0:00:05 > 0:00:08'Two of my passions are flying and food.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15'And it's from up here you really get to appreciate
0:00:15 > 0:00:18'the unique landscape that produces the food that I love to cook.'
0:00:30 > 0:00:32So I've taken to the skies to show you how this land
0:00:32 > 0:00:34has influenced our larders.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53'I'm heading inland to an area just southwest of the Brecon Beacons.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00'A region dominated by rugged hills
0:01:00 > 0:01:03'where I'm looking forward to tasting one of the most famous foods
0:01:03 > 0:01:05'to come out of Wales.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08'Farming these hills is all about rearing livestock
0:01:08 > 0:01:13'and some, like Bernard Llewellyn, are positively passionate about it.'
0:01:15 > 0:01:19I've got a bit of a thing for these little black and white things.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21They're called bals or balwen.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24'These are Welsh mountain sheep
0:01:24 > 0:01:26'whose flavour is so linked to their surroundings
0:01:26 > 0:01:30'that they enjoy protected geographical status.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34'Lamb from anywhere else just isn't the same.'
0:01:35 > 0:01:37I just love them to bits.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42They're pretty and they taste really good, which is probably the most important thing of all.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46'Bernard's been farming at Carreg Cennen for over three decades.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50'The sheep roam wild on the exposed hills for most of the year,
0:01:50 > 0:01:52'but every summer, they're brought down to the farm.'
0:01:52 > 0:01:55Well, I've got the last of the sheep to shear.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57They don't shear that easily,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59but they really are iconic to this part of the world.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03'What allows these sheep to stay in the mountains
0:02:03 > 0:02:07'in the worst of the weather are their dense fleeces.'
0:02:08 > 0:02:10It's really warm underneath!
0:02:10 > 0:02:12- Keep it tight on the skin.- Right.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Let me show you. Just like that.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17'Even with Bernard's expert tuition,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21'this makes shearing these sheep a rather thankless task.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24'However, cooking their meat is a different story.'
0:02:24 > 0:02:28- Bit more.- I feel like we should name her Rosemary or something like that. - Rosemary?
0:02:28 > 0:02:33That's better! Another thousand ewes, you'll be really good. JAMES LAUGHS
0:02:33 > 0:02:37- Well done!- Hurray!- Great stuff!
0:02:37 > 0:02:40- I do apologise. - No, no, no. Don't apologise.
0:02:40 > 0:02:41I'll finish her tail some time.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44I'm not apologising to you, I'm apologising to Rosemary!
0:02:44 > 0:02:45Sorry, Rosie.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Look at that! I reckon we'll get, what?
0:02:47 > 0:02:51I reckon you might get 30p for that if we're lucky.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54- Don't think we'll get a lot for that one, will we? - THEY LAUGH
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Rosemary is somewhere round the corner there,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04hiding like a woman with a bad haircut.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07She's tucked away round the corner, not very happy with herself.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10But I thought we'd do cooked lamb with hay.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13It's quite an unusual way to cook it, but one that really
0:03:13 > 0:03:16adds to the flavour of this fantastic cut.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26'Remember, if it says Welsh lamb on the label when you buy your meat,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29'by law, you really are getting some of this treasured lamb.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37'For me, it goes particularly well with this mint and parsley-filled tabbouleh.'
0:03:38 > 0:03:40So what I'm going to do first of all
0:03:40 > 0:03:42is just trim this into lamb chops.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Now, roughly, you get about seven
0:03:45 > 0:03:47per portion.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50And you can see, what makes this so special
0:03:50 > 0:03:53is really the distinct lack of fat that you get in there.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57But what you get is this beautiful eye of meat, full of flavour.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02But because it's a quite hardy...breed,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05you get a really distinct flavour to Welsh lamb,
0:04:05 > 0:04:10and one that really no other type from anywhere in the world matches.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13So we've got our lamb chops ready. And now onto this.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17Now, this may appear completely madness and unusual.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22You get hay, and you get this from your pet shop, not from your rabbit hutch.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25And you put the hay into a dry, hot pan.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27And what this is going to do is add to the flavour.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30It really gives it a unique taste.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33And then to get a little bit a colour...
0:04:34 > 0:04:36..just a touch of oil.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38And then...
0:04:39 > 0:04:43..no offence to my friend in the back of the shot somewhere,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46a little bit of rosemary over the top.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51With this, we're just going to lay these over the top, like that.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Bit of black pepper. Touch of salt.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00And we could, if we wanted,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03just for added benefit,
0:05:03 > 0:05:05little bit of garlic in there. Why not?
0:05:05 > 0:05:09We'll cover this with tinfoil and cook this for about 10, 15 minutes.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25'If you want to get a taste of Wales,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29'I reckon these are the ingredients and this is the way to do it.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36'About halfway through the cooking, turn the lamb so it browns evenly
0:05:36 > 0:05:38'and takes in the flavour of that hay.'
0:05:38 > 0:05:43Now, with this, I thought I'd do a bulgur wheat salad,
0:05:43 > 0:05:45and it's kind of like a tabbouleh, really.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50But tabbouleh's not conventionally done with couscous, it's always done with bulgur wheat,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52which is a cracked natural grain,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55whereas couscous is actually a manufactured product.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57But this is it in its dry form.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01You can either cook it straight in boiling water and cook this for about ten minutes,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04or alternatively, you can leave it to soak.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06This has been soaking for about four or five hours.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10And we can drain this, this is just cold water in here,
0:06:10 > 0:06:12just get rid of the cold water...
0:06:13 > 0:06:14..pour this back in,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17and then literally just get a kettle full of water
0:06:17 > 0:06:19and pour it over the top.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22That way, you'll be able to serve this warm.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26And then, a bit like couscous and tabbouleh,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28you need to infuse the flavours into this.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32And to get plenty of flavour, I'm going to use some of this.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36This is harissa, which is like a chilli paste, really, I suppose.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39It's Moroccan. It's very, very hot, very spicy,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41so you only want about a tablespoon.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45However, the camera crew on this set, probably two tablespoons,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48cos they like a bit of spice and a bit of kick.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52And then all we can do now is just very quickly drain
0:06:52 > 0:06:54our warm tabbouleh.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Now, the best way to do that is over the top of here.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Check to see if there's no painters and artists over the other side.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03- HE LAUGHS - Straight over there.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06And make sure Rosemary's not the other side, either.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Pour it in there. That way, it's still warm.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Take that straight back over
0:07:12 > 0:07:14and this can go straight into your mix.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17Like that.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24'Mix in the harissa and then we can impart loads more flavours.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28'I've got almonds, apricots and pistachio nuts.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33'Then my favourite with lamb - mint,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35'and a good bunch of parsley.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39'Chop those up and mix them in.'
0:07:40 > 0:07:43And then finally, we've got pomegranate.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45To get rid of the pomegranate, cut them in half...
0:07:47 > 0:07:50..tap the back of the pomegranate and the seeds just fall out.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Pomegranates.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Lovely. Mix all that lot together.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Lemon.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00A good squeeze of lemon.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Bit of olive oil. Like that.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Salt and pepper. Season the stuff, as well.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Plenty of black pepper.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13And then we've got a fancy bowl here. Mix this all up.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16You can see the colours of this, it's just fantastic.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19This is just delicious.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23Look at that. We've got the nice tabbouleh.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27And then the key to this... is the lamb.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33Now, don't worry about the bits of hay. The lambs eat it so you might as well eat it, as well.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37It's not going to do you any harm.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39But look at this lovely lamb.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43It's quite unusual. If you serve this at a table like this,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46everybody will think you've just gone made.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Either that or just cut your lawn.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52But it really is, there's so much flavour in this.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55And while I leave you with a pretty fancy shot like that
0:08:55 > 0:08:56to keep you lot happy,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58I'm going to go and console Rosemary. Enjoy.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05'Delicious Welsh mountain lamb.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10'A national favourite whose distinct taste is down to
0:09:10 > 0:09:12'the harsh environment of these hills.'
0:09:16 > 0:09:20'Join me next time when I'll be flying over another location
0:09:20 > 0:09:22'on my food map of Britain.'