Food and the Empire Hairy Bikers' Best of British

We believe Britain has the best food in the world.

'Our glorious country boasts some fantastic ingredients.'

Start eating it, will you?

'It's home to 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.

'And in this series, we're uncovering revealing stories

'of our rich culinary past.'

There is food history on a plate.

'As well as meeting our nation's food heroes

'keeping this heritage alive.'

Let's have them enjoying themselves. It's a short life.

Let's make it a happy one.

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

'that reveal our foodie evolution.'

You've got to make it at home. It's brilliant.

BOTH: Quite simply, the best of British.

MOTORBIKE ENGINE ROARS

Look at all these spices!

They're some of the most important building blocks

of world-beating British cuisine.

And the main motivation behind the creation of the British Empire.

Spices were big money, and us Brits were prepared to wage war

and ultimately create the world's biggest empire to get our greedy hands on them.

Do you know, mate? Our spirit of adventure and appetite for spice

has got a lot to answer for.

Today's show is about the British Empire...

-and the way it's influenced the food we eat today.

-Yes.

Well, tally ho, Captain Myers.

SNORTS

'Although our Empire has been and gone,

'its culinary legacy still gives us Brits

'something to be very proud of.'

Look at them, man!

'Its rich cultural umbrella swamped us in exotic dishes

'that have come to define us as a nation.'

Well, I always think that curries are Scottish.

'And of course, it's not just improved our food.

'It's inspired some of our favourite tipples.'

Fabulous. Marriage made in heaven.

'Undoubtedly broadening the tastes

'and diversifying the diet of our tiny islands.'

-Oh! Ey, man!

-Oh!

'If there's one thing we're still great at...it's food.'

But first, a little something to whet your whistles.

-AFFECTED ACCENT

-What drink, above all others, says British Empire to you?

-Probably gin and tonic, my dear fellow.

-Yes!

But in Victorian England, gin was synonymous with the gutter.

-Really?

-Yes. Moral corruption.

-Good lord!

-And ladies of the night.

-Ladies of the night? Good lord!

So how come it became a drink of the ruling elite?

I have no idea, my dear fellow.

I'll tell you what, though, there's a gentleman down my club called Jared Brown.

He seems to know a thing or two about gin and the role it played

in the building of the mighty British Empire.

FANFARE

'Drinks historian Jared Brown undertook his first distillation aged ten

'and has since gone on to write dozens of books on the subject.

'Now head distiller at Sipsmith's,

'he's perfectly qualified to explain gin's Empire-inspired

'Cinderella-like rise from rags to riches.'

What part do you think that gin played in our British Empire?

Oh, well, you can look at the ingredients in gin

and see a partial map of the Empire, to start.

Also, where rum rations were the drink of the sailors...

-Yes?

-..the officers were given a gin ration.

So British gin made it round the world

with the officers on board the British naval ships.

And that could be - I'm not saying it is -

but it could be why gin is now a bit hoity-toity.

Which is a sad thing, to think that gin would be considered a bit hoity-toity.

Anyone can appreciate gin.

Well, they did, cos it was blamed for prostitution and drunkenness for years!

-Don't bring your home life into this.

-Shut up, will you?

'Only kidding, Si! Fortunately, where gin was once a crudely distilled anaesthetic for the poor,

'over the last 100 years,

'it's evolved to something a little more refined.'

What makes gin gin?

First and foremost, what makes gin gin is juniper.

If you just put one botanical into gin, it's this.

These are just off the juniper bush.

And if you pinch it, it's oily.

-It's got a nice fresh pine to it.

-It smells of gin!

The rest of the ingredients in gin are just there to highlight the flavours of the juniper.

So we've got coriander, orange and lemon.

There's almond going in. There's orris root, cinnamon and cassia.

'Of course, this is Jared's own unique recipe.

'Most gins these days have developed their own individual nuances.

'But what hasn't changed is how you make it.'

Now that we've established these ingredients, what do you do with them? How does it work?

-We can load them into the still, if you like.

-Is that it?

-That's it.

-So, that's warm alcohol in there.

-Yeah.

-Base alcohol.

-Dear me! That just...

-Like being hit with a hammer.

-Isn't it?

-I tell you what, that clears your tubes, as they say.

-It does.

-Shall we get these in?

-Yeah. I've got the juniper.

And I've got the coriander.

Gin, it really symbolises the British Empire, doesn't it?

People travelled, explored and traded.

The cinnamon and the cassia bark were coming in, naval oranges.

It's amazing. It sums up the Empire, doesn't it?

I'm just amazed that the quantities of the botanicals are so small

to flavour that big vat of alcohol.

Distillation is a remarkable extraction process for flavour.

Of course, it's also a great way to preserve flavour.

So once we bring these flavours over,

we get every bit of flavour out and it stays in the bottle.

A bottle of gin will keep its flavour for 100 years.

-Really?

-Oh, yeah.

'We'll not be waiting 100 years to try some of Jared's bespoke gin concoction.

'But good as it promises to be,

'it's only half of one of drink's biggest double acts.

'What really propelled gin into the highest circles was tonic.'

MUSIC: "Let's Stick Together" by Roxy Music

'Tim Warrilow spent over a year formulating a recipe for,

'and then producing, what he thinks is the perfect tonic water.'

-Three-quarters of a gin and tonic is tonic.

-Yeah.

So the quality of that, we think, is even more important.

-It's a match made in heaven.

-That's right. It's the bitter-sweet.

And the whole reason this relationship came about

takes you right back to India.

It was the British that invented tonic water,

all the way back in 1820.

The reason for inventing it was that "tonic" is a medicine,

because the real ingredient, the secret ingredient, is quinine.

Quinine is this extraordinary medicinal discovery.

It's the only thing that can prevent, or cure you, from malaria.

'And that was an important thing when we had an empire.

'With much of our territory spanning continents

-'that were rife with the disease...

-quinine became the vital ingredient

'keeping our soldiers and administrators healthy enough

'to maintain some sort of order in these hostile lands.

'It's a naturally derived medicine, easily made

'from grinding down the bark of the cinchona tree into a powder,

'then mixing it with water into a tonic!

'Its only drawback was that even with a generous dose of sugar

'it was far from pleasant to drink.'

So, I don't know if I can encourage you to try it,

but I would do it with caution.

-So when quinine was first...

-Oh, yeah. It's there when you...

Yeah.

So this is where the marriage of gin and tonic came about.

So to make it more palatable...

-Yeah.

-..they added quite a lot of gin.

So expressions like "helping the medicine go down",

this is where it all came from.

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go... Ah, OK.

Why don't we take Tim the Tonic and put him together with Jared the Gin,

and make the most perfect gin and tonic?

I'm with you.

# ..the medicine go down In a most delightful way. #

'Fortunately for us, tonic water has been greatly refined over the years.

'Most now use substitutes for natural quinine,

'but Tim's tonic still uses the bark of the cinchona tree for flavouring.

'Added to a generous dose of Jared's botanically enhanced bespoke gin...

'..it has enabled us to finally start to concoct and taste

'what has now evolved into Britain's most famous drinking double act.'

This is where everyone has their own view as to what's the garnish.

I think just the rind.

All the time and trouble has gone into choosing the botanicals,

so you don't want to overpower that.

-It's just twisting the zest.

-That's a good-looking drink.

So one quick mix...and there we are.

-Ho ho ho!

-Much deserved.

Cheers. Well, as the sun sets over the Empire...

-It's probably a good thing, really.

-Ay, it is. Indeed.

Oh, that's wonderful. It's crisp. It's clean.

It's citrus-y, it's...

It's beautiful, isn't it?

Gentlemen, without doubt...

that is the best gin and tonic I've had the pleasure of drinking.

-Thank you.

-Absolutely fantastic product, boys.

Both fabulous. Marriage made in heaven. Thank you.

# ..two, baby To make your dream come true. #

'Whilst we'll be forever indebted to our Empire

'for matchmaking Mr G with Mrs T...

'..as refreshing as it might have been,

'it was no taste of home.'

Which takes us from one Imperial drink to another.

-Beer!

-IPA beer, to be specific.

Renowned for its quality and quantity of hops and distinctive flavour.

What does IPA stand for?

Indian Pale Ale.

Hops are quite sour, and to temper that sourness

we're adding some muscovado sugar from across another ocean,

and another British product as well, Worcestershire sauce.

-You can't whack it.

-Oh, it's full of gravy and proper British bangers.

It's a sausage casserole with two fantastic ingredients,

the IPA - Indian Pale Ale -

and...our snorker, great British banger!

We like the pork sausage to be a pork sausage.

Don't like messed-about sausages. There's history in our sausages.

Our Cumberland sausages are full of black pepper and spice.

That's because of Cumberland's spice ports.

Lincolnshire sausages, being market gardeners, put sage and herbs in.

And you know the lorne sausage, the Scottish sausage that's square?

The perfect thing for a sausage sandwich.

# Cumberland gap 15 miles on the Cumberland gap... #

You can use whatever sausage you like in this recipe.

We're using 12 good-sized plain pork bangers.

Eight to ten minutes. We just want some colour on these sausages.

-Don't prick your sausages.

-No!

The sausage needs to be cooked in its skin.

If you keep the skin intact, the fat in the sausage

is like a little pressure cooker around the meat.

And all of that flavour is going to end up in the bottom of the pan,

rather than in said "soo-sage".

So you have been warned - no prrrricking!

We can slice - but not our sausages.

Supporting our snorkers will be two medium onions, chopped.

Two celery sticks, trimmed and thinly sliced.

And three medium carrots.

I'm going to cut my carrots at a jaunty angle. It's kind of British.

Imperial carrots, to make you see in the dark.

SIZZLING

Ah, that's it! Look at them, man!

One thing I am particular with,

-I do like my sausages to be in a natural casing.

-Yes.

Plastic casings don't work.

It's interesting where the term "bangers" came.

During the war, they pumped so much water into the sausages,

that when you start to fry them, they go...

-Bangers!

-See? See?

Now we've got, look, a nice bit of colour on these sausages,

I'm going to transfer them to the casserole pan.

Look at those!

-Right, mate?

-Oh, lovely.

-Just enough for two!

-Oh, yeah.

-That doesn't serve more than two.

-No. Need a bit more oil.

Now, fry off for five minutes the onions...

..carrots and celery.

Sausages have been mentioned in history. There was the talking dog!

-Oh, yeah!

-The dog that could say "sausages".

This fella had a dog and it went...

-GRUFFLY:

-Sausages!

LAUGHTER

Sausages.

-GRUFFLY:

-Sausages.

Dog's just got a bad throat. Didn't say "sausages" at all.

Sausages.

-Nice bit of colour there.

-Little bit of colour-oni.

Decant the veg to the thingy.

Decant the veg to the casserole dish.

Oh, yes! And you know what we're going to do now, don't you?

Yeah, we're going to deglaze the pan with IPA bitter beer.

-Now, let's talk IPA.

-Yes!

SIZZLING

Ah, man!

-IPA was invented through circumstance.

-Indeed.

Beer that went to India to nourish our homesick troops and sailors,

it went off and, indeed, they were grimacing just to get it down.

Dark porters, they'd survive, but it wasn't bitter.

So, IPA was invented, which was super-hoppy, which lasted longer,

and also higher in alcohol content, which acted as a preservative.

Funnily enough, it was stronger, it was tastier

and we Brits got a proper taste for it.

Once a splash of that's absorbed all the veg and sausages juices,

it all goes into the casserole.

Beer goes in.

Beer has been used in casseroles,

you know, stout for Irish stews and everything,

but the IPA works great with these sausages.

Some water.

A stock cube.

You could make your own, but look, it's Thursday night, we've run out,

everybody does it so, hey, we've got real.

Some tomato puree.

You see, with that dry hoppy beer and that tomato puree,

we need to sweeten things up a bit

and the perfect thing is dark muscovado sugar.

Two tablespoons will smooth out the bitter edge that our IPA has.

Worcestershire sauce. It's brilliant. Just a splash.

Drop a bay leaf in.

We're going to bring this to a steady simmer.

We're going to simmer it for 30 minutes.

Isn't it funny? All those old Victorian flavours

like Worcestershire sauce, gentleman's relish, anchovy paste,

devilled things, all quite robust in flavours.

People said in the 20th century that the British were boring eaters.

We had a bit of a lull but, nah! To our boots, we like flavour.

'Ay, our Empire might have pulled in flavours from all over the globe...'

-Cheers, mate.

-Cheers.

'..but we must never forget that when it comes to beer,

'we're damn good at brewing up the very best ourselves.'

-I'll go and check it, mate.

-Ay. You check and I'll chop.

Right, Kingy, time to add the rest of the veg.

Mm, time to add the leeks. Chunky leeks, I think.

-Oh, yes!

-Now, these only need about five minutes to cook.

Pop them in. Check they're clean.

These ARE clean. Sometimes, leeks have mud in.

It's horrendous. So, chunky leeks.

And just going to simmer that for five minutes.

-Ooh! It tastes fantastic!

-Mm!

Beautiful. Let's turn that right down.

-We want it a bit thicker.

-We do.

Cornflour and water.

That won't take a moment to thicken.

Just cook it for another three minutes,

-just to cook that flour out.

-Oh, ay!

Pretty soon, that gravy will be thick and glossy,

just like an estate agent from Shepherd's Bush.

-I'll go salt.

-Go.

Oo-hoo!

The star turn!

Take three sausages, working on the theory that odd numbers look better.

Oh, yes!

Ah!

That is a dish with heritage. It's British to its roots.

Our sausage. It never did, did it?

By heck, that's good!

The gravy's phenomenal.

I love sausage!

I love gravy! I love sausage and beer.

# Give us a bash at the bangers and mash me muvver used to make

-# Bangers and mash

-Minestrone

-# Bangers and mash

-Macaroni

# Give us a bash at the bangers and mash me muvver used to make. #

'Whilst we thought nothing

'of exporting our beer halfway round the world for our thirsty troops...

'..our government did need to take action to ensure we bought the goods

'that were exported back to us.

'Our resident guru of historic gastronomy, Ivan Day,

'is, as usual, more than well equipped to tell us why.'

Despite the fact that we had this enormous Empire,

with countries producing all sorts of wonderful commodities,

food products, we as customers in Britain

were not very good at buying our own Empire goods.

What happened was, in the mid 1920s, this board was formed,

called the Empire Marketing Board which was really set up

just to encourage people to buy Empire goods.

'And when some PR whizz decided the best way of doing that

'would be to dream up a dish

'incorporating ingredients from all over the world...

'..Christmas pudding seemed the natural choice to fire up

'the public's enthusiasm for Empire produce

'and bind our crumbling Empire back together.'

I don't think there's a single dish in the history of British food

that has had so much symbolism thrust upon it.

You've got the unity of Empire,

you've got trade, you've got education.

It's an extraordinary phenomenon.

Now it seems utterly bizarre,

but in those days, it made a lot of sense.

So, I'm going to have a go at making the 1927 Empire Pudding,

which was formulated by the King's chef, Monsieur Cedard.

'So, are we all sat comfortably for our home economics/geography lesson rolled into one?

'Yes, sir!

'We'll begin, then.'

The first place we're going to go to is England.

Pudding is an English invention

and it was usually made with leftover stale bread.

The other essential ingredient, of course, is flour.

By the 1920s, we were importing a lot of wheat from Canada as well.

So this could be British or it could be Canadian.

The third foundation ingredient is suet,

which is the fat that surrounds the kidneys of animals.

In this case, it's beef suet.

When the first recipe was published,

the New Zealand farmers wanted their name to be put next to it,

and they, indeed, were exporting it to England at the time.

'And our fourth ingredient is sugar - Master Myers?

'Definitely not from New Zealand.

'No, Kingy. We've got to make a trip to the Caribbean for that.

'Where next, Ivan?'

We have to cross the Atlantic again and go to South Africa,

where we were growing these wonderful raisins,

but also, citrons, lemons and oranges.

And then from South Africa,

we've got to head south and far east.

We're going to Australia, where they grew currents and sultanas.

It was the Australians,

whose complaints about how poor the British were at buying their goods,

who kicked this whole thing off about the Empire Pudding.

They were very keen on the idea.

'Yep, the whining Aussies were really keen on Empire Pudding.

'The truth is, even now, we still get some of our dried fruits from California.

'Anyway, next up, spices.'

Our first port of call

is Sri Lanka, which in those days was called Ceylon, and to India,

to get cinnamon and something which was called pudding spice,

which was a purpose-made mixed spice exported from India into England.

We've then got to go across the Indian Ocean to Zanzibar,

to get some cloves.

Then, believe it or not, we've got to go round the Cape

and back across the Atlantic to the West Indies to get some nutmeg.

'So far, so good. Now back to Britain for a few apples.

'But you can't make a pudding without breaking a few eggs.'

We're given the option of obtaining these from either England

or from, interestingly, the Irish Free State.

This upset the people from Northern Ireland cos they thought they weren't included in this.

We come to an option they had later on.

We're going to move, now, on to the alcoholic ingredients.

Let's start off with this one, which is rum from the West Indies

or from British Guiana.

This was a very important product of Empire.

But there was also...brandy.

This isn't some fancy French cognac.

This is brandy made either in Cyprus,

in Australia, South Africa

and even Palestine, which was part of the British Empire in the 1920s.

I'm going to go with Palestinian brandy.

'With ingredients from over the Empire jostling for position in the bowl,

'the one addition capable of uniting them all was, of course, beer.

'British beer from anywhere in Britain.'

I'm going for Northern Ireland because they've missed out so far.

What I've got here is some nice black stout

which will give it a great colour, too.

MUSIC: "Rule Britannia"

If you like, it strengthens the fact

that Britain has a hold over the Empire, we're the top dog.

-JUVENILE VOICE:

-'Is that the geography lesson over with, sir?

'I've clocked up more food miles than Phileas Fogg on a feasting spree.

'Ay, well, I'll never look at Christmas pud, sorry, Empire Pudding in the same way ever again.

'But stay seated, class, we've got one more ingredient

'you wouldn't want to sink your teeth into.'

In the 1926 recipe,

it instructs us to take an English thre'penny bit for luck

and to put it into the pudding.

Remarkably, I've got here a silver thre'penny bit

from 1926, the year of the Empire Pudding.

'I think I give Ivan ten out of ten for attention to detail.

'It doesn't stop there - old-fashioned cooking pot!

'Check.

'Old-fashioned cooking range?

'Check.

'An old-fashioned boiling it for six hours rather than chucking it into a microwave?'

CLOCK TICKS

'Check!

'Fortunately, Ivan knows when to draw the line.'

The earliest puddings were boiled in sheep's stomachs.

They weren't called Christmas pudding they were called hakin, but we're going back 300 or 400 years.

Then they started putting them in a cloth.

It was like a big round dumpling.

They looked like a cannonball, which everyone remembers.

You get that on Christmas cards, but we don't make them any more.

The time that the Empire Pudding evolved during the '20s,

this was the way they were cooked.

OK, that's a good colour.

I'm going to put this plate on top

and then, hopefully,

do a quick flip over, like that.

Is it going to come out or is it not? Oh, my God!

Ah! Look, look!

I've got an Empire Pudding. CHUCKLES

There it is, brought back to life - Empire Pudding.

I brought the pudding back to life,

but I don't really think I want to bring the British Empire back!

We've said goodbye to all of that.

'Christmas pudding - what could be more British than that?

-'I can think of one thing.'

-A good cup of nice strong tea.

'After air and water, tea is the most consumed substance on the planet,

'with over 3.2 million tonnes of the stuff brewed,

'poured and enjoyed every year.'

That's a lot of tea!

'Without the British Empire, we might never have fallen in love with the leaf.

'Although tea's been around for over 5,000 years,

'it didn't reach Europe until the 17th century.

'It didn't really take off in Britain until Charles II's Portuguese wife demanded it,

'instantly making it fashionable amongst the well-to-do set in court.

'But tea remained eye-wateringly expensive,

'costing the equivalent of £1,000 a pound,

'and it could only come from one source - China.'

WHISTLING

'To break China's monopoly on tea, we needed a few tea plants.'

MUSIC: "James Bond Theme"

The name's Fortune, Bob Fortune.

'In the 1840s, Robert Fortune, a Scottish botanist with a name made for spying,

'was sent by the Empire-building British East India Company

'to smuggle tea plants out of China,

'risking execution if he was captured.

'Disguised as a Chinese merchant,

'he snuck out 20,000 saplings into northern India,

'smuggling them in portable greenhouses.

'Within 50 years, India was producing more tea than China,

'feeding the habit back in Blighty.

'Wherever tea would grow in the British Empire, it was planted.

'Soon enough, tea was being imported from Kenya and Sri Lanka.'

Britain has £15 million invested in the tea gardens,

where Kenya looks like Ceylon or Assam.

'Tea prices fell massively and what was once a drink of nobility

'soon became a first choice for the masses, morning, noon and night.

'And not much has changed since.

'We're still the second-biggest drinkers of tea on the planet,

'being pipped to the post by our neighbours, the Republic of Ireland.

'So whether you prefer jasmine or chamomile,

'lapsang souchong or builder's with two sugars...'

Oooh!

'..get a brew on the go, sit back and enjoy,

'because nothing beats a good cuppa.'

-Teatime. Cheers, boys.

-Cheers!

'It's about time we had tea for two, Kingy.

'Yeah, and as fond as we are of drinking it,

'there's nothing stopping you from cooking with it, either.'

We've created what we believe is going to become a new classic.

Do you know what it is?

It's chai - as in chai, the tea - bread and butter pudding.

Chai that you get in India is spiced tea.

It's sweet and milky and we had an idea.

Wouldn't it be great to use as a base for a bread and butter pudding?

-It's like bread and butter pudding gone bonkers.

-It has.

We're going to cut this lovely, beautiful, buttery, gorgeous brioche

into 12 slices.

And we're going to place those in, it's about a two-litre dish this.

It's interesting with bread and butter pudding.

We've made bread and butter puddings with white sliced bread, with croissants, with tea cakes,

but brioche - brioche is posh, isn't it?

It's so full of butter.

'Anyway, while Kingy's busy sawing bread,

'I'll knock us up some chai.'

I'm going to start off by doing me spices.

I want 15 green cardamoms in their pods and eight cloves.

Quite specific about the cloves.

Put too many cloves in, it'll taste like the dentist's.

We give that a crush.

That's the wonderful thing about using whole spices -

the fragrance when you give them a good beating.

They release all that lovely aroma.

While Dave's bashing his spices, I'm going to liberally butter

the interior of this two-litre ovenproof dish.

We're going to butter one side of this beautiful brioche.

I've got some milk, about 500ml of milk.

Chai is very milky tea.

That's the cloves and the cardamom.

I've put the shells in as well cos we're going to strain this before we use it.

To that, we want a stick of cinnamon.

Spices were one of the great gifts of the Empire.

There was many a life lost

-in the pursuit of securing those spice routes.

-Oh, crumbs, yes.

Chai is milky, spicy and it's sweet.

You go to a tea stall in India

and it's so sweet it takes your breath away.

We're dropping in about 150 grams of caster sugar.

More spice! Half a nutmeg.

Now, a spoonful and a half of ground ginger.

A teaspoon of vanilla extract.

And now, the tea. We use Indian tea or black tea.

Two tablespoons. It's a strong brew.

Now, with me peeler, I want a nice big piece of orange peel.

It needs citrus notes. Look at that!

Pop that in.

To temper the sweetness, half a teaspoon of salt.

And just let that simmer for five minutes.

Then we'll let that go cold.

As well as tempering the sweetness, that savoury note

just bolsters all of those fantastic spices.

-They just sit there in all their glory.

-Smell that, mate!

-Ay, man!

-Oh!

-Whoa!

-Get in! Now, what we're going to do,

we're going to start to build our bread and butter pudding.

We've got 125 grams of mixed fruit and peel.

I'm going to do it like bricklaying.

You need to stand them up.

-Takes you back to your days working on the roads!

-I love it!

Exactly that.

So I just pepper them and then...

to the side, just layer it up.

This has been simmering for five minutes. Turn the heat off.

That needs to infuse for 15 minutes, then we strain that

and we've got the most wonderfully spiced infused chai.

# Has to stop and have a pour when the clock strikes four

# Everything stops for tea. #

'Er, yeah. While the chai's cooling, why don't you do the custard?

'Very good, Mr King. We'll start with two whole eggs.

'And then an additional four yolks.'

So, see how we've done that, look.

Bricks.

Then what we're going to do, we're going to cut the other four slices

that's left over in half.

And we're going to fill the gaps in here.

Where there's a gap, fill it up with bread.

Give the eggs a whisk.

'We'll whisk the eggs together with 300 millilitres of double cream.'

Any of the dried fruit and peel that you have left,

just sprinkle it over the top.

Mate, that's it. Ready to rock 'n' roll.

Well, here I've got my eggs and my cream.

This spiced chai, it's infused and it's cold.

So, basically, I'm going to sieve this straight into the cream

and the eggs.

It has gone cold, so I'm not going to scramble me eggs,

which would be a bad thing.

Oh, man! That's a lot of flavour in there!

That's the elixir of everything Indian.

Yeah. Just whisk that.

And that's the chai-infused cream and eggs, which is the custard

of the bread and butter pudding.

-Shall we?

-We shall.

-We need to do this slowly.

It's going to take a few stages while it soaks in.

At first, you think, "This is never going to go in!" But trust us.

This is the most wonderful,

elaborate, original bread and butter pudding

-that you've ever seen.

-It's like eggy bread on steroids!

-LAUGHING:

-It is!

That's all going to soak through,

but open the layers up a little bit with your knife.

'We'll leave this for 15 minutes, to allow the custard to soak in.'

-Ah!

-Now, how do we cook it?

We'll cook this in a bain-marie, cos it's a custard.

We want it to set and cook evenly.

'A bain-marie's a water bath.

'It'll keep the temperature even around the whole bowl,

'setting our custard perfectly.'

Stick it in an oven pre-heated to 160 degrees Celsius for a fan oven

and bake it till the custard's set, which is about 35 or 40 minutes.

# He likes bread and butter He likes toast and jam

# That's what his baby feeds him Cos he's her loving man... #

BOTH: Oooh!

Wait till you see this! Fantastic!

Let's remove it from its water bath.

Ee! Which is easier said than done!

There is a lot of cream and eggs and fattening stuff in there,

but that's going to serve eight people, easily.

And that is perfect.

Look at that! The custard's just set. It's a lava flow of flavour!

-Do you think we've done the ultimate bread and butter pudding?

-I hope so.

The cross-cultural fertilisation of the conditional.

-Where nations collide in a pudding!

-Oh, ay!

-You've got to make it at home.

-It is brilliant.

'There's no doubt that, of all our Imperial conquests,

'the one country that's had the greatest impact on our food culture

'is India.

'Memsahibs returning home from the Raj brought back with them

'a love of Indian cuisine and ingredients,

'which they incorporated into a host of Anglo-Indian hybrid dishes.

'With the arrival of many Indian and Pakistani immigrants

'in the '50s, '60s and '70s,

'our love of all things Indian was to develop even further.

'Asif Ali is the third generation of his family to run the Shish Mahal,

'a landmark Indian restaurant in the West End of Glasgow.'

Because Britain went out and explored the known world

and developed an empire,

it helped my family to come to Britain and make a life for themselves.

The only thing they could do was to cook.

You've come to Glasgow, have you? Pretty grim, isn't it?

'He's not going to get a job for Glasgow Tourist Board, is he?

'The cold, wet, windy streets of Scotland's second city

'were remarkably receptive to these new flavours from overseas.

'The recipes concocted by Asif's dad, Ali, proved a big hit.'

The amazing thing was that the Glaswegians took to curry like ducks to water.

Because our weather is so dark and rainy,

the people are the exact opposite - they're warm and generous.

So when they came in and tasted it, they were addicted.

They loved it and never looked back.

'But back in 1971, when a customer didn't like what he was served up,

'his dad's quick thinking led to a curry that has become synonymous

'with the success of Indo-British cuisine across the country.

'Yeah, chicken tikka masala has numerous reported claims of origin.

'But as far as Asif's concerned, it was born in Glasgow.'

My father tells me it was a typical Glaswegian night.

It was pouring down outside, it was dark

and a bus driver came off duty.

He'd had a terrible day so he sat down and ordered a chicken curry.

Chicken curry came. He sent it back to the waiter.

He said, "It's dry. I want something not as dry."

At that time, Dad had an ulcer

and he was enjoying a plate of tomato soup.

Dad says, "Why don't you put some tomato soup into the curry

"and put some spices and give him a different flavour?"

So the chef did that and sent it back to the table.

And he absolutely loved it!

He came back the next day and the day after and brought his friends.

Eventually, we decided that we will put it on the menu.

'And with that, an Indian food legend was born!

'Its success saw Ali refine the recipe, ditching the soup

'for fresh tomatoes, cream and a cacophony of spices.

'These days, it's thought that one in every seven curries ordered

'is a chicken tikka masala.

'In many people's eyes, it's now our national dish,

'but it's not stopped it going abroad - even to India.'

India's growing so fast. There's so many tourists coming to Britain.

They want to take away the taste of Britain with them.

So along with all the other British things,

they take away the love of chicken tikka masala,

because it's unique to Britain.

Usually, I'm the guinea pig at some point.

I come in here and they just say, "Try that. See how that goes."

It's one of my favourite dishes, Indian. I love haggis as well.

I think many think that this is home cooking now.

It's not the porridge any more.

Chicken tikka masala, I think, has taken over from it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Well, I always think that curries are Scottish.

ASIF: Once you start accepting different food,

then it's not a huge leap to start accepting people.

You start accepting people, you become more tolerant

and more open as a society.

And a much richer society.

We're at the dawn of the second British Empire.

First Empire went out and conquered through might.

The second British Empire is going out and conquering by cuisine.

'The heart of rural England.

'Like Glasgow, it seems a long way from the heat and vibrancy of India,

'but it's also home to another British legend.

'A product born out of the Raj that has, for a long time,

'put a bit of spice into the lives of not just Englishmen...

'..but people from all around the world.'

The Australians say it's bonza on barbecues.

The French claim it points up the piquancy of steak tartare.

There's nothing Chinese like better than to dip their dim sum in it.

'The product made here is something that keeps this town and county

'on the tip of just about everyone's tongue.

'Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce.

'And it has a long and illustrious history.

'There are many theories as to how it came about,

'but legend has it that a fella called Lord Marcus Sandys

'started it when he was returning to Worcester from a jaunt in Bengal

'in 1835.

'He'd obviously got a taste for the spicy stuff

'and went into a chemist's shop on the high street

'and handed over the recipe for a fish-based sauce he wanted made.

'Mr John Lea was behind the counter and so was Mr William Perrins.

'They had the knowledge and concocted the ingredients,

'making sure they kept a little bit back for themselves.'

They tried it and...it was horrible, so they dispatched it to the cellar.

After about two, three years, they were clearing the cellars out

and found this in the vaults.

And dusted it off, brought it back up, tried it.

Eureka! That was it.

Lea & Perrins sauce.

'They began commercial production in 1837,

'and got the Royal Seal of Approval in 1904.

'Then with the help of Edwardian explorers and colonists,

'the sauce found its way to foreign shores.

'Today, it's a household name around the globe.

'It's been copied more times than a Gucci handbag!'

# A bottle of love

# Bottle of love... #

'Nothing can beat the genuine Worcestershire-made product.

'That's because what happens behind these doors

'is a closely guarded secret.

'The ingredients might be on the bottle for all to see...'

Vinegar, molasses, sugar, shallots, anchovies, tamarinds,

garlic, salt and spices are named on the label.

'But the art of combining them is a very different matter.

'It's all on a need-to-know basis.

'In fact, it's said that only four people know the recipe at any time.

'And those that do aren't about to give it away.'

I'm afraid I can't divulge any of the work at all.

It's not our policy to discuss anything.

'Surely you can tell us what order the ingredients go in?'

No, it wouldn't do, at all.

'How long does it take to mature?'

That's another thing I wouldn't discuss.

'What about the markings on the barrel? Surely, you can tell us?'

That pertains to the ingredients that have gone in, but there again,

I'm afraid I'm reluctant to discuss any further.

'Oh, you spoil sport!

'When it comes to Lea and Perrins, there's no doubt

'that the maturing process is key.

'It's the anchovies that really give it its fabled aroma.'

These are left to age for four years.

They achieve a ripeness which makes even brave men flinch.

When the sauce has been created,

it's left to mature for several months, but not left in peace.

It's given a regular shaking, to remind it of its obligations.

Bert Ricketts has been shaking the sauces for 20 years.

'Wow! That man must have some stamina!'

Worcestershire sauce in bulk gives off a bouquet that commands respect.

'It might require a gas mask at this stage, but once matured,

'its taste is one that seduced the world.

'So much so, some believe it to be the British food

'that's had the most impact on international cuisine.

'And without the Empire, the world might never have been able

'to experience its magic.

'The British Empire has brought us ingredients

'once thought beyond our dreams to our very fingertips.

'But one curry in particular celebrates the huge variety on offer

'better than any other.'

Now, the next dish that we're going to cook for you

is from the far-flung corners of the British Empire -

a place called Western Sumatra.

This dish, the beef rendang,

is one of the tastiest dishes to be found anywhere on the planet.

Also, I've heard, a favourite, Dave...

Yes?

..with a certain frog that wears a crash helmet.

BOTH IMITATE CRAZY FROG # Reng-deng-deng-deng! #

We're only joking!

This quality cut of British beef might look like the centrepiece,

'but the real star here is what we cook it in.'

-The first thing we do, Dave, is it not?

-The spice paste.

Let's get on that gravy train to taste!

Lump of ginger.

Don't want to be too prescriptive.

Now, I'm going to take lemongrass.

Remove the outer layers,

until we get to the soft white bit in the middle, the core of it.

Then we're going to cut that into four centimetres - about.

Ginger. And then...galangal.

Galangal, well, it's kind of like a cross between...

Taste-wise, it seems to me like a cross between ginger and lemongrass.

What's amazing about this dish is that you cook it so long

that the coconut milk goes back to oil

and the oil acts as a preservative.

So the rendang was the sort of dish that people travelling could take with them.

It keeps for a few days in the fridge.

Leave it in the freezer for a month, it seems to be better.

Leave it a month after that, it seems to get better still.

Galangal goes in. Lots.

Now we're going to have six cloves of garlic.

And three long red chillies. Are we going to have it quite spicy?

-Oh, yeah.

-Let's leave the seeds in, then.

If you don't want it so spicy, take the seeds out. We want it spicy.

It's a beef rendang, for goodness' sake!

Take three medium onions or two large onions,

peel them and quarter them.

-This dish has been primarily associated with the Minangkabau people of Western Sumatra.

-Eh?

Yeah, no, it's true!

And CNN did a survey and 35,000 respondents throughout the world

defined rendang as being the tastiest dish on the planet.

But to the Minangkabau people,

the various elements in the rendang have significance.

-Do they?

-Yes.

They do.

Coconut, for instance, relates to writers, artists and poets.

-Oh, good.

-Yes.

-The chilli...

-Yes.

-..is religious leaders.

-Very good.

The hotness represents the strictness of religious law.

Whilst everything else represents everything else.

Such is the importance to the Minangkabau people of Western Sumatra.

Shall we process this?

I've processed too much information for the moment.

I'm having a h-overload.

You're having a Minangkabau, aren't you, son?

I must have to go on Mastermind, again.

All that remains now is to press a button.

I dedicate this dish to the Minangkabau people

of Western Sumatra.

Anyway, chuck steak... How can you process all that information

and not be able to use a food processor?

-DULL WHIRRING

-I rest me case!

Whoa!

Loads of paste!

And blitz it to a paste as fine as you can make it.

Fine! We need it fine!

While Dave's doing that, we're going to cut 1.5 kilos of chuck steak

into three-centimetre squares.

-Do you think that's fine enough?

-No.

That'll keep him occupied, trying to work the thingy, for 15 minutes!

Not very good with things like that.

There you are, beautiful.

Look at that! That's all spice and onions.

Woo! This needs to be cooked for about five minutes.

This is the heart of your rendang.

Remember, the spirit of the Minangkabau is in this dish.

-You've got to show cultural respect!

-Oh, no. You do.

Don't burn this, whatever you do.

-Aromatic, isn't it?

-It is.

In fact, I could put my dry spices in now.

Dried spices you tend to cook into the dish.

And I want two teaspoons of cumin.

One, two.

Two tablespoons of dried coriander.

A teaspoon of turmeric. Phwar!

Oh, it smells!

There's no need to sear this beef off first.

Just smother it in the spicy love.

Kaffir lime leaves. Fantastic.

Now, a whole tin of coconut milk.

You could use half-fat coconut milk, if you wanted.

One cinnamon stick.

Some water.

About 400mls should do.

There is a bit of a Thai thing going on. We go sweet and sour.

Two teaspoons of tamarind paste.

You can use lemon juice, but it's really not as sour.

But we need to temper that.

You could use two tablespoons of sugar. We've got palm sugar.

I love it in this. Palm sugar is like a softer sweetness.

-Does that make sense?

-Yes, it does. Absolute sense.

-There's a caramel vibe to it, isn't there?

-Yeah.

-That's about two tablespoons, isn't it?

-About that, mate.

That'll melt down quite quickly.

Seasoning - two tablespoons of soy sauce. It's savoury!

Teaspoon of salt.

But that's it now, all you have to do is to cover it

and let it simmer for at least two and a half hours.

Simmer. Keep an eye it doesn't boil dry.

Till those bits of beef are falling apart.

Everything's gentle now from the rendang.

Two and a half hours might seem like a very long time for a curry...

..but with so many ingredients in play,

we need to give them as much time as possible to mingle

and get to know each other.

The entire house is fragrant.

Oh! It's filled with the rendang-ness of gorgeousness.

-See the oil there?

-Yes.

-It's started to fry in itself.

Right! A nice big bowl of rendang.

Look at that!

You know, Si, it is worth remembering a sense of occasion.

As in that CNN poll,

35,000 people judged this to be the tastiest dish in the world.

-This just ain't any old supper.

-No.

Very...

-Very...

-Very, very good.

Maybe because we're not used to beef curries,

beef Asian dishes like this are thick and heavy,

it has that quality of a hearty British stew.

-Mm-hm.

-But it's got a few more hidden depths, hasn't it?

-It certainly has. This is absolutely superb.

-Mm.

And I can well see

-why 35,000 people voted like they did.

-Yeah.

And the thing is...

it's going to taste even better tomorrow.

We realise there are dark sides to British history

and Imperial Britain,

but there's no getting away from the big, big positive

that ends up on our dining tables.

We've learnt a lot. We've experimented a lot with food.

And, by crikey, we brought home some fantastic dishes!

Of which this is certainly in the top three.

'Because of the legacy of Empire, our country has undoubtedly evolved

'to accept and adopt tasty foreign food influences like no other.

'We've become resourceful in adapting these exciting culinary discoveries to our own tastes.

'And quick to embrace the culinary know-how

'of the immigrants that have followed in their wake.'

Aromatic, isn't it?

'But most importantly,

'when it comes to the legacy of our once-great Empire,

'food is one of the things that we can still be proud of.

'All these dishes and many more from the series can be found at:'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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