Episode 8 Paul Hollywood's Pies & Puds

I'm all about national treasures today. I've got Scotch pies, Spanish pastries

and the good old British beetroot, all cooked right here in my kitchen.

Hello and welcome to Pies & Puds,

my one-man mission to celebrate Britain's comfort food.

Here's what's coming up on the show today.

On today's show, baking for kicks.

The Scottish savoury that's become a fixture at football grounds across the country.

It's traditional, every game. You've got to have a pie.

I bake my own version of the Scotch pie.

It's like going back to almost medieval pie-making.

I banish those schoolday beetroot blues with the help of some beetroot lovers.

I'm going to raise my glass to the humble beetroot!

-Cheers!

-Cheers.

They inspire me to make my sweet-and-spicy beetroot pie.

Look at that.

It's amazing stuff.

And Spanish sensation Omar Allibhoy makes a wonderful ensaimada Mallorquina,

a typically Majorcan pastry made for festivals and celebrations.

-It's like a tug-of-war.

-Yes!

And I make my version of a lardy cake.

So what you end up with is quite a robust loaf.

And my guests get to join me in eating everything,

and if you want to try them too, all my recipes are on the BBC website.

No-one likes a pie more than me,

or so I thought until I discovered the Scotch pie is the most popular savoury product in Scotland.

And here's why.

It's traditional, every game. You've got to have a pie.

What makes a good Scotch pie to me is plenty of meat and as long as it's not too greasy.

You know, a good filling, lots of, you know, crust on the outside as well,

it's just beautiful, quite fiery, toasty on the outside as well,

beautiful so it is, you can't whack it.

The best way to eat a Scotch pie is the way I'm eating it just now.

It's not too warm, it's just nice for eating.

And I like brown sauce on it.

Just right down the hatch, break the crust off, right down the hatch.

So the footy fans love them,

and although Scotland doesn't have a world champion footy team, sorry, lads,

it does have a world champion of Scotch pies,

Airdrie bakers JB Christie.

So here we are in the shop...

As you can see we make much more than pies,

but proudly positioned at the front of the shop is our Scotch pies.

And this year our endeavours were rewarded

with the World Scotch Pie award.

An accolade indeed.

With any kind of pie, getting the pastry right is key.

And Andrew's bakery has perfected the art of Scotch pie crust.

The dough really wants to be well developed,

so that you get this nice silky dough that you're able to pull apart,

and it's very workable and malleable.

It's June's job to use a machine called the Waddell

that stamps out the pastry into cases.

When the shell first comes off the Waddell, it's too soft for us to use,

and we find, as most bakers will find, we get bellying and it collapses.

We allow it to sit for three days to dry out, and we call it curing,

and after the three days' curing we find that the shell is firm enough for us to then add the meat to,

and we have a nice firm shell,

that gives us the good contrast for the finished baked product,

that you get a nice crispy shell with a nice moist meat filling.

These pies are not blind-baked. The cases are just left out to dry.

That's why they're so crisp.

And the meat itself is... it's 90-odd per cent beef.

Now for the filling.

How do they get that signature spicy flavour?

We like to think that we're different and we're better than other people

because of the then blend that we put into that meat of the spices that we use...

which I won't give away, but the spices that we use give a slightly spicy Scotch pie,

which some people think has got a bit of a kick to it,

but most people enjoy it.

Andrew's bakery makes over 100 dozen pies fresh every day,

that's 1,200 individual pies, finished by hand.

So that's them in the oven.

Scottish flour, Scottish meat, local butcher,

made on a table in a Scottish bakery by Scottish bakers and baked in a Scottish oven.

This isn't just a pie, it's a national staple, steeped in pride and tradition.

Having shaped, filled and baked the pies, Andrew now has to feed 1,200 pie-hungry Scots.

I wonder where he'll find them?

We have a new customer in Albion Rovers.

The first home game today which we're supplying the pies to,

it's a local derby against Clyde,

so, hopefully, lots of pie-eating.

Pie-eating at football matches is quite a traditional thing.

Father and son go along, watch a game of football, eat a Scotch pie.

He's got to get them out while they're still hot.

He's got another thing to do too.

-Yeah!

-Nice one, Andy!

So now it's over to Sandra and Liz to shift Andrew's pies...

which doesn't look too difficult.

-OK.

-That's OK. Thanks, Sandra.

-No bother.

It's a good pie here at the Rovers.

-They just scored!

-Was it the Rovers?

-Aye, it was the Rovers.

-Yes!

But before half-time is over, there's some bad news for the last fans in the queue.

The Scotch pies are all finished, they're all sold out.

That was the best Scotch pie I've had at a football ground ever!

There's nothing to beat a good Scotch pie.

The home team are winning and Andrew's had a result too.

Have you sold all the pies today?

I think they were sold just after half-time.

They were all sold? They were all gone. All gone?

Everything, yes. Good. They've all gone.

No-one's hungry, everyone's happy.

And it's a win as well for the home team.

So a good day all round.

Andrew's Scotch pies are the real deal,

and they've given me inspiration to make my own historical version.

Hello, Andrew.

-Those pies I saw looked fantastic.

-Yeah.

So you are using hot water crust pastry as well, I take it?

We use hot water. Good reason for using hot water

because we like to help pre-gelatinise the starches...

-Yeah.

-..In the flour, which helps give you the firm crust

and the nice crispy crust that you're looking for.

And then is the lid...is that dry or is that almost going to be almost fresh dough going into it?

-The lid on the top of it is the same dough as the base, but it's a fresh dough made that day.

-Yeah.

And what we do is we pin it very, very thinly.

And I suppose it helps with the process but it also helps with the texture of the finished product,

we'll dust that with coarse rice flour with helps with the eat of it as well.

That's a nice idea. How long have you been doing this, then? Have you always been a baker?

I'm a third-generation baker. My father was a baker, my grandfather was a baker before me.

My dad was a baker and my brother's a baker and three of my uncles are bakers.

It's funny, when we all got together... you know what it's like as bakers,

sometimes you're in work and you're talking about what you do,

when you're outside work you're talking about what you do!

You can never, ever get away from that way of life.

What I'm going to make is my version of the Scotch pie.

Now, it's going to use a lot of sort of old ingredients and it is quite tricky,

because as you'd appreciate, I'm using a hot water crust pastry

and I'm going to try and get it round that mould,

and I'm going to try and put the stuffing in it and put a lid on it,

and try and make it look like a Scotch pie.

-So it's going to be... I might even get you to give me a hand, Andrew!

-Well...

Hot water crust pastry is made by melting a lard into hot water so the fats are absorbed into the flour.

It makes the pastry really smooth and strong.

Now I'm going to add this hot liquid to the flour,

so initially just get your fork in there, turn it round...

I'm just getting the spoon in there at the moment,

and I'm basically just trying to bring it all together into one single ball.

What I'm going to try and do is just try to smooth it off a little bit.

I've basically just brought it together at this stage.

As it cools, it'll solidify, because the lard want to go back to being hard again.

You can actually put it in the fridge and it'll instantly pretty much solidify.

Do you know one of the things I miss is actually the camaraderie in the bakery?

I miss that.

I think it's...it's... I think bakers are slightly mad,

I think you have to be to get up at that time in the morning.

Now, that one is about right.

Pick whatever you want to use to shape the pastry.

I find a glass ramekin about right, but a jam jar will do.

I'll tell you what, I'm going to run with that one.

Get this in the fridge for about five minutes, chill it down slightly,

and then I'll be able to use it.

Over here, I have my mutton,

and I'm using mutton rather than beef.

And again this dates right back.

And I don't know whether this is Scottish or English...

I think... the history is that the Scotch pie originally came from England,

-but, obviously, we then took...

-Of course it does!

But we then took it and perfected it...is what happened from there.

Mutton, originally, I think, was probably a cheaper meat...

-Yes.

-Especially in the North of the country and was in favour...

I mean, you speak to many old customers and they'll say to you,

you know, that the best thing they remember about a Scotch pie is when they bite into it

-and the grease runs down their chin...

-Yeah.

You know, from lamb or mutton, you would get that more.

The flavour of mutton sort of went out of favour maybe about 45, 50 years ago,

-and everyone wanted, preferred the taste of beef.

-Yeah.

-There are still mutton pies about, but not so many.

-They're quite rare. I understand that.

I'm just adding a little bit of lamb gravy to this, again just to soak it down a little bit.

I've got some salt...

..and I've got some white pepper as well going in there.

Also some mace, again one of these old spices that have been around for many, many years.

And nutmeg. The last time I added nutmeg to a pie, it was probably a custard tart.

-You know when you put...the nutmeg just floated on the top.

-Yeah.

It's a beautiful thing.

I'm just going to mix this together.

Some spices and gravy add flavour.

If you want to make beef Scotch pies, it's exactly the same process,

just adjust the seasonings a little bit.

Then...

..I get some paper round the outside...

..some string...

Can I use your finger there, Andrew?

Right there.

Thank you.

So you need two fully professional bakers in your kitchen

and you'll be absolutely fine.

Now, what I've got in there... it's given it that tension,

which is going to give it that rigidity as well.

Now, the lid itself will sit... sit right on the top of that.

When you add the lid, tuck it down inside, rather than on the top for that proper Scotch pie look.

So at this stage, you pop this pie in the oven, again 200 degrees centigrade,

for about 35, 40 minutes and it'll be beautiful and golden brown.

But to achieve that golden crisp on the outside,

you crack an egg, little bit of egg wash...

and then brush the top of the pie... like so.

And that'll make it shine and dance when it comes out of the oven.

I've got some cool ones here.

That is absolutely perfect,

and you can see all the juices,

the fat that's poured out round the outside, but these...

It's like going back to almost medieval pie-making.

And there you have it! You've got...

Actually, I've seen pictures which are not too dissimilar to this.

There you have...

your good-old-fashioned Scotch pie!

There's something old-school about the look of these pies that really adds character.

-Andrew, I'm dying for you to try this one.

-Oh, so am I!

I feel I need to be the size of Desperate Dan for that one, but...yeah.

We're going to have to wait a little bit longer,

-but I'm dying to see what it's going to taste like with that mutton in there as well.

-Mm-hm.

Still to come...

I am inspired to make a beetroot pie after learning more about this colourful root vegetable.

-This is going to turn it bright pink.

-It is.

-Like Barbie bread.

And I make a gorgeously fruity lardy cake, perfect for sharing.

Now it's time to step aside and hand over my kitchen to a passionate chef

as he makes me a traditional Spanish pastry.

One of the great things about Britain

is that you can get authentic food from all around the world.

I'm joined now by a Spanish chef, Omar Allibhoy, who works in London,

and he loves pies and puds as much as me!

-Hola, Omar.

-Hola.

-Now, all these cakes

and puddings and pies and tarts look absolutely incredible!

-Now, I know you're about to get involved with a serious dish.

-Yes.

-Now, I don't want to take any more of your time up. Please, take over the kitchen.

-I'll just go in.

I'm going to sit down here. If you need me to do absolutely anything, let me know.

I may ask. There's quite a lot of work.

And this is an ensaimada Mallorquina, maybe a bit like a strudel.

-OK.

-Yeah, OK?

-OK.

Ensaimada Mallorquina is a pastry dessert from Majorca,

and is made to celebrate festive occasions.

-So I put two eggs, the milk, a bit of water here...

-Yeah.

The yeast, the flour and the sugar.

-This is all that we need for the dough itself.

-Yes.

I'm going to put it into...

..this mixer.

If I can make it work.

-That's it.

-These machines are always against us!

It's important that you work it a lot. If you don't have a mixer, just work it with your own hands,

but we need a lot of gluten to come through, so it becomes a very elastic dough.

That is one of the key elements of this recipe.

You know, it's just dawned on me, Omar. You're my Spanish counterpart.

You're exactly the same as me, you're just as passionate.

We just make different things.

Yeah, well, I first started baking when I was just five.

-I was actually a baker before I became a chef.

-Mmm.

You see, you've dropped down. This is what happens.

I'm sorry, mate, you carry on.

You know, after this time, this is the texture that it has.

It's beautiful. It stretches, doesn't it?

It's very stretchy.

-And if you don't mind helping me take all this out of the way, I'm going to take over the whole...

-OK.

Omar has brought a selection of Spanish pies and puds that I've never seen before.

What's this one, then?

This is the roscon de reyes.

-Christmas in Spain lasts from 24 December until 6 January.

-Yeah.

-And 6 January being the most important day.

-OK.

So this is a brioche type of cake with a triple fermentation and candied fruits on top.

And so moving on to this one...this one looks quite important, actually.

Yeah, the tarta de Santiago. I mean, it comes again from Galicia and it's from...

it's in honour of the saint, Santiago, and it's an almond tart.

That's, like, akin to our Bakewell tart, but we don't have a saint all over the top of it.

-And this looks similar to a creme caramel.

-It does, and it's essentially the same.

-The only difference is that it's made with only egg yolks, as opposed to the whole eggs.

-OK.

-And we are not using any milk or dairy.

-Right.

It's basically an infused syrup of lemon and cinnamon poured over the egg yolk...

And what's that one called?

-Tocino de cielo. It's heaven's fat.

-Oh, right. Well, it is indeed, it is indeed.

-The translation.

OK. You said you need this space.

-If I move some of this out of the way.

-I'm going to start by pouring a bit of olive oil over the table.

Here we go! Time to get stuck in and help my Spanish counterpart to do some serious dough-making.

And, if you don't mind helping me, we are going to get a bit messy.

-We need all this table.

-Right.

We have very a thin layer of oil.

In this case it's olive oil, you can use vegetable oil,

-but keeping things Spanish, you better use...

-Spanish oil.

Spanish oil!

Brilliant.

So...

-this dough, which is incredibly fine...

-Yeah.

-OK? Then I put it in the middle...

-and we are going to shape it a bit like a rectangle first.

-OK.

Nothing else.

And if you can pass me that rolling pin...

So we are going to put a bit of olive oil,

and what we are going to do is just a stretch, from the middle towards the outside parts...

-You can see, it tends to come back to its natural position...

-Yeah.

-Where it was.

-Yeah.

-OK.

So we do this a couple of times...

..until it responds to our demands.

Something I'm going to ask you meanwhile I do this

-is if you can work on that lard and the sobrasada.

-Sobrasada, what's this?

-That's, er, sort of like a chorizo pate.

-Oh, it is, yeah.

It's pork with a lot of fat, a lot of paprika, pimento, and a few other natural spices.

-I always get the dirty jobs.

-Come on!

So can you get this stuff in Britain easily?

-Well, through the internet these days, you can get anything.

-OK.

-But otherwise you can buy a fresh chorizo sausage

-...Yeah.

-Put some lard in...

-just chop it incredibly finely.

-What an incredible colour.

-Yeah.

It's beautiful, it's beautiful.

So that's been worked on, and now what we are going to do...

-ideally, you leave it resting for a minute or two.

-Yeah.

Because doughs like to be rested all the time.

And we are going to start stretching this dough... OK?

It's hard to believe that this dough will end up nearly twice the size as you see it now,

and, if you do try this at home, don't worry about making a few holes.

And now you have it, we are going to start spreading...

-..this mix.

-OK.

-So you can do half of it and I'll do the other half.

There you have it.

-OK, that's why it needs to be sort of tempered.

-Yeah.

-Otherwise it won't be very easy to work with.

-OK.

-And you want it all the way down to the bottom or do you leave a gap?

-No, no, no, all the way.

Completely covered. It's a three-centuries old recipe that is all over,

-but it's done in Majorca. Now that we've done...

-That's Majorca, is it?

-Yeah, from the islands.

-Oh.

And now we are just going to roll it over itself,

and just keep going...

..all the way until we have it.

I see what you mean, it is a bit strudel-like.

-It's got that look and feel of the strudel, but it's got more strength to it, you know?

-Yeah.

-I mean, this is a big one, OK?

-Yeah.

-You can do as small as you want, and...

..and with the fillings that you want.

We are doing a savoury one even though that the dough had some sugar.

And what we are going to do is we are going to start shaking this dough.

So if you take that from that end and me from this one...

-It's like a tug-of-war.

-Yes!

We start stretching it.

Let's see how long we go. There!

-Around...what do you think? 2.5 metres?

-Yeah, at least.

-Well, much taller than you and me!

-Yeah!

-So this is good enough.

-OK.

And now we are just going to put it in a baking tray.

So we put the start just on the middle, OK?

So now we are just going to flip it over itself,

-and turn it around like an endless spiral.

-Yeah.

-Spread it out...

-Spread it out, OK?

-OK.

-And we'll leave this fermenting for 24 hours.

Now, over there, you've got one that looks as though it has been going...

-I'm just going to wash my hands quickly.

-Yeah.

-I'm covered!

This is ready to go into the oven.

-It doesn't need egg wash, it doesn't need anything.

-OK.

-So this...

-That'll grow even more in the oven anyway, won't it?

-It's going to balloon up.

-If you leave it there it will continue growing naturally.

-This goes into the oven at 200 degrees for around 15-18 minutes...

-OK.

-..Depending on the oven.

-OK.

-But we have one that we've already done.

-OK.

-It's over here...

..which has been cooling down a bit.

-Wow!

-Yes.

-That looks incredible.

-That's the natural colour, don't feel it's burnt or nothing at all,

-and actually...take a look, it's a bit crispy.

-It's beautiful. That's perfect, though, isn't it?

-That crispiness inside.

-And even below it, take a look below.

-Because it's quite important.

-Wow!

-The baking below as well.

-It's not the look above it. Now we're going to put a bit more icing sugar on the top.

-OK.

That makes it all very, very delicious.

Not too much.

That looks fantastic.

-So what's the name of this dish again?

-Ensaimada Mallorquina con sobrasada.

-He's just made that!

-Yes.

Fantastic!

Omar's Majorcan pastry looks and smells extraordinary.

I can't wait to try it later when we sit down together and enjoy tasting all our hard work.

Do you remember the beetroot we got at school?

Overcooked, pickled and soaked in vinegar and, frankly, pretty horrible.

It was enough to put you off this stuff for life.

Or so I thought!

This is Clifton in Bristol,

and I've been invited to something called a beetroot supper club.

I'm slightly unsure on whether to turn up with wine or not,

but I decide beetroot is a safe bet.

Tom runs one of the area's best veg shops.

-Obviously, that's what I affiliate...when I think of beetroot, I think of that.

-Yeah.

But I've just seen this...

Yeah, there's a lot more to it, isn't there?

You've got the golden beetroot, then you've got the candy beetroot...

-looks like something out of a candy store, doesn't it?

-It does.

But, yeah, that's where it got its name.

They've been growing this for years in this country.

I'd say the golden is more sweet

and the candy's a little bit more earthy. Still super good for you,

and also a good addition to salad and your roast dinners. Have it with anything.

-Lovely.

-Have a nice day.

-Thanks very much indeed. Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

Beetroot-bagged, I'm ready for anything, especially a beetroot supper club.

Who knows? I might even pick up some new uses for beetroot I'd never dreamt of.

Wow! Look at those beauties! They're enormous.

-I know, they're massive, aren't they?

-Absolutely enormous.

So are you a beetroot... a real beetroot enthusiast?

Yeah, I really, really love beetroot.

I think a lot of people were put off beetroot

perhaps at school, when it came, like, really over-vinegared and it was so sort of strong...

-I like that, though.

-Do you? See, I kind of like it,

but, you know, on its own, it's a beautiful thing. It's so sort of sweet and earthy, it's fantastic.

My host Genevieve has planned an unlikely menu of beetroot jellies, beetroot dolmades

and even beetroot bread.

She has all the baking to do before her four guests arrive.

Beetroot jellies is first on the list, with raspberries, pomegranate and gelatine.

That'll do it.

OK...

I'm just going to pop that in the pan...

..with a tiny bit of sugar, just 50 mil.

-That's not a tiny bit of sugar!

-Yeah, it is.

A tiny bit of sugar's half a teaspoon. That's about six tablespoons!

-That was 50 mil of sugar!

-Which is four-and-a-half tablespoons!

I just thought I'd drop a few raspberries in the bottom.

OK. So it's strained through, and literally you're just going to pour it all in...

I'm just going to pour it into the glasses

and the raspberries will float to the top.

As the jelly sets, we tackle the dolmades.

Rather than traditional vine leaves, Genevieve is using, surprise, surprise, beetroot leaves!

I love dolmades, and I'm really not sure about this!

As the beetroot dolmades steam, Genevieve drags me into uncharted beetroot territory.

I'm a bit nervous about this, but I'm going to make some beetroot bread.

So I hope you're going to be kind to me.

You're making beetroot bread?

-I'm going to make beetroot bread.

-How are you going to go about that?

So I am going to...instead of using water, the bulk of the liquid is going to be again raw beetroot juice.

So it's going to be really lovely amazing pink colour.

Genevieve is one brave lady, making experimental breads in front of me!

-What's this?

-Strong bread flour, dried yeast...

Why do you use this stuff?

Dried yeast? Use the instant stuff. It's far easier.

-You know, the powder.

-Yeah, that's just what I always use.

-I'm going to put a tiny bit of sugar in to get the yeast going.

-OK.

-Just that...yeah. That's too much.

-It's all right, honestly.

It's too much. A teaspoon.

I'm going to take some of that out. I don't want that!

-This is going to turn it bright pink.

-It is.

-Like Barbie bread!

-Yeah, Barbie bread.

BLENDER STARTS Woo-hoo!

-OK.

-I think that will do.

-Probably be enough.

Whack in the juice.

Whack in the yeast.

-And you're going to knead this now as well?

-Yeah, I am, yeah.

-If I'm going to add anything to this story...

-Go on, show me.

A bit of oil.

Never use fire when you're dealing with dough, because it keeps the dough really moist.

-It dries it out.

-And you'll find it cleans your hands at the same time.

I did try and step back, but I'm a baker! I just can't keep my hands off the dough.

It's getting sort of smoother, isn't it, and stretchy...

You can see it changing.

After it's proved for an hour, Genevieve decides it's time to shape her...well, whatever it is!

I've worked with all types of dough in my time, but never one this pink!

But I guess what really matters is the taste.

We'll see!

I should think it's more style above substance, this.

I can't see the beetroot flavour coming through in this.

No, I mean, it doesn't come through really strongly, because it's quite a subtle flavour.

-Yeah.

-But I think you can definitely taste it a bit.

And I think half of the pleasure of eating comes from what it looks like to start with,

so you kind of go, "Wow! That looks great!"

Fascinating stuff! We're using beetroot, we're using the jelly,

we're using it inside the bread to create a loaf...

Lots of things going on, but is it the beetroot? Is it the beetroot?

Are we going to taste the beetroot? I know what beetroot tastes like.

Is it going to come through in those foods?

More importantly, what's everybody else going to bring?

Fingers crossed.

The guests are here, and it's time for the beetroot feast to commence.

Let's pink up this party!

It's colourful, isn't it?

Genevieve's beetroot devotees have brought some very creative uses for beetroot,

including beetroot-and-chorizo sausage rolls,

beetroot bhajis and even, get this, a beetroot tarte tatin.

Genevieve and her guests are obviously all talented cooks.

It's their devotion to beetroot that's at question here,

especially with the bread.

The beetroot going into that bread has made a difference to the nutritional quality of that bread.

Tastewise, it tastes like a bread.

If you closed your eyes and ate it you wouldn't know what it is.

It tastes like a good bread, and it is, it's a lovely bread.

It's a great texture, it's a great look.

I think that's a success. Whether the flavour comes through or not is almost immaterial.

Genevieve's beetroot-leafed dalmades are next.

What do you think of those, Paul?

-It's dalmades.

-Yeah!

Better than throwing it away, though, eh?

I think it's great. It tastes good, it bites, there's no tear, there's no rubberiness at all...

-It's far more tender.

-It melts, yeah. It melts.

-I've changed my mind on the beetroot and there's still the jelly to come!

-There's pudding.

You know what? I'm actually quite impressed with the main course.

But beetroot desserts? Mmm...

It's delicious!

-They've definitely got a bit of beetroot going on.

-Quite earthy.

Soil-like almost.

But not in a bad way, if that's at all possible.

Thanks!

Well, overall...

..I came here with the idea that beetroot was a one-trick pony.

However, having been here today with you...strange people...

that play with beetroot and create dishes which are, let's be honest, magical...

You've got some big, big flavours going on in all the dishes.

All I can say is I'm going to raise my glass to the humble beetroot!

-Cheers!

-Cheers!

-So how'd you get on with beetroot alternatives?

-Not bad.

Or do you have it breakfast, lunch, dinner?

-Well, I don't eat it every day, but several times a week.

-I think you do!

I don't! I'd be purple, otherwise!

-Well, you see, the thing is, I was really shocked about the diversity they came up with.

-Yeah.

I thought that generally beetroot has been sort of...

it's that sort of maligned veg that no-one tries to use,

-or if they're going to have it, they have it like that...

-In a salad.

-In a salad!

And I was one of those people. And to a large degree still am...

-Yeah.

-I need to experiment a bit more,

but today I'm going to make a beetroot pie.

I'm not going to make some crazy beetroot-coloured pastry,

just a normal sweet shortcrust with a squeeze of lemon and butter.

So you crush it in the flour as quickly as possible,

trying to avoid too much liquid at this stage.

What was the lemon juice for again?

-The lemon juice helps break down the gluten, the protein in the flour...

-To make it more tender?

To make it so it breaks easier and crumbles,

because what happens is if you don't put it in...

and you can get away with not putting it in, to be honest,

basically what will happen is it becomes a little bit too gelatinous,

so it can have that slight rubberiness to it.

I mean, it can impart flavour, it depends how much you put in.

-If you put a lot in, then, sure...

-Is that the acid in it that does that?

-Yeah.

-That breaks it, yeah...

-Yeah, that breaks it down.

I'm just going to pop that on the bench.

Get a little bit of flour...

..on there, coat it in flour.

And basically work this flour till it's nice and smooth.

Now, that takes literally 10, 20 seconds.

Then you leave it in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes.

It just solidifies, the butter then solidifies, it'll be good and more malleable,

just easier to roll up, that's the only reason why it goes back in the fridge.

I've got my rolling pin...

Three rolls, that was my lucky one.

And then roll it out, again from the middle up, middle down.

Now...

Place it in there.

Fold in all the way round.

Fold over the lip slightly.

Then you get your baking beans ready.

A piece of silicone paper inside...

..and force these down

to make sure they get right into the corners.

Do you trim it afterwards? You don't trim it now?

No, I trim it afterwards because you can still get some shrinkage back in the oven.

So at this stage, that goes into the oven at 200 for about 15 minutes,

and it comes out golden brown.

To make the filling for the pie, I blitz up some cooked beetroot.

Use the ones in natural juice, not vinegar, and some double cream.

Look at that.

It's amazing stuff!

I mean, it's beautiful, actually. It's a lovely colour.

I'm happy with that.

Now, over here, I've got two eggs...

..which is the other part of the filling...

..two eggs straight in there

and I've got some dark muscovado sugar in there.

Again, I think that maltiness that comes from this is going to help this as well,

this sort of depth of flavour could work quite well.

How much sugar have you got in there? That looks like quite a lot.

-It is quite a lot, it is quite a lot.

-It really is a sweet...it's a sort of dessert pie, this one?

-Yes.

I think it's to enhance it, but I could have gone down the castor sugar route and just kept it white,

-but I think it needs some...

-A bit of toffee flavour.

-A little bit of punch in there as well, you know.

And to add to that punch, actually, I'm going to add some ginger...

just a little bit of ginger in there.

-Again, the ginger with the beetroot...

-Mmm.

-..Should work.

And I've got some cinnamon as well.

Are these the sort of things that you generally work with?

Yeah. I mean, I really... I've got a real passion for spice

-and beetroot and spice is a brilliant thing.

-Absolutely.

-Yeah, savoury or sweet, you know.

I think it's got such an edginess the beetroot. I think it can take a lot of flavours, actually.

I'm going to add zest of...a little bit of zest of lemon in there as well.

And, again, it'll lift it up. I think lemon in any dish is a huge winner for me.

-It just enhances flavour somehow, doesn't it, lemon.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Absolutely.

I combine my beetroot puree with a sweet sugary egg mixture to complete the filling for my pie.

So that's your filling.

There's my tart shell.

And basically, you fill that up...

It almost looks like it's got coconut on, doesn't it?

-That's the cream, presumably, has just separated, and when it heats that'll all go again.

-Exactly.

-Yeah.

And again, that is all of it inside there.

Give a little bit of a shake.

Now, that needs to go back in the oven at 150 for about 35 minutes,

until it's cooked and it's set, almost like a jelly.

And when it does come out...

..that is precisely how it comes out.

I mean, it's something which, it's not going to shock the world the way it looks,

but I bet you it'll rock the world when you come to eat it.

I think my creamy beetroot pie, spiced up with the ginger,

has blown away those memories of soggy school-dinner veg!

-But we're going to have to wait, Genevieve, to try it a little bit later.

-OK.

Earlier, Spanish chef Omar Allibhoy made his ensaimada,

a Majorcan dough-based recipe which he flavoured with chorizo and sugar.

It's a three-centuries old recipe that is all over, but it's done in Majorca.

Now it's time for me to get my hands on some dough

and create something special for him.

Well, Omar has shown me his Spanish recipe with a twist.

Now I'm going to add a twist of my own.

Now, this is based on a lardy cake.

Now, a lardy cake is a very ancient thing.

It's been around for many, many years.

Now, the main ingredients to a lardy cake are the butter, the salt, the yeast,

and I'm using something slightly different because I'm using the dry stuff, and then I've got water.

Now, I'm not going to go into the dough-making at this stage.

Basically you put everything in, put the water in, mix it round and then knead it.

Now, once you've kneaded it and it's nice and smooth and elastic, pop it back in the bowl,

and leave it for a good hour, two hours, overnight preferably, and it'll be nice and fermented.

Now, I've got a dough here that has fermented.

Now, if I break this open now, it's beautiful.

It smells fermented...

it's perfect...can you smell that?

-Oh!

-Gorgeous. It's nice and stretchy as well. It's a good, strong flour,

which I'm going to stretch out...

I'm tempted to go...

-and just take it out there and take it over to the far wall!

-Like a carpet.

-Yeah.

-It's been very worked on too, I can see.

-Yes.

-Very fine.

-Yeah, it has.

It is. It's something which... it's quite a strong dough this one.

It was mixed very well as well, so it should be perfect for this.

Now, lardy cake normally is layered with lard, with mixed fruits and with sugar.

Now, what I'm going to do is something slightly different, so it's going to be a lardy pie.

So your dough's laid out...

you get your lard and basically just drop bits in it all the way along,

smothering the dough.

You need to take it about two-thirds of the way up.

The next thing to do is get your sugar. I'm using soft brown sugar...

all over the top.

And again it's quite sweet, and it'll bake and caramelise quite easy in the oven as well.

-Are you going to roll it too?

-I am going to roll it. Fold and roll, fold and roll.

So again, once you've spread it out all over the place,

then you use your fruit and you've got mixed peel in there, you've got raisins in there,

you've got sultanas... tip all that in there.

It's a very rich recipe this one. It dates back a long time, actually, lardy cake,

probably about 200 years.

With the lardy cake, use proper lard.

Don't be tempted with butter, it just won't be the same.

Tell me something... In Spain, just in the north of Spain, we use butter,

because there was no dairies in the rest of the country, so we always use lard.

-It was the same here in England?

-Exactly the same here.

Especially during the war. You know, when the war was on, the problem was there was just no butter,

so lard was the only thing people could get hold...

so a lot of old recipes have just got lard in them.

It wasn't until the 1950s, 1960s that people said, "Hang on a minute!

"We don't have to use lard any more! We've got butter." So butter was then put inside the dough.

So I've covered two-thirds of it, a bit like you do a croissant.

And then you fold it over, push that down...

and again flip that over so you now have an envelope of three layers

with all the ingredients inside.

-Now, what I'm going to do is just roll that out again, using the rolling pin...

-Yeah.

Little bit of flour. So at the moment I'm using flour.

I mean, you could use olive oil,

-but I think for something like this, it's got a lot of fat inside this one as well...

-Sure.

And what I'm going to do to it is something slightly different.

-If I use oil, I'd have a problem with it when I cut it.

-Oh, definitely!

-I mean, each thing has its own purpose and...

-Exactly, exactly.

So what I'm going to do now at this stage is actually roll it this way.

So I turn it round...

flatten it down, tack it to the bench a little bit...

..get the top...

roll it up, like so...

so what you've done is you've just added another layer, really, of dough all the way down.

I do find it fascinating that although this recipe comes from Britain not Majorca,

it's similar to Omar's ensaimada.

Try and take it quite thin.

Turn it this way...

and then you get a blade...

Now, it's based on something like a couronne, which is a French-style loaf...

-cut it right down the middle...

-Oh, that's interesting.

I didn't expect that.

LAUGHTER

Cut it right down the middle and open it up.

-You can see all the layers.

-Now you can see all the layers all the way and the lard...

the fruit and the sugar.

And if you turn it away from each other, so they're almost back to back...

That's it.

And then basically, you twist the opposite way...

..so you twist it all the way.

And then you fold it around, tuck it together,

and then all you do is get your tin, which again I've lined with lard,

pop it in there...

leave that to grow nearer the top and then bake it off.

Bake it off at 200 for about 25-30 minutes, and it'll be beautiful and golden in colour.

These two things that we've done are incredibly much easier than a croissant!

Yeah, it is. No, it's absolutely true.

So what you end up with...

is quite a...robust loaf...

And it looks like that. And you can see all the discolouration where it's gone in the oven.

This is all the caramelis... where it's burned basically, where the fat's come out

and the sugar's come out, and you end up with a very old loaf with a very modern touch.

Now, we can't eat this at the moment. We're going to have to wait a little bit

and we'll try it very soon.

Hopefully!

My fruit lardy cake is best served warm and shared.

Put the kettle on and get stuck in!

After a busy day in the kitchen,

there's nothing better than sitting down to eat with my guests who helped me create today's dishes.

The best thing will be sharing, I think.

First up, we have my traditional mutton version of the Scotch pie,

which I'm serving to Andrew, the world's Scotch pie champion.

You've got the spices right. You know, you need to have them quite high in there,

-so that it blends with the whole thing.

-It has a lot of depth of flavour.

-You said that it was mutton.

-Mmm.

And you can taste, it tastes quite a lot.

Omar's ensaimada is beautifully delicate.

Just the ensaimada is beautiful.

The flavours going through it...

It's that bittersweet as well, isn't it?

At last, Genevieve can get her daily fix of beetroot from my pie.

-You can still sort of see the colour, can't you, of the beetroot?

-You can, actually.

-The spices really lift it, don't they?

-Mmm.

-Fabulous.

-Oh, yeah!

-That's a really good job.

And my layered lardy cake seems to go down well too.

Salud, everyone.

Great food, great conversation!

Thanks for coming.

You can't go wrong, can you? Good food.

I've had another great day in the kitchen and it's wonderful to cap it all, sharing all this hearty food.

That's it for today, but I hope you'll join me again next time on Pies & Puds.

-Do you want some of this?

-Yeah.

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