Tony Blackburn 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!

-Oh, look at that!

'Going back to their early years 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 the 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, disc jockey Tony Blackburn returns to Dorset, where he grew up.'

This is where I made the tape up

that eventually got me the job on Radio Caroline.

'Early days in entertainment are fondly remembered.'

I feel very happy now.

'And memories of Mum in the kitchen come flooding back.'

What kind of things do you remember your mum cooking for you?

Baked beans on toast.

THEY LAUGH

'I'll be cooking in a ballroom for the first time,

'which only adds to our nostalgic theme.'

How do you learn to put them in like that?

Well, you go to a raspberry-putter-inner school.

'And I'll be celebrating Tony's amazing story

'with a dish that pays tribute to him.'

Mm!

When you look at a seaside spot like this on such a lovely summer's day,

it's hard to beat, don't you think?

Imagine growing up with all this on your doorstep.

Tony Blackburn was that lucky, growing up

in Poole on the Dorset coast.

-This side here is Bournemouth, up there is Bournemouth.

-Right.

And down there is Poole.

And you can see it's Old Harry Rocks out there

and there's Shell Bay over there

and that's where the naturists' place is.

If you want to take your clothes off, that's where you go.

I've never seen anybody in the nude there, and, God, I've tried.

Today won't change anything, then.

No. Around the corner, that's where all the millionaires are.

That's probably where you have a house.

-HE LAUGHS

-It's Sandbanks.

Sandbanks around there.

And that is the part where Poole Harbour starts.

And that's the place where I lived, around there.

-Not in Sandbanks, but close to it.

-Then not far away.

Not far...not too far away, no.

I mean, it's a beautiful place to be brought up.

-It's wonderful.

-Wonderful, yeah.

And times were different in those days.

-As a child, you were allowed to roam a bit freer.

-Oh, absolutely.

I mean, we didn't have the internet,

we didn't have phones and things like that.

So we all used to amazingly talk to one another and we used to get out of the house.

We weren't just playing on computers.

So we'd come down here and, as you can see,

a beautiful place to be brought up.

Were you one of the lads? Did you have a gang, or...?

Er...not really, no. I was a bit of a loner.

-THEY LAUGH

-Whoo!

No, I always quite liked my own company, really.

I had my sister and my sister's friends.

I used to know them quite a bit.

And we used to go to Westover Road in Bournemouth

and we used to go skating there and things like that.

So I had a lovely time, but I was always more interested

in being at home and strumming on the guitar

and singing and listening to the radio and that sort of stuff.

So, your family moved down here from Guildford, was it?

Guildford, that's right, yes.

You were what, three years of age? I don't suppose you remember much.

About three or four years of age, yeah. My dad was a doctor in Poole.

And he had a practice down here.

And so I was here till I was around about 21,

when I joined the pirate ships.

So all my life, I'd spent down here.

Tony has won numerous awards for his contribution to radio

and still bashes out Radio 2's Pick of the Pops every weekend,

amongst other shows.

It all started with a job on the pirate station, Radio Caroline.

Then, in 1967, he was chosen

to launch the BBC's new station, Radio 1.

# The voice of Radio 1. #

Good morning, everyone! Welcome to the exciting new sound of Radio 1!

He became one of a merry band of celebrity disc jockeys.

And one of the perks was presenting the unmissable Top Of The Pops.

Hello, everybody! Welcome to the wonderful world

of Top Of The Pops once again.

As we chat and visit key locations from Tony's youth,

I'll be formulating ideas for a nostalgic dish

to remind him of home

and a special dish, drawing on his life and favourite food,

that pays tribute to him.

But today, I face my biggest challenge

because Tony doesn't feel quite the same way about food as I do.

-Were you a family that ate together a lot?

-Oh, yes, we did, yes.

I mean, my mother, she originally was a nurse,

but when she had my sister and myself,

she gave all that up and she was at home.

I'd love to have a hard-luck story, I had a tough childhood, but I didn't.

-No?

-I had a wonderful time.

-Well, that's good to hear.

My parents were great, you know, and I had a terrific time down here.

So being back here again, it brings back wonderful memories.

And what kind of memories do you have of food?

What kind of things do you remember your mum cooking for you?

-Baked beans on toast.

-THEY LAUGH

-That would suit.

-Even in those days, I used to like...

We used to have baked beans on toast

and, you know, an egg on top and things like that.

I don't remember meat

because I became a vegetarian about the age of five.

And the way I became a vegetarian

is we went on a farming holiday and I saw this...

You see, I've always loved animals.

And I saw this chicken that was wandering around and, um...

you know, I went over to it and had an interesting conversation with it.

THEY LAUGH As you do.

As you do. And then it was dished up on my plate and I made the...

You know, I thought, it looks the same shape as that.

And I didn't realise in those days that meat was an animal.

And I made that connection and I thought, "Oh, I can't do that".

And it has stuck with me ever since.

In the summer holidays, when he was still at school,

Tony got a job selling ice cream along the seafront.

So, were you a connoisseur of ice cream in those days?

Oh, absolutely, yeah.

I mean, I not only sold them, but I loved eating them, as well,

and I still do love it.

-Favourite flavours?

-Oh, vanilla. You can't...

There's no point in messing around with it.

So, did you have ice cream at home as a...?

Did you have dessert, or did you have pudding?

Yes, oh, yes, absolutely.

I always used to like bread and butter pudding at home.

That was of my favourites and still is.

Apple crumble. Rice. I loved rice.

When I was, um...when I was first married and I got divorced,

in between marriages was 17 years

and I survived on lentil soup and processed peas and tinned rice.

-And it's absolutely true.

-TONY LAUGHS

'Crikey! Sounds like purgatory to me.

'But Tony is a pudding man, and so am I.

'So I've decided that my nostalgia dish should be a pudding.'

It must have been difficult being vegetarian back then,

especially when he was sent off to boarding school.

I think I was the only vegetarian in the school.

And I remember on the first or second day or so,

I sat down and I had this steak and things like that.

I said, "I just can't eat it. I'm sorry, I'm a vegetarian".

That must have taken some courage to stand up.

Well, do you know, I just couldn't bear the thought of it.

So today, you must feel like a liberated man.

Lots of restaurants cater for vegetarian.

What kind of food do you eat today?

Well, I tend to go Italian restaurants because I like

either a pizza, a margherita pizza,

or a spaghetti with tomato sauce, and that's it.

And my wife has just got used to it now, you know, for...

We've been married 23 years and I just...

She says, "Have you never wanted to have something different"?

And I said, "No".

I remember my friend Kenny Everett, he said to me, he said,

"If you find something you like,

"why not just go with it, stick with it?"

But you see, food is not...

I hate saying this to you, Brian, it's an awful thing to say

to a great chef like yourself, but, um...

Food doesn't... It's not my whole life.

But I know a lot of people, for them, it's everything.

-I'm going to cook a couple of dishes for you today.

-Yes.

And hopefully, one will make you think about when you were a child

-and a younger person.

-Yes.

And then the other one will be one that I think sums you up,

the way the way you just talked about how you eat.

But I think we need this ice cream.

Yes, I think you're right.

-Oh, thank you very much.

-You're welcome. Enjoy.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

And a nice little biscuit beautifully on the top there.

Mm!

So, how does this rate on the Blackburn-o-meter?

Well, this is terrific. And I'm a bit of an expert on this,

so I can just... Hold on a minute.

Definitely Italian.

How do you know that?

Just an expert. You either know these things, Brian, or you don't.

-I am so impressed.

-This is Italian ice cream.

It's beautiful. It has that texture to it.

They have, haven't they? Yeah.

'Tony's love of plain and simple fare

'is a challenge to any cook or food producer.'

At the other end of the spectrum

are people who are passionate about exploring new flavours

and even pioneering new crops.

The family who own this watercress farm in Dorset

have diversified into a hot little crop

that's full of eastern promise.

Good morning, Nick. How you doing, all right?

-Yeah, very good, thanks.

-Nice to see you.

Watercress has been grown commercially on this farm since 1860.

Today, they're tackling something more exotic

which had proved impossible to grow in the UK until now.

It produces that little blob of fiery green paste

that's served with Japanese food, wasabi.

You wouldn't believe what an awkward little plant it is to grow,

as Nick Russell explains.

We were given the idea by a visiting chef

who was actually visiting the cress beds here

and mentioned that the only he'd seen grown in this way was wasabi.

And that kind of planted the seed.

So, how did the process start? Did you have to get...?

I mean, wasabi, really, does it only grow in Japan,

or does it grow around the world?

Yeah, originally, it's from Japan.

So we're trying to recreate the natural growing environment,

which is the mountain streams of Japan.

So flowing water is obviously the main point.

I think we have about 500 litres a minute

going through our wasabi beds,

-which is an incredible amount of water, really.

-Absolutely.

We've got structures we've built over the top

that create as much shade as possible.

Unlike most plants, wasabi doesn't really like direct sunlight.

There's a reason why there isn't wasabi farms all over the place.

It's notoriously difficult to grow and to sustain.

It's a patient farmer who takes on wasabi.

Not only are the growing conditions so specific,

you have to wait two years before you can harvest it.

On the plus side, the Japanese believe it's really good for you.

Originally, the Japanese, I think were using it in 1600 BC.

It's got a lot of medical properties to it.

They were using it to combat food poisoning.

Eating a lot of raw fish, having something that's going to help you out,

balance that, is always a good thing, yeah.

So, how would you describe wasabi?

As far as I'm concerned, it's a member of the mustard family.

Yeah, it's a brassica.

So very similar in taste to things like mustard and horseradish,

but I find it a lot sweeter.

And the taste profile's quite different,

but we'll definitely find that out.

If you're keen to try some, we can do that now.

Fantastic. I'd love that. Yes, great.

-Here we are again.

-They look fantastic.

Just look at those leaves. They remind me of rhubarb leaves.

Well, the whole plant's edible, effectively.

From the leaves right down to the roots.

With the level of spice changing a little bit

through the plant as it goes.

But the real jewel in the crown is the rhizome there.

That's kind of why we've gone to all the effort.

'Once you've grown it, it's simple enough

'to get that punchy paste we're more familiar with.'

Right, now, this is a special wasabi grater.

It is, yeah. We use these special graters

because they do break it down in such a fine level.

-That's the crucial bit.

-Yeah.

I mean, this is where the magic really starts to happen.

If we were to slice it and just eat it without grating it,

you wouldn't in any way get the same taste as you would

when you break it down at that level.

-Can I have a little slice, in that case, then?

-Yeah, of course.

-It'd be good to experience that.

-Yeah, definitely. Great idea.

-Great idea. I like it.

-Oh, yeah, there you go.

As you say, it is...it's mild.

You can feel the power, but it's sort of not released.

It hasn't been ignited yet.

So you can see how this grater turns it instantly into a paste.

That's actually quite amazing.

I never thought it would work out just like that,

but that is exactly what it is. It's a paste straightaway.

And there's that strong green that we're used to seeing.

And what we'll do...

You see it often in little balls...

-Yeah.

-..when they serve it.

And the reason for that is to reduce the oxygen

that's actually reaching the paste.

So it stalls that chemical process.

So, it's oxidising, which is losing its flavour?

-Exactly, yeah.

-Ah-ha! Got it!

Grab yourself a stick there and give it a little try.

-Cor!

-Yeah.

Cor! The difference is actually...

For me, the difference on the front of my tongue is...

-It's instant, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

After a short period of time, you get that sweetness coming through,

which is very different to horseradish and so on.

'And from the entrepreneurs growing the stuff

'to an intriguing way of using it at this Dorset chocolatier.

'Caroline has got me to help her making wasabi chocolate.'

Crikey! 'A flavour which she developed.'

Do you do this by hand every time?

-CAROLINE LAUGHS

-It's hard work.

It is!

-Capable hands.

-How much of this do you need?

-Well, we put 220g in.

-Crikey!

And that makes about 200 chocolates.

We like a bit in there to give it a kick.

So, how much do you think I've got there?

It's about 50g, tops.

'Our wasabi cream filling, or ganache, contains milk chocolate

'and spicy extras, grated ginger and soy sauce.'

Just look at that!

Go gently, otherwise you'll end up decorating the room.

I think I just got told off.

'It's poured over a layer of chocolate

'and sets over a couple of days.

'The chocolate slab is cut

'and the squares topped with dark chocolate and sesame seeds.'

I don't really know what it is I'm expecting.

We can't lose, can we? So here goes nothing.

The wasabi...is far more prominent that I thought it would be.

I thought it would've mellowed because of the double cream

and the chocolate, but it is there

and it is very pronounced.

It's nice and powerful.

-And that suits me.

-Good.

So one more and that's it, OK? THEY LAUGH

The Pavilion Theatre on Westover Road in Bournemouth

was opened by the Duke of Gloucester in 1929.

And it's still a popular venue for stage shows,

concerts and ballroom dancing

after almost 100 years.

Tony left boarding school aged 16

to continue his education in Bournemouth.

And he also started working at the Pavilion.

This certainly brings back memories.

I bet it does. How long since you've been here?

Um...I haven't been here, inside this building, since 1963.

-And that's a few years ago.

-It is a few years ago, yes.

So, what did you do when you came here in those days?

I was part of a band. It was called the Jan Ralfini Orchestra.

-And I was a guitarist and singer in the ballroom there.

-Oh, right.

So we used to do civic functions,

we used to nights when I'd have a breakaway group

that would come out and do a bit of rock and roll.

So, you were a rock and roll singer?

We had about three or four people

in the orchestra that would stay with me.

The drummer, the bass guitarist, and I played guitar.

And I'd come out and do all the current pop songs.

Then I had a breakaway group called,

Tony Blackburn And His Swinging Bells.

-And then we had Tony Blackburn And The Rovers.

-Right.

And we used to sing around all these hotels and things like that.

So, it's 50 years since you went through those doors?

-Yes, absolutely.

-Well, you go through there now.

-I'm sure you're going to dig up some wonderful memories.

-Yes.

And in the meantime, I'm going to create a dish

-that will remind you of that time in your life.

-OK, lovely.

-You enjoy.

-Thank you.

Wow! This is absolutely amazing.

Because it hasn't changed at all.

I spent three years here, the reception was there,

that's where you'd buy all the tickets for the theatre.

I used to just go down here, because this is the theatre here

and the ballroom, I always used to go down there to the ballroom.

And nothing has changed.

It's like...it's like being back in 1963 again.

I don't think there's even any new paint.

It's unbelievable.

This place was very important for me

because this is where I learnt, really, to be in front of audiences.

Because I am quite at home on a stage.

And this was my break into the music business.

And because of here, I learnt how to play the guitar,

learnt how to sing a little bit.

And it was with a big 15-piece orchestra,

which was a fantastic experience.

So here it is.

This is the ballroom and this is the stage where I learnt how to...

hopefully entertain audiences.

I was very lucky, you know, because we did tea dances here,

we used to do foxtrots and the quick steps and things like that

and used to do a bit of rock and roll.

And this stage is really the first stage I went on professionally.

Um...used to have Jan, Jan Ralfini was the conductor here.

He'd stand here and you'd have all the audience in there.

And my place was... Yeah, I was about here.

And I had the sax player next to me.

He was always going on about the fact my amplifier was too loud.

And this is where I would be.

And then when I had to come out and do my songs and things like that,

come out in front here.

And, er... Gosh, this brings back so many memories.

It's just great being back on this stage, actually,

because it's exactly the same.

I think even these curtains are the same.

-TONY LAUGHS

-I recognise these curtains.

While Tony goes off to explore backstage,

we've set up the kitchen in the ballroom.

A place that's got nostalgia written all over it.

So, what do you cook for the man who very rarely changes what he eats

and has kept that way for the last 50 years?

Well, there was a clue in his childhood.

He used to love puddings.

And his mum did a fantastic rice pudding.

So I'm going to make a rice pudding with a difference.

Now, I suspect when Tony's mum used to make rice pudding,

she used a simple straight milk.

So being a Yorkshire man and time's moved on,

a nice glug of double cream will work instead.

So I put double cream in there.

And this is one of my favourite rice puddings.

I'm going to put some coconut milk in there.

Hope he likes coconut.

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

'I'm adding butter, sugar and vanilla.

'A flavour I know Tony loves.'

Did you notice how he loved that vanilla ice cream?

He's going to love this.

So I just split the pod and just quickly take out the seeds.

And then we put the pod in there.

We can always take the pod out afterwards.

This should take about 25 minutes to 35 minutes maximum to cook.

This is one of those dishes you can't really rush.

Yeah, this is quite familiar.

This is where we used to...

We had our sort of Jan Ralfini Orchestra jackets

and we used to come in here, all 15 of us,

and this is where we changed. And we had,

as I remember it, we had lockers on the side of the wall here.

And we could keep all our things here.

But, er...this is where I spent three years, with all the musicians.

You know, the trombone players and the sax players

and the drummers and people like that, but this is it.

Brings back amazing memories for me.

So you can see it's now got a lovely, healthy boil on it.

So we put some of this rice in there. Shower it in.

Couple of ounces.

That does look good, I have to say.

So I'm going to transfer that now...over here.

Put it on to simmer. That's just coming on nicely.

So I'm going to put a pan on here.

I'm going to serve this with raspberries.

My own-made raspberry quick jam.

I'm going to make it with some white rum.

This just adds another dimension.

Put that in there and then some icing sugar.

And then just make it nice and spicy, we've got a cinnamon stick...

..star anise. Just bash that up a little bit. That goes in there.

And then I'm going to put some nutmeg in.

Oh, it smells fantastic already.

And then half the raspberries go into this liquor.

And just gently let them simmer

so that the fruit starts to form.

You get this lovely jam-like puree.

And it will bind those lovely fresh raspberries.

MUSIC: The Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss II

Well, this is the Pavilion Theatre.

I used to come here when I was a teenager, seeing a lot of the shows,

the pantomimes here and things like that.

It's funny, I've always wanted to be on this stage.

I was always in the ballroom,

but secretly, I wanted to be up there on the stage.

This is something I've wanted to do for 50 years, all right?

HE CHUCKLES

Now, I've always wanted to be up here

because it's so much bigger than the ballroom.

I feel very happy now.

'I'm ready to reveal the dish that I hope will take Tony

'right back to his mum's cooking.

'I've mixed double cream and coconut milk,

'added pudding rice, sugar,

'a knob of butter and a vanilla pod

'and simmered for about half an hour.

'My raspberry jam has fresh raspberries

'cooked with rum and icing sugar.

'Spiced up with cinnamon, star anise and nutmeg.'

So that's just about...

Oh, it looks like you've been busy, Brian.

I'm making you a rice pudding.

And then we are going to finish it with our own little raspberry jam.

So what I've done here, I've cooked together...

-Do you take rum occasionally?

-Yes, sure.

-Perfect. Lovely.

So I've put some white rum in there.

And it is especially nice when you've got really ripe raspberries.

Jam-ish. Get rid of the pips.

And then whilst it's still warm...

I love puddings, you see.

-Well, that's good.

-Yeah.

So then I'm going to put a few of these raspberries in here.

And they've had some spices in there.

-Some cinnamon, some nutmeg.

-Yeah.

You see, if I... How do you learn to put them in like that?

See, if I did that, it would go all over the place.

Yeah, well you go to a raspberry-putter-inner school.

THEY LAUGH

It's a deliciously comforting old-fashioned pud,

to warm you up on a long winter's night

when you're all cosied up by the fire.

And it's nostalgia in a bowl for Tony.

-There you are, sir. Grab a spoon and tuck in.

-Lovely.

-Now, I just need to ask you one question.

-Yes?

-Do you remember when you mum made it and you put jam in there?

-Yes?

-Did you stir it in to make it all go pink?

-Yes.

Oh, fine, OK. Don't do that with this.

-All right.

-THEY LAUGH

Do you what you like with it, sir.

That's lovely. Can I have one of those...?

Please, yeah. It's quite important.

Now you can stir it in, if that's how you like to eat it.

No, no, no. With this, I'll just leave it like that. It's beautiful.

And does it remind you of your mum's rice pudding?

It does, it does.

I think it's actually better with these raspberries in.

-I really love that.

-Good man.

-Really great. Yeah.

Lovely. I'll take it away, if you don't mind.

-THEY LAUGH

-I want it now.

-You go, you go, we're all fine.

-All right.

THEY LAUGH

The vibrancy of that raspberry against the pale of the rice pudding

is a prime example of how we eat with our eyes

and how colour in a dish makes it so much more appealing.

Just across the Dorset/Devon border, there's a producer

who's taking the idea of colouring food one step further

by specialising in organically-grown edible flowers.

And Jan Billington's farm is a striking feast for the eyes.

We probably have about 60,

60 to 70 different varieties of flowers,

ranging from wild garlic and primroses

and tulip petals in the spring,

all the way through the summer flowers, the herbs,

right the way through to the autumn,

where we've got the sunflowers and dahlias.

And we're famous for our organic edible roses.

Jan is constantly striving to increase the range of her crop.

And there's been plenty of trial and error.

Every year, we research and every year we find more edible flowers

and then work with chefs to do some experimenting and recipe testing.

And suddenly find out that actually,

no, this is revolting and it's never going to work,

or, you know, it's an absolutely fantastic flower

and it's been lovely and it...

you know, and they can go on and make fabulous things with it.

But before you go tucking into that bunch of tulips you've just bought,

a word of caution.

There are a lot of flowers out there that are poisonous

and there are also flowers within families where some are...

For example, talking about broad beans, runner beans,

mangetout, things like that,

the flowers are edible, but sweet peas, for example, are poisonous.

So you do have to be quite careful.

The other thing to take into account is that the fact that

flowers are still not really designed to be eaten.

So unless you're growing them in your own garden

and you know which ones are edible,

in which case it's absolute fine to eat them,

you need to really source them from a specialist grower

and make sure that they are grown organically.

Because 96% of flowers that are sold in this country are imported.

Therefore, they've all been treated with either insecticides

or pesticides.

So the best tip is probably to grow your own.

I am really fickle, so my favourite edible flower

changes completely throughout the year.

In spring, I absolutely love broad bean flowers.

They have just the most fabulous flavour.

And no-one sort of associates broad beans as having a perfume,

but the perfume is unbelievable.

So, yeah, that's lovely. Summer, roses.

And in the autumn, I don't know. Yeah, I like the sunflowers.

They're more kind of savoury. And the garlic chives,

lovely through paellas and things like that.

And the herb flowers are wonderful

because they attract so many insects to the farm, so...

Yeah, every season is different and I don't have a favourite.

Among Jan's converts are Dorset foodies, Radhika Mohendas

and Jollyon Carter,

who met her when their market stalls were side by side.

We've been to her farm many, many, many times

to learn a bit more about all the different flowers

and when they come into season and all the different herbs.

So we use a lot of her lovely flower salads

and we use a lot of her allium-y things,

her chive flowers and her chives.

And Jolly makes some incredible jellies using her edible flowers.

It's like walking through heaven because it's, you know,

on a sunny day, there's all these gorgeous flowers

in all the polytunnels outside and you just get to pick them off.

And who knew that flowers had such extraordinary different flavours?

-And character.

-Like the begonia here, they are super sour.

What we have started doing is literally trying a lot of flowers

to just make sure it actually fits in with those dishes.

So we end up using a lot of herb flowers.

I'm using chive flowers.

Not just for the colour,

but, obviously, it's got a nice allium flavour,

garlicky flavour, to it.

As Radhika and Jollyon grow their food business,

they have become passionate experimenters.

All the flowers, the massive one is a courgette flower.

And you can eat all the flowers and all the salads

and everything, so, yeah, enjoy!

A lot of times, a really well-placed flower

is a bit like when you add lime or salts to the end of a dish,

it sort of, like, livens the whole thing up.

And it's visually livening the whole dish up.

It's also the surprise of what it actually tastes like when you put it in your mouth.

And it's very irritating when people don't eat the edible flowers.

-Yeah. A lot come back.

-Yeah.

-Eat your edible flowers!

-THEY CHUCKLE

Working with these new floral ingredients encourages creativity,

which really fires them up.

So this is the elderflower prosecco jelly,

Dorset honey and a sort of bitter crumble.

And a fennel flower.

So there's a little mild aniseed in there, as well.

And the finale. Ta-da!

-That's so pretty!

-Thank you!

It's elderflower prosecco jelly.

Gosh!

-That is really gorgeous.

-Amazing!

I'd love to be able to make something as beautiful as that.

Mm! Gosh!

-It's quite boozy.

-LAUGHTER

-Mm! Cheers!

-LAUGHTER

I've come up with a dish to make as a tribute to Tony

which gets to the heart of the man and reflects his youth.

What better place to inspire more memories of that time

than the home he grew up in Poole?

So here, Brian, this is where I lived

from the age of seven years old.

And we moved in here in 1950.

And it's a bungalow because my sister is in a wheelchair

and my father designed it especially for her.

My sister still lives here. I come down here every four weeks or so.

And it's funny, it's like going back in time again.

Rather like the Pavilion,

that hasn't altered, this hasn't altered either.

Why don't you just share with us

the happy memories of the life that you had in there?

In the meantime, I'm going to cook another dish for you,

a tribute to Tony Blackburn.

-A tribute?

-A tribute to you, sir.

-Off you go.

-Ooh! Can't wait. Thank you.

We've set up our kitchen in the garden.

Now, the one thing that Tony Blackburn's never had is a gold disc.

Well, I'm going to award him a gold disc today.

It's going to be made like a pizza,

but I'm going to make it out of puff pastry

with beetroot, with tomatoes, with onions and then a pesto on it.

He's going to just love it.

First thing we need to do is get that magic tomato sauce on the way.

Pan's on.

Bit of olive oil in there.

And then we just quickly chop a shallot.

Nice and fine.

Into the pan.

And, of course, some garlic.

I love garlic. I hope Tony does.

And then we'll put the tomatoes on top.

A bit of sugar.

Some salt and pepper.

And the idea is to let that cook away

and then take it off once it's reduced.

All the liquor's disappeared. Got lovely flavour.

And then we're going to put some chopped parsley in there.

So I've got some here that's been cooking for about 15 minutes.

And it's also now gone cold.

And I want it cold when I make the actual tart.

So that goes in there.

A lovely colour, as well as flavour.

And we put that into a bowl and put that to one side.

Tony's in familiar territory,

but he's delving into those memory banks.

Right, so this is the lounge. This is really where, you know,

our family would sort of gather together more.

And I'd come back from school and we'd sit down

in front of a very old-fashioned TV.

Because the TV was in a cabinet and the screen was about that size.

And we had a great big radiogram, as well, which was a massive thing.

And it had a turntable

and the records would drop on top of one another.

They were 78s in those days.

This is where I got the idea of becoming a disc jockey because I...

I got a speaker and I put it in the hallway

and I sort of managed to broadcast from here

to anybody who was in the kitchen.

HE LAUGHS

There was a part of me that always wanted to be a broadcaster, as well.

You know, not only just a singer, I wanted to be a broadcaster.

I always had this deep love of radio and music,

right from the early days.

And my basic love of black soul music

came from my father, who loved Jackie Wilson.

And I think he loved Reet Petite.

And he used to play it over and over and over again.

And it's always been one of my favourite records, that one.

Got a lot of photographs here.

This is me when I was probably about eight or nine years old.

-Haven't changed.

-HE LAUGHS

But, yeah, eight or nine years old.

And over here is my sister, Jackie, when she was...

Well, she's three years younger than I am, so there's Jackie there.

So now, in here, I'm going to lightly pickle some beetroot.

So into this pan, we've got raspberry vinegar.

Some sugar.

Bit of salt.

We bring that up to the boil.

Whilst that's on, these are shallots.

And we blanche them for about three or four minutes.

And all I'm going to do now is just cut those in half.

OK, and they are ready to go.

Now, this vinegar has just come up to the boil here.

And we pour that over the top and just leave them to steep.

About five minutes will work fine.

So I've had this pan heating for quite a while

and I want it nice and hot. No oil in there.

And I'm going to take these cooked shallots and put them cut side down.

And I just want to sear them so you get that little charred effect

that'll just make that lovely little bit of seasoning and flavouring

when I put this tart together.

It's the natural caramelisation

of these shallots that we're looking for.

Lovely! That's just what I want.

I can just smell that little bit of charring.

And then if you've got a chance, let them go cool,

but then separate them so we get these little petals...

..which have just got that little mark there. It's quite dainty.

Then strain the beetroot.

I love these beetroot when they're just pickled.

Not too much, not too little.

'That's the toppings done.

'Now for the tart base,

'which I'm going to make out of shop-bought puff pastry.'

There we go. So we'll pin that out.

'Cut carefully and brush the egg wash around the edge and shape a crust.'

Just nice and rough. You don't need to make this one too pretty.

'Prick the base to stop it rising too much,

'then add your tomato mix.

'I'm not using edible flowers, but I do want it to be colourful.'

He'll probably never eat a pizza * margarita again in his life

once he's tasted this.

'Arrange your sliced beetroot and lightly-charred shallots.'

So now I'm going to put it in the oven at about 180 degrees

for about five minutes. Perhaps even higher, perhaps 200

and then turn it down.

There goes Mr Blackburn's gold disc.

OK, come on in. This is my, er...

this is my bedroom, where I used to sleep.

And I spent a lot of time in here with the guitar, writing songs

and things like that that never got published.

I used to listen to the radio a lot in here.

I used to have an old valve radio.

Because in those days, they used to put them on

and it took them about two minutes to heat up.

So I used to listen to all the early radio shows, the Light Programme

and things like that in here, as well.

And I also had a tape recorder.

And I read in the New Music Express

they wanted disc jockeys for Radio Caroline.

And this is where I made the tape up

that eventually got me the job on Radio Caroline. So, er...

Sitting down on the bed there, talking into the recorder,

introducing four Beatles tracks,

I think it was, or something like that,

going down the road, posting it off

and eventually ending up on the North Sea.

So in this room, that's where it all

sort of started, in a strange sort of way.

Over here, there's a photograph that my mother put up

meeting Princess Anne at a Royal Command Performance.

I can't remember quite what it was. It was at the Palladium, though.

And I think I was comparing the shows, if I remember.

It's fading a bit now. It was taken such a long time ago.

HE CHUCKLES

Over here's a picture of my mother and father on their wedding day.

My mother was only 18 years older than I was.

She had me when she was 18 years old.

So she got married very young,

as they did, as they used to in those days.

My father, at the time, he was in the Merchant Navy,

and, um...then eventually became a GP.

'I'm moments away from serving my version of Tony's favourite,

'pizza margherita.

'I made a rich tomato sauce,

'slices of lightly-pickled beetroot and seared baby onions.

'I cut a circle out of ready-made puff pastry,

'dabbed the edges with egg wash,

'formed a pronounced crust

'and arranged the fillings on top.'

Okey-cokey.

'I'm serving it with a pesto sauce made from ground almonds,

'garlic, fresh herbs and seasoning.

'Adding olive oil and finely-grated Parmesan.'

Hello, Brian. Gosh, you've been busy.

I'm going to award you a gold disc.

-Oh, at last!

-It's in the oven. Indeed!

I've waited years for this.

-Now, I know that you're forever eating pizzas.

-Yes.

-This is not a pizza.

-No?

-This is a tart.

-It's made with puff pastry.

-Golly, that looks different!

It looks better than a pizza, it looks more interesting.

-What did you say then?

-It looks better than a pizza.

What a nice man!

I certainly agree with that. I can't disagree with that.

But do you know the other thing that this reminds me of?

It reminds me of all those records that you used to play.

The 45s. It's about the same size as a 45.

It is about the same size, yeah.

I don't know what would happen if you put a stylus on there.

'I want my tribute dish for Tony to, you know, play the right tune.

'Because he has such particular tastes.

'But I've pushed the boat out a bit

'because I'm a food man, and that's what I do.

'I do hope he likes it.'

-Now, grab a knife and fork.

-Yep.

-It's tasting time.

-There you go, sir.

-Thanks very much.

-Just for you.

-I'll try.

Mm! It's lovely.

-Good.

-It's really nice. I like that, Brian.

And it makes a change from a pizza.

-It's the same, but it's different.

-Oh, it does.

It looks the same, but it's got so much more on it.

-It's all happening on it, isn't it?

-THEY LAUGH

Well, Tony it's been a pleasure spending the day with you.

I really do hope you've enjoyed the food.

But more than that, the memories of the Pavilion

and the memories of your house here.

It's been a pleasure seeing you here.

And I hope that represents your life on a plate.

It does. It's been a pleasure having you here.

-That's very kind of you.

-Thank you.

-Finish that off now.

The closest I'll ever come to a gold disc, I can tell you.

THEY LAUGH