Sweet Tooth Hairy Bikers' Best of British


Sweet Tooth

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Transcript


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We believe that Britain has the best food in the world.

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Not only can we boast fantastic ingredients...

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There we go! Look at them!

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..outstanding food producers...

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Look at that!

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..and innovative chefs...

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..but we also have an amazing food history.

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-Brilliant!

-Ah, wow!

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

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Now, during this series,

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

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Let's get cracking.

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-We'll explore its revealing stories...

-BOTH: Wow!

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And meet the heroes that keep our food heritage alive.

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It's a miracle what comes out of the oven!

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..and, of course, be cooking up a load of dishes

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that reveal our foodie evolution.

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Look at that. That's a proper British treat.

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We have a taste of history.

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-Quite simply...

-BOTH: The Best Of British!

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# Lollipop, lollipop Oh, lolli, lolli, lolli, lollipop #

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Today's show is a tribute to our nation's wonderfully indulgent sweet tooth.

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We've got a little treat in store.

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A bit of a sweet treat, haven't we?!

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As a nation, we've got quite a sweet history.

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After all, we've been eating honey since Prehistoric Times.

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And we Brits have got a lot to celebrate.

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We've got the beloved British boiled sweet, in all its many gorgeous forms.

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We've got fantastic sweet recipes

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that are as much savoury as they are sweet.

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Over the years, we Brits have earned a bit of a reputation for our sweet creations.

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We're off on a trip down Memory Lane to try some right now.

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We're heading to Somerset and...

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One of the most dramatic places in Britain, Cheddar Gorge.

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But we're not here for the cheese, are we, Kingy?

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No, we're not! We're here for something slightly sweeter than that, mate, aren't we?

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Yes, a celebration of the nation's sweet tooth.

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And I must confess, you know me,

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I like a bit of sweetness every now and then!

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Over the centuries, regional sweetie makers have sprung up across the UK

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to satisfy people like us,

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each producing their own unique recipe,

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as well as some good old national favourites.

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We're about to meet two such people, our Best of British food heroes Mark and Martin

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from the Cheddar Sweet Kitchen.

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# Sweets for my sweet Sugar for my honey...

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# I'll never, ever let you go... #

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-BOTH: Hello.

-Good afternoon. Welcome to the Cheddar Sweet Kitchen.

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Hello, Martin and Dave. Pleased to meet you.

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'Some of the sweet-making methods Martin and Mark use

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'date back from as far as the 19th century.'

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We've been going for 100 years now, through five generations of the family.

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We've got lots of recipes that have been handed down through the generations.

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'They're helping to preserve some truly British traditions

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'and we salute them for that.'

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We still believe that the old-fashioned way is the best way.

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The nostalgia, it's overwhelming. The flavours...

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Maybe when you're a child, your taste buds are intense. It takes you back!

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'And Mark and Martin are about to take us back even further.'

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Today, we're making some brown-striped mint humbugs, the original ones.

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When I was kid, I always wondered, "How do you get a stripe in your humbug?"

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I think that's about to be revealed.

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We're going to cook up, then.

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'Mark's humbug mix contains water, brown and white sugar and glucose syrup

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'at a whopping 155 degrees centigrade.'

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If you just stand back slightly... That is your boiling-hot molten sugar.

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'He's adding caramel, dextrose and peppermint oil to his hot mixture

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'and then he gets to work - fast.'

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-I can smell the mint.

-You can smell it now.

-Yes, it's beautiful.

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Aw, that's incredible. What a lovely thing to do!

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-It's like a sheet.

-It doesn't look real, does it?

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No! It's like molten madness!

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Within a couple of minutes now, we'll be able to start handling it.

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I love things like this. The humbug is a great British classic.

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We've had them since we were children.

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This is how you make humbugs!

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It's a mystery until you see it done.

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-You don't know how the stripes are going to end up yet.

-No!

-I have no idea!

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-Neither do we, so don't worry!

-Oh, really?

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We cut it in half and that will then form the centre of the sweet

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-and this piece will form a casing, the outside layer.

-Right!

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That, believe it or not, is going to be your stripe.

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-It's surreal, isn't it?

-It is. It's unbelievable.

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It's a process we actually call sugar pulling

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because we're going to pull the sugar on the hook.

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-You can see the colour changing.

-Yes!

-That's amazing!

-Fantastic, isn't it?

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It is only air bubbles getting in the sugar now which change the colour.

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'Look at that! I think I've died and gone to sweetie heaven.'

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And there, we've got the changed colour of the sugar.

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That's the first secret out of the way.

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We need a base on which to lay the stripe.

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We're going to stretch the sugar out into a long rope,

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just zigzag the sugar backwards and forwards.

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-That's fantastic.

-There's your stripes.

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-SIMON LAUGHS

-And then that goes on the top?

-No.

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We need to make sure these stripes end up on the outside,

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so we turn the whole thing upside down.

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We'll drop that into the middle

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and then we can just wrap the whole thing up.

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-There's your humbug.

-The world's biggest humbug!

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THEY LAUGH

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This is what we call a bat roller.

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-You can see how it thins as it comes out.

-Yes.

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-This is how we size the sweets.

-Yes.

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We'll still finish off the sizing by hand.

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-I had no idea.

-I had no idea either. It's brilliant.

-Absolutely amazing.

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'Time to suck it and see, as they say.'

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-You cannat get a fresher sweet than that.

-No.

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-Oh, they're mega!

-That is the taste of nostalgia, isn't it?

-Mm!

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While the humbugs wait to be bagged up,

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we're off to see where Martin and Mark sell the sweets that they make.

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Come in this way, lads. I'll show you what many believe to be

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the largest selection of old-fashioned boiled sweets in the country, all made on the premises.

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Ahh! I'm in heaven!

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All those names that you know and love -

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-mint bull's-eyes, chocolate limes...

-Black and rasps!

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Mint shrimps. That's something I've read about and never had!

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There were originally made for the miners in the Somerset Coalfields.

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-In the North East, it was always the black bullets.

-Black bullets, yes.

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South Wales were the Welsh mints. Here, it's always been the mint shrimp.

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-Freshened your mouth up, didn't it?

-It kills off the dust and the dirt in the atmosphere.

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-Super-sour blueberries.

-Cola cubes. Sherbet lemons!

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# The candy man can... #

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'Ah, man, we're like two kids in a sweet shop!

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'Hang on. We are.

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'Well, two very big kids, anyway.'

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Sherbet pips, man! You cannat whack them!

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Live the dream. I'm full of mint shrimps!

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-Are you there? In your head... Close your eyes.

-I'm there.

-You are four years old.

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You have shorts on.

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You still have an attitude, but you are full of sherbet pips.

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He's there. He's living the dream.

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When people come here, especially elderly people, what is it that takes them back?

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-Things like the humbugs, er...

-'Sssssh! You didn't see that.'

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..lots and lots of sherbet lemons, which people love.

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The other thing is the fizzy fish sweets...

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'Come on, don't tell me you wouldn't be tempted.'

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..which is like a sherbet pip, but it's got the fish shape.

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That in itself is tremendously popular.

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# Well, now, sugar in the morning

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# Sugar in the evening Sugar at suppertime

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# Be my little sugar And love me all the time #

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Ah, man!

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Our Si's going for a world record. Thankfully, it's time to go back next door.

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We're about to make one of our personal favourites - peanut brittle.'

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For us, this sweet is a wonderful old-fashioned treat that dates back to the 19th century,

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and this time, we're allowed to make it ourselves.

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-Do you want a go at adding the peanuts?

-Yes.

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-There is a little technique.

-Right.

-You can take it in turns.

-Yes.

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That's all the peanuts weighed out.

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-There's about five kilos of peanuts there.

-Brilliant.

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Mm-mm!

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'The peanuts are being added to a mix of water,

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'sugar, glucose, vegetable oil and a tiny bit of emulsifier.'

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-When it starts to get thick, you'll need to lift the end of the paddle and turn it.

-It's thick.

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'It's nice to see Dave doing the hard work for a change, isn't it?'

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And don't flick the hot toffee on your thighs.

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I'm liking the look of this.

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Look at that. Nut brittle.

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'It's over to Mark to do the professional bit.'

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-You can always tell a craftsman by how easy he makes a difficult job look.

-Yes.

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-I'm not a craftsman, though, am I?

-You are.

-Thank you.

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Wow!

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I might break it into smaller pieces for you.

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'Hey, we get a go again!'

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Pop it onto this table and you'll need to start thinning.

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'By thinning, Mark means flattening the peanut brittle out as quickly as we possibly can,

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'as this hot mixture will cool and harden within minutes.'

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Everyone has different techniques.

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'Do you know, it's not as easy as it looks!'

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-Psst! Dave!

-What?

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This is chewy.

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It's now starting to cool down quite rapidly.

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And it will become brittle.

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BOTH: Oh!

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There. THEY LAUGH

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You'd die if you worked in a place like this, Mr King.

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I couldn't... I couldn't...

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I couldn't even speak!

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-It's not a good thing to put me in somewhere like this!

-No, no.

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I've been to some of the finest restaurants in the world,

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but peanut brittle, you cannat whack it, man!

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'I've got to get Kingy off this stuff before he keels over in a sugary stupor.

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'I think it's time to spread the nutty love!'

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Ladies and gentlemen, flavours don't get better than this.

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-Fresh-made nut brittle. It's beautiful.

-Thank you.

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Thank you!

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-What's your favourite sweetie from when you were little?

-Peanut brittle.

-Is it really?

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-What about you?

-I like sherbet fountains.

-Yes.

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That liquorice stick!

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-Strawberry bonbons.

-Dolly mixtures.

-Flying saucers.

-Coconut squares.

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I think the whole celebration about our British sweet tooth

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is very important

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because it's about raising the profile

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of the great British boiled sweet.

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And we're so proud of it.

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And I hope you lot are, too,

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because you've clearly got fond memories.

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We've still got great artisan sweet-makers

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like Martin and Mark.

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-We can still have a taste of the past.

-Yes.

-And it's a taste we love.

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And it's really, really, really good.

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Ah, yes... A delicious taste of sweet memories.

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Us Brits have been driven by this flavour sensation for centuries,

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ever since sugar was invented, in fact.

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# Sweet dreams are made of these

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# Who am I to disagree? #

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Did you know that "sweet"

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is the only taste we humans are born desiring?

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Perhaps that's why we love it so much.

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We love the taste and the instant energy hit that you get from sugar.

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As a nation, we in Britain consume more than two million tonnes of sugar a year.

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That's almost 400 for every man, woman, child.

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-# Sugar... #

-That was in the '70s,

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but back then we consumed over 200 bags of sugar each every year, more than we eat today.

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-Sugar!

-Why did you say sugar, instead of what you really meant?

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-Well, it's more refined!

-# Sugar...

-#

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Sugar cane was first thought to be formed in Papua New Guinea

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more than 8,000 years ago.

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It sprinkled west across the world, sweetening India and the Middle East.

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Finally, it reached the Med,

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where it was grown and refined for Europe.

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And when we got a taste for it, we were hooked

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and would pay any price.

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In Medieval England, sugar was so expensive

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it was called white gold.

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In today's money, it cost nearly £50 for a teaspoon's worth!

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But for sugar to become an everyday household ingredient,

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it was going to have to become a lot cheaper.

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It crossed the Atlantic to British colonies in the Caribbean,

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which turned out to be the perfect place for it to grow.

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Now comes the sour bit of our sweet story.

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The plantations needed labour, and thousands of slaves were forced to work

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to feed our appetite for sugar.

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Merchants flooded the market.

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With cheap sugar pouring in, we were all getting hooked on everything sweet.

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But the slavery it relied on left a bitter taste in the mouth.

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Mercifully, it was abolished in British colonies

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in the early 19th century.

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We had to find other ways to feed our sugar habit,

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so the price was kept down by improved mass production

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and a new source -

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sugar beet.

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We slice the sugar beet. The next stage is called diffusion.

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-It's a bit like making tea.

-Ooh, put the kettle on!

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The sugar is then dissolved in water for purification, evaporation

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and finally concentration!

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# I want candy #

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Now we are ready to make tons of sweets!

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We were now tempted by a mind-boggling variety of sweets

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in allsorts of shapes, sizes and flavours.

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But for a while, we had nothing to suck on!

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MAN: This is the week when ration books come into use.

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In the '40s, sweets got rationed.

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War restrictions meant children were deprived of their humbugs and pear drops.

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It was more than ten years before the restrictions were fully lifted.

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Talk about a sugar rush! Crumbs.

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# I predict a riot

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# I predict a riot #

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Since then, we've gone on to become the biggest sweet-eaters in Europe,

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and it's been a riot!

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And you know, indulging our nation's sweet tooth

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doesn't mean our treats can't be savoury,

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as we're about to prove on our next stop,

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our Best of British kitchen.

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Just because you've got a sweet tooth

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it doesn't mean your life's confined to biscuits, puddings and cakes.

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No, it doesn't. You can have sweet, savoury and sour.

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Wonderful, wonderful combinations, you see.

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-It's like yin and yang.

-Throughout life, there's been double acts, hasn't there?

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Bill and Ben, Burke and Hare, Bonnie and Clyde, Si and Dave, sweet and sour!

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But this sweet and sour is sweet-and-sour chicken.

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'A dish which may have originated from China,

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'but as us Brits are very good at assimilating recipes and making them our own,

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'this sweet-and-sour chicken has been transformed into a British belter.'

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We start with some cornflour. We put one...tablespoon of cornflour

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and two tablespoons of pineapple juice.

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And you mix it together and that acts as a bit of a thickener

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for our sweet and sour.

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What I'm doing here is, I'm making the sweet-and-sour sauce.

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That's going to be to thicken the sweet and sour, but this is the sauce itself.

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'Put 300 mil of pineapple juice into a bowl

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'along with two cloves of crushed garlic

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'and 25 grams of finely grated ginger.'

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It's about mise en place, getting everything prepped,

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because by the very nature of what it is,

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cookery from that part of the world is pretty quick.

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So take the stress out of it

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and get...prepared.

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-I'm going to put plenty of ginger in, Kingy.

-Lush, aye.

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-It's about balancing when you do sweet and sour.

-It is.

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It's got to be that... I always liken it to sherbet.

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The flavour of sherbet, to me, it's zingy, but it's still sweet at the same time.

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And that's the effect you're looking for.

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We want it quite chunky,

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so one, two, three.

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Again... Straight down the breast.

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One, two, three, four. Lush.

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Right. I've got my pineapple juice with the garlic and the ginger in that.

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Now we start to build up the big-hitting flavours.

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I've got soy sauce, white wine vinegar and ketchup.

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'To the sauce mix, add two tablespoons of white wine vinegar to give it a sour kick.

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'Then add one tablespoon of dark soy sauce for saltiness

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'and three tablespoons of ketchup for sweetness.'

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Nice.

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'And we're not going to stop there. This sweet-tooth sauce

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'has two tablespoons of soft brown sugar in it, as well.'

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And a big chug of black pepper.

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And just to zip it up, some chilli flakes.

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-I like mine quite perky. Are you in a perky mood?

-I'm perky!

-All right, two pinches, then.

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-That's another great double act...

-BOTH: Pinky and Perky!

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-They were!

-Brilliant.

-I used to have that record. What was it?

0:19:190:19:22

They were chart toppers.

0:19:220:19:24

-HE SQUEAKS

-They were really quick.

0:19:240:19:28

'For our sweet-and-sour chicken, we need half a small pineapple cut into chunks,

0:19:300:19:34

'one medium onion in rough wedges,

0:19:340:19:37

'one red pepper,

0:19:370:19:38

'one green pepper, both deseeded and cut into chopstick-friendly pieces.'

0:19:380:19:45

Now, sweet and sour's nothing new.

0:19:450:19:48

There's was a medieval recipe.

0:19:480:19:51

Now, the sweet part of it, it's either sugar or honey

0:19:510:19:55

and that's mixed with red wine vinegar and dried fruit.

0:19:550:20:01

This medieval sweet-and-sour recipe was made with rabbit or chicken

0:20:010:20:06

and was not that dissimilar to the popular sweet-and-sour chicken dish we're cooking today.

0:20:060:20:11

It goes back 500 years, this sweet-and-sour flavouring.

0:20:110:20:16

And very often we do that,

0:20:160:20:18

when you use tomatoes, you'll put a pinch of sugar in and it's balancing it off.

0:20:180:20:22

-Thai food's the same, isn't it?

-Yes.

0:20:220:20:24

Thai food, you'll balance with heat and cool and textures, as well,

0:20:240:20:29

smooth and crunchy, sweet, sour, it all builds up.

0:20:290:20:32

-I think we're about ready to build up proper, aren't we?

-I think we are.

-Right.

0:20:320:20:36

Heat some oil...in a pan.

0:20:360:20:39

Right, we want this nice and hot,

0:20:390:20:42

so let's put the banging gas ring on.

0:20:420:20:45

All I'm doing is putting some more cornflour...

0:20:450:20:50

..in me bowl.

0:20:500:20:53

'And then I'm tossing me chicken chunks in the flour.'

0:20:530:20:56

-It feels funny!

-Doesn't it send you funny, cornflour?!

0:20:570:21:01

Doesn't it drive you mad?

0:21:010:21:03

-It's like when you rub polystyrene on your shoes.

-Ah, God!

0:21:030:21:06

-Have you ever done that?

-Yes!

0:21:060:21:08

Imagine chewing cotton wool.

0:21:080:21:11

-Now, look at that wok.

-That's what we want.

0:21:110:21:16

-Oh, aye.

-That's a hot wok.

-That's wok around the clock!

0:21:160:21:19

We put the veg in. Watch them bounce.

0:21:190:21:22

There's quite a lot of oil there, but it'll all work out in the end.

0:21:220:21:26

We've got quite a lot to fry, actually.

0:21:260:21:28

I'll be careful because I want another day out of this shirt.

0:21:370:21:40

Hi-ya!

0:21:430:21:45

What's your favourite sweet-and-sour combination, Kingy?

0:21:450:21:49

D'you know what? Lemon juice and honey.

0:21:490:21:53

-All right.

-They're two really natural flavours

0:21:530:21:56

that complement each other fabulously well.

0:21:560:21:59

Then when you put garlic into that and a little bit of olive oil,

0:21:590:22:04

you've got the most fantastic, simple, sweet-sour, savoury...

0:22:040:22:08

Lovely! Love it!

0:22:080:22:10

-Over salads, really good dressing. What's yours?

-I love pad Thai.

0:22:100:22:14

You know when you've got the lime juice and the palm sugar and the peanuts

0:22:140:22:18

and it's done as a dressing on top of the noodles

0:22:180:22:22

which, by nature, are sweet and sour anyway.

0:22:220:22:25

-Palm sugar's such a lovely flavour. It's caramel-y, isn't it?

-Yes.

0:22:250:22:28

These need about two or three minutes because they're quite big.

0:22:280:22:32

They still have plenty of crunch in them.

0:22:320:22:35

But I want a bit of brown on the onions.

0:22:350:22:38

'Our nation's love of combining these two flavours

0:22:380:22:41

'really came to a head in the 17th and 18th centuries,

0:22:410:22:44

'with our love of sweet-and-sour preserves and chutneys.'

0:22:440:22:49

-They've just caught now, Kingy.

-Lush.

0:22:490:22:51

-Time for Mr Chicken.

-That's us.

0:22:510:22:55

Just fry this till the chicken's coloured.

0:22:580:23:01

We're going to put the sauce in next

0:23:010:23:03

and poach the chicken in the sweet-and-sour sauce,

0:23:030:23:06

so don't worry about it cooking through.

0:23:060:23:09

Even with sweet things, though, with sweet sweets,

0:23:090:23:11

-you have bittersweet, don't you?

-Yes.

0:23:110:23:14

Lime goes great with chocolate, chocolate limes.

0:23:140:23:17

-That's sweet and sour.

-I love that!

0:23:170:23:20

-And it's funny, because you forget about certain combos.

-Mm.

0:23:200:23:25

And you just think, "Ahh!"

0:23:250:23:27

Dark chocolate... Dark chocolate's bitter, bittersweet.

0:23:270:23:31

And also, orange and chocolate.

0:23:310:23:34

You've got citrus, which is quite sharp, then you've got the chocolate.

0:23:340:23:38

-Lemon drizzle cake.

-Yes.

-A sweet cake, sharp as you like.

0:23:380:23:42

You soak the sugar in lemon juice on the top. Again, it's that sherbety thing.

0:23:420:23:47

-How are we getting on?

-It's browning up nicely.

0:23:470:23:50

-Lovely.

-Right!

0:23:500:23:52

Time for the pineapple to match with the chicken,

0:23:520:23:56

in that marriage, that perfect duet of sweet and sour.

0:23:560:24:00

HE HUMS "KUNG FU FIGHTING"

0:24:000:24:04

Oh, lovely.

0:24:040:24:07

And the pineapple, because of the sugar content,

0:24:070:24:10

it's going to take on a little bit of colour, and caramelise and I love that!

0:24:100:24:14

-Yes.

-That's such a nice thing.

0:24:140:24:18

-That's nice.

-Time for the sauce!

0:24:190:24:22

It'll fire off.

0:24:220:24:25

All right.

0:24:250:24:27

We'll just cook that now for about four minutes.

0:24:290:24:32

When that's up to temperature,

0:24:320:24:34

we add the thickening agent, the cornflour and pineapple juice.

0:24:340:24:38

And there we have it, all bar a bit of seasonal adjustment, sweet-and-sour chicken.

0:24:380:24:43

The sweet-sour combination has affinities with certain foods,

0:24:430:24:47

especially rich meats.

0:24:470:24:49

You find it in lamb with mint sauce, duck with orange sauce

0:24:490:24:53

and chicken with pineapple sweet-and-sour sauce.

0:24:530:24:56

The thickening agent.

0:24:570:25:00

We'll just let that bubble away till it's thick.

0:25:000:25:04

We're going to garnish this with jauntily-sliced spring onions.

0:25:040:25:10

There we go, it's ready.

0:25:180:25:21

This would be great served with jasmine rice, wouldn't it?

0:25:230:25:27

Nice big chunks of chicken.

0:25:270:25:29

-Look at that! That's a beautiful thing.

-It's all right, isn't it?

0:25:290:25:34

-Chopsticks? Traditional?

-Oh, yes.

0:25:340:25:37

BOTH: Mm.

0:25:410:25:43

It's sweet and it's sour.

0:25:430:25:45

It's juicy. It's crunchy, it's soft.

0:25:450:25:49

-The ginger comes through lovely.

-Oh, aye.

0:25:490:25:52

What I love about it, when you do something like this,

0:25:520:25:54

be it a sweet and sour or Chinese lemon chicken at home,

0:25:540:25:58

when you use real ingredients, not sauces out of a bottle,

0:25:580:26:02

it's really easy to make your own sweet-and-sour sauces.

0:26:020:26:05

If you do lemon chicken, it's really easy to make your own lemon sauce with real lemons.

0:26:050:26:10

And it just tastes like really, really good food.

0:26:100:26:12

And look how long it took us to make it. Not that long.

0:26:120:26:18

Because you've cooked it quickly, that chicken's really juicy.

0:26:180:26:22

-And I think the balance of the sweet and sour is perfect.

-Mm-hm.

0:26:220:26:26

And I love this sort of food because...

0:26:260:26:29

..all the veggies...

0:26:290:26:31

..still maintain a little crunch to them. Fantastic.

0:26:310:26:36

Long live sweet and sour.

0:26:360:26:37

It's the sweet dish that knows it's a savoury!

0:26:370:26:41

'And you know, pork or shrimp would also work very well with this sweet and sour sauce.'

0:26:410:26:47

'If you fancy it, you can replace the white wine vinegar with apple cider vinegar

0:26:470:26:51

'and make it that bit sweeter.'

0:26:510:26:54

Next on our sugar-coated trip down Memory Lane,

0:26:570:27:00

we're heading off to the British home of a traditional favourite.

0:27:000:27:04

We're off to Pontefract in West Yorkshire.

0:27:040:27:09

Every year, they have a street festival to celebrate a world-famous English sweet

0:27:090:27:14

that has been the lifeblood of the town.

0:27:140:27:16

Liquorice... I love it!

0:27:160:27:20

They do allsorts here, you know, not just sweets.

0:27:210:27:24

There's liquorice ice cream, liquorice cheese, liquorice pork pies,

0:27:240:27:27

and to wash them all down,

0:27:270:27:30

how about a brew of liquorice beer?

0:27:300:27:34

I don't fancy that, thank you!

0:27:350:27:37

I'm not a big fan of the black stuff but I know a man who is.

0:27:370:27:41

Liquorice has been part of my life, like a stick of Blackpool rock.

0:27:410:27:47

But it doesn't say "Blackpool rock", it says "Pontefract liquorice" right through me

0:27:470:27:51

and it's been my life and I've loved every minute of it.

0:27:510:27:55

Well, Tom Dixon, at 92,

0:27:570:28:00

is still dedicated to keeping Pontefract's liquorice heritage alive.

0:28:000:28:05

He's the last surviving member of a family that's grown it here for generations.

0:28:050:28:09

My great-grandfather built the house, where I live to this day, in 1810

0:28:090:28:15

and he bought the land round here just to grow liquorice in.

0:28:150:28:20

When I was a young chap, all these fields were covered in liquorice.

0:28:200:28:25

On a night, my friends used to come down

0:28:250:28:27

and we used to play Indians and Cowboys

0:28:270:28:31

and we were always chewing liquorice.

0:28:310:28:33

As you know, liquorice is a laxative,

0:28:330:28:36

so we never needed syrup of figs on a Friday night.

0:28:360:28:39

Too much information, Tom!

0:28:390:28:42

But liquorice wouldn't just grow anywhere.

0:28:420:28:44

You need a good couple of metres of rich topsoil for the roots to grow down,

0:28:440:28:49

and Pontefract is perfect.

0:28:490:28:52

A fact first discovered 500 years ago

0:28:540:28:57

when monks grew liquorice here for medicinal purposes.

0:28:570:29:01

But unlike most medicines, people love the flavour

0:29:010:29:04

and it became popular just for its acquired taste.

0:29:040:29:07

This is a stick of liquorice root. It's the sweetest thing on God's earth.

0:29:070:29:12

It is 50 times sweeter than sugar.

0:29:120:29:16

Chew it and it tastes absolutely beautiful.

0:29:160:29:19

Queen Victoria loved it. She was addicted to it.

0:29:190:29:23

My great-great grandfather used to send her a bunch of liquorice

0:29:230:29:28

to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight every month.

0:29:280:29:32

The only problem with it is, if you eat so much,

0:29:320:29:36

it causes very, very high blood pressure and it rots all your teeth.

0:29:360:29:40

They tell me that the Queen had very high blood pressure

0:29:400:29:44

and she lost all her teeth!

0:29:440:29:47

The liquorice fields not only supplied Queen Victoria with her favourite treat,

0:29:490:29:53

they also inspired a poet laureate.

0:29:530:29:56

John Betjeman came down here in the '50s,

0:29:560:29:59

and he came into this field here and he wrote the poem The Liquorice Fields At Pontefract.

0:29:590:30:05

'In the liquorice fields at Pontefract

0:30:050:30:08

'My love and I did meet

0:30:080:30:10

'And many a burdened liquorice bush Was blooming round our feet

0:30:100:30:15

'Red hair she had and golden skin...'

0:30:150:30:18

Love in the liquorice fields, eh?

0:30:180:30:20

If John Betjeman could come here today, he'd not see a stick of the stuff.

0:30:200:30:25

The last commercial crop was grown down here in 1970,

0:30:250:30:29

because it became un-commercial.

0:30:290:30:32

From setting the plant, to being able to harvest the liquorice

0:30:320:30:37

take seven years.

0:30:370:30:39

We were surprised to learn, however, that they still make liquorice sweets in the old factory

0:30:460:30:50

where Tom used to be a liquorice boilerman.

0:30:500:30:53

But today, they use imported liquorice and modern machinery.

0:30:530:30:58

They still produce the world-famous Pontefract cake,

0:31:000:31:03

a round sweet, proudly displaying the town's name.

0:31:030:31:07

Nice to see that you're still making Pontefract cakes after all these years.

0:31:070:31:11

We're still making them, Tom.

0:31:110:31:14

People from all over the world ask for Pontefract cakes.

0:31:140:31:17

-These are how you do them today, is it?

-That's right.

0:31:170:31:20

-In my day, they were all handmade.

-Really?

0:31:200:31:23

There were hundreds of girls all stamping them.

0:31:230:31:26

Each girl could turn out an amazing 3,500 cakes an hour.

0:31:300:31:35

Look at the speed of that!

0:31:360:31:39

Nearly as fast as today's machines.

0:31:400:31:43

It's been a privilege to see it, David.

0:31:460:31:48

-I'm chuffed to death!

-OK.

-Thank you.

0:31:480:31:52

Thankfully, there are people like Tom,

0:31:540:31:56

with a passion to keep their local food traditions alive.

0:31:560:32:00

I am asked to go round all the local schools

0:32:000:32:02

and talk to the children about their heritage, liquorice of Pontefract,

0:32:020:32:07

and I always tell them, wherever you go in the world,

0:32:070:32:11

once you say that you come from Pontefract,

0:32:110:32:15

people will say, "That's the town where they grow liquorice and make the cakes."

0:32:150:32:19

So it is very important that it is passed on

0:32:190:32:22

to the children to the next generation.

0:32:220:32:25

Keeping our nation's traditions alive

0:32:250:32:28

is one way to keep us Brits sweet.

0:32:280:32:30

Now for our final stop on our candy voyage of discovery.

0:32:300:32:35

We want to bring you a taste of excitement and flavour.

0:32:350:32:38

Oh, and a little sugar rush!

0:32:380:32:41

-People have varying degrees of sweet toothness, don't they?

-They do.

0:32:410:32:45

-If you had a sweet-tooth-ometer...

-Where would you be?

-Where would this one be?

0:32:450:32:50

-12.

-And a half, I think!

-It's outrageous! It's brilliant!

0:32:500:32:54

As well as sweet treats, it's the comfort factor, isn't it?

0:32:540:32:57

You've got to accept that sometimes sweet treats may be a little fattening,

0:32:570:33:02

a little bit unhealthy.

0:33:020:33:03

Standing on the diving board of self indulgence, this one's for you!

0:33:030:33:07

It's a big jump! It's fat, it's friendly, it's sweet, tasty.

0:33:070:33:12

It is our pecan and caramel cheesecake.

0:33:120:33:16

People may think the cheesecake is an American creation,

0:33:160:33:19

but historical references would appear to prove otherwise.

0:33:190:33:23

After all, the earliest actual recipe for a cheesecake

0:33:230:33:26

is found in The Forme of Cury,

0:33:260:33:29

one of the oldest known instructive cookery books in the English language,

0:33:290:33:33

dating back to the 14th century

0:33:330:33:35

and believed to have been written by the master cooks of King Richard II.

0:33:350:33:40

So it would seem cheesecake was discovered before America itself.

0:33:400:33:44

-Shall I do base and you do caramel?

-Yes!

0:33:440:33:48

-Let battle commence!

-OK!

0:33:480:33:50

Gird your loins, undo your corsets,

0:33:500:33:54

here we go.

0:33:540:33:56

'To make the caramel for our cheesecake,

0:33:560:33:59

'put 200 grams of caster sugar in a pan, together with six tablespoons of cold water,

0:33:590:34:04

'and heat gently until the sugar dissolves.'

0:34:040:34:07

'To kick off the base mix, take 100 grams of pecan nuts

0:34:090:34:13

'and blitz!'

0:34:130:34:15

I need to melt a block of butter.

0:34:180:34:20

This is for mixing in to the pecan nuts and my biscuits to make the base.

0:34:200:34:27

The pecan nuts go into a bowl.

0:34:270:34:30

If this wasn't luxury enough,

0:34:300:34:32

the biscuit of choice is the beloved chocolate digestive biscuit.

0:34:320:34:37

I love 'em! I love 'em!

0:34:370:34:40

-Are they milk or plain?

-These are milk.

0:34:400:34:43

But this recipe would work equally well with plain.

0:34:430:34:46

'Stick 150 grams of biscuits in a blender.'

0:34:460:34:49

Right, pulse.

0:34:490:34:51

I do want some texture in this. That's why I'm being quite careful.

0:34:530:34:57

Lovely! Put that in a bowl with your nuts

0:34:580:35:02

and cover with just-so melted butter.

0:35:020:35:07

-Ahh!

-And give that a stir.

0:35:070:35:10

So that's the pecan nuts whizzed up, the digestives and a slab of butter.

0:35:100:35:16

Put this into the tin and press.

0:35:160:35:20

Now, you don't need to bother buttering the bottom of the tin.

0:35:220:35:26

-There's quite enough there already!

-Yes!

0:35:260:35:30

'Meanwhile, take 150 grams of white chocolate, break into squares,

0:35:300:35:34

'and place in a bowl over a pan of boiling water to melt.'

0:35:340:35:38

-You've got some chocolate left over.

-I have.

-Cook's perks.

0:35:380:35:41

Press this down into the bottom with your hands.

0:35:410:35:45

This is a great, great cheesecake base.

0:35:450:35:49

And really press it quite well in.

0:35:490:35:53

Don't let it creep too much up the sides.

0:35:530:35:57

'Back with your sugar syrup, try not to be impatient, either.'

0:35:580:36:02

You do want it to go a deep colour, but don't do it quickly.

0:36:020:36:06

Look, you can see how the heat's just going through it

0:36:060:36:09

and it's starting to colour up that lovely golden.

0:36:090:36:12

-It takes eight to ten minutes.

-It does.

0:36:120:36:14

And, depending, actually, as well, depending on the temperature of the sugar,

0:36:140:36:18

if it's a freezing cold day, it could take a little bit longer.

0:36:180:36:22

That's the base. We pop that in the fridge for about an hour until it's set solid.

0:36:220:36:27

See how it's going that lovely deep, golden colour.

0:36:290:36:32

# Golden brown, texture like sun #

0:36:320:36:35

'As soon as the caramel is rich in colour like this,

0:36:350:36:38

'it's ready to remove from the heat.'

0:36:380:36:41

Whatever you do, don't touch this! This is hotter than a hot thing.

0:36:410:36:45

It will make your skin flake off.

0:36:450:36:48

Don't worry about dribbles. Dribble is a good thing.

0:36:480:36:51

-It is.

-We want a random drizzle,

0:36:510:36:54

a bit like a Jackson Pollock painting.

0:36:540:36:58

It's where Blue Peter meets Fanny Cradock

0:36:580:37:01

in a blaze of sticky-back plastic and sugar.

0:37:010:37:05

-I think we're there, mate.

-I think we are, mate.

0:37:050:37:08

we're going to use a bit more than half of this to make some caramel crumbs.

0:37:080:37:12

That gives us the caramel.

0:37:120:37:14

The rest of it, the nice lattice bits,

0:37:140:37:17

we're going to break off and they'll be like sails that sit as decoration on top.

0:37:170:37:22

The chocolate's beginning to melt. Don't stir chocolate when it's melting.

0:37:220:37:26

Wait till it's just about there.

0:37:260:37:29

Look at this. I love this. Is that not magic?

0:37:290:37:34

-Isn't it brilliant?

-Is that not fabulous? Look at that.

0:37:340:37:38

'Break off 125 grams of the gorgeous hardened caramel

0:37:380:37:42

'and blitz into crumbs in a blender.'

0:37:420:37:44

Quite beautiful, aren't they?

0:37:460:37:49

-It's the inside of Crunchie bars.

-Yes.

0:37:500:37:54

-Don't you want to...?

-Not really, no, thanks.

0:37:540:37:57

-Let's build a cheesecake!

-BOTH: Whoo-hoo!

0:37:570:38:01

Just in case there wasn't enough sweetness there, just add a bit more sugar!

0:38:010:38:07

'75 grams, to be exact.'

0:38:070:38:10

Hey, Kingy, now's the time to pump up the fat.

0:38:100:38:14

Here we go! It has a platter of its own!

0:38:140:38:17

There it is. Full-fat soft cheese. Stand by, arteries.

0:38:170:38:20

You could use that low-fat stuff, but you've gone this far down the line!

0:38:200:38:25

-Fat goes in.

-HE WHISTLES

0:38:250:38:28

-And some cream.

-THEY GIGGLE

0:38:280:38:31

Honest, this is epic. This cheesecake will serve 12 to 15 slices,

0:38:330:38:38

so if you look at it like that, it's not as bad as it looks.

0:38:380:38:42

Now, the chocolat!

0:38:420:38:43

I will empty it out of the bowl!

0:38:430:38:45

But it's that caramel crumb that gives it the flavour and the character

0:38:450:38:50

that is the pecan-caramel cheesecake.

0:38:500:38:53

Don't worry if there are bits of chocolate on the surface.

0:38:530:38:57

It's best to have bits than burn the chocolate.

0:38:570:39:00

Those bits will melt when you cook the cheesecake.

0:39:000:39:03

As it's a baked cheesecake, it contains eggs.

0:39:030:39:08

It has to contain eggs

0:39:080:39:10

-or it would be cheese soup.

-It would.

0:39:100:39:12

'For this cake, use four whole eggs and two additional egg yolks and add to your blender.'

0:39:140:39:20

Now, put that onto your processor.

0:39:200:39:23

Blitz.

0:39:230:39:25

-Look at the colours.

-Aww, wicked!

0:39:250:39:30

Te caramel gives this cheesecake the most wonderful caramel hue.

0:39:310:39:37

IN POSH VOICE: Oh, it's a hue of caramel! Ohh!

0:39:370:39:41

-Look at that.

-Ah, man! Ohh!

0:39:420:39:46

Let's make the cheesecake!

0:39:460:39:49

'Get your chilled base and place the tin in the middle of a large piece of foil.'

0:39:510:39:56

'Bring the foil up to size to create a foil ball around the cheesecake

0:39:560:40:00

'and place on a medium-sized roasting tin.'

0:40:000:40:03

-Look at that.

-Ahh, man!

-Golden brown.

0:40:030:40:06

'Now pour your cheesecake filling on top of your base

0:40:060:40:09

'and surround the cake tin with boiling water,

0:40:090:40:11

'roughly two centimetres up the sides of the tin.'

0:40:110:40:15

Right, put this into a preheated oven, 160 degrees Celsius,

0:40:160:40:21

for about 45 minutes.

0:40:210:40:23

'After three-quarters of an hour, turn off the oven

0:40:230:40:26

'and leave the cheesecake inside for it to cool for a further hour.'

0:40:260:40:30

'Then grab the mighty cheesecake and stick it in a fridge

0:40:310:40:35

'for a minimum of three hours and a maximum of 24.'

0:40:350:40:39

'Whether your cheesecake is one of the baked or unbaked varieties, it doesn't matter,

0:40:410:40:46

'they all need to chill in the fridge in order for them to set.'

0:40:460:40:51

-How is the mighty beast?

-Look at this!

0:40:510:40:53

-And how's the cheesecake?

-Absolutely beautiful.

0:40:530:40:56

Absolutely beautiful!

0:40:560:40:58

Ooh, that's set, hasn't it? Look, no cracks.

0:40:580:41:01

'Gently release the cheesecake.'

0:41:020:41:04

We don't want to crack this little fellow.

0:41:040:41:07

'Tighten the edges with a palette knife

0:41:070:41:09

'and place your cake on a serving platter.'

0:41:090:41:13

Ohh! It's gorgeous in its magnificent.

0:41:130:41:17

And now it's ready for decorating.

0:41:170:41:19

I'm going to whip 300 mils of double cream.

0:41:190:41:23

'Whip the cream into soft peaks.

0:41:230:41:26

'Meanwhile, break the reserved caramel into shards, ready to scatter on the top.'

0:41:260:41:31

'Then, using a dessert spoon,

0:41:360:41:38

'shape the cream into big fluffy clouds over the cheesecake.'

0:41:380:41:43

White, billowing folds of cloud.

0:41:430:41:47

Time for bling.

0:41:490:41:51

'Just place the caramel shards across the top at jaunty angles.'

0:41:520:41:57

-Oh, wow.

-It's special, isn't it?

-Mm.

0:41:570:42:00

This is proper.

0:42:000:42:02

The caramel flavour in a cheesecake is absolutely gorgeous.

0:42:040:42:08

-There's no two ways about it.

-Ah, yes.

0:42:080:42:10

You bring that to the table after dinner

0:42:100:42:13

and everybody around the table is going to get that view.

0:42:130:42:18

It is absolutely beautiful.

0:42:180:42:21

There's more than enough in that to satisfy

0:42:220:42:25

the most critical, greediest sweet tooth on the planet.

0:42:250:42:29

-And come back for more.

-Aye.

0:42:290:42:31

DREAMY MUSIC

0:42:310:42:33

You can see why people have been tempted by a cheesecake for centuries!

0:42:350:42:41

This cake would befit a royal table as much as ours.

0:42:410:42:44

It truly is the best of British.

0:42:440:42:48

From home-grown liquorice to mint humbugs,

0:42:490:42:51

from peanut brittle to sugary hugs...

0:42:510:42:55

Over the years, us Brits have been driven by our sweet tooth

0:42:550:42:59

to come up with some truly classic national treats.

0:42:590:43:02

If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life

0:43:020:43:05

and we Brits certainly know how to do that.

0:43:050:43:08

Visit...

0:43:080:43:10

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

0:43:130:43:17

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

0:43:170:43:22

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:43:220:43:26

E-mail [email protected]

0:43:260:43:30

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