Episode 130 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites

Good morning. It's time to get a little inspiration for lunch.

This is Saturday Kitchen Best Bites.

And welcome to the show.

We've got some truly amazing chefs ready to cook for you this morning.

And celebrity guests galore on hand to try their fantastic food.

Hairy Biker Dave Myers goes all Argentinian on us,

to poach chicken, chorizo and sherry,

and serves up with a good old jacket potato and French beans.

Honorary Italian, Theo Randall, makes a classic dish,

spaghetti vongole.

He steams clams in white wine, chilli,

garlic and parsley to create a mouthwatering spaghetti dish,

perfect for an alfresco lunch in the garden...

Weather permitting, of course!

And the brilliant Frenchman Daniel Galmiche

makes a beautiful beef stir-fry.

He marinates the succulent beef in sake, soy, ginger and chilli

and stir-fries it with new season English asparagus.

It's quick, simple and totally delicious.

And actor Tim Pigott-Smith faced his food heaven or food hell.

Would he get his food heaven, my roasted Dover sole with herb

and caper butter, broad beans and sauteed potatoes?

Or would he get his dreaded food hell, kumquats,

served with a succulent roasted piece of cod,

kumquat marmalade and a green pepper dressing?

Find out what he gets to eat at the end of today's show.

But first, flying the flag for Ireland, Richard Corrigan

is cooking lamb's liver and sweetbreads,

with the help of Matt Tebbutt.

It looks "offally" good.

Good to have you here. What are you cooking? This looks sort of offally.

-Lamb sweetbreads, lamb's liver.

-Right.

Let's be clear, lamb at this time of the year in Britain

and Ireland is delicious.

And that's why the price goes through the roof

and all the French want to eat it, everyone wants to eat it.

You've got Jersey Royals here, shall I put those in?

-Get them on straight away.

-Bit of mint.

-This one here?

-Yeah, doesn't matter.

-Have you got salt in there?

Yeah, there is. Seasoned already.

Lamb's liver.

Which is a lot cheaper than calf's liver.

I call this free food, frankly,

because at this time of the year this is free food, it's very cheap.

It's very cheap

but it's not something you can often find in supermarkets.

Yeah, but what happens is, liver hasn't a long life span,

so if you have a really good local butcher,

just support your local butcher.

What is the life span of liver, a couple of days?

I think two, three days.

If you live in the countryside,

you should have access to some beautiful, fresh liver.

This sort of cooking, it's very you, it's very country.

-Well, it's...

-It's very earthy.

It is earthy, but don't mix it up with trying to be too cheffy.

-This is how farmers' sons eat.

-And you're a farmer's son?

I'm a farmer's son.

You weren't eating lamb chops and T-bone steaks,

because that went to market.

So you were left with, like the Romans and everybody else

in places like Cork, places like the English market.

Why?

Because all the meat was pickled and brined

and exported to the European wars, to the peninsular wars.

And the offal was left behind for the locals to consume.

OK.

There is a great history of eating offal in a lot of cities

around Europe because it's cheap and was left behind.

And that's always played a part in your cooking.

Yeah, I like it because you should not feel that it's that difficult.

That you need to have... You know what I mean,

watch the latest food programme to watch a chef cooking.

-You should just buy it.

-Don't knock that, though.

No, I'm not knocking it but sometimes we chefs can make it

so difficult that people want to watch us and not cook it.

So the fact is, I'm leaving the lamb's liver in one whole piece.

-And it's much nicer like this.

-You just slashed it a bit?

-Yeah.

Get the heat through it. Get that in there, get that out of the way.

I'll crack on with your spring onions.

-There's a sink just behind you.

-Beautiful.

-Wash your hands.

Richard, with the sweetbreads, there's two sorts, you get

the throat glands and the glands around the heart as well, don't you?

These are the heart ones, because they are really, really plump.

The ones in the throat can be long and narrow.

They can just overcook very easily.

-So that goes in there, and that goes into the oven for five minutes.

-OK.

And what do you want with the spring onions, do you want them split?

-Will you please... No, leave them whole.

-I've got the tops here.

-There's your spring onions.

-And then we have...

Yeah, get them in there to cook away.

I've got some mustard seeds in here.

-Please crush them mustard seeds.

-I've crushed those.

You're making a little sweet and sour syrup, are you?

In here is just vinegar.

Little bit of sugar.

-And this is just... It's for flavour.

-Posh liver and onions.

-It's liver and onions.

-How do you come up with this?

We're using dill, samphire,

is it just a collection of nice things?

Does it have a heritage? I look like someone who knows my portfolio.

-Yes, you do. We are not denying that, are we?

-No, no, no.

I do enjoy the art of eating and the art of enjoyment.

He's gone all grand!

Yes. Because most people, most chefs are running marathons

and looking very slim.

Which is kind of irritating, because I'm a happy fatty.

They always say you should never trust a thin chef.

So we are shafted.

So, Matt, the vinegar and sugar is on there.

-And you're not toasting those seeds?

-You don't need to. Just in there.

-Because we are always told you have to toast them.

-Toast, toast, toast.

I think when you watch Indian chefs cook and say, once you get

heat into those seeds you will get the flavour of those seeds...

-There's a lot of...

-There's a lot of nonsense in cookery, isn't there?

A lot of nonsense, a lot of cheffy nonsense.

So in that goes, cooking away nicely.

I notice with the sweetbreads, you didn't blanch them. Usually, I'd...

Blanch, another French word. To put them in...

Immerse in boiling, salted water to cook them for a reasonable

amount of time, take them out, dry them and then saute them.

What a load of nonsense! You know?

-What do you think about that?

-No comment.

I bet you blanch them, don't you?

Of course I don't, I do exactly what Richard does!

THEY LAUGH

So, the onions, I'm going to take out, these spring onions.

-Yes.

-They don't need a lot.

What you do is just take that raw state of affairs out of them.

-If you just split them and put them in there.

-OK.

-And the samphire.

Remember earlier, we were thinking about picking this.

Fresh samphire, this time of year, make sure it's well washed,

make sure it comes from a very clean beach.

I was going to ask you,

there's a lot of samphire being farmed now in Dubai and Mexico.

-What do you think of that?

-I think it's fine.

I don't have a problem at all whatsoever.

But the amount of energy that is needed to grow it does worry me.

The amount of energy that you need to get food growing.

Natural things that come in a natural cycle at the right

time of the year, it's nice to eat.

It's just good.

So you're all about seasonal?

Well, you know, it's more enjoyable as a chef to cook

what's around at the moment than worry about...

-And get excited about the seasons.

-I do.

We are just heading now into a good time.

January, February, March, it's usually a bit rubbish and boring.

Yeah, there is the place called the hungry gap in the garden.

You can smell that.

-Put a small bit of pepper in there, wouldn't you?

-Certainly.

Using seasonal, it's easier to write the menu, it just writes itself.

You just look at what's on offer and that's it.

-Exactly.

-The cooking bit's easy.

Compile nice things on a plate.

-Do you want some of these tops in here?

-Not too much.

-That's enough.

He knows his mind, doesn't he?

You met the Queen recently in Ireland, didn't you?

On a visit, how was that? Why did you get invited? Did you get invited?

I didn't get invited.

-I didn't get invited.

-I met the Queen as well.

Did you? Just us, then!

Just showing off now, are we? "I've met the Queen!"

-When did you meet her?

-There was an event for young people in the arts.

I think it was people who worked with young people in the arts,

rather than me being young especially.

But I met her and she spent time, I chatted to her, she was very sweet.

-Tiny.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Teeny tiny.

Did you feel quite nervy when you met the Queen?

-You've met her a few times, haven't you?

-Yeah, we have met.

We did her 80th birthday party as part of the Great British Menu.

It was nice. I was kind of taken aback by the invite.

But it was a very nice invite.

And rightly so we should go and meet the Queen,

it was the first visit of a British monarch

to Ireland since 1914, 1912 or 13.

So I think it was about time. We are very close, guys.

We're not an island in the Pacific.

And we're even closer to you, Matt. Oh, my God!

I'm going to take the liver out and rest it for a moment.

-Then the sweetbreads.

-They look delicious.

So you've cooked them all the way through, yeah?

Just a little bit of bounce.

This, it's quite interesting that you cooked it whole

-rather than slicing it. Any reason for that?

-I just think lamb...

You get the nice pinkness.

Liver, lamb's liver is one of those really difficult livers

to cook properly. It can just overcook so quickly.

And it's horrible.

It's just overcooked piece of protein.

When it's cooked and rested, Matt, you feel, yeah,

that's how it should be done, that's why I enjoy it.

Richard, there's no danger in eating it over-pink, is there?

No, absolutely not.

Most of our meat we would buy in our restaurant,

Matt would know the suppliers,

Daphne from the Elwy Valley supplies some of our lamb.

She's wonderful, but I have to complain on TV.

Her prices have got out of hand, I'll be honest with you.

That's just reflecting the market, isn't it?

It's this whole new season spring lamb.

When my lamb supplier turns up with a Ferrari, I really get nervous.

I don't think there's much chance of that.

This is a dish you should serve

in the Fox and Hound in Wales, come on!

-You think?

-Yeah, I think you should.

Good. I often... I'd say copy your recipes.

I often open your book.

Lamb sweetbread, when it is sliced like that,

-all of a sudden it just looks better.

-It does.

I'm going to take a little bit of that out.

-Right, can I get some of this on?

-Yeah, go on.

No, no, sorry, Matt.

Sorry, that's almost like talking down to you.

I really wouldn't want to do that

because I really want to come back on when you are on here next.

Richard, what about the restaurant?

You've got two restaurants, are you busy?

Yeah, I'm the proud owner of Bentley's, as we all know.

And I just feel I'm the custodian of a restaurant like that

because they would never say "Along came an Irishman and wrecked it".

I put it back together how it should be. It's there since 1916.

So I'm immensely proud of that restaurant and the history,

Charlie Chaplin.

Really, the history of the place is just amazing.

-Right, are we done?

-There we go. Are you pushing me?

-I know you're an artist, chef, but the news is about to come on.

-Is it?

-OK.

-What, the five o'clock news?

THEY LAUGH

-There you go, that's it, really.

-Fantastic. Simple as that.

Name that dish.

That's lamb's liver, sweetbread

and pickled spring onions with samphire.

-Beautiful.

-Thank you.

Right, let's go and see what our guests think. Here you go, Gareth.

-Thank you very much.

-You said you liked quite light food.

I'd be interested to see...

I do, I love liver, I've never had sweetbreads. I'm intrigued.

-But, you know...

-It's a lovely texture.

I agree with Glyn. Never trust a thin chef.

Coming up, I make fat rascals for Julia Bradbury,

after Rick Stein takes a trip to Northern Ireland.

I've come to Lough Neagh because it's full of eels,

which to me are classed as seafood,

since they spend half their life at sea.

Nothing better sums up the atmospherics and the catching of eels

on this lough than a poem by Seamus Heaney called Lifting.

They're busy in a high boat that stalks toward Antrim,

the power cut. The line's a filament of smut.

Drawn hand over fist where every three yards a hook's missed

or taken and smut thickens, wrist-thick,

a flail lashed into the barrel with one swing.

Each eel comes aboard with this welcome.

The hook left in guilt or gum,

It's slapped into the barrel numb.

But knits itself four-ply with a furling, slippy haul,

a knot of black and pewter belly that stays continuously one,

For each catch they fling in is sucked home like lubrication.

That's nice.

That boy there is going to turn into a silver eel.

-That's a silver eel?

-That's the boy that runs into the sea.

So once it goes silver, it will go out to sea?

It'll go away down out to sea.

So silver eels are the same species as the brown one,

they've just grown on a bit?

The brown eel lies and the silver eel, he'll run.

Nice size for eating, though.

How well I remember that cold, pasture-scented dawn,

where they sorted the eels and packed and weighed them.

105 lbs.

Most of them are bound for Amsterdam, eaten smoked

and washed down with a cold Pilsner.

ENGINE SPUTTERS

And then the fantastic sight

of an old Lister engine, made for aerating the tanks.

A pure Irish scene, a step back in time.

I'm just cutting up some onions for a stir-fry dish,

and it's stir-fried eel with black beans.

I wonder if those fishermen out

there on Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland

would be surprised if they knew what I was doing with their eels,

turning them into a Chinese dish.

I've chopped up my onions. Now for the black beans.

I'm going to make a paste by taking some of these fermented black beans,

and do get the dried black beans, not the sauce,

the pre-made sauce, because that doesn't work nearly so well.

Put those into a little dish with about half a teaspoon or so of sugar.

And just a little bit of water.

There we go, I'm going

to mash those up with the end of the spoon into a little paste,

because I don't want those beans coming out whole in the final dish.

OK, there we go. Now for the eel.

I'm going to cut these into stir-fry size pieces like that.

Just toss them in a little bit of cornflour when I've cut them up.

It just gives the sauce a little bit of viscosity.

You don't need a lot,

but a bit of cornflour in Chinese food is just right.

OK, now to start the stir-fry.

First of all, I need to open up my stove

and get a few rings out of the way.

That's the great thing about these stoves,

they turn into instant wok burners.

Just a little bit of roasted sesame oil into the wok.

And straight away with some ginger, little bit of garlic.

And I've cut these garlics into little batons

for a change, not finely chopped them.

And then some chilli.

There we go, I like nice, hot food like that. Give it a good old stir.

OK, now for the eels. Straight in there, turn them over.

Looking good.

Colouring up nicely.

Now my paste. In go the black beans.

Give it a bit of a shake around.

Look at that, you can see the fat coming out of the eel, and that's one

of the great things about this dish, it really flavours it up very nicely.

Now for a little rice wine.

Or dry sherry, you can use.

A bit more, I think.

Stir that around. This is good fun!

Finally, just a little dab of soy sauce.

There we go. About a tablespoon, don't need much more.

And now some spring onions.

Plenty of spring onions,

just going to stir those for about a minute to take the rawness off them.

But I still want them being nice and green and oniony.

There we go.

And finally, just a little bit of water to make up a bit more sauce.

Final stir-fry.

And then on to a plate.

Some rice and out into the restaurant.

Well, there it is.

If you wanted to get fresh eel like this in Britain,

you might have a bit of difficulty.

Virtually all the eel in Lough Neagh goes to Holland,

because they really like them.

There is something different about Northern Ireland.

I can well understand the atmosphere that imbues all of

Yeats' Celtic twilight poetry, from my time spent around Lough Neagh.

And where else could you find a fish

that I'd never heard of before?

A landlocked herring, possibly left behind by the last ice age,

which has a market only in Europe - not, sadly, in England -

called a pollan.

Or where else a dollaghan,

a trout-like fish also only indigenous to Lough Neagh?

We set out on another early morning to go Seine netting for pollan

with Joe McElroy in his high boat whose V8 engine seemed

absurdly powerful for this placid lough, but he explained that it was

necessary to get out to the netting grounds as quickly as possible.

'Although the lough is a bit featureless,

'Joe looks on it rather like a farmer would look on his field -

'he knows exactly where he's going to put out the net

'because it's exactly where he put it out last time.

'There's a bit of a feeling like you're going out on a tractor to

'a field of peas and harvesting them.'

-Such fun, isn't it?

-Yep.

-So what will you get, mostly just pollan, then?

Mostly pollan, but we may get some dollaghan, perch...

And does everybody eat pollan round here, then?

Round the fringes of the lake, yes. People eat pollan.

-And how do they cook it?

-Just fry it.

-Yeah.

-What about in Ireland, generally?

-No.

-Why not?

-I think it's not promoted well enough, you know.

So where do you sell all this pollan to, then?

-The majority of this fish goes to Switzerland.

-Switzerland?

-Yes.

You're doing all right, Rick.

Make a Lough Neagh fisherman out of you yet!

Now we're coming to the interesting part.

-There's a few dollaghan, all right.

-Oh, good.

-We're going to put them in the blue tub, OK?

-OK.

We'll let the small ones off.

-Will you?

-Oh, yes. You OK?

-Yeah.

-You hold up.

-OK.

Great!

Smell 'em?

Yeah.

I've just got to pick a couple up and have a good old sniff,

because some people say that grayling smell like fresh thyme

and smell like fresh cucumbers!

So I just wanted to see what pollan smelt like.

-Nice fish?

-Lovely.

They just smell like fresh fish!

Wey!

What's interesting to me about Lough Neagh is...

It's the biggest lake in the United Kingdom, it's about 30 miles

long and 20 miles wide, about 25 feet deep at the deepest,

but out of that area,

you're getting 5 to 6 tonnes of eel every day

during a 20-week season, and about 5 to 6 tonnes of pollan.

That's a lot of fish out of a not particularly big piece of water.

Just transpose that to the sea

and think about the conservation of fish in the sea.

Here, it's a landlocked piece of water

that the fishery has managed properly.

There are laws protecting the fish, net sizes,

and everybody understands because it's quite visible that it's

a land-locked piece of water, that you can only get so much out of it.

And so the eels are restocked, the pollan don't need restocking,

they just restock themselves.

It sustains itself, year-in, year-out

and it works.

Now, if only that sort of sense

and conservation could be applied to the sea, think how rich the resources

of the sea are and how much and how sustainable the whole thing could be.

Well, I know you're not going to get any pollan to cook with,

so I've chosen trout here, which of course you can get very easily.

Two nice, plump trout,

seasoned inside the gut cavity, then pour a little water over

the top. We'll bake it in the oven

and make a sauce with the cooking juices.

Smear the fish with a little butter then cover the whole dish

with some foil.

Pop the dish into a moderate oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.

I've got some parsley, chives and mint

and I'm just going to chop these up very roughly, like that.

Then I'll add some capers, some anchovies

and a few cloves of garlic.

Now I'm going to really get into some chopping.

I found this recipe...

Well, more correctly, a friend of mine

found the recipe on the border with Devon.

The book is really old, about 1824.

It's leather-bound printed, but there's no name in it,

it just says "A Housekeeper's Recipes". We don't know who she was.

But this dish and one or two others are really modern.

The ingredients here are a bit like salsa verde.

There's no heavy thickening or lots of fat in it,

it's really got that light, modern flavour and is ideal for this trout.

We'll just get on with chopping a bit now.

If you've got a mortar and pestle, you can use that, but I think it

looks nice when it's hand-chopped, you can see all the bits.

That's about fine enough.

In this bowl I'll put a little bit of flour

and some butter - stir that in - the butter is very soft.

That's a basic beurre manie, for a little bit of thickening.

In go my herbs and garlic

and all the rest of it, stir that in...

A teaspoon of mustard...

There we go. And some lemon juice.

Stir that

and that's my sauce made.

Let's see if the trout's done - it should be by now.

Yep, that's nicely cooked - only just cooked,

25 minutes will JUST do the job so it's on the point.

Just take one out onto that dish and the other, push that

right into the centre of the cooker and bring that up to the boil.

That liquid will taste wonderful now.

Just add my herb mix, stir that in like that...

Bit like making a gravy.

You can see now the way I've cut that it looks really good

in the sauce, all those bits of anchovy and parsley

and everything else, the chopped capers there.

Amalgamate that, make sure everything is mixed in nicely.

That's done.

Just serve up one of the trout on a plate...

Spoon some sauce right over the top...

And now a good sprig of parsley.

I think that's a pretty winning way with trout, if you ask me.

I have to agree with you as well, great stuff as always from Rick.

Old recipe books are a great source of inspiration,

I have loads at home,

and one recipe I recently found dates back from Elizabethan time.

It's something of a Yorkshire tradition - a "fat rascal".

-Nice, I like the name!

-So it's kind of between a scone and rock cake.

It was originally called "turf cakes" and they'd cook them

-at the end of the day on a griddle.

-Do you throw them or eat them?

You eat them! It's like a scone,

but a little more spicy.

We've got some plain and self-raising flour, sugar,

lemon zest, orange zest, baking powder,

the spices, cinnamon and nutmeg,

and two fats - lard and butter.

If you want to use all butter, that's fine,

but we're using half and half, what my granny used to do.

We've got sultanas, raisins, cherries, almonds, cream and an egg.

Are there any more fats you could put in there? Some chocolate?!

You haven't been watching very well,

because I could put a lot more fat in here than you want!

-This is the low-cal version!

-This is the skimmed version!

In with the flour and baking powder, then we put the fat in.

The half-lard, half butter.

I'll just bring that together with my hands.

But you NEED all these foods to give you strength,

because you're forever walking all over the place.

That's true, I do have a phenomenal appetite,

much to the amazement of the crew we're working with.

You did the Wainwright walks - where does this come from,

did you always have a love of the outdoors?

Yes, my dad is a big walker, he's a Derbyshire lad

and he grew up in the outdoors, always tickling trout and running

around Buxton and Tideswell with his brother when he was a lad.

I think it is one of those things you inherit from a family member

and he took me walking when I was about four and that was it.

From then, I've always enjoyed the hills and countryside

and getting out there

and you do burn a lot of calories, a lot of energy which means

you can eat what you like, which for me is a big plus!

Recently, you've been over in South Africa.

This is a programme to promote some of the world cooking

coming around the corner - if you've not heard of it already.

What's this about, then?

The BBC are doing an Africa season, as you rightly say,

to promote Africa and the World Cup

and all of the programmes that go around it

and as part of that Africa season,

I've done a series of walks in South Africa -

four walks across the Drakensberg mountain range

and the Kruger National Park,

also done the Garden Route in South Africa

and a safari trail.

Really diverse, lovely walks.

And I've loved and been visiting South Africa for about 20 years,

got lots of friends over there, my uncle lives there

who'd been tickling trout with Dad in Derbyshire...

-So I'm in love with the country...

-Amazing country.

Oh, it's stunning, and the landscape is phenomenal.

How it changes all over the place.

Yes, and the walks are in four very different places,

from the Kalahari Desert to the Drakensberg mountain range,

so you've got coastal, mixed with mountains,

mixed with safari walking,

elephant and rhino tracking and all sorts.

When will we see that?

The first is on April 26th on BBC Four.

Then three more will run after that.

Then it goes onto BBC Two over the next few months.

-That's this coming Monday.

-Yes.

So over here, we've got that lemon zest, orange... Give that a mix in.

Got some cinnamon and nutmeg...

My granny said if you used to put cinnamon under your armpit,

when you walked into a room,

-people of the opposite sex were supposed to admire you.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-OK!

-That's why I was single until I was 20!

-Thought I had a skin spot!

-A mole under your arm!

"Have you seen his mole?"

In we go with the cinnamon, like that.

Throw in the cream...

When was the last time you actually ate this?

-This morning!

-For the rehearsal?

The last time before the rehearsal?

Yesterday!

-LAUGHTER

-When was the last time before yesterday?

-About two weeks ago.

-OK.

So we mix this together,

the cream and the egg gone in there.

You missed a bit.

And we bring this together so it combines like a scone, as well.

This is the fun bit,

getting your hands dirty.

Your love of the outdoors got you this programme,

it was quite controversial at the time, Kill It, Cook It, Eat It.

Yes, it's a BBC Three programme examining our relationship

with meat and where it comes from because everybody knows

there is a process involved and that process is the killing of animals.

Over the series, we've taken people to abattoirs and farms

and exposed them at the front line, to...

It's quite important, I think.

A lot of people still think it arrives at the supermarket shelves

not knowing where it comes from.

And that it comes in a packet and that's it.

The reaction from people when they're in an abattoir

and meeting everyone involved in this industry, it's fascinating.

Some people walk away and can never eat meat again

and some people go, "Right, well, if I am going to eat meat,

"I have to understand the process

"and I have to be comfortable with that."

It's been a really interesting series that's evolved year-on-year.

The last series, we were on a small, extensive farm,

showing people how the smaller farming processes work

and how, say, the red ruby cattle are hand-reared,

the farmer has a relationship with them,

how they're cared for the two years before...

Did this come about via Countryfile?

No, it was before Countryfile, actually.

I did Watchdog for five years, so consumer issues and affairs,

and it came about because of that investigative journalistic side

of me and BBC Three were keen to explore

the provenance of food.

As we all know now, it's a big subject and is on lots

of channels. Jamie Oliver is doing his bit, you're doing your bit.

Yes, and you've been on a few.

What happened to your dinner party on Come Dine With Me?

Well, my dinner party was a success, actually. It all worked out fine.

I did a rehearsal, as you should. The food worked out fine,

but Edwina Currie and I didn't get on that well and she gave me a two at the end of the night!

I think it was because we got a bit drunk!

It's the only cooking show that my mother wants me to be on!

I keep saying it kind of defeats the object, having chefs on!

Mind you, they could do a chefs' one!

Let me tell you, you could cook an amazing meal,

but if something goes wrong on a social level, you might not win!

You're fine on that, James, everyone loves you!

LAUGHTER

-Right!

-That's what I heard!

-Anyway, look at these fat rascals.

-You mould them all up...

-I can't do that, with two hands. That's good.

-It looks slightly naughty.

-It's multitasking.

Yes, and we haven't got a lot of time.

Basically, you mould these up, rather than roll them out and

cut them out. This is where you get the idea of a fat rascal from.

Mould them up, like that.

In South Africa, they have something called a fat cake.

I read about that...

Fat cake is basically a sweet doughnut

and they stuff mincemeat in it, sort of like a Bolognese recipe,

into the doughnut - it's absolutely delicious.

-I lived off a few of those for some of the walks.

-You've eaten squirrel.

-What on earth does squirrel taste like?

-Squirrel...

Well, it was pan-fried with wild garlic, actually...

And it tasted all right.

Does it taste, like chicken, like anything else?

Sort of, you really can taste the earth because of course squirrels

live on a very healthy diet and it tasted all right, but very nibbly.

It's not going to feed the family.

I've tasted squirrel, I don't like it.

We're not used to it.

I met this guy that had a squirrel stand at Glastonbury!

He sold squirrel kebabs at Glastonbury!

There are too many grey squirrels, they need to be eaten!

If you want to try it, go to Glastonbury!

Right, that's your fat rascals.

You've got almonds and cherries.

But if you're going to do this,

remember to read the recipe properly, because I forgot my sugar!

LAUGHTER

But don't worry, because we've got some already in the oven...

In there, warming up and these want to cook for about ten minutes.

350, something like that.

THAT is a fat rascal.

What you do with these, you've got to eat them properly.

Break them open like that...

Then the idea is you get a knife and...

This is...

There's no fancy stuff here,

just literally like that...

Yep.

..And it's clotted cream...

One part clotted cream and one part fat rascal!

You lost a bit... I'll put some more of that on there.

Get that down you!

-In one?

-Yeah!

Mm!

-It is good, isn't it?

-Mm!

If you don't fancy squirrel, try those fat rascals,

you'll love them, I promise.

If you'd like to try cooking any of the food

you've seen on today's show, all the recipes are a click away on:

As always on Best Bites, we're looking back at some

of the great cooking from the Saturday Kitchen recipe archives.

Time for a little Argentinian magic,

thanks to one half of the bearded duo, the Hairy Bikers.

Dave Myers, it's over to you.

Good to have you on. What are you cooking?

I've got me motor running today.

I've got some chicken, I'm going to make a broth and poach it with some

onion, cloves, bay leaf, celery,

carrot, garlic, paprika and thyme.

That makes the broth. OK.

Then I'm going to reduce that, then finish it with some chorizo,

Spanish brandy, then bake it with some Manchego cheese.

-It's a lovely supper dish.

-Manchego cheese is lovely.

-Great, isn't it?

-Served with some French beans, is that right?

-Yes, you do the beans...

So where is this dish from?

Argentina, but whenever you go to countries that have a large

migrant population, the Spanish people were there,

these dishes come out.

The first thing we have to do is brown the chicken.

-Let's put some oil in, eh?

-Is this dish in your series?

Yes, it's in the new book!

-Available from all good bookshops(!)

-Every one's a winner!

And they all work! So, chicken goes in.

It's very important that you brown the chicken, James.

At the moment, it looks like our Gillian when she's had her legs waxed

and she's waiting for a sunbed!

This is the culinary equivalent of a St Tropez!

-I wash my hands now, because I've handled raw chicken.

-I heard that!

-Beans are going in.

-Beans are on, smashing.

I'm sure Gillian will be really happy!

She's a lovely woman, she works in intensive care.

LAUGHTER

She does! She's one of life's angels, is our Gill.

Ooh, gosh! We've got a fire!

That was a bit Nick Nairn, wasn't it!

-He always does that. Gets cheap laughs.

-OK, what's next?

Well, we need to make a broth, James.

Whack the stock in for us, that's it.

-This is chicken stock?

-Absolutely.

Proper chicken stock, it's jelly.

Remember, we're going to strain all the veg and bits out,

so celery goes in...

Stud the onion with a couple of cloves.

We don't want too many cloves or

it'll be like going to the dentist.

Pop that in.

Some bay leaves, just a couple. Thank you.

The carrot, to see him through the week. The garlic!

Just give it a bash.

You're putting in the skins,

-you're just going to take that out?

-Oh, yeah.

It's just like making soup, really. Ordinary paprika, not smoked.

Look at that. Now we put our Gillian into the stock pot.

When you get home, she's going to murder you!

It's a lovely umber colour.

Now, it's a brilliant wa...

Chicken poached is fantastic. It never goes tough.

You know, if you're making chicken sandwiches, poach the chicken first.

You can really turn an old boiler into a princess.

Where do you get them from?

-Where do they come from?

-It's just the way I think, laterally.

-That's the worry!

-What's next?

-I'll get rid of that pan, put it on there.

-Trivet.

Right, after about 20 minutes, this will have reduced to this,

and here's one we did earlier. All I need to do now is sieve it.

-Shall I get a sieve? Here you go.

-Thank you.

Eddie, you must have been to Argentina on your travels.

-I have, Argentina is...

-Great beef, as well.

-Great everything.

Great horses, great girls, great bars, great motor racing...

-We went to Fangio's house when we went there, did you?

-Where?

-Fangio.

The racing driver.

He was a bit older version of mine, but an absolute legend.

There's controversy at the moment, who was the greatest driver ever,

Fangio or Michael Schumacher.

Of course, having been part of the Michael Schumacher era,

I go for Schumacher, but the older people

will say no-one could have ever touched Fangio.

He's such a legend and then there was the great Carlos Reutemann

-who drove for Ferrari and who is the governor of Santa Fe.

-Is he?

Just outside Buenos Aires, wonderful man.

You gave Schumacher his first break in Formula One, didn't you?

Well, albeit only one race.

Bernie Ecclestone nicked him from me after that -

he nicks everything from everybody,

so don't worry, I wasn't the exception!

-Now, back to the food!

-Yes, sorry - back to the food!

That lovely poached chicken,

put it in a roasting tin.

I've got the stock reducing, I need that a bit faster.

We want it so it's bouncing around like a Morris dancer with worms.

STIFLED GIGGLING

It's your thought processes, dude! How do you even...?

Everything, his hair...and real ale.

-And slippers.

-Champion.

-Right, OK. What's next?

-Discard this.

-Do you want me to get rid of that?

-Yes, please, thank you.

To thicken this, we'll make a beurre manie - it sounds very grand,

but it's not really. It's basically flour and butter.

It's a bit cheffy, but it really works.

It's better than using cornflour as a thickener.

Tastes brilliant, as well. Butter is flavour.

Do you want me to throw the brandy in there as well?

Just a minute, James. We could do,

couldn't we? Put some chorizo...

-Chorizo is lovely.

-This is the cooking stuff?

-Yes.

That's the residue of the chicken, the poached broth.

I'm going to reduce that to intensify the flavour.

Put some brandy in.

You remember that Thunderdog you used to drink on your 18-30s?

It's at the back of the cupboard. You can use that, you know.

-It's fine for this! Thunderdog! Remember that?

-I bet you have!

Down there in Fuengirola with your suntan.

LAUGHTER

The beurre manie, flour and butter,

simply add it to that,

it will thicken it.

Now, James, could you grate me some Manchego cheese?

Tell us a little bit about Manchego, because I love it.

It's Spanish, it's a hard cheese.

It's kind of on the Parmesan vibe or pecorino vibe.

It's lovely with some quince jelly or nice Serrano ham. Iberico ham.

Yeah, the black-footed pig, it's delicious.

-But it matures a bit like Parmesan, really.

-Yes, that's quite young.

How we want it.

If you think, we've got this sauce which has all the essences

of all the veg and chicken, the spicy sausage and the brandy.

What we do is throw that on the chicken. Like so.

-It is, it's great.

-What's next? Cheese?

That goes on there...

It's one of these dishes where you could stop now

and leave it for an hour or two.

Then when you have your dinner party, get your starters out

-and then put that in the oven.

-You put the cheese in after, though?

-Yes, you want the cheese to go stringy.

-How long does it go in for?

-15 minutes, that's all.

-Easy as that!

Here's one we did earlier! Look at that!

The sauce has thickened up, the richness is all there,

it's fantastic.

I've got a baked potato - it's really quite hot.

-I've got some parsley here.

-Not yet, no.

Not yet.

LAUGHTER

You could drain me beans, James.

-I'll do that.

-Good man.

A little bit of breast for myself.

Shall we do the jacket potato in fours, for that retro look?

And we give it a squidge like that, so it holds the butter.

We're all impressed over here,

I've got to say. This is us, impressed.

-Thanks, James.

-Do you want anything

on these beans, black pepper...?

Ooh, that'd be nice.

-You had to ask, didn't you!

-Got to ask!

It's in the new book, this recipe.

-Which is available from all good bookshops!

-Just get it on there!

I am, I am! Now, some parsley sprinkles - look at the colours!

Parsley sprinkles.

Wipe the edge up.

Remind us what that is again, boss.

It's a wonderful Argentinian poached chicken with a chorizo

and brandy sauce. Look at it,

it looks like a migraine, doesn't it?

Do I have to follow that?

-Easy as that!

-It tastes great.

Could be a risotto if it had rice!

He's trying to take it already! Dive in.

-Eddie, you get to taste this.

-Oh, good - I'm looking forward to it.

-I was just saying to Si, for me, this is very Spanish.

-Oh, aye.

I'll have to remove all the parsley, because I hate it!

But if it hadn't got the spud, and you had rice,

it would be a paella.

-Yes, of course.

-Same ingredients.

I'll give you another piece.

It's quite all right, no-one is ever that nice to me. I'll get rid of it.

Parsley, I just can't cope with.

What is it you don't like about it, Eddie?

I just don't like it, never did.

Fennel, parsley, parsnips

and turnips. Absolute horrors.

Anyway, this is great.

Need it after your six-hour drive!

-Tell us what you think.

-After you, ladies.

-Thank you.

Impressed?

-Looks beautiful.

-Very strong, the chorizo.

Because it has a fantastic flavour

and anyone who either lives or travels or even now,

there's more chorizo available in the supermarkets,

it gives it such a strong flavour

and it makes it very foreign.

That's the one thing to look for, that spicy paprika. Girls?

-Beautiful.

-Gorgeous.

-That's great.

I don't think Eddie knew what had hit him.

Next up, it's the turn of Mr Keith Floyd.

Today, he's checking out everything Ireland has

to offer in the beautiful County Cork.

# It's a bit of luck if you roast a duck and cook it up with Floyd

# It's a bit of luck if you roast a duck and cook it up with Floyd. #

I could really enjoy a duck right now,

but don't worry, these creatures are quite safe -

the budget won't run to it.

Instead, I'm going back to school to make a pudding from seaweed -

sounds Irish to me - but I'm sure that Darina Allen will reveal all

and with any luck, make the pudding.

We've got our little shrimp there. Do you all know how to do that?

Floyd, what are you doing? You're reading the paper.

-You haven't been paying any attention.

-I'm terribly sorry,

I was just selecting a little winner for the Cheltenham Gold Cup!

In that case, you can come back later and we'll go over the whole thing

again and then you'll know how to do it tomorrow.

It's a rotten life, isn't it?

Here I am in Ireland - remote, deep, darkest Ireland.

Taken all the trouble to come to the world's finest cookery school,

certainly the best in Ireland, and what do I get?

A mouthful of abuse from the old trout who runs the place!

Absolutely appalling.

What I was going to say was,

look at all these wonderful people who've come from four

corners of the earth to learn her wonderful skills, from soda bread -

not Skoda bread, which as the director pointed out, is a motorcar -

to the highest flights of gastronomic excellence.

When I stay behind afterwards, Darina's going to help me

to learn to cook something really super.

OK, I'm at this wonderful school, you're going to make me

make a pudding out of seaweed and I don't believe it.

What am I going to do? How do I make a pudding from seaweed?

This isn't any seaweed, this is carrageenan.

This is a special Irish seaweed.

It's called carrageenan because it's picked off the little rocks -

carrageenan means "little rock" - at the ebb tide

and then it's bleached on the hills and cliffs in the summer.

The great thing about this seaweed is, you've got to use very little

because it's actually a natural gelatine and the main thing is

just a very little, just what would fit in your closed fist.

My fist, not your fist.

Just... This fist! OK?

If you put more than that, you're going to set your milk so that

it's like cement and that puts so many people off the carrageenan.

-Right.

-So just that much.

-Can I use it exactly like that?

No, we've got to soak it in a little cold water for about 10 minutes,

which reconstitutes it.

It also gives you a chance to see

if there's any grass or anything else in it.

Once it's reconstituted, what do I do with it?

Put it into a pint and a half of milk, bring it to the boil

and simmer it for about 20 minutes.

And guess what we've done!

I had a little lesson before we started

and we've soaked it for ten minutes to get it gelatinous,

we've put it into a pint and a half of milk, brought it to the boil,

allowed it to simmer, you can see it's gone...

I'm going to stick my fingers in. You can see it's gone all gooey.

We've put a real stick of cinnamon in... Vanilla!

You should have told me off for that!

-Yes!

-Vanilla! I mean vanilla!

And we've got that ready so that you can tell me what I do next.

You're the Professeur!

We've got an egg yolk in here and some caster sugar,

so give that a little whisk.

Here I go, whisking the egg.

Perfect.

-Then, you strain the carrageenan through the sieve...

-Right.

Eek, it's funny-looking stuff. It looks like tripe and onions!

-I'll take the vanilla pod at this stage.

-OK. Did I do all right?

You're doing beautifully.

Scrape that in, what next?

Now you've got to push that milk and some of the carrageen

through the sieve because it will be mucusy underneath that, quite thick.

-That's what's going to set the pudding for us.

-Right.

This might sound very dull, but it's actually going to be delicious.

Can you make savoury things from carrageen as well?

I mean, could you have a sort of a prawn carrageen-flavoured...

-mousse or something?

-Well, you could...

I mean, obviously it's because it's like agar-agar,

you could set fish mousse or something with it if you wanted to.

Also, they use it to thicken strawberry jam,

or you can put a little into an Irish stew or something

to thicken that a bit.

-And it's tremendously nutritious...

-Is that good enough like that?

No, you must put a little bit more through.

That's fine, I think.

-Lovely.

-Will that be OK?

-Yep.

-Scrape that off the...

-Yes.

-Off the bottom, sorry.

-That's lovely.

-You can see how thick it is there.

-Right. Can you see that? Right.

-You're mucky.

-I'm sorry! Now, you see - how thick?

So you whisk that round like that,

with my egg yolk, sugar and carrageen.

-Lovely. Get it all mixed up nicely.

-Right.

And meanwhile, you get the white of the egg nicely whipped up

-until it's lovely and stiff.

-Yep.

And then you fold that in nice and lightly.

If you didn't have a vanilla pod,

then you could use a little vanilla essence.

Preferably a natural vanilla essence rather than a synthetic one.

Right. Now, do I fold that into this, or this into that?

Perhaps we'll put that in there

because then we can do it more lightly.

And this is a thing that really matters, doesn't it?

-Yes, but pour all that in there first.

-Pour all that in.

And then I'll show you how to fold it in,

because you're going about it the wrong way.

Right, sorry about that. Oh, my God, she's a terrible woman!

And you mustn't leave it behind in the bowl -

that's all the goodness, look what you're leaving behind. OK.

Now, you cut into the centre

and fold it up and over,

turning the bowl anti-clockwise at the same time

so that you do it nice and lightly.

Now, on you go. You see you've got little blobs of egg yolk in there,

-so you didn't whisk your egg yolk properly in the beginning.

-Oh.

-Telling you off all the way.

-That's all right.

-I can't make one hand go one way and one the other way!

-No coordination.

No coordination. I can't chew gum and walk at the same time,

that's the real trouble.

-Now, is that all right?

-Yes, it's lovely and fluffy.

That's lovely and fluffy.

-It's just about four out of ten, but anyway, there we are.

-Into there.

-In we go.

-And what do I do with it now?

-We just... All we've got do now...

-We scrape it all out.

-Yes, every single bit.

-You see, good cooks are also thrifty.

I mean, they're generous in nature - you are generous in nature?

Yes, of course you are. But they're thrifty,

because worthwhile ingredients shouldn't be squandered.

Yes, and it only mucks up the washing-up water anyway.

So pop that into the fridge and, when it sets,

then you can serve it with lovely soft brown sugar and cream,

or even serve it with an Irish whiskey sauce or whatever you like.

-Will do.

-OK?

I thought it'd be a good idea...

Here's an apple for you, Teacher.

Ha! Brat!

Brat?! Anyway, what are we doing in this next... This next sequence?

Well, we're going to do oysters in champagne sauce,

we're going to be very grand now.

And we've got the champagne here - for the sauce!

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. This is more like it, Richard.

This is much more like it. I've been bossed around,

pilloried to post by this dreadful old dragon -

at last we're back on the Floyd programme!

So we'll have a little glass of this,

which is very enjoyable indeed. Ah, that's much better.

What I'm going to be doing now is a dish on oysters -

champagne and oysters and stuff like that.

So, Richard, come down to the thing.

There are a few oysters, which we've opened.

Move over to your left, Richard, please,

and you'll see the opened ones.

And then we've got some...over here, some beaten egg yolk.

Over here, can you see this?

We've got the butter, we've got shallots, finely chopped.

We've got champagne, we've got everything we want -

so what are we going to do with them now?

Ah-ha. You put the half bottle of champagne in here.

I like that, I like that.

And, with it, you put the finely chopped shallots,

and we reduce that champagne down to one tablespoon.

As you know, we usually cook right from start to finish,

but drinking the champagne and reducing it

seems such a terrible waste of time that we've got one here already.

Now, I don't know what to do now.

-What do I do next? Butter into there?

-Next you...

No, we've got to be very careful, this is butter sauce,

it's almost like making a hollandaise.

So what we've got to do is put our egg yolks into the saucepan.

Right, in they go.

And we've got a heavy-bottomed saucepan on a low heat.

That's most important. Here we go again.

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so extravagant.

And I stir that in?

You whisk very carefully. Just a second, I'll let it heat up a little.

-Oh, dear.

-Yes, it's on a low heat, whisk all the time. Lovely, lovely.

She smiled at me!

She smiled at me! I've done something...

-Come on, watch what you're doing - you'll curdle it!

-Right.

And then you whisk in the butter, bit by bit, lovely.

I'm a bit bored with all that, can you finish it?

I'm going to have a glass of champagne.

I mean, this is quite ridiculous.

I've never had such a rotten time in all my life. Blimey O'Reilly!

You're learning how to make

a delicious champagne sauce with Irish oysters.

Well, you carry on with that and I'll stuff them in a minute.

Fine.

# Slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp Slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp... #

Sorry about that. Was the sauce all right, though?

Well, you forgot about the cream - no cream in it.

So we've just filled in a little bit of cream there.

We're also going to put a little bit of salt and pepper into it,

with unsalted butter.

It quite often needs just a little bit of salt.

It seems I can get nothing right today.

Will you please accept a glass of champagne?

Oh, trying to butter me up? Right.

I've got to do something to win back your favour.

-Now, let's get on with saucing these chaps.

-Right.

Now, I've learned a little tip here today,

because if you set these oysters into some salt

they're not going to wobble over

and you're able to pour this sauce delicately over them.

-Not too much.

-Not too much.

Like that. A little bit in each one.

It's a very extravagant sort of sauce,

so just the right amount in each one.

Now, you wouldn't use flat oysters for this, would you?

No, these Japanese oysters are better

because they're deeper shell and meatier.

The native oyster, the Rossmore oyster, is delicious just with...

With a little lemon and perhaps a little Tabasco or something on it.

Great, I'm going to put those into the grill now

-for them to brown in a super-golden way, for a couple of minutes.

-Yes.

Just golden - keep your eye on them. OK?!

Mmm. Delicious glass of champagne.

I know you didn't want to see the business of the oysters

coming out of the oven again,

it's only the director who cares about such things.

Anyway, there they are, all my own work,

beautifully decorated with individual shamrocks,

-as you can see.

-Chervil, come on!

Oh, I beg your pardon - chervil. I'm so sorry.

And here, this is the carrageen pudding that I made,

which is absolutely beautiful. I'm going to put some...

It looks very strange but this, they assure me,

is how it should look,

on top of the Irish whiskey sauce that I made a little bit earlier

while you weren't watching.

And, my goodness me, it's delicious. It's absolutely fabulous.

The thing I'm really proud about is my whiskey sauce.

In fact, I'm going to have another spoonful of that,

because, have a look at this -

all my own work and it's absolutely delicious.

-Ah-ah!

-What do you mean, ah-ah?

-All MY own work.

-Ah, sorry, yes.

-SHE LAUGHS

Well, nearly all my own work. Anyway.

-Good carrageen, isn't it?

-Absolutely brilliant.

-Are you converted?

I'm converted, but how many points out of ten do I get for my efforts?

-I think five out of ten. Not bad at all.

-Very good indeed.

-Not bad. Yes.

-Thank you so much for this.

-Good.

-Five out of ten, very chuffed.

Five out of ten.

But this is a super recipe for carrageen.

Sometimes it can be very heavy and stodgy,

but this is my mother-in-law's recipe. You know my mother-in-law?

-Myrtle Allen.

-Myrtle Allen, yes.

I've lived under her shadow for the three days I've been in Ireland.

-So have I!

-Everywhere I've been,

they say, "Myrtle Allen, Myrtle Allen!"

No, but it's a very good recipe

because she uses so little carrageen

and then it means it's light and fluffy

and not like concrete like it sometimes is

when you put in too much carrageen.

People can't believe how little you have to use.

-Just a very, very little.

-Well, it's a delight.

I'm converted and I've loved every bit of it.

And, actually, I've quite grown to like you.

Well, you're not bad yourself.

# Fish, fish, gotta have some

# Fish, fish, gotta have some

# Fish, fish, gotta have some

-# Fish

-Fish!

# Fish! #

Sadly, I can't do the grilled bass,

it was too small, the one I caught.

So it's plan B - B for bacon.

Get it?

That's fine.

We've had a terrific morning's fishing

and, you know, the fresh air, the sea, the Irish Sea,

makes you feel really hungry.

So we caught some fish, you actually saw me landing one, I think,

and I've been cooking all morning.

But not, as you expected, a fish,

but a really traditional Irish dish - boiled bacon.

Look at that. Just boiled in plain water.

Potatoes, cabbage.

Got all those in there, Richard, look.

And because we only had one stove

I made the parsley sauce earlier

and kept it warm, like a boy scout, in the Thermos flask.

Now, they tell me that this is a classic dish

and that people like Liam...

will eat this with pleasure and joy.

I'm wobbling all over the place a bit

and I'm not actually a film star, I'm just a cookery presenter.

We couldn't get Robert Redford on this programme.

And if you think I'm wobbling all over the place,

I'm not the only one on this boat, you know.

All the rest of the people around me are all ill.

It's ever so funny, isn't it?

Sophisticated television producers, directors, and all the rest of it,

they're all green - not only with envy,

because they're not going to get any of this -

but they're green because they overdid it last night

and the pouring waves have really done them in.

There you go, Liam.

I reckon we've really earned this, this is a delicious dish,

but is it the sort of thing you really do eat regularly

or is this just a television stunt?

No, it's not a television stunt, it's a good Irish meal.

It's eaten on a regular basis.

It's very good for a family, it's good value.

-So steak is out, really. Too expensive.

-Too expensive, yes.

It's like Jimmy said, you see anybody buying steak

-and you hope they've got a police escort!

-It's true.

Anyway, let's tuck into our lunch

because I've had enough work for this morning.

I really think fresh air gives you a hell of an appetite.

And this is just the job, isn't it?

Brilliant, classic stuff there.

Now, as ever on Best Bites,

we're looking back at some of the fantastic cooking

from the Saturday Kitchen back catalogue.

Still to come on today's Best Bites,

Atul Kochhar has already been on the programme four times

and he still hadn't managed to make an omelette in less than a minute.

Would he succeed when he met Jason Atherton at the hobs?

Find out a little bit later on.

Daniel Galmiche makes a fragrant beef stir-fry.

He marinades the beef in sake, soy, ginger and chilli

and stir-fries it with new-season English asparagus.

And actor Tim Pigott-Smith faced his Food Heaven or Food Hell.

Would he get his Food Heaven,

Dover sole, with my roasted Dover sole with herb and caper butter,

broad beans and sauteed potatoes?

Or would he get his dreaded Food Hell?

Kumquats served with a roasted piece of cod,

kumquat marmalade and a green-pepper dressing.

You can find out what he gets to eat at the end of today's show.

Now, less is more, according to the brilliant Theo Randall,

and how better to illustrate that

than cooking a classic spaghetti vongole? So, take it away, Theo.

-Good to have you on the show, Boss.

-Thank you.

Now, remind us what you're cooking.

I'm cooking spaghetti

-with these lovely palourde clams.

-Yes.

-parsley, bit of dried chilli.

-Yep.

-Garlic, and a bit of white wine.

-This is vongole.

This is probably the least amount of ingredients we've ever had on...

-Less is more.

-Less is more.

-Less is definitely more.

OK, so explain to us, what's the real classic with vongole?

-It's always got to be spaghetti?

-It's always got to be spaghetti.

You can do it with other pastas but spaghetti is the real classic.

You can get this dish all over Italy,

but I think in the south they do it the best. You can use chilli.

Some people say you can't use white wine,

you should use the natural juice of the vongole, but this is nice...

But it's predominantly with dry pasta.

You'd think in Italy, they're all there with the pasta machines.

-No.

-It doesn't happen, does it?

-With fish, this kind of fish,

it's best to use dry pasta.

This is actually spaghettini, which is the finer one.

I always thought spaghetti was made like pasta - it's not, is it?

-You mean with egg?

-With egg.

-No, there's no egg in there.

-It's durum wheat, flour and water.

-And that's it.

And it's like a paste, and they sort of extract it into these kind of rollers.

-I always thought there was egg in it.

-Me too.

-There we go.

-All right, well, fire away. We've got so little ingredients!

-I know.

The thing with clams is, you want to make sure they're alive.

And some of them, you actually see moving.

-But you just want to put a knife through there.

-Yeah.

And if it doesn't open, it's alive.

You've got too much time on your hands

if you're going through all those!

But you treat it like mussels, do you?

If they're unopened when cooked, throw them away?

Pretty much. Give them a wash, that's it.

But the secret with clams is, don't overcook them.

Yeah, the whole point of this dish is just showing you how you can

get the pasta and cook the juice of the clams and not overcook the clams.

If you overcook them they become dry and tasteless

-and have a kind of...

-So you're not crushing the garlic?

-No, sliced garlic. Much better way of doing it.

-All right.

-And proper flat-leaf parsley?

-Proper flat-leaf parsley, not curly.

-Not curly.

-And we've got a bit of chilli, which is

a fresh chilli which has just been dried in the kitchen.

Just slice it. Not too much chilli.

Now, you're writing a book on pasta as well?

-That's right.

-Busy doing that this year.

-Yeah, yeah.

-It's going to be out the end of the year?

-No, beginning of next year.

Pasta's quite, you know, there's an art to it.

Us Brits just think, you know, spag bol,

and everything just goes with the same pasta.