0:00:02 > 0:00:07You know, we believe that Britain has the best food in the world.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Not only can we boast fantastic ingredients.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Oh, there we go! Look at them!
0:00:13 > 0:00:17- Outstanding food producers. - Oh, wow!
0:00:17 > 0:00:20And innovative chefs.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23But we also have an amazing food history.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28- So it's safe to say that's what the Romans brought to us - the art of cooking itself.- Absolutely.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32- It's called a salacattabia. - It's like a savoury summer pudding.
0:00:32 > 0:00:33Now during this series,
0:00:33 > 0:00:38we are going to be taking you on a journey into our culinary past.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41Everything's ready, let's get cracking.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44- We'll explore its revealing stories. - BOTH: Wow!
0:00:44 > 0:00:48And meet the heroes that keep our food heritage alive.
0:00:48 > 0:00:53Pontefract Liquorice has been my life and I've loved every minute of it.
0:00:53 > 0:00:59And of course, be cooking up a load of dishes that reveal our foodie evolution.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02Look at that. That's a proper British treat.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Looks good. Tastes good. That's going to do you good.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Quite simply - the Best Of British.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30Hidden amongst the beaches, woodlands and hedgerows of Britain,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33are some of the finest wild foods on the planet.
0:01:33 > 0:01:38In this show, we'll be exploring the best of British wild food
0:01:38 > 0:01:44with living traditions of catching, picking, hunting and foraging
0:01:44 > 0:01:47all kinds of tasty grub right on our doorstep.
0:01:47 > 0:01:53And we'll be cooking up some little-known but incredible wild dishes.
0:01:53 > 0:01:54From humble seaside snacks...
0:01:54 > 0:01:56..To luxury cuisine,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00nature's larder can provide it all. If you know where to look, that is.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06It's delicious, exciting and free!
0:02:06 > 0:02:09The very best of British.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13But whilst we're masters at gathering some wild foods,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16with others, we need a little more help.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18So, when it comes to catching "wabbits",
0:02:18 > 0:02:22man has an age-old accomplice - the ferret.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25He might look cute and cuddly, but this domesticated type of polecat is
0:02:25 > 0:02:31a fearsome hunter, perfectly adapted for putting down rabbit holes.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33And bringing home some rabbit for your tea.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41Their eyesight isn't very good,
0:02:41 > 0:02:46but their sense of smell is excellent and they're very bendy.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48If you are fairly fit you could probably touch your toes.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52If you're double jointed, you could put your chin on your bottom.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56But what you could never do is bend sideways like that
0:02:56 > 0:03:00or like that because he's just one big universal joint.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Whilst we associate ferrets with working class culture.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09You silly little devil, ain't ya?
0:03:09 > 0:03:11And wriggling around people's trousers,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15ferreting was originally an entirely aristocratic pursuit.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19In the 13th century, if you wanted to own a ferret,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21by law you had to have an income of 40 shillings,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23which meant you were seriously minted.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33By Queen Elizabeth's reign, ferrets were still associated with money and status.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36But gradually they became available to everyone.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40By the 19th century, anyone could go onto common land with a ferret
0:03:40 > 0:03:42and catch a rabbit for their supper.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50Nowadays you don't need a flexible friend if you want to eat rabbit.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56And you certainly don't need a fancy chef to cook it for you.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59In our Best Of British kitchen,
0:03:59 > 0:04:01we'll show you how to rustle up a simple dish
0:04:01 > 0:04:04of rabbit with prunes, cream and brandy.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10An absolute game gem that combines the best of British ingredients
0:04:10 > 0:04:12with a bit of French je ne sais quoi.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Now all these posh folks, they've been out for centuries
0:04:17 > 0:04:20chasing stags, shooting grouse.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23But it hasn't always been the preserve of the rich.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Poor folk like a good old blast too. For us it was bunnies and rabbits.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Just get a couple of rabbits for' pot, mother.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Rabbit's been around for ages. We've shot, eaten and loved them.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36We are cooking a lovely dish with rabbits. A bit French.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39It's rabbits with prunes flamed in Cognac.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43But you know, it turns the humble rabbit into a prince. It's posh.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45It's tasty, it's lovely.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48I'll start with the prunes and the brandy.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50I'll start with browning off the rabbit.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Look at this, a couple of rabbits there.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54You can get a rabbit for about three pounds.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56So that's only six pounds-worth there.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58- Six pounds of meat?- Lovely!
0:04:58 > 0:05:01And I tell you what, this dish goes like a rabbit. It's fantastic.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05It's quick, it's simple, it's tasty and it's...oh!
0:05:05 > 0:05:06These are non-soak prunes.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10Put them in a pan with six tablespoons of brandy.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Now you're talking, Myers, now you're talking!
0:05:15 > 0:05:16Brandy.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21One.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Two, three.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Four. Five. Six.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32And then we leave the prunes to macerate in that lovely brandy.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Now I've put some butter and I'm going to put some oil into
0:05:37 > 0:05:41the pan, bring it to temperature, season the rabbit on both sides.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Thank you. Season the rabbit on both sides and brown it off.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Season both sides. Just salt into it.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53Now carefully flambe the prunes.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Smells like flesh to me!
0:05:57 > 0:05:59# We'll get the fire brigade. Get the fire brigade.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03# I think the kitchen is starting to really burn... # Woo.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05Wa-hey. Woo.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07I see a sign.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13- I could get used to this. - You're a worry, you are.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15Right, enough of that.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17Put the fire out.
0:06:19 > 0:06:20HE LAUGHS
0:06:20 > 0:06:24- I've got no hair left on my arms! - Dave?
0:06:24 > 0:06:28- Dave.- Eh? - You haven't got any eyebrows either.
0:06:28 > 0:06:29No, no, you really haven't.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31What's happened to my hair line?
0:06:31 > 0:06:35That's it. You see, wasn't like that before he started this show.
0:06:35 > 0:06:36He had a full head of hair.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41Just leave those to soak till the end of the dish.
0:06:41 > 0:06:42Start chopping your bacon
0:06:42 > 0:06:46and shallots in anticipation for pan action later on down the line.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Now just start to fry these off in batches.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Don't try and overcrowd the pan
0:06:54 > 0:06:57because if you try and overcrowd the pan they're not going to fry.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59Two banana shallots.
0:07:01 > 0:07:02That's what we're after.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05See that, that's the saddle, that bit there.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Oh, that's rabbit fillet steak, that is. Beautiful.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10And we're just going to put a little bit of colour on.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13This is a humble dish made good, this.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23You know, in the late 14th century rabbits were an expensive luxury.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26A lot of the recipes then advocated roasting them
0:07:26 > 0:07:27with the head still on.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30I suppose it's so you'd see it's a rabbit and not your local moggy.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32A little bit more oil.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Have you ever read Watership Down?
0:07:36 > 0:07:38- Yes.- It's sad, wasn't it? - Yeah, it was.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42- And rabbits have always featured in literature, haven't they?- Always.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47- Watership Down, you know, Bugs Bunny.- Bugs Bunny.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49- Thumper in Bambi.- Yeah.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Eee, look at it now, it could almost be chicken.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Indeed you can do this dish with chicken thighs.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Allow two chicken thighs per person.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Next, fry the chopped streaky bacon.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Now what we want to do with this bacon is,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10we just want it to go nice and crisp.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Not very crisp but we want the fat to go quite crispy.
0:08:15 > 0:08:21Right, so, can you see what we've got there? They're not crispy bits.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24- That's perfect, isn't it? They're just golden.- Yes, exactly. That.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29The fried bacon joins the rabbit in the casserole.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34To the pan add the shallots and just...sweat until translucent.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40Can you see? I've cut them longways. Just for that little touch of class.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43To the onions add two tablespoons of flour.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46One. Two.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Time to add the liquid. Now you could use white wine.
0:08:49 > 0:08:55- But to kind of make it a bit more British we are using cider.- We are.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00And this is 300 ml of cider.
0:09:02 > 0:09:08Got some stock here. Pour half of it in at this point.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11- This is good stock. It looks like jelly.- What a wonderful smell.
0:09:11 > 0:09:17To that we add one tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
0:09:17 > 0:09:23Like that. And two teaspoons of wholegrain mustard.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Beautiful.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29And a little bouquet garni. A little bunch of thyme tied together.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Obviously we chuck this out before serving.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37- Oh.- And...a bayleaf.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45- How lovely.- Now, I know it's a bit of a strange convention.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49When you put the flour on top of what, in essence,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52is sauteed onions and it goes, like, really thick.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Don't freak out because all that's doing is coating the onions
0:09:56 > 0:09:58in flour, cooking that flour off a little bit
0:09:58 > 0:10:02and then as soon as you add liquid, look what's happening.
0:10:02 > 0:10:03It's just thickening it.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06And there's no lumps or any problem, it's just lovely.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09We'll add some more liquid so don't worry,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12- it won't be that thick when it's done.- Right.
0:10:17 > 0:10:18Beautiful.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Now top this up with the remaining stock.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30I'm going to cover this with a cartouche.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34A cartouche is a sheet of greaseproof paper
0:10:34 > 0:10:36that's cut to fit the dish.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40What it'll do is it will stop it cooking dry too quickly.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Put that on the top.
0:10:43 > 0:10:50Lid on. And place that in a preheated oven, 160 degrees Celsius
0:10:50 > 0:10:53for about one and a half, two hours.
0:10:53 > 0:10:59- Actually if you leave it in for two hours, it's not going to hurt, really.- No.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00Rabbit.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03# Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit... #
0:11:03 > 0:11:06At one time, there wasn't a market or a butcher's shop in Britain
0:11:06 > 0:11:11that wouldn't be over-flowing with fresh, fantastic produce during the game season.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16And in post-war Britain, rabbit, a cheap and readily available meat,
0:11:16 > 0:11:17was rarely off the menu.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20But when a deadly virus called myxomatosis
0:11:20 > 0:11:26arrived in Britain in 1953, over 95% of the bunny population
0:11:26 > 0:11:30was wiped out, and rabbit quickly fell off the weekly menu.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33But now, from Michelin restaurants to small country cottages,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36there's a bit of a rabbit revival going on.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39And if you're happy to give it a try, rabbit is a rewarding
0:11:39 > 0:11:41and flavoursome change from the ordinary.
0:11:46 > 0:11:51- I think by now that's a very "hot cross bunny"! Ha-hey! - Oh, dear me, man!
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Let's remove the cartouche.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58- Ooh!- Oh, nice.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03These are the prunes oozing in brandy.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07I'll just light the gas under this.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10We'll heat those prunes through, because now they're stone cold,
0:12:10 > 0:12:11and add the cream.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Oh, man.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19And just give that a little stir.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23And really as soon as that's come up to temperature, we can serve.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Now...check for seasoning.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Look what I've got. I've got some cabbage and dauphinoise potatoes.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Ooh, saddle. Primo.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- And some prunes, yeah?- Oh, for sure.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52So near, yet so far.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Lovely, creamy, dauphinoise.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Cabbage.
0:12:59 > 0:13:00The rabbit eats the cabbage
0:13:00 > 0:13:03and they both end up on the same plate together.
0:13:03 > 0:13:04Beautiful.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12So there you have it.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17A delicious, simple dish that's definitely worth rabbiting on about.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32One of the very best areas to find and forage for wild food of any kind
0:13:32 > 0:13:34is along the coast.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37The seashore is jam-packed with shellfish and plants
0:13:37 > 0:13:40that have been gathered by hungry people for thousands of years.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44And it's home to one of our most famous wild food traditions.
0:13:49 > 0:13:55Cockles are a coastal delicacy that have always been a firm seaside favourite.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57'Some of a us may still distain this humble shellfish,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00'but it is a valuable item in Britain's fishing industry
0:14:00 > 0:14:03'and very popular with hungry holiday-makers.'
0:14:06 > 0:14:09But cockling is no DIY hobby.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14They've been picked by hand on an industrial scale for generations,
0:14:14 > 0:14:15creating unique ways of life.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21In the 1940s on the Thames estuary,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23teams of pickers would head out in boats
0:14:23 > 0:14:26and wait for the tide to go out.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Then they'd splash around in their undies,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33gathering cockles in buckets.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36You wouldn't do that in the North East.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41Nowadays, Thames cockles are collected by dredgers,
0:14:41 > 0:14:43which suck them up with giant vacuum cleaners.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Nowhere near as much fun.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55But the Thames estuary wasn't the only place
0:14:55 > 0:14:59where foraging for cockles by hand supported whole communities.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04Is that the deserts of Arabia?
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Don't be daft! It's the Gower in South Wales, boyo!
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Where they've been cockling the same way for generations.
0:15:13 > 0:15:18How many miles have we got to go before we get to any cockles?
0:15:18 > 0:15:20You have got about seven miles.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23Two miles over the road, seven miles of sand after.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28And the cockle beds are right down at the very bottom.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37During the Industrial Revolution, cockling was vital work for women
0:15:37 > 0:15:40whose husbands couldn't get work in the coal mines.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Women were still the main cockle pickers on the Gower
0:15:43 > 0:15:47right up until the 1970s and were known for their resilience
0:15:47 > 0:15:50in the harshest kinds of weather.
0:15:50 > 0:15:57- Ruth, how long have you been cockling on the sands? - Between 45 and 46 years.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01- Is it much the same sort of business as it was then?- Oh, no.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03It was harder then.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06We had no Wellingtons, no gloves in the cold weather.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10Barefooted or an old pair of naily boots on our feet.
0:16:10 > 0:16:11Why did you take up such a hard trade?
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Well, there was nothing else to be had in our days.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18Either picking cockles or going out in service.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21How do you know where to find the cockles?
0:16:21 > 0:16:25How do you know there are cockles here for instance, and not over there?
0:16:25 > 0:16:29Well, when we pull with these rakes, we pull in the cockles.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Some parts of the sand we pull,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34and we don't pull any cockles at all.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36So we know we don't keep that way, we keep this way.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39But the sand does rise a little where the cockles are.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44Ask a stupid question. Ah, they're strange creatures, cockles that is.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48And if you're a London reporter, you wouldn't quite know what to believe.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50I was told that cockles would sing in the bag,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52but I can't hear anything from these.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55You wouldn't hear them in the winter time.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57You can always hear them when the tide is coming in.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01Is that a wind up?
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Well, it's what the cocklers say, but they don't sing
0:17:05 > 0:17:08- Land Of My Fathers, they just buzz. - Nay.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Foraging for cockles is still big business today.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17But it remains a hard and sometimes dangerous profession,
0:17:17 > 0:17:21where knowledge of the shifting sands and tides,
0:17:21 > 0:17:25has been handed down through generations of local people.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28So, if you don't know what you're doing,
0:17:28 > 0:17:30it's best left to the experts.
0:17:32 > 0:17:38As well as cockles, our beaches are stocked with all kinds of wild snacks.
0:17:38 > 0:17:44But some coastal delicacies have been a bit forgotten over the years.
0:17:44 > 0:17:50Next up in the Best Of British kitchen, we're going to show you an unusual, but brilliant wild dish
0:17:50 > 0:17:53that we think everyone should know about.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55There is no more free fertile horn of plenty
0:17:55 > 0:17:59for the British forager than our noble coastline.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03But we ignore these. And they are fantastic.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05The razor clam.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09They've been eaten since prehistoric man first walked the planet.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12They are a wonderful creature and they are so, so tasty.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15We want to put these back on the table.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24But one of the best things about razor clams is foraging for them.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Now there's a bit of a trick to catching them,
0:18:27 > 0:18:31so who better to show you how to do it than the legendary Ray Mears?
0:18:32 > 0:18:36This is what I'm after here.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38That key-shaped hole.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40To get what's in there out,
0:18:40 > 0:18:44what I have to do is to put some salt down the hole.
0:18:44 > 0:18:45And now wait.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Filter feeders like clams and cockles
0:18:48 > 0:18:51can concentrate poisons in their bodies.
0:18:51 > 0:18:52Here it comes.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55So it's a good idea to check with a local expert
0:18:55 > 0:18:57what you're picking is safe to eat.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Grab that and hold him. And they really pull.
0:19:00 > 0:19:05You have to coax these things out from the sand.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10There we are, a razor shell. That is really fantastic eating.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13You're not wrong, Ray,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16and you'd love the recipe we're about to cook up.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19We're going to make chilli and garlic razor clams,
0:19:19 > 0:19:24served with parsley crumbs and a harissa and saffron mayonnaise.
0:19:24 > 0:19:30Ancient foraged food meets the flavours of contemporary cooking.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36First up we cook the clams in boiling water and you don't need long!
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Literally, it is for seconds because they'll open quickly.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43As soon as they're open, they're cooked.
0:19:48 > 0:19:55- There's one. Look at them! - Say hello to daddy! Look at those.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57They are cooked.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01If you like eating mussels, if you like cockles,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04sweet shellfish, these are better.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06But we can't tell you enough, the key is,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08you saw literally it took seconds.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11The key with razor clams is not to overcook them
0:20:11 > 0:20:14because if you do, they'll go chewy and rubbery.
0:20:14 > 0:20:15- Squash balls.- Yes.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Drain them off and while they're cooling,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22we'll get on with the other components.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26I'm going to chop one chilli and eight cloves of garlic
0:20:26 > 0:20:30to make an infusion which we'll pour over the clams.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31And while Si's doing that,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34I'm going to fry up 50 grams of breadcrumbs
0:20:34 > 0:20:37which I'll mix with a handful of rough chopped parsley.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39It's nice to sprinkle over the clams
0:20:39 > 0:20:42when they've been dressed with the garlic and olive oil.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Razor clams are wonderful.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48This is British produce and it doesn't come much better.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50For the oil, it's really important
0:20:50 > 0:20:53not to burn the garlic when you cook it.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55We keep banging on and going,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58"Listen, start with some heat in your pan." Not this time.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01We are going to put the chilli in
0:21:01 > 0:21:05and we're going to put the garlic, again into a cold pan.
0:21:05 > 0:21:11We're going to cover it with olive oil and quite a lot of olive oil.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16Look at the heat here, it's really quite low.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19We will very, very slowly bring that up to temperature. Very slowly.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27We're going to season it up with lots of black pepper and salt.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31And then just stir it in.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35We'll leave the breadcrumbs to cool before we add in the parsley.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40In the meantime, we can get on with the last bit of the recipe,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43the harissa and saffron mayonnaise.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47- I love saffron. - The smell is lovely.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51- You really do, don't you?- The spice that is more expensive than gold.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54Just put a good handful in there.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Keith Floyd always used to say, he said, "When people say to me
0:21:57 > 0:22:00" 'How much saffron do I use', I say, 'How much can you afford?' "
0:22:01 > 0:22:02Splash of boiling water on that.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06Look at the colour that has come out of that instantly.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09It is going to make the most fantastic, colourful, tasty meal.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Leave that to cool. Saffron is interesting.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14It's thought the Venetians,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18when trading for tin with the Cornish, swapped saffron for tin.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22This could explain the Cornish love of making saffron cakes.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26But we do know that in the 16th century,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29saffron was grown in Britain, particularly in Essex.
0:22:29 > 0:22:30Saffron Walden.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Look at that. A tan like an Essex girl.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38And now for the other main ingredient.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42This is harissa. It's a chilli paste
0:22:42 > 0:22:44that goes well with Middle Eastern food.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46A lot of people think it's Moroccan,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49but originally it's Tunisian and it is fantastic.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53So, you put a teaspoon of that in a bowl.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55What's great about cooking in Britain
0:22:55 > 0:22:57is that we get to spice up our lives
0:22:57 > 0:22:59with fantastic international ingredients.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02The one that we're using is rose harissa.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04It's not as hot and fiery.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07You can get some harissas that are, like, blow your socks off us.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11But these are all really robust flavours.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Honestly, the razor clams can take it.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20Add in a couple of large tablespoons of mayonnaise and mix it in.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23- That is gorgeous, man. - Now, mix the saffron in.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32And we don't waste any of this. Look at that.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Somewhat tasty and somewhat psychedelic.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39That's what you call a seafood sauce.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43- Spoon's clean.- Oh, yeah.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Oh, yeah. It's earthy as well. It's lovely.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51By now my chilli and garlic infused oil should be ready.
0:23:51 > 0:23:56This is when it's ready, look. Little bubbles in the oil.
0:23:56 > 0:24:01At that point, take it off the heat and leave it.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04That's it, it's done.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Put the parsley in the crumbs and we're nearly there.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12So, we've got the clams, we've got the dressing,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16we've got the accompaniments and we've got its juice.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19- Lovely.- We can start building now, can't we?- We can.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24Let's show you how to dress a razor clam.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Really, really simple.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Save the shells.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31They come out of their shells easily, don't they?
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Yes. This bit here, you don't want.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40And then you want to make a cut across there like that.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Look at that beautiful piece of meat.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48We want all that, so you nip that off like that.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50So you have two lovely pieces of meat.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54And this bit, you chuck.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07Take the shells and snap the hinge,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10so they lie flat on a baking tray,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12then replace the prepared clams.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20There we are. Lovely.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Dress them with the infused garlic and chilli oil.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Coastal foraging is interesting
0:25:26 > 0:25:29because it's far from being survivalist food.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31It's quite haute cuisine.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35You could eat this in a very fancy restaurant and be happy.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38There we are. Beautiful.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42Last of all, the clams need to go under
0:25:42 > 0:25:46a blisteringly hot grill for 2-3 minutes.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Move the shelf as close as you can get it to the grill
0:25:49 > 0:25:53and under a preheated grill, which is key, stick your razor clams in.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04They're starting to go. I think they're perfect.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07- Nicely sizzling. - Sizzling away.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13Lovely.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Now, just dress that with the crumbs and parsley.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24And on the side a nice big dipping dollop
0:26:24 > 0:26:28of the saffron and harissa mayo.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30That looks fantastic.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37I think that's what I would call a Michelin-star forage.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40- I'd be with you. That's a top scrounge, that one.- Should we?
0:26:40 > 0:26:44- I think we should. - Forks or forage?- Forage.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Mayo, garlic, crumbs.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00The chilli and the razor clam, it's so sweet and then you have
0:27:00 > 0:27:05that lovely savoury taste with the garlic and the oil. Fabulous.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Then you dip the mayo in and get that earthy thing with the saffron.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13- Honestly, it's amazing. - If you like squid, you'd like these.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16If you like mussels, you'd like these.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18If you love scallops, you'd go bonkers for these.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23And if you like food for nothing, give this one a go.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27They're here on our beaches and on our shore lines,
0:27:27 > 0:27:28and there're fantastic.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33All you need is a bit of courage, a good sense of the tides
0:27:33 > 0:27:35and a bag of salt.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Cooking foraged food and eating the oldest grub around,
0:27:42 > 0:27:46is a great way to connect with our very earliest foodie ancestors.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51But it's great to combine those primal flavours
0:27:51 > 0:27:54with the best tastes that modern cooking has to offer,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56fusing the really old and the new.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Razor clams aren't the only wild foods that slipped off the menu.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07People once depended on a variety of grub that was readily available along the coast
0:28:07 > 0:28:12and one of the best-stocked places they turned to were the cliffsides.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17At Farnborough head people once collected birds' eggs.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Highly illegal today, of course.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24But there's plenty of different wild food out there that's perfectly OK
0:28:24 > 0:28:25if you know where to look.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33Here in Cornwall, Miles Lavers has been eating what he can forage
0:28:33 > 0:28:35from the seashore his whole life,
0:28:35 > 0:28:39part of a tradition that's as old as mankind itself.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43My grandmother used to pay me when I was four or five
0:28:43 > 0:28:45to go and find things
0:28:45 > 0:28:48and really that was about identifying things early on.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50Obviously, a lot of people now have lost that completely.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54'So foraging has been a total part of my life, all my life.'
0:28:56 > 0:28:58OK, one of my favourites - rock samphire.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02This plant has 30 times more vitamin C than oranges,
0:29:02 > 0:29:05hence sailors used to take it away with them.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08It's even mentioned in Shakespeare, I believe it's King Lear,
0:29:08 > 0:29:11and they basically said it's a dreadful trade,
0:29:11 > 0:29:13people used to fall off the cliffs.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15You can imagine, if you see where it's growing,
0:29:15 > 0:29:18they loved it so much that people were dying to get it.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23Despite its beauty, for hundreds of years,
0:29:23 > 0:29:26this region was one of the poorest parts of the country.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Right up until the early-20th century,
0:29:29 > 0:29:32edible wild plants found along these cliffs
0:29:32 > 0:29:35were a key to survival for the very poorest people.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39Whole villages would go out to forage from the cliffs.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41The vital extra food they gathered
0:29:41 > 0:29:44would help see them through the winter.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48Miles is looking for one of the plants that would have kept them nourished.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51All this is sea spinach. Cook it like spinach,
0:29:51 > 0:29:55a bit of butter, tiny bit of water, probably best to steam it,
0:29:55 > 0:29:57awesome plant.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59Awesome it may be,
0:29:59 > 0:30:02but one group of plants which are absolutely invaluable
0:30:02 > 0:30:06and grow abundantly all around our coast are seaweeds.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09That's a lovely bit, look at that beauty.
0:30:09 > 0:30:14They are fantastically good for you and a phenomenal natural resource.
0:30:14 > 0:30:19What you'd normally pick up and whack your brother with as a kid,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23is used industrially for medicines, but also if you can believe it,
0:30:23 > 0:30:27in tomato sauce and other products - hair products, all sorts.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33Seaweeds like kelp - masses of minerals, nutrients, iodine,
0:30:33 > 0:30:36iron, that we just don't really get in the same quantities
0:30:36 > 0:30:38we get with land food. We've totally forgotten about this.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42Most people's perception is that, just playing on it,
0:30:42 > 0:30:43falling over it, slipping on it.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47But if you tasted it, deep-fried it, you'd be completely bowled over.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53Miles' favourite seaweed is a little delicacy
0:30:53 > 0:30:54that's dead easy to cook.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Sea lettuce. It even looks like lettuce,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01you're not going to get much wrong with this one.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Perfect for wrapping round fish,
0:31:06 > 0:31:08even better for pork,
0:31:08 > 0:31:12or just crisping up. Absolutely delicious, sea lettuce. OK?
0:31:12 > 0:31:16My kids call it mermaids knickers, you can see why.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19This grows all over Britain in slightly sheltered spots,
0:31:19 > 0:31:22so if it's a bit too rough, you might struggle.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26There are a few things you need to think about
0:31:26 > 0:31:29before you go off with your basket though.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33Before you go foraging in the sea, you might want to have a look
0:31:33 > 0:31:36if there's any sewage outlets nearby.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40You can find this information on the internet
0:31:40 > 0:31:45and it's well worth checking to make sure you're in good clean water.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49And you can't just turn up any old where and grab what you want,
0:31:49 > 0:31:53you have to ask the landowner's permission first.
0:31:55 > 0:32:00Back at the family house after a hard day's foraging,
0:32:00 > 0:32:02Miles is preparing to cook up a storm
0:32:02 > 0:32:04with the ingredients he's gathered.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09On the menu today is pan-fried pollock wrapped in sea lettuce,
0:32:09 > 0:32:12served with rock samphire and sea spinach.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16Everything in this frying pan is almost free.
0:32:16 > 0:32:21The sea lettuce is free, we know the people we got the fish from,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24and what's going to go in this pan is totally free as well,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27so cooking this here and eating it at home with your family
0:32:27 > 0:32:30is really what it's all about.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Let me just turn this over, I can't wait to eat it.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Look at that - crispy seaweed on one side,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39and we're going to end up with crispy seaweed on the other
0:32:39 > 0:32:41and succulent fish in the middle.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44When the fish is nearly done, Miles quickly cooks
0:32:44 > 0:32:48the spinach and the samphire together in the pan.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55Cor, top nosh that! Who'd have thought you could get a slap-up meal
0:32:55 > 0:32:58from a morning's rock pooling?
0:32:58 > 0:33:02Thanks to people like Miles, our ancient and tasty heritage
0:33:02 > 0:33:06is being kept alive.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10I tell you what - my trips to the seaside'll never be the same again.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15The spinach is absolutely fantastic.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18Is that nice, baby?
0:33:18 > 0:33:22For me, going and picking food from the hedgerow and seashore makes it,
0:33:22 > 0:33:26and what better way? You pick it together, you eat it together,
0:33:26 > 0:33:30and it's really fantastic, so we should all be doing it.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33Cheers.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40There's no denying you can rustle up a real wild feast
0:33:40 > 0:33:43along the shoreline,
0:33:43 > 0:33:48but our woodlands and pastures also contain some real hidden forageable gems.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52So we're heading inland to look for a fish that doesn't live in water.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58It's an easily foraged treat that has all but disappeared,
0:33:58 > 0:34:02so we're heading to Priddy in Somerset to find out more.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10They know a bit about foraging in this corner of Somerset.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13Folk once came from miles around to sample a local delicacy
0:34:13 > 0:34:16that could be found living wild in the nooks
0:34:16 > 0:34:19and crannies of dry-stone walls.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21This is it.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26It's called the Mendip wallfish,
0:34:26 > 0:34:29better known to you and I, as the garden snail.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32We all know the French love a snail,
0:34:32 > 0:34:37but in the '60s it was a Brit who put Helix aspersa back on the menu,
0:34:37 > 0:34:42when rocket scientist-turned-chef Paul Leyton began serving them
0:34:42 > 0:34:44in his restaurant the Miners' Arms.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48It was a British food sensation!
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Paul's son Nick and wife Pauline still have a treasure trove
0:34:51 > 0:34:54of his late father's memorabilia.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58Nick and Pauline, we're here to see you because you're part
0:34:58 > 0:35:01of the great wallfish... The Mendip snail dynasty.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04That's right. My parents had a restaurant down the road in the '60s,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07and a new restaurant was opening in Bristol,
0:35:07 > 0:35:09Harvey's were opening a restaurant
0:35:09 > 0:35:12and they advertised they were going to serve Mendip snails.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17Their building work fell behind so we thought we'd beat them to it.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19Snails are a traditional Mendip thing
0:35:19 > 0:35:22because they were eaten by local road men on a shovel
0:35:22 > 0:35:26at the side of the road for lunch type thing.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29And it just took off. We never expected
0:35:29 > 0:35:33that people would be so interested in the common garden snail.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37Snails were once a local treat in Somerset
0:35:37 > 0:35:41and just after the war, you could find people eating them as a snack in pubs.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46The Leyton's wanted to create a gourmet dish from the southwest.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50And their wallfish became renowned all over the country,
0:35:50 > 0:35:54from Delia to Egon Ronay and even the SAS.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59There's one from the SAS. They were into the foraging.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03"My regiment is responsible for running combat survival courses
0:36:03 > 0:36:06"for officers and senior NCOs for the army.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10"I wonder if you could help me by supplying enough Mendips snails
0:36:10 > 0:36:13"for 40 people for the foraging dinner on 8th of April."
0:36:13 > 0:36:17You see, we British have always been great foragers, even our SAS.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20- They're having a go too. - That is right.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22Thousands of snails for the restaurant
0:36:22 > 0:36:26were foraged and sent in from all over the country.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30In order to store them all, Paul used his engineering skills.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34He converted a swimming pool into a snail pen,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37complete with electric fence to stop them escaping.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43Father sort of developed this and we made a time-lapse film of it.
0:36:43 > 0:36:44Put paint on the snails
0:36:44 > 0:36:47to see what they did during the night and how far they went
0:36:47 > 0:36:51and it's quite fascinating, charging round the swimming pool
0:36:51 > 0:36:54like a bat out of hell. THEY LAUGH
0:36:54 > 0:36:59- Your father was a scientist first and a chef second.- Very much so, but cooking is a science,
0:36:59 > 0:37:01when you know what flour does, what fats do,
0:37:01 > 0:37:05it's much easier to look at it from a different point.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09Paul Leyton put the Mendip Wallfish on the map
0:37:09 > 0:37:13and carried on cooking them until he sold the Miners' Arms
0:37:13 > 0:37:15along with the recipe in 1977.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19It was taken over in the early '80s by Bob and Pat Reynolds,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23who were the last people to cook Wallfish for the paying public
0:37:23 > 0:37:25until the Miners closed in 1999.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30Luckily they live just round the corner
0:37:30 > 0:37:33and offered to show us how it was done.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39- I reckon this is the wall down here. - So these are your common garden snails that we get everywhere.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41- Absolutely.- Look!- Have you got one?
0:37:41 > 0:37:45That was quick. That one's getting away, we better take him.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47- He's got some meat on him as well! - Oh, yeah.
0:37:47 > 0:37:48Beautiful.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54So, Bob, how do you go about cooking these fellas?
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Well, the first thing to do is make sure they've not eaten anything
0:37:57 > 0:37:59that would harm you, so we purge them,
0:37:59 > 0:38:02that's done by feeding them lettuce, cabbage, anything like that.
0:38:02 > 0:38:08- And after ten days, we kill them by putting them in boiling water.- You know, this is fine-dining foraging,
0:38:08 > 0:38:09I like this, you know.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13I got out brambling with my mam, but you know, this is a bit, um...
0:38:13 > 0:38:14haute cuisine.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16- Follow me.- Yup.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19The snails we've found aren't ready to eat,
0:38:19 > 0:38:21so we're going to cook some that have been purged,
0:38:21 > 0:38:24using Leyton's original recipe.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30'Ex-Miner's Arms chef Pat is going to give us a demonstration.'
0:38:31 > 0:38:35'After being boiled, the snails need removed from their shells.'
0:38:35 > 0:38:38I'm going to give you one each.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Oh, look at that, now there's a tool of the trade.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45Tool of the trade. What you do with them is, you just pop it in there like that
0:38:45 > 0:38:47and pull it out.
0:38:47 > 0:38:52- They taste great as well, I must say.- Just pop them on there. You have a go.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58Out it pops! They don't look the most attractive things, do they?
0:38:58 > 0:39:00They don't at the moment.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02- But...they're lovely.- Yes.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04'The snails are boiled in cider for 45 minutes
0:39:04 > 0:39:07'and the shells are stuffed with a herb butter.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09'It's time consuming.'
0:39:09 > 0:39:10Do you ever wish, Pat,
0:39:10 > 0:39:13you'd bought a restaurant with a different speciality?
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Yes, I do. I didn't realise when we first took it on
0:39:17 > 0:39:19that this was something I was going to have to do.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22Now then, having done that, the next thing is,
0:39:22 > 0:39:26you get a hold of a snail and you stuff it in there like that,
0:39:26 > 0:39:31push it in, then you have to seal it off with some more butter on top
0:39:31 > 0:39:33and that's it ready.
0:39:37 > 0:39:38'With the stuffing done,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40'all that's left is to pop them in the oven.'
0:39:43 > 0:39:45Hot.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47- And bubbling.- They look beautiful.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51- They are fab, Pat.- It's a lovely colour with the herbs.- Yeah.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53I can give you this. That's what you...
0:39:53 > 0:39:55- Thank you.- ..pick them up with.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58- Pick them up? Oh, that's no good, I can't get to my shell.- No.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02Oh, hey, that butter's fabulous.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04I'm going to use my fingers.
0:40:04 > 0:40:05Mmm, really good.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10Wallfish, snails, whatever you want to call them -
0:40:10 > 0:40:13- great British delicacy and fantastic to eat.- Yeah.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Have a ball, have a swall.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20Mendip Wallfish is a brilliant recipe
0:40:20 > 0:40:25with a really unique, regional British character.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29We think it's a shame that they've all but disappeared from the menu.
0:40:29 > 0:40:35But maybe as more get interested in foraging, they'll make a comeback.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40Amongst the woods and forests of inland Britain lurks a wild food
0:40:40 > 0:40:43that's just about the poshest nosh you can get.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Knowing where to find them is an art and a science, but as one
0:40:48 > 0:40:52of the most expensive treats on the planet, it's certainly worth it.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58Known to some as black diamonds,
0:40:58 > 0:41:03truffles are a type of fungus that can fetch over £8,000 per kilo.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07And they aren't just the domain of the French or Italians,
0:41:07 > 0:41:11we grow them right here on British soil.
0:41:11 > 0:41:17Regrettably, our native truffles are a delicacy that have almost vanished from our dinner tables.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22But our Best Of British food heroes, Marion Dean and Dr Paul Thomas
0:41:22 > 0:41:26are determined to put the British truffle back on the culinary map.
0:41:26 > 0:41:32Truffles are really exciting. I love finding them. I love eating them.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36I love training dogs how to find them
0:41:36 > 0:41:40and I love teaching the people on what to look for to find them.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43When I was a kid, I always used to go out and collect wild food
0:41:43 > 0:41:46and I started to collect mushrooms and then I read about truffles.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50When I got into my teenage years, I read about how expensive they were
0:41:50 > 0:41:53and how delicious they were and I really wanted to find them and I couldn't!
0:41:53 > 0:41:56And then I did a PhD at the University of Sheffield.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00Eventually, through a long process, we developed a way to grow them
0:42:00 > 0:42:02and I've been completely absorbed ever since.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06When you eat a truffle, you really want to say, "Wow!
0:42:06 > 0:42:11"That's what I'd heard about."
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Together they've planted one of the country's first truffle orchards.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20650 trees that have been impregnated with truffle spores.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22The best way to think of a truffle
0:42:22 > 0:42:25is it's kind of an underground mushroom,
0:42:25 > 0:42:27roughly the size of between a golf ball and a tennis ball.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31The truffle is the fruit of the truffle fungus and you find that underground.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34It needs a tree to survive.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37The truffle helps the tree to grow so it's completely symbiotic.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41You need to get the truffle and the tree working together.
0:42:41 > 0:42:46Traditionally, sows were used to hunt for truffles,
0:42:46 > 0:42:48but there were some disadvantages.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52Truffle releases a pheromone which is very similar
0:42:52 > 0:42:56to the sex pheromone in pigs so when a pig's hunting these things, they go crazy, they start salivating
0:42:56 > 0:42:59and then you've got to get in between the pig and the truffle.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03It can be quite dangerous. People lose fingers. It's a very hard way of hunting.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07Whereas dogs, you can train them to pick up the scent and they'll
0:43:07 > 0:43:09pick up a scent line, run down, stop where the truffle is,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12mark it and then you just go along and dig it up.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16Marion trained her own dog, an Italian truffle hound called Mufty,
0:43:16 > 0:43:20as even cultivated truffles require an expert nose to find them.
0:43:20 > 0:43:25But the truffle orchard won't be ready to harvest for up to seven years,
0:43:25 > 0:43:27so Marion, Paul and Mufty
0:43:27 > 0:43:32head off to a top secret location to forage for wild ones.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35Anything they find today will be taken to a local hotel
0:43:35 > 0:43:38in the hope that Marion will become a regular supplier.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48'After only a few minutes, it looks like Mufty's spotted something.'
0:43:48 > 0:43:56Wait. Well, let's see. Oh, yes, here. We've got one. We've got one!
0:43:56 > 0:44:00- Can you see it. It's there. - Oh, yeah. Well done, Mufty.
0:44:00 > 0:44:05There's a little damage on top, but to me, it's worth its weight in gold.
0:44:05 > 0:44:11- Absolutely. Come on, I can't wait. Let's dig it up.- Out we come.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13- 'Looks like a ball of mud to me. - No wonder they're hard to find.'
0:44:13 > 0:44:17You just love finding those truffles.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20That's in much better condition on one side than it is on the other.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23The top has been damaged a little bit by the recent rains.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25- OK.- Let's keep going.
0:44:25 > 0:44:31- Good start.- 'As luck would have it, Mufty finds another.'- I can feel it.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36Paul, do you want to come and feel it? Just a little bit.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Mufty, good girl! Wait.
0:44:39 > 0:44:40'And another!'
0:44:40 > 0:44:44- Is it?- Smells good.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47'And another!'
0:44:47 > 0:44:52- And a tiny little one.- 'Look at them! It's like finding buried treasure.'
0:44:52 > 0:44:57- In terms of success, I'm thrilled. I'm so happy.- You should be.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03With a basket full of top quality wild British truffles,
0:45:03 > 0:45:08Marion and her fellow trufflers have come to Langford Fivehead, an exclusive hotel
0:45:08 > 0:45:12run by celebrity chef and food writer, Orlando Murrin.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15To the truffle season that lies ahead.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18Orlando has a penchant for decadence and he's going to put Marion's
0:45:18 > 0:45:24truffles to the test by cooking up his favourite truffle recipe.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28Such strange and interesting things to cook with.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32I think they're the oddest thing in the kitchen.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35It's a kind of classic French dish in a way, but it's a modern take on it.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39Truffles have a flavour not too dissimilar from garlic blended
0:45:39 > 0:45:42with an earthy mushroomy taste.
0:45:42 > 0:45:47They do have a strange, haunting flavour that nothing else has.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50Orlando starts with some chopped garlic,
0:45:50 > 0:45:54shallots and mushrooms, which he softens in butter.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57He then adds a good glug of champagne.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59Next he places a sliced truffle under the chicken skin,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03strains the sauce and adds the remaining truffle.
0:46:03 > 0:46:09Just leave it off the heat now so that they get to know each other.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18We're now going to finish the champagne truffle sauce with
0:46:18 > 0:46:20some creme fraiche.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31Champagne and truffles, you can't get posher nosh than that.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34- Smells good.- Oh, wonderful!
0:46:34 > 0:46:35Tuck in.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38Makes it all worthwhile, doesn't it, Marion?
0:46:38 > 0:46:43The truffle is a winner and Orlando agrees to add Marion to his list of suppliers.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47And with British truffles making a comeback in recent years,
0:46:47 > 0:46:49between them, aficionados like Marion, Paul
0:46:49 > 0:46:52and Orlando are confident
0:46:52 > 0:46:56they can keep these culinary gems on our menus.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58Ah, shame Mufty doesn't get any!
0:46:58 > 0:47:02With all this talk of luxury, we thought we'd pay a homage to a wild
0:47:02 > 0:47:07ingredient that you can find pretty much everywhere in the country.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10Our final recipe is a pudding that's made with a wild fruit
0:47:10 > 0:47:14we've probably all had a go at picking -
0:47:14 > 0:47:16the humble blackberry.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19We're going to make an amazing steamed apple and blackberry
0:47:19 > 0:47:25sponge pudding, with a blackberry sauce. It's berry-berry nice!
0:47:25 > 0:47:28This pudding's brilliant. It's a steamed pud and the sugar turns to syrup,
0:47:28 > 0:47:33but the lovely thing about it is you've got apples built into the body of your sponge,
0:47:33 > 0:47:36and it's got this mountain of blackberries sitting on top.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39I'm going to make a lovely, jammy coulis thing to dribble on the top.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43It's an event. You didn't pick THOSE blackberries off a bush, did you?!
0:47:43 > 0:47:47I was just thinking - you see these blackberries?
0:47:47 > 0:47:49If you found a blackberry bush close by where you live,
0:47:49 > 0:47:55and you found those on them, you'd kill for it, wouldn't you?
0:47:55 > 0:47:58But that's what we just found this morning when we were out foraging.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02- Down the fruit wholesaler's place. - Can't win 'em all.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05We're busy, you know! Cooking stuff for you.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12'You start with the usual thing when making sponges -
0:48:12 > 0:48:17'blend together 150g of butter, and 150g of golden caster sugar.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23'To this, we add the zest of a lemon.'
0:48:23 > 0:48:29If the butter's hard, just knock it about the bowl a bit with a wooden spoon,
0:48:29 > 0:48:34and once it's softened slightly, take it over to the mixer and blitz it there.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39Meanwhile, I need three eggs in a bowl, lightly whipped.
0:48:39 > 0:48:44'The first mention of any sort of sponge was a "sponge cake",
0:48:44 > 0:48:49'referred to in a letter written by Jane Austen in 1808.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53'Sponge pudding, which is steamed,
0:48:53 > 0:48:55'arrived at the end of the 19th century.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05'They're both made with the same basic ingredients of eggs and flour,
0:49:05 > 0:49:07'which allows the mixture to rise.'
0:49:09 > 0:49:14It was like a seminal moment in the world of baking and pudding making
0:49:14 > 0:49:17when people first decided and realised
0:49:17 > 0:49:20that eggs could be used as a raising agent.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22First off, whisking half the eggs.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28Then, whisking half the flour.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31Then, the other half of your eggs.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33And by adding it kind of bit by bit,
0:49:33 > 0:49:35you kind of ensure that it's not going to split.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38That means, kind of go all curdly.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45'Now, for the Bramley apples.'
0:49:45 > 0:49:51Skin 'em, core 'em, and cut 'em into cubes of about two centimetres.
0:49:51 > 0:49:55These are nice big appley chunks, that just sit in the duvet of sponge.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Meanwhile, I'll prepare the pudding basin.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06Butter a basin, put a disc of greaseproof paper in the bottom.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10It sits there, and stops a seal being formed between the pudding and the basin.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13That'll let you get your pudding out without it sticking.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18There's nothing worse, after all the cooking, all the baking,
0:50:18 > 0:50:20all the foraging,
0:50:20 > 0:50:24than getting your pudding stuck and it comes out looking like a cobbler.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27And you put these...into there.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29When the sponge cooks,
0:50:29 > 0:50:33there's going to be quite a lot of liquid comes out the Bramleys.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39'Blackberries are our classic foraged ingredient.'
0:50:40 > 0:50:43Now, this is the lovely Hairy Biker tricksy-twisty bit.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47Just put the little kind of flanks
0:50:47 > 0:50:50of blackberries on the bottom of the bowl.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54And obviously when we pop the pudding out,
0:50:54 > 0:50:58they're going to be like proud little soldiers standing on the top.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01There you are, look. Nicely packed in the bottom.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03We reserve this to make a sauce for the top.
0:51:06 > 0:51:09That goes in.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11- There's over 2,000 varieties of blackberry...- Is there?
0:51:11 > 0:51:16..and it's said that the blackberry leaves purify your blood.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19Every year we used to go out blackberrying with my mother,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22and she'd make blackberry and apple pies.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24Bramble jelly was always a favourite. That was lovely.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27It was just like thin, thin jam.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30But the thing about foraging is, it is seasonal.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34And you can actually define the seasons by what you're eating.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38Because we've got big hunks of apple in it, we're just going to
0:51:38 > 0:51:40tamper the mixture down a little bit.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47The mixture will expand, so take some greaseproof, put a pleat on.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50'Then, wrap it over the pudding bowl.'
0:51:50 > 0:51:52Put the foil on...
0:51:54 > 0:51:59'Then do the same thing with a layer of pleated foil, to seal it up.'
0:51:59 > 0:52:02The pleat will allow the paper and the foil to expand,
0:52:02 > 0:52:04so it's not simply going to split and pop off.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09'Tricky bit this - tie the foil in place with some string,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11'leaving a bit left over to make a handle.'
0:52:13 > 0:52:15That's given us a nice little handle,
0:52:15 > 0:52:17to drop our pudding into the pan.
0:52:17 > 0:52:24Now, you notice in the pan we've put an upturned flan ring.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26That's like a trivet to rest the pudding on.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29You can use an upturned saucer. It's just so that this bottom
0:52:29 > 0:52:31doesn't rest on the bottom of the pan and catch.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33So you pop that on there,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36pop your pudding in, sitting nice on the trivet.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38Then pour water in,
0:52:38 > 0:52:42up to about two or three centimetres short of the top of the basin.
0:52:43 > 0:52:48'Set it on a low simmer and allow it to bubble away for an hour and half.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50Keep an eye on it check it doesn't boil dry,
0:52:50 > 0:52:53'or else it'll ruin your pudding, and your pan.'
0:52:54 > 0:52:56That gives us time to make the sauce.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00'It's a simple sauce, made with
0:53:00 > 0:53:03'blackberry jam and whole blackberries.'
0:53:03 > 0:53:05Don't worry about those little stalks,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08because we're going to sieve this off before we serve it.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11'Take the rest of the lemon,
0:53:11 > 0:53:14and squeeze out the juice into the fruit mix.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19And these Amalfi lemons - they're like the caviar of the lemon world.
0:53:19 > 0:53:24Beautiful, aren't they? That quintessentially Mediterranean sunshine in a lemon.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27I know it's cheating, but we British, we're a nation of traders.
0:53:27 > 0:53:32And it's just the thing you need after a cold day out foraging for your blackberries.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34This is nice, cos it's sweet-sour.
0:53:34 > 0:53:41But we need to cook this until these blackberries are soft. They're still quite hard,
0:53:41 > 0:53:45so let's just cook them down for a little bit further.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50'Stir over a low heat for six to eight minutes.'
0:53:50 > 0:53:54Look at the deep, red colour that that is.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56So lovely, so autumnal. Just lush.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05- I think they're just about ready, mate.- Aye. They've disintegrated.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08I'll get the basin, sieve those off.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15'Press the mixture through a sieve and into a bowl.'
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Look at that. It's fabulous, isn't it?
0:54:21 > 0:54:25'Taste the sauce, and add more sugar or lemon as you prefer.'
0:54:25 > 0:54:27Right, that's perfect. Ooh, yeah.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31Big, big flavour of fruit, blackberries.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34But it's sweet-sour, it's like sherbet, isn't it?
0:54:34 > 0:54:37Oh, yes. Epic.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43'All that's left now is to wait for the pud to cook.'
0:54:46 > 0:54:49- The moment of...- Cor, look at that!
0:54:49 > 0:54:52There's pressure under there, Kingy.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56See that? That's stretching like Nell Gwyn's bodice. Isn't it?
0:54:58 > 0:55:02If this was a bosom, it would heave, wouldn't it?
0:55:02 > 0:55:04All that chemistry's happened in that pan.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06- Should we unleash the beast? - I think so.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10There's something that's always exciting
0:55:10 > 0:55:13about unpacking your pudding, isn't there?
0:55:13 > 0:55:15Has it worked, has it happened, and will it come out?
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Oh, that is epic, man!
0:55:22 > 0:55:25Beautiful.
0:55:34 > 0:55:39- Hey. Go ahead. - This is the tricky bit, isn't it?
0:55:39 > 0:55:41Right, danger's over.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45Yeah. It's coming.
0:55:46 > 0:55:48Apple chunky... Yes!
0:55:48 > 0:55:52Look at that. That's beautiful.
0:55:52 > 0:55:58Now, THAT is an apple and blackberry steamed sponge pudding.
0:55:59 > 0:56:04Now, this is what we like to refer to as the Vesuvius moment.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21It's just screaming out for cream.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23Or ice cream. Or home-made custard.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28That... is flippin' lovely.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41Bit of sauce on there, like that.
0:56:41 > 0:56:42And now...
0:56:44 > 0:56:45Oh, yes!
0:56:47 > 0:56:49Got to get the berries off the top, haven't you?
0:56:53 > 0:56:55- It's absolutely gorgeous. - It's great, isn't it?
0:56:55 > 0:56:59What's lovely is the sweetness of the sponge pudding,
0:56:59 > 0:57:03it's offset by the Bramleys. It's quite a grown-up pudding, this.
0:57:03 > 0:57:05It is. And there's that lovely level of acidity
0:57:05 > 0:57:08from the blackberries and the Amalfi lemon. Really nice.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12That is a forager's success.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18'It's brilliant to think that with a few berries found in a hedgerow
0:57:18 > 0:57:21'can completely transform a simple sponge like this.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26'And, if you have any sauce or berries left over,
0:57:26 > 0:57:29'you can freeze them for another day.'
0:57:33 > 0:57:36Wild food is a revelation.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39Some of it might take a leap of faith,
0:57:39 > 0:57:44but a whole new world of cooking possibilities are opened up, and it really is exciting stuff.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47- Oop, there's one. - There they go. Look at them!
0:57:47 > 0:57:50What could be more "Best of British" than the grub
0:57:50 > 0:57:52that grows wild in our land?
0:57:52 > 0:57:54Food that our very ancestors ate.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58Ancient seafood with a modern twist.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02Luxurious ingredients and humble fruity desserts.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06But most important of all, foraging in the great outdoors
0:58:06 > 0:58:08is just brilliant fun!
0:58:08 > 0:58:11You'll always have to be careful, but it's in our blood.
0:58:11 > 0:58:16It's delicious, healthy... and out there waiting for you.
0:58:18 > 0:58:23Visit:
0:58:23 > 0:58:27to discover some amazing facts about the history of food.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30And to find out how to cook up tonight's recipes.
0:58:55 > 0:58:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:56 > 0:58:58E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk