Moray The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain

And we're on the road to find regional recipes to rev up your appetite.

We are riding county to county to discover,

cook and enjoy the best of British.

-Come on!

-Wa-hey!

Today we are known search of the real taste of Moray.

Oh. Heh-hey!

That was a long ride.

You're not kidding. And this is the furthest north we are going

on the Hairy Bikers' Food Tour.

You know, that's Bow Fiddle Rock in Portknockie

in the county of Moray in the Highlands of Scotland.

Over there is Inverness.

Over there is the Black Isle.

And we are that far north, Oslo is that way.

-And we are away from home.

-We are.

But it's the land of myth and legends.

You have the coastline of Banff and Buchan over there.

You've got Portknockie, you've got Buckie, there's more

beautiful stunning fishing villages along this 800 kilometre coastline

than you can shake a stick at, dude.

-Hmm, good seafood, eh?

-Absolutely. Inland, dude. Onward!

# There's a welcome in the hillside... #

On our quest to try to define the true flavours of Moray,

we've braved the Scottish weather to cook up a county classic.

We do our best to have tight lines when we go salmon fishing

on one of the best beats in the world.

At the junction pool on the Spey, it's like being given the keys to the sweet shop.

After wild salmon, we try smoked salmon.

And this smoked salmon is as jet set as it gets.

Representing Moray in the cook off later, is Chris Morrison.

Will we be able to beat him in a blind tasting

judged by local diners?

Our first stop on our tour of Moray is Abelour.

This picturesque village is a little foodie haven.

-I'm looking forward to this, dude.

-I'm looking forward to my elevenses. On with the mission.

So where best to pull in for a chat with the locals about what their county has to offer?

-What to you, sir, is Moray on a plate?

-Stovies.

-Which is made of beef, potatoes...

-Yes.

A Cullen skink which is a soup.

What is good to eat around here?

Classic salmon. However you like it.

We do like a bit of bully, don't we?

-We do indeed, yes.

-Hey, give me five!

How long has the deli been open here?

It started life as a high class grocer in 1864.

-Really?

-So many wonderful cheeses.

We've got two dairies in Moray.

One in Forres, one Nairn.

This is a Cheddar that every farmer's wife

used to make long ago, called sweet milk.

-Do know what is sweet milk?

-It's made from unpasteurised milk.

Got loads of flavour.

Shall we try the Black Bun, I've never seen that before?

-Well, that's what we have at Hogmanay.

-Thank you.

-Hogmanay.

-You should really have a wee glass of whisky with it.

That's not a frugal cake.

It's packed with the good stuff.

There is a lovely old, you know the old spices are here.

-There's cinnamon.

-I think that's why it goes so well with a dram.

-Thank you so much.

-No bother.

Moray is on the whisky trail.

There's 50 Speyside malts available.

Not for us. Not today.

But look at it. Later, later!

Oh-ho. A little haven.

Yes. What is Moray on a plate?

There's always Haggis everywhere you go.

One of the puddings, cranachan, is just fantastic.

That's fresh Scottish raspberries, fresh cream.

A bit of oatmeal and some booze of some kind.

Usually a whisky, liqueur.

-What to you, Jenny, is Morayshire on a plate?

-Cullen skink.

It's a dish made with potatoes, onion, milk, and yellow fish.

-Smoked haddock.

-Thank you. That's great.

-What, to you, is Moray on a plate?

-Ooh, local salmon.

-Right. What sort of seafood do you have here?

-Scallops.

-Scallops?

-That's an interesting one.

There's a lot of really nice haggis.

The local butchers make their own haggis.

And we've got again Cullen skink down on the coast.

-We like that, don't we, with cream in it?

-You like it?

You've got great hair, man, it's fab.

-Does Cullen skink make your hair like that?

-Yeah.

-Hello.

-Good afternoon.

-What, to you, really is Moray on a plate?

That is a basic Scotch pie made with minced lamb.

The crust is lovely and crunchy.

They are specific to Scotland, your Scotch pie. There's nothing like it.

Thanks very much, nice to meet you.

-The pies are brilliant.

-Thank you.

Are there any kind of local dishes that can be specific to the area?

-Definitely stovies and oatcakes.

-Yes.

Have you heard of that?

I have, yes, we have. I've been to a stovie dance many a time.

Although I'm not very good at making stovies.

I'm not Scottish, I'm not from the area.

But I have lived up here for 20 odd years now.

-Stovies, the secret is to boil it until it's like glue.

-Until it's glue!

Do you to get the crispy bits off the bottom of the pan? Oh-ho!

-Hello, ladies.

-Hello.

-How long have Walkers been making shortbread?

They originally came here in 1898,

to the shop. This is where it started.

-And it's still made by the family?

-Yes.

-On a bigger scale now.

-Yes.

You export a lot to America, as well.

We export to over 65 countries.

-Really!

-Yes.

I remember when I was a kid we used to have these.

They'd come in a round... petticoat tails, isn't it?

That's an old-fashioned shape.

We realised that shortbread, it's a great product of Moray.

-But what other dishes do you have here?

-We like mince and tatties.

Cullen skink would be a nice fish soup for you.

Would the oatcakes go with Cullen skink?

-They go very well with Cullen skink.

-Thanks, ladies, bye-bye.

That was lovely.

There's platefuls of local specialities on offer in Moray,

but Cullen skink named after the local town of Cullen, is unique to the county.

So that's what we'll make.

-The lovely little city of Elgin. What a place to cook our Cullen skink.

-Yes.

I can't think of anywhere better, and they're good craic around here.

-I bet they know a good skink from a bad 'un.

-Aye.

Cullen skink is a soup made from smoked haddock, potatoes and onions.

Taking advice from the shortbread ladies,

we'll serve it with Scottish oatcakes,

another traditional taste of the county. Welcome to Elgin!

-Do you like Cullen skink?

-ALL: Yes.

-Yeah.

We've got the recipe for Cullen skink.

And we've kind of done it our way, which is dead traditional.

And we love Scotland.

The Scottish flag is the homage to David Myers who has a set of underpants to match!

Right. First off, make the broth.

The stock.

So we want some oil in the pan. Butter.

Roughly chop some fennel, leeks and onion.

Sweat that down in there.

Throw in a huge heap of smoked haddock. Some water.

Boil that for 20 minutes.

Now we strain that off.

And that's the broth we use for the basis of the creamy lovely potato soup.

I love Scotland because you have the saying

that the weather is possibly changeable.

-I must say...

-One minute it's shining bright and lovely.

The next minute it's pelting down with rain and you're holding on to your tent.

Fennel's really good.

It's an interesting vegetable which is very aniseed-y.

Smell that.

Lovely, isn't it? You can have that braised.

But we want an underlying flavour of aniseed in the broth.

With the haddock-y flavours, it shouldn't come through too much.

Right, that's getting soft. Chuck in the wine. We need to boil this

and boil the alcohol off.

Not because of the alcohol, it's because of the taste.

This is wonderful.

Natural smoked haddock.

Chunks of this lovely fillet.

Remember, this isn't the soup, this is the broth that makes our luxurious soup luxurious.

It's going to be great.

Right now, top up with boiling water.

We are going to simmer this for 20 minutes.

And we'll be left with a pan of bits with some wonderful broth.

We are going to strain this. Then we've got the base for the Cullen skink.

A-ha! Oh no!

You might smell of haddock a bit, but you'll be all right.

The roof on the kitchen is leaking!

No, you better do that bit...!

So first off, there's more sweating.

The sweating down of shallots, garlic and leek.

Butter. If you put a bit of oil in with the butter,

it stops the butter burning.

The leeks go in here in the sweaty pan.

Now this scum, we skim.

Do you have garlic in your Cullen skink?

ALL: No.

No?

We think it does go with the smoky fish and the potatoes. Trust us.

-Just a couple, maybe two or three?

-Two?

-Two.

Look at that lady's face. You're not happy, are you?

We've got the broth bubbling away.

We have the leeks, shallots and some garlic.

That's sweating away.

Here, we've got a pan of potatoes.

Now these are potatoes that have been parboiled in their skins.

The next step is to skin the potatoes...

MURMURS IN THE AUDIENCE

-Tatties.

-Tatties.

-Tatties.

We've got a pan of tatties.

And the tatties have been parboiled.

What we do now is peel them and dice them.

And they're parboiled tatties,

because if we didn't parboil them, we'd have lumps of rock in the soup.

I wish I had a hairnet.

Just give this a stir.

This mustn't burn cos it's a white soup.

20 minutes, the broth's ready.

The leeks and garlic and shallots, they're ready.

Now, we need to strain that broth into that pan.

We don't want any bad bits, it's going to be a clear broth. So we've got...

It's windy here, isn't it?

No!

We've got a muslin cloth to strain it through.

You're sure you trust me with this pan of boiling broth?

Ooh...

-That's fine.

-Is that all right?

-Yes.

It's going over the back of my hand.

Oh, look at the chefs perks on the end of that!

What you have to do is now gather that cloth together

and squeeze it to get all the goodness out.

Look at that. No flavours are wasted, this is proper broth.

-I think that's about it.

-Lovely. Nice one, mate.

That's a really clear broth.

It's ready now for the potatoes and the smoked haddock.

Oh sorry, tatties!

I'm flinging my tatties into my broth.

I think haddock is better than cod.

-Yes.

-That's got to simmer now for about 10 minutes.

-Is it always this cold in Elgin?

-ALL: Yes!

-The soup has simmered away.

-It's simmered and souped!

Just skim the scum.

Scum skimming!

Some people who have their Cullen skink really creamy and thin.

Some people have it lumpy. Ours is in between.

But one thing you have to have is cream.

-And what's this, ladies and gentlemen?

-ALL: Cream!

You know, you're marvellous!

-And this is a hand blender.

-Turn on.

-One, two, three...

-WHIRRING

If you use a food processor,

you will puree the whole thing to a cream, like a cream soup.

I think the Cullen skink wants some bits in it, don't you?

-Yeah.

-Chunky.

Look at that. It's all skinked!

Oh... Oh, matron!

The next thing to do is to check your seasoning.

Oh, season check, oh yes.

Yeah, that's really good.

Pepper.

Scots like salt, don't you?

-< No.

-No?

< Yes.

Oh, I wish you'd make your minds up.

It's really good.

And it's worth making that broth.

-He's not wrong.

-It's time to serve up.

Remember the amount of fish that went in there.

Just a little nip of freshly grated nutmeg. Look at that.

-The hairy biker's Cullen skink!

-CHEERING

Cullen skink is the perfect way to celebrate Moray's fantastic smoked haddock.

Time to find out what the local experts make of it.

The taste test. Our Cullen skink.

-Mm, beautiful.

-Very nice.

Yes. It's lovely. Really tasty.

-Nice and smoky.

-Do you think we passed?

-Mmm. Very nice.

-Gorgeous soup.

-It's really nice.

Do you like Cullen skink? Have you had it before?

No. It's brand new, but it's nice.

-It's brand new!

-THEY LAUGH

We both love garlic, so I can taste it.

-Really taste it.

-Mmm.

Do you want some bread?

You know, we have a Burns night ceilidh, you know, with the haggis.

And soups, I'm going to make this.

You could have a Cullen skink as a starter before you pipe the haggis in.

Look at that.

-You can't dip into somebody's...

-Oh!

Our version of Cullen skink seems to have gone down well, in spite of the garlic.

Next, a bigger challenge is just around the corner.

We're taking on one of the county's top chefs in their restaurant,

using local ingredients to see who can best define the taste of the region.

It will be up to local diners to decide whose dish

best represents the true flavours of Moray. Our opponent today is...

Chris Morrison, head chef of the Mansfield Hotel in Speyside.

29-year-old Chris is a local lad.

Not only has he spent his life in the county of Moray,

he is truly dedicated to showing off

exactly what the county's larder has to offer.

I've been cooking for 15 years.

I started in a local hotel just five minutes down the road.

I basically came here in 2004

as junior sous chef.

I was promoted to sous chef within a month.

And I've just been head chef now for a year.

Local suppliers, it's pretty important for us to use them

because the quality of their produce in Moray is outstanding.

It helps me create a great menu.

I use Bill at Lossie Fish Shop, that's where I get my halibut,

langoustine, haddock, smoked haddock.

I've got the Fruit And Veg Shed which is five minutes from the road.

Local butchers, I use two. I use one for venison and lamb.

And I use a local butcher in Lossiemouth.

I get my sausages, black pudding, haggis. It's all that day fresh.

It's not been sitting around in the back of a lorry.

To take on the bikers, my taste of Moray is locally caught halibut

with langoustine tails, smoked haddock in pea risotto with shellfish froth.

-Hello, I'm Dave.

-How are you doing?

-Pleased to meet you.

-Chris, how you? Pleased to meet you.

Thank you for having us up here.

Dude, headline your dish, man.

Grilled fillet of halibut, just came in this morning, with langoustine tails.

Smoked haddock and pea risotto. And a lobster froth.

-That fish is magnificent.

-It is.

Dude, it's a whale!

You do all your own butchery and filleting of fish?

All our own. We buy whole cuts of meat and whole fish.

We all do it ourselves.

-Do you enjoy that?

-It's much better.

Oh my goodness, look at that, man.

In the restaurant, Chris, how many would that fish feed?

35, possibly 40, depending on the thickness. It's pretty thick.

-That's 30 dinners on the bone.

-I mean, it's just immense.

Look, look down.

How beautiful it is that?

Prep my langoustines so I can get the bisque on for it.

I'll take the tail off.

-Can I give you a hand with that?

-Yes, please, you can give me a hand.

-Oh, these are immense.

-..Out the back. OK.

I'll get my pan on and make the bisque.

In a frying pan, some olive oil,

a little bit of butter. Then we'll put some fennel, carrots,

onion, thyme, a little bit of bay.

That'll be a mirapois.

These will go in here now. And it will be put on to boil.

Then sweat off, try and get as much flavour out of that as possible.

So it's going to be boiled for round about an hour.

Shells in, the absolute whack.

Everything, absolutely everything, no waste.

So, Chris, your bisque's on the bubble.

-Yep.

-What are we going to do to finish that off?

Add some tomato puree.

-That's one for yourselves to try. Cheers.

-Good health.

-That's very nice whisky.

-Very nice one, that one.

-Cor.

I'm just going to finish it off with some lobster stock.

-What's next now?

-We'll start the risotto.

-Perfect.

-Because the rice is going to need plenty of time to cook.

So in this pan here I'll put some more butter and some more olive oil.

Shallots going in now?

Heat it up for a couple of seconds.

Now, I'll throw in my arborio rice, a little bit of salt, pepper.

Add a drop of white wine in here, as well.

Plenty of white wine.

For the taste there, just to enhance the flavours.

Now that's reduced, I'll add a little bit of hot water

at a time so the rice doesn't stop cooking.

It stays at the same temperature basically all the time.

One of the top tips for the risotto is always add either hot stock,

hot broth or hot water to it.

Don't keep cooling it down with cold, because the rice won't cook properly.

The bisque's on the go.

We are going to prep some of the haddock to get the centre bones out.

Now that's proper smoked haddock, isn't it?

-It's a nice colour, not dyed.

-Definitely.

It's done five miles down the road. It was done last night.

Dice this up, not too small cos it won't take long to cook at all.

That will go in with the peas that I podded this morning.

Next, we season up the halibut.

-Bit of salt, pepper, a bit of olive oil.

-Ooh.

-They're like breeze blocks!

-Loads of black pepper.

-You've put the oil on the fish, not in the pan?

-Not on the pan, no.

I was shown that by the executive chef from the Ritz.

-You never stop learning with cooking, do you?

-No.

Skin-side down first.

That bisque is looking good. It's getting more and more intense.

It's getting deeper and deeper.

Really big. A couple of minutes on that side.

And basically just leave it under the grill

and it will cook away slowly, very slowly.

You're giving that under the grill skin-side?

Skin-side up to protect the meat on the other side so it doesn't dry out.

And you're doing that with the langoustine meat, as well.

Because the langoustines don't take so long to cook. It will cook evenly.

-It's just a grill on the langoustine?

-Very slowly grill it.

-Brilliant.

-What happens next, Chris?

-A little touch more water in there.

-Right.

-And add the smoked haddock.

-There you are, mate.

-Thank you.

The smoked haddock just needs warming through, doesn't it? You could eat it raw.

Yeah. Just a tiny little bit of cooking it needs.

It's going to flake apart. It's going to give the rice a strong flavour.

Is your fish all right? It's sizzling away.

Just about there.

I'll add the peas to this.

Just finish this risotto by adding a little drop of Parmesan in there.

It's important to say that your Parmesan is just before serving.

It is, just before otherwise the fat comes out of it

and it ends up making it all greasy.

Strain the bisque. Once the foam is ready, it's time to plate up.

Oh, it smells divine.

I'm with you, Chris, I'm with you!

Has that lobster just been poached?

Just cold water brought to the boil, a couple of minutes, turned off.

-Is this chervil? Oh, yes.

-Ah, yes.

That does finish it off nicely. Headline your dish for us.

Grilled fillet of halibut with langoustine tails, smoked haddock pea risotto, lobster bisque.

It looks lovely.

It looks great.

That fish is so full of flavour.

The langoustines, perfectly cooked.

The risotto gives it a wonderful smoky flavour on the fish.

-All very very subtle.

-The lobster's nice cos it's sweet.

-Sweetness counteracts with the smokiness in the risotto.

-Very good.

I think whatever we do, it'll have to be fish, hasn't it?

It's all very well what we think, but the real judges are the locals

who will decide whose dish is best.

You know, that's where Chris got his plate of food, from the sea.

We should do the same.

There's one thing he never did though, and that's the king of fish.

-The salmon!

-Let's do a tribute to salmon in all its glory.

-That's a proper Moray and Speyside on a plate.

-Yes.

Yes!

The River Spey lays claim to some of the best salmon fishing in the world.

One of the prime stretches is on Ballindalloch Estate.

Luckily, we have been invited along to have a go for ourselves.

-It is absolutely breathtaking, isn't it?

-It's gorgeous.

What a beautiful building.

This is what I call fishing.

Good grief.

I don't think we're dressed proper.

Welcome to Ballindalloch.

-Hello.

-Lovely to see you.

-Thank you for having us.

Not at all, it's a pleasure.

-How long have you lived here?

-Well, over 450 years.

-Good grief, you're looking well on it!

-Thank you.

-Fantastic.

-What a beautiful house in a beautiful setting.

-Gorgeous.

-It's fantastic.

It's had the family living in it since 1465.

-And I think I'm the 22nd generation to live here of the family.

-Wow.

You have a remarkable stretch of salmon fishing.

-We hope you're going to catch some salmon, say I.

-Madam, should we try?

Yes, please.

Oh, wow!

-Thank you so much. Not at all.

-Really.

Well, we must get going. You've got to catch some fish. I'll get Steve Brand.

-Hello, Steve.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Hello, how are you? Nice to see you.

Let's get you some waders on, shall we?

-Thanks, Steve.

-And get you into the river.

-It doesn't get any better, does it?

-No, no.

There we are, gents, this is the Junction Pool.

-Good grief.

-Where the two rivers meet.

-Shall I take one of you to the top of the pool to start with?

-Go on, Dave, go on.

Dave is going to the top of the pool

because what you do when salmon fishing,

you fish separately but on the same beat, you see.

A beat is a stretch of river.

It's all very exciting.

We'll show you a single spey to start with.

The wind's coming upstream, so we'll try to blow the fly above us so we don't catch ourselves.

-You hold the top of the cork, so use the tip of the rod.

-Yep.

-Right hand in the centre.

Keep it right in the centre of your chest all the time.

You bring the rod tip up, drop it a couple of inches

as you swing your body around to form the loop.

-Then you stroke it forward.

-Yep.

Then point the rod at the line all the way around.

-This is when the fish will take.

-Right.

-Hand at the top of the rod.

So it's up, swing it round,

form your loop and stroke it forward.

That's it, let it come.

We just need the skip to fly back.

Come on, Kingy. You've gotta get in now.

It's heaven!

Well, tight lines. I'll go and get the other rod started.

-Thanks for your help.

-You're welcome.

Swing it round...

Stroke it forward.

-Well done. That's good.

-Nice.

I've fished for over 30 years,

but the Junction Pool on the Spey,

it's like being given the keys to the sweet shop.

Y'know, the fish are here.

It's just up to me whether I can get them out and get my tea.

This is a fisherman's dream.

How are you getting on, dude?

-Have you had any nibbles?

-I've had one tug.

Yeah, so have I.

Steve, how many fish come out of this river? Cos it's a popular river, isn't it?

Well, last year the Spey catchment took 11,500 fish...

-Wow.

-..Of which we put back 72%.

-Right.

-So the spawn for the year after.

-That's sustainable fishing.

-Absolutely, yes.

What is it about the salmon fly that's different?

The salmon don't feed when they come into the river system.

Really they're run by testosterone, and they're losing their body weight as they come up,

-and the whole body of the animal's changing.

-Yes.

So they get very aggressive.

-Yeah.

-So basically, we're just trying to annoy them

with this size of fly.

-They colour up, get very aggressive, and then get ready to spawn.

-Yes.

Is this a good spot, Steve?

It's a good spot. They usually hold just below us.

-There's a formation of rocks just in here.

-Yeah.

It's good. Casting well.

I'm feeling lovely and relaxed. It's great!

Kingy?

How are you doing?

I think they're having the day off, mate!

Fishing can be so frustrating.

You wait around for hours, and then all of a sudden...

This is a big fish.

Raise him up.

BLEEP

-False alarm, gents. I think.

-False alarm?! I think I've got him!

I had the neck and everything!

Oh, tough luck, mate.

Come on, come and have a cup of tea and a sandwich. Come on.

Away, Gandalf.

Oh, man.

-Plus, we've got salmon out of packets in these baps.

-I know.

-Great having a dilly, in't it?

-Yeah.

We can eat baps while Steve carries on fishing.

Steve?

You wouldn't by any chance happen to have a salmon in the fridge?

Caught one this morning for you, just in case you didn't catch one.

I see. Class act.

To have a salmon from the Spey, like this, to cook. What a privilege.

There we are.

-Yes!

-A 2.5lb sea trout and a 10lb salmon.

I'll bag 'em up for you and take 'em off to you for your cooking.

We didn't catch fish, but it was one of the best days' fishing of our lives. Thank you, Steve.

-Thanks, mate. Privileged to be here.

-Magic!

We'll cook Steve's magnificent wild salmon and sea trout with a potato galette and puy lentils.

But there's another export of Moray that's world famous,

and it's this special flavour that will give our dish the edge against Chris.

Lossie Seafoods have been specialising in quality smoked salmon for three generations.

But in the last six years, their business has grown massively.

Their salmon is in demand all over the world but only available in exclusive international locations -

the world's best hotels, delis and restaurants. John Cowe is showing us round.

-Your family's been doing this for a long time.

-Yes.

In those days it was in Lossiemouth, and wild salmon from the River Spey.

I used to watch my dad and my grandfather before that when I was just so high

smoking in old-fashioned, traditional kilns,

and really tall buildings, tar running down the sides.

-Obviously it gave it the flavour as well.

-Yeah.

That's where I learned my trade.

What you have here is 4-5kg fish from the Shetland Islands.

They've been ready filleted, trimmed fillets, so that they're fully trimmed, hand-salted.

They're left for approximately six to eight hours.

-That's not very long for curing fish.

-It's not very long, no.

A salmon will only take the salt it actually wants to take.

-Is the salt there to draw out the water?

-It draws out the moisture.

We lose about 3% in the salting process.

We lose a further 8% or 9% in the smoking process.

So what happens once the fish has been cured, John?

Then we wash the excess salt off, then we leave them to dry naturally

in the chill for another twelve hours.

Here is the curing chill.

We process approximately 1,600 sides per 24 hours.

-Wow!

-In the process,

although we cure in the old-fashioned, traditional way,

the smoking is done with modern technology, with computers,

so that it's got the proper heat, the proper air, the proper flow.

You need consistency to make sure that every bit of salmon is as good as the last.

Absolutely, and that's what we try to do here each and every time.

This is the post-smoke chill.

Once the salmon have smoked, this is where we hold them.

We try at all times to leave the fish for at least 24 hours

before we further process, so the fish can settle and mature.

If you process the salmon too soon after smoking,

you'll find the oil pouring out of the fish.

-It's true.

-You don't want that.

Some packets of cheap smoked salmon you get, they have rivulets of oil around the packet.

-Yeah, that's because it's been smoked too quickly.

-Right.

Just taking all the excess brown meat away from the fillet -

any excess skin, excess fat,

so that what you have there is 100% red meat.

-About as good as you get, isn't it?

-It's as good as you'll get.

-Fabulous.

What she's doing here is spraying the packs of salmon

with Glenfarclas 12-year-old whisky.

-You spray the salmon so it marinates in the packet.

-Yes.

-If you open the packet, that's the smell of Scotland.

-That's right. The best.

-Wonderful.

-I want to taste it.

-Please!

What's that?

This is the one you saw being made in the factory.

This is fillet royale, cut in tsar style.

How posh is that?

Absolutely gorgeous.

Fills your mouth with that creaminess that you only get from really brilliant salmon.

-Very smooth taste.

-Smooth. Mmm.

Is it right that you should only have smoked salmon at room temperature,

never straight from the fridge?

-It should be at room temperature.

-What have we got here?

-This is our caviar quality blue label.

That definitely has a better texture.

That is fantastic smoked salmon.

I love the fact that it's a global product,

and it's taking on the best in the world and winning.

We're going to do a wild Spey salmon

dressed with citrus and fine herbs, served on a bed of lentils...

And honey-roasted sea trout, served on a potato galette.

A smoked salmon Scotch quail's egg.

And the finest smoked salmon money can buy, served with a micro salad.

But will the local diners think our dish is good enough to beat Chris's in the blind tasting?

More like your halibut.

-That was amazing fish. This is an amazing fish too.

-Bit small.

Bit small?!

It's massive, that, dude! Listen, up north we'd call that Moby Dick.

-It's huge.

-Let's get the meat off.

Oh, yes.

Oh, look at that, man.

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Imagine where this creature's been.

-I can't resist.

-Thousands of miles.

-Unreal.

-Unreal.

Will you pin bone that for us?

-No worries.

-Then we'll just get four nice parts off there.

What happens is when you cut the fillets, you get...

little bones in them, like that. That's what you don't want to eat.

We're going to do this honey roast.

But really, got to be so delicate.

-They're as rare as hens' teeth, wild sea trout.

-Definitely.

-Look at the colour of that sea trout.

-Oh, wow.

Oh, as foodstuff goes, it's heaven.

Skin the fish. Just take the skin there, hold it with the knife flat and slide it down.

As you see, I want to leave as little flesh on the skin as I can.

There we go.

I'll see if this works.

-Are you frightened yet?

-No!

That's a nice one.

Shall I go and wash these? You have a wipe down.

Just gently, and dry them.

I'm going to get the lentils on. We've got about 750ml of water.

They'll be on for about ten minutes, just to let the lentils go slightly soft.

We're doing the wild salmon, it's like a herb and citrus crust.

It needs to be marinated in that for about 20 minutes, but very delicately.

I've got three herbs going on here, parsley, chives and tarragon,

and the zest of about half a lemon.

-Really pungent.

-Squeeze of lemon juice, about a teaspoon.

Teaspoon of sugar. Glug of olive oil.

Lastly, some salt and pepper.

-I'll get them quails' eggs on.

-Yep.

I've put some nicks on the back of the salmon. That's to stop it curling up.

It's also so that the herbs can penetrate the skin.

Put a bit on there like that.

Just rub it in.

We leave those to marinate now for 20 minutes or so. How are you getting on with the eggs?

Just put them in now.

We want the Scotch eggs to be just slightly soft on the inside.

Exactly two minutes, bang, straight into ice cold water.

That's what we need, to stop them cooking.

OK. That's the lentils, 15 minutes, halfway through cooking.

What we're going to add is the carrot, the onion,

the celery,

and sprigs of thyme and some garlic.

And then give it a stir.

-Let it go another 15 minutes, and we should be there.

-Brill.

This is the outer casing for the Scotch egg.

Kingy's got the quail's egg, which has been softly boiled, he'll have to peel.

Smoked salmon's gone in there. Some breadcrumbs.

This is a shallot that's been cooked a bit.

We want an egg yolk in this, cos it's going to help bind it all together.

About a teaspoon of lemon juice, not a lot.

I've got some chervil, some dill, some chives

and some parsley, all good herbs that go with salmon.

This is time-consuming, peeling a soft quail's egg.

Take that over and just blitz it down.

Look at that, reduced to atoms in an instant. That's just the job.

Look at that.

We're quiet this end, dude, cos it's concentration time.

-How many have you got out?

-Three.

-We need six.

-I know.

-It's going all right, then.

Nowt wrong with them.

I reckon if I bring that up carefully,

roll it up,

I can make a lovely... Look at that, a smoked salmon duvet.

-Lush, man.

-You'll have these on the menu before long.

As long as you make them for me.

I've got the galette potatoes to do now, man.

I wondered why you were relaxing. And now for the mandolin.

Want to get that perfect round out of that potato.

Go, Kingy. What about that? That's about the right size, isn't it?

It's mint. Keep them coming.

-Are we in a state of happy readiness?

-We are.

Cover it with that, so they don't crisp off.

Put that in the oven, 180, for about 25 minutes

until they're crispy and golden.

Last thing to do is to make the honey dressing

for the honey roast sea trout. So we've got some honey.

Oh, yes.

That's some chopped chives.

Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar goes in there.

And the zest of half a lime.

That's the honey glaze for the honey roasted sea trout.

Scotch eggs need finishing.

They need dipping in flour, egg, rolling in sesame seeds.

Roll it in the flour. Roll it in Mr Egg.

And toss it in the sesame seeds.

Why do you use sesame seeds instead of maybe oats, or...?

Because I like sesame seeds.

When they fry they toast. It'll be nice with the salmon.

Stick 'em back in the fridge for a bit, just to firm up.

At this point, we can get this ready for the oven too.

What we do with this is paint the sea trout on both sides

with the honey and citrus.

-I reckon this honey's going to stick to that.

-You know what we need?

-He's brilliant!

-He's good, isn't he?

Good lad. I've always liked him.

-I don't care what everybody else says about him, I like him.

-He's brilliant.

-There's heat in the pan.

-Mr Fish goes in flesh side down.

Healthy sizzle.

Right, now the secret now is not to touch it until it's caramelised slightly,

so you're not going to tear the meat as we turn it over.

Because we slashed the skin, note it's not going curly.

It's staying flat.

Now we simply place the fish in the bottom of the oven with the galettes.

And Mr Fish

will just sizzle away nicely, not too much. Look at that.

It looks just like a recipe book, doesn't it?

-I'm nervous about these eggs.

-You're not the only one.

-Ready?

Put this under, Dave. These can be cooking.

Meanwhile, we'll slice the fillet.

It's a different cut to regular salmon.

How are the Scotch eggs, Kingy?

-They're coming out.

-They look bonza.

That's done, isn't it? Lovely.

-And they're done-did too.

-They're done-did?

Salad dressing's dead easy.

Lemon juice, rapeseed oil.

Look at that.

That's super-duper, canary yellow salad dressing.

Little bit of micro salad here.

You put this on the top, and people think you smell of roses.

Ah-ha-ha!

They're hot, them. Potato galette.

-Look at that. Holy moly.

-I'm going to halve the Scotch eggs.

Look at that!

Bloomin' heck. I've dropped one.

Go slowly with it.

Yes. That one.

Now, drizzle of this.

Twist of black pepper on the salmon.

That is our tribute to Moray.

We have a wild Speyside salmon,

with a citrus and herb crust on a bed of lentils...

With a honey grilled sea trout served on a galette potato...

And a smoked salmon Scotch quail's egg...

And the finest, finest tsar cut smoked salmon you can buy.

What do you reckon, chef? Get stuck in.

Scotch egg.

-Very nice.

-Very nice?

Try the sea trout and the potato galette, a marriage made in heaven.

Very nice.

It's all we're going to get out of him, isn't it?

The wild salmon with the herbs, the citrus and the lentils.

Really good, aye. I said I'd change it.

Saved by a sentence.

I like the egg better. The egg's magic.

It's the moment of truth.

The diners will taste both dishes, but without any idea of who cooked which.

First up, is Chris's grilled fillet of halibut and langoustine tails,

with smoked haddock risotto and a lobster foam.

Melts in your mouth. It's beautiful.

I think the risotto is very nicely cooked.

You just wanted to tuck right in and finish the whole plate.

You could taste the sea, almost, through the whole dish.

I have to say, I thought the fish had been a bit overcooked.

The halibut was beautiful, had a very delicate flavour to it.

I thought it was moist. For me, scrumptious.

I thought the langoustines looked better than they tasted.

Particularly liked the sauce.

It was very intense, absolutely beautiful.

The only thing maybe I would have done differently

would be to put something with a bit of crunch on the plate.

'That proved very popular. Time to find out how our dish stands up'.

-Delicious.

-Presentation was just fabulous.

The colours, just everything on the plate was, "Come eat me".

As it went on the table, our jaws all dropped. It looked spectacular.

I think probably the flavours did get a bit confused.

For me, there were too many things on the plate.

I've never had quail Scotch egg.

That was amazing.

I wish there was a whole plate of them. They were fantastic.

I am a sucker for smoked salmon, and that was excellent smoked salmon.

Maybe the potato galette underneath was a bit unnecessary with the lentils.

We've got all these lovely things on our doorstep, and we're very lucky.

Thank you for coming. We've had a wonderful time here.

The motorcycling here is just heaven, isn't it?

I absolutely love it. It's very close to both of our hearts.

It is. The food, the people, the country, you can't whack it.

This man's no exception.

Right. Could I have a clear show of hands, please, for the halibut?

One, two.

Thank you very much. The salmon.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Thank you very much indeed.

The halibut was Chris's, and the salmon was David and I's.

Thank you very much.

Lastly, all that remains is to thank Chris for having us in the restaurant.

Thank you very much.

-We've had a great time.

-Thanks, mate.

-And thank you to Moray for giving us such a wonderful time.

-Top drawer.

Thanks very much.

'Steve's sea trout and wild salmon were a winning combination.

'Thank goodness he managed to catch them for us.'

Moray has so much stunning food, incredible countryside

and welcoming people, it's definitely worth the journey.

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