold onto it.

Michelin is about good food.

You don't have to be poncy to get a Michelin Star.

You have to produce food that is tasty, seasonal,

looks great, and there's a little bit of love on that menu.

I don't think it's rocket science. I love my job.

I love what I do.

So, I hope that's reflected in the food that we serve

and the menu that's on offer at the Royal Oak.

It's not what I would call typical Michelin food. Dom's food is very real, very basic

and good and tasty. He doesn't do foam!

We don't do things like that. We don't want to.

And Dominic is cooking up one of his signature dishes - hare and trotter pie.

I'm going to joint the hares,

I'll brown a piece of bacon...

carrot, leek, celery, onion, garlic,

and I'll brown that off.

Separate pan - I'll brown some button mushrooms,

I'll caramelise some tomatoes...

It's a dish with a traditional feel, but it's not a simple one.

I'll do a reduction, a red-wine reduction,

I'll do a port-madeira reduction.

No way! This recipe's got more reductions than a closing-down sale!

Put them all into one pan with some stock, I'll then add may aromats -

bay leaf, thyme, pink peppercorns, juniper berries, black peppercorns -

into the oven for 2.5 hours.

Break down the meat, get rid of the bone.

So the next stage is building the pies.

I've got my onion, some bacon, some pear,

some mushrooms and some pig's trotter.

Lay the pastry over the pie,

and then into the oven at 200 degrees for 12 minutes.

The pie's ready.

-Well, the proof of the pudding...

-Pie!

-..is in the eating.

YORKSHIRE ACCENT: Bring on the pie! Aye, bring on t'pie!

Very excited. Yeah. I love it.

If you're a careful cook and take time to be delicate

and make things look great, but also taste great, that's the battle, and I guess that's what's so hard.

I've got real interest in that,

so that's what I try really hard to get right...if I can!

Oh, God!

That sauce is fantastic.

And the sauce - to die for.

Well done, Dominic.

THEY BOTH LAUGH

That's beautiful. You can't get better than that.

There's nothing posh about that at all.

It's basic good grub.

You couldn't eat better than that

anywhere in the world.

-Is it all right? >

-Very good that.

-You like that, did you(?)

-I can't really contribute much more. It's very good.

Here endeth the lesson.

Hold on your party! He's still got it in him, you know!

The great thing is, like many gastro-pubs,

the Royal Oak is helping to keep the spirit of the traditional local well alive!

Now it's time for our top five pub-grub classics, pop pickers!

MUSIC: "Top Of The Pops" Theme Tune

At number 5, it's the ploughman's lunch.

Here are your ploughman's lunches. Annie.

Introduced to pubs in the late 1960s, quite simply - cheese, bread and pickle.

-Imagine those hungry farmhands wiping off sweat after a hard day's ploughing!

-Uh, no.

Actually, Simon, it had nothing to do with that.

It was invented by the Milk Marketing Board

-to promote the sales of British cheese.

-Oh.

Anyway, I love mine with a big hunk of Stilton.

I know you do, Sizo!

Bangers and mash is our number 4!

And did you know the term was in use as far back as 1919?!

Sausages, particularly those made under rationing in World War II,

had a higher water content and a tendency to burst with a bang

if cooked too quickly, hence the name.

Bangers and mash, for me, is all about variety,

especially if you use a speciality sausage

or add an ingredient like chives or roast garlic to the mash. Mmm!

-DEEP VOICE:

-And it absolutely has to be onion gravy!

-Coming in at 3 is fish and chips.

-Wowser!

You can't beat our national dish.

Just the smell of vinegar soaking into the batter is enough to drive me crazy!

Fish and chips are truly iconic.

A visit to the chippy has been an important part of British culinary experience

since the late 1850s.

'Certainly no other food has won such a special place in the British way of life.'

And during World War II, fish was one of the few foods that wasn't subject to rationing.

Lots about!

Steak-and-ale pie is number 2 on our list.

The classic pie-and-a-pint.

-What could give you more pleasure?

-Pie-tastic, Dave!

And pub grub needn't be any more gastronomic than this.

Simply made and using local ingredients,

it's British food at its best.

-And topping the chart, it's...

-HE IMITATES FANFARE

..the fish pie.. ..a mainstay of any pub menu

and topped with clouds of fluffy mash.

The ULTIMATE comfort food!

So, next up in our Best Of British kitchen,

we're cooking just that - our pub grub tour de force - the fish pie!

But this is no ordinary fish pie...

No, this is OUR fish pie, a fabulous fish pie.

A decadent mix of cod, smoked haddock and salmon

in a dill-and-white wine sauce with a cheesy mash topping.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away - called Glasgow -

we wandered into a hostelry and we came upon a gentleman called Billy.

And he was very famous for his granny's fish pie,

and after some gentle persuasion, Billy passed on that recipe.

It's about what's affordable and fresh, so go to your fishmonger - they're brilliant people.

But Billy's fish pies were individual,

they were a honking big meal and it was rammed with fish.

Now, milk goes into the pan.

'There's 600ml of whole milk,

'add a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper...

'and a couple of bay leaves.

'Then place in three different types of fish.'

You only poach that for two minutes,

then you leave it to stand for five minutes, and all that liquor,

you use to make the sauce, a dill sauce, in which to suspend the pie.

Oh, the suspended animation of dill. Ooh.

Now, while Dave's doing that, I'm just going to get on and do our cheesy mash.

Very, very simple. All I'm going to do is add butter to the pan.

-That's a lot of butter.

-It certainly is. But it's worth it.

But it's interesting, it was after the Romans left

when we got left with the legacy of eating fish,

because the Church insisted that we had a meat-free day,

so Friday became fish day, and we all started to eat more fish.

Over the millennia or so, we learned to be more inventive with fish,

so we made fish pie, we cooked the fish with fruit.

Those medieval recipes, they're, like, mackerel with gooseberries.

Still a classic dish. I've had that on numerous occasions.

-It's really, really good.

-Phwoar!

'For the mash, poach the potatoes until they're just soft,

'then squidge through a ricer.'

Now, I've just melted the butter. I'm just going to put some cream...

-Lovely.

-This is proper mash, innit?

-Yeah.

Just give that a little squidgely-widgely.

'Coarsely grate 150g of mature Cheddar

'and put aside about a quarter of that for the topping.'

It's funny. Seafood pasta - Parmesan I don't think goes, do you?

-Oh, God, yeah.

-Oh. Strike that one, then.

-Yeah. What?

-Cheese goes great with fish.

-It does.

All I've done with the mashed potato is I've put them through a ricer.

I'm going to add the cream and butter to that,

and then I'm going to stir through the cheese,

-and that's the cheesy mash that's going to top our fantastic fish pie.

-Yep.

Now, we turn this off now and we wait for five minutes.

That fish is just going to relax in that milk.

After five minutes we can crack on and make the sauce.

See, it's really very simple.

Stir the cream and butter into the mashed spuds.

You see, when I was a kid, in our house,

we were more fishcake people than fish pie people.

-Opinion is divided, Dave, isn't it, about fish pie?

-Mm-hm.

Do you have eggs in it, or do you not have eggs in it?

Billy had eggs in it.

-And what do we like?

-Eggs.

-Love 'em.

I've just mixed that cheese in.

Can I taste it, see if it needs a bit salt?

Oh, loads of seasoning necessary. White pepper in mashed potato.

-Always.

-Always white pepper in mash.

-I think, white pepper, it tastes sharper with the mash.

-Yeah.

It's nice. It's cleaner.

Right, this fish is done, cos really,

what I want at this moment, rather than the fish, is that juice.

Look at that.

Take the fish out.

Lovely big paves of salmon.

Smoked haddock.

I'm going to flake this, so don't worry about this falling apart.

In that milk we've got all the goodness from the fish,

the bay and the seasoning.

It's not a namby-pamby sauce, I've got a lump of butter

and I'm going to make a roux.

To the melted butter, add five tablespoons of plain flour

and stir the flour in and make a paste.

Some may say it's going to resemble wallpaper paste.

However, do not panic.

Slowly add the milky fish broth, stirring over a medium heat for five minutes,

until the sauce is thickened.

Believe me, this will be smooth. If it isn't smooth, we will put a whisk to it.

Yeah, yeah...

Tell us when, mate.

It's a bit lumpy, but we'll soon deal with that.

While Dave's wrestling with the sauce, I'm going to cut the eggs.

-A top hairy biker... Oh, it's lush, that.

-It is, look at that.

Have a butcher's.

The first thing you notice when you taste it,

is the smoky flavour from the fish.

It's brilliant. The sauce is quite salty with the smoked fish.

I have to watch my seasoning.

We haven't been shy with the dill, either. Lovely.

Remember, this will let down a bit more of the sauce

because, as the pie cooks, there will be more liquid coming out of the fish.

'If you're using eggs, you need six hard-boiled ones

'and they need to be sliced.'

A little tip, which really does help to get a neat finish on your eggs,

is wet your knife as you cut through the egg.

-My mam used to have one of those wire things for cutting eggs.

-I love them.

I used to think it was a banjo and I used to pretend I was George Formby.

"Son, put the egg slicer down." "Mum, where's the plasters?"

-Right, there's all the eggs you can shake a stick at.

-Brilliant.

-The mash is ready.

-Sauce, fish, eggs.

Put a dollop of sauce in the bottom of each bowl.

Then break up the fish, checking all the time for bones.

A bit of salmon...

It's funny, that salmon... It started off being a poor man's fish

and then it was a super posh man's fish and now, ironically,

it's one of the most affordable fish on the market.

-Continue to layer up. There we go.

-Eggs.

-Look at that.

-That'll do us, that's enough egg.

-I think so.

-Now, more sauce.

'It may look quite thick at the moment but in the oven

'it'll mix with the juice from the fish and come out perfect.'

Essentially the logic is, and I agree, I hate watery fish pies.

So many people make fish pies, and you go through the process

and it looks great when you put it in,

but there's like a layer of water when you get under the potatoes.

Not this pie.

Not this pie, viewers.

Now pub pies, whether it's a fish pie, steak and kidney,

chicken and mushroom, you have to have a generous, well packed pie.

These pies are going to be towered up like that.

We're going to be rustic with this.

None of your fancy piping or Duchess kind of rondelles,

it's just dollops of mash, as rough as you like.

All those rough bits will translate into crispy bits.

-Keep it rough, keep it rough.

-I'm roughing.

-Hee, hee.

That's a hearty portion for one, isn't it?

Sprinkle the remaining cheese onto the pies and place on a baking tray.

I had a geometry wipe-out, then.

There we are.

Pop these into a preheated oven about 180 to 200 degrees Celsius,

for about half an hour until golden.

The top tip, if they're not golden enough, finish them under a grill.

Oh, yes.

Oh, they are...

DAVE LAUGHS

That is gorgeous.

-That is a proper pie, isn't it?

-Look at that. I love the colour.

But we know there's a lot going on below that crust, you know.

-Shall we find out?

-Yes, go on.

It's like David Bellamy looking into a garden pond. Look at that.

You see, that's where the sense of that thick sauce comes in.

It's perfect. It's creamy. It's not full of water.

That's brilliant.

It tastes brilliant. It's simple, straightforward, no-nonsense, pub fish pie.

And tasty.

It's great, I love the combination of the fish, it's so simple.

There's just enough smokiness. A third of the fish was smoked.

But the salmon is meaty and flaky.

I say, because of that sauce being thick, it's not at all watery.

And the mash. It's quite simply decadent.

Long live pub grub.

In recent times, Britons have been rediscovering the joys of our traditional pub grub

from the sumptuous gourmet meals to the salt-based snacks.

The British pub holds a unique place in our culture and adding decent grub into the equation

has helped create a truly, British culinary experience.

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

Visit...

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

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