Letter P The A to Z of TV Cooking

We've got dishes from your favourite TV chefs,

and we're serving them up alphabetically

here on The A-Z Of TV Cooking.

Today we're looking at things linked by the letter P,

and here's just some of what's on the menu.

The ripe stuff - Michel Roux on how to pick out the perfect pear.

I apply pressure with my thumb. Just should give a little bit

as you push down with your thumb.

We've got Chinese-style pork with Ching-He Huang,

and a plum choice with Nigel Slater's plum-pudding cake.

Of all of the fruits, I think that members of the plum family

take best to spices.

Have you ever been on holiday and been wowed by a wonderful paella,

and wondered, when you got home, how to recreate it?

Well, wonder no more, because here to assist us,

los Motociclistas Peludos!

That's my brilliant Spanish for the Hairy Bikers.

Today in the Best Of British kitchen,

we're going to cook up a holiday classic

that's become a British favourite, and it's guaranteed to transport you to sunnier climes!

(TAPS SPOONS CASTANET-STYLE)

Ole! # Oh, we are off to sunny Spain

# We're gonna make paella #

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is a paella pan,

and that's what we're going to make... Paella. ..in.

Actually, a paella is a pan. It's not a dish.

And the word "paella" comes for the Roman for pan.

This delicious paella is easy to do,

and packed full of flavour and colour -

succulent chicken, tasty mussels, perfect prawns and plump rice,

all spiced up with paprika and saffron.

Now, I'm just going to put some oil in the pan,

because that's a very good place to start.

Now, our paella, we try to do quite a generic recipe,

the sort of thing you would have tasted on your holidays,

you wanted to make it when you come home,

and has all the elements without becoming a pan of confusion.

A confused paella is not a good way to approach said dish.

No. You want a dish, not a pan of mud, as is so often seen.

Now, what I'm going to do is season these lovely boned chicken thighs.

(SINGS TUNE) Hello! Smiling sausage!

We've got to eat that, man!

It's all right. I kept my tongue in my beard.

This is chorizo,

and this is a cooking chorizo. That's one that needs cooking,

and it's the best type to use for paella.

I'm just going to cut this into slices.

What's lovely about that, and you'll see when we cook it,

it leeches this wonderful paprika kind of fat that's deep red.

Oh, it's lovely. But the paella is this combination

of chicken, chorizo, saffron, rice, vegetables,

prawns, mussels, or it can be whatever you want. It can be clams.

Funnily enough, they say the paella originated in Valencia in Spain.

But we know that the first paellas were made with predominantly rabbit,

because that was what poor folk ate, and as time went on,

you realise, "I can put this in. Rice will be brilliant."

Rice is a great flavour carrier. "I can put duck in. Brilliant!"

"I can put chicken, prawns... It'll be brilliant!"

You can put what you want in, really.

I'm going to put this chicken in first.

Once the chicken is nicely browned, pop in the chopped chorizo.

Kind of half the trick to this

is the smokiness of the paprika leeching to that oil.

And that oil is what we turn the rice and the vegetables into,

and it... Oh, the flavour just goes on and on! Awesome.

After a few minutes, use a slotted spoon

to lift the chicken and chorizo into a bowl

and put it aside for later.

Next, chop an onion and sweat it in the lovely paprika-infused oil.

The lovely thing is, when you cook something like this,

you've experienced when you've been abroad, it takes you back there.

Once they're tender and lightly browned,

add a tablespoon of olive oil, a chopped red pepper

and some green beans.

You're getting very hungry, aren't you?

I know I am. I tell you what,

I've just seen Mrs Migginses' arm come out of...

Stop, Mrs Miggins! Just wait! Wait, will you?

Now, you can't have paella, or anything Spanish or "foreign",

as my dad would call it, without garlic!

Garlic! My dad was a disaster with food.

Was he? He refused to eat tinned chicken soup

because, he said, "It's full of garlic!"

I thought... Dreadful. Spaghetti? "Comes in tins."

THEY LAUGH I remember my first paella.

It was one of those Vestas. Do you remember those?

Oh, yes! You put water on, and you had a meal!

And you used to feel so exotic. Their paella was luminous.

You could see it from Mars.

Little did I know that that was the first tentative steps

that have brought me to where I am here. Where's that?

In the kitchen? The pinnacle of culinary culinariness.

Stir in three cloves of finely grated garlic,

and a heaped teaspoon of a secret ingredient - smoked paprika.

It gives it, like, a wonderful outdoor barbecue sense to it.

It did say "heaped teaspoon", didn't it? Yes!

Does now! I love this stuff. It's great.

Oh, and then it just smells fantastic!

Saffron. I love saffron. He's not keen.

I'm not. More expensive than gold, but you don't need much.

You don't. Uno pincho.

Two pincho. That'll do!

HE WHISPERS And a bay leaf.

The smells, mind... I wish you could smell this at home.

It's so lovely. But all this really is just the dressing for the rice.

Absolutely. The time has come?

Mm. Bring out the rice.

Add 250 grams of paella rice, and stir it around the pan

until it's glistening with paprika-infused-oil loveliness.

Then the chicken and chorizo needs to go back in

along with any of the juices that have collected in the bowl.

And now the liquid. We're using chicken stock.

But you can do a vegetarian paella.

Obviously use vegetable stock and vegetables.

You can do a fish paella. Use fish stock.

But, you know, for this one, chicken stock.

You'll need about 900 mil of the stock, made with one stock cube,

and let it simmer away over a medium heat for about 12 minutes,

stirring occasionally.

Well, 12 minutes, and the rice has started to grow.

I think it may be time for the mussels, don't you?

Aye. Go on, get 'em flexed.

'Scatter 500 to 750 grams of well scrubbed live mussels

'on top of the paella. Make sure the beards have been removed,

'and that they're well tucked into the hot rice and steaming liquid.'

Then cover with tinfoil to allow them

to steam in all the lovely aromas for five minutes,

on a fairly high heat. Wait for the mussels to open,

and discard any that don't.

Will you look? They're all open. So we give it one last stir,

then from this point on, we don't kind of mess with it, do we? No.

Time for the prawns. Heads first into the centre.

I think so, yeah. Like morris-dancing prawns.

THEY LAUGH When those have gone pink,

your paella is done.

Fancy a cerveza? I do, thanks!

Smashing!

Reduce the heat slightly, and cook for a further six to eight minutes,

leaving you time to perfect your Spanish.

FEMALE VOICE SPEAKING SPANISH

'But do remember to turn the prawns halfway through.'

Right. May the spirit of Torremolinos be upon us.

DAVE LAUGHS Now, that is as pretty as a picture.

It is as pretty as a paella. All we need now is parsley sprinkles,

and a kind of daintily placed lemon wedge.

I'm wedging. I'm sprinkling.

Are you dancing? I'm asking.

THEY LAUGH

Oh...

Look at that! Yes.

Now, in true tradition of this wonderful dish,

I'll have that half...

I'll have that half. Yeah. It's quite easy to "demarc", this one.

Do you know what people used to do?

It was very handy that the paella pan was round,

and the big ones made a perfectly functional table,

so you would actually sit around the paella pan

and you'd get a fork, and you'd go...

"That's my section."

And people eating the paella would stick to their own turf.

That's mine. That's yours.

That's mine. Don't... Don't transgress.

I'm not. You are.

It's all about the rice in a paella.

Try the chicken. That's been poached in all that paprika.

Chorizo...

That is fabulous. Isn't it?

It's got everything a paella should have -

taste, colour, variety,

and it's got holiday spirit!

Thankfully, being British, we don't have to get on a plane

to taste authentic Mediterranean food.

All the ingredients are readily available,

so you can cook up this fantastic food at home.

Now Michel Roux tracks down the perfect pear in Kent.

I like my pears with a little crunch,

but with lots of juice, and sweet and sticky.

But that's the biggest problem - knowing when the pear is ripe.

Pears are a complex fruit.

They can be happily cold-stored for up to ten months.

However, controlling when they ripen

is something that we've traditionally left to chance.

'But there's one fruit-farmer in Kent who's going that extra mile

'to produce the perfect pear.'

Clive Baxter grows over a thousand tons of pears each year.

He's gone out on a limb, investing huge sums in new technology,

to create a room where he can control the ripening process.

'And he's about to let me into his secret.'

So, it's...it's similar to a cold store,

except that in this case we're actually putting warm air in,

and then the air is sent over... above this ceiling,

and it's forced down through the actual pallets of fruit,

and then it's taken back up through the centre there.

Then it's sucked up through here, so there's a circular motion.

It's forced air. But it doesn't feel that warm in here,

but obviously warm enough just to ripen them up slowly. Yes.

As you probably know, when you put your normal pear in a fruit bowl,

you have a very firm pear, quite often.

Then, maybe for a day, you have the perfect pear,

and then, very quickly after that, it's completely gone,

and it just falls apart. The perfectly ripened pears out of here,

they still stay firm but ripe for several days,

whereas a standard pear that just ripens in your house does not.

This method of warming fruit has its origins

in the ready-to-eat ripe-avocado system,

developed in Norfolk.

How would you look for ripeness in a pear?

I apply pressure with my thumb.

It should just give a little bit as you push down with your thumb.

Regardless of the colour? Regardless of the colour.

After just a couple of days in the warming room,

Clive's pears are sent straight to the supermarket.

So, Clive, how has this helped your business?

It's very popular with the customers. Generally in the UK,

pear sales are quite flat. Perfectly ripe pear sales are increasing,

and you can see why when you start to eat these pears.

So it's been well received by the public,

even though they have to pay a couple of pennies more,

because they've got a perfectly ripe and really tasty product

at the end of it. Yeah. It's like anything else.

People go to your restaurant because you do something a bit different

than the ordinary, and in the same way,

if you're getting something that genuinely tastes that much nicer,

most people are willing to pay a bit more money for it. Good!

It's great to meet someone who's so passionate

about growing pears,

but not just that - prepared to go that extra mile

to deliver ripe and beautiful British pears.

Perhaps we are already on the cusp of the pear revival.

From pears to a great Chinese pork dish

cooked by Ching-He Huang and her fireman friend, Robbie.

I know we had a problem. Yes. ?1.25...

Yes. Work to a budget. ..was the budget per head,

and I've come up with a traditional Chinese recipe

that's going to hopefully excite your guys, but remain within budget. OK.

It's called fragrant pork. Great.

I've got here aubergine. We want to get this on first,

so I'm just going to slice that in half.

Do you cook with aubergine much? Yes, we have done.

We've used it in moussaka at work.

So, are you the only guy that cooks?

No, no. We all have to take it in turns to cook,

so we do have good cooks and bad cooks.

Are you the guy in demand, right? I buy everything in.

I buy everything in. I tell 'em what they're cooking.

You boss them around? Yes, especially in the kitchen.

OK. So, wok nice and hot, smoking,

and then in with the aubergines.

Just let that sizzle, and then I'm just going to create a bit of steam

to help cook. They don't need that much oil.

That'll absorb into the aubergine, will it? Yeah, it will.

You see, at this stage, if you do get called out,

just turn it off and then go out. You're not going to ruin the dish,

and it's like that throughout the whole cooking process.

You can put it to one side? Well, that's great.

This is lovely and brown, OK,

so we're just going to put that to one side.

And then I've got some garlic-ginger chilli.

Garlic, ginger and chilli are the holy trinity of Chinese cookery,

the flavour foundation of countless dishes.

Just going to fry them for a couple of seconds

to release their aroma. Would you pass me the minced pork, as well?

Thanks. OK.

So, as the meat starts to brown,

the Chinese...we love adding a little bit of Shaoxing wine. OK.

In this case I've got dry sherry, cos you're likely to have this in your store cupboard. Yeah.

If not, get some, cos when you cook meat,

and you add that, it just adds a little bit of sweetness,

and it takes off the xing wei.

What's xing wei? Xing wei? It's sort of like this rawness

of ingredients. You know, meats sometimes have an odour,

or fish has an odour. Yeah.

Now, at this stage I'm going to add some chilli-bean sauce.

You can dip your finger in there, have a taste.

Mind, it's very spicy.

Yeah. Yeah?

How spicy do you like your food? About a tablespoon? Yeah.

Now, at this stage, back in with the aubergine. OK.

Mix this together well, then... got some stock.

Is that just chicken, or... Yeah, that's chicken stock,

or you can use vegetable stock. I'm going to bring this to the boil.

Great. So, next we've got some pak choi.

Yeah. You can use Chinese leaf if you want to.

Just going to slice this. Just roughly chopped?

Yeah, just roughly chopped. You know you can eat these raw? Can you?

Go on, take a bit of the leaf. I love them. Great for salad.

Chinese don't really like to eat raw vegetables,

but it's great. Nice.

Tasty, isn't it? Very. Almost sweet, and peppery at the same time.

Yeah. You get that pepper just at the end.

Delicious. Good for you.

Nearly there. Making me hungry now.

Well, this is all yours. This is quite spicy.

We got a little bit of seasoning now, OK?

Add some cider vinegar to cut through the heat.

And then a little bit of sesame oil, a couple of splashes.

Next, some cornflour to thicken the sauce.

Literally it's a couple of seconds. Can you see?

It's just starting to thicken now.

And finally, some chopped spring onions for freshness and bite.

If you've got any vegetarians... Yeah. ..in your watch,

just use aubergines and vegetables and mushrooms.

You can leave the pork out. Just add what you want?

Yeah, just add what you want,

just as long as you follow the basic seasoning steps. That's it.

And then, beautiful, ready to plate up,

and that was all for ?1.25 per head. Brilliant.

Can I get a pat on the back? You can. Well done.

So, my fragrant pork hits Robbie's budget mark at ?1.25 per head.

It's perfect for anyone with a busy life,

as the cooking can be stopped and started at any stage

without affecting the final dish.

How is it? Delicious.

Bit fiery. Just a little bit, but it'll be fine.

Really good.

So, we're now going to look at a recipe using pheasant,

which is as bird which, as you will see,

Clarissa from The Two Fat Ladies absolutely loathes in the wild,

but loves on a plate.

I'm making pheasant and pickled-walnut terrine.

You may think that game is for the rich, the idle and the aristo,

but you'd be wrong. Game is lean, fat-free if you must,

delicious, more importantly,

and you can even buy it in supermarkets these days.

And what I'm doing at the moment is,

I'm lining this terrine with streaky bacon.

It's actually, as you can see,

not so much a terrine as a loaf tin,

but that's fine. And what I'm doing is,

I'm just flattening out the bacon a little bit,

so that it'll go better round the tin.

I love pheasant. I've have a lot of access to pheasant in my life.

You did. You, um, farmed them, didn't you?

Actually looked after them? Yes, I managed a pheasant farm

and cooked at the same time.

Er, we had 25,000 pheasants. Heavens!

And don't the fluffy-bunny brigade ever tell you

that they're dear, sweet creatures.

They're one of God's nastiest animals.

They come out of the egg trying to peck each other's eyes out.

They are a very nasty bird indeed.

But they do have the advantage of tasting delicious.

They must be hung.

You can't, as you can with grouse or partridge,

take it straight off the moor and cook it.

A pheasant that isn't hung has no flavour whatsoever.

None, and rather dry. Yep.

And like Jennifer's rabbit,

pheasant has no real fat in it, so you have to add some fat,

and that is why the bacon for this terrine,

because it will lubricate it and make it moist,

apart from the fact that if you use good bacon,

it'll taste delicious.

So I've now lined this tin, and then you put in the pheasant.

This is the meat from a whole pheasant.

Cut it into strips, both the white meat and the dark meat.

And I've had it marinating overnight in red vermouth.

And pack it in well. There's an amazing amount of meat on a pheasant.

People are constantly surprised.

Now that I've half-filled this terrine,

I'm going to put in a layer of pickled walnuts.

I hope they're not the disgusting heavily vinegared ones

you get in pubs. I don't like that taste. Oh, God forbid, Jennifer!

No, look! Lovely little things. My own green walnuts.

That's terrific. Picked in the garden this morning,

which I shall pickle in due course. I brought them along just to show you.

Very proud-making. Very proud-making, yes.

Anyway, here are some I did earlier, like last year, you know?

They look wonderful. And you just slice them,

not too thinly. Don't need to be painstaking.

You can buy them in any good delicatessen,

and they are lovely things. You can add them to anything.

You can add them to beef stew very easily.

They give a good colour to it, and a nice flavour.

You're flouring your rabbit that way. That's a very good way of doing it.

It's the only way. It's terrible, that putting it out on a basin

and dib-dabbing on, and everything gets sort of soggy.

And spend half an hour scrubbing it off the kitchen table afterwards.

There we are. Now I'm going to put the other half of this pheasant on

and fill it up to the top.

So now I've filled up the terrine,

and I'm just going to cover it with some more pieces of bacon.

You see how really simple... Everyone thinks terrines are so complicated.

They're terribly easy.

So, there we are. I'm just going to put it in a bain-marie

and put it in the oven. A bain-marie, "Mary's bath".

Everybody thinks it's something terribly mystical and wonderful,

but it's actually just any old pan with some water in the bottom of it,

and it's just so that the bottom of what you're cooking doesn't burn.

It steams a little, as well, which helps the cooking process.

Whoops!

There we are.

Splendid for lunch with a salad, or as a starter.

BAGPIPE MUSIC

Now another bird recipe, and this time the P is for partridge.

Your chef here is Valentine Warner,

and he's adding to this dish a spicy mixture

called ras el hanout.

'You can buy ras el hanout ready made,

'but for me there's nothing more satisfying than doing it yourself,

'so I'm heading back to my flat to get grinding.'

Ras el hanout translates as "top-drawer" or "top-notch",

so this is a super-special mix.

'Every recipe for ras el hanout is different.

'Some are reputed to have as many as 60 different ingredients,

'but the common version must include a combination of cinnamon,

'turmeric, cumin, coriander and pepper.

'To my version I'm adding some rose petals, saffron and cayenne.'

This is obviously a coffee grinder,

but it's very good for grinding up the spices.

I like doing things the old way,

but you can also buy automated spice grinders

which make life easier. I like to work for my ras el hanout.

See what's going on here. It smells amazing,

rosy and nuts and chocolate and... Fantastic.

Partridges are really one of my favourite all-time autumn meats,

delicious, plump, fantastic and tasty.

And combined with the ras el hanout,

they really make for a tremendously good dish.

So, one heaped teaspoon per bird of the ras el hanout.

Twist them around. Look how happy they look.

They're having a great time, like children in the sandpit.

Take one good, hard red onion

and chop it really, really, really small.

Big fat chunks won't do, the point being that as the partridge cooks,

which is not for too long, by the time it's all ready,

the onion is totally cooked through and soft.

One good fat clove of garlic, chopped into virtual nonexistence.

That's quite enough chopping for one day.

Now, the rest is just dead simple.

This is the tagine. It's commonly mistaken

that the tagine is the name of the food.

It's actually the name of the dish. Take your onion and garlic

and scatter it over the bottom.

Now a big, generous handful of...

Mmm! Golden sultanas. Yum!

Now, this is ghee, used a lot in Indian cookery,

and it's widely available in a lot of shops all across the UK.

It's butter with attitude.

And now our little fat partridges are going to come and rest.

Pretty snug, I'd say. Gather up the rest of your mix.

This is good stuff. You've taken care over it.

Don't throw it away. Use it. This is gold dust.

A bit more ghee on each one,

just to kind of lubricate the birds.

Then some honey.

Many good things in here, one after another.

Now, don't be tight with the salt. You really need a lot

to really bring all the flavours out here.

And finally add a little bit of water.

There should be a wonderful sauce at the bottom,

and that needs a little help. I live on a Moroccan street in London,

and eat a lot of Moroccan food locally,

and the locals tell me that the ras el hanout

is a good thing to bring out of the cupboard

when the weather's getting cold, because it really warms you.

I'm now going to put the lid of the tagine on.

The tagine is a very good thing to cook with. The ceramic is thick,

and it retains a lot of heat. Fantastic slow-cooking,

keeping the heat in. It's a wonderful thing to use.

And in it goes. It takes 40 minutes on a medium heat.

'Finally, add some hard-boiled eggs to garnish,

'heat through, then whisk out of the oven.'

Wowee!

Look at those lovely fat birds.

The smell coming off here is so utterly delicious.

Perfectly, perfectly cooked.

OK. It really is an extraordinary taste.

Partridges with ras el hanout.

Couldn't be better for a cold autumn day.

Thanks, Valentine!

Now, our third and final game recipe comes from Raymond Blanc.

It's a French classic, and the P here is for pigeon.

For his final recipe, Raymond returns to a classic,

a pigeon baked in a salt crust.

I did this dish 25 years ago,

and it's still modern in its concept.

It's still very much loved. That's what classics are all about.

These are just old Trafalgar pigeon, or the wood pigeon.

That one is special. He's a special one.

Raymond is using a French farm-raised pigeon

known as squab. You'll need one per person.

No seasoning, no salt, because we are going to put it into a salt crust,

so no seasoning.

The pigeons are seared in hot goose fat to brown the skin

for extra flavour.

Finish off, OK, the sides. OK. Tres bien.

And now we do our salt crust.

Although not eaten, the salt crust prevents small and lean game

like pigeon from becoming dry and overcooked.

Put one kilo of plain flour into a mixer.

Add 600 grams of fine salt

and nine egg whites.

Enormous amount of salt, and you don't eat it.

It's really to seal it, and it's a very special flavour.

Voila! I'm going to prepare to cut it into four.

Voila.

Chill the dough for 30 minutes before rolling to a thickness of five millimetres.

So, now I'm ready to wrap the squabs, OK, into the dough.

To decorate the salt crust, Raymond cuts out some wings.

Place it breast-down, bottoms up.

OK?

To help the sticking, that's the egg yolk.

Not too much, otherwise, if you put too much,

it will not stick. It will slide.

So, lift this side here. Tres bien.

And then lift... Put your breast, voila,

pressing right so there's no air pocket whatsoever.

Doesn't look very pretty at the moment,

but it will. We're going to do the head.

The first pigeon without head is not good.

Pinch the beak.

For eyes, two cloves are perfect.

This technique works without the need for decoration,

but for Raymond, the extra effort is worthwhile.

Voila. What you have to do to finish off is to put the egg yolk on it,

all over. That's what's going to give it its wonderful colour.

Don't chop his head off. Not yet. Later.

The last finish that you do is, er, salt.

The salt-crust pastry shell protects the meat from the heat,

creating an oven within an oven.

In an oven, the temperature goes very high, and the meat heat up.

Here the heat go very, very slowly,

permeating the meat quietly inside,

changing completely the texture and the flavour.

The pigeons are cooked for 20 minutes at 220 degrees centigrade.

Bye-bye!

Can we have some for the top, just from the top of the fridge?

To go with the pigeon, cabbage.

I'm asking for cabbage. He's given me lettuce.

It's amazing! I'm amazed.

When the cabbage arrives, it's quartered and steamed.

Raymond is also serving his favourite,

the fricassee of wild mushrooms.

So, of course, as a cook,

anything you wrapped into something, you cannot see, you cannot smell,

it's rather unnerving. What's happening inside?

Is it overcooked? Is it undercooked?

And you got all sorts of nightmares and doubts.

To serve, remove the pigeon from the crust.

Yes. You guillotine it.

Voila.

Spoon, like that. Well, come on out!

That's it. That's perfect. Tres bien.

Slice the blade gently towards...

Voila. So actually it's quite a nice medium rare.

I think that's one of the most beautiful food experiences

you may have. And it's unctuous...

It's the most melting quality.

You must taste it once in your lifetime.

Have you ever tasted squab before? No. Never?

I grew up with very dry pheasant. Poor you! Sorry!

How is it? It's good.

It's amazing how the salt crust has seasoned the breast so well.

It's seasoned it perfectly. See, for my mother, that'd be too rare,

but that's delicious.

Tell your mother we can teach her a few tricks, if possible.

Could you tell her, Chef? Of course I'll tell her.

Thank you. OK. Thank you. OK, good. Lovely.

Thank you.

Now time for some desserts. This P is for pineapple,

and here is Levi Roots, cooking up a pineapple pudding in Glasgow.

'I want to spread the message

'about the sunshine flavours of the Caribbean to everyone.

'But when I took a look at a map, it seems that there are some people

'who might be more in need than most.

'I've been doing a bit of research,

'and Scotland has hardly any Caribbean restaurants!

'I think it's time for a change.

'So I've chosen a spot right in the centre of Glasgow,

'and the perfect fruit to show people what they're missing.'

In the Caribbean, a pineapple is a sign of welcome and hospitality.

So what better way for me to introduce my Caribbean flavours

than to do my pineapple in lime, vanilla and rum syrup?

This mouth-watering dessert is going to persuade Glaswegians

that Caribbean food is a must.

I can't wait for them to taste my hot pineapple,

soaked in a warm syrup of sweet vanilla, rum and allspice.

So, first I'm going to start making my delicious syrup.

Dissolve some dark sugar in water

to give you a lovely, deep-coloured mix,

and then add the zest of a lime for zing-factor.

Next I'm going to add this lovely thing here,

which is vanilla pods.

Vanilla is something that you find in every Caribbean home.

The sweet flavour is concentrated in the seeds,

so cut along the length of the pods and scrape them out,

and for extra flavour, cut the pod in two and add it to the syrup.

Next, I'm diving into what I call the sunshine kit,

for allspice berries.

This kit is the essential toolbox of herbs and spices

used in Caribbean cookery. Keep these in your cupboard,

and you'll always be able to taste a little sunshine.

Thyme, Scotch-bonnet pepper, ginger, nutmeg,

garlic, and these aromatic allspice berries.

Normally allspice berries are used in savoury dishes,

but I think this time it's going to give it a nice, lovely warmth.

And now it's time for the star of the show, my big golden welcome.

You need to expose the juicy flesh.

It's important to go quite deep with your knife

when you're peeling your pineapple, so you get rid of all those eyes.

Like that.

And instantly... it reminds me of the Caribbean.

Lovely.

Fantastic. It's always good to cook with a smile on your face,

especially if you're cooking Caribbean.

It's what it's about! It's the fun.

Now let's put these on a skewer.

Make sure you keep your fingers well out of the way.

There's one.

I think these look ready for the barbecue.

You know, this is a real easy dish. The reason why I chose it,

because I don't want people just to taste it.

I want them to make it.

'You can always use a grill for this,

'but I want the aromas from this barbecue to grab people's attention.'

Cook your wedges for about eight minutes,

till they are lightly browned. By now,

your syrup should have reduced and thickened

ready for your final ingredient, the rum.

Your rum is optional. You don't have to put it in,

but you know me!

I think these are ready.

They look absolutely gorgeous.

This is warm syrup going onto warm pineapple.

Smell all that lovely rum,

and especially the allspice berries! I can smell those.

Fruity, spicy... It's a tropical delight! I love it!

So here's the deal. Shoppers not only get to taste,

they also get a pineapple complete with a recipe.

I want them to promise they will make this Caribbean treat for themselves.

Respect! This is my pineapple in lime, vanilla and rum syrup.

How is it tasting? Can you feel the sunshine on your face?

Really good. Lovely. Cool!

There you go. It's even got a ribbon on it. Thank you very much!

Is that good? It is lovely.

Would you be willing to try to make this at home?

If I was to give you the recipe... Yes.

I've got one without any rum in it for this nice lovely young lady.

The recipe's on there, and everything that is in there

you can pick up at your local supermarket. All right, my dear?

Bye! It's brilliant!

Glasgow is going potty for my pineapples.

Respect, man. Here you go.

There may be no Caribbean restaurants here,

but I'm hoping, in kitchens all over Glasgow,

people will be cooking my Caribbean food.

And we end today with another P-based pud.

Here's Nigel Slater, and his fruit of choice for this recipe

is the plum.

When I think of sugar and spice, I think of rainy, damp days

and warm kitchens full of wonderful smells like honey and syrup...

..ginger, ground nutmeg and clove.

'I'm going to be using some of those familiar flavours

'in a sugary, spicy plum-pudding cake with a stewed-plum topping...

..'a really useful recipe that works either as a family pudding

'or as a glorious cake for tea.

'First I need flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

'Now the spices.'

If you wanted to, you could put a little bit of ground clove

or nutmeg in, but I like to keep it very simple.

'I'm adding two of my favourites.'

Use ground cinnamon, a good teaspoon...

..and another teaspoon of ground ginger.

'Sift the flour, bicarb, baking powder and spices together.

'Don't be tempted to skip this.

'It's what will make the cake really light.

'With the spices taken care of, now for the sugary bit.

'I'm using golden syrup, about half a tin,

'and for extra depth I'm adding some honey,

'thick or runny.'

This is real spice-box baking.

I can get all my toys out of the cupboard.

'I use light muscovado sugar for this cake.

'Its treacly flavour works so well with the spices.

'Add butter, and melt it all together over a low heat.

'Then whisk up a couple of eggs with some milk.'

Stir the sugar and butter very gently,

just to make sure all the sugars have melted.

Almost smells like Christmas in here today.

'When the sugar's all melted, turn off the heat,

'and let it cool slightly while you line your baking tin.'

So far, so traditional.

What I want to do is to introduce some fruit into my cake,

and not dried fruits but some fresh fruit.

Of all of the fruits,

I think that members of the plum family take best to spices.

They need to be quite ripe for this. If the plums are very big,

then, it's worth quartering them.

They're very heavy, and they'll sink,

which is exactly what I want to happen,

so it will have a cakey quality on top,

and underneath, it will be soggy with the juice of the plums.

Add the warm sugar to the spiced flour.

'Mix it in gently. It'll be a bit lumpy, but it doesn't matter.

'Stir in the milk and eggs

'and pour the mixture into the lined baking tin.'

Into that, I'm going to drop the plums.

'It goes in the oven for about half an hour.'

I want something luscious to go with it.

I think it'll be lovely with sugary, spicy plums on top.

What I'm going to do is make up a sort of virtual jam, really,

by popping the fruit into the same pan

that I melted the golden syrup in.

'Add a little bit of sugar and butter.

'I want some spice in here too.

'I'm going to use the syrup from a jar of preserved ginger.'

If I hadn't got this, I'd just put in a little bit of ground ginger.

Pop the lid on and leave them to cook while the cake's in the oven.

'After half an hour or so, give it a test.

'It's done when the skewer comes out clean.

'With the spicy stewed plums ready,

'it's time to plate up.

'This is definitely a cake worth serving warm.'

I'm going to slide the warm plums on top,

and then some of the syrup round the outside.

Just a little dollop of cream.

Sugar and spice...

and absolutely gorgeous.

It's like heaven on a spoon.

This is a sweet and spicy treat,

whether you have it as pudding or cake.

And if you've never tried making your own cakes,

this is a great place to start.

That's the last of today's dishes. Now it's your turn to get cooking.

Thanks to all our chefs,

and do join me for more remarkable recipes next time.

See you soon.

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