Fish Hairy Bikers' Best of British

WE believe Britain has the best food in the world!

'Our glorious country hosts some fantastic ingredients...'

Start eating it, will you?

It's home to some amazing producers...

My goodness gracious. That is epic, isn't it?

..and innovative chefs.

But our islands also have a fascinating food history.

The fish and chip shops of South Wales are running out of chips.

BOTH: Yes!

'And in this series, we're uncovering

'revealing stories of our rich culinary past...'

Now, there is food history on a plate.

-COW MOOS

-..as well as meeting our nation's food heroes,

who are keeping this heritage alive.

Let's have them enjoying themselves.

It's a short life. Best make it a happy one, like they've always had.

And of course we'll be cooking up a load of dishes

that reveal our foodie evolution.

Spring, summer, autumn or winter. Brilliant.

BOTH: Quite simply the best of British!

We Brits are blessed to live on an island that is

surrounded by some of the best waters,

filled by some of the best fish and seafood in the world.

Yeah, gurnard, huss, pouting, mackerel, pilchard, whiting,

brill, grey mullet, red mullet, Dover sole, lemon sole,

-megrim, John Dory.

-Pollock.

-Yes, the list is endless and quite delicious.

Yes, there's so much more to British fish

than that certain deep-fried delicacy

commonly served with chipped potatoes.

So, today's show is all about celebrating the great diversity

of aquatic delights we have in our reach.

We'll be exploring their influence on our culture...

And their role in shaping our native cuisine.

Well, we couldn't not include our national dish, now, could we?

Fishing has been part of British food culture

since the first humans walked on our island shores.

These days, there are fears about our depleting fish stocks,

but we consumers can help by expanding our culinary horizons.

So, to kick things off, we're heading down to the Isle of Wight,

where the waters are teeming with a wide range of fish species

that aren't regularly seen on our plates, despite being good eating.

We Brits have been, well, a bit unadventurous at times

when it comes to all things fishy.

So, we're here to meet a fisherman who's passionate

about some of the lesser-known varieties.

Mike Curtis is the skipper of the Shooting Star.

And he's offered to take us out for a morning's fishing.

Morning, fellas.

Hi, guys, how you getting on? All right?

-Come aboard.

-Thank you very much.

Mind the step.

As well as the boat, Mike runs a busy fishmonger's,

selling his catch of the day to the lucky locals.

He sells a wonderful variety - everything from skate

and gurnard to seabass and Dover sole,

caught straight from his boat.

Mike, how long have you been fishing?

My dad took me fishing 1966, instead of watching the World Cup.

I've never forgiven him since!

About eight or nine years ago, we moved to the Isle of Wight

and I bought this boat, and we've been fishing since.

Right.

'If you're a fisherman these days, not only do you need a broad range

'of fish, you need to catch it sustainably.

'And the Shooting Star is just the ticket.

'The nets have a large mesh, which only catches the bigger

'and older fish, allowing the immature ones to escape.

'This prevents overfishing

'and also means unwanted species can be thrown back.'

There's a stingray.

-And what will you do with him? Just put him back?

-Yeah.

-Brilliant.

'That's if you can catch the slippery fellas.'

See? Off he goes.

'In no time, the right sort of catch is coming in.'

-That's what we're after, really. Dover sole.

-Oh, lovely!

'Sole is a classic, fried up in lemon butter.'

-Oh, that's a beautiful, beautiful fish.

-I bet that's tasty.

Oh, they're coming now.

That's a wrasse.

-'Ooh! Ideal in a stew!'

-Wa-hey!

'You don't often see these types on the shelves,

'but variety is what Mike's work is all about.'

-Now, this is a baby.

-A lobster!

-THEY CHEER

-That's a beauty!

So, Mike, are there any varieties that are more prevalent than others?

Yeah, this time of year, we get a lot of smooth-hounds here.

Which is, when we skin it up, and it's sold as huss, rock salmon?

You know, it's a really popular fish.

But it's sort of gone out of favour somewhat.

'And it's not long before we meet one, face-to-face.'

-Huss!

-Huss!

'The name "huss" covers a whole range of species.

'It's also known as rock salmon

'and used to be a favourite down the chippy, as rock and chips.'

As a cook, it's a fish I like, because when it's fresh, it's tasty,

but you get nice, big steaks of fish, don't you?

Absolutely, you know,

and 20 years ago, monkfish was used as pot bait.

'Because of its popularity, some types of huss, like spurdog

'and spiny dogfish have become endangered.

'But there are a whole load of varieties with brilliant names,

'like starry smooth-hound

'and lesser-spotted dogfish, that are plentiful.

'And perfectly sustainable

'for a small boat like the Shooting Star to catch.'

Do you know what I love about day boats?

You know that the fish you get is absolutely dead fresh.

We catch for the shop.

When I've got enough for the shop, we stop fishing.

So in terms of sustainability, and for the consumer,

they're getting a product you can't possibly get any fresher

unless you went and caught it yourself.

'In fact, Mike's approach has a lot in common with how we used to fish.

'This boat might be high-tech, but it has a low impact on fish stocks.

'In the age of sail, wooden fishing boats were restricted

'by the weather to shallower waters, and catches were

'much smaller, with boats staying at sea for shorter periods of time.'

As they became steam and diesel powered, they could go further

out to sea and target deeper water varieties like cod and haddock.

Metal hulls allowed bigger boats to land much bigger catches.

By the '70s, there were super-trawlers on the seas -

giant, floating factories that could catch and process

incredible amounts of fish.

But nature couldn't quite keep up.

Some accounts say that stocks of larger varieties like cod

could have declined by a terrifying 90% since 1950,

but it's as much down to what we choose to eat

as what the industry catches.

And for Mike, getting us to try new things

is what it's all about, so, with the catch sorted,

it's time to head back to shore and inspect the goodies.

That's quite a selection box of fine fish, Mike.

Yeah, it's great for the shop. We've got a nice range of fish here.

We've got some nice grey mullet...

-Black bream.

-Bream.

-Lovely.

-Lovely on the barbecue, those.

-A beautiful fish.

-Nicely grilled.

-Obviously, the money fish -

-Dover sole. Look at that.

-Dover sole.

-That's quite fresh, isn't it?

And this is what we targeted today. This is huss.

Once it's been skinned off,

you can see why it's called rock salmon. It's got that...

Oh, it's beautiful. Firm flesh. Beautiful.

It's so versatile, what you can do with it.

You know, you can roll it, stuff it with stuff,

you can put Parma ham on the outside

and have it like you would a monkfish.

It is lovely. What I like about it, it's a real easy eat, isn't it?

It's not a bone-fest, and it's not a fiddle.

Within half an hour, Mike's fish are ready for sale at his shop.

And he's invited us down the road to a local restaurant,

so we can get stuck into some huss ourselves.

Now, the best bit - the taste test.

Tell you what, that fishing has given me an appetite.

Absolutely, man. Me too.

-I hope so.

-Yeah.

-Oh, here it comes.

BOTH: Ohhh!

-Nice.

-Ah, brilliant. Thank you.

That looks lush.

Oh, my word.

Marvellous.

Here we have another British classic. Look at that.

Huss, parsley sauce...

-What's not to love?

-Fantastic. Look at that.

It's a real proper steak of fish, isn't it?

Look at the flake on that.

-Fantastic.

-And not a bone to be found.

Oh, that is gorgeous, man.

'It's a foodie delight,

'and this is something that would get chucked from other boats.'

-I'll tell you what I like - the price.

-Portion like that,

probably cost you £1.50 in the shop.

-Fantastic.

-Oh, wow.

-It's lovely.

It's the sort of meal that my mother would say to you,

-"Eat that, son, and you'll live for ever."

-Yeah.

It's lovely.

'So next time you're hankering after a fish supper,

'why not try something a bit different, like Mike's huss?

'It's local, sustainable and delicious.'

And our fishy friends are also very versatile,

so first up in our Best Of British kitchen,

we're going to combine three British classics.

-Number one.

-Fish.

-Number two.

-Mustard.

-Number three.

-Curry.

And there's no better representation of this

than a good old Bengali fish curry.

What's not to love?

It's fish, it's onions, it's mustard seeds,

it's cumin, it's....

-It's all sorts of gorgeous.

-It's a fiesta on your tonsils.

-It is, mate, it is.

-It's brill.

What's special about a Bengali fish curry is, traditionally,

it's flavoured with mustard oil. But we're not using mustard oil,

but we've done the workings out and the balance

so that it tastes like a proper Bengali curry,

but it's using good old English mustard.

And don't forget, English mustard is English, and it's mustard.

-Aye. And our mustard is frighteningly hot.

-It is.

And they say the English food's boring!

In the 15th century, Tewkesbury in Britain was noted

-for its blazing-hot mustard.

-MIMICS FANFARE

And it's a widely used spice throughout the country,

so don't forget that. It's quintessentially British.

It is, it is. And now the curry is.

And the thing is, there are more than 500,000 people

of Bengali or Bangladeshi extraction in our country.

And out of the 8,500 or so curry houses in Britain,

7,000 of them are run by people

from West Bengal and Bangladesh, so it's dead British.

We are using line-caught seabass for a more sustainable choice,

but this recipe goes well with any meaty whitefish.

In Bengal, they would traditionally use big, thick steaks of whitefish,

stuff like kingfish or shark.

The main thing is, it's the mustard flavour, the green chilli.

It's bouncing. I'm just cutting this in a jaunty angle,

about 7cm pieces, like so.

A teaspoon of salt.

(Big one.)

And about half a teaspoon of chilli powder

and half a teaspoon of good old English mustard, and actually,

powdered mustard was first developed

and perfected by a lass from Durham.

-Aye. Mrs Clements, I believe.

-Mrs Clements from Durham!

HE GIGGLES

It's great, isn't it? Food history's brilliant.

So, you know, the Bengalis might have their mustard oil,

but we've got Mrs Clements from Durham,

who's kind of responsible for powdered mustard

that blows your taters off.

She was the first person successfully able to dry the seed.

And she got a royal warrant from George I.

Yes, she did, she did.

Lots of freshly ground black pepper.

It's funny, this comes out as quite a nice, mild, mellow curry,

but by what goes in it, you would never guess.

Just rub that together. Just sprinkle it on the fish.

It's quite potent, so don't worry about there not being enough.

But handle the fish carefully with curry.

You know, there's nothing worse than a fish curry

where the fish is just broken up and goes to nothing.

Could you put us four tablespoons of oil in there, Si?

No worries, yeah.

Each piece of fish is going to be a diamond of flavour.

We're going to set this aside,

but this is the mustard powder we're talking about.

So you take two teaspoons of mustard powder...

and 300ml of water.

All you do, just make a paste initially,

and then gradually add the water, and what we're doing is,

we're making, in essence, mustard-water,

which goes into the curry at a later date.

And again, it's just that base flavour.

-It's really aromatic, isn't it?

-It's brilliant, it's brilliant.

Now, I'm ready to cook the fish.

Start out by cooking the pieces of fish, skin-side down,

for about a minute on that side, then a minute on the other side.

Then we set the fish aside. We crack on with the curry,

but we add the fish at the last minute.

With a fish curry, you've got to have integrity in the flavours.

That's why you don't need to marinate the fish for ages.

You don't want to overpower the wonderful fresh-fish taste.

Look at that. There's nothing lovelier than seeing fish

fry in the pan, is there? It's great.

Now, that's done, so I'm going to turn this over gently.

Oh, yes.

I think I'm there, mate, do you?

Oh, beautiful, Dave, beautiful.

That oil is now infused with fishiness.

That's the base flavour that we're looking for.

To the hot oil, add a teaspoon of yellow mustard seeds

and half a teaspoon each

of black mustard seeds and cumin seeds.

Oh, it's popping like a good 'un, isn't it?

And what we're going to do is just push that round,

and that's what you want - you want it to pop,

because that means that all of those little pods of gorgeousness

are releasing their flavour. Then, we're going to add the onions.

We waste no flavours in this whatsoever.

It's all about recycling flavours,

about building the dish bigger and bigger and bigger.

And then we just put some chillies in there as well.

Leave the seeds in. Have you seen what we've done?

We've just kind of halved them

right down the middle, right down the centre. Get those in...

And then we add a bay leaf.

Add salt and cook for five minutes

until the onion is soft and lightly golden.

Add half a teaspoon of garam masala...

..and half of turmeric.

Get in.

Give that a stir.

Now, we put in some tomatoes.

There's, like, a couple of small tomatoes here.

I've got about 1½ tomatoes. Should be 150g.

And cook that for a couple of minutes.

Now, we did some mustard-water.

What we're going to do, we're going to add that now to the frying pan,

and all those lovely ingredients.

At this point, we do have to ask you to bear with us,

because I can see you sitting at home thinking,

"That's like the same mustard that I put on my ham sandwich.

"You're having that with seabass? Are you Radio Rentals?"

-No, we're not. Bear with us. It's belting.

-It is.

And what were going to do is,

-were going to reduce that liquid by a third.

-Mmm.

When your sauce is at a simmer,

look out for the bubbles around the side of the pan.

Small ones mean your sauce is reducing nicely.

Right, and just place the fish in gently.

Don't want to break the fish up.

Not making fish soup, it's a fish curry.

Beautiful. And now we just spoon that over the fish.

We're going to serve the curry in this bowl,

we're going to serve the rice in that one,

and that's nice, that is.

It's a nice way to present it, cos it looks great.

It just looks like you've taken a bit more care.

Should we put some coriander with that as well?

Yeah, and let's put a green chilli.

Not for eating, it just lets people know what's going on in there.

I tell you what, Kingy,

there's something really special about this fish curry.

It's light, and it has just enough chilli to give it a kick,

but not so much that it blows your socks off.

Ohhh! I love you.

Yes. Thanks.

-No, no, no - the curry.

-Oh.

-A bit of rice with that.

-Oh, man.

That's fabulous. That is beautiful.

The seabass just sits really well with it.

And it is quite a light curry.

It's spicy, but not in the sense that chilli is hot.

-It's a warming, lovely, spiced curry.

-Yeah, it doesn't taste of mustard.

It tastes of fragrant heat, and it's not too hot,

even with those two massive chillies.

And the nice thing is, the way we've cooked the fish,

it's still really sweet seabass.

-Underneath all that, it hasn't been destroyed or dominated.

-Mmm.

Mmm.

# I got a fish in my dish... #

And there it is - our British take on a Bengal curry.

Oh, look at that, man - it's a FIN of beauty.

Here in Britain, fish has not only played

an important part in our cuisine,

the industry that grew up around it has helped shape our culture.

And somewhere that can be seen clearly

is on the River Teifi in south-west Wales.

Where, being sensible Welshman,

they don't catch fish the hard way...

..wearing Speedos and carrying an oversized lacrosse stick.

Oh, no. Their attitude to fishing is a little more refined.

This oddly-shaped craft might look like an upturned strawberry punnet,

but it has served the people of Carmarthenshire well

for generations.

# Cruising down the river... #

A century ago, some 300 coracles would have fished these waters.

Most families would have had one,

and the entitlement to fish was passed from father to son.

And even in the 1950s,

they were still a common sight on the River Teifi.

'In certain parts of Wales, one of the oldest and most primitive

'type of boat is still in daily use - the coracle.

'The ancient Britons used them

'to travel on the rivers and even on the sea,

'and today, they are made almost exactly

'as they were then, 2,000 years ago.'

The coracle is believed to be the oldest fishing vessel

in the world, and makes catching salmon look downright easy.

'This is the salmon net,

'drawn slowly along between two coracles

'and hauled in whenever they think the fish is caught.

'There, he is - a fine, fresh salmon.

'Not particularly large,

'but worth quite a lot of money on the fishmonger's slab.'

The craft was so stable and manoeuvrable,

you could even fish in a shirt and tie.

Or kitted out in the full national attire!

But the fact that the coracle was so efficient for the task

meant that, as salmon numbers dwindled,

the river couldn't sustain too many, and by the 1970s,

coracle men became a dying breed.

'Jack Jones, coracle fisherman and aged 74.

'He's fished with a coracle all his life.

'Once, there were some 13 pairs of coracles

'working this part of the river.

'But under a bylaw passed in 1932,

'the licences by which the coracle men were allowed to fish

'were made to run only during the fisherman's lifetime.'

Happily, from 1976, new licences did start to be issued,

but with only 12 per year and with very restricted conditions.

And with the coracles saved from extinction,

telly types like John Noakes

couldn't wait to get out and have a go.

There's something I must tell you about the coracle too.

The pointy part is always the front end of the boat.

A coracle is different, and the pointy part

is the back part of the boat,

and having said that, they actually go sideways.

The paddling action is a shallow figure-of-eight movement.

The effective stroke is a down-stroke.

The backstroke stops you from spinning around.

-They're quite manoeuvrable, really, aren't they?

-They are.

By gum. You could get dizzy on one of these.

Thankfully, a few stalwarts still fish using them, making Wales

one of the few places in the world where the tradition lives on.

And our affection for the simple but perfectly formed coracle

is just as strong today as it's always been.

'There's no need for docks or boathouses.

'If you're a coracle owner,

'just lift it out of the water when you finish your day's work,

'put it on your back and walk home.

'And there they go,

'looking like a couple of long-legged tortoises.

'But a link, nevertheless, with very ancient times.'

Some people are put off preparing their own fish

because it looks messy and complicated,

but we're going to alleviate those fears

with a beginners' guide to filleting our great British fish.

And you look at that and you think,

"Ooh, look at that kind of plate of reptiles.

"What do I do?"

Well, it's quite easy, you see.

First off, the mackerel.

Now, mackerel is what you would call a round fish,

as opposed to plaice, which is a flatfish.

So what I would do is, I'd make my first incision down there,

and this will come off, hopefully, into fillets.

So cut down the spine.

You want all the meat to come off on the fillets.

You don't want the flesh to be left on the bone.

I think that's a waste of food and it's also disrespecting

the creature that has died so you can have your dinner.

You can hear the bones as you go.

I've reached the gills, so cut there,

and that's one fillet of mackerel.

-Beautiful.

-Pretty damn tidy. So now, we turn it over.

And go down there.

And just pop that off there.

So there we've got the two fillets of mackerel,

and really, there's very little on there.

We've got two lovely fillets of fish off there.

But trout, like mackerel, you will have a line of bones down there.

You need to pin-bone them.

So, one tip is, take a bowl, put your fish over there,

and look - it pops up like a little hedgehog's back.

Take the tip of your knife

and just put those bones out one by one.

There you are - filleted and boned mackerel.

Thank you. Let's have a look at Mr Turbot.

One of my favourite fishes.

So what we need to do first is to establish the lateral line,

the spine, so we make a cut down there

and I can feel the bone.

Once you've got down to the tail,

just put your fingers in and you can see the flesh.

Keep the knife flat on the ribs like that,

and just keep slicing it, like so.

Just take it there behind the gill and cut that off there.

-Beautiful.

-Now, the big fillet.

Cut behind the gills, little bone there.

And fish like turbot's so expensive,

-you really don't want to waste any of it.

-SCRAPING

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

If you want to skin this,

put your knife flat and kind of just see-saw the knife

through, flat to the board...

..and off the skin pops, leaves the fish. Perfect.

Now, turn it over, and like a fishy samurai,

repeat the process on the other side.

All of these carcasses are still full of flavour,

so as long as you take the gills out,

you can make fantastic bouillabaisse, you can make

a really, really good fish stock, everything is used.

-Nothing goes to waste.

-But you must take the gills out.

For years, I often wondered why my fish stock was appalling,

and it was the fact I tried to make stock with the gills in.

-And you end up...it ends up being very sour.

-And bitter.

There's a real bitterness to it that's awful.

Mr Turbot! Little turbot, that one.

Four nice fillets.

Well, that's how you fillet fish,

and hopefully not waste too much.

-Nicely done, mate, nicely done.

-Thank you.

Trawling for fish that is both plentiful and popular

in these troubled times is a tricky business.

There is still money to be made from the commercial fishing

of our traditional favourites, but with stocks under pressure,

many are looking elsewhere to survive.

And that's what fishermen Stefan Glinski has been doing,

and business is booming.

No cod or tuna for him - it's all about pilchards.

I started fishing when I was 16.

Every night is different.

No night is the same. It is not like going to your nine-to-five job.

There's so many variables in this job that change every day.

Getting in the catch takes a combination of modern technology

and traditional fishy know-how.

You got to look for signs like birds sitting on the water,

patches of oil.

You've got to know where the fish like to track,

what depth of line they're contouring on.

There's all sorts of other knowledge without the technical equipment

that you have to bring into play to be able to track the fish down.

Six miles off the coast of Newlyn, and after an hour at sea,

Stefan's spotted a shoal, and it's all hands on deck.

OK!

In the dark, Stefan's crew shoot the nets.

It's best to fish for pilchards in the dark, as during the day,

they can see the nets coming and they escape.

Ten fathoms.

Basically, we shot around a shoal of fish in a circle

and now we're closing up the net by pulling in on the purse rope,

which goes through the rings at the bottom of the net.

All right?

With the lights back on,

Stefan thinks this could be a five-tonne haul.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Oh, but there's still a lot of work to do.

Not yours till you put them in the quay, you've landed.

With the catch on board, it's time for the White Heather

to return to port and get the fish to the customers.

There was a time not so long ago,

when Stefan wouldn't have had a market for his bumper haul.

There are certain varieties that we all eat,

and there are those that have fallen out of fashion over the years.

The humble pilchard was once one of Britain's favourite fish,

and the glittering jewel of the nets of Cornish fishermen.

It was landed in enormous quantities,

and as well as being scoffed in huge amounts at home,

it was exported to countries like Italy,

where the Catholic population couldn't get enough of them

for their Friday meals.

In 1871, the industry hit the big time,

when an incredible 16,000 tonnes of pilchard were pulled from the sea,

salted and packed into barrels at Newlyn.

Which is one hell of a lot of fish!

It was a business that employed thousands of people, but as

refrigeration was introduced in the 1930s, fresher alternatives to

the salty pilchard became available, and tastes started to change.

Eventually, no-one wanted the tomato-y tinned horror

that supermarkets were peddling as pilchards any more.

By 1998, less than seven tonnes of them were landed.

Pilchards had all but disappeared from our tables.

But in recent years, this modest little fish has made

an incredible culinary comeback, reborn as the Cornish sardine.

It was all started by Cornish entrepreneur Nick Howell.

We tried selling fresh pilchards to the British supermarket.

Absolutely no interest whatsoever.

And it was a bit of luck

that one of the major supermarket suppliers asked

if I could get some sardines for them from Brittany.

And I actually sent them a box of fresh Cornish pilchards.

Now, pilchard is sardina pilchardus, that's the species.

The pilchard is a sardine.

The idea of a pilchard, and the image, is tinned, tomato sauce,

and of course the image of sardines is barbecues, sunshine.

It's a much brighter image as a Cornish sardine,

so that's where it started going.

Over the last decade, he's taken a fish that no-one wanted

and transformed it into a fashionable treat.

Using the great British art of reinvention,

the pilchard is once more in the hearts of consumers.

Getting the pilchard back on track was about giving it a fresh start

and a bit of a makeover.

And as well as being tasty, it isn't bad for the environment, either.

The size of the Cornish stock,

you're talking between 600-800,000 tonnes,

So with us taking 2,400,

we've got a long way to go before we have much of an impact,

but lovely to see just how a name-change has taken off

just on one noble little fish from Cornwall,

and how it is now registered as a Cornish sardine.

Every year, Newlyn holds a festival to celebrate

the region's world-class ingredients and fishing heritage.

And the pilchard...

Ahem - Cornish sardine.

..takes pride of place.

There's nothing finer for the barbecue, even if it is

chucking it down.

I like them so much, I've come all the way here

just to get this in a storm.

It's worth it. It's brilliant.

They are about as fresh as you can get without a wetsuit and a snorkel.

Cornish sardines nowadays - but pilchards to me...

..and they're absolutely lovely.

Mmm! Delicious.

The future of Cornish fish is always looking upwards,

and the sky's the limit.

So next time you're at the fish counter,

remember that in buying a Cornish sardine, you'll be helping revive

an industry that was almost wiped out.

But dragged back from the brink by these best-of-British food heroes.

And what better way to celebrate its return to our dinner plates,

then our next recipe? It's our take on a true British classic.

Sometimes, one we've been out combing a beach, we come back

for our supper and there's nothing better than sardines on toast.

Yes, we open a tin...

-No, we don't.

-No?

-That's the thing. It's our sardines on toast.

The hairy bikers' sardines on toast.

Oh, yes. Ours are served on toasted sourdough bread,

slathered with mustard butter and served with a red onion pickle.

Now, these are as they would be, coming from the sea,

and they're full of guts. First up, you need to prepare the fish.

Start off with a knife at the back end.

Run it through there, very delicately,

and they're a soft thing, a sardine.

They're a delicate creature.

You don't want to rip that lovely flesh out.

Open it up, scrape out its little innards.

There's not much in there, but chances are,

when you buy them, it'll be done for you.

Next thing we do is take off its little heady-head.

So, lift the fin up there.

Behind the gills and chop.

And remember, if you're not up for doing this yourself,

you can always ask your fishmonger to do it for you.

But we say, why not give it a go?

It wouldn't be a good time to be a sardine, now, would it, really?

Not really. But I think he's past caring, this poor lad.

During World War II, sardines became like subsistence food.

You know, they were like real basic grub,

but it hasn't always been like that.

I mean, they're quite often thought to be gourmet food.

In fact, Oscar Wilde's son, Vyvyan Holland,

he formed a sardine appreciation society in 1935,

and the society continued, and it was thought that 1959,

was, in fact, a premier year for a vintage sardine.

-Really?

-So you get a can of 1959, you're on a winner!

Now, take that cut there to the tail.

Just start to open it. Now what you do is, you place it like so...

..and just press gently.

And this releases the backbone

from the meat.

Just cut the spine...

..and start to pull.

And if you're gentle, all the bones come out...

..and they leave all the meat beautifully intact on the fillet.

'To give the finished dish that gourmet look,

'make sure you leave the tail on.'

Just check for bones there, and that's...

..a butterflied sardine.

-Two of those would just blanket the toast beautifully.

-Oh, yes.

'Finally, slice a red onion and cook over a medium heat

'for four to five minutes.'

OK, a little top tip for you.

What you do is just add a little bit of salt to the onions

while they're cooking.

What happens is, the salt draws out the natural sugars and moistures

from the onions.

And what we're doing is, we just want these onions to be soft.

Once your onions are done,

add two tablespoons of red wine vinegar and one of caster sugar.

Now, what we're trying to do here, we don't want the brine.

So just drain that off...

And if you like more capers, guess what? Put a few more in.

-How long has that to cook for, Si?

-That's it now, man.

It's literally just a couple of minutes,

just to kind of get it through - and look what's happened, Dave.

It's lovely. It's just thickened there,

and it's kind of like that kind of chutney vibe.

Oh, it's lovely, yeah.

Now, I need some seasoned flour,

some pepper. I like pepper.

Some fine salt.

Dredge your sardine fillets in the seasoned flour.

Oh...

And the flavour of the fresh sardines is quite delicate,

isn't it? It's not overpowering.

It's a palatable fishy fish, isn't it?

Beautifully done, mate. Beautifully done.

Right, I'm not going to fry these till we're absolutely ready.

Put that there. I want some butter.

This has got to be the ultimate sardines on toast, hasn't it?

Oh, it's lovely, man. And it's such...

They're kind of pretty cheap, sardines, you know?

-Oh, yeah.

-Brilliant.

-It's a bit of a sardine bruschetta, isn't it?

-Indeed.

-You could posh it as much as you like.

Because sardines are a stronger-tasting fish,

you can afford to be a bit bolder with your flavours.

To 50g of softened butter, add two teaspoons of wholegrain mustard.

-Do you know what I reckon I'd have with this?

-What?

-Cider.

-Oh, yeah!

-Wouldn't it be perfect?!

Let the sardines fry for a minute on each side.

Whilst that's cooking, toast your bread,

slice a tomato and add a handful of chopped parsley

to the red onions.

That's going to wilt down, release its flavour....

Lovely. Oh, look at that. It smells beautiful, doesn't it?

Absolutely beautiful.

Once the sardines are ready, place them

onto some kitchen paper to get rid of the excess oil.

We Brits, you know, we do have a tradition for teatime savouries.

There are mushrooms on toast, beans on toast, gentleman's relish,

anchovy pate... We do like a bit of flavour, you know,

bit of spice in the afternoon.

-It's not all crumpets and cream, is it?

-No, it's not. It's not.

Now to assemble. Spread the toast with the mustard butter.

Layer on the tomatoes, then the sardines.

And finally, the warm red-onion pickle.

Ee, mate. Sardines on toast,

but as my mother never knew them.

-Yeah. The Hairy Bikers' way. Look at that.

-Sardines for the 21st century.

-And now for the acid test.

-Yeah!

TALKS UNINTELLIGIBLY THROUGH FOOD

That was a modern twist on a classic British savoury.

That's what I said!

But when it comes to the archetypal British fish dish,

there can be only one meal that comes top of our list.

Where and when did these good companions come together?

What genius arranged such a happy and satisfying meal?

Britons have been eating the mighty fish-and-chip supper

since the mid-19th century.

And today, we eat over a quarter of a billion portions every year.

That's almost four for each man, woman and child in the country.

With around 10,000 outlets,

the chip shop is the biggest takeaway restaurant in Britain.

But not many of them

can claim to be up to the standard of the chippy that beats them all.

Thornton in Lancashire is the proud home to the current holder

of the Best Fish And Chip Shop In Britain award.

Thanks to the inspired efforts of Alastair Horabin,

managing director of Seniors restaurant.

It's taken hard work, perseverance and some very early mornings.

The secret to Seniors' success? Quality ingredients.

Unlike most fish-and-chip shops that buy frozen fish,

Alastair buys his direct from the market.

We're at Fleetwood Fish Market this morning. It's 7.30, auction time.

There's plenty of fish on the market today.

It's something that we start our week with, our day with,

and it really sets us up for the week.

If we can buy fresh fish, good fish, top-quality fish

and put it into the restaurants, it's a great start to the week. It's fantastic.

For Alastair, it's not all about the usual cod and haddock.

His restaurant has a range of different locally-sourced fish

on the menu.

Like megrim,

a tasty flatfish, that's not all that common down the local chippy.

40, 60, 4.80, a fiver. 5.20.

40. 60. 5.80.

Six pound. 6.20. 20?

-Yes.

-20.

Alastair started going to the fish market with his dad

-when he was a young boy.

-Being at the Fleetwood Market

is part of me growing up, really, so it's a huge passion

and a huge part of our... of my life, really.

Fresh fish from Fleetwood is really what we're known for,

and the variety and the sustainability,

so, yeah, it's a huge benefit to buy the fish from the market.

-And today's catch is a good one.

-I'm very happy with that.

It's fantastic. It's a lucky morning.

Lemon sole, witches, megrims, and some monkfish,

so perfect for tonight.

Not only does shopping locally mean it's the freshest possible,

but Alastair's regular purchases go a little way to help keep

Fleetwood's ailing fishing fleet out on the waters.

At its height in the 1920s,

Fleetwood was home to one of the three major fishing ports

in Britain, with some 200 boats and employing around 3,000 people.

After some hard economic times and European squabbles over fish stocks,

the fishing fleet in Fleetwood was almost gone.

Now there are only a handful of small trawlers,

but their catch is still as tasty as ever.

But it's not just sourcing the right fish that makes the perfect

fish and chips. It's the spuds, too.

Alastair also sources these locally,

from just up the road, where they are grown,

washed, sorted and chipped, before being delivered straight to

the shop ready for the fryer.

With all the ingredients sorted, every step of the preparation

is closely monitored and controlled by Alastair.

This is our secret fish lair.

This is where we produce the nation's best fish.

With the fish hand-picked and filleted,

you need to get the right quality of batter to go with them.

The secret of a perfect batter is the thickness.

We like a nice, thin, light batter, similar to tempura.

We have the best fish. Why would you want to hide it with horrible,

thick, claggy, distasteful batter?

Early Victorian recipes for batter often used beer to make it lighter,

which gives it a strong, traditional flavour.

But Alastair is after the lightest of batter casings that doesn't

distract from the fresh flavour of his fish.

The way we do it, to make batter, is no measurements.

Just used to the feel and the touch.

There's no beer, no complications, no fuss, no mess.

Just purely plain flour and ice-cold water.

Just coat your finger till it's just coming off slightly.

Not thick and pappy and horrible.

That should be the perfect batter.

You can hear from the sizzle,

that batter's as light as an ant's slippers.

We're starting to get that nice colour now.

It's worked all the way through. There's no showing of fish,

and it's ready to be served.

But, of course, you can't have fish without chips

and they need just as much care and attention.

Like a posh restaurant, Alastair cooks them twice.

So when the chips are blanched, they'll be about 150 degrees,

so they'll be soft.

We take them all out into baskets and then, when the customers

are ready for the chips, we finish them in a hot pan, about 180 degrees.

The perfect consistency of the chip, I believe,

is soft on the inside, sweet and tasty

with a nice golden, crispy coating.

The holy trinity of fish and chips is completed

with a portion of mushy peas.

Lancashire caviar, I call them.

Perfectly steeped, nice and creamy

but you can still see the definition of the pea.

A perfect complement to fish and chips.

Despite all that attention to detail,

the real proof of quality with any food is in the eating.

And customers are the best judges around.

What will they make of his lesser-known megrim fish?

It's beautiful.

I thought it was lovely and meaty.

-It's the best I'VE tried, anyway.

-Yeah.

It deserves its award.

Yes, it's very good.

As far as we're concerned, they are Britain's best fish-and-chip shop.

Here Alastair Horabin has perfected the most traditional of British dishes,

giving it his own twist with new, exciting,

and - most importantly - sustainable ingredients.

Fish and chips, they're the nation's favourite,

but only the 250,000 portions that Alastair's chippy produces

every year can claim to be the best of British.

Fish and chips might be thought of as the nation's original fast food

but in the capital there was another dish that could be said to claim that honour.

And at the heart of it was the slippery snakelike eel.

It's no aquatic oil painting,

but it provided generations of Londoners with a quick, tasty meal.

Eels have been a delicacy in Britain since before the Middle Ages

and are still the Cockneys' Sunday treat in their jellied form.

# Jellied eels, jellied eels

# Woggling about like wonky wheels. #

Yes, this gelatinous delight was the traditional taste

of London's East End. Awight?

You didn't have to be a Pearly King or affected Dick Van Dyke accent

to enjoy them. But, it did help.

As you say, eels must be the most nutrimental food there is.

As well as being "nutrimental", eels were once so plentiful

in the Thames that the nets were set as far up river

as the capital itself.

And, along with the pies and oysters,

they were the original London street food.

Aye, and in 1844, long before the chippy took its place on our high streets,

the first of many eel, pie and mash shops appeared.

They quickly began to flourish

and spread across the East End of London, appealing to the poor

working classes, with their hot, cheap and nutritious meals.

Easy to digest. You'll never have an illness in your life.

The only trouble is they give you more mash than eels.

# Pie and mash and liquor and walking about in the rain. #

Eels were commonly sold alongside another East End delicacy,

pie, mash and liquor.

By the end of the Second World War,

there were as many as 100 eel, pie and mash shops across London.

While the Scotsman swears by his haggis,

the Lancastrian his hotpot, and the Yorkshireman his pudding,

for some in the East End of London,

life would hardly be worth living without pie and mash.

# That's what I like! #

Now, meat pies and eels don't immediately seem to go together

but the link, you see, is in the liquor.

This green liquor, now, this is obviously very important to have this right.

The thing is, there's a special secret thing about the liquor.

It's made only from the water in which you have stewed the eels.

It can only be made from that.

You know, ordinary water, forget it.

Eels were considered such a culinary treasure that even

West End restaurants got in on the action.

Here at Desmond's Palais de Pies, they've opened up to cater

for a slightly different brand of clientele.

It amuses the Knightsbridge group.

They say, "We've heard of this pie and mash,

"liquor and all that jazz, but we've never had it.

"What's it all about, you know?

"Daisy-doo, let's go and have a pie and mash in this place."

But most Cockneys would agree that eels are best eaten standing up.

One of the best places is down here in Aldgate at Tubby Isaac's store.

Tubby, somebody told me once that stewed eels were aphrodisiac.

Any truth in that?

Well, I wouldn't know so much about stewed eels, but jellied eels,

they've been known to be an aphrodisiac.

This was one of the things they blamed the high population in the East End of London.

One of our cries used to be, when we was flogging our wares in the old days was,

"Everyone's a baby, come and have a basin!"

Do you see a time ever coming, Tubby,

when jellied eels are going to be as expensive as oysters are now?

I think as long as they've got a bob or two in their pocket,

they are going to eat jellied eels.

But the eels' days as a plentiful source of food

are now a distant memory.

Fish stocks have fallen so low that today they're an endangered species.

So, sadly, jellied eels, and the eel and pie shop,

might be relegated to Britain's culinary past,

unless a more sustainable answer can be found in the future.

# There must be some kind of way out of here. #

We're sticking with our vintage fish theme, and next up,

in our Best Of British kitchen, is a dish that once adorned

many a '70s pub menu.

Like eels, whitebait used to be fished in huge quantities

in the muddy and polluted waters of the Thames.

So much so that in Greenwich, they were considered a native dish.

The deep-fried incarnation we know and love today

first came about during the 17th century,

appealing to both the working classes and the political elite,

who ate them in their millions.

But, there was a problem. Back then everyone assumed that

whitebait were a species of fish, distinct from any other,

but they were wrong.

-Do you know what, Kingy?

-What, dude?

These are the biggest blinking whitebait I've ever seen.

-IN POSH ACCENT: Rather large, old fruit!

-Yes.

But, you know what these are,

these are whitebait that have been allowed to grow into herring.

Because, really, whitebait isn't a species of fish,

it is, in fact, the fry. It's herring babies!

It is, herring babies and other varieties of fish, too.

Yeah, in fact, in the early 20th century

one man's plate of whitebait was analysed

and it had 32 species of fish!

And that's why we cannot really eat it.

Yeah, if we eat all the fish babies, there'll be nothing left

to breed for the future.

But the thing is, we've got a great recipe.

Oh, yes. We're going to swap the babies for the grown-ups

and make a sustainable and up-to-date version of the classic whitebait.

This is devilled herring with a vierge dipping sauce.

In some ways, I prefer it.

It's not so many eyes, not so many heads, not so many fins

and it's meaty bits.

You rebel!

But that idea, he can sit there, eat spicy little fish bits

in a tavern with a jug of ale, it's the same effect.

The thing is, though, I'm going to have to fillet all of these,

-cut them into strips, which gives you ample time to do absolutely everything else.

-OK.

A vierge, or a green sauce.

Now, the history about a green sauce, or the vierge,

is it's herbs that are from the garden.

It's whatever's in season. That's the whole thing about it.

-Everything except next-door's tomcat.

-Exactly that.

That may be in season, but don't put it in.

But what does go is two egg yolks,

two teaspoons of Dijon mustard,

one tablespoon...

..of white wine vinegar,

a pinch of salt. And...

..about half a teaspoon

of caster sugar. Then what we do...

We whizz it together because we want to start to add our sunflower oil

in the not-too-distant future, but before that happens,

those egg yolks need to go nice and light in colour.

Now, I've got half a dozen herring here.

We fillet them before we make our, kind of,

faux whitebait, herring fingers.

If you take your time with this,

there is quite a lot of good meat that comes off these herring.

What was it they used to call them in the old days? Silver Darlings.

You can see how this has gone a really light colour.

Now we're going to put the sunflower oil in.

Just take your time,

because, if you put it all in at once,

it's not going to emulsify with the other ingredients.

Once you've got a mayonnaise-type consistency,

you need to add one shallot, quartered,

and half a clove of garlic.

Then, prepare a good handful of parsley

and half that amount of mint, basil and tarragon.

The soft stalks of the tarragon I don't mind using.

The harder, woodier and thicker they are,

then you're going to have to strip the leaves off.

Do you know, Kingy, why they were called whitebait in the olden days?

No, I don't, actually, mate, no.

Well, it was because outside pubs people would say,

"Do you want some little fishes?"

And, a bloke would shout back,

"Yeah, all right, mate?"

And it became misheard as whitebait.

It's one of those strange Cockney things.

That is complete and utter nonsense!

Once you've got rid of the woody stalks, add the herbs to the mix,

along with a good tablespoon of drained baby capers,

one tablespoon of lemon juice

and a tablespoon or so of water,

just to get that spoonable consistency that we're looking for.

Now I'm left with a strip of meat,

and it's those strips of meat we're going to cut

into our, kind of, I suppose our tribute to whitebait.

Look at that. From a distance, with me glasses off,

that looks like whitebait.

Just so you can see the consistency that we're looking for,

I'm going to spoon this out into a glass bowl.

And a great way of just making sure that this is the proper consistency

for a little bit of a dipper, take the spoon,

dip it in, if it sticks and stays on the back of the spoon,

the job's a good 'un, you're there.

Right, that's the hard work done, a nice pile of pretend whitebait.

They just need to be washed to get any stray scales off.

Now the coating.

Into a bowl put six tablespoons of plain flour

and three tablespoons of semolina.

Let the devilment commence.

For this I've got English mustard powder,

the bright-yellow strong stuff.

And one big spoon of cayenne pepper.

Black pepper, ample,

and a teaspoon of salt.

Mix that up. It's a very fine balance.

You've got to have enough moisture on the fish

for the flour to stick, cos that's what's going to go crusty.

If the fish start to dry out, do rinse them off again

and just leave them to drain, but let's have a go.

Take a handful of them.

Pop them in the flour, give them a shake.

That's sticking beautifully.

Just place in hot fat.

It's about 180 degrees Celsius.

If you've got a deep-fat fryer, brilliant.

Just go for a couple of minutes until they're crispy.

Look, I think the fishes are starting to swim, aren't they?

Oh, yes.

Remember that you mustn't overcrowd the pan,

so you may have to do several batches to get yourself

a suitable mountain of crunchy fishiness.

What will happen... I don't know whether you noticed the oil,

but the oil tells you when the fish is ready

because when Dave put it in, it came up and was right bubbling away.

But now what's happening, all the fish has come to the surface

and look...

This is the colouring point.

Come on, you little fellows.

It's kind of fish with the yum factor of pork scratchings.

-And load them up.

-Perfect.

And a bit of the crowning glory.

Diamonds of the sea.

Our pretend whitebait, or a great alternative.

Yeah, they're a great fishy snack on your plate.

Now, have we got that whitebait sensation?

Yes, we have.

It is true that we have to safeguard our food

and things like whitebait, we've enjoyed for centuries.

We have to be a little bit more careful now

but, with a bit of clever thinking,

it's a way you can still have guilt-free pleasure.

I'll nibble to that!

-Mmm... Fancy a pint?

-Yeah.

Cor blimey!

-It's my round, I think, isn't it?

-Oh...

We bikers believe you can't get better than British fish.

Not only is there an amazing variety,

with something to suit every taste and pocket,

it's a huge part of our cultural heritage.

From lobster, in an exclusive restaurant,

to fried fish out of a newspaper.

Our culinary journey has led us to rediscover some old favourites...

..and explore new alternatives for the future.

And to find out how to cook the recipes in today's show, visit -

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