Episode 5 Paul Hollywood's Pies & Puds

Today, I've got a true taste of Britain.

I'll be dipping into the sea and taking to the countryside.

And if you love meringues, and let's face it, who doesn't,

I'm going to be making you very happy indeed.

Hello, and welcome to Pies & Puds.

Sweet or savoury, I've got something for everyone on the show today.

'Coming up, I'm all at sea off the Scottish coast

'trying to do justice to the bounteous ocean

'that surrounds our British Isles...'

I loved that!

'..with the most luxurious fish pie I can muster,

'topped off with a decadent and delicious saffron and crab mash.

'I meet a couple who have made it their lives' work

'to bottle the flavours of summer,

'which I use to add another dimension

'to my individual fruit pies.'

That's beautiful!

'And if you think meringues are kind of retro, think again.'

-That's gin and tonic?

-Yeah.

'I meet two ladies bringing the humble meringue back with a bang.

'And they'll be helping me with the crowning glory for my dessert,

'the Queen Of Puddings.

'And all my guests get stuck in to delicious dishes on today's menu.'

-Deliciously creamy!

-It's great.

And if you want to try my recipes for yourself,

you'll find the details on the BBC website.

My first recipe is a fish pie like no other.

This isn't your average Friday night

white fish, white sauce and mash affair. Oh, no.

I'm taking the humble fish pie and dropkicking it into heaven.

I'm here today on the east coast of Scotland

in the beautiful fishing village of Pittenweem,

where they keep that great tradition of fishing still alive.

I'm going out with a fisherman this morning

and I hope I catch a little bit more than white fish.

Mike Bruce has been fishing off this coast for nearly 20 years.

What he doesn't know about local fishing isn't worth knowing.

Mike has invited me out on his boat to catch something extra special

for my lavish fish pie - langoustines.

Has it always been langoustine that's been your speciality?

-Is that what you concentrate on?

-Yeah. When we first got the boat...

The boat's capable of catching fish and that as well,

but...just the changes in legislation and whatever,

-it's, um...limited what we're allowed to catch.

-Yeah.

So it really is just langoustine.

-How do you like your langoustine?

-I love prawn cocktail,

so I'd make a cocktail sauce to go over them.

But the best thing is just to boil the kettle,

get the kettle straight over them and eat them straightaway.

Especially if they're fresh out of the sea.

Known as prawns by the locals,

the langoustine is actually a small orange lobster

caught in parts of the Atlantic Ocean.

It's renowned for its succulent meat and delicate flavour.

And it's most commonly found deep-fried in breadcrumbs

as the classic pub dish scampi.

-How deep is this at the moment?

-We're about 25 fathom.

-What's that in real money?

-50 metres.

-So these are just the weights to hold it down?

-Yeah.

Just a set of what we call rubber legs around the bottom of the net.

Because there are small discs on it,

it keeps the net just up off the bottom that little bit.

It allows you to work firmer ground.

-So, do you then leave this and come back for it?

-Yeah.

We'll settle for half an hour for today,

but normally we tow for up to four hours.

'Half an hour later, it's time to check the net.

'And it looks like we've come up trumps

'with the langoustines I need for my recipe.'

One thing I find absolutely crazy though is...in the UK,

we seem to be importing Norwegian prawns.

And the langoustines that are here, the prawns that are here,

are actually going back the other way.

Yeah. We've got a fantastic product on your doorstep.

-I know, I can see it.

-And it's a shame that it's...

The prawns are landed fresh daily here every day

and it has been that way for quite some time.

-It's a shame that it goes out of the country.

-Absolutely.

So what do you reckon about using langoustine in the pie? Good choice?

Definitely. As a prawn fisherman, you can't get a better product.

Healthier, tasty, non-fattening. Perfect.

Thanks very much, Mike. I'll see you soon, buddy.

No problem.

I loved that.

'I've already got one luxury ingredient for my fish pie,

'but I need more.

'Most of the local catches are sold in the fish market.

'So I drop by to discover what other tasty maritime treats

'might go into my Rolls-Royce of fish pies.'

What I'm looking for is flavours to go inside my pie.

And I'm looking for a bit of luxury. What do you recommend?

-Here's some crabs.

-Oh, you've got crabs.

Crab could be useful. Maybe a little bit of mash.

Talking about your pie, I was just thinking...

-what about monkfish? That goes well with prawns.

-Perfect.

-That's the fella!

-There you go.

Now, that's very good with prawns.

In fact, at one time, the monkfish,

the tail of the monk,

-was actually used to make scampi when monk was cheap.

-Yeah.

Now it's gone full circle, monk is an expensive fish,

prawns are the cheaper ones,

so everybody uses prawns more than they would use monkfish.

Exactly.

-But that is a good mix, prawns and monkfish.

-It's an ugly fish.

It's a very ugly fish, but it's a very nice-tasting fish.

These are perfect. I'll probably use a little bit of the crab, as well.

-I'm not sure yet.

-Yes, yes.

But it's beginning to form a plan.

'Langoustine, crab, monkfish.

'I think my work here is done.'

I've got here the fish that I brought back from Pittenweem,

and this is one of the little fellas here.

Beautiful langoustine.

Mike, thank you very much for letting us on your boat.

That was a fantastic day out. The weather was fantastic as well.

-Yeah. Quite lucky, yeah.

-Amazing what you get in Barbados, isn't it?

That's for sure.

So what I'm going to do is a luxury fish pie.

This is going to take that little humble fish pie

that you normally have at home on a Friday,

or pretty much any day of the week,

and make it luxury with the use of this,

these little fellas.

I'm going to use monkfish, too. I've got some salmon.

Now, I've got a job for you, Mike.

You can guess what it is. Your beautiful langoustine.

Could you shell the rest of them for me, please?

And I'll use as many as I can in my pie.

What I'm going to do is actually start.

In this pan at the moment, I've got some liquor.

So, basically, it's Pernod, it's water, it's fennel and it's onion.

That's bubbling away nicely.

The monkfish...

I think is such a meaty, hearty fish.

Now, I've cut this into piece, and likewise with the salmon as well.

Now, I'm going to pop this straight into the liquor

and just cook it for three, four minutes.

The liquor, the Pernod, that permeates into the fish,

it gives it a gorgeous flavour.

Especially fennel. Fennel and fish is a marriage made in heaven.

What did you think of the catch we got that day?

Cos, to be honest, it was OK,

but you were telling me earlier that you went out in the afternoon

and caught, I mean, a boatful.

Yeah. Well, ten times as much as what we caught when you were out.

-Regarded you as a Jonah - a bad luck Jonah - so...

-It's not me then.

That's probably the cameraman, or the guy that was holding the sound,

-it wouldn't be me.

-We'll go for that then. Definitely. Definitely.

I'd love to go out again.

I found the whole experience on the boat thrilling.

-It was incredible.

-Hmm-hmm.

Now here's the fish. It's been poached...

literally, for about three minutes.

It's got that little bit of bounce to it.

That's the perfect way of cooking it.

Pernod, a little bit of alcohol... I'm going to drop this in a plate

and I've already got some salmon in there.

Put the monkfish straight in there, fish it out, be nice and gentle.

This is how you catch fish, Mike, right here.

-It's the easy way.

-Yeah.

You need a... You need a slotted spoon, and that's it.

You just go out and catch it.

Put your salmon, spread it all over the bottom.

And, again, this is luxury.

We're really going for the top end here.

For the sauce, strain the poaching liquor and reduce down by half.

Next, make a basic roux by cooking out

equal parts of flour and butter for two to three minutes,

and add the reduced liquor.

Now, this beautifully shelled langoustine there

is going to go on top of the monkfish...and the salmon.

I mean, you only have to look at that.

I could just sit there with a load of chips and mayonnaise

and just eat that as it is.

'To finish the sauce, add cream and freshly chopped tarragon to the pan

'and keep stirring over a low heat for five minutes or so

'until the sauce has thickened.

'Finally, pour your luxurious sauce over the fish.'

Normally, you'd probably just have a very basic roux inside, if anything.

Some people just put the fish, maybe a little bit of milk,

and then just put the mashed potato on top of that.

So what we're looking at here is something a little bit special.

What I've got here is mashed potato, which has been infused,

you can see all the way through, with saffron. It's that gold.

It's that beautiful gold-yellow colour in there at the moment.

That on top of that is going to be delicious, but...

to make it even more special, if it's at all possible...

When I was at the fishing village,

we went round and we saw beautiful crab. This is the crab.

So I thought, hang on...

A little bit of crab in there as well...

just laced through...

that mashed potato,

I think, again, will take it to another level.

Finally, cover the fish pie with the crab and saffron mash,

bake it at 200 degrees for 25-30 minutes

until the top is golden brown.

Look at this.

That's going to be one great fish pie.

This really is an extra-special fish pie

and I can't wait to share it with my guests.

Next, it's time for some seriously tasty

individual fruit pies.

But to take them to a whole new level,

I want to add something rather special.

This is Cairn O'Mohr Winery in Perthshire,

where Ron and Judith Gillies have been brewing up country wines

out of fruit, flowers and even leaves

for over quarter of a century.

I'm wondering whether their unique flavours

will be the perfect compliment to my fruit pies.

Judith's love affair with country wine started many years ago.

My mum made everything.

She cooked, she baked,

she made beer and she made wine.

And then I met Ron, who had got this book

and he'd started making wine

because he was interested in drinking, I think.

And so when the two of us got together,

it was obviously meant.

Ron and Judith are always on the lookout

for new ingredients for their country wines.

Today they're doing some old-fashioned foraging

to find a new flavour of wine to add to their repertoire.

Even when you're out for a walk, he's always picking things

and chewing them. He'll say, "Try that. Try that."

You're picking something and while you're picking something,

you notice something else.

You think, "I'm going to have a go at that next year."

This is one I've had my eye on for a long time - it's a meadowsweet.

A quite powerful scent.

HE SNIFFS

It might be a thing that you would blend with something else.

I know it's going to be good.

Meadowsweet wine sounds promising,

but Judith's got an idea for a complimentary flavour.

So I'm picking some oak leaves here...

because I'm thinking that the meadowsweet

might blend well with the oak leaves.

Oak leaf and meadowsweet is an interesting combination,

but they'll have to wait to see.

Wine-making doesn't happen overnight.

Anything we're making new, we'll always make a small quantity

and then try different blends, different recipes,

so it often takes quite a few years actually.

You know, because...

your fruit or flowers are only in season for one year

and then your finished wine isn't ready till the next year,

so it's quite a prolonged process.

Ron and Judith are after the perfect wine for my fruity puds,

and I can't wait to see what bottled delights

they've got in store for me.

Our country wine producers Ron and Judith

-have joined me in the kitchen. Hello.

-Hello there.

-Hi.

I think that the wines that you're currently doing at the moment

just blow my mind.

I was watching it, thinking, "I've got to try some of this stuff."

Now this one... This is one we saw, the meadowsweet.

Yeah, this is the trial one for this year.

-And you liked it? You enjoy this?

-Yeah.

We hardly know it. It's still quite young.

It's the first time that we've produced this one.

-I've had my eye on it for years.

-Yeah.

Wow! It smells totally different.

-You know it's alcoholic, you can smell that.

-Yeah.

What's the proof in that?

-It's young.

-It's only about 13.5%, but it's really...

I find it really honey and lemon.

I love it. It's got such depth of flavour.

It's not a liqueur and it's not a wine.

It doesn't feel... It's like right in the middle.

-Exactly.

-It's between the two.

-As I said about our country wine,

it's like something in between.

What I'm going to do is I'm going to make some fruit tarts.

Now, at the moment, I've got apricot, I've got pear

and I've got apple. Now I've chosen some wines to go in there.

I've got some flour in the bowl.

I'm going to add some butter to that as well.

And this is where I get my hands a bit dirty.

So, I'm going to rub this down into crumbs.

Then I'm going to add the egg to that as well. Straight in.

And then I'm going to add a little squeeze of lemon juice as well.

Again, it helps break down the pastry.

And then I'm going to add some icing sugar.

The sweetness is going to come from the icing sugar.

You can use caster sugar if you want,

but icing sugar keeps it nice and smooth,

so you're not going to make any grains in there at all.

'Bring the pastry together nice and lightly.

'This will ensure that your pastry is not overworked

'and it's beautiful and flaky.'

That's enough.

At that stage, I'd wrap it up, pop it in the fridge,

just solidify the butter a little bit

and it will help you when you roll it out with a rolling pin.

This is one I've rested before.

This has been in there for about half an hour.

I've chosen several of the wines like the meadowsweet

to go with the apricots. I think that should go quite well.

Have you tried apricot wine?

They don't grow in the Carse of Gowrie.

When the global warming means we can grow them in the Carse of Gowrie

we'll maybe think about it.

The very first one I ever made was a citrus wine,

-which was oranges, lemons and grapefruits.

-Wow!

But we never made it commercial until last year

to celebrate our 25th year in business.

-Have you got the citrus one?

-I've got it here, aye.

I'll just stop what I'm doing. OK.

Thank you very much. 25 years to celebrate.

It's what launched the whole caper.

Yeah. If that recipe hadn't been successful,

there would be no winery at all.

-Wow! That's quite powerful, as well, isn't it?

-Yeah.

It's the same strength,

but it's almost spirituous, that one.

SHE LAUGHS

I like that. I like that a lot. That's scary!

It's virtually spiritual.

Yeah, it's one of those things which you can drink

and then I reckon it starts in your feet

and then you get off a bench and just sort of fall over, you know.

It's quite dangerous.

So you roll it out nice and thin

and then cut your bases

for the pies.

All you do...

it's fairly simple. Try and use as much space as you can,

take out your pastry,

and then drop it into the bottom of the tray

and that's it. You just basically line them, it's that simple.

Let's run through these ingredients. This is the apricot.

I'm going to add...

..a little bit of a slug

of this meadowsweet to this as well.

'For the pear filling I'm using the elderflower wine.

'And to complement the apple, I'm adding the elderberry.'

Because it's quite dry,

I think I'll add a little scoopful of mascarpone

straight in there, as well.

'Don't worry if you don't have these fruit wines to hand,

'the beauty of these pies is you can experiment with your own flavours,

'Calvados, amaretti, beer, if you like, as long as it works.'

Time to fill the pie cases with my different fruity mixtures.

Finally, I'm going to make four lids.

Drop them into each...

tart.

Pinch around each one,

just to give it a little bit of a pattern.

It seals the lid.

If you add some caster sugar,

straight to the top,

it adds a little bit of sweetness to it.

It caramelises on top and they look absolutely delicious.

'I bake my mini fruit pies at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 to 20 minutes

'until the pastry is golden-brown.'

You've got these beautiful, very rustic-looking tarts.

I'll chivvy a few of these out.

They're still hot.

-The smell of the pastry, the golden pastry.

-It's great.

Again, a little bit of sugar to finish off with.

The final thing to do

is get some of the meadowsweet.

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

Toast yourself.

HE BREATHES IN DEEPLY

Those are the best individual fruit pies.

Absolutely stunning!

'They may be small, but my fruit pies pack a big flavour punch.

'They're easy to make but go down a treat.'

Guys, you're going to have to wait till a little bit later to try them.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks.

Sometimes in life you find people who take a simple idea

and just run with it, which is exactly what Alex and Stacey,

otherwise known as the Meringue Girls, have done.

-Welcome to my kitchen.

-Hello.

Wow! OK, there's lots of colour here.

You've managed to fill pretty much most of the kitchen with...

The colours are amazing, actually, on these meringues.

'The Meringue Girls have done things with egg whites and sugar

'I never thought possible.'

'Their vibrant multicoloured meringues

'use only natural colourings

'and they're flavoured with a variety

'of freeze-dried powders.'

-You think that this is the new thing?

-It is the new thing.

-Do you think so?

-We know it's the new thing.

You see, this is where we probably bend slightly.

I think cronut's the brand-new thing.

Cronut has been in... It only arrived six months ago.

-People are sick of the cupcake, they're sick of the macaroon.

-Yeah.

They're hungry for something new.

As far as I'm concerned, I look at meringue

as egg whites, a bit of sugar, and that's it.

But you've taken it to a level which, frankly, is scary.

This idea has been going on for how long?

About a year now.

Yeah, it's just been a bit of a crazy rollercoaster of meringueing.

Now I recognise some of these dishes here.

Obviously, these pavlova things going on here,

which have got quite substantial bases,

filled with the cream and topped with fig, pistachio...

-This is a tray bake, that's a pavlova.

-What's here?

You have a meringue multicoloured rainbow...

-Rainbow cake.

-Is that what it is?

-Rainbow cake, yeah.

And these little... Well, onions.

-They're kisses.

-Kisses! How do you work them out as being kisses?

-They are little mouthfuls of heaven.

-THEY GIGGLE

-What's this one, then?

-Oh...

-Gin and tonic.

-That's gin and tonic?

-Yeah.

Has that got gin AND tonic in there?

It's flavoured with juniper berry essence

which tastes very similar...

-Excuse me.

-..to gin and tonic.

What's the verdict?

That IS gin and tonic.

-Yes, it is, indeed. We wouldn't lie to you.

-Is it alcoholic?

Er, no. No alcohol.

-Are you going to show me how you do that?

-We are. Indeed.

The kitchen's all yours.

'The Meringue Girls start by whisking up their egg whites.'

We use free-range liquid egg whites

because once upon a time

we had a lot of yolks hanging around.

'Alex and Stacey have a unique way of making meringue

'which is halfway between the French style,

'which uses cold sugar, and the Italian way,

'which uses boiling sugar syrup.

'They heat sugar on a baking tray in an oven at 200 degrees

'for around ten minutes.'

Yeah, it's ready to roll.

The sugar is really hot to the touch now.

The edges are lovely and caramelised.

'The egg whites need to be whisked at high speed

'until they form stiff peaks.

'Then, whilst the mixer is still running,

'add the hot sugar, one spoonful at a time.

'Once all the sugar is added,

'keep whisking for a further five to seven minutes

'until the meringue mixture is stiff and glossy.'

This is a beautiful freeze-dried passion fruit powder.

Then you just want to fold it through really, really gently.

I've done these lovely stripes

just alternately down the side of the bag.

-You've done the inside?

-The inside of the bag.

-OK.

We're going to fill it now with passion-fruit meringue.

-She has left a little tip.

-I'm just going to pull it down.

Then you want to spoon it in as tightly as possible

because you don't want any of those air bubbles

that are going to make your kisses ugly.

I'm just going to cut the tip off.

So, same piping rules, keeping it tight.

'To make the mini meringues, Alex keeps the bag taut,

'and pipes the mixture onto the baking tray

'in their trademark kisses.'

It's quite a stiff mixture. You're not getting the peak you really want.

I love the way you've got those colours.

It's a great idea, painting the inside of the bag for that effect.

-They get baked off at 100 degrees?

-Yes.

-How long do you bake them for?

30 to 40 minutes.

I'm looking forward to trying some of those.

Thank you very much, ladies.

I love that technique inside the bag to produce that meringue.

-I think it's fantastic.

-Thank you.

My next dish is the regally named Queen of Puddings.

And I'm going to get Alex and Stacey to use their meringue expertise

to add the finishing touches.

The Queen Of Puddings is a baked custard dessert,

smothered with a layer of jam

and finished off with gorgeous mallowy meringue.

To start with, you need to make the custard.

Now, to make the custard, I've got two egg yolks and a full egg.

I'm just going to whisk this together quickly to start with.

This is a very old dish, very old pudding.

It's been around since the 1700s.

It was a way of using up the extra breadcrumbs that were around.

It was around since 1740 and it was named after Mary Berry!

I'm sorry, Mary, you know I love you really.

'The key flavouring for custard is vanilla.

'For this recipe I'm using a fresh vanilla pod,

'which I split down the middle with a sharp knife.'

Scrape the seeds out, like so.

Then drop the whole pod into the milk and bring that to the boil.

'Next, you add the caster sugar to the egg

'and whisk until it's all dissolved.'

In here I'm going to put my...

..breadcrumbs, straight in.

Once the milk mixture is coming to the boil,

pour it onto the egg and keep whisking.

Doing it the other way round could curdle your custard.

Then this mixture will go on top of the breadcrumbs.

'This is a classic baked custard recipe

'which I pour into pre-buttered ramekins.

'They need to be baked at 180 degrees in a bain-marie

'for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the custard is set.'

There's a little bit of tension there.

If you touch the top, it's still jelly-like, it'll wobble.

But it's got substance as well,

you've got the breadcrumbs in there, absorbing that liquid as well.

It's got more body to it than a traditional custard.

For the next layer, spread some raspberry jam over the set custard.

You've got to wait until the custard is nice and cool

before you do this so it doesn't bleed in,

so you don't get any bleeding from the jam into the custard.

In the meantime, the Meringue Girls are working their magic.

-Lovely.

-Lovely.

-THEY GIGGLE

With the addition of this meringue, it should look spectacular.

You're going to do lots of mini kisses, or one big kiss on the top?

-A few little ones, I think.

-OK.

'To finish off the Queen Of Puddings,

'Stacey tops each one

'with a vibrant raspberry-flavoured meringue mixture.'

If the big fellows are kisses, what are these fellows?

-Mini pecks on the cheek.

-Little pecks on the cheek.

I'm just going to give it a quick blowtorch.

I don't want to take too much colour off it.

Gorgeous.

I'm happy with that.

BOTH: Yeah.

I think that, with that layer of jam,

-with those raspberry pecks on the cheek...

-Exactly.

..on the top, make the perfect Queen Of Puddings.

This is the best part of the day for me.

There's plenty of food here to eat. Now, you guys, tuck in.

Obviously, to start with we've got the luxury fish pie.

'This is the most luxurious fish pie I could possibly make,

'thanks to the addition of Mike's exquisite langoustines,

'and I can't wait for my guests to try it.

'But if you're tempted to use fishfingers in yours,

'do me a favour - don't!'

-Get yourself a piece.

-Yum.

There's a good texture in the fish, it's still all together,

-it hasn't gone mushy or anything.

-Absolutely.

-I think the saffron helps.

-Yeah, no, it does. It's just coming through.

-Unbelievable!

-This is really good.

'And next, it's a dessert double whammy.

'My regal Queen Of Puddings

'is crowned by Alex and Stacey's stripy meringue.

'And not to forget my gorgeous individual pies,

'each concealing a different delicious fruity heart,

'flavoured with those fruit wines.'

I don't know which one, it's a surprise.

I've no idea what I'm going to be eating.

-I've got an apple, it's very nice.

-I've got the apricot.

-That was gorgeous.

-Amazing!

Tell me what you think of this?

-It's really nice.

-It's great.

I was expecting it to be a lot sweeter than it is.

It's deliciously creamy.

There's nothing better than sharing great food

with good company.

I've loved cooking today's dishes with the fantastic ingredients

my guests were kind enough to bring with them.

I hope you'll join me again next time on Pies & Puds.

See you then.