Exotic Flavours Royal Recipes

Hello. I'm Michael Buerk.

Welcome to a brand-new series

of Royal Recipes.

This time,

we're at Westonbirt House,

formerly a grand country house,

now a boarding school,

which has played host to

royal visitors for over 100 years.

In this series, we're delving

even further back in time

to reveal over 600 years

of royal food heritage.

You play Anne Boleyn

and I will play Henry VIII.

And we've been busy

unlocking the secrets

of Britain's great food archives,

discovering rare and unseen recipes

that have been royal favourites

through the ages,

from the earliest

royal cookbook in 1390...

It's so precious, so special,

that I'm not allowed to touch it.

..to Tudor treats from

the court of Henry VIII.

I can't wait for this.

One, two, three.

We'll be exploring

the great culinary traditions

enjoyed by the royal family,

from the grand

to the ground-breaking,

as well as

the surprisingly simple...

I did think that was going

to be a disaster.

Whoo!

..as we hear from

a host of royal chefs...

Prince Philip would walk past

or pop his head in and say,

"What's for dinner?

What are we having?"

Oh, yeah. It's not just

a normal kitchen.

..and meet the people

who provide for the royal table.

If it's OK for the Queen,

it's OK for everyone.

Welcome to Royal Recipes.

Exotic flavours are on

the royal menu in today's programme.

We're going to be exploring

how centuries of royal marriages

and state visits have helped

exotic ingredients and flavours

to find their way

into British cuisine.

Coming up...

..Michelin-starred chef

Paul Ainsworth

cooks up a favourite pudding

of Henry VIII...

He could eat 20 of these

at a sitting.

Really?

I'm sure the fibre did him a lot

of good.

Yeah, I'm sure it did!

..Mich Turner MBE recreates

the luxurious cake she made

to celebrate

Prince Charles's 60th birthday...

Using the orange liqueur

brought in a sense of depth

and that whole kind of regal status

that I felt the cake deserved.

..and Dr Annie Gray discovers

how the royal appetite

for one exotic fruit

spawned a grand fashion.

They capture all the mystery

of the East and the Orient

and, you know, foreign places.

And who couldn't be seduced

in an orangery? I mean, you know...

Come on!

But we begin our exploration

of exotic flavours

with a dish from a continent

close to the royal family's heart.

I'm in the Royal Recipes kitchen

with Michelin-starred chef

Paul Ainsworth,

and something smells

very good indeed.

What is it?

Michael,

that wonderful smell is bobotie.

Now, this is South Africa's

answer to moussaka,

cottage pie, shepherd's pie.

Bobotie.

Bobotie.

I know about bobotie.

This is a famous South African dish,

and I was the BBC correspondent

in South Africa,

so I have had this several times.

I'll be watching you really closely.

Am I doing it right?

Don't know yet. You tell me!

You're doing it not just because,

you know, it is an exotic dish,

but because of the royals'

connection with Africa.

The Queen, famously, when she was

still Princess Elizabeth,

went there on a big and quite famous

royal tour in 1947.

They've got these connections.

She became queen when

she was in Africa.

Yeah, yeah.

Wills and Kate were there

for their engagement.

Harry says it's the place

he feels most comfortable in.

So, in a sense, this is the taste

of the Africa that the royals love.

Would you like an update

on how our bobotie is going?

I think you should give us

a bulletin.

Yes!

Tell us the news.

Hard-fried mince.

Then we caramelised our onion off,

we added a bay leaf in there,

a crushed clove of garlic.

We then added a beautiful

madras curry paste.

Now I've just added in

some lamb stock.

Yeah.

And all I'm going to do, if you

see that now, is reduce it down.

And I've given it

a blinking good seasoning.

All right? Because you want

that seasoning in there early.

You don't want

to be adding it at the end

because once the top's on,

it's too late.

Just going to give that a stir.

And can you see now

how all that stock

has absorbed into

that gorgeous mince?

And you just get this...

Oh, you can smell the bay...

Have a smell.

The bay leaf, the curry.

It's good.

It's gorgeous.

Well, it's rich and lamby,

but it's not exotic yet.

Right. Now we go exotic.

Yeah.

Raisins.

Yeah.

Now, this is the crucial bit.

This is the kind of thing

you either like or...

At the moment, I'm on the fence, OK?

Yeah, OK.

I'm on the fence.

And what's that?

Chopped apricots.

All things that do go with lamb,

you know.

Yeah.

Now we're going to have

a nice dollop of mango chutney.

Mango chutney is lovely.

Worcester sauce.

This is going to give us

more seasoning.

Yeah.

A nice mouth feel. Umami.

Umami?

Umami.

Oh, yeah,

that's the famous new taste.

It's basically a mouth feel.

A really, really, like,

unctuous kind of mouth...

Very beefy, very savoury, OK?

So, again, goes nice with this.

That's a typical pretentious chef

trying to justify slugging

brown sauce into a dish, is it?

Or Worcestershire sauce,

in this case.

No, it's actually ancient,

ancient, ancient tradition.

Umami.

Now, what's that you've just put in?

Cider vinegar.

It's a strange combination,

though, isn't it?

It is a strange combination.

So, you see now

our apricots and our raisins

are almost hydrating again.

They're kind of getting

lovely and plump.

They're fleshing out,

aren't they?

Yeah.

We're just going to go

straight in, like so.

Typically, this was the kind of dish

that you'd get when

you went down to Cape Town.

But you could get it

elsewhere in South Africa,

and I think in the Netherlands,

as well.

Because I think the first time

this appeared in a cookbook

was in 1609, in Holland,

which was before their colony

in South Africa was established.

Now, I'm willing to go with this.

I love trying new things.

For me, I don't think you can beat

something like a potato

on top of something like this.

No.

But what we've got here

is milk.

Yeah.

I've just put four eggs in there

and I'm now going to add breadcrumb.

Fresh breadcrumb, not dried.

Yeah.

Fresh breadcrumb, OK?

But this takes the place of,

I don't know,

potato in a shepherd's pie.

Yeah. It's a new one on me.

So, you can see it's still...

Even with the crumb in there,

it's still very, very thin.

I sense you're

a bit worried about this.

Is this true?

Right, ready?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK.

So, we're just going

to go over the top.

Now, this is a topping, is it?

This is a topping, yeah.

You're not worried it's going

to just kind of sink into it

and create a kind of sludge?

Michael, I'm in the dark,

just like you.

What will happen with the eggs

in that mixture...

Yeah.

..it'll make it rise up.

Right.

So, it's going to kind of...

It looks a bit flat at the moment.

It's going to souffle. Absolutely.

So, now, if you can see all

those lovely lamb juices, as well,

rising to the surface...

If you could put that

in the oven for me, please.

Yeah, OK.

Guess what temperature.

Oh, I can't really, but I think 180?

You read my mind.

I know. I'm inspired.

30 minutes, please.

30 minutes.

At 180.

Thank you.

OK, Chef.

How are you getting on there,

Michael?

Fine, and I'm bringing it out.

Ho-ho-ho-ho!

Oh, I like that sound.

Yes.

It certainly looks the ticket.

Does it look the ticket, yeah?

Yeah.

Should be beautifully caramelised.

Ah! Goeie more, bobotie.

Look at that.

That means good morning, bobotie...

OK.

..in Afrikaans.

Right.

Goeie more.

What a lovely-looking dish.

It does look nice, doesn't it?

Yeah.

Yeah, it does look nice.

Beats your

cottage pie hands down on looks.

Right.

Not sure on taste yet.

What are you doing now?

Yoghurt, some beautiful,

chopped mint...

Yeah.

..lime.

Lime?

Yeah.

So, again, keeping, you know,

the exotics in this recipe.

Lime, yoghurt, mint - honestly...

There's a bundle of freshness

in there, isn't there?

Yes.

Yeah, they really do

love each other.

OK, so, nice squeeze of

that lime juice in there, like so.

Give that a nice little mix.

Again, just giving

that yoghurt more acidity.

So, that's ready to go for there.

Right.

And it's dishing-up time.

Let's go for

one of these nice, dark...

You can't beat the corner

of anything like this.

Oh, it's got a lovely, eggy-looking

top on it, hasn't it?

Yeah.

You know what? It smells wonderful.

You're warming to it.

I am warming to it.

It's quite nice, that lovely,

caramelised crust.

Yes.

Crispy at the edges, too.

Now, just simply...

A bit of yoghurt.

..put a spoonful

of that yoghurt like that.

Yeah.

Nice dollop of mango chutney.

Of mango chutney.

And there you have,

Michael, bobotie.

Bobotie.

Oh! Shall we have a go?

Go for it. Go for it.

You first.

Get stuck in.

You first.

Get stuck in.

I am... I know. I think

I need to go first into this.

Oh, you've got the corner!

The corner's the best bit.

And the key thing is,

can you get on with having raisins

and apricots in a lamb pie?

Do you know what?

The texture's lovely.

The way it caramelises and rises,

it's almost like

a really caramelised...

Almost like

twice-baked cheese souffle.

You know, like that kind of texture?

It's very light.

It's really light.

The yoghurt and the chutney

is great with it.

That is a fantastic dish.

Takes me back to

the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town.

You know, the old colonial hotel

where so many royals have stayed.

Driving along Chapman's Peak road,

going to a restaurant...

Do you know what would just

finish that?

What? A glass of...

No. If I had cooked this for you.

That would have made

all the difference.

What more would you want?

Well, I'd never have come back!

A marriage of sweet, spiced meat

and a creamy egg topping.

An exotic taste

of the royals' South Africa.

Modern British cuisine is a fusion

of flavours from around the world,

and many of the ingredients

we take for granted today

arrived here as much

by accident as design.

It's widely believed that

the potato reached our shores

in a cargo of exotic produce

brought back by one of

the adventurers of the 16th century.

John Marshall,

who's spent his working life

promoting and selling potatoes,

tells us more.

People believe that

Sir Walter Raleigh,

or Sir Francis Drake,

brought it back

to the British Isles.

But it doesn't really stand up

to scrutinisation.

The potato originated

in Central America, in Peru,

over 9,000 years ago.

The favoured theory is

it came in via the Canaries

and then spread across Europe

and, eventually,

on to the British Isles.

They may be a staple

of many dinners today,

but when the potato

first came to our shores,

it was a baffling entity.

Initially, people hadn't a clue

what the potato was.

There was great superstition

with potatoes.

They were not written about

in the Bible.

Some authorities were saying

they caused leprosy.

And, basically,

the European population

wasn't huge when it first arrived,

so it was years before

it actually caught on.

At the end of the Seven Years' War

in France in 1763,

pharmacist

Antoine-Augustin Parmentier

realised the potato could be the

answer to widespread famine there.

He was so keen to promote it

that he enlisted the help

of the French royal family.

Parmentier persuaded Louis XVI

to wear potato flowers

in his buttonhole,

and Marie Antoinette

wore them in her hair.

Louis XVI had given him ground -

40 acres -

to plant potatoes round Paris.

He put an armed guard round it.

This made people think -

the local people think -

it was a really valuable

food product.

So, they befriended the guards,

they all had a drink,

the guards had a sleep,

and the locals

streamed into the field

and took the potatoes away,

cooked them and ate them,

and they were wonderful.

English growers soon recognised

that an association with royalty

could sprinkle a bit of stardust

on the common-or-garden spud.

They began to recognise that

calling a potato after royalty

was like using a celebrity's name.

We have King George, King Edward,

and then there's this great one,

Victoria.

By the end of the 19th century,

potatoes were no longer considered

a food for the lower orders.

According to a member

of her household,

Queen Victoria confesses to

a great weakness for potatoes,

which are cooked for her

in every conceivable way.

Today, Prince Charles grows many

varieties on his farm at Highgrove,

and Andrew Skea

has supplied the prince

with organically grown seed potatoes

for a number of years.

The thing that

we're really interested in

is potatoes for speciality markets.

Different colours,

different cooking types,

traditional and heritage types,

things that are

a little bit flowerier than

what the mass market produces.

In recent years,

there's been an upsurge of interest

in heritage potatoes.

These older varieties tend

to be more unusual to look at

than your average spud,

with diverse textures and taste.

Our heritage potatoes include

varieties like Arran Victory,

King Edward, British Queen,

Duke of York.

King Edwards have really

stood the test of time

because they are

a good potato to eat.

They make excellent

roast potatoes and chips.

This variety is called

Mayan Twilight.

It's been recently bred

here in Scotland,

using varieties that have been

brought over from South America.

The primitive types tend

to have a lot more flowers,

but they tend to also produce

smaller, often more numerous tubers.

This lot has got a very interesting

red and white skin.

And here we have some Arran Victory,

named at the end

of the First World War.

It's a great potato for roasting.

It's always my roast potato

on Christmas Day.

Andrew's also well-known for

growing some eye-catching varieties.

Our speciality varieties are mainly

the coloured flesh ones -

Highland Burgundy Red,

Salad Blue.

So, this is a red variety,

recently bred by an enthusiast

in Germany.

Violetta. Very vibrant colour.

Excellent for making

bright red mashed potatoes.

We Brits eat around

130 kilos a year each.

The potato has come a long way

from its humble beginnings

since it reached our shores

over 400 years ago.

This versatile, tasty vegetable

is far from ordinary,

and can bring a touch

of refinement to any dish.

This is a sweet potato.

We tend to think of it

as rather exotic,

but it actually came to this country

before the real potatoes did.

And Henry VIII,

who died before real potatoes

were brought to this country,

was really, really fond

of sweet potatoes.

And we're going to do a dish

that he really enjoyed.

What was it, Paul?

Tudor-inspired sweet potato pie.

Sounds good.

A bit like a pumpkin pie?

Absolutely, yeah.

In fact, very, very similar.

It's interesting, you were saying

about sweet potatoes -

botanically, they're not the same.

They're less calories,

lots of fibre,

and generally really good for you.

OK.

So, in here, if you want

to come and have a look,

we've got some sweet red wine.

Sweet red wine?

Sweet red wine.

Some sugar. Medjool dates.

The fat ones.

That's the fat ones. Light brown.

Yeah, really quite sort of juicy.

Some Bramley apple and

this lovely chopped sweet potato.

So, these all go into the red wine,

which has just come to a simmer.

Good English cooking apple

with it, eh?

Yeah, definitely.

I love the Bramley apple.

Yeah.

OK, dates go in, like so.

And then in with the sweet potato

and the apple.

Really interesting royal connection

with the sweet potato,

you know, because both potatoes

and sweet potatoes come from

the New World, from the Americas.

And you know Columbus and

the Spaniards were there first,

and they brought back

the sweet potato.

Yeah.

Henry VIII's first wife -

famously, Catherine of Aragon -

she brought the sweet potato

to England,

and Henry was so fond of them,

he could eat 20 of these

at a sitting.

Really?

Yeah. I'm sure the fibre

did him a lot of good.

Yeah, I'm sure it did!

It would need to, wouldn't it?

He was a regular guy!

Well, he was after 20 of those,

I can tell you.

Right, have a look at that.

Ever seen that?

I don't think I have. What is it?

A really, really

old-fashioned ingredient.

Burdock. You know, like the drink,

dandelion and burdock?

I used to have that when

I was a kid.

Yeah, me too. Love it.

Doesn't smell of much.

What does it taste like?

No, it doesn't.

It's not as hot and as fiery

as horseradish,

but it's got a very sort of

slight bitterness, turnip kind of...

Bit of bitter.

Yeah.

But going in here,

it really does come alive,

especially with the sweet potato.

Something magical happens.

We're going to grate it.

For a recipe like this, it's fine

cos it's going straight in there,

but it does also go dark

very, very quickly.

Of course, Henry got rid

of Catherine of Aragon

and that stopped the supply

of sweet potatoes.

Yeah.

And he was

absolutely heartbroken,

and offered land and gold

to anybody who could grow

sweet potatoes in Britain.

So, he just absolutely

adored them.

Yeah.

There's a wonderful ancient book

called Gerard's Herbal,

which talks about sweet potatoes

and says they're very good

at procuring bodily lust.

So, forget your oysters.

Start munching on sweet potatoes.

Not that Henry needed it,

I don't think, with six wives,

but let's not go there.

Let's not go there.

No, no.

OK. Now, where are we?

Right, so,

we've grated in our burdock.

Yeah.

And then what we're going to do here

is basically reduce that right down.

So, we'll put the lid on

and cook this for an hour.

We're going to blitz it to this.

Mm.

You don't need to sieve this.

There's no need.

Can you see the consistency of it?

OK? Quite thick.

It's sort of like a sweet...

It's a paste. It's a paste.

You start to see

where it's coming into

almost like that pumpkin pie

kind of mixture.

Mm.

To that, we're going

to add clove...

Yeah.

..ground mace...

That's a husk, isn't it?

Yeah.

And it's a very Tudor spice,

isn't it?

Yes.

You don't see it much these days.

Really old-fashioned spice.

But they used to use it a lot,

if they could get it.

Hugely expensive in those days,

yeah.

Ground ginger.

Yeah.

Some melted butter.

Mm-hm.

Would you like to break four eggs

into there for me, Michael?

A bit of a test, eh?

One-handed, please, Michael.

So, I'm just going to mix in

the butter and those spices.

Next, I'm going to add rose-water.

Rose-water?

Yeah, have a smell.

Ah!

OK?

It's kind of old-fashioned

perfume. Or, I tell you what it is -

it's Turkish delight, isn't it?

That's it. You're absolutely right.

That's the smell.

You get it from actual rose petals,

do you?

Yeah, it's basically...

Infused? Distilled?

Infused,

distilled. Absolutely, yeah.

I'm making a bit of

a breakfast of this.

I know.

I like it.

They're not for scrambled.

They're for this.

All right, all right. There you go.

I broke one, actually.

That doesn't matter.

Are you sure?

Does not matter.

Good. Good.

Right,

whisk our eggs.

Yeah.

Thank you very much. Now,

the reason we're adding the eggs is

that's when it becomes

like a cake mixture.

Yeah.

We need something...

Otherwise,

it'd be too sloppy.

Sloppy, yeah.

We need something for it to cook,

for it to rise.

We add those into there,

like so.

Yeah.

Now, next to me,

this is what we call a sweet pastry.

So, that's basically pastry

with sugar in it.

So, flour, eggs, butter,

sugar that we've added in.

We've then made it, let it relax.

We then roll it out with flour

to about the size of a £1 coin.

Line our pastry with

grease-proof paper.

Yeah.

Then you can put

whatever you like in there.

Some people even put

pennies in there.

Anything to weigh it down.

Weights, baking beans,

yeah, all your old change.

Anything.

Right, so, we're just basically

folding this mixture in, like so,

till, eventually, we've worked

all of that egg into the mix.

This dish is actually

inspired by a recipe

that we found

in a wonderful old cookbook

that's hidden away

in the British Library.

It's called Countrey Contentments,

Or The English Huswife.

"Containing the inward

and outward virtues

"which ought to be

in a complete woman."

Fantastic.

Know any complete women?

Only my wife, Michael.

Crawler. Crawler.

Right, how are you getting on there?

Right, see how it's

just changed like that?

Yeah.

Really delicious, smooth,

rich, velvety cake mix.

Look at the way it just ripples

into it.

It's fantastic, isn't it?

You can just see that this is going

to be absolutely delicious.

By the way, for the blind baking

there of the tart case,

you want to kind of cook that -

blind bake -

for about 15-20 minutes at 180.

And then take it out,

remove your baking beans,

and then put it back in the oven

and just let it dry out.

Right, got you.

OK? So, that now

goes into the oven, 180...

Yeah.

..for 50 minutes, OK? Five zero.

Medium heat?

180, yes.

50 minutes?

OK?

OK.

Thank you very much.

There should be another one

on the side there, Michael.

Yeah, got it.

It's the ta-ra moment.

It's looking pretty good, isn't it?

It does look good, doesn't it?

Look at that.

Shall I pop it there?

I can't wait for this.

Right...

Now,

how are you going to do this?

What are you going to serve it with?

We're just going to cut this.

Oh, it's got a nice consistency,

hasn't it?

It has.

And a lovely crunch, as well.

Yeah.

I can imagine Henry loving this.

Wouldn't you?

And you know what, as well?

Don't put it in the fridge.

You can just feel it's just warm.

Let it cool from the oven.

Look at that.

And that's what the eggs do,

Michael.

Yeah.

All right?

That's the eggs doing their job.

Now we're just going to get

some icing sugar just over the top.

Mm-hm. Just dust it.

Not too much. Yeah, just to dust it.

It makes it look prettier, too,

doesn't it?

It does, as well.

And it is nice. It gives it

a little sweetness, as well.

Yeah.

And then for me...

A bit of pouring cream.

..just some good

pouring cream like that.

That would be from Cornwall,

I expect.

Where else?

And there we have it -

Tudor-inspired sweet potato pie,

thick pouring cream

and a bit of icing sugar.

Ah!

Look at that.

I'm loving it. It's...

Henry VIII's favourite.

Yeah.

Mm!

Nice?

That's lovely.

Yeah?

What a nice combination.

The sweet potato - very exotic then,

from the Americas -

with Bramley apples,

the quintessential

English cooking apple.

It's a brilliant combination,

isn't it? And it's very light.

It's got a nice sharpness to it,

as well. It's not too sweet.

The spices are really

doing their job.

It's absolutely delicious.

It's got that lovely kind of

set custard-type texture.

Oh, that's very good.

I love that.

A colourful spiced delight

from the Americas,

introduced to the king

by his Spanish wife.

We can thank the Spanish for

a lot of our everyday ingredients.

Chocolate originates

in the Americas too,

and the Spanish introduced it

to Europe, luckily for us,

and for chocolate-lover

Prince Charles.

Cake-maker to the royals

Mich Turner

knows a thing or two

about chocolate.

My chocolate torte has been

one of those stalwarts

in the collection

that's always been a favourite,

but by blending it with additional

fresh orange and cherries,

I'm recreating the cake

that I made to celebrate

the 60th birthday of

His Royal Highness Prince Charles.

I'm going to start by mixing

together the butter and the sugar,

and creaming those until

they're really light and fluffy.

You'll see that

when you've creamed properly,

that becomes really light

and aerated.

I always whisk

my eggs together first

before I pour them into the batter

because, that way,

you get one even liquid,

so when it pours in,

it's easier to control it.

The melted chocolate is going to be

the key ingredient in this recipe,

for the reason that it adds

a wonderful depth of flavour

to the cake.

When you're creating a cake

for a large birthday,

where you know there are going

to be lots of guests coming,

the first thing is

to think about the flavour

because you want it to appeal

to so many different palates.

So, chocolate is usually

a pretty safe bet,

and will certainly, certainly

stand up well to a royal occasion.

I wanted to create a cake

that would deliver

a nostalgic memory of childhood,

of gorgeous, lovely flavours,

so it had to be important,

it had to have the status.

And by working with the cherries -

you know,

the cherries and chocolate,

cherries and orange,

using the orange liqueur -

brought in a sense of depth

and that whole kind of regal status

that I felt the cake deserved.

Now, because this cake

has a wonderful,

almost fudge-like consistency,

it has very little flour,

so it's important that

this is evenly distributed.

Fold the flour in carefully.

Once the batter is ready, Mich adds

orange zest and vanilla bean paste.

Now it's time for

the all-important cherries,

which are a combination

of the sour dry cherry

and naturally coloured

glace cherries.

There we go.

And now it's ready for the tin.

So, this is where people fight over

who's going to lick the bowl.

It bakes in the oven

for exactly one hour at 150 degrees

before being left to cool.

Now Mich can make a start on

the ganache - the glazed topping.

So, for making this ganache,

it's one quantity of cream,

two quantities of butter,

four quantities of chocolate.

And we give it

a bit of a stir.

And that's the perfect ganache.

Look, it coats the back of my spoon

and has the most wonderful sheen.

This buttercream has been made

with one quantity of unsalted butter

and two quantities of

an unrefined icing sugar.

And to that, I'm going

to add an equal quantity

of the chocolate ganache

that I've made.

There we are. And that's ready

to skim coat the cake.

The idea is that

you use the baseboard

to ensure that the cake itself

is levelled up from that.

But it just creates that

perfect finish on the cake itself.

So, trim the edges.

And what happens now is this cake

goes in the fridge to firm up

so that that is completely set.

The next step is to make

the intricate decorations.

Prince Charles is known for having

the most gorgeous gardens

and being a very keen florist,

so the idea is that

I'm going to decorate

this particular cake today

with hand-moulded chocolate roses

that I'm going to lustre

with a little bit of bronze.

So, again, it's keeping that whole

chocolate and orange theme.

The cake is now cool enough

for Mich to add the glaze.

When it comes

to ganache-ing the cake,

it's important that the cake itself

has chilled thoroughly,

so that the buttercream itself

is nice and firm.

And then the ganache

has to be warm enough

that it flows and is nice and fluid,

but not so hot that

it will melt the buttercream.

So, it's about getting

the temperatures just right.

What was lovely was that the cake

that I made for Prince Charles

for his 60th birthday,

delivered to Clarence House,

and then he donated it on

to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

So, everybody at the hospital

was offered a little slice

of Prince Charles's birthday cake.

Time to add those exquisite

finishing touches.

The cake that I made

for Prince Charles

had three different levels

and then a box on the top

where I painted his coat of arms.

I'm going to add some fresh cherries

so that you know that

this is a chocolate cherry cake.

And this is

my chocolate cherry truffle torte

with fresh orange zest,

exactly like the cake I made

for Prince Charles's 60th birthday.

Perfect for any prince.

Lovely-looking cake,

isn't it?

Oh, delicious.

I don't know why it should be,

but the combination of chocolate

and orange really works for me,

but only if it's dark chocolate.

What about you?

I actually like it

with dark chocolate

or milk chocolate.

I just think that combination of

chocolate and orange is beautiful.

It's so exotic cos

we didn't have chocolate at all

until the Spanish

came across it in Mexico,

and they brought it back in 1528.

And then it was bitter.

It was only when they found sugar

that it turned into the chocolate

we know today.

Yeah.

Now we just take it

for granted.

We do.

But, of course, many of today's

run-of-the-mill ingredients

were originally exotic

and originally expensive.

In the 1500s, when sweet oranges

first appeared in England,

brought from the East

by the Portuguese traders,

they graced only

the most prestigious tables.

And such was the fashion for oranges

that the very rich began

to look for ways to grow them here.

Successful cultivation

of exotic fruits

required the construction of hugely

expensive specialist buildings.

Annie Gray explores how the monarchy

set a trend for their creation.

300 years ago,

growing your own oranges in Britain

was a real mark of prestige.

Annie went to Hampton Court Palace,

the site of two of the earliest

and grandest orangeries in Britain,

to meet the deputy chief curator,

Sebastian Edwards.

Sebastian, tell me,

what is an orangery?

Well, I think we think, today,

of an orangery as a large greenhouse

where we can sniff the flowers

and admire the exotic fruits,

but in the 17th century,

the fashion for orangeries was,

in fact, an entire garden,

including the greenhouse.

And how do they work?

What's the actual process

of using your orangery?

In the summer months, the oranges

and the other exotic plants

would be out on the terraces

in front in the sunshine.

And you could stroll between them

and admire them.

In the winter months,

they would be carried in

so they could be

then enjoyed in comfort

by the king and his courtiers.

And who's responsible for this one?

The great orangery at Hampton Court

was built by William III

right at the end

of his reign in 1701.

But this wasn't the first orangery

here at Hampton Court.

William had one built a year earlier

in the palace itself,

and its interior isn't quite

what you'd imagine.

This is just remarkable.

I think I expected something

that was white plastered walls

and very functional, but this looks,

to me, just like any other room.

Well, this is William's...

I would like to think of it

as his show orangery,

where he could enjoy

the oranges in the winter,

but in the summer months, it would

be empty, as you see it today.

But then what did they do

with this room?

Was it just empty

or did it have another function?

Well, we know from later monarchs,

particularly Queen Anne

and George I,

that, I think, in the summer months,

these were multipurpose rooms

and they were used

on special occasions -

cos they're great, long galleries -

for banquets, masquerades,

birthday balls.

They're really not just orangeries

in the sense of a greenhouse.

These are buildings that can be used

for all sorts of different things.

By the late 17th century,

they were the latest fashion.

William and Mary had the biggest

and the best orangeries,

and so did their successors

in this land.

And they were fabulously popular

all over Europe

with any self-respecting

royal family.

A building not just

for growing fruit,

but also for socialising.

The trend for

exotic orangeries blossomed.

At Chatsworth House in Derbyshire

in the early 19th century,

the 6th Duke of Devonshire

commissioned the building

of a series of glasshouses

and entertaining rooms,

and with his new-found enthusiasm

for gardening, an orangery.

Food writer Clarissa Hyman

believes orangeries were symbolic

of the aristocratic excesses

of the time.

It was a status symbol.

It was a sign of your wealth.

It's like Russian oligarchs

competing with their super yachts.

You know, your orangery had

to be bigger than anybody else's,

fancier than anybody else's.

But it was also a place

for assignations and for romance,

I mean, because they capture all the

mystery of the East and the Orient

and, you know, foreign places.

And who couldn't be seduced

in an orangery?

I mean, you know...

Come on!

You've got the scent

of the orange blossom

and you've got these

gorgeous oranges glistening.

But they did find their way into

the kitchen, didn't they?

They did.

When sweet oranges came in,

they were used more in sort of

custards and creams and jellies.

People didn't eat oranges

on their own.

There's a wonderful description

in Mrs Gaskell's Cranford

of them eating oranges.

And the ladies

sitting round the table

are presented each with an orange,

and they sort of look at the orange.

They don't quite know

how to tackle it.

And then it's sort of

mutually decided

that they will each retire

to their private bedroom

to eat the orange because

then nobody would see

the lascivious juices

trickling down their chin.

Today, oranges are quotidian. We eat

them, we don't think about them.

We don't even think about how

they're grown. They're just there.

But, suddenly,

you eat something and you realise

how magical, actually, it was,

at the beginning of the 17th century

into the 18th century -

how something that was both

beautiful, naughty and tasty...

And exotic...

Yes.

..above all.

It's got everything, hasn't it?

Yeah. The most wonderful fruit

in the world, the orange.

It's pretty amazing to think that

an everyday fruit such as the orange

led, in its own quiet little way,

to a revolution in house design.

Because the orangery,

which was once the province

of royals and aristocrats,

now, in a way,

is part of many of our houses.

It's just that we call it

a conservatory.

In the 18th century,

oranges were so highly prized

that they were given as gifts,

often not to eat,

but as what they called pomanders.

Right.

Studded with cloves.

Yeah.

And you would stick it

under your nose.

Why?

Because the 18th century stank,

so they wandered around like that.

There's a challenge.

What are you going to do with it?

I'm going to do something

far better than that.

Yeah.

Right up your street.

Yeah.

Really pretentious.

Yeah.

Gelee d'orange.

Eh, orange jelly.

Orange jelly.

Which sounds mundane...

Yes.

..but it is a royal dish.

Yes.

It was served for

a wedding anniversary meal

for Prince Bertie, Prince of Wales -

Victoria's heir.

Yeah.

His 17th wedding anniversary

for him and Princess Alexandra.

And this was the dessert course.

Absolutely.

What we're going to do

is we're going to take

the juice of these oranges.

We've passed it,

so it's nice and smooth.

Yeah.

And we've just got it over here,

Michael, if you want

to come and have a look.

By passing it,

you mean you've strained it?

Strained it, exactly.

So, it's nice and smooth.

We've brought it to a simmer.

Yeah.

When you bring it to a simmer,

basically,

you see all this foam-like scum

that's right along the top?

Yeah.

That will always happen,

so what you do is you just skim.

So, with a ladle

just in the centre...

Now, can you see how

we're clearing it?

Yeah.

And then take it to the edge

and just get it all off...

And scoop it up.

..like so.

Just scoop it up.

It'll just sit on the surface,

but it's so important to do that.

Why?

Because if you don't,

it will then set into your jelly.

Next, we're going to add our sugar.

When you heat oranges,

you instantly get this almost

marmaladey kind of effect.

So, we're just going

to sweeten it like that.

Now we're going to take

our gelatine. It's bloomed.

It's gone from that plasticky

kind of state...

Yeah, yeah.

..to this. Squeeze the water off.

Why do you need to do that

and not just chuck it in anyway?

Because you need it

to go to that jelly state.

If it went in plastic like that,

it would just not disperse properly.

Yeah.

Now, drop that in,

and the heat in there...

See, it's not boiling away.

It's just a lovely

what we call hazy heat.

Yeah.

And we're just going

to stir it in, like so.

It's a simple dish, though,

isn't it?

Very, very simple.

You've got to make sure

that your juice

is absolutely stunning

to start with.

Cos this was a special meal,

you know.

This was for the Prince

and Princess of Wales

on their wedding anniversary,

so it was obviously

kind of considered special.

I mean, oranges...

See how clear that is?

Yeah.

That won't start setting

until it goes into the fridge,

which is like all gelatines.

Yeah.

If it was agar, then it would start

to set at actual room temperature.

So, you're fine

to leave it out like that.

What's agar?

Agar is the vegetarian

version of gelatine.

Ah.

So, if you want to do this dish

and you are vegetarian,

and you don't want to use gelatine,

which comes from basically

sheep's bones,

agar is the vegetarian alternative.

But agar will also set

at ambient temperature -

what we're in now -

so you've got to work quick with it.

So, we've just got some raspberries

going in here, Michael, like so.

Is this...

Little bit of sugar

to counterbalance that nice

kind of tartness that you get

from the raspberries.

This all works with

just great-quality ingredients.

A splash of water.

They're

wonderful-looking raspberries.

Is this what

you would call a coulis?

Sauce.

Sauce.

Sauce.

No, but seriously, is it a coulis?

It is, basically.

Yeah.

Coulis, normally, you would blitz

really, really smooth.

What we're going to do with this -

keeping it nice and simple -

we're going to cook that down

a bit like a jam.

Yeah.

So, you've got the sugar, the water,

the thyme in there, the raspberries.

Once it's cooked down

and nice and pulpy,

we're just going to pass it

just to get rid of those seeds.

Yeah.

So, we've segmented our orange.

Our raspberries are cooking down.

Look at our...

See already how that little water

has just turned to that lovely,

rich, red colour?

Right, if we put the oranges

at the top...

Yeah.

OK?

We've just taken here a mould

and we've just lined it

with clingfilm.

Yeah.

OK?

So, it's got a base on it.

Got a base,

so the juice can't escape, which

will be the jelly that we put in.

So, if we just take our oranges,

Michael, like so,

and just literally fill the bottom.

OK?

Just one layer?

Yeah, just one layer.

So, do the outside first

and then fill in the middle?

Yeah, that's it.

Look at that.

There we go.

And now our jelly.

We're just going to pour that.

And when it's got

that bit of temperature in there,

it'll just lightly poach

those oranges, as well.

That's fantastic.

The segments have risen up.

Yeah.

Is that what you want?

Yeah, absolutely.

Cos then we're going to turn it

round the other way once it's set.

Ah, right, right.

The clingfilm

is just to hold the jelly in.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well,

to make a cup of it, initially...

Absolutely.

..at least, before it sets. Got it.

Now, if you could just go

to the fridge...

Yeah.

..pop those in. You should find

four more, hopefully...

Right.

OK? ..that have

been setting from earlier.

Minimum setting time - two hours.

Two hours.

Four hours - brilliant.

In the fridge?

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right?

OK.

Great dinner-party dish.

Excellent.

Ooh, yes. Look at those.

They do look great, don't they?

Now, can you see what I mean

why it was important

to skim off any of those impurities

on top?

Yeah.

You want...

Look at that. Crystal clear.

Yeah.

Really, really smooth.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Now, gently remove the clingfilm

from the edge.

Don't worry, it's not going

to fall out on you.

Just tilt it to the side like that.

It's pretty well set, isn't it?

Yeah.

Now what?

Now...blowtorch.

Stand back.

Yeah.

OK?

Mm-hm.

Really lightly...

Remember, it's jelly, OK?

It's not going to take a lot

to get it out of that mould.

Like so. Just to release it.

And just check each time.

Yeah.

Right?

What do you do

if you haven't got a blowtorch?

Blow.

Oh!

Oh, that looks fantastic.

Turn the blowtorch off.

Yes.

While you're admiring it

and the kitchen roll's going up.

Yeah, yeah, yeah,

and the building burns down.

OK, real simple here.

Yeah.

Raspberries. Some more raspberries.

Yeah.

This is some of that lovely sauce.

You held some back.

All I've done with that is mashed it

and passed it. That is it.

Yeah.

Now I'm just going to add

a little bit into that,

Michael, and the reason being -

just going to intensify the flavour

of those raspberries.

Yeah, yeah.

See, now, we don't want

too much on there.

No.

I just want to glaze them.

Now, this is a lovely little trick.

Lemon. Now, just take

a little bit of lemon, like so.

I'd never have thought

of putting lemon on raspberries.

Honestly, it just takes it

to the next level.

You hit that and then you just get

the instant oils from the lemon.

Yeah.

And now, for me,

we're just going to

take our raspberries...

Oh, this is turning into

quite some dish, isn't it?

It's lovely, isn't it?

It looks beautiful.

A luxury dish.

Just onto the top.

Now, you remember that thyme

we put into the sauce?

Yeah.

We're just going to... Soft thyme.

We're just going to put

some of those little thyme buds

just over the top, like so.

It's very meticulous.

And you think that makes

a difference?

I do, because...

Do you know what? Raspberries,

oranges, thyme - they're bezzies.

What's a bezzie?

Michael, come on.

What's a bezzie?

Bezzies - best mates. Bezzies.

OK, what do you do with the coulis?

A little bit more of that sauce,

like so.

A little bit more dribble

on the end.

Just round the outside.

That looks lovely.

You are an artist.

I know.

Oranges and lemons

with some raspberries and thyme.

Best mates.

Bezzies.

Bezzies. That's it! Yes!

Oh, right the way through.

See the orange at the bottom?

Yeah, yeah. Got it. Let me get...

It's great, as well, cos there's

lots of texture. It's beautiful.

Oh, that's... Look, if I shake...

That's what you want, isn't it?

Look, it's wobbling!

All about the wobble

when you're making jelly.

It's all about the wobble. Hang on.

Mm!

Should just instantly,

like sunshine...

It's like a cloudburst of...

Yeah.

..orange flavour...

Yeah.

..in your mouth.

Yeah.

It's sharpness without sourness,

in a way.

What do you think?

Mm.

Oh, that's really good.

That's how you want to end.

Absolutely. Happy anniversary.

Join us next time

for more Royal Recipes.