Comforting Food The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best

'British cooks are great, cooking amazing food for their families

-'all over the country.

-'A unique legacy handed down

'by generations of hardworking mams and grandmas.

'But the quest for new flavours means our food heritage

-'is at risk of being lost forever.

-'So we're on a mission

'to rediscover our culinary roots

'and save these family recipes for the nation.

'We'll visit the kitchens and cook with the people who know these dishes best...

'And uncover the history behind the food on our nation's tables.

'But we're also inviting people to bring their treasures to us!

'Never has a field been so filled with people talking all things foody.

'It's great!'

Welcome to the Mums Know Best Recipe Fair.

-You can already feel the warmth...

-Cheerfulness!

-Cosiness.

-Happiness!

-And pleasure.

-And a sense of deep gratification...

As we delve into the world that is comfort food.

Comfort foods are what we eat to cheer us up a bit,

things that make us feel that little bit better.

Oh, yeah. I like oxtail stew,

doughnuts, treacle pudding, fish fingers...

-Oh, that's comfier than your old jeans.

-Isn't it?

But that's not the end of it. Food can be a deeper comfort too.

We find recipes that have comforted generations of farming families.

For us, the comfort is because we've got through lambing time.

And recipes that bring back memories of people we never want to forget.

I felt as though I'd had a hug from my mum.

We know Britain loves to cook, so we've put the recipes on the website

for you to add to your own family table.

'So, friends, spend the next hour with us in recipe heaven...

'Because we know our mams really do know best.

'We're setting off to visit three home cooks who have comforting recipes of their own.

'And, we hope, recipes we can showcase back at the recipe fair.

'Now, Dave, what do you think of comforting food?

'What's the first thing that springs into your mind?

'Er, pies, mate. It's got to be pies.

'Yes, and not just any pies. For maximum comfort,

'you need maximum pie.'

Well, for big pies, I reckon this place is the business.

Since 1788, the small Yorkshire town of Denby Dale

has been baking enormous pies to celebrate special events,

each pie bigger than the last.

Their Millennium Pie weighed 12 tons and was 40 foot long.

Imagine the comfort from that pie, dude!

'We've been invited to Denby Dale by Dee,

'but it's her dad she really wants us to meet.'

-Hello, Dave!

-Pleased to meet you.

Got something special to show you here. Just follow me!

'Dave remembers the baking of the 1964 pie.'

-What do you think of that?

-That's a pie dish.

-You mean you make a pie in that?

-Make a pie in that.

Well, I've heard of big portions in Yorkshire, but that's ridiculous!

That's mad!

'So that tin, now full of earth, was once full of meat and potato

'with a nice pastry lid.

'Bonkers!'

Dee's dad, Dave, is a retired butcher.

'Not only did he help out with those huge pies,

'but he made normal-sized ones daily in his butcher's shop.

'But Dee has never been allowed to make one until now.'

I think Dee's come of age, just about,

so here's the special secret recipe.

Wow! I've never been allowed to have this,

so this is a bit of an honour. There we go.

There's nobody watching. You're safe with us.

But the secret of it is in the seasoning.

"6119"!

6119 is a very significant number to anybody who's a guitarist.

SHE CHUCKLES

'6119... Is that a riff or something?

'6119, my friend, was the guitar that Beatle George Harrison played.'

It doesn't taste o'nowt!

THEY LAUGH

The taste comes out in the cooking.

'I think we'll be the judge of that!'

Thanks! Nice to see you!

We're going to be present

at the birth of Dee's very first baby Denby Dale Pie.

'I know! My pie midwifery skills are a bit rusty!'

-Let's see the recipe, then!

-OK, then.

-Oop!

-Oh, you ripped it!

-Dad!

-It's all right. We won't tell him.

-It's illegible.

-His writing's terrible.

-"Wispy"...

Oh, mince! "Dice beef and onions mixed together with salt

in a large pan." Is there any particular size chunks?

-He does 'em about that big.

-I'll crack on.

What's your most comforting dish, though?

-Is it the meat-and-potato pie?

-I think so.

That's a proper family dish that we would have.

-I think we enjoy that more than us Christmas dinner.

-Yeah?

'The recipe calls for the beef to be boiled with onions and salt

'for a whopping three hours.'

It's interesting. You're not browning the meat first.

-No.

-I suppose you seal it to keep the flavours in,

but in this, we want a whole big mass of flavour,

The pie is an entity, not a series of individuals.

# Om...

# Hum... #

'Now do yoga and chant for three hours while your meat cooks.

'Or you can make lots of lardy pastry, which we prefer.'

Oh, the mysterious world of pastry-making!

Pastry. So, now, my dad makes it in a machine.

-But I make it by hand.

-Now, look...

which way are we going?

-By hand.

-Ooh!

-Controversial!

Listen - if he comes in, I'm saying nowt.

-I'll just say... I'm saying nowt.

-I ain't got a machine anyway.

-Great.

-HE LAUGHS

That'll be it, then!

'Dee's dad's recipe calls for a whole bag of flour...'

There it goes.

-'..a lot of salt...'

-I like it flavoured.

'..a block and a half of lard, and the same of marge.'

# Lard, beautiful lard

# It makes your arteries

# Very hard #

'Such a lot of pastry calls for the cement-mixing method to be employed.

'When the water's mixed through,

'put it to bed in the fridge, and prepare the potatoes.'

These are just good potatoes that have been boiled until they're soft?

-In a little bit of salt water.

-Aye.

"Gravy - five tablespoons 6119. Mix with water."

"Stir through. Add to meat juice."

Now, if you haven't got 6119...

-You can do it with Bisto powder and Bovril.

-You can?

Yes. But we might as well use this, seeing as it's taken me 32 years

-to get hold of it.

-Absolutely!

'The pie is going to be so full of flavour

'because the juices from the meat form the basis of the 6119 gravy.'

That smell really smells of my childhood, that.

'And then all the meat and all the potatoes go into the pie tin.'

I never thought that lot would fit in there.

-Ah, you see?

-You're right.

-Perfect.

-OK. We just need to roll a bit of pastry out now.

-Right.

'Now, this is a good tip. Because the pie is not pastry-based,

'Dee remembers her dad putting an extra rim of pastry round the edge

-'to attach the lid to.'

-You know what it's reminding me of?

You know when you re-seal your windshield on the bike?

-You know?

-SHE LAUGHS

-Yeah!

-Look at that.

Just pour a bit of gravy over there.

Oh!

'These potatoes are going to have the flavour of the meat going right through them. Oh, man!'

-I think we'll need about that much.

-No, you use it all!

-It's a thick 'un!

-It's going to be a paving slab.

Great! I love that. I love thick pastry.

-Look at that!

-He just crimps the edges.

-Like that!

-I think we should make something to go on top,

because that's what my dad used to do when we were little.

-A cow. Shall we make a cow?

-Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

It's not the perfect cow.

Our Dee's Yorkshire-terrier pie.

THEY LAUGH

Back in 1964, Dee's dad watched his father

bake Denby Dale's eighth enormous pie.

It was a big occasion for the town.

The pie was transported on a huge wagon

pulled by a steam traction engine.

The pie attracted huge crowds,

and it fed a massive 30,000 people.

47 years later,

Dave is about to inspect his daughter's first baby Denby Dale pie...

Which has been baking for a good 50 minutes.

-Oh, yes!

-What do you reckon?

Yeah, that looks nice. The pastry hasn't shrunk.

SHE SIGHS IN RELIEF Nicely filled over.

'Dee's dad must have made thousands of pies in his life.'

Wow, look at that!

'And probably tasted thousands before this one, too.'

Your dog's just been chopped in half.

It's not my dog! It's a cow! It's a cow!

-Well, it looks a bit like a dog.

-Woof-woof, moo-moo.

So far we're looking all right.

-Oh!

-Look at that!

Has the pastry cooked?

It's just not quite cooked through to the bottom, the pastry,

but that's all right for a first-timer.

'Good grief! I think Dee's dad thinks we're filming MasterChef pie edition.

'"Pie-cooking doesn't get any tougher than this, mate!"'

Just falling to pieces as you taste it. Doesn't take any chewing.

Mmm. That's just cooked right, them potatoes.

'Evidently a pie in Denby Dale should be eaten with mushy peas and mint sauce.'

Great flavour!

That meat is superb. It just melts!

'Well, mate, I think Dee should make her second-ever meat-and-potato pie

'at our comfort-food recipe fair.

'Pastry steak, melting potatoes, thick gravy...

'Mate, it would be mad not to let her.'

-Lovely to see you. Come again, won't you?

-Ooh, yeah.

'Now, biking round like we do is lovely,

'but it can take a certain toll on the backside after a while.

'Are your leathers chafing again, mate?

'No, but it would be nice to stop for a bit.

'What, here? Isn't Castle Howard a bit posh for us two?

'We'll just sit in the gardens. The Honourable Simon Howard won't mind

'if we don't make a mess.' A bit of traveller's comfort

-on the road.

-I'm there already!

'Grand houses like this were built as playgrounds for the rich

'to indulge in the greatest comforts of the period, especially food.

'And I've brought a handwritten recipe book

'that came straight out of a house like Castle Howard.'

It's the cook's handwritten Victorian cookbook.

-"Pea soup". They loved their soups!

-Look at that!

-God, yeah!

Isn't it funny? Tomato soup is one of those comfort things.

Do you know what my favourite was, in our house?

We used to have fish-finger sandwiches.

-Yes!

-That was just mega.

I think we should reinvent our childhood favourites.

We're going to cook ourselves grown-up versions -

Hairy Biker fish-finger sandwiches,

but first, Dave's mam's tomato soup, pepped up with a spicy rouille

and cheesy croutons.

'Start by getting your friend to finely chop onion and garlic,

'and get your frying pan good and hot.'

Nearly there. Got a ripple on it.

Hey, man! Give over!

-Pick that up!

-Oh, aye.

-We'll get chucked off.

-I know. What a place to cook your dinner!

'Sweat onions and garlic down for just three or four minutes.'

I like cooking outside, because you get bits of grass in your dinner. And that's always great.

'Then add in one can of plum tomatoes,

'and the same quantity of water.'

To that we add some mixed herbs - half a teaspoon.

'While that simmers away, we'll make a rouille.

'It's a fresh mayonnaise beefed up with spices and saffron to dollop in the soup.

'It's very easy, especially if you have a Geordie to do most of the work.'

We need three chillies and four cloves of garlic.

-Are you doing anything?

-No. I'm keeping an eye on the soup.

How tired could that leave you? And a nice big pinch of saffron.

Now, that, my trusty Geordie bonhomie,

that needs to be grinded to a very fine paste.

I'm not doing it.

You can do it! I'm not doing... I always do this.

I always get to grind, to...to knock out dough,

to whisk... Any manual labour, I get to do it. You can do it!

There's a difficult way, and there's an easy way.

-What are you doing?

-Look what I've got, son. Whoops!

What?

There you go! The appliance of science.

When Geordie goes on strike, get out the electricals.

You know it makes sense. Yummy!

In case it's escaped your notice, you bright spark,

where you going to plug it in? We haven't got any electricals!

In time of strikes and civil disobedience,

-be prepared.

-Civil disobedience?!

The handy portable generator.

You are having a laugh!

If he can do this is a one-er, I will eat my own shoes.

The thing about electricity, you've got to know how to work it.

GENERATOR ROARS

Sucker!

'Deftly grind your spices up,

'then it's just like making a normal mayonnaise.'

DAVE SPEAKS OVER ENGINE NOISE

'Now drizzle olive oil in.'

That has more colour than a jaundiced canary.

Look at that! Ooh!

'Dave's rouille is super-spicy with chillies and raw garlic,

'but with a soft, almost smoky edge from the saffron.

'It's awesome.'

'Cream of tomato soup is smooth. Everyone knows that.

'And if your Geordie boy is on strike, just use a hand blender.

'It's so easy!

GENERATOR COUGHS

Do that slicker, I think.

GENERATOR CLICKS

DAVE MUTTERS

GENERATOR GASPS

-HE SNIFFS

-I can smell petrol.

-Flooded!

-GENERATOR CLICKS THEN ROARS

-Yes!

Beautiful! That would've taken you all day to do by hand.

All we do now is pop in some cream, bring back to the heat,

adjust the seasoning - whacko! Homemade cream of tomato soup.

It doesn't get much better than that.

'Now, Dave needs croutons.

'Fry bread in a mixture of oil and butter.

'Add some Gruyere cheese and grill it a bit.

'It'll float on the soup like a big, hot, cheesy iceberg.'

Well, that's it! The tomato soup, the golden gruyere croutons,

-and the rouille.

-Dude, everybody else normally brings a sandwich.

It's my turn, dude. Fish fingers! That's what we want now.

What's he going to think when he gets those wafting over in the big house?

Us British love fish fingers.

Clarence Birdseye invented them in 1955.

Initially they were going to contain herring,

but cod was found to be a bigger hit.

You know, at first he wanted to call them battered-cod pieces!

"A battered-cod piece and chips, please, sir."

That doesn't sound right, dude, does it?

-Here!

-What?

-Look.

Blooming heck! How many fish fingers are you expecting to eat with your average fish-finger sandwich?

Four, out of that.

'Using a selection of fish for your fish fingers

'somehow turns a simple meal into a gourmet one.'

It is a fabulous way of getting kids to eat good fish.

Because the kids focus on the finger part and not the fish part,

so you can get them to snaffle them into their little goblets.

I'm not being bad, because all the trimmings,

you can put them in fish pie or fish soup,

and everybody loves a good fish pie.

'Dredge your fish chunks in flour. Season with a bit of salt.

'Then dip in beaten egg and roll liberally in golden breadcrumbs,

and shallow-fry.'

DAVE GASPS

You can only get three Hairy Biker fish fingers on a round of bread!

Clarence Birdseye, we salute you.

'So that's our quick on-the-road traveller's comfort meal.'

Now...

'First up, my cream of tomato soup with gruyere croutons

'and spicy rouille.'

Mate, that's mega.

That's a really good, simple tomato-soup recipe.

The rouille really kicks it in.

That's brilliant, cos there's a little chilliness to it,

and then... Oh, I've got to have it. Oh, your crouton! Mmm!

Lovely.

'And for dessert, monster Hairy Biker fish-selection fingers

'on fresh white bread, with tomato ketchup.'

And then you put the top back on...

..turn it over... 'Salad cream!'

Ugh!

Oh!

-DAVE LAUGHS

-That's a fish-finger sandwich.

Yeah. Absolutely. Oh, comfort food!

-Oh, that's comfier than your old jeans, isn't it?

-Mmm.

'Ooh, all nice and well fed.

'It's time to search for a very different type of comfort food.

'Yeah, because good food can satisfy more than just your stomach.'

'We've come to Blackpool. You love Blackpool, don't you, Dave?

'You know I do, mate. I'm always happy to be here.

'But we're not here for candyfloss or sticks of rock.

'No. We're meeting someone who has discovered that some recipes

-'can help you through the hardest of times.'

-Morning, lads!

-Hello!

-Nice to see you!

-Hiya!

-How you doing?

-All right.

Angie and her partner Debbie love cooking recipes

passed on from Renee, Angie's mother.

-You saw the tower?

-We did. Is that the smell of tea?

-Aye. Come on. Let's have a brew.

-Excellent!

-Hope you're hungry, lads.

-Tea'll do me gob like a flip-flop!

'These recipes mean everything to Angie

'since her mum Renee died from cancer four years ago.'

Actually, that was the last party we had for her.

When she was told she'd only got weeks,

-she said, "We'd better have a party."

-That's a proper Blackpool woman.

-Oh, God, aye, she is.

-Very beautiful.

Four weeks before she died, that.

Whilst I was caring for her here,

she asked me was there anything of hers that I'd like,

so I said, "Do you know what I'd really like, Mam? Your recipes."

So she actually wrote them in this book for me,

-so I've got all handwritten in here, all her recipes.

-Oh, wow!

-"Nana's Curry".

-Yeah, with little notes on, as well,

which are nice, because on the chilli, I don't like beans,

so she's put, "Beans optional. Angie doesn't like them,"

that type of thing. But basically, after my mum had died,

I was feeling really negged off,

so what I did was, I picked up my mum's cookery book,

and I went to the supermarket and got the ingredients.

And when I tell you the smell, the aroma in the house,

smelled as though my mum had been cooking, and when I tasted it,

it tasted like my mum had made it, and the only way I can explain

how I felt, I felt as if I'd had a hug from my mum.

Recreating her mum's great recipes has been a true comfort for Angie,

and we're going to start with Renee's spicy beef curry.

How would your mum have done the onion?

She wouldn't have chopped off the root and the shoot.

-How does your mam want it?

-Nice and diced.

'Angie's not backward in coming forward,

'and gets us to work chopping braising steak, onions and garlic.'

That looks great, that. Shall we brown the beef off?

-You don't season the beef first?

-No, no, no.

There's enough spice in there to season it.

-There's enough spice with you, Ange.

-You're not wrong!

-And then we've got Old Spice!

-Thanks!

HE LAUGHS

And Scary Spice in the corner.

Just cos I laughed at the Old Spice gag!

-Getting yourself back.

-I know.

'Angie just seals the meat and sets it aside,

'saving all the meat juices.'

-Right, let's get these spices done.

-What about my onions?

Oh, yeah. You look after the onions, then.

-I don't want any colour on it. And don't burn it.

-Right.

-I'm just saying!

-Not golden.

'Angie's mum's special mix of spices gives this dish the unique smell that Angie remembers.'

-What's that one, Ange?

-That's cumin.

'It's one teaspoon each of ground cumin,

'coriander, turmeric and black pepper.'

Oh, this is easy. A good teaspoon of everything in there.

Apart from the ginger, which is half a teaspoon.

THEY LAUGH

-Oh, and the cinnamon. That's only half a teaspoon.

-Smashing!

So I'm using hot chilli powder here, because I like it hot.

-Three cloves.

-Use five and it'll taste like the dentist's.

And then three cardamom pods.

Do you not give them a crack first to release the seeds?

-Top tip!

-We learned that in India, didn't we?

-No need to be that butch with them.

-You calling me butch?

-Didn't say a word.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Right. Are we softened?

-They're not bad, actually.

They look all right, so now we're going to pop the spices in.

You just want to put them spices in, only for about a minute,

because if you burn them, they're going to get bitter.

They're about ready, so now we're going to pop the beef back in.

Right. Shall we bang those tomatoes in now?

Now, we need to bring that up to the boil.

So, your mam - did she like it hot?

She loved it hot, did my mother! Oh, yes!

'But even Renee added a quarter pint of yoghurt to temper the heat -

'and a tablespoon of vinegar!'

-You're using malt vinegar, good old chip-shop vinegar!

-Oh, yes!

We are in Blackpool. THEY LAUGH

So we're going to mix that in.

Going to cook it on top of the stove today.

-The longer you can leave it...

-The better it is.

..the better. So it'll take about an hour and a half

on top of the stove.

-And that's when the aroma starts to fill the house.

-Oh, yeah.

And that's what reminds me of my mum, yeah.

Was it right here that that memory hit you?

I was cooking here, but actually it came wafting through the house,

and for a moment I thought she was here,

-er, cooking in my kitchen.

-Yes.

-It really did smell like that.

While the beef simmers away,

Angie's going to make a couple of Renee's vegetable curries -

sweet-and-sour potatoes, but first, spiced cauliflower.

She begins by frying off a mix of spices

containing really hot chilli powder this time.

-Oh, just smell that!

-Oh!

-Oh, yes!

'When the cauliflower is coated in the spices,

'she adds the tamarind paste dissolved in water.'

Look at... Wow!

'The final ingredient is - yes, you've guessed it!'

I have vinegar on everything.

'Now it's left to simmer for a few minutes,

'and Angie gets the sweet-and-sour potatoes on the go.

'She fries off cumin and black mustard seeds

'until they pop, releasing their flavour.'

A bit like popcorn, so you might need to duck.

There we go! Put all the potatoes in.

'She adds in a milder spice-powder mix this time,

'and pours in a blend of tomato puree, sugar

'and more vinegar in water, which will give the sweet-and-sour flavour.'

FAST-PACED DRUMMING

-Whoa!

-Whoo!

'Angie and Debbie's closest family have joined us for supper.

'They have fond memories of Renee's curry nights.'

THEY CHEER

Dig in!

THEY CHATTER

-Have you had these recipes before?

-Oh, this curry? Loads.

-Do you? Ah, you see - yes, darlin'?

-And these sweet potatoes

are to die for. What do you think, lads?

Fabulous. It's so full of flavours. And the beef's really tender!

-It's gorgeous.

-When I first made that recipe,

I was quite, you know, in a bad place,

and it kept me going. It almost felt as though she was still here for me.

That's very important when you go through very tough times, isn't it?

-You feel like you can hold on to something, at least.

-Yeah.

This is going to be fantastic at the recipe fair.

We're going to spread the love of your mam and her legacy around.

Feel the love. Feel the heat! The spice!

-THEY LAUGH

-That's brilliant.

Renee's beef curry, sweet-and-sour potatoes

and spiced cauliflower - these aren't just good recipes

to take to the fair. No, I think Angie will be bringing a bit of her mum along, too.

-Fantastic!

-Catch you later, lads.

-See you!

THEY BEEP THEIR HORNS

'We've got an awesome physical comforter to cook next.

'We think it's the easiest, warmest,

'most unctuous and comforting one- pot wonder you're going to find.'

-Do you know what this is?

-It's an elephant's trunk.

No! It's not!

It's an ox tail. You see?

And you know what this is going to make?

The Hairy Bikers really rich oxtail stew.

Here's one we trim-a-roonied earlier.

Now, all of this is just wonderfully deep, rich meat.

I've made some seasoned flour, with cracked black pepper

and sea-salt flakes. I've put it in a plastic bag

to keep it nice and tidy, because sometimes cooking with Mr King,

it's like watching Stevie Wonder do a jigsaw puzzle.

There's bits everywhere!

We're going to put some colour on it,

get some oil... Have you got some oil there, mate?

Yeah, yeah. Just sunflower oil.

The flour serves to thicken the stew as well as it cooks, don't it?

-Absolutely.

-I'm making a mirepoix with the vegetables.

Mirepoix is what all the posh chefs call that vegetable mix

that forms the basis of the stock or the gravy.

And it's carrots, celery, onions, and garlic.

Si, what is it that you find comforting about the oxtail stew?

-What is it for you?

-I always remember my mam cooking it,

and me and her would just sit on a night and have a chat,

in the front room, eating our stew, having a crack on. I loved that.

-Sitting round the fire sucking the bones.

-Exactly that!

Comfort food seems to fall into two categories, doesn't it?

There's kind of psychological and kind of physical.

And I think this is a physical comforter, isn't it?

Yeah. It is a physical comforter, yes.

That's got some really nice colour on it.

'The browned oxtail will leave amazing flavours behind,

'so make the most of them by sweating the veg in the same pan.'

Lovely. This takes about four minutes to cook down nicely.

-Don't want it to brown, though.

-No.

Look at that one! That's right at the end, that. Look.

-Oh, I'd give that to the dog.

-No!

It's good for flavour, dude!

'Once the veg are tasty and translucent,

'it's one easy assemblage.'

Your veggies go in on top of the oxtail.

To that, about 500 mill, about a pint of beef stock.

Half a bottle of red wine. It's all right for the kids,

cos the booze'll be boiled off it.

-Two bay leaves.

-Deux!

Two tablespoons of tomato puree, so that's one...

Two! And some thyme.

Pop that in. Sea salt...

Black pepper... See you later!

Happy days! Yes!

Cook that in a moderate oven,

about 160 degrees centigrade to 170, for about...

Three hours.

'After which time, a mini miracle has occurred in your crock-pot!'

Oh, yes!

'The meat should only be just held onto the bone,

'and all those vegetables should have dissolved into the gravy.

'Served with mustard mash and honey-roast carrots,

'this is the ultimate in comforting food.'

Really, really, really, really rich oxtail stew.

'All the collagens and cartilage

'that make the uncooked tail look a bit challenging

'have dissolved into a deep meat flavour.

'And there's something extra unctuous

'about the fattiness of this cut of meat

'that's unlike any other.'

That's so nice, isn't it?

'The Hairy Bikers implore you -

'don't be scared of the ox tail in your butcher's.

'Yeah, sit around your telly chewing the bones. It's great!'

'Our last home cook lives in the Yorkshire Pennines,

'and although it's sunny today, in winter this is one bleak place.

'So you need a good, comforting feed.

'We have been invited to a farm at the far end of the Calderdale Valley.'

Ruth grew up in these hills.

Her parents, David and Ann, are the latest in a long line

of upland sheep farmers.

Ruth, how long have you lived here, and the family?

We moved to this farm when I was two,

but previous to that we lived just down the valley,

which my uncle now lives at, which is the family farm, as it were.

If you see over there on the hillside,

that's where my dad's dad was born.

'Their family's comfort-food recipes haven't changed in generations.

'Tea and cake round the kitchen table!

'But this isn't any new-fangled cake. It has a big family heritage.'

-..that we've got.

-Ah! Brilliant!

Three... Well, nearly four generations.

This is mum's mum's recipe book.

That's the ginger sponge, which is there. That's her recipe.

-Have a look at this.

-That's my mum's!

-Look at the...

-It's been used.

-..state of your recipe book!

Gingerbread, 1937!

Gingerbread, 1973!

And that's mine, but mine obviously is still nice and clean!

-Can we mess that up for you, Ruth, your bit of heritage?

-No.

You can have it as a pudding with custards,

which we sometimes have, or as a cake with a cup of tea.

-Beautiful and moist.

-Isn't it?

I love the sticky bit in the bottom and the top.

The ginger cake that is in all three books

is one of those simple, unfussy recipes that just works.

'And it's really quick!'

'Take two cups of flour, a teaspoon each of bicarb and ginger.'

Ginger's lovely, isn't it? It's a very comfy thing, ginger.

'And the marge, egg, and a big dollop of golden syrup

'make it even more comforting.

'Then hot water straight from the tap.'

-It's more like a batter, isn't it?

-Yeah. It's quite loose, really.

And I suppose that's where the moisture and stickiness comes from,

-from that loose mix.

-Grandma would be proud.

'It takes 35 minutes in a medium oven,

'and almost instantly, you can smell the comfort.'

'But the next dish Ann wants to show us -

'well, needs a bit more of a leap of faith.'

We're going to make dock pudding, which is a local delicacy.

-Docks are not in season.

-Right.

-So the nearest we can get is spinach.

It's not a hundred percent kosher, but it's near enough.

'Had we stopped by in spring, we would be picking off real dock stalks.

'But even then, it's not the dock leaves that I know.'

The docks that we use normally are not your normal cow dock.

They are the sweet dock. Docks are one of the first green things

-that would appear after the winter.

-Oh, wonderful!

'And as well as wild-dock leaves, this recipe uses stinging nettles.'

I think you need to put your hands in them, Dave!

I think I'm not that daft.

'The washed nettles and the dock or spinach

'is put into pans with the chopped onion.'

Now we just add a tad of water.

'And boils on the Aga for about 20 minutes.'

-What a lovely collection of photographs!

-Yeah.

'These recipes are special to Ruth because she knows the people they came from.'

-This is my grandma Lassie...

-Yes.

..who is the dock-pudding-recipe lady.

She was a typical farmer's wife, typical grandma.

She always looked after us as kids,

and she'd make ridiculous picnics and feasts and pies and cakes,

and then we'd all go down the field to where they were haymaking,

and we'd sit down and have a picnic with Mum and Dad

-and my auntie and uncle.

-How lovely!

It's like crispy duck!

You don't want to cut it too much. You couldn't liquidise it.

-You like a bit of texture.

-A bit more... Yes.

-Right. Back in here!

-Back in there.

-Lovely.

'The chopped dock leaves get oatmeal stirred through them.'

-Is that pinhead oatmeal?

-It is, yes.

'And the liquor from straining the leaves

'is added back in with a grind of salt,

'and then returned to the Aga for the oatmeal to cook.'

-This lady here...

-Mm-hm?

..is my great-grandma.

And this lady here is her mum,

which is where the recipe for the ginger sponge came from.

-By, you're a good-looking family, aren't you?

-Do you think?

Aye, I do! You're a good-looking family!

'And now the magic.

'The rather green dock porridge is fried in bacon fat,

'and then stirred through with an egg.'

'Joined by Ruth's family,

'the mysterious dock pudding is about to reveal its charms...

'maybe.'

Well, that's a taste of the hills around us.

-If you ate this, you'd live forever, wouldn't you?

-How wonderful!

What makes it your comfort food, Ann?

For us, the comfort is because we've got through lambing time.

It's something to look forward to.

When it's all finished - dock-pudding time.

'A dish to celebrate the end of lambing it might be,

'but I think I respect dock pudding more than I really love it.'

Ginger sponge. Would you like some?

'More ginger sponge! But this time it's pudding.'

Could I have the skin? Look at that, man!

It's brilliant,

-with or without custard.

-Yes.

Naked or in a blanket, I love it.

THEY LAUGH

'Well, Si - ginger sponge and dock pudding.

'These really are comfort foods from Ruth's family history.

'And they survive because they help the family through the tough farming way of life.'

THEY ALL SHOUT Bye!

See you!

'What a brilliant basketful of discoveries to take to the recipe fair!

'We have Dee's most awesome meat-and-potato pie...

'The ancient dock pudding and ginger sponge from Ruth's ancestors...

'And dear Angie's mum's curries that gave her such solace.

'Three totally different takes on comfort food. Brilliant!

'And then there's ours - the tomato soup my mum cooked me.

'And proper fish-finger sandwiches my mam cooked me.

'And oxtail stew, that most unctuous of fireside comforters.

'Time to get our comfort-food recipe fair going,

'and see what our fair-goers bring.

'At the moment, our recipe fair is just a field full of tents.

'Ah, but once we get it open and filled with our lovely fair-goers,

'it's going to transform into an orgy of foody stories and recipe swapping.

'You know, I don't think it's wrong that I find that thought exciting.'

-Morning, Gerard!

-Oh, hello! How are you?

'Joining us in the orgy of delights is our food historian Gerard.'

-Are you standing by comfortably?

-I am.

We're sorting out our most comforting recipes onto the boards here

so that we can really sort people out.

'Gerard's clearly poised to leap head-first into the recipes waiting outside the gate.

'To feed and inspire our fair-goers, we're honoured to have volunteers

'from a local community group.'

How do?

'They give comfort to visitors at their Leamington Spa cafe through vegetarian food.'

We're cooking lovely Mexican food.

'Today they're preparing us guacamole, chowders and tortillas.'

-See you later!

-See you, guys! Thank you!

-Hello!

-Ladies!

How are you?

'And we welcome our extra-special comfort-food-recipe-fair home cooks.

'They're here to show off the recipes we were so honoured to see in their own homes.

'And cook them for our comfort-food feast at the end of the day.'

Now, these are your Mums Know Best aprons.

-Wear it with pride, and welcome!

-Thank you very much.

Soon as you put these on, challenge accepted.

-200 people coming through the door - Got to get it out. Happy?

-Yes.

See you, ladies!

'Whilst they start preparing their recipes,

'we can check out what comfort-food recipes our fair-visitors have brought.'

-This is Granny's nutty slack.

-Nutty slack?

I thought that was coal! Oh, that's lovely!

-A beef, mushroom and ale stew.

-Now, that's comforting, isn't it?

It's a plum crumble, but they're made with local plums.

What could be more comfortable than the West Kent Federation of Women's Institute?

I bet there's a lot of comfort there.

'It's going to be a good fair this, dude.

'I'm feeling the comfort already!

'It's our food historian Gerard's job

'to get to the bottom of the stories behind the recipes.'

-Hello, there!

-Hello!

What we haven't got isn't worth having, I'll tell you,

particularly when it comes to puddings,

lovely comforting autumn puddings like this wonderful plum crumble

that Irene and Emma have brought for us today.

There's nothing more comforting than a crumble.

-Let's have a taste. Come on, boys, dig in!

-Oh, lovely!

'Irene has made a standard crumble, but it's the old variety of plums

'that make it special.'

Yesterday my friend came in with a huge bag of Pershore black plums

from her tree, and I knew exactly what to make for you today.

It's wonderful to have those old varieties.

-Absolutely.

-Getting back into our food heritage.

It's comforting that we still have that connection to our ancestors.

We always have it after Sunday lunch,

all the family together. It's just happy memories.

It's not just food for your belly, it's food for your heart and soul.

-Absolutely.

-A big round of applause, I think! That's mega!

'This is real comfort food - paprika sausage stew

'with huge suet dumplings.'

-So this is from your childhood, is it?

-It is, yeah.

-It's a winter warmer.

-The fact that it is a filling dish

really answers that primeval urge

that any food, at one stage in our ancestry, would have been a comfort,

because food was very scarce. We had to forage for it.

But now we've got so much choice, but we still go back to those really simple, basic flavours,

-to answer that need, I think.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

If I was back to hunter-gatherer days,

I'd eat this and roll over and collapse in my cave quite happy.

-They're very good.

-Hey, brilliant. Thanks very much.

Thank you very much.

That was really tasty.

'No time for any caveman antics, though, Dave,

'because Gerard's next discovery is something I haven't seen for years.'

-Oh, wow!

-Straight in. It's wonderful pineapple upside-down cake.

-It's one of my childhood favourites.

-It's like the sun!

-Oh, lovely.

-A wodge...

-Absolutely lovely. What's the story behind this?

-Why is it a comfort food to you?

-Well, in the '70s,

my nan and granddad used to come down to my parents' house

for Sunday lunch, and my nan used to go,

"Can you go and make the upside-down cake?"

So I made this literally throughout the '70s,

and that's the first one I've made for an awful long time.

-Oh, wow!

-It's lovely!

-So I hope you enjoy it.

-It's fantastic. There's a caramel crunch around the side.

-Yeah.

-Very, very nice. Well, I think a big round of applause.

-Thank you!

Brilliant.

'Gerard is certainly turning up some treasures,

'and by now there are loads of recipes up on his boards,

'all of which will be on the website.

'Across the field, our community group are sharing out

'their vegetarian Mexican food.

'The recipes are the favourites from their Leamington Spa community cafe,

'and our fair-goers quite like them, too.'

This is quesadilla, salsa and guacamole, and it's beautiful. Vegetarian.

We're stuffing our faces currently.

Hearty food. Right up my street.

Touching the parts that other soups and chowders cannot reach.

I'm so pleased, because I'm vegetarian,

and I came today thinking, "I won't be able to try much." This is heaven for me. Wonderful.

-How's it going, Richard?

-It's going very well.

'The chefs aren't all vegetarian themselves,

'but they choose to run their cafe without meat.'

The cafe has been set up to promote healthy food to people on low income,

trying to feed a family on minimum wage or no wage.

Through vegetarian food, you can reduce the cost of your meal.

I would sooner eat a good vegetarian meal than bad meat,

any day of the week. That was lovely.

'Doing good for their community and making everyone happy,

'they're our kind of lads.' See you!

Bye!

'In the mums' tent, our kind of ladies are very popular, too.'

THEY CHATTER

'But Anne is having a hard time explaining what her dock pudding is going to be.'

Dock puddings... Er, nettles,

oatmeal, and you eat it with bacon.

With bacon? So it's more...

And lots of bread and butter.

-Is it like a flapjack?

-No.

'Dee, however, is getting rather self-important

'with the pastry on her meat-and-potato pie.'

Not quite as much of a disaster as a cow,

or whatever it was supposed to be, is it?

'Ah, thanks, Dee!

'At every recipe fair, Gerard, who knows everything,

'takes the time to set us a challenge.'

We've seen lots of pies in the series - the Denby Dale pie

with the top crust, the beef and potato - but this is a real old-English pie.

This time we're going to be trying the hand-raising method

of making a pork pie.

So, with the tips of your thumbs, push out the base,

and gradually pull it up so you've got the beginnings of a little pot.

You want about that much filling in the bottom.

And then you pull round.

So, you pull it up like that...

-And then you flatten the top.

-He's a regular Mrs Lovett!

Pop it on, and then we crimp it. We crimp the edge, like so.

And then we get our greaseproof paper,

half it, rub it on your hip to get a nice crease...

I'm looking forward to that bit with you.

It's going to be a good 'un, that.

-And then we tie it round like that.

-That looks beautiful.

-And Bob's your uncle.

-Imagine that with a jug of ale and a pickle!

-Oh, yeah.

-There you are! Hand-raised pork pie.

-Well, I think that's...

-Beautiful!

-Fantastic!

-Simple as that.

-That's beautiful.

Right. On your marks, get set... Start hand-raising!

-So, what do you do for a living?

-Builder!

-Excellent.

-Oh, hey, hold on!

'Our builder may be used to handling cement,

'but I'm not sure this will help with his hot-water crust pastry.

'It's made by melting lard in boiling water

'and then beating in flour.'

That's good! Blooming 'eck!

'Problem is, as it cools, the pastry gets stiffer,

'so the pressure is on.'

Bring the top rim in so it's nice and tight.

Don't let it fall and flop to one side.

'The cummerbund of greaseproof paper is crucial,

'so they don't collapse in the oven.'

Well done, everybody. That's a fantastic start.

Well done, guys!

Now I need to take these to the oven to get them cooked

so we can judge them later on.

'As befits a Hairy Bikers recipe fair,

'there's food everywhere.'

'And our special home cooks have been giving out their recipes and taster samples.

'Let's check how they're getting on.'

-Hello, Ann and Ruth! How are you?

-Hello!

-How you doing?

-Dock pudding!

-The famous dock pudding.

-How's it going?

-Not too bad.

-It looks like the ginger sponge -

That's all that's left! One and a half pieces.

I'll have the half, then.

Oh, wow!

-That's fabulous.

-That's a Desperate Dan pie!

-Our Ange!

-Are you all right?

-How's it going?

-Not bad at all.

-Oh, yeah.

Is it a triumph?

-It is, and with your malt vinegar.

-There you go.

-That's really good.

-Well, our turn now, mate, I think!

-Let's go and spruce ourselves up.

'We've got to get set for our turn in the big top.'

-See you later, girls! Well done!

-See you later.

'But across the field, Gerard's still busy,

'and he's being served up a blast from his past - chocolate crunch.'

It took me straight back to childhood. I haven't thought about it for years.

-I didn't make the chocolate crunch. My mum did.

-Disappointed in you!

She was a school cook for a number of years,

and it's a recipe I can remember when I was at school.

It's quite solid. We used to call it concrete.

It tastes just like I can remember. Isn't that amazing?

Tell you what - I would love to have the recipe for that,

because I don't think I would even know where to look for it.

-Lard and...

-That's what makes it crispy, the lard.

They're happy cos they eat lard. Fantastic.

Well, that's great. Thanks ever so much. That's super.

I'm very excited about this beautiful purple-beetroot soup.

It's one of my very favourite ingredients.

And that is absolutely gorgeous. Quite fiery!

The fieriness that you can taste is the horseradish.

-It's delicious.

-But the main ingredients are beetroot and apple.

Certainly for us, this is a real comfort-food recipe,

certainly for the winter. The vibrant colour, like you say,

-the warmth of the horseradish.

-That's charming.

Thanks so much for bringing it in.

'Not everybody brings food. Sometimes we're lucky enough to get old books, as well.'

-Whose book was this?

-This is my great-grandmother's book.

So she's collected them and written them down for her own use, maybe?

Whether she cooked herself, I don't know. I didn't know her,

but I know it was quite a grand house, and they did have servants.

We know from records in many books

that keeping a good cook was quite hard work,

so ladies often kept records so that their house had its recipes,

and whoever the cook was would have to come and make their recipes,

-so the house standard remained. That's maybe why your grandmother kept such detailed notes.

-Yes.

Recipe here for hot cakes, and that's a recipe from my childhood.

We'd have them split at teatime with salty butter and golden syrup.

They were delicious. Gran used to make them nearly every day for Granddad.

I thought I might start with the spiced damsons,

-because it's damson season.

-It's a good one to start with.

I'll mark the page with the spiced damsons and the hot cakes

so you can make them, but would you be kind enough to copy them for us...

-Yes, certainly.

-..so they can go in our archive?

That would be lovely. Thanks very much indeed. You're a star.

What a treasure!

'Because of our lovely fair-goers like Olive,

'you don't have to write these recipes up yourself.

'They're all on the Mums Know Best website.'

CHEERING

'Over in our cathedral of fine cooking, the big top,

'it's our turn to cook a bit of nostalgic comfort food.'

The theme of today's sermon is the old-fashioned English pudding,

you know, nay to say, the steamed sponge.

Yes. Steamed sponge pudding is evocative

of when you're stuffing your face, having come in

from being freezing cold and digging your carrots.

This pudding basin has been greased to within an inch of its life.

Now, one of the things you want on a steamed pudding

is, when it's inverted, pops out, there's a gluey bit on the top.

-AUDIENCE GASPING

-And I want 50 grams of golden syrup

in that bowl.

Now set that aside.

Now we want another 50 grams in this bowl.

-Ye gods, it's like trying to watch somebody juggle snot.

-It's not easy!

THEY LAUGH

Oh!

'In the mixing bowl with the juggled syrup,

'add butter, sugar and the zest of some lemon.

'Creaming it well together will create tiny bubbles of air

'and make the cake light, so don't skimp on this stage.'

You could, of course, use orange zest in this if you want,

and then, instead of syrup, use marmalade,

-and have an orange steamed pudding.

-LAUGHTER

Another good one - oh, this is brilliant, this...

You get one of those chocolate oranges, yeah,

you break that up into your mix, you add cocoa powder

and have a chocolate-orange steamed pudding!

LAUGHTER

Just in case you've forgotten what we ARE doing...

LAUGHTER

..it's a treacle sponge pudding.

It's a syrup sponge pudding, you plonker!

THEY LAUGH

-It depends where you come...

-No, it's syrup, mate.

-Treacle's the black stuff.

-Put your hands up if you call it treacle!

-Absolutely not!

-Thanks, Gerard. Gerard knows. He's bright.

But treacle is black, made from molasses.

Oh, I know that, but we at home grew up calling it treacle.

No, absolutely not! Treacle toffee is made from the black stuff -

Just calm, Dave. Calm. Don't say "absolutely not"

to the nice people here. It's just a matter of interpretation, dear fellow.

Right. I hold that tin up. What is it?

-Syrup.

-Exactly. I hold that red tin up that's full of black stuff.

-What's that?

-Treacle.

-I rest my case.

-Shut your face, you lot!

-THEY LAUGH

'Three eggs give the pudding "oomph". But add them too fast,

'and the mix will curdle and split.

'Then more lift from the self-raising flour.'

It's going to rise up, yeah, so you don't want to fill the basin.

Now the origami starts.

'With all that "oomph", the pudding will rise,

'so pleat the greaseproof paper and foil and tie it tightly,

'so the water doesn't get in.

'And if you can make a jaunty handle, then, do.'

Look at that, eh?

'An upside-down plate will protect your pudding from the heat

'at the bottom of the pan, while the boiling water cooks it evenly from the sides.'

So we cover that and leave it to simmer for an hour and a half.

'But we're not going to make our audience sit here for that long.'

-And...

-Here's one we did earlier.

Wowser! Fantastic.

Now, because you've got your string handle,

you can remove it with the minimum fuss and casualty.

-Actually, mate, it's coming away -

-We greased it well.

-It should be all right.

-It should be all right, man.

'Here's the test to see how well your mate greased his basin.'

Agh! Don't tickle me!

Right. Two, three, four...

Hoop-la!

Not much happened.

LAUGHTER

Oh, there!

Whoo!

-Yes!

-Oh, look at that!

CHEERING

There is something wonderful about good old-fashioned...

See what I mean?

-You're beautiful, you are.

-LAUGHTER

I'm really sorry about my friend.

-Should I put you on the side?

-That's just plain kinky.

Put it back up! Come on.

Now we're going to smother you in custard.

'Of course, you need proper Hairy Biker vanilla custard

'with syrup pudding.'

There it is - golden sponge pudding and vanilla custard.

-Do you like it? Do you?

-THEY APPLAUD

-Can you come up and judge, Gerard?

-Oh, I can, yes. Sure.

'We need Gerard to judge the hand-raised pies we made earlier.

'They've all been baked at 180 degrees for 50 minutes.

'So it's surprising how different they've all turned out!'

-Crimping, very good.

-Thanks, Gerard.

-Nice bit of height there.

-Yeah.

-That one is, um, solid.

-That's a Hairy Biker pork pie.

-It is.

I think Sean has it. I think it's good.

Well done, Sean!

Well done!

'Our recipe fair is closing, and it's home time for our visitors.

'Visitors who are hopefully laden with lots of new recipe ideas.'

-So, which ones have you got?

-All sweet things -

sticky toffee pudding, which is a very traditional thing,

and treacle sponge pudding.

I loved the recipe for the steak-and-ale stew.

-Yeah?

-That was great.

We found a lovely lamb-and-mint soup,

-which was really, really nice.

-I saw that. Did it taste good?

Gorgeous.

The bread pudding, because my husband loves it.

You haven't done bad. You can get a cookbook out of that!

THEY LAUGH

We close each recipe with a feast for everyone who has been helping us out.

And on the menu is all the comfort food we've discovered

on our Mums Know Best journey.

Angie's mum's curries, which helped her so much after her mother died.

-This is fantastic.

-Oh, thanks!

-It's good curry, isn't it?

-Really good.

'Ann's dock pudding, an old family recipe

'made to celebrate the end of lambing.'

The nettles inspired so many questions.

-That's very good.

-That's very good. Lovely.

'And Dee, who has learned her dad's awesome meat-and-potato pie recipe.'

It's lovely. It's really good.

I've been practising and perfecting it.

'And there's more! Our Hairy Biker comfort foods...

'Inspired by our childhoods. My mam's brilliant tomato soup.'

-The tomato soup is lovely.

-'And my Hairy Bikers fish fingers,

'made for snaffling into kids' little goblets.'

-That's a fish-finger sandwich and a half!

-Wow!

Do you think you'll manage to eat all that?

'And a huge pot of our warming and unctuous really rich oxtail stew.'

What was good was, mix the oxtail gravy

with the Denby Dale pie.

'And for pudding we have Ruth's ginger sponge,

'a recipe unchanged through farming generations...

'And our steamed syrup pudding.'

I've had a fantastic day today.

Meeting the people, so enthusiastic about what you were doing.

They've all been really interested in what we've been making,

and what Dee and Ange have been making.

When we uncovered the pie, that was a really nice reaction.

And I made that pie. It was quite nice!

My mum would've loved it. She'd have absolutely loved it.

Stop. SHE LAUGHS

You know, comfort food, it's far more than what's on your plate.

Because it's about the heart and soul as well.

-Food with feeling!

-Yeah, man! It is!

Next time we hit the road on the search for the taste of home.

They say home is where the heart is,

and these three mums whip up hearty platefuls

and transport them back to where they call home.

Then we'll celebrate all that wonderful cooking

at our Mums Know Best Recipe Fair.

Dude, I cannat wait!

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