Summer Fruits Raymond Blanc's Kitchen Secrets

Raymond Blanc is opening the doors of his kitchen

for a journey of discovery.

Cooking is about curiosity and if I can inspire you

to be curious, I'll be a very happy man.

Divulging the secrets of his simplest...

Perfectly cooked.

..and most dazzling dishes.

Glorious food.

Be inspired by his passion...

Food is so much more than cooking and eating,

it's about living, life.

..share the secrets of his success...

The wonderful thing about having cooking secrets is the ability to share them with you.

On Kitchen Secrets, Raymond explores the many characters of soft fruits

with desserts that showcase and celebrate their unique flavours.

From a simple but sumptuous berry-strewn pavlova...

Take your fattest meringue, fill it up, beautiful.

..to a complex layering of spices in a warming cherry clafoutis.

The complexity of this batter is amazing.

And he reveals how to create maximum flavour from the summer ingredient.

You're going to add about 40% more flavour to the fruit.

In the back kitchen of his Oxfordshire restaurant,

Raymond is inspecting the fruit for the day's recipes.

When I think of summer fruits,

I think of that special moment

where all these foods are available for the cook.

All these amazing colours and flavours.

Figs are the stars of Raymond's first recipe.

His staff have prepared him a morning fig treat.

Ooh, I say.

This is rare.

Thank you, Adam, nice breakfast.

We have a fig jam.

That's lovely.

This is amazing. These lovely pips and textures inside.

They just burst under the teeth and that is really very delicious.

Thank you.

Raymond's first recipe, fig tart,

looks impressive, but is simple to prepare.

Ruby red figs and a blackcurrant filling

encased in crisp shortcrust pastry.

Today, I'm making a dessert, which I've wanted to do for a long time.

When I went to the south of France, I had very good fig tarts

and they were all made with a lot of dairy.

This is going to be without cream, without milk,

just figs, 100% fig.

Here we have the filling from my tart.

OK, we have a fig jam.

It's a very good fig jam. Those are dried figs.

Then you have blackcurrants, they go so well, such a good companion for the fig.

It will raise its colour and its flavour as well.

Sweet acidity.

Voila.

First, he blends 150g of figs...

I want to puree them.

What the offer, the sweetness,

that big fig flavour.

..150g of blackcurrants and 150g of fig jam.

One more mix.

Voila.

You don't want the texture too smooth.

You want to have lots of bits and pieces to create these bursts of flavours.

Voila.

Next, the shortcrust pastry base.

I want my pastry to be crumbly, to be meltingly delicious. Delicate texture.

To begin, Raymond combines 250g of plain flour

75g of icing sugar

and a little salt.

-And 120g of unsalted butter at room temperature.

-Tres bien.

And then we just mix all that together.

You can see the mixture is getting much more crumbly.

There's a subtle change in the colour. It's getting more yellow.

OK?

Now my egg yolk.

Raymond adds water to his two egg yolks.

Add a tiny dessert spoon of water

to help the binding process, which will make your life easier later.

Mix it up, pour it in the middle here.

At this point, it looks a bit crumbly, a bit dry.

Please don't be tempted to add too much water.

Then the palm of your hand.

Don't overwork, at that stage you just... Voila. That's it.

This is enough pastry for two tarts.

Raymond divides the mixture before it goes into the fridge to firm up.

Tres bien. Fridge. Adam, please.

Adam?

No Adam.

I'm on my own, I'm all alone.

So... Ah, yes.

Voila.

After an hour, Raymond rolls the pastry,

using cling film to prevent it sticking.

The top sheet stays in place to protect the pastry as its pressed into the tin.

Then a tiny bit of that...

He uses a ball of pastry to shape the base of the tart.

No risk of making a hole with that little trick.

It's a little secret.

Voila.

The pastry is trimmed and adjusted to fit the tin perfectly.

There will always be a bit of a reduction, but if you can just push it a little bit.

The base is baked for 25 minutes at 170 degrees Centigrade,

brushed with egg yolk,

then baked for another ten minutes.

Lovely and shiny. You can see the egg yolk has created a barrier.

We are ready now to finish off the tart.

Very simple.

The sticky blackcurrant and fig mixture fills about two thirds of the tart base.

Don't be mean, OK?

Voila.

Raymond tops the tart with quartered fresh figs.

The rim of the tart acting as a support.

Voila.

Ten more minutes baking and then a glaze of fig jam to finish.

Just the fig jam, OK.

The warmed fig jam pulls all the flavours together.

Finish it off with a bit of icing sugar.

Voila.

Bon appetit.

May I introduce, my little version of a small Adam, Kush.

He joined the team about... How long, Kush?

-One-and-half months.

-But he's a good cook too.

Fig tart, yeah?

Voila.

OK?

OK, tres bien.

Voila. Tres bien.

OK, so let's see if it tastes as good as it looks.

What do you think?

Really good balance

from the jam and then the fresh fig on top.

-Mmm.

-So, you like it?

-Yeah, very much.

How much? What out of ten? Come on.

And you keep your job regardless, no?

OK?

OK then, honestly. It's a good eight.

-And why not ten?

-Cos I'm not a massive fan of desserts.

So next time I won't invite you ever, you know that?

Raspberries are a favourite on Raymond's menu

and the varieties he prizes most have their roots in Scotland.

Scottish raspberries are known for flavour across the world.

That's the coldest climate, it's windy,

we hardly see the sunshine,

it's wet, yet they grow magnificently well

and create the best flavour.

I would like to know why.

Raymond has come to Fife to visit one of the last traditionally run fruit farms

owned by Euan Cameron and his family.

The farm gets 90cm of rainfall a year

and enjoys an average summer temperature of just 20 degrees.

Euan, lovely to see you.

How are you doing?

I could be your local boy here.

In Scotland, you call this your berry string.

Look at mine, baby!

You have to have your berry string tight so your berries don't fall.

-I'll give you a race, OK?

-A berry pick-off.

Don't steal from my territory, OK?

We'll have a berry fight!

I pick all the best from the top.

Maybe next summer I could give you a job.

Oh, yes, a-ha.

France 1, Scotland 0.

Euan grows Autumn Bliss raspberries

and the Scottish variety, Glen Doll.

Let's taste your raspberries, they're perfectly formed.

That is really lovely.

They've got amazing flavour. Beautiful.

Mmm.

I notice here, everything is grown outdoors.

Yes, everything's grown outdoors.

Do you think that the good Scottish weather - windy, cold, wet,

is good for the raspberry?

It's not always great for them, but I think the flavour's better.

-I think if you force a fruit...

-Yeah.

-..the flavour's not quite the same.

-I prefer raspberries that are grown outdoors.

-So do I.

-Shall we go?

-Yep.

Tres bien.

Raymond's next recipe

uses raspberries and the best soft berries

to create a perfect plump pavlova.

This dessert I'm about to do now, Pavlova,

was a great dancer in the 1920s, OK,

and she danced so well and she was so light, so elegant, so beautiful,

that thousands of cooks and chefs were inspired by her beautiful dance

and they created this fabulous dessert called pavlova.

But the road to a perfect pavlova is littered with failed meringues.

I want to show you a bad meringue, OK?

Those meringues, they're all sticky, and I hate sticky meringues

because they're candied,

they're caramelly, they're chewy

and they stick in your teeth and they're oversweet.

Feel that, look at that. See, it's all sticky, those are.

Ah!

Adam, could I have a proper bowl? Let's have a bowl.

-Tres bien. We've got that.

-That's the sugar to macerate.

-Lemons you've got here. Eggs cracked.

-OK.

So, the ingredients are 200 grams of egg white,

which is about six medium-size egg whites.

Voila.

So, what I do, I always add a bit of lemon juice.

Full speed now.

That is one of my little secrets.

Tiny dash at the start, and that will prevent the separation

of the pudding of egg whites, no graining.

Comfortable, nothing can happen.

You are pleased with yourself and your egg whites.

Once the egg whites thicken,

Raymond can introduce the sifted caster sugar.

Now you start adding the sugar, little by little.

So, what's happening is exciting here.

You're trapping billions of bubbles of air into these egg whites

in the web of this egg white pudding,

creating very light, airy foam, so to speak,

and there you want it quite firm.

So, quick look.

Voila.

Nice peak here.

The meringue is absolutely shiny and beautiful.

The sugar has been nicely incorporated.

Perfect. Now I'm ready to add my icing sugar.

Adam, please, can you give me a sieve?

-Oui, chef.

-Thank you very much.

To fold in the icing sugar, Raymond brings in a helper.

Can you give me a hand?

OK, and you're going to... just half of that.

Voila. Merci.

Stir in the icing sugar little by little.

Don't do it all at once, OK.

Half of that.

So, voila. Big dollops.

That's a big one. That's a mahoosive one! My God!

Look at this lovely shape.

They're beautiful.

These meringues, I'm cooking them for two hours at 120 degrees

because I want them blonde and beautiful and dramatic.

And they are ready to be cooked.

The meringues will be served with a juicy berry topping.

You're composing, also, different palates of flavours here.

It's not just for colour, it's for taste.

To intensify the flavours, a technique using sugar

that creates culinary magic - maceration.

Macerating is so important

because you're going to add about 40% more flavour, OK, to the fruit

with a tiny little bit of sugar and lemon juice.

So, it permeates slowly inside,

consolidating, as well, the cell wall,

and create that deliciousness that we are all looking for.

The berries are left to macerate at room temperature.

Raymond takes some of his favourite Scottish raspberries to make a sauce.

They are just blended and sieved.

Oh, this colour! This colour is so vivid.

When I see a colour like that, it makes me happy

because you know it's a good fruit, a ripe fruit.

No sugar is needed because the raspberries are naturally sweet.

Everything now waits on the meringues.

Cooking at 120 degrees for two hours should create the perfect texture.

I love them when they are rustic like that.

You've got these wonderful clusters and formations

of these bronze bubbles of sugar,

which is actually slightly leaking out,

because of the high temperature, it melts down the sugar faster.

Beautiful.

Raymond adds his fresh raspberry sauce to the flavour-packed berries.

Just stir it.

Oh, look at that!

Then take your fattest, beautiful meringue,

and then, of course, you...

..fill it up.

Oh!

Oh, this colour's absolutely amazing. Beautiful.

Then, of course, a bit of ice cream.

Voila.

I love meringue.

It's my little sin.

I've very few, but it's one of them.

Here you are, chef.

Next, a dessert which uses a delicate layering of spices

to lift the cherry to new heights -

clafoutis.

I think clafoutis is a great little family dessert

and it should belong to the repertoire of home cooking, really.

The secret to this dish

is using spices to build layers of flavour,

but first, the cherries need stoning.

First you have the tedious job.

That's why you use a minion to help you, like your son,

daughter, husband!

What we are going to do now is macerating them.

We are going to add an eau de vie, OK, made from the cherries.

That is really completely my own

because I saw my grandfather distil it.

Naturally, I received the biggest beating of my life

when I entered that cellar and I got all dizzy,

got up the stairs, my grandmother was waiting for me

and she gave me the biggest beating because she thought I'd drunk.

Of course, all I did is breathe alcohol, OK!

That is made with cherries. That's what it is.

The kirsch will ensure the cherry flavour punches through.

So, just stir them a little bit.

If you want to,

you can spice your cherries.

Why not a bit of pepper, ground black pepper?

Why not a little bit of lemon juice? Why not a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg?

Whatever you like. Or zest of orange.

-Adam, please.

-Oui, chef.

Could I have the spices, please?

We have a huge array of spices.

I'll be conservative

and I'll just have a bit of pepper, that's all.

And a bit of cinnamon.

Black pepper, Adam, please.

-Here you are, chef.

-Merci.

A bit of pepper. That also will release the flavour.

Raymond likes to use black pepper

with red fruits to bring their sweetness and acidity together.

The cherries will macerate for half an hour.

Next, a spiced sugar coating for the dish will create another layer of flavour.

We're going to prepare the mould, a nice mould of some type.

Sugar and butter. So, we're going to put a bit of butter.

The butter will fix the sugar coating, mixed with delicate spices.

Zest of orange and lemon, a hint of cinnamon, a bit of clove.

Tres bien.

We turn it around.

And now we're going to do our butter.

So, beautiful eggs here.

That's from a local farm.

Then your milk.

Tiny bit of salt.

Then you add your flour.

This basic batter will be transformed

using cream added to 30 grams of sugar

and 20 grams of butter warmed on the hob.

It's a foaming butter, noisette butter.

It's when the butter is foaming and is blown and has energy.

So, you just cool it down, or you can put it hot into it.

That's plenty.

And then half a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

Voila. No more.

Voila.

Your cherries, they've been marinating for one hour,

and look, that other lovely little magical thing.

The sugar has pumped out the juices, which are mixing with the kirsch

to create a fabulous juice that I'm going to add to my batter now.

The macerated juices from the cherries will give the batter a rich, fruity flavour.

I'm glad I'm a chef. I'm a privileged man,

eating great food every day.

Just taste...

See what's happening each time you add something.

The complexity of this batter is amazing.

The cherries are pressed down...

-Voila.

-..and the batter is carefully added.

C'est tout. That's all. Now, in the oven,

180 degrees for 30 minutes.

Ohh, what a beauty!

What a beauty!

Home, sweet home.

The batter should be crusty on the outside, and soft and gooey inside.

And, of course, a little bit of creme fraiche and the world is at peace.

That is just perfect. Bon appetit.

Adam, can we taste that dish, please?

Oui, chef.

A big spoon for you. Big boy.

-Be my guest.

-Thank you.

Lovely, chef.

-Vive la France, eh? Adam, can you say it?

-With English cherries.

-Can you say it?

-English cherries have made it.

-Can you say "vive la France"?

-No.

Adam! How can you? You're such a generous man!

I am generous.

-Can you be generous?

-No.

-Vive la France. Adam!

I'll see you later!

Unbelievable!

So, what kind of a name I should give that clafoutis?

-Kent...

-Kent...

-Kent's Finest.

-Kent Pudding.

That's what. Let's do that. Kent Pudding.

RAYMOND LAUGHS

Adam! Come here!

-You come here! You come here!

-Adam, how can you do that?

Raymond's finale is an aromatic fruit soup with a glamorous twist -

an exquisite caramel cage topped with champagne.

In search of ingredients for his soup,

Raymond heads underground.

Today I've got a wonderful, beautiful classic which I've done for many, many years.

Very boozy and it needs wine.

You don't need to invest in a very expensive wine. £4-5 will be just fine.

The rest, of course, you keep it for the table. Makes sense.

Voila. For the booze we have a nice Merlot.

Very strong. The sweet, Beaumes de Venise, a bit of champagne here.

What I want to do is to boil those two wines.

Boiling the wine reduces the harsh notes in the alcohol.

So what I've done here - nice little secret -

heat your pan so it's very, very hot so when you pour the wine...

WINE SIZZLES

90ml of red wine...

Boil it. It's boiling.

..and 250ml of dessert wine.

So I bring that to the boil for about two or three minutes. OK.

Meanwhile, while it's boiling away,

I'm going to do a lovely vanilla syrup.

Every time a recipe calls for vanilla essence,

use this.

To make vanilla syrup, Raymond has boiled equal amounts of water and sugar.

Voila.

Now cool, it's added to the vanilla pods.

And just pour in. Voila.

And we are going to make our syrup. Very simple as that.

This will last for months in the fridge.

The wine has now boiled for four minutes.

So now, into our wine, we're going to add the sugar...

..a tiny bit of vanilla puree...

and a little bit of water

just to cut down on the richness of the alcohol.

The fruit soup will be infused with fresh herbs

and Raymond has plenty to choose from.

Any leafy herb, with a clean, vibrant taste,

like basil, verbena or mint will work well in the soup.

What I love the most is the spearmint, I think.

That very strong minty flavour is fabulous.

I just found an incredible herb. It is called an Aztec herb.

Incredibly sweet, and then the coolness arrives - the lemony, balmy flavour.

That's going to go so well with the soup.

Aztec herb is a type of verbena but mint or basil would work, too.

Perfect. Let's go.

OK. I've got my lovely, beautiful herbs here.

Wonderful verbenas, which I will need.

That's the fennel. We'll use that later for the sugar.

We've got our basil, mint - we want mint here.

A bit of Vietnam, a bit of South of France, a bit of Mediterranee.

Little bit of England, as well, with the spearmint.

Wonderful. All we've to do... You've got your wine, cooling down here. Still warm.

It's blood temperature. Let's go.

The soup uses 400g of ripe berries, macerated with sugar, lemon and pepper.

Voila.

The aromatic soup and fruit are combined with half a melon,

and then chilled.

The dessert will be given a theatrical finish,

with a cage of caramel that captures those last ingredients from the garden.

Dried raspberries. Chop them up.

Now the caramel.

We are going to prepare sucre file.

Like angel's hair.

300g of sugar is dissolved in water.

It's not stirred, as this will make the caramel crystallise.

Just move around your pan quite nicely.

I'm going to put that on medium heat. Make sure the flame

doesn't rub the pan because here it will burn the sugar.

It will take between 8 and 12 minutes.

So now, to do the sucre file, or angel's hair, OK,

I have taken my best whisk, and I cut off his head,

to allow me to spread the beautiful caramel. OK?

Making caramel is a balancing act between temperature and timing.

170-degree temperature, so be careful.

That is seriously hot.

Voila. Now I'm going to stop the cooking here.

A little bit.

Voila.

We are just going to go fast. I cannot wait now.

As the caramel cools, it starts to harden.

My herbs...

Those are fennel.

Those are the raspberries.

Zest of lemon.

My chopped herbs, gives us these wonderful minty flavours here.

The cage encloses the scattered flavours.

So then we can either... Whatever shape you like.

Oh, it's so beautiful from inside.

I'd love to be there.

The fruit soup is served chilled, straight from the fridge.

Look at that - wonderful colours.

A burst of flavours, as well, of the late-summer ripeness.

And all these flavours all merge together.

A sliver of caramel cage and then a last touch of luxury...

Champagne.

Look at that.

It is so beautiful.

Emily?

Here it is. That's for you.

It's fantastic.

So, what does it taste like?

It has all the fruitiness, but you have all the freshness of the mint

and the sugar is fantastic, as well.

It just adds an extra sweetness.

This dish, exemplify my cuisine.

Seasonality, burst of summer fruit, a hint of herbs,

it's fresh, it's clean, it's lovely, it's easy to prepare

and it is absolutely delicious.