Colin Jackson My Life on a Plate

'For everyone, there's a taste of food

'or a smell of cooking that zooms you right back to childhood.'

It's just like my mum's cake!

'I'm Brian Turner...'

It reminds me of someone I used to know at school!

'..and I'm going to stir up the food memories

'of some much-loved celebrities...'

Oh...look at that!

'..going back to their early days before they were famous...'

Oh, my gosh!

'..with recollections of Sunday roasts and school dinners...'

-It's time for something to eat.

-Brilliant.

'..and celebrating food their home regions are proud of.'

-Which way would you like to go?

-Er, this way.

'I'll recreate a nostalgic family favourite...'

Mm! You can't beat a crumble.

'..and a tribute dish that puts my guest's life on a plate.'

Magic, magic!

Today, athletics champion and all-round sports personality

Colin Jackson will be showing me around the city of Cardiff,

where he grew up. We'll be reliving past glories...

12.91 which, actually, was the world record.

That stood for, I think, ten or 11 years.

..taking him back to where it all began.

Boy, oh, boy, eh?

It's a special moment when you come back to school.

I'll be using all my culinary skills...

Mate, you've done well.

..creating dishes that remind him of home.

I never thought you could pull this off but you've done it.

Marvellous job!

Colin grew up in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff.

Sport is in this city's blood.

It's home to the Millennium national stadium, which has borne

witness to many a passionate game of rugby and football.

But for a city by the sea, that's surrounded by lush fertile

fields, it's not just sport that gets the juices flowing.

There's something magic about markets, isn't there?

I love them, you know. And what I love about, certainly,

Cardiff Market here, it's been here,

so far as I'm concerned, for eternity.

I can remember coming here as a little boy with my mum

and looking round all the stalls and seeing what's available,

and seeing all the novel things and, of course,

the practical things also.

Colin was born in Cardiff in February 1967

and grew up with his older sister Suzanne.

Mum Angela and Dad Ossie were originally from the Caribbean

island of Jamaica and moved to the UK over 50 years ago.

And did they meet in Jamaica or they met over here?

They met here in the UK, funnily enough.

And I love the story my mum always told us that...

She opened the door, actually, to my dad,

-cos he was coming to visit my grandfather.

-Right.

Kind of was...

was kind of a person that people who were arriving would come

and see cos he was well-established, and she says

she can remember opening the door and there was my father, standing

there, and she remembers looking at him, thinking,

"Boy, he's got big ears, hasn't he?"

THEY LAUGH

So...and, I guess, they say the rest is history.

-And here you are. Here you are.

-And here I am.

As a family, were you a family who ate together

or was life difficult to...?

No, I mean, we all sat round the table

and, looking back on it, I think it was pretty special.

So what were the favourite things you liked to eat when you sat round the table?

If you had your wishes, what would Mum produce for you?

Oh, goodness gracious!

There'd be loads of stuff, if I was honest, you know?

From fish, I love my fish...

So any of their fish dishes they would do.

Mackerel was certainly high up on the list for me,

through to things like callaloo with salt fish.

Callaloo is kind of a like a spinach that we kind

of make with salt fish, sometimes you add a little bit of bacon in.

Some johnnycakes, fried dumplings.

Johnnycakes - what are johnnycakes? I've heard of those.

Well, johnnycakes are like fried dumplings,

and you just make them like a dough, like a bread dough,

and we use and eat them as you would use bread.

So that's what johnnycakes are all about, so, yeah.

They were kind of my favourite things, but rice and peas,

of course, curry goat, curry chicken.

The normal things, I would say.

And from what Colin's told me, it's obvious his parents loved their food,

and it's a passion they imparted to him right from an early age,

but food wasn't the only thing they inspired a passion for.

Me... My mum and dad had a huge kind of, I guess, role model in track

and field, a guy by the name of Don Quarrie,

-who I found was fantastic as a sprinter.

-Oh, I remember him.

And so I kind of wanted to be

a little bit like Don because I saw the effect he had on my mum

and dad, and how excited they were when he came on the TV.

And, of course, then food, when it's linked to that, well,

diet is pretty important for track and field athletes,

as you can imagine,

and especially for me, for example, because I love lots of sweet stuff.

It was trying to find that right balance.

But as I got more and more professional,

obviously, the diet got more and more focused.

And the discipline paid off.

Colin represented both Wales and Great Britain on the world stage.

Specialising in the 110 metres hurdles, he was twice Commonwealth

champion, went undefeated at the European Championships for 12

years and won a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games.

To this day, he holds the world record for the 60 metres hurdles -

a record that has stood for over two decades.

But since hanging up his spikes in 2003,

Colin doesn't need to be so strict with his diet.

Well, I think we're going to treat you today

cos I do know that, just behind me, is one of your favourites there.

-Oh, gosh, yes!

-Iced buns.

I can see some iced buns.

We used to have iced buns in Yorkshire,

but we always cut them and ate them with butter.

That's good for the calorie intake(!)

May we have two, please?

Oh, it's three for £1.50. We'll take three. We get a bargain.

We get a bargain. That's one and a half each in my eyes.

Thank you, my love. That's very kind. Thank you.

But it wasn't just iced buns that Colin had a sweet tooth for.

They are quite addictive, these things, aren't they? Dear me!

-I love 'em. I absolutely do love 'em.

-Mm.

So why have you brought me to this place now?

What's good about this?

Well, as you can see, sweets, sweets, sweets! Me and more sugar.

I used to love these jelly teddy bears -

full of sugar. But you know what? No fat.

So that was the real significant thing for me.

I could kind of balance my nutrition by having a couple of jelly

teddy bears and I used to buy them from here.

Well, we need to get something healthy, something healthy now,

so at least we look as if we're trying! What do you suggest?

Do you know what? If you want the healthy food,

-and I did used to eat it, we need to go that direction.

-Fine, let's go.

Well, this is the real healthy bit of it,

the fish side of it, which is absolutely fantastic.

And this place I used to come to when I was very young as well.

So what kind of thing did your mum buy?

Well, salt cod here,

which we'd put in fritters or we'd kind of soak it down and cook it

with that callaloo, as I said there.

That would be the kind of...

But there's an ugly thing, which I have no idea what it is!

Do you know what this is?

I would guess it's a wolffish.

It reminds me of someone I used to know at school!

Let's move on. Red snapper.

Oh, yeah. That's a lovely fish, isn't it?

And that is a regular as well.

We cooked that and my dad cooks a mean red snapper, I must admit.

Ever eat tuna there?

Tuna steaks, you know, and salmon is one of my favourite

fishes of all time.

Yeah, and some good home produce here.

Now, if those are what I think they are,

those are cockles from Swansea Bay.

They're one of the very few sustainable cockle

beds in the UK at the moment, which is great.

Which is absolutely great and I'm pretty chuffed about that, being a Welshman, you can imagine.

-Good man!

-Absolutely.

-Do you eat cockles?

I would eat cockles but, you know, it's something I

wouldn't cook myself cos I don't know how, really, to cook with them.

So, fantastic. Deal done. Young lady?

-Hi.

-Can I introduce you to this young lady?

Don't tell me you know her!

Yeah, this young lady actually is my goddaughter, so give us

-a good deal, Chlo!

-Hi.

-Pleased to meet you, Chloe. Chloe?

-Chloe, yeah.

Lovely. I need about half of those cockles. Is that all right?

I've already learnt a lot about Colin

and I know these fresh local cockles will come in handy later on.

-Thanks, my love. Cheers. Thanks very much.

-Take care.

But before we head off, Colin wants to take me

to one of his favourite old haunts.

This is beautiful in here.

-Do you like it?

-Yeah, it's lovely.

Well, Cardiff itself is quite famous for its arcade shopping as well

and we are in Castle Arcade.

I really enjoy coming here cos we have lots of nice Welsh fare here,

and I literally brought you here to taste some of our Welsh food.

You know what I've ordered, right? I've ordered Welsh rarebit.

-I'm looking forward to this.

-You're looking forward to it?

Yeah, do you think this will be a real original one?

Well, there are so many different variations of recipes for it.

There's only one way to find out, eh?

-And look, here they come!

-Look at that! That looks fantastic.

I thought you may like it.

-Well, this is our own Welsh rarebit.

-Right.

-And ours, we have really thick

granary toast, bechamel sauce, Welsh cheddar, bit of garlic,

wholegrain mustard, and I like to put a little of

Dijon mustard in mine,

and then that's melted so it gives a nice colour on top.

Superb. Looks delicious.

Is that just one slice of bread?

That is one slice. It's a proper portion.

It's a proper portion. Come on, dig in.

-Let's have a taste.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much, chef.

Welsh rarebit, in many people's eyes, is just a slice of cheese

on toast but we all know there's a lot more to it than that, don't we?

There's a lot more. But, you know, everybody can have their own

quirky take on it and their own idea on it.

But this one, to me, is pretty delicious.

It does taste good and that mustard makes a difference.

This is very good, I have to say.

We're off to a great start.

As a sportsman, Colin may be mindful of what he eats,

but he's clearly not afraid of tucking into good, solid, tasty food.

THEY CHUCKLE

COWS MOO

I'm keen to find what other delicious regional produce is

out there on Colin's doorstep

and I've heard there's nowt finer that these wonderful native

Welsh Black cattle.

Lorraine Howells is passionate about the breed and has her own

pedigree herd here at St Fagans, just five miles east of Cardiff.

I'm lucky enough to be joining her on the early morning round-up.

-Lorraine, good morning. How are you?

-Good morning.

-Are these the cattle we're going to move?

-Yes.

So tell me, what is it about these cattle that you love?

Oh, Welsh Black are the only native breed in Wales.

Very docile, easy to look after and end product is superb.

-You won't get better meat anywhere.

-That's a good shout.

But you fell in love with them before you fell in love with

eating the meat, surely?

Yes, but it's, you know... It's horses for courses.

-My cattle, at the moment, are 1,200 feet up on the mountain.

-Right.

And those cattle can make excellent meat out of poor-quality foliage.

But you say they're one of the oldest breeds in Britain?

Oh, they are, yes, yes.

You know, we're going back to the 1700s, when they were around,

but we've actually got, in the society, a herd book from 1904.

And if you buy a steak from a Welsh Black registered steer,

we can trace his parentage right back to the 1900s.

But droving hasn't always been like this.

We've got 20 head of cattle here, but centuries ago, it wasn't like that at all, was it?

No, it wasn't as easy as that.

They used drive hundreds of cattle, you know, up to...

along the drovers' trails up to London.

How long did it take to get them to London, would you think?

-I don't really know.

-A couple of weeks?

It would take a lot longer than it's taking us today!

-Well, they're doing well there.

-Couple of weeks, yes.

What is it about Welsh beef that you think is so different

-and the flavour?

-Well, it's...

I can't explain it. It's just the best beef I've ever eaten.

The Welsh Black has got that succulence to it,

it's got marbling in it and the gravy from it

is absolutely delicious.

Well, now we're here, I'm going to see your mate Margaret Rees

and I'm going to have Welsh Black beef in a cawl.

I'm sure I'm going to enjoy it.

Well, I hope you do because it is actually

our Welsh Black beef from my farm.

Oh, fantastic!

And I'm sure you'll be looking for more once you've tasted it!

Thank you very much. See you soon. Cheers.

I've had a great time out in the fresh air,

helping Margaret with her herd,

but now I'm keen to kick off my wellies, get in the kitchen

and learn about another great traditional Welsh dish.

Margaret Rees, an award-winning chef and authority on Welsh food,

is going to talk me through how to make it.

Now, you're going to cook this very famous dish that I've

heard about called a "cowl". Is that how you pronounce it?

Yes. A traditional cawl, yes. It's a Celtic dish, really.

It comes from the old cauldron cooking and we're going to

be using the cows that you actually followed down.

So what cuts do you have there?

I have a brisket, I've got a marrowbone and a piece of shin.

Beef from mountain breeds, like the Welsh Black, is firm

and muscular, so for the best results, the meat is placed in water

along with pearl barley and cooked slowly on a low heat overnight.

In the morning, when it's lovely and tender,

the meat and barley are removed from the stock and put to one side.

Next, carrots, swedes, parsnip, onions and potatoes

are added to the pot before popping the whole lot back on the fire.

In the good old days, these would have been left to simmer

till lunchtime, ready to feed the hungry farm hands.

And there we are.

That smells good and I noticed you put whole potatoes in there.

I have. If you chopped them up,

they'd go into a puree, wouldn't they?

That's right, that's right, yes.

And the vegetables themselves, of course, are well-cooked

-and then you can just...

-Oh, look at the colour of that swede.

You can smell them.

Oh, you can smell them. It smells great, does that.

Yes, and it's the smell of Welsh Black beef.

The stew is almost ready, so out come the potatoes.

Chopped leeks are thrown in at the last minute for added flavour.

It adds a lovely touch of greenery.

It changes the whole character of the soup, really.

Absolutely. A bit of chopped parsley, yes?

And parsley's fresh from the garden.

Just look at that changing colour. It immediately livens everything up.

Don't forget to taste the stew and season accordingly.

-No salt in at all.

-No?

Simply because if you put salt too early with the meat, it hardens it.

Absolutely right.

The best thing about cawl cooked like this

is that you get two courses from one pot.

There's a piping hot bowl of vegetable broth

and a dish of mouth-watering, slow-cooked beef with pearl barley

and wholesome potatoes.

To finish off the meal, we've got a hunk of tasty Welsh cheese

and some of Margaret's home-baked bread.

This time-honoured Welsh staple is almost ready

and I can't wait to tuck in.

There it is!

The classic Welsh cawl, brimming with flavour,

using fabulous local Welsh produce.

And so, normally, we would eat this first and then that second,

-and then finish with the bread and cheese?

-Correct, yes.

That is wonderful fresh vegetables in a nice beef stock.

Yes, it's the simplest form of food you can get

and yet the most nutritious.

Absolutely. I love these potatoes. This beef looks good.

Here we are. There's a bit of potato there.

Welsh Black beef!

That's beautiful, isn't it?

It's a good flavour.

It's not too cooked, it's not undercooked,

and nutritious, good for people, value for money.

It is a simple meal, is that.

It's a simple meal that can be made to look exotic,

as you've done it today.

It's a right privilege to have had the opportunity of walking

the Welsh cattle

and making a delicious hearty plate of cawl in the time-honoured way.

As far as experiencing Welsh farming and culinary heritage goes,

there's nowt better!

Back in the capital, the Cardiff Amateur Athletics Club,

where Colin trained as a youngster, no longer exists.

Fortunately, for the next generation of sporting heroes,

a new site was found just across the road.

-I actually opened this stadium.

-Oh, right.

-Many, many moons ago now

but it also brings me lots of great memories, if I'm honest.

Cardiff, as a city, was one of my big sponsors.

I always tell people that because the council themselves always

allowed me to use their facilities free of charge.

And you can imagine, when you're spending five or six hours

a day training, doing all that physical stuff, to have your council

allowing you to use the facilities free makes a huge difference.

But those hurdles look massive! Are they really that size normally?

They are. They're pretty high indeed.

They are 3.5 foot there, and the young lad that's just went over,

he's a 400-metre hurdle specialist,

so those hurdles are little bit lower.

They're only three foot but he made it look easier.

Oh, didn't he just?

But did that not frighten you at times or was it just one of those,

that's the sport, so you've got to do it?

The sport is what you do, it's what you train to do, you know?

It's, like, people will be tentative to go into a hot oven,

but you wouldn't think twice about just diving in, right?

-It's only the hands that go in!

-Yeah, don't worry about it!

So it's kind of the same type of thing.

You know, when you're working it and you're used to it,

you just crack on with it.

Well, here's a perfect opportunity for you to go and have a look

round this stadium and, in the meantime, I'm going to cook a dish

for you that I hope will remind you of your mum's cooking and Caribbean

influence and all that kind of thing, so enjoy the trip round there.

Looking forward to it.

While Colin's having a look round, I'm inspired to have a

go at making one of his mum's classics - split pea soup -

full of fresh veggies,

tender meat and lots of spicy Caribbean character.

I've got over here a pot on the boil with some chicken stock

and some water. I'm going to give it bags of flavour now.

So I've got this ham hock, not expensive but great flavour.

That goes in there

and then we've got these lovely chicken thighs,

as much or as little as you can afford or you've got hold of,

but as much flavour as you can get in there.

Put the lid on.

After about half an hour we take the chicken legs out,

I've got them sitting over here now and the ham hock,

just leave in as long as you can, so it cooks plenty.

It'll probably take about an hour-and-a-half to cook.

Do you know what's brilliant? Is to see these youngsters doing

a bit of the long jump and getting really into their athletics.

That really does excite me, if I'm totally honest.

You know, I won my first trophy at the age of four

and I really kind of enjoyed that buzz of it.

That nervous energy, you know, that adrenaline flowing through you.

You know, when you stand in line as a young boy,

you never have any idea what's going to happen in the future

and that you are possibly going to make athletics as a career.

So always kind of watch out what can happen right and, as I say,

as I'm watching some of these youngsters behind me having a go at

their athletics. We could have some future champions there. Who knows?

When the ham hock is sliding off bone,

it's time to add the split peas.

I've had them in water, soaked them for about two hours

so they get nice and soft.

So in those go, don't waste any.

There we go, bring that back up to the boil.

Put the lid on and just let it simmer away.

I want to add sweetness to the soup with chopped onion,

sweet potato, carrot, and garlic.

I think it also needs a kick of chilli.

Colin likes it fairly spicy from what he said,

so we'll leave the seeds in and hopefully he'll enjoy it.

Do you know? It's really good to see

when your name is still on the board, of course.

This was the All-Comers record in 1990.

I ran that 13.10 seconds

for the 110-metre hurdles and I never thought

that three years later I would run 12.91,

which actually was the world record that stood for, I think,

ten or 11 years.

Who'd have though that, eh, from this little old Welsh boy?

My split peas have been cooking for half an hour,

and the ham hock's perfectly tender and ready to take out.

Just let this cool down a little bit.

It's put bags of flavour into the soup.

That looks delicious, that does.

And so now into here we put all our vegetables and remember

we've got sweet potato, we've got carrot, we've got onion, we've got

chilli and we've got garlic and that goes into our soup.

Put a lid on and simmer it for about another 15 or 20 minutes,

that should be plenty.

When you look down this tunnel of hurdles,

it can be a little bit daunting, but it takes years and years of

practise to make yourself literally flawless over these barriers.

Now, if I'm totally honest, I'm a little bit too old now to go

over these things and I can assure you going under them

is a damn sight easier than it would be to try and go over one.

My take on Colin's mum's split pea soup is almost ready.

The ham hock and chicken breast are cooked,

and my vegetables and split peas are simmering nicely in the broth.

But this meal won't be complete without having

a go at the traditional Jamaican Johnny Cakes.

Now I haven't made them before, so Colin's here to keep me right.

This is the acid test I think now.

We are going to try and make these Johnny cakes.

You tell me all the islands have a different version.

-Yeah, yeah.

-This is the Cardiff version.

The islands of Cardiff. OK, let's go for it.

I've got a mixture of chickpea flour and ordinary plain flour.

I'm adding baking powder to help the cakes rise as well,

as turmeric for colour and cumin, garlic and chilli for some zip.

Now I'm not going to put all of that chilli in there.

Why not? Are you afraid of it?

I'm going to put all of that chilli in there.

If that's how you like it, that's how you're going to get it.

COLIN LAUGHS

I'm adding just enough lukewarm water to form a soft dough.

Then, it needs to rest in a warm place.

We got some here that's been here for about half an hour.

But it works quite well, huh?

So far it looks all right, yes.

So now, as I understand it, we take a little bit off there.

Size of a big walnut

-and then we just...

-Flatten it down.

-..flatten it down.

So I'm going to put those in to fry gently on there.

Do you fancy getting your hands dirty?

Yeah, I can do that for you.

-Go on, you do one of those as well.

-Yeah.

So do you want to see how someone from the islands then, right?

Yeah, yeah. Well you're all right because you're a Caribbean influence

and the island of Cardiff. You're OK, aren't you? Are you?

Well, that looks better.

Yeah, that's a good one. There you go.

Est voila!

Oh, look at that, that's nice... Oh, that's perfect.

While the Johnny Cakes are cooking,

I should check up on the split pea soup.

I'll be honest right, it smells delicious.

It smells that real authentic taste.

That is a smell that I can remember for split pea soup.

That's a star, that's good.

That's music to my ears, that is,

but how are the Johnny Cakes getting on?

Oh, that's what I like. That's a lovely brown colour.

Good. Well, that's a start.

With the Johnny Cakes well on their way,

it's time to bring this meal together.

Slice up those wonderful chicken thighs

and roughly chop the deliciously salty ham hock.

This is nice. This is a lovely little muscle there, isn't it?

Yeah, it's absolutely delish.

Grand is that.

The meat goes to the bottom of the bowl,

with a generous helping of the split pea soup on top.

The Johnny Cakes are crisp and golden brown.

Now, there's only one thing left to do.

I'm going to be a little bit cheffy, if I may,

I just love this fresh thyme.

I'll just put a little bit on top.

It will probably blow away in a minute, but there you've got it.

There it is, my nostalgia dish for Colin.

This spicy split pea soup should send him

straight back down memory lane.

I just hope my version stands up in comparison to his mum's

much-loved original.

Mate, you've done well.

I never thought you could pull this off but you've done it.

A marvellous job.

Would your mum's have been much different to that?

Not flavour-wise, no. Sorry, Mam, but....

THEY LAUGH

But that is delicious.

Let's just try one of these, yeah.

So, you know what? We'd always do with a bit of bread, get a taste.

Mmm, I'm very impressed.

-The flavours are superb.

-Good man.

Well done, chief.

Thank goodness for that!

My attempt at Colin's favourite Jamaican flavours was a hit.

For my next dish, I think I'll try and mix up Caribbean

inspiration with flavours from these Welsh shores as well.

Drive west from Cardiff and you'll reach Pembrokeshire,

jutting defiantly out into the stormy seas of the Atlantic Ocean.

It's dotted with lovely beaches, like this one at Freshwater West,

which today offers some of the best surfing to be found in Wales.

Coastal foragers have been making a living here for centuries.

The sea providing rich pickings for those who know where to look.

My name is Jonathan Williams, I'm a seashore forager.

I started foraging probably round about ten, 15 years ago.

It's my favourite beach.

We grew up surfing here and just got into it.

And it's here

where Wales's most distinctive culinary delicacy is found.

We're quite lucky in Britain,

it's estimated there are around 720 species of seaweed

and the majority of them are edible.

Down Freshwater West, we typically find around seven or eight

different species at different times of the year, depending on the times.

Over here we've got the lovely Pepper Dulse,

which is known as the truffle of the sea.

It's quite abundant at the moment.

Typically it's quite hard to find, you know, in the winter months.

Lovely fronds.

The taste is...it's a very strong taste.

It's like a peppery, mushroom flavour.

We make...we mix it with butter and you know have it in lots of pasta

dishes and linguine and risottos and pan-fried fish and lobster as well.

But what we're really looking for down here, and my favourite, is

the laver seaweed, which we can see shimmering on the rock over there.

You can identify it, it's like a black clingfilm.

I mean, there are area several different varieties -

either black or purple - and it's almost transparent.

If you hold it up to the light, you can see it's quite thin

and it kind of clings to the rocks like a clingfilm,

and it tastes fantastic.

And, you know, it is one of the most versatile ingredients we cook with.

But before you rush down to the seaside,

you have to remember that not all seaweeds are edible,

so you must take care when foraging for yourself.

Once Jonathan has hand-picked enough fresh laver seaweed,

he takes it back to his beach-side food shack, where he transforms

it into the distinctive Welsh delicacy laver bread.

It's a simple process.

The seaweed is washed, chopped and left to simmer in a saucepan

for up to ten hours.

The reason you cook it for so long, you are breaking it down into a puree.

It doesn't look the best ingredient in the world,

but the depth of flavour adds to dishes, it's fantastic.

I think it's a great ingredient.

OK, so this is the laver bread.

It's been cooking for 10/12 hours

and you can see, if you look really close at it,

it's kind of a slimy green puree but, you know, if people

haven't tried it, I just urge people to have an open mind and try it.

You know, quickly it could become part of your weekly cooking.

One of the best ways to eat laver bread is to make laver cakes

by mixing the puree with some oats.

And basically, what you're doing here is you're just getting

the right consistency. Don't do it too wet cos it will stick to the pan

and you don't want it too dry because it won't taste great.

So, yeah, I'm happy with those, it's looking good.

I'm going to stick that down there

and we're going to pat it down.

We're looking for like a round, kind of, burger kind of shape

and then you get those juices flowing in there.

And usually it will take about five minutes.

You want a lovely golden coating on the outside, so it's nice,

hot and crispy on the outside and all gooey and lovely in the middle.

So one of the products we make is this lovely Welshman's caviar,

we nicknamed it.

Essentially it's laver seaweed, which we collected off the beach,

washed, dried and toasted and then kind of blended,

so we've got these lovely flakes going in there.

I'm going to put them in my eggs quickly

and it just adds a lovely little taste.

So this is a kind of modern twist on a traditional Welsh breakfast.

And, you know, we love it

and it's one of the products I'm really proud of.

So here we are, the lovely Welshman's traditional breakfast.

We've got the lovely bacon all cooked up,

the laver bread pate and then the local eggs.

We've added a little modern twist to the Welshman's caviar,

sprinkled on top and this was the start of many a miner or

Welsh rugby player's day - the best way, the Welsh way.

I think laver bread would work perfectly in the final meal that I

am going to cook today - my tribute dish in honour of Colin Jackson.

But first, let's return to Cardiff and step back down to memory lane.

Well, this is my primary school.

Not only did I get my education here, but also this is where I did

most of my running as a young lad.

These fields were full of activity.

Rugby and football used to take place here.

Just over there was where we used to do athletics, so it was a busy time.

And I assume you were the fastest.

-You were wrong.

-Oh, really.

Yeah, I was never really the fastest in the school.

One of the fastest but not THE fastest.

I guess I used to get a lot of exercise from coming to school

from home because I only used to walk there and back,

because I only used to live only round the corner, not too far away.

Well, here's a perfect opportunity for you to go

and have a look at where your house used to be, the same road,

for you to look round the school,

and I'm going to go in the school kitchen and cook just for you.

Thank you very much. I'm looking forward to it.

So while Colin heads back to school,

I am going to use everything I've learnt about him today to

create a special tribute dish using lots of locally sourced ingredients.

I've got some salmon, which is a great fish,

and I know he loves fish, he loves salmon,

but I'm also going to put a bit of Jamaican jerk seasoning on it.

I've got some leeks because they're Welsh, and some laver bread because

it's even more Welsh, and I'm going to serve it in a cockle butter sauce.

Sounds good to me.

The first thing we need to do is to make the jerk seasoning.

Every Jamaican family has its own jerk recipe.

Mine starts with a chilli for heat,

as well as garlic and chives.

Lots of different flavours and bags of power.

Now that's a lovely colour is that.

I'm going to put in there some allspice, plenty of it.

Some sugar

and salt,

and then I'm going to put some onion in here,

and this onion gives it a bit of juice and a bit of flavour.

OK, I've got some nutmeg to go in there.

Plenty of it, really nice, freshly grated,

and then I'm going to put a bit of oil in there

and we're ready to go.

So what we'll do now is very quickly pour this over the top.

This goes in the fridge for about a couple of hours.

The trick is you want to add flavour

but not overtake the salmon flavour.

Well, this is a really good

multi-purpose zone, isn't it?

This was our dining room, this was one of the halls.

We could do gymnastic activities here as well.

It's incredible.

As I look around, I still think, "Whoa, how brilliant it is."

And it does bring back loads of memories to me,

sitting down in rows, you know, listening to the piano being played.

It was pretty exceptional.

And then you'd have that complete turnaround, wouldn't you,

and it would be the dining room then.

School dinners for me were pretty nice,

like I'll never complain about them,

and I used to like the desserts the most because I used to love

all those custardy kind of things.

And it was always great to have school dinners

and it was a time when we used to socialise

as well, as you can imagine, so it was a pretty good time.

Boy, oh boy, eh?

It's a special moment when you come back to school.

I have good memories in school,

so I enjoy coming back and certainly visiting this.

The salmon has been marinating in my jerk seasoning -

a mix of garlic, chilli, chives,

onion, allspice, sugar, salt and nutmeg.

Next, I'm going to get the vegetables on the go.

First thing we need to do, we are going to get some leeks on.

Classic Welsh vegetable, loved by all.

Wash them off, they really taste delicious and that lovely...

We're going to keep that lovely shade of green there.

In it goes.

Some salt and pepper.

I'm going to put some chicken stock in there, rather than water.

It gives it a lot more flavour and when it's just about cooked,

I'm going to put in this lovely, rich laver bread.

The next thing we need to do, get another pan on

and we're going to put our fresh Swansea Bay cockles in there.

Now these are wonderful cockles,

treat them with lots of respect.

In they go with some white wine.

Just a bit to get it going there.

We get a really lovely flavour.

Put the lid on.

It may be nearly 40 years since Colin left this school,

but it seems they haven't forgotten their high achiever.

More things I've found today, look at this.

Memorabilia from me even. Incredible.

This is my Commonwealth Games vest,

which I wore and won a title with.

And these are actually the shoes that I broke world records in,

so I'm pretty pleased that my primary school have got them.

I'm proud of that.

Well, well...

I'm back. Who'd have thought this? This was my very first classroom

and my teacher's name was Mr Abbot.

He was massive, he was about 6'4".

But it's good to look around and see that things haven't changed

too much, but I am giggling, really I am,

because the size of these chairs.

Let's see now. Let me get down into it.

They are very, very low and it's nearly like a full squat, eh?

But, anyway, where's my maths book?

So the leeks are slowly simmering in the chicken stock,

my Swansea cockles are steaming nicely in some white wine

and the salmon fillets have had plenty of time to

take on the Caribbean flavours of my jerk marinade.

But the thing about the jerk seasoning is you put it on

to marinade the fish to give it an extra dimension in its flavour,

but then we take it off.

So let me put some butter in with the oil.

Give it a swirl round.

Get that nice and warm.

It's a lovely colour is that - rapeseed oil, great golden colour,

and then we just take off this excess jerk seasoning.

Put that in there and we need to keep fish underdone.

Do not overcook it.

Just look at that, that looks really lovely,

and the jerk's just changed the colour of the butter, that seasoning.

It smells delicious but yet it's not going to overpower.

Well, here we are back in Llanedeyrn

and my very first address, where I grew up from the ages

of four to 17, so I had a lot of experiences here.

But if you take a swing round here and look straight down here,

you can see houses are on both sides of the road

and really what was fantastic about us,

when there were big occasions, like the Queen's Silver Jubilee,

the whole of this street was out celebrating

and there were parties down there,

buffets... All the women in the families here would have

cooked something and brought it out for all the kids to have a taste,

and really have that real party community feel.

When you're in an environment like this, I think this is

when it is pretty special.

Being back is a really nostalgic feeling for me, if I'm honest.

I look around and everything looks much smaller than I can remember it.

I guess this is where I got my very first memories of all

the culinary magic that my mum would have conjured up

and what we've already tasted today with the split pea soup,

the first time I've ever had it,

would definitely have been in this house.

I'm so glad today has brought back

all those brilliant food memories for Colin.

I just hope the tribute dish I have created for him

lives up to expectations.

So far, I've cooked leeks and cockles,

and the jerk salmon is nearly done.

All the dish needs now is a sauce.

I imagine Colin's body is a temple,

but this dish really screams out for quite a naughty sauce.

I just hope he's game.

Nothing's going to waste here, so I'm reducing the wine that

I cooked the cockles in and adding a dash of double cream.

This may go against you, it may not,

but I'm going to put just a bit of butter in there.

Well, when I say a bit...

Yeah, you're a man from Yorkshire, I expect...butter.

I like quite a lot of butter, you're quite right.

Get this here.

Does this seem like a little bit of a luxury for you,

to have an actual kitchen to be working in?

It's marvellous being inside.

Yeah, I've nearly forgotten what it's like.

Whilst the sauce is reducing,

I'm mixing the laver bread with the leeks.

Laver bread is naturally salty, so it may not need seasoning.

That's all right is that.

Yeah, you do all right, don't you?

-You do all right there.

-I quite like that.

So that goes in the middle of the plate, not too much.

The last job is to pick the cockles from their shells

and put them in the sauce to warm through.

Fresh thyme goes in there.

So now I'm just going to finish it off.

Let me take this out the way here, give myself a bit of space.

A nice bit of salmon.

I heard you say this morning that you quite like salmon.

I do indeed and that looks tremendous.

A nice little bit, eh?

You know, I'm an eager beaver here.

Look, fork in hand.

The final touch is the white wine and cockle sauce.

Mr Jackson, it's been a pleasure to meet you, sir.

I really hope your day has been full of happy memories

and that is just for you.

There it is, my tribute to Colin Jackson.

I've cooked a fillet of salmon, Colin's favourite fish,

marinated in my very own Jamaican jerk seasoning,

served with leek and laver bread

and a cockle, cream and white wine sauce.

It's a dish that mixes Colin's Jamaican heritage

with his pride of all things Welsh.

Tell us what you think.

All, right, let's dig into this. It looks amazing.

It smells delicious and look at the way that salmon fell away.

-No time to be a gentlemen.

-No, absolutely. Get stuck in there.

-Shove it down your gob.

BRIAN CHUCKLES

Mmm...

Do you know, Brian? I can say this is an absolute delight.

What a nice man you are.

I'll invite you again, I promise.

THEY CHUCKLE

Spot on.