Somerset 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 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 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.'

'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.

THEY LAUGH

I like it.

-Look at that countryside, Chef.

-Beautiful.

-Nature's perfection!

This time, Mr Todiwala and I are off to Somerset to see how the

local food can be enhanced with spices.

I think everyone is ready for more bang in their banger.

We'll be putting a chilli zip into classical cheddar cheese on toast.

Using fragrant cardamom,

we create a spectacular honeycomb and chocolate mousse cake.

-Superb.

-Fabulous!

And committing culinary treason by daring to tamper

-with the great British breakfast.

-Try it, you'll love it.

But first, my love, some good old Somerset cider.

We're going to use coriander seeds to turn a classic combination

of cider and pork into something really special.

Chef. Guess what we're doing today?

Well, I'm going to be drinking cider. I don't know what you're doing.

Oh, no. You're not getting any of my cider, sir.

Best things in the world. Cider and pork.

-And pork. That's lovely.

-This beautiful gammon joint.

We're going to roast this gammon in a sweet, spicy glaze.

To begin, we are simmering it in cider with coriander seeds,

cinnamon and red chilli to infuse the pork with flavour.

You want a little bit of cloudy cider.

For 1.5 kilo joint, you'll need at least 0.5L.

Cider. Juice.

'And a litre of cloudy apple juice.'

Unfiltered, full of flavour.

-For flavour, best, best, best. Then...

-More apple?

-Some apple.

-OK.

'About two apples will do the job'

You know why we have an apple in there as well?

-It'll make a lovely sauce afterwards.

-Ah, to thicken it. OK.

That's it, to thicken it. We need that lovely sauce.

You're thinking today. It's good.

'Now for the spices.'

-Some red chilli.

-Yes.

-Fresh red chilli for flavour just to...

-Seeds in there?

-Seeds in there.

'I'm adding three serenade chillies.

'These are a typical supermarket variety

'and perfect for this dish as they are not too fiery.'

Cinnamon, sir.

So we've got this fantastic bit of cinnamon.

It's the inner bark of an evergreen tree.

It's peeled and then it's just left to dry

and it curls up into a spiral.

You can get it in a powdered form as well.

Powdered cinnamon is much stronger and can overpower other flavours,

so for stews and slow-cooked dishes, a stick is best.

We are adding two sticks to bring out the sweetness of the apple.

-Magic.

-Cinnamon and apple. Yes. You know this works.

A match made in heaven.

And whole coriander seeds to add a bit of zest.

These are the dried fruits of fresh herby coriander

and they have a mild lemony flavour.

-Smell it now, Chef.

-Lemony. Nutty. Earthy.

It's one of the most delicate spices so always be a bit generous and

crack the seeds open first so that their citrusy oils can ooze out.

I'm using a heaped tablespoon of them.

-There we go.

-Yes.

-Everything's going in there.

-To the stove, to the stove. On full?

-Yes, sir. Hour. Hour and a half.

-What, bring it to the boil and simmer?

-Then simmer.

-Then you've got all the apples and everything cooked together.

-OK.

Gammon goes really well with sauteed red cabbage

and I like to give it an earthy, nutty quality by mixing

in some lightly toasted cumin seeds and a squeeze of lemon.

Oh, perfect. Let's put it off, Chef.

After an hour and a half, the gammon is cooked and infused with spice.

Now it's ready to be glazed and roasted.

I'm going to make a little bit of glaze for you, sir.

Heat a ladle of stock, add a tablespoon of sugar

and a quarter teaspoon of mild chilli powder.

As a general rule, the brighter red is less hot.

This bright powder gives just a hint of heat

and a glorious hue to any sauce.

Look at the colour we are getting.

What an aroma!

So we'll get a lovely glaze when it comes out of the oven.

-Ah, right.

-Let's go, sir.

The sugar will make it nice and sticky.

Pop it in the oven at 200 degrees for 15 minutes until golden brown.

This we will cook down and we will get a lovely gravy

-because we don't believe in...?

-Waste.

And that is good stuff Yes.

Look at that, beautiful.

Chef, look at that gammon. Sumptuous, stunning. Hmm.

Serve it with a spoonful of the spiced red cabbage,

a good dollop of mashed potato laced with a pinch of any mild

green chilli, all drenched in gravy from the gammon juices.

Ah, Chef, I've been waiting for this.

You've got a sweet, sharp, hot glaze.

You can taste the coriander in that.

The cider's bringing it all together.

The stickiness of the sugar. That's awesome.

We're in the West Country to show how spices can bring

magic to the local food.

Mulled cider is an ancient English tradition - we've shown how

fabulous it is with pork and now we're heading to a cider house to

see if we can get some connoisseurs to enjoy their cider even more.

-Let's try some cider.

-We're going to try some cider from an expert.

-Yes.

People flock to Roger Wilkins' cider barn

to enjoy the cider he makes from his own orchards.

Hello, everyone.

-You're the legendry Roger, are you?

-I am.

We heard you're one of the best cider makers

-the world has ever seen.

-Oh, I don't know about that.

There's no bad cider but there's some better than others.

Right, OK.

Roger's been making this traditional cider for years.

Here you are, lads. There's a drink for you.

Cheers.

But I'm not sure our suggestion to spice it up is going to go down.

-We are also known as the Spice Men.

-Right.

Have you ever tried mixing a bit of spice in your cider?

No, I like a drop of gin in there.

My friend here, his fingers have been itching

to get some spice in your cider.

What kind of spices are you going to put in there? Is it going to

send me off me head or put me on the roof or what?

We're going to keep you at ground level.

You can try it, I will sip it, but I'm a little bit nervous of it.

We're making hot butter cider,

simmered with three strong heady spices.

OK, Chef, what do you want from here?

Er, get the butter, icing sugar, I've got the spices.

-What about the brandy?

-Oh, yes, bring the brandy.

Warming up the cider is key because a soak in the pot liquid

is one of the best ways to extract flavour from those spices.

Enough, enough, enough! We want to take some home with us.

'Chuck in four cinnamon sticks.'

I love that. What a good idea.

They are full of sweet aromatic oils which will disperse into the cider.

Four vanilla pods for sweetness and a handful of cloves to add a kick.

OK, Chef. Icing sugar in there.

To make the cider creamy, we're adding a 50/50 blend

of butter and sugar with teaspoon of ground nutmeg.

It's delicious in hot whisky toddies or even warm rum.

After five minutes, the cider will be perfectly spiced.

Pop a teaspoon of spiced butter in each glass.

-How much? That much enough?

-Yes, perfect.

Give him a good dose of brandy, Chef. He deserves it.

'A wee dram of brandy to give it some punch,

'and top up with hot spiced cider.'

Ah, that's just right.

-Roger!

-Hello, sir!

Your fantastic cider, hopefully I've not spoilt it for you.

HE SNIFFS

No. It's a little bit better than I expected.

That's a good sign.

Fair bit of spice in that. It's a little bit warm but...

-Good for you.

-Good on a cold frosty morning!

For breakfast. Does the trick.

The more I drink, the better it's getting.

-So if the master liked it...

-I think that they will drink it.

You can hand it out.

I will hand it out. Let's see what everyone thinks, yeah?

What do you think?

-Not bad.

-Oh, not bad!

I do like it, yes.

I'll give you nine-and-a-half.

-A victory.

-Chef! Outstanding. Everybody.

-That's fantastic.

Next, Mr Singh and I are heading deep into Somerset

to get our hands on its most famous culinary treasure.

Stunning.

Feast your eyes, sir, feast your eyes.

Our nation's favourite cheese was born here in Cheddar Gorge.

-The gorge is gorgeous.

-The gorge is gorgeous but the cheese...

That super cheese that we've come here to taste.

Local dairy farmers first rolled their wheels of cheese

into these caves almost 800 years ago.

The cool, dark conditions kept it from spoiling

and improved its flavour.

Local cheddar maker, John Spencer,

is keeping this fabulous British tradition alive today.

Why go to so much trouble to put them inside a cave in a cage?

You've got virtually 100% humidity all the time.

-Is that important?

-It's really important for the cheese

-because the cheese is drying out as it's maturing.

-OK.

So we might appreciate this. Can we get a taste of it, please?

-Absolutely.

-Wow.

Super.

And that texture just melted in your mouth.

Honestly, I could eat a kilo of that stuff!

How much would we pay for that amazing cheese?

-That one would cost you £500.

-But worth every penny

In Britain, we have the best cheeses in the world. And for me,

a good slice of cheese on toast is one of life's simple pleasures.

But with a little hint of green chilli,

it becomes really exceptional.

BELL RINGS

-Me starting, Chef. You ready?

-OK.

Bread, cheese, celebration. Chilli cheese toast.

For this particular recipe, the key ingredient is the venerable chilli.

The chilli, sir.

Chilli is the world's most popular spice,

yet it's the one we are most wary of in Britain.

There are around 3,000 varieties,

all of which vary in flavour and heat.

Find one to suit.

Use it like salt and your every day food will be transformed.

You have little ones like that.

Thin bird's-eye chillies are fruity and hot.

They are little dynamites.

-And that, Scotch bonnet, the atom bomb!

-Yes!

These bell-like Scotch bonnets are packed with capsaicin -

the fiery compound which gives chilli its kick.

-Today, Chef, I am going for that.

-Nice. Middle of the road.

Serenade is a large mild chilli grown in the UK

and a good all-rounder.

For a little bit of heat but lots of flavour,

I'm chopping up two whole serenades.

Shall I leave the seeds in or take them out?

Leave the seeds in.

When you put the seeds in, in that hot sauce,

I want the oils to ooze out of the seeds.

The sauce is going to be creamy and rich.

It's got flour, it's got butter, it's got beer.

When things are very lush, you need to lift the heat slightly

to make it all come up because the creaminess suppresses the heat.

The seeds and membrane contain most of the chilli's heat

and can easily be scraped out if you like it mild,

but I want a bit of zing.

So now to get cracking with the cheesy topping.

In goes a nice blob of butter.

50 grams of melted butter and plain flour make a basic roux.

-And then my roux is going to be made with pale ale.

-Oh, very nice!

250ml will do the trick.

When you're adding anything to the roux, you add it quite fast.

You don't get any lumps.

-Chef, how's the cheese?

-The cheese is lovely. The cheddar.

Bring it here where I can keep a watchful eye on it.

HE LAUGHS No, this bit's not nice.

Wow. Looks good, eh, Chef?

Use whichever cheeses you like, but for good balance

try 100 grams of cheddar, 100 grams of Caerphilly and for a bit of bite,

25 grams of Shropshire Blue.

This cheese is nearly melting.

So it's in with fresh coriander, and the star of the show,

two chopped serenade chillies.

Don't go crazy and add too much chilli inside, that's madness.

Just the right amount, perfect, spicy. The heat must rise.

And then, when I add my secret ingredient...three egg yokes.

They'll make the sauce beautifully smooth and creamy.

Make sure the sauce is not boiling or bubbling at the time

because, if it is boiling or bubbling,

then you're not going to get a very good texture.

The one thing that I would add in the end,

but never cook it, is good old mustard paste.

If you cook mustard, the heat, the pungency,

the flame that we want for our eyeballs and our ears, will die.

And to go with our cheese on toast, a chutney,

made with fresh coriander, mint and tomatoes.

This chutney's so simple,

so quick, so fresh you don't even need a knife for it.

We'll just pick some mint off, pop the mint in, fresh coriander,

quick tear, little bit of sea salt.

This is the fun bit, this is why I like making the chutney.

It's a bit destructive. Tomatoes in. And off you go.

Spread the chilli cheese extravaganza generously on the toast

and pop under the grill until it's bubbling and golden.

Then all it needs is a dollop of chutney.

Try that, Chef.

I'll have that piece, sir. Thank you very much.

I'll have the middle bit.

HE SNIFFS Lovely!

Very good.

My midnight snack has been transformed.

You're getting the cheeses, lovely.

You're getting the mustard on the back and the chilli on the side.

That is the best cheese on toast I've tasted. That's fabulous.

-It's what we call gorge...

-..ous!

-Gorgeous!

-Gorgeous!

COWS MOO

We're heading 20 miles south of Glastonbury to meet a young man

who's creating a bit of a buzz.

Al Garnsworthy transforms pure Somerset honey into the finest

chocolate covered honeycomb, an old-fashioned British sweetie

and my absolute favourite.

I want to enhance its honeyed deliciousness

and I know just the spice.

Alistair, have ever you tried adding spice to your honeycomb?

I haven't but I think with your help I'd love to give it a go.

OK. To the honeycomb-mobile.

In Britain, we traditionally use aniseed and ginger in sweet making.

We are the largest importer of ginger in Europe.

But there's one spice British confectioners have yet to discover -

cardamom.

It's going to bring the taste of Al's honeycomb come alive.

-It's all yours, Tony.

-OK. Thank you.

To make honeycomb - a super sweet mixture of one third honey,

one third glucose syrup, one third sugar -

it's heated to 300 degrees until it becomes bubbling caramel.

That is at a very, very high temperature.

And you do not want to get your fingers anywhere near that.

-Oh, takes me back to being a kid.

-Does it?

Cos in Scotland it's very, very popular.

It's called puff candy, because it puffs up.

-So puff daddy makes puff candy.

-THEY LAUGH

Next, we're mixing four teaspoons of ground cardamom with eight

teaspoons of baking soda and adding it to the hot caramel.

Go for it. Stir, stir, stir.

-Get those muscles working.

-Oh, can you smell that?!

Look at it coming up, fantastic.

You've got a new creation there, sir.

Just like a cake left to rise,

the baking soda creates trillions of bubbles, perfumed with cardamom.

-It's a very unique colour too.

-You can smell that.

-It's a unique colour because of the cardamom.

-Absolutely.

-So it's fantastic.

-I'm very excited.

-I'm very excited.

HE CACKLES

-Are you happy?

-I'm very happy.

-Perfect.

As my spice candy cools, it shrinks and solidifies.

Time to see what Al thinks.

-Wow!

-Ha-ha!

It's an explosion. It's amazing. It really is.

Are you happy with that?

It's fabulous, Alistair, perfect. I've got plans for this.

I'm going to use cardamom to turn a really simple chocolate mousse

into a dramatic cake, crowned with our spiced honeycomb.

What we're going to do is make a lovely chocolate mousse cake.

Very simple. Sponge base.

What we're going to use is ground cardamom powder to flavour

the chocolate, which is very potent and this is

a very good tip for buying ground spices.

Buy in small amounts, use them quickly or store them

wrapped in an airtight container and in your fridge.

If you've got some in the back of your cupboard,

whether it be cinnamon or ground clove or cardamom,

if it's not got that potent smell, just use it as compost

as the flavour's gone, but you can put them back into your plants.

To start, I am making a hot spiced syrup with 50 grams of sugar,

100ml of water and two teaspoons of fragrant ground cardamom.

We'd normally use it in whole pods. 25 essential oils in cardamom

and they work so well, it's a sweet spice

and it works lovely with chocolate.

Ah, Chef. Look, chocolate and spice.

Strain the spicy syrup over 250 grams of dark chocolate pieces.

People normally melt chocolate in a bowl over hot water

but this way you don't need to do it.

It looks like it's split but if you just keep persevering

it will emulsify again.

So, Chef, you whip that up fast.

I'm going to put whisky into the chocolate now as well.

After five minutes, the chocolate is smooth and glossy

and the cream is whipped to soft peaks.

Go for it, Chef.

Oh. Gently does it, slowly does it.

I'm gently folding the mixture together.

We've made a basic chocolate sponge with equal measures

of butter, sugar and flour.

All it needs now is a dash of whisky,

then pop it into a tin to form the base of the chocolate mousse cake.

-OK, so are we putting it in there, sir?

-Yes, please.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

Pop that into the fridge until it sets, please.

Thank you, sir.

It will take about an hour.

-Lovely jubbly.

-Lovely jubbly.

-Look at that. Perfect. But we need to gild the lily.

-Absolutely.

I love it.

Look at that gold dust. It works perfectly.

And it smells good.

If you don't have time to make the honeycomb,

give it a magical dusting of icing sugar and ground cardamom.

-Shall I go for it, sir?

-Yes.

Wow! Beautiful.

It's fabulous.

Amazing combination. Chef, chocolate perfection on a plate.

This is what happens when you let two spice men loose

-in your chocolate factory, Chef!

-That's great, Chef!

Four miles south of Cheddar lies Redmoor

in the heart of the Somerset Levels.

We're here to meet one of the country's most passionate

sausage makers.

Butcher Jim Baker has been making bangers for over 20 years

from his herd of Gloucester Old Spots,

which he feeds a diet of Somerset apples.

Hello.

Hi. Big Jim. We're here to make some sausages with you, sir.

-OK, I'm looking forward to it.

-Fantastic.

So here we have our own Gloucester Old Spot from our own farm.

OK, sir.

I've got a spice blend that will really put

a bang in the bangers we're making.

But it can easily be used in burgers or meatballs.

We'll add a bit of punch there with some chilli, some nutmeg,

garlic, ginger, put some dill in there

and it's going to have roasted fennel seeds.

Lightly roasted to release the aniseed-like flavour.

Beautiful. Smell that.

Perfect, Chef. And I think it's going to make the pork sing.

Add a tiny touch of turmeric there.

It's going to look fantastic and it's going to taste fantastic.

Some black pepper.

A little sea salt and it's done.

Added to a kilo of fresh pork, our quick and easy spice blend

is ready for mincing.

The roasted fennel seeds, they're just going to lift it all up.

-All the flavours you smell...

-Nice and pungent.

-Yes, good.

This mixture makes about a dozen sausages.

That's it. Nice and gently.

That's good. You've done this before.

A couple of times.

Mr Singh, the sausage king.

I think everybody's ready for more bang in their banger.

Now what more fitting an end for a sausage

than the great British breakfast.

But, my friends, it could be greater.

We're going to spice up the holy trinity of sausage, eggs and beans,

and for that we need a willing cafe.

Do you see what I see, Chef? Trucks. Where's there's trucks...

There's a greasy spoon.

The Nunney Catch Transport Cafe sells traditional all-day breakfast.

And these fry-ups are presided over by head waitress Dawn Pollard.

Have you ever attempted to give your customers a little

bit of spice in their food?

-No, we haven't. It'll be a first.

-So yours is very, very traditional.

-Yes.

-So do you think we might be able to get away with selling them

-something totally different?

-The answer will be in the plate.

If the plate comes back empty they enjoyed it,

if the plate didn't come back empty that's where you'd get your answer.

Now you are scaring me.

So our aim is for clean plates all round.

-I'm a bit nervous, but we'll give it a shot.

-OK. I'm nervous too.

I know you are but we will give it a shot.

We're going to enhance the great British fry-up

with some careful spicing.

First for the eggs, a sprinkle of diced red onion.

-Sir. Green chilli. Can I take some chilli, Chef?

-Have some chilli.

Add teaspoon of mild green chilli. Don't be scared.

-It makes the egg yolk taste heavenly.

-Give them a bang, Chef.

Absolutely.

To finish off, some fresh coriander then it's important to flip

the eggs over to brown the onions through.

Next, for the baked beans,

I'm making a delicious mixture to stir through.

Sir, could I have the garlic and ginger, please.

For a standard tin of beans, you'd need four centimetres of ginger,

two garlic cloves, a small onion and a diced mild chilli.

Spicing beans might take a leap of faith but ginger and pulses

are perfect partners, so try it once and you'll never look back.

A sprinkle of cumin for a bit of crunch and depth.

-What do you think, Chef? Enough?

-Yes, enough.

-Yes, you mustn't scare my customers away.

-We won't.

Finally, stir it through the beans with a handful of fresh coriander.

Now will our spicy fiddling make Dawn's punters love the

fry-up more or less?

-Morning, gents. Couple of full English?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

Can we introduce you to Todiwala and Singh's one?

It's got a bit of a twist to it.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

These gentlemen want to try the spicy sausage in a sandwich.

In a bun? No problem. Do you like spicy food?

-Yeah...not hot-hot.

-Try it, you'll love it.

-OK.

OK, Chef, are you ready?

There you go, gents.

-It's different, isn't it?

-Yeah.

More sausages here.

It's nice, not too spicy.

I'm a bit funny with spicy food, but it's all, it's quite nice.

Bit funky, innit?

-Dawn's going to be happy, Chef.

-Yes, the boss.

Hello.

-HE LAUGHS

-Empty plate!

Clean plate! Well done

I liked the spicy sausages,

and I didn't know you could do such things with baked beans before.

Baked beans. They're the banging baked beans, as they say.

Are they putting it on the menu here?

I'm going to speak to Dawn and see what she says.

So, Dawn, we have two stars over there.

How many stars will you give us?

-I think I'll give you...eight stars.

-Yes!

So will dawn put our spicy breakfast on her menu?

Yes, I think I would, we'd give it a go.

-Ah-ha! That for us is success, Chef.

-Yes, Chef!

British bangers are the best.

Well, we make the best banging British banger in the world -

what do you say?

The best banging banger is a British banging banger.

The best banging banger is a best better British banger...

-Oh, bloody hell!

-Oh, let's just eat them.

Let's just eat them, yeah.

'We've toured the country and tasted the best that Britain has to offer.

'And given it a spicy spin.'

And this is the best pie I've had in 50 years!

The more I drink, the better it's getting.

-Oooh.

-Hmmm.

You like it?

'Hopefully we've given you the confidence to experiment with

'spices in your favourite dishes.'

-It's really nice.

-It's really nice?

-Mmm.

I love every lick of it, sir.

Absolutely superb.

-I've been converted.

-That is fabulous.

'Bringing all the excitement that spices have to offer to your life.'

That is amazing. That really, oh, that really is good. Oh. Mmm.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd