West Suffolk The Incredible Spice Men

'This is my good friend, Tony Singh.

'He's an Edinburgh boy and one of Scotland's finest chefs.'

Service!

'This is my good friend, Cyrus Todiwala, OBE.

'He came from Bombay 20 years ago

'and nowadays, he even cooks for Her Majesty, the Queen.'

Britain on a plate.

'We both love this beautiful country of ours.

'Even its weather.

'And British food is the best in the world.

'But sadly, in most British homes,

'spices are banished to the back of the cupboard.'

That's 2010. That's 2009. Bought in 2001.

Oh, dear. It's vintage!

'We want to spread the joy of spices. Spices are not just hot. They're

'the simplest way to add a whole array of drama and flavour to food.'

Mm!

'So we've got an idea.

'We're going to travel the country to show

'how spices can make British food even more delicious.'

Star anise and apple crumble.

What about fish and chips with spicy batter?

'We are going to...

'..Spice up Britain!'

I love every lick of it, sir!

I like it!

'This time, we've come to Suffolk to give a sprinkling of spice

'magic to some of the region's best produce.'

Come on, now! Spiced strawberries!

'We'll show how coriander,

'cumin and turmeric create the most splendidly delicious beefburger.'

'We'll add a sparkle to apple crumble with exotic star anise.

'And we are risking severe disapproval

'by spicing up a National Trust afternoon tea.'

Ooh, there's a definite bite on that one!

These are the fertile plains of East Suffolk.

In the summertime, they're awash with vibrant yellow flowers.

Beautiful fields producing some of the best oil man can have,

delicious organic rapeseed oil.

Us Brits are finally waking up to the qualities of this rapeseed oil,

spending almost 20% more on it this year than last.

And honestly speaking, I think it's much, much better than olive oil

for many, many reasons.

Cooks better, it has great flavour, great taste, great aroma,

great body.

Warm it with lovely spices

and it'll turn a simple snack into a glorious feast.

Come on, Chef. Let's go.

Where the bloody hell are you, man?

Ha-ha!

Look what I have here, Chef. This super oil.

You've got to do something with it. Super gold in a bottle.

I have a crunching plan for that, Chef. Chicken wings.

Chicken wings?

HE CLUCKS LIKE A CHICKEN

With that oil, we're going to make you these lovely,

golden, crunchy, crispy chicken wings.

-Shall we start?

-Absolutely right.

'This is our take on a take-away. We're going to cook the wings

'in an unusual way, in rapeseed oil spiced with cinnamon sticks.

'Cinnamon gives chicken an exotic sweetness that really brings

'out the flavour of the meat.

'This is a slow, luxurious recipe - a far cry from fast food.

'To start, we're making a salty marinade called a cure.'

So what we need to do is we're going to put salt on them

to take some of the moisture out so it's crispy,

but while we're drawing out the moisture, we want to add flavour.

So we're going to use ginger, garlic, thyme...

Aha!

..salt and my favourite, and yours, the dried red chilli.

'Oh, yes! Dried red chilli!'

'Roughly chop a bulb of garlic and a bunch of thyme

'and bash it up a bit in a mortar and pestle.'

And then we're going to grate ginger.

I like grating it. I don't want a puree. I don't want too much

ginger flavour in there. I want it subtly flavoured.

And we grate it, skin on.

'The way spices are prepared affect their flavour,

'and ginger is no different.

'Its potency comes from its juice.

'Grating it, you'll get a delicate zing that won't be overpowering.'

-That good enough?

-Perfect.

-Put this in.

-Bash it as well?

Just a little.

'Add six tablespoons of salt.

'This will draw the moisture out of the chicken

'so the skin'll be crispy when it goes in the oven.

'We'll be wiping the cure off once it's done its job,

'so don't worry about it being too salty.'

And now, when coming to use chilli -

you know this - dry rather than fresh.

-Whole ones add a bit of heat but more flavour, a depth.

-True.

-If you use crushed completely, very hot.

-Yup.

-We're going in between.

So if you can tear up six.

One, two, three...

'When chillies are dried, their fresh, ripe juices

'become more concentrated.

'Like a well-aged wine, they develop rich, more complex flavours

'and an earthy sweetness.'

Put the chillies in. Tear them and just fold it through.

No more bashing. No more bashing.

No more bashing.

Go for the muscles.

OK. So...

-Oh, can you smell that?

-Lovely!

Thank you.

We'll give this a mix and pop it in the fridge for six hours minimum.

Overnight's better, but six hours is good enough.

'Once the wings are infused with flavour,

'they'll be slow-cooked for three hours in a very unusual way.'

HE CLUCKS LIKE A CHICKEN

-There you go. Marinated.

-Fantastic, Chef!

-So what's next?

We're going to confit the chicken in rapeseed oil.

Don't use fancy French terms, Chef. Something simple.

It's not scary. It is basically poaching the chicken in oil.

And then we'll have this succulent, tender, tender chicken that

will be crisped up in the oven again, OK?

'Before we poach the wings, we're wiping off

'the excess marinade, otherwise they'll become too salty.'

Cinnamon stick. What's that for?

Cinnamon sticks. We're putting them in the bottom.

Cinnamon will stay in the oil. It will give the flavour

and it'll keep the chickens off the bottom in case they stick, OK?

'In Britain, we tend to overlook the humble cinnamon stick.

'We buy four times more ground cinnamon.

'But the stick gives a fantastic subtle flavour that's better

'suited to savoury dishes. It keeps longer

'and it even forms a little bench for our chicken wings.'

Oil, please, Chef. Look at that. Liquid gold!

'Now for the confit.

'We're basically going to poach the chicken in oil.

'Add enough oil to cover the wings.'

It looks like a lot of oil. We're not frying. It's not

going to make it greasy. Think of it just as a medium to take

the flavour and keep all the moisture in the chicken wings.

'Warm the oil up for 12 minutes on a high heat

'and then pop it in an oven set at a cool 150 degrees.

'And in three hours...'

-Let me see.

-See the result. See the result.

-Wow!

-Ohh, look at that!

-Beautiful.

-Is it?

'The wings will be really delicately cooked.'

Mm! Look at that. Oh! Melt-in-the-mouth tender.

If you're worried about them being greasy

and sucking up that fat, they've not.

They've just got surface oil on them which is going to

help crisp them up cos we're going to pop them into a very high

oven for 20 minutes till you've got this crunchy, lovely skin.

'We're serving our wings with a crispy coleslaw.'

Chef, sir? How are your chickens, sir?

-Let me just check.

-Mine everything ready here.

-Chef, they are looking... Oh, stunning!

-Fantastic.

-Spot on!

-They're ready to go?

-Oh, lovely!

Look at that! Lovely, crispy, juicy deliciousness. Tender as butter.

Get stuck in.

Mm! Mm! Superb. Superb.

The humble chicken wing suddenly becomes exotic

with all the multitude of flavours coming into it.

Not a chicken nugget any more but a golden nugget!

Golden nugget!

'Mr Singh and I are in Long Melford, Suffolk.

'We are heading to the National Trust's Melford Hall.

'This stunning stately home dates back nearly five centuries

'and is as beautifully British as tea and cakes.'

Wow!

Look at that!

'In Melford Hall's cafe, the National Trust serve traditional

'afternoon teas with delicate cucumber sandwiches

'and plain Victoria sponges.

'They have agreed to let us

'break years of tradition with a gentle bit of spicing.'

17th century bling.

'We're going to make a spicy afternoon tea'

in their splendid 16th century banqueting hall.'

Well, we've been welcoming people here for many, many years,

so hopefully, with what you can do today, it will help us

welcome them here for many more.

'The National Trust have kindly given us

'the basic building blocks of a Melford tea.

'So all we have to do is add some spice magic.'

-Come in. Our banqueting hall.

-Thank you.

-Wow!

-So we've got various ingredients for you to play with today.

See what you can create with it and surprise us.

OK. We'll give it our best shot. And who are we cooking for?

The WI, so they'll be the judges.

You know who the WI are?

Women something.

Women's Institute. But the best. Scary!

They're very good at everything they do - baking, cakes,

-teas. They're the best.

-Really?

-They'll let you know!

THEY LAUGH

That'll be good fun!

Thank you for letting us into this.

Give us a little bit of time, OK?

'Time is very short so we're keeping it simple.'

All right, sir.

So let's rock on.

'First, we're making a spiced orange butter cream to transform

'a plain Victoria sponge.

'We're whisking equal amounts of butter and sugar,

'with the zest of an orange.

'To bring out the citrus flavour we've chosen fennel.'

I think orange and fennel are like a marriage made in heaven.

'Fennel is one of the few spices that'll grow in our British gardens.

'It has a sweet aniseed flavour that will give a real

'richness to the butter cream.'

'I'm toasting the seeds gently so they release their fabulous aroma.'

The fennel is cracking inside a bit.

You really need the flavours to come out, so the best way to do it is

to warm them up a bit.

And when it becomes nice and crisp it powders better.

'We want a smooth butter cream, so I'm grinding the seeds

'and sifting out the husks with a sugar shaker.'

I don't want any big bits in there.

That's going to give them a whoooo!

'To build the cake, we're slicing the sponge into three equal parts.

'Then orange juice for extra flavour.'

Marmalade.

'Spread each layer with orange marmalade

'and fennel butter cream, and then a dusting of icing sugar.

'Our cake may look a bit wobbly but it's going to taste delicious.'

OK, chef, how we going to pimp the cucumber sandwiches?

We're going to do something which is typically Bombay style, and what

we do with cucumbers is sell them on the roadside and they cut them

into eight like that, and they fill it with salt and chilli powder for you.

And I thought that would taste amazing in a sandwich.

So, if you can start buttering that bread, sir.

'To sliced cucumbers I'm giving a dusting of one part salt

'and six parts chilli.

'This mixture enhances the very subtle flavour of the cucumbers.'

You're going to love this.

What do you reckon?

Mmm, that's nice. It might be a bit- pwhff! - for the ladies.

You're making me worry. We need to hurry, sir.

We've kept them waiting for too long.

Afternoon tea should be taken at 4pm sharp,

delicate morsels to keep one's strength up before dinner.

We're sticking with etiquette for once. A wonky plate of butties

just won't do for the WI.

Ladies, would you like to come and join our humble abode?

'40 hungry WI ladies,

'and we've tampered with their afternoon tea.'

Please come right in.

'We must be mad.'

Let's go, sir.

Ladies....

..we've got a little surprise for you,

this is not your classical cucumber sandwich.

How do you like it?

Mmm.

Ooh, there's a definite bite on that one!

It's lovely.

-It's nice.

-It's very nice?

I think we should do this every day. Very nice.

Just wait until you try our cake.

-Oh, yes.

-A Victorian sponge with a bit of...

A bit of shazam in it.

I'm going to serve you while this strong man from Scotland

is going to hold the platter.

Aargh!

-He's the muscle man.

-That looks amazing.

What did you think of our sandwiches?

They were so nice.

Yes. Fennel seeds.

Oh, right.

Popped in with the...

Yes. Very nice. Fantastic.

What about you, madam?

Really moreish.

Really nice?

I love it and I would make it for my friends.

Do you think it brings more colour on your cheeks?

Certainly. Yes. Especially the chilli!

-Job done.

-Job done. Thanks, ladies.

Thank you!

One of the great things about driving around in Suffolk is

you've got these lovely lush emerald fields

and then speckled with bright spots of red, dark red.

It looks like a red setter but they're not, they're cows.

These ruby-coloured beauties are rare Suffolk Red Poll.

Thanks to the increase in small organic farming in Suffolk

their numbers are on the rise because they thrive on a simple grass diet

and produce both creamy, rich milk and full flavoured, tender beef.

-Are you sure you can just walk in like this?

-Yeah, they're docile.

They're taking off, they're taking off.

-Denise, hi!

-Hi.

Are we starting a stampede here?

They're scared of you, chef.

Me? Nah, I don't think... cows like red, you know that?

'We're meeting Denise Jones, who tends a small herd of these Suffolk

'beauties at Lavenham Brook farm.'

This is Cyrus.

Hi, Denise. How are you?

So this is the cream of the crop of these beautiful cows?

Yes, they are.

-Because they're grass fed.

-Always grass fed.

So it's fresh grass, then silage, and that gives the lovely milk

and fantastic meat.

You've had the meat, chef, and what did you think?

I think the meat is superb.

It's great quality meat, but then, look around you, you've got

great pastures, great feed, great love and affection.

That's love and affection. And that breeds good meat.

Happy, gorgeous cow.

'The cow is a revered animal to all Sikhs and Hindus.

'So, I don't eat beef but when I cook it for customers,

'it's important that it's the best quality, and has had a happy life.'

Grass-fed British breeds like Red Poll are the best beef for me

and the meat is perfect for spicing up.

We are going to make a spiced version of a classic burger,

a zingy burger with a few spices,

some fresh garlic, some fresh ginger, green chilli, fresh coriander.

All the best things in the world and our favourite four powders.

'Ground coriander brings zest, cumin earthiness,

'chilli powder heat, and turmeric a vibrant colour.'

With these four, the world is at your feet.

Creativity is at your discretion, sir. Art on a plate.

Painting with colour.

Plus some great British produce.

Fabulous.

That is probably some of the finest beef you can buy in Britain.

-Definitely.

-That's Red Poll beef.

Come on, then. Let's go.

Let's go and start cooking.

Put that on a low heat.

Cold pressed rapeseed oil again.

If you can saute off those onions for me.

'We're sauteing off a trinity of flavours.

'Chopped onion, two cloves of garlic,

'and two centimetres of finely chopped ginger.

'This'll add a little spicing magic to the mince.'

-Now, we're going to quickly chop you some chilli.

-Fabulous.

What chilli would you use, chef?

Personally? The smaller one. More pep in it, more hugghh!

Or bigger, depends if you want just a little bit of warming and flavour.

If you feel in the mood, make it hot.

# I'm in the mood for chilli. #

'As a rule of thumb, the smaller the chilli, the hotter it is.

'For the burger, we're adding a couple of small, finely chopped

'bird's-eye chillies.'

We're going to cook it just all the way through, just to the point

that it's got a little bit of texture but all the juices

and everything are cooked in onion properly.

'Leave it to cool for five minutes and then add it to 800g of minced beef with some salt.

'And now for the four ground spices that work together to bring out

'the flavour of the beef.'

There, sir...coriander.

'First, three teaspoons of ground coriander.

'This is a mild, lemony spice made from the seeds of the fresh herb.'

The coriander's gone in there.

'Next, two teaspoons of cumin.

'One of the most ancient of all spices,

'it has a strong flavour that gives a depth to your cooking.'

-Then, of course, turmeric.

-Beautiful.

Gold on a plate, sir.

And treat it like gold, sparingly.

'Half a teaspoon of turmeric is added for colour

'and to give a depth of flavour, and two teaspoons of mild chilli powder.

'Normally, the brighter the colour, the milder the chilli is.'

You've got the four main ground spices,

-and this is where you start to experiment, yeah?

-Absolutely.

Getting the flavours that you like.

Paint your palate, have a taste, a little bit more, want some more chilli,

have a tickle, see what it goes like.

But enjoy, learn, have fun. I'll do the masseuse-ing.

You do the masseuse-ing because you are the best, chef.

Go on, sir. You go for it.

'Next, I'm chopping up a good bunch of fresh coriander.'

There you go, sir.

Why don't you eat beef?

-Religious, holy cow.

-Holy cow.

But, my dear sir, all the holy cows are in India, they never came here.

Ha-ha-ha-ha.

But you forget very quickly, sir.

So, now we're looking at five-ounce burgers for Cyrus to try.

'Shape the mince into patties and fry them

'on a hot griddle or frying pan until they're done as you like.'

The sizzle sound, the sound of magic.

'Whilst the burgers are cooking, I'm going

'to whip up a gourmet chip butty for myself.'

Ooh, lovely.

'I've baked some simple potato wedges and now for a bit of alchemy.'

So, what we're going to do is make a lovely, spicy, zingy

magic dusting for the potatoes.

Chilli powder, please.

'Two teaspoons of mild chilli powder,

'two teaspoons of cumin powder,

'and a teaspoon of white pepper.'

And the next thing is going to be mango powder.

You can get it in most supermarkets now.

But if you can't get mango powder to add that zesty tanginess,

a little bit of lemon juice, lime juice, at the end.

So we're going to sprinkle it on our potato wedges, lovely.

Wedges, tatties, chilli, spices.

The best chip butty in Britain right now.

Are the burgers ready?

-What do you think, chef?

-Look at that.

Look at that.

Just look at that texture.

Oh, wow.

That is tasting amazing.

This has to be, has got to be, the best burger you can

create for yourself in Britain.

'This is one of the oldest agricultural displays in Britain.

'The 174th annual Hadleigh Show.

'Here they showcase the finest the county has to offer

'and it's where one expects to find the finest traditional country fare.'

I'm after something that grows locally at this time of the year.

Asparagus?

-Something red and small.

-Oh. Strawberries.

-Strawberries.

'We're going to bring a bit of cheeky spiciness to England's

'beloved strawberries and cream.'

Are they English?

They are, yes. Very local, about 20 minutes up the road.

Lovely.

Actually, we were just thinking

whether we could spice some of your strawberries up.

Really.

-Yeah.

-And then maybe you could sell a few spiced strawberries.

Are you up for it? I mean, do you have a tray or something we could serve it in?

Yeah, we have a hawking tray that we walk round with.

Chef, you'd look fabulous, like a cigar girl.

'We're going to make a hot, sweet spice blend to sprinkle over

'the strawberries.

'It contains equal parts sugar, black pepper and ground cinnamon.

'They're two most popular spices in Britain,

'but we rarely think to combine them.

'They are fantastic together

'and they make the flavour of soft fruits sparkle.'

Let's get started. I need to be dressed like you, though.

Away you go, good luck.

Come on now, spiced strawberries!

-They're really nice.

-They're really nice?

Surprisingly nice.

Surprisingly nice. It's called a Singh with a zing.

It's got lots of zing.

I'm a convert.

-Ah. I like that look on your face.

-Oh, my God!

I'm still not giving you another free one.

-Is it good, though?

-Yeah, it's very good. It is.

-It brings out the flavour of the strawberries.

-That's the main thing.

'Spices should always bring out the flavour of your ingredients,

'and when it comes to desserts, we Brits reach for cinnamon more

'than any other.

'But there are other equally exciting alternatives.

'We're going to enhance the flavour of a classic apple crumble,

'not with traditional cinnamon, but with exotic star anise.'

Can you peel me some of those apples, please?

Sure.

'We need eight juicy eating apples.'

I'm going to make you this fantastic crumble.

Some flour, 200g.

Sugar, brown, nice. 300g, cos I've got a sweet tooth.

Butter, 200g.

-Bit of the masseuse-ing again.

-Masseuse.

'Rub the mixture until you get a good crumbly texture.'

The secret twist is going to be star anise,

but the other twist is the crumble.

I'm going to bake it first so it's going to be crunchy

and crispy, because the worst thing ever, the worst thing

in the world, I think, is a soggy bottom.

On a crumble, I mean.

A soggy bottom.

No soggy bottom.

'To keep the crumble crunchy,

'we're cooking it before we add it to the apples instead

'of the traditional way of baking them both together

'at the same time.'

That goes in the oven at 200 degrees, and you keep checking it

every five to six minutes to see it getting golden brown, and keep turning it over.

-OK, apples ready, chef?

-Yes!

'We're going to stew the apples in 75g of unsalted butter

'flavoured with a warm exotic spice.'

Beautiful star anise. Oh, smell that.

Aniseed flavour.

'Each star is a small dried fruit and the woody petals are full

'of an aromatic liquorice scented oil, 13 times sweeter than sugar.

'The best way to release it is to cook them

'slowly in hot liquid or butter.'

Five star anise in with the butter, flavouring the butter, basically.

-Now we're going to add the apple.

-Go for it!

Put the sugar on top.

'For eight apples, you'll need about 150g of sugar.'

Oh, beautiful, look at that.

'To keep the juices from evaporating, cover with a sheet of foil

'and a tight-fitting lid, then leave it to stew on a low heat.

'But don't forget to check your crumble.'

Lovely colour.

Now, the hardest bit, before you pop that in your mouth...

Is to not eat it.

Yes!

Let it cool down. OK, I'll pop it over there.

-Resist.

-Resist.

-The most difficult thing...

Oh, my God! Halley's comet!

'After 20 minutes, the apples ought to be juicy,

'soft and infused with star anise.'

Look at that, chef.

Look at the juice of the apples coming out. Let's build this!

Come on, then.

'The star anise have worked their magic

'but you need to remove them because they are still hard.

'Then just a sprinkle on the crunchy topping.'

The apples are hot, the crumble's on top, literally a minute,

minute-and-a-half in the oven, and we'll serve it.

'We're serving the crumble with a few fresh pomegranate seeds

'and a dollop of creme fraiche.'

Umm. Great, isn't it? The apple is actually perfect underneath.

This is where the magic shines.

I think it's now apples with star anise,

rather than apples with cinnamon, which everybody expects.

I think this for me is now an everlasting taste.

-Good show, boss.

-Thank you, chef.

That's fantastic.

-Suffolk, what a county.

-I know.

Great people, great produce.

-Excellent.

-Great time we've had.

Great time. Yes, sir.

Cheers, sir. Happy days.

Next time, we're off to Somerset.

We'll be showing how coriander seeds are the secret to sweet roast gammon.

Using cardamom to make a fairy-tale chocolate mousse cake.

And we'll be committing culinary treason by spicing up

the great British fry up.

Try it, you'll love it.

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