Family Favourites The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best

Here we go again, Si, off on our next culinary adventure.

Rock on dude, this one's going to be a good 'un, I can feel it in my wheel nuts.

This voyage of discovery is really important too cos we're on a mission

to save Britain's best family recipes from being lost for all time.

Yeah, dude, we need to make sure that those home-cooked dishes

that have sustained people for generations are saved for the nation.

And you've got another generation coming on now that are enjoying those dishes.

It's a legacy, something that's going to go on.

Since the first ready meals appeared in the 60s, families in Britain are cooking less.

It would be a tragedy if we lost those classic recipes cooked by our mams and their mams before them.

Well, we're not going to let it happen, Si. No. We're going to meet mums all over the country.

And persuade them to open their cookbooks and share their best recipes with the rest of us.

And then we'll get them along to our Mums Know Best Recipe Fair

where they'll be able to swap their recipes with each other.

Welcome to Mums Know Best - our exploration into the heritage that is British home-cooked food.

-Ah, we love exploring, don't we, Kingy?

-We do, man!

We do. Back there, there's nearly 200 mothers all exploring each other's recipe books.

And from our adventures in Scotland, we've got three mums for you to meet later on.

You know what I love about our Recipe Fairs, Dave? There's loads of awesome home-cooked food for us to snaffle.

But, Si, it's the stories behind the recipes that are as important as the food itself.

That's where Gerard, our food historian, comes in.

There's a hushed silence. People are waiting to see what's in it.

All the much loved, home-cooked recipes you see

will be on the Mums Know Best website for you to cook at home.

Cos we reckon that when it comes to great home cooking, mums really do know best.

Today's fair is about family favourites.

It's about those recipes that are loved and cherished by families all around the country.

Meals that become a unique part of the family's culture, the recipes that bind a family together.

And today is about sharing those family jewels.

We're going to be visiting three mums around the country who will cook us their family's favourite recipes

some of them common, some of them less predictable!

So here we go, our Mums Know Best exploration into family favourites.

We had loads of mums get in touch to tell us about their special recipes, but we had

such fantastic ones from Scotland that we decided

to kickstart our culinary exploration north of the border.

We were on the look out for a mum whose recipes

have become family favourites down through the generations.

Just outside Glasgow, we heard from Maureen and her son, Barry.

Maureen's family have been nurtured on her simple but loving recipes, and her food is now

as popular with her grandkids as it was with a young Barry.

She's a perfect mum to kick off our family favourites investigation.

Nice to see you. How you doing?

-All right?

-We've brought the weather.

-You certainly have.

-Cuppa? Come on.

Now, Maureen's going to be cooking for us. Eating with us later will be

Barry, Maureen's husband Brian, their grown-up daughter Elaine and the grandkids Georgia and Alexis.

Who's this, Maureen?

-Where are you?

-There.

That very slim lady is me.

41 years ago.

-Who's this?

-That's my mum and dad on their wedding day.

That would be what, 1940s?

-1943.

-Do you have any memories of food that

your mum used to cook for you when you were little - your favourites?

Yeah, I remember cheese pie which was always one of our favourites.

Before we arrived, Maureen had made us one of her mum's cheese pies.

It's a simple recipe, layers of mashed potato and strong Cheddar

cheese with breadcrumbs and more grated cheese on the top.

So, has that been handed down, your recipe?

Yes. It was my gran's recipe.

-Oh, it smells wonderful.

-It's lovely, isn't it?

-You temptress!

-I've not been called that before.

I've never seen your cheese pie before, have I? That's why, you know!

How often would you cook this, Maureen?

Probably once a week. But definitely after the kids have been ill.

That was their getting better food.

What's lovely about it is, there's a care to it. It's not bought.

-You can buy that but that's not the point.

-You can't buy that.

-You can't.

-That's my cheese pie.

Exactly, exactly. And it's your kids'.

And it belongs to your family.

And that's so special.

I've got a family recipe for Rumpy Pumpy Soup.

Why do you call it Rumpy Pumpy Soup?

My dad started it off by calling it that. Because of the detrimental effect it has on your system.

-Pump?

-Mm-hm.

Maureen's wind-producing soup has root vegetables and lentils cooked down with a ham hock.

-That's the hock.

-That's the hock.

I would put that in and just let it heat through.

When the children were small, they didn't like the ham in the soup so I used to make sandwiches

separately for the adults and the children had liquidised soup.

There was one more recipe that Maureen really wanted to show us, one that had grown up with her kids.

What are you going to cook now, Maureen?

-We're going to cook beany mince.

-Beany mince?

-Yeah.

That sounds a bit pumpy as well.

A common theme in our family.

A lot of methane produced. You could make a turbine go round, your family.

'Maureen taught all her kids to cook beany mince, but now it was my turn.

'I have a feeling I'm going to get bossed around.'

Do you put oil in? I don't.

-Don't you?

-No. Non-stick pan.

You don't need oil, not with mince, cos of the fat in the mince.

I'll be a minute. Shurrup!

Is he quite slow, usually?

He's part of that slow food movement.

I just think he's a bit kind of slow.

If I can't cook mince at this point after five years, I'm in serious trouble, aren't I?

Where did this recipe come from?

It was another one of my mum's recipes. The next recipe

I'm going to show you, though, shall we say the progression from beany mince, is my own.

Maureen is splitting the mince to make two recipes - her chilli for

the adults but first her beany mince for the kids.

-For beany mince, we need carrots and turnip.

-Now, viewers, what's that?

Beans. What's that? Beans.

These are beans for the chilli and these are beans for the beany mince.

So the beany mince beans go in that pan there with the beany mince vegetables.

-It's already been beany mincing. Do you want it all, madam?

-Yes, please.

Thank you.

-Tomato puree. How much, Madam?

-A generous zhhoo.

-A glass of red wine would be nice in it.

-This is for children!

You burn off the alcohol.

The other half of Maureen's mince is to become chilli for the adults.

-Right, who's on the chilli?

-Moi.

-Moi!

-Go on, dude. I'll tell you what, it's hell in there. It's hell!

-Tomatoes. Give it a stir.

-Yes, boss.

-Mr King.

-Yes, darling.

Would you please give me some garlic - two cloves of garlic.

-Do you want them crushed?

-Yes, please.

Thank you. On their way, love.

Right, we've got the mince,

the onions, tomatoes, garlic, stock cube and water. What's next, Maureen?

Now I would just add the kidney beans - the red kidney beans -

and about a teaspoonful of chilli flakes.

Having an alternative on the stove means that ingredients can go in that kids aren't so keen on.

-I would let that cook until the mince is well cooked.

-Then season.

-And then season.

-Right. Well done!

To test Nana's recipes, Granddad arrives with Georgia and Alexis.

I think it's your favourites as well. Rumpy Pumpy Soup.

Yes!

-Fabulous!

-Over here?

-There.

-There? Lovely, thank you.

Here we go.

'It's time for a proper family dinner.'

What's first, Maureen?

-First up is Alexis' favourite, Rumpy Pumpy Soup.

-ALL: Yeah!

-Do you like the taste or the effect?

-Hmm. Taste.

-A bit of both.

It must be great for you seeing the third generation enjoying the food that you enjoyed as a child.

-Yes. Would you pass that up, please?

-Yes, of course. There you are.

-And enjoying it.

-It's lovely. It's really tasty. Really hearty, Really healthy.

And it's really pumpy.

LAUGHTER

True family favourites like Maureen's are often just kept inside Mum's head, not written down.

It took a very long time to get the recipe out of Mum

because there wasn't really a recipe to start off with.

It was just a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

But it's just such an easy soup and the girls absolutely love it.

-'Their next family favourites are...'

-Beany Mince.

Nana's Chilli.

Right!

'Both Barry and Elaine have brought their own versions.'

Oh!

With a bit of zhoozh.

-Ah, you've got zhoozh.

-Zhoozh.

And Mummy's chilli.

So, you've all done versions of your Mum's food.

And this, I've got to keep away from Elaine because this is her favourite.

-It's cheese pie, is it?

-It's cheese pie.

Oh, yes, look at that! Oh, man!

Cheese pie. It's fantastic, isn't it?

It is brilliant.

I start beany and work round that way.

It's the beany one.

It's nice. It's very sweet.

You can taste the turnip as well.

It's a great one for children.

-Oh, yeah.

-The chilli that Barry now makes is spicier than his mum's,

and zhoozhed up with lime and coriander, but Elaine's is a simpler mince, with fewer veggies.

I love that progression from all these. The beany mince is the birth of the children of the chilli.

-It's just great.

-It's like Darwin's stages of evolution, isn't it?

-It is, yeah.

-Then one day man walked.

Then one day, man came - Barry with some zhoozh!

LAUGHTER

How important is it to you that this is still evolving and this is still happening

and you've another generation coming on now that are enjoying those dishes?

Somehow it's how I express my love for my family.

The proof of it's on the table, Maureen.

-I hope so.

-We'd love to extend an invite to you.

We're having a recipe fair where hundreds of mums can get together, swap recipes...

We'd like you to show off your recipes. We're going to cook, we'd like you to cook with us.

We'd like the gang to come along and take part in this. Would you come?

Oh! Try to keep me away.

Ohh! Dear me!

Beany Mince, Cheesy Pie and Rumpy Pumpy Soup.

-It sounds like a nursery rhyme.

-I know! Simple recipes,

but it's the love she puts into them,

not the ingredients, that make them so special.

You know, family favourites don't have to be unique to your family.

There are certain meals that we all love, like fish and chips.

In the early 1800s, fried fish was a staple food of London's dockyard workers, whilst fried potatoes

were sold only in Irish potato shops popular up north. But in the 1860s, the first shop appeared in London

selling both together, our national treasure was born - fish and chips.

Any deep fried food, if it's got wrong, can be greasy, soggy and unhealthy.

It's the bad boy of cooking.

But that's not the case in this establishment.

Robert and his team get it right.

Robert's chippy has won more national awards for his fish and chips

than almost any other in Britain.

You can tell that by just looking at the queue!

Look at that fish! It's conclusive proof that fish and chips makes you gorgeous.

Keep going, keep going. We might get some more chips.

Salt and vinegar, lads?

-Oh, plenty.

-Plenty, please.

-Thank you very much.

I'll take a break and I'll come out and have a chat with you.

-Oh, brilliant! Thanks.

-That would be lush. Cheers, Robert.

Oh, look at these beauties!

-It is one of the best foodie treats in the world.

-Yeah, definitely.

-That's fresh.

-Whatever the fish, it needs to flake like that.

That's a sign of fresh fish.

But it's also a sign of perfect cooking technique. When it comes to deep frying...

When the fish are just about ready, the fat will be

expelled from the product so you get a less greasy product.

-Absolutely dry.

-Absolutely clean. Just beautiful.

The chips should be crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

That's exactly what these are.

Yeah. Food moments don't get much better, do they?

-It's quintessentially British.

-Yeah.

-You can't beat it.

If you don't have a quality chippy near you, you can still get great results at home.

Now, we were hoping to cook outside on the harbour but Robert warned us that rain was forecast.

Deep-fat frying in a torrential rainstorm doesn't mix.

We found out in Vietnam, didn't we?

We did. So, that's why we're in the RNLI lifeboat station in Anstruther.

Bit of a lesson. These have been soaked.

That is to take all the starch out, but the most important thing is a dry chip.

The deep fryer will want as little water as possible.

We need to get on to the oil.

We need good oil at the right temperature.

We're using vegetable oil because it's kind of commonly available, basically.

Our mams both used lard, didn't they?

-Yeah, beef dripping.

-Look at us! Haven't suffered.

-Fine specimens!

We're going to fry our chips twice - the double fry method.

The first frying is cooler at 130 degrees and cooks the chip through.

The second fry will be hotter to get them really good and crispy.

Just a gentle rumble. It's like a film star on that sun-lounger.

Rub some more cocoa butter on me, Vernon.

-That needs about ten minutes, just time to get the batter done.

-Great!

I've got plain flour, cornflour.

-Just mix that together. A spoonful of salt.

-Yeah.

That's my dry goods.

We're going to do a beer batter.

We've got a good Scottish bitter because we're in Scotland.

Adding a gassy liquid, whether beer or sparkling water, creates little

air bubbles in the batter and gets it super light and crispy when cooked.

Two tablespoons of vinegar.

My mam always said vinegar helps the batter crisp up.

Time to batter my batter. Give this a good whisk.

-How's the chips?

-All right. Ready to come out.

You can do this several hours before you need the chips. Lots of restaurants do the chips like this.

Similarly, you can prepare your batter about an hour in advance.

Like all batters, like Yorkshire pudding, tempura, it benefits by resting

as the flour expands and it settles down and it's going to be lovely.

I need to fry these chips again.

To do that, I need to increase the temperature. I'm going to increase it to about 175, 180.

While that's heating up, I'm going to douse my fish in seasoned flour ready for battering.

Dip it in flour first. Your batter will stick.

Sticky batter because you see it's just one of those elemental things.

You want the batter on your fish, not in the bottom of your deep-fat fryer.

-I reckon that will take four to five minutes.

-Shall I get the chips on?

-Yeah, go on.

Both our fryers at this stage are at the same temperature but, at home, with one fryer,

I cook the fish, then keep it warm in the oven while the chips fry.

We're going to put these back in for about three to four minutes.

-That's perfect. Look, it's perfect!

-Another five seconds, look!

The red hand goes to there, it's ready.

-Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh...

-You'd never concede it, would you?

Go on. Look at that!

They're done.

Look, I'm just rolling that chip to see if it will have any oil out.

Not a thing.

There we have it. The Hairy Bikers' mums know a thing or two fish and chips.

Some family favourites aren't so universally loved.

Surprising things get eaten behind closed doors. You'd never guess when you were just riding past!

We found Gameelah in Dundee.

She promised us that her family's favourite recipes were traditionally Scottish but with a twist.

So, you're here to see my granny's clootie dumpling and to cook some samosas. Yeah?

That's a bit of a cross-cultural thing.

-Wait till you eat it, it's wonderful.

-Fantastic!

-Come on then.

Cross-cultural, maybe that's a clue.

Gameelah lives with her husband, Richard, and her daughter, Marina,

but it's her parents who hold the key to her family's eating habits.

Let me show you some pictures.

So, this is a quick family history then.

Family history, yeah.

So, this is my dad.

He was in the Merchant Navy.

-He came to the UK in about 1967.

-Where from, Gameelah?

Yemen. He was born in Yemen. This is my grandmother in Yemen

and it's her samosas that we'll be making.

We have a Scottish twist to them as well.

-Who's that?

-That's my mother.

-So that's your mum.

So, your mum's a Scot and your dad's from Yemen. Got that.

So your mum's recipes is like a mixture of Yemeni and Scottish.

-Absolutely, yeah!

-It's Yottish!

First, Gameelah wanted to show us the Scottish side of her Yottishness.

Before we arrived she made up a mixture with fruit and suet and tied it all up in a sheet.

And after boiling for several hours, Gameelah sat it by the front room fire

to dry out, exactly as her Scottish granny did.

This is a clootie dumpling - just like what my granny

would have made but she used to make one three times this size.

My mum and all her brothers would have this for a birthday.

It's like a boiled fruit cake, isn't it? It's really lovely.

It's like Christmas pudding without the Christmas spices.

Samosas are the Yemeni side of Gameelah but with a Scottish twist.

This is the samosa ingredient you're probably familiar with - a spicy mince.

It's like a variation of mince and tatties but spicy. Here, a family favourite, is a haggis samosa.

That could be like a family signature dish, couldn't it?

You should try them. They're wonderful. Oh, yes!

So, the secret ingredient

we make our samosas with is tortillas because it's just...

We used to make it with the real samosa paper that you do get but,

actually, you know, these are easier and absolutely divine and wonderful.

Just get tortillas and it's really easy.

Mexican flour tortillas are available in every good

food shop but I've never seen them used like this.

Then about four fingers -

you want about four fingers width

and the same the other side.

And then these you don't need these again.

Find the middle, put your finger there and then fold it up into a triangle, OK.

And then fold the other side.

This just seals it - makes it stick.

So we just flick it up,

make it into a cone shape and then start adding your filling.

Like that and again

a little bit of egg yolk and fold it over.

Because what you're doing is turning it over, squashing it down to make sure it's a triangle.

-Are we starting a production line then?

-Who wants to go first then?

-You're nearest.

-Hang on, Kingy!

-There?

-No, no, no! No, what you want... Oh!

Halfway.

-Like that...

-No, no, no!

Not too full. No, not three.

-Top flap. Turn it over.

-And then just flatten it.

Aah!

Thank you very much. Thank you.

BOTH: A-one, a-two, a-one-two-three-four.

THEY HUM

With the wasted bits, you could slap your mate on the head with them.

-Shall we fill this one with haggis?

-Yeah, go on. I'll hold it.

This is a stroke of family genus, this.

They're fabulous. Perfect, perfect.

My dad's coming round later so we'll see if your samosas pass the test.

We deep fried our handcrafted samosas in oil.

They're doing great.

I know, I know. Wonderful!

It takes about five minutes for the tortilla wrapping to go crisp and golden.

When they were ready, Gameelah's parents, her husband and daughter join us for dinner.

OK, everybody just tuck in.

And there's another surprise family favourite on the table.

Gameelah, what's this surprise?

-Well, my dad wanted to cook a biryani for us all. So he's brought that.

-My style.

-Fantastic!

I'm going to try some of the biryani.

The biryani's great.

-Thank you, thank you.

-Which flavour have I got?

I hope it's haggis, I hope it's haggis.

I'm with you, I'm with you.

Mince. It's all right though.

Is it mince?

-It's haggis. Oh, yeah!

-Oh, you're lucky.

The samosas made from tortillas work a treat.

They are slightly more bready than traditional samosa wrappers but so easy and brilliant for kids.

Samosas are just so versatile.

The dumpling, you know, it's one of these things that's gone on for centuries, you know.

You want it to continue on, you know, for generation after generation.

-You're so lucky because your family favourites are very unique.

-Yeah.

And you've started something that you can pass on to Marina and hopefully go on to her children.

Gameelah, We'd like to offer you an invitation.

We're having this recipe fair - it's like a big gathering of hundreds of

mums to swap recipes and have a bit of a beano. Are you going to come?

-Yeah, I'd love to.

-Brilliant!

-That's great.

Gameelah has created family favourites

the next door neighbours would think bonkers,

but when you understand her background,

haggis samosas make perfect sense.

And, by heck, Si, they work as a tasty snack as well!

-I know, mate! I'm already thinking about inventing a Geordie pease pudding samosa myself!

-Whey-aye, Man!

Now, we're going to show you how to cook another family favourite.

But for some reason we all buy them!

It's all those comfort things.

Butter, warmth, fire, fork, family, heat.

The elements of a crumpet aren't just simply flour and various other bits, dude.

A crumpet is classless, isn't it?

Posh folks, "I'll just have a crumpet." Poor folks, "Oh, crumpets!"

-Young people...

-But there's many connotations to the word crumpet as well, isn't there?

A crumpet is a teatime savoury.

You know what I mean, viewers, but we will move on.

You start off with two parts strong flour, bread flour.

Because the crumpet's worth it, we're going to sieve the flour.

There's one part, it's like two to one, this is ordinary plain flour.

While you are sieving the living daylights out of that, I'm going to put

some milk on to warm through so it's tepid.

One teaspoon of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt.

The reason we want the milk warmed is to activate the yeast.

As the crumpet is a leavened batter, it's a living, breathing organism.

Right.

That's as tepid as it's going to get.

Make a well in the centre.

Beat vigorously for 4-5 minutes.

I always get these jobs.

I know, but you're good at them.

OK, so... Look at that.

We just need to set that aside somewhere draught free, like an airing cupboard,

for about 45 minutes to an hour until it's doubled in size.

We have a mixture that's been rising gently next to our knees.

That's a whopper, isn't it? 150 ml of tepid water.

To that we add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.

This is the fizz that gives the crumpet the whizz.

Bicarbonate of soda adds extra rising power to the mixture and, after being left for another half an hour,

should create little crumpety bubbles.

-You start to recognise, little bubbles and stuff.

-There's a bit of crumpet going on there.

The crumpet needs to be cooked in a ring, so you need to butter them otherwise your crumpet will stick.

What we do is take a good spoonful of the mixture.

These are going to need to cook for about 6-8 minutes.

-We will see something magical start to happen.

-It's waiting for the birth of a crumpet.

As it can see, the crumpets have started to go solid.

See the bubbles are coming?

If they don't quite happen, use a cocktail stick and have a little pop.

They are beautiful.

The holes are there, they have firmed up. Shall we give it a go?

-They are such a wonderful colour, aren't they?

-Beautiful.

All the tops need to do is to seal.

We are going to toast them again anyway with butter, honey, jam, Marmite.

# We're movers, we're shakers, we're big, fat crumpet makers. #

Do you remember I said just flour and water don't make a crumpet?

You need friends, a fire and lashings of butter and toppings.

-Young lady, are you ready for a buttering?

-That's so good.

How mega is that? Home-made crumpets are great, aren't they?

-These are the best crumpets in the world, aren't they?

-Definitely.

It's just so soft in the middle.

And crispy on the outside.

When you buy the ones in the shop, they bend, they are rubbery.

-These have lost that completely.

-It's worth making your own, isn't it?

-Totally.

-Especially if you've got a fire on the beach to toast them over.

Tearing ourselves away from the fireside, we set off in search of more family favourites.

There's something we have to explore while we are up here, Dave.

Afternoon tea. The Scottish are masters at it.

We've heard of one mum whose family favourite is baking fancy cakes.

Let's get ourselves invited in.

-They're outside already!

-Hi!

-Quick - lock the doors!

-I know, exactly!

-Hello, I'm Dave.

-I'm all greasy. Nice to meet you, Dave.

-Nice to meet you.

-I see you haven't been to any trouble.

Just the usual.

Aida, we discovered, is the baking queen.

Living in her palace is her husband Ken

and their kids Victoria, Antonia and John.

Cup of tea?

-Oh, yes!

-LAUGHTER

My earliest memories of a food and baking

was... I didn't have grandparents, but I had great-grandparents.

We'd get there and she would have the table set for afternoon tea.

That's what I've done today, made a nice afternoon tea.

It was clear what was going to be awesome.

Aida had already baked empire biscuits, lemon fudge cake,

a perfect looking cream sponge and magical butterfly cakes.

Who could resist joining in?

Icing sugar.

All over, nice and lightly.

Nice and delicate.

Now you're going to make a bran loaf, yes?

Baking is a very complicated business and it will take you

years to learn the precision that it takes to make this bran loaf.

She's pulling my leg!

All her bran loaf needs is one mug...other than me.

You need for this recipe four ingredients. A mug of oat bran, a mug of soft brown sugar,

a mug of mixed fruit, and that can be any you like, I just happen to like sultanas and cranberries.

And a mug of milk.

-I think I've put enough on, you can see it from space now.

-I'll just take that away from you!

You mix those together and leave that to soak all day or night.

Sometimes I soak it in the morning and pop it in the oven when I come home at night.

-How often do you bake?

-All the time. Can I say every day or is that a sin? I bake all the time.

Aida had been baking bran loaves all week so there was a mixture ready

for the next stage, which was simply adding a cup of self-raising flour.

I'll just pop that in the oven and we'll leave it for about an hour.

'Now Victoria and I get a chance to see whether the lemon fudge slices are edible.'

That's mega.

It's nice, isn't it?

-Dave gets a lesson in a good Scottish classic.

-What are we cooking, Aida?

We are about to make some Scottish tablet, very sweet and delicious.

Put 2lbs of sugar into that bowl for me.

Four ounces of butter in the pot.

-Creamed?

-No, just thrown in.

'Tablets have been made in Scotland for centuries. Nowadays, cooks like Aida

'add condensed milk but traditionally it was made by boiling down just cream and sugar.'

You boil it for about 20 minutes.

I'll show you some pictures on my phone. Cupcakes.

-Did you do these?

-Yes.

Vanilla cupcakes, vanilla icing.

Miniature apple pies, little apples on the top.

-Wow! I'm not trying to say you are all odd...

-SHE GIGGLES

..or completely obsessed by baking,

but mostly you'd have, like, family photographs,

-photographs of your dog and the cat.

-It's true.

Your holidays even! You have photographs of baking and cakes.

But it's not just one or two, there's hundreds.

There's lots of them. The cupcake queen, they call me.

-And all of this has been handed down from your mam?

-Yes. We always had baking on the go.

Shall we just check this bran loaf?

Perfect. Just take it out.

-You kind of knew it was going to be perfect, didn't you?

-I kind of did.

-Look at that.

-Smell it.

That's beautiful. I love it when a cake is split on the top like that.

-Was your mum a great cook, Aida?

-She was a great cook, she still is.

She's in her 70s now. It's a language, it's about who she is.

It's very much part of her life.

The tablet has been boiling for 20 minutes until it is just at setting point.

If you tap that tray slightly,

you'll see that it's already beginning to set on the top.

-Yeah, it's skinning.

-You've made tablet.

'Scottish high tea at Aida's.

'Her neighbours have been invited and her other children, John and Antonia.

'And what an assortment - a Victoria sponge with cream, rocky road, empire biscuits, fairy cakes...

'Oh, man!'

Dave's first tablet.

I'm chuffed for you.

My Aunty Hilda used to make this. This is one of our family favourites.

Millionaire's shortbread.

'You know, food is so often about theatre.

'With afternoon tea there is just something about seeing

'the care that has gone into these delicacies that just makes you laugh.'

Look at that.

'Dave, you are right.

'I just can't imagine a miserable afternoon tea, can you?

'It's just not possible.'

Have you got a cupcake?

I'm so pleased I'm fat!

LAUGHTER

What I love about the family favourites thing is you've obviously started something with the baking.

It's almost like a legacy, something that's going to go on.

Victoria has taken it on, I'm sure Antonia and your son...

It's fabulous.

It's just our culture, it's who we are, it's what we do.

You can tell half the community is fed by you as well, which I think is hysterical!

Do you know, we are having a giant recipe fair and we'd love you to be part of it and bring the gang.

-Would you come?

-I'd love to. I'm really keen to get people baking.

Simple, honest, everyday food.

You've been in my kitchen, you've seen I have a baking bowl and a spoon.

I have very little else. You don't need a lot to bake.

We want you to put together a list of equipment that you need to bake five of your cakes.

The ingredients and a price. Say, £25,

and we will publish the equipment list and everything on the website and recipes so everyone can share it.

-Can you do that for 25 quid?

-I'd do it for 20.

Ooh-ooh!

You've got a deal.

The nation awaits!

Aida's passion is reason enough to have her at the recipe fair.

But more cakes will be a right bonus!

So I reckon we have a great collection of mums now.

Maureen and her dishes surviving five generations and still going strong.

Gameelah's own brand of new cross-cultural inventions.

And Aida's baking extravaganza.

I think we've perfected our two family favourites that are on everybody's list.

Yeah, man, fish and chips and home-made fireside crumpets.

So I reckon we are all set for our family favourites recipe fair.

The big day has arrived and we have found a nice flat field

and sorted a traditional circus to set our tents up for us.

They will be the venues for our recipe fair.

Let's go!

Small step for man.

This is why it takes us ages to do anything.

I know, we really should just stick to what we're good at and leave the circus boys to put up the Big Top.

Dave and I are going to be cooking in that big top later.

And there are loads of other tops for our fair-going mums' recipe-sharing moments to unfold in.

This tent, when we've finished messing it up,

is going to be the home of Gerard, our food historian extraordinaire.

He's going to be collecting all the mums' recipes and delving into the stories behind them.

-Morning, ladies.

-Good morning.

'Dave, it's time to put our mums team together.

'I bet it's the first time they've ever been invited to cook in a field, Si.'

'Our mums team have their own tent, which is their cooking space for the day.'

Firstly...

..your Mums Know Best aprons.

Badge of office.

You mustn't forget that we have to put a banquet on for some local dignitaries in about five hours.

Maureen, we'd love you to cook your cheese pie. It was great.

-Good.

-Aida, whatever you fancy putting on a table.

-I'll go for it.

Gameelah, please could you make us a huge heap of your samosas.

-It's brilliant, it's a Yemeni-Scottish cross-fertilisation.

-It's perfect.

-Mm-hm.

We've got crumpets and fish and chips and a surprise.

Put it all together, it might be a bit of a jumble but it's going to be brilliant. Have fun!

'So with our special mums team installed in their caravan kitchen, it's time to open our recipe fair.'

Come on, there's people waiting!

Right. Madam, sir - come in. Come to me, those wonderful human beings that have brought food.

-What have you got?

-Parkin.

-Parkin!

'We asked our recipe fair-goers to bring recipes to share and even some cooked examples

'from their family favourites.'

-Put your nose in there, lad.

-Oh, my Gawd!

It's going to be a space for people to celebrate food.

'Yeah, it's going to be full of people swapping food ideas

'and helping to keep great home-cooking alive - brilliant!'

What is it?

It's a rabbit and shin beef pie.

Wow! That's gonna be a good 'un!

'We've tried to create lots for our visitors to do.

'Not only are we going to be cooking up another family favourite, but we have persuaded

'the highly-esteemed ladies of the Women's Institute to come and do some catering for our fair-goers.'

I hope we are all in ounces, we are not in 25 grams, are we?

'They are going to be sharing their not insignificant cooking knowledge and some tasty food -

'recipes that they think would create great new family favourites.

'And then there's Gerard in the little top.

'We've given him the top job of tasting the family favourites people have brought,

'and, when his mouth isn't full, finding out some of the stories behind them.'

Hi, Gerard, hello, everyone. We're not interrupting, are we?

-No.

-Brilliant. What have we got?

We've got some delicious herrings.

Herrings are one of the fish that really go back such a long way into our history.

From the eighth century we've got documented evidence of the herring fishery on the east coast.

We think of Great Yarmouth, Arbroath in Scotland, all of those ports.

Valerie has a lovely story and recipe which is brilliant for us for her soused herrings.

-Wow!

-Tell us about these, because they look and smell fantastic.

My mum was born in Scotland and this was a recipe she used to make and sell in a shop that she opened.

I'm a big fan of herring. I absolutely love it.

-Well, have a taste then!

-Madam...

It's pickled in two different types of vinegar.

That's the malt vinegar, so that the stronger flavour.

-That's the pickling vinegar.

-These are cooked in pickle, aren't they?

Yes, they are cooked for about an hour and a half on a very low heat.

-Fantastic.

-Was it nearly a forgotten family favourite?

Oh, no. When my mum had the shop, anything that she didn't sell that day

we had to have for our tea.

-So we had it quite regular!

-LAUGHTER

We might have had it so regular we didn't really want it!

We couldn't miss out on a pie that has had its first manufacture today by Deborah here.

-It's the first-ever outing for her great-grandmother's rabbit pie recipe.

-Is it?

-In fact, it's my husband's grandma's recipe.

-Ooh!

I've been accused of 26 years never ever cooking rabbit.

So it's a real special...

-Thank you very much.

-And you brought it for us today!

To bring the Hairy Bikers a pie. You know the way to our heart.

What is the pie?

-Rabbit and shin beef.

-Rabbit and beef!

Did you make more than one or is your husband's birthday pie about to be eaten...

Because it's his birthday today.

It is, it's a special birthday today and all the family...

-It's still warm.

-All the family are coming around tonight so I've got a really big one for that.

-I was gonna say, if they're coming round to this, then...

-That's just for you.

It's lovely.

Rabbit is one of my favourite things.

-We just don't use it enough in this country.

-It's good.

-It's a good 'un.

-The birth of a new family favourite in your household.

-I'll keep doing it.

-You might have do.

-Not just once every 26 years.

More regular would be great.

-It's worth waiting for, isn't it?

-absolutely wonderful!

'Across the field in the other top,

'a growing crowd are enjoying an educating demo from the ladies of the Women's Institute.'

-Hello.

-Hello, ladies.

-I'm going to take this out of its tin.

-Is that a cheesecake?

-It's a lemon tart.

Whoah! HAIRY BIKERS APPLAUD

Very careful. Then onto its plate.

The amount of times that I have been left with my arm stuck up there like that...

'As their food will be feeding our fair-going guests, I think it's only right and proper we give it a try.'

The blueberries are supposed to be the superfruit of the moment,

all your anti-oxidants and things like that.

I like an anti-oxidant in my cake.

Exactly!

-Is that soup?

-This is soup, yes.

-That's not.

-This is soup.

-It's not.

-What the devil do you think it looks like?

-I don't know.

-You don't know?!

I've no idea what Si is on about.

Everyone can see it's a spicy carrot and parsnip soup.

It goes down a treat because my family think they don't like curry

but they'll wolf this down like it's going out of fashion.

-You are quite a lively bunch, aren't you?

-Of course we are.

It's not all jam and Jerusalem.

-Certainly not!

-You take your clothes off and everything, don't you?

-Well...

-I'd love to be in that calendar.

-Who's got better buns?

I'd be the fellow with the courgette! LAUGHTER

-It's lovely.

-You shouldn't be surprised.

-A bit short on salt.

-It isn't!

It's lovely. LAUGHTER

I only said that to be provocative.

You know that we are trying to be healthy.

It's so lovely to see you here because Dave and I are genuinely big fans and we just love you.

You are great.

'We are leaving the lovely WI ladies to continue sharing their encyclopaedic knowledge of cooking.'

If you check the Mums Know Best website

you will find they have shared these recipes with all of us.

Helen. The lady in pink.

It's a pink theme today with this lovely smoked salmon pate. Tell us about it.

My mum used to make this on a Sunday night. Kind of Sunday night, bath night before school.

-I love it because it's so easy to make.

-Tell us how you make it.

Smoked salmon or smoked mackerel, smoked trout...

Then just mix it up with cottage cheese, yoghurt, salt and pepper and a bit of lemon juice.

Very healthy, quite low fat.

Yeah, and just so easy. You can whip it up in five or 10 minutes.

I can see why you would have remembered this, it's delicious.

In this country, if we can't make good pastry and a good pie there's something wrong.

Claire, you've brought this fantastic, very happy looking pie.

There's a hushed silence as people are waiting for us to see what's in it. Tell us about it.

It's a northern recipe. Corned beef and potato pie, a bit of onion,

plenty of seasoning, good short crust pastry, keep it nice and cool.

Let it rest before you put it on.

This is how it turns out.

My mam used to make it, her mam used to make it.

It's a bit of a delicacy.

If ever we go to family events it's, "I hope Clare is bringing her pie."

It sounds like a proper pie, the knife hitting the pot plate underneath.

A real family sound. It takes me back.

'Clare's pie uses corned beef but corned beef has no corn in it.

'No, it refers to the corns or grains of salt used in the traditional method of preserving it.

'Back at the mums' tent, Maureen is grating her strong cheddar

'and whizzing up her breadcrumbs for the cheese pie.'

You've got to make it very quickly cos otherwise it disappears.

Hot biscuits straight out of the oven.

-Nice one.

-Nice and melt in your mouth.

Aida and Victoria can't help themselves but give away their half-made empire biscuits.

They are very hot.

The biscuits seem to be rather more popular than Aida thought.

Lost 36 biscuits. I didn't realise there were that many there last time.

It's not taken long to generate interest in the recipes.

-You've got a lot of people interested in your samosas.

-I do.

I'd use maybe only half that chilli, one chilli, you don't want it too spicy.

'At each recipe fair we like to try and answer some fundamental questions on human existence.

'That's right. The question humanity wants answered is - are new things better than old?'

Welcome to the high-tech/low-tech challenge!

-Yes!

-APPLAUSE

This week it's can openers.

We've all struggled, we've all cursed, but everybody has got a can opener.

We've got five can openers from ranging from the most primitive to the most sophisticated.

Gerard, who is far from primitive, has brought his own. What have you got?

It's Ezra Warner, 1850s, and it's the only one I ever use.

Gerard has the first tin opener ever invented.

It works using a sickle sort of see-sawing sort of motion.

I've got one that was invented in the 1870s. That's the most common one.

William Lyman invented this.

-In the 1920s he put a wheel on, so he could go round the can.

-I think they're great.

The next two openers are variations and improvements on my one.

In here, something that wouldn't be out of place on a space shuttle.

The one-touch wonder.

Electric and labour-saving.

King has seen the future in a streamlined slug.

'We need two volunteers. It's grab-a-granny time!'

Madam, there's no turning back. It's national telly and all you've got to do is open a tin! Come on.

'And one more conscript to our scientific endeavour.'

-A-one.

-A-two.

-A-two. Three.

First can of tomatoes in the bowl is the winner. Watch Gerard!

That was six seconds.

CHEERING

-Have you not got into it yet?!

-No!

Oh, dear!

'My hi-tech, motor-driven contraption goes at its own pace.

'There's nothing I can do. Just wait.

'All three of the more common household openers are good,

'but depend on you knowing how each one works.

'Even then, you still have winding to do.'

But Gerard's is so simple, and he's so fast, he rockets round that can.

Hooray for history!

Maureen's cheese pie's turning into a cookery demonstration.

This recipe makes enough for six.

Or in our family, five! Very easy.

Gameelah's samosas are bringing her mums team together. It's a real production line.

About here. Just a bit over from your finger.

-So, the thumb joint?

-Yeah.

We're whipping through it! We're running out of ingredients!

'And already there are bran cakes cooked and cooling.

'Gerard's discovered a cake whose name says everything about it.'

Alma here has brought her family cake, and what a fantastic name.

This must be the most popular cake in your house, is it?

It is - a family cake they like at birthdays.

It doesn't matter what other cakes are like - they like just plain chocolate cake.

It looks really light and delicious.

You try it!

It's really good.

Alma's family cake to most people is just

a simple chocolate cake, but to her family, I bet it's a real treasure.

Pam. Fly's graveyard.

How fantastic is that? Fly pie.

-Fly pie.

-As my gran would call it, and you call it.

Yeah. It's a real traditional, use-up-the-end-of-the-pastry kind of dish,

but I've never had it with butter before.

It was always on Sunday, after tea.

Luxury day, Sunday, you got the best. There was always

a little bit of best butter left over on Sunday, cos we only ever had best butter at weekends.

So the fly pie, warm out of the oven, little bit of best butter on, it was a real luxury sweet.

A recipe like this is great because it's got such small regional variations.

In Yorkshire we call it fly pie, where I come from, in East Yorkshire.

In Lancashire, it's singing lily.

And in North Yorkshire, they'd have mint chopped in it as well.

-And call it fly cemetery.

-Each family has that tradition, which makes it really special.

I'm gonna have to eat it quickly before it...

That's fantastic. I'm never going to have it without butter again! That's brilliant, isn't it?

-'I think it's about time we did some cooking, Kingy.

-Do you know, mate, you're right.

'Every week at our recipe fair, we'll be cooking for our fair-goers a recipe from our own families.

'Aye, something our mums cooked for us as nippers.'

-This is everybody's family favourite.

-And one that we have grown up with.

Which is why we're this shape.

The steak-and-kidney pudding.

When you're making a steak-and-kidney pudding, you've got to get your filling done first.

So basically, you're making a pan of steak and kidney.

Onion, David, preparation thereof.

I thank you!

CHEERING

That never normally works, you know!

This is seasoned flour. Important - fry it off in batches.

You want a bit of colour. Don't overfill the pan.

You want to brown it, not poach it.

Exactly.

Suet is good, and of course, if you're a vegetarian you can use vegetable suet.

But it won't make an ape of a difference in a steak-and-kidney pudding!

Flour goes there.

And suet. This is beef suet.

I'm gonna put salt in. Just a bit...

AUDIENCE SHRIEKS AND LAUGHS

A suet pudding is a steam pudding, so it's great to put dried herbs in the suet.

They'll rehydrate in the steam, and you get a nice, herby suet.

Just add water till a nice, malleable dough is formed.

It can be a bit of a clarty mess, this! I can see it's going that way!

'Get all the lovely flavours out of the pan with some red wine.'

There's a lovely sound to that, isn't there?

'Then add it to your steak along with some tomato puree,

'a couple of bay leaves and thyme, and some beef stock.'

Quarter will give me enough for the top.

Do remember to prepare the lid before lining the bowl, or you might not have enough dough left.

As you can see, the suet is evenly distributed, as are the herbs.

When it's about half an inch thick, trim around the bowl.

Everything left over is for the walls of your pudding.

The bowl is well buttered. Perfect.

And what are we gonna do with that now, Kingy?

-We're going to put it in the oven!

-Aye.

'Cooking the filling in a moderate oven for a good couple of hours will let the flavours concentrate.'

What we need to do is to trim this so it's just below the edge of the bowl.

I've got two hours to do this!

'Now, it's actually a good idea to make up a batch

'of your steak-and-kidney filling a day before, and keep it in the fridge.'

It has to be cold before you put it into the suet.

Now, you may think that looks a little bit dry.

LAUGHTER

No, you want it like that, because it's going to be a packed pudding.

LAUGHTER

Looks like a bowl of Chum, doesn't it?

-Oh, look at that!

-Hey, man!

A bit of water on there.

-Aren't we brushing with egg?

-Would if we had one, but we ain't, I don't think.

-Fine, we'll use water.

-Water's fine.

I'm sure my mother would never have wasted an egg on this.

She'd have probably spit on it.

Take your lid.

Just have a look how this top fits.

Use a cartouche of greaseproof paper.

What we want is to put a pleat in the greaseproof so that when the pudding grows, it's not gonna rip.

'It's quite tricky to do this bit on your own, as you need a foil lid as well. I remember helping my mother.'

Do you remember what your mam did, put it on with string with a string handle to get it in and out the pan.

'It might take a few goes, unless you have a talented Geordie to hand.'

Beautiful.

Right, so we've got the pan prepped. In the bottom I've put an upturned dinner plate.

That's so that the pudding basin isn't in direct contact with

the metal of the pan, because we don't want the basin to split.

'Don't put so much water in that it floods your pudding.

'But it's going to be steaming for two hours, so check every now and again

'to make sure it hasn't boiled dry.'

Time to open the one we made earlier.

Please... What you want is it to be there like a big mound.

SI BEATS DRUM ROLL ON PAN

Wahey!

Oh! That's good, son. Look at that.

That meat... Considering it's been cooking for about four hours, it's so nicely concentrated.

Ladies and gentlemen, our family favourite from the King and Myers household,

steak...

..and kidney...

..pudding!

'The banquet is nearly ready.

'Gameelah's Yemeni-Scottish samosas have been deep-fried, Maureen's cheese pie's in the oven...

'..and Aida's butterfly cakes are getting a final sprinkling.

'Our recipe fair-goers are heading home with empty food tins but

'full tummies and notebooks stuffed with new family-favourite recipe ideas.'

-What have we got here?

-The Christmas cake...

-Oh, brilliant.

-Let's have a look.

-I've been taking photographs, and writing... Taking them into my camera.

-Oh, right.

-So we can actually download them and send them to each other.

-21st century!

-Ginger-and-blueberry pie from the WI.

-From the WI?

A lot of people got that recipe for the cheesecake. Yeah, it was good.

Thanks a lot, man.

It's time for our recipe-fair banquet.

We've invited 30 local foodie people, our lovely WI ladies

and some other friends to feast on family favourites.

What a lucky bunch!

We'd like you to meet our mums, the four ladies here,

we've been to their homes and they cooked for us. Now they'll cook for you.

But before the banquet gets under way, we need to

check in with Aida to see if she's risen to our challenge.

We set Ida a challenge. She reckoned she could put together

a baking kit with all the equipment you need, everything, and the recipes to cook six of her cakes for 20 quid.

Have you achieved it?

Oh, I did it. With change.

-What do you mean, with change?

-It came to £19.65, I think.

-Did it?!

-Oh, yeah.

-That's fantastic. We've got to share that, then.

-Put that on the website.

-Yeah, lovely.

Oh, let's get the grub out!

'Gameelah's family-favourite samosas are piled high.

'Lucky dips of Scottish haggis and spicy mince and tatties.

'Maureen's cheese pie. Tried and tested by five generations of her family.

'Now, that's a remarkable favourite that we've found, Dave.

'And, of course, our versions of the nation's family favourites.

'Perfect fish and chips and steak-and-kidney pudding.'

It's quite an eccentric mix, but it does all work.

-Had some fish and chips and the mushy peas. Very nice.

-Enjoyed my wife's samosas, because I have to!

Just had a haggis one, and it was delicious.

Then we started talking about Scotland, so it's done the trick!

Not what you'd expect in a samosa, but beautiful.

I've eaten a selection of everything that's on this table.

It was all very tasty and all very wholesome.

Steak-and-kidney pudding, my grandmother used to make it, and it was just absolutely memorable, that.

That is fantastic, really, really good.

I haven't eaten kidney for ages. It reminds me how nice it is.

Can you pass the gravy, dude?

I can. The steak-and-kidney pudding's going down a treat.

We've had a fantastic day, yeah. It's been super fun.

It brought back memories for many people, and that's nice,

talking to people and they say, "When I was a child..." It brought memories back.

I brought memories back for her!

I made cheese-and-potato pie for my O-level when I was 15, so 35 ago was the last time I ever had this!

This is better than my one, I can tell you!

I'll give you the fiver later!

-Go!

-Everybody, it's Aida's turn.

We still have crumpets and cakes and coffees and everything for afters.

Youse two have been called crumpet!

Listen, you're crumpet to us, babe.

-Come on. Look at this!

-Yes!

That's so typical of you!

Aida, what have we got?

Bran loaf here, empire biscuits, millionaire's shortbread, rocky road and fairy orange butterfly cakes.

Fantastic.

We've made homemade crumpets, cos homemade crumpets are great.

-Now, that's a prince among crumpets.

-Very good. Excellent.

It's a real privilege, having that glimpse into people's private treats.

All the recipes here today, as well, have been held with the greatest affection, haven't they?

-It's been a real success.

-It has, man.

Next week on Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best, we're going to find out what picnics are made of.

-Vernon.

-Pickled egg, ta!

'It's food, fingers, family and fun!'

These are the best pakoras I've ever had, and we've had a few.

'And a few surprises along the way.'

Bacon and 'nanas! It's brilliant.

Absolutely brilliant.

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