:00:07. > :00:11.Hello and welcome to the show. Tonight, we are in Southport for a
:00:12. > :00:15.special programme all about the food industry. We'll be asking whether we
:00:16. > :00:21.can be sure that what we are buying is what it says on the tin. Tonight,
:00:22. > :00:25.we look at a unique type of food production in the Ribble Valley. It
:00:26. > :00:32.sounds like self policing, would you describe it as that? Overall, I
:00:33. > :00:39.would say yes. But we are proud of what we do. A food critic looks at
:00:40. > :00:43.why food crimes are still happening. Whilst the majority of the food is
:00:44. > :00:48.safe, food fraud is an established crime and it is all about money. I
:00:49. > :00:52.go out with one of Southport's last shrimpers. We will see how we are
:00:53. > :01:15.getting on. Good luck. The horse meat scandal earlier this
:01:16. > :01:19.year forced us to think about where our food comes from and what is in
:01:20. > :01:24.it how confident can we be that the food we eat is what we think it is.
:01:25. > :01:27.One part of our region has experience of what it takes to claw
:01:28. > :01:30.back consumer confidence by introducing a unique system of food
:01:31. > :01:33.production and supply and it's based on good old`fashioned trust, but
:01:34. > :01:39.does it work? We sent Jacey Normand to investigate.
:01:40. > :01:43.The Ribble Valley is simply breath`taking, consisting of two
:01:44. > :01:49.market towns and 44 villages all set in this relatively unspoilt
:01:50. > :01:51.picturesque backdrop. It's also home to some of the north west's most
:01:52. > :02:00.acclaimed chef's and food producers. It's difficult to imagine anything
:02:01. > :02:07.could interrupt the idyllic beauty of this part of our region.
:02:08. > :02:11.Horse meat may have been the scandal of this year, but back in 2001 this
:02:12. > :02:15.part of the world was devastated by foot and mouth. Food producers had
:02:16. > :02:19.to do something to salvage their industry's reputation and one of the
:02:20. > :02:26.ways they did that was by increasing transparency in the food chain. To
:02:27. > :02:28.better understand this journey, I'm taking a trip into the heart of the
:02:29. > :02:42.Ribble Valley. We were registered in 1999, but...
:02:43. > :02:46.Amongst those affected were Ian O'Reilly and Emma Robinson. They run
:02:47. > :02:49.Gazegill Organic Farm. It's one of a handful of certified organic farms
:02:50. > :02:52.in the country. It's been in Emma's family for 500 years. They narrowly
:02:53. > :02:57.escaped foot and mouth, but still it almost cost them everything. Their
:02:58. > :03:02.farm was on lock down and their stock's value plummeted overnight.
:03:03. > :03:06.They were shooting cows in the meadow in front of our house. It
:03:07. > :03:11.came very close to us and we kept thinking today is the day. Are we
:03:12. > :03:16.going to get taken out today? The whole thing was heartbreaking `
:03:17. > :03:19.empty fields, empty farms. Like so many farmers at that time,
:03:20. > :03:22.their survival depended on diversification. Today, Ian and Emma
:03:23. > :03:24.are more passionate than ever that food should travel the fewest
:03:25. > :03:27.possible miles, be reared naturally and never be overly processed. They
:03:28. > :03:37.also strongly advocate animal welfare. We build a lot of
:03:38. > :03:40.relationships with the animals and pigs are quite powerful, they are
:03:41. > :03:45.all muscle and teeth and jaw last thing you want is a boisterous pig.
:03:46. > :03:49.Give them a mass arch and that way they get used to being handled. She
:03:50. > :03:54.loves this. Everything from birth is traceable.
:03:55. > :03:58.Going further into the feed, the animal feed. We can trace it back to
:03:59. > :04:06.the farm it came from, the field it was grown in. When an animal is
:04:07. > :04:10.born, it's identified. When it's taken to the end of its life, it's
:04:11. > :04:14.processed and it ends up back here sold in the shop. The problem comes
:04:15. > :04:30.when you break that chain and animals become batches of meat. Is
:04:31. > :04:36.all this going to be... It seems a huge undertaking. We hope so, we're
:04:37. > :04:39.hoping to get 100% of the milk being sold locally.
:04:40. > :04:42.Gazegill Farm is part of the Ribble Valley Food trail. Set up in 2008,
:04:43. > :04:46.it aims to transform our thinking about food by emphasising trust and
:04:47. > :04:50.provenance. To be a part of it, you have to meet a range of criteria and
:04:51. > :04:59.show a commitment to producing, sourcing and consuming everything
:05:00. > :05:03.locally. So, you take provenance to a new level by growing stuff in the
:05:04. > :05:07.grounds. You are in the middle of the orchard, you have plans. Chef
:05:08. > :05:14.Nigel Haworth has two restaurants on the trail and is also one of the
:05:15. > :05:17.original champions of the idea. Buying at source and building a
:05:18. > :05:21.relationship is how people did it in the good old days. By understanding
:05:22. > :05:29.each other and by giving each other a fair deal and by re`investing in
:05:30. > :05:37.the economics of an area. If there is something I can't get say I need
:05:38. > :05:40.to use French truffles for something, I won't say I'll never
:05:41. > :05:44.use them but there are English truffles and mushrooms and lamb. We
:05:45. > :05:47.have incredible beef and lamb. Why should I want to go anywhere else
:05:48. > :05:51.but here? But just because it's grown and
:05:52. > :05:55.sourced on our doorsteps, how can we be certain the food is safe and is
:05:56. > :05:58.it still subjected to the same checks and balances as everywhere
:05:59. > :06:03.else? We will do a routine inspection. The premises are...
:06:04. > :06:04.James Russell is head of Environmental Health at Ribble
:06:05. > :06:09.Valley Council. What we do find is we go through an
:06:10. > :06:12.audit trail and we follow that where they say they come from, we ask for
:06:13. > :06:15.receipts, we know the other businesses involved and we obviously
:06:16. > :06:24.do food hygiene inspection of those premises as well. It all comes
:06:25. > :06:30.together locally. Do you record temperatures? Can you show me
:06:31. > :06:32.please? What does the inspection involved?
:06:33. > :06:36.It's a detailed process, what we're looking at is the whole food
:06:37. > :06:39.business in its entirety, we look at everything, but there are three main
:06:40. > :06:42.areas we are targeting. One is the structure and cleanliness of the
:06:43. > :06:46.premises, make sure that's right. We're looking at the food hygiene
:06:47. > :06:48.practice so that's the way food is prepared and handled, stored,
:06:49. > :06:52.purchased, brought in and we're also looking for a confident management
:06:53. > :06:59.side of it ` that they are doing what they should be doing. The fact
:07:00. > :07:06.they have a food trail here, does having a food trail make your job
:07:07. > :07:08.easier? We find less and less issues when we do inspections so, yes, it
:07:09. > :07:18.does make it slightly easier. Stringent checks and inspections
:07:19. > :07:21.like the ones carried out by environmental health are, of course,
:07:22. > :07:25.important, but to be part of the food trail it's just as important to
:07:26. > :07:29.get a positive review from your fellow food`producing peers. Well,
:07:30. > :07:32.I'm here at Cowman's Butcher's in Clitheroe to meet Cliff Cowburn.
:07:33. > :07:41.Cliff, it sounds a lot like self`policing, would you describe it
:07:42. > :07:48.as that? There are checks, but overall, I'd say yes. We're all very
:07:49. > :07:51.proud of what we do. It's important standards are maintained, we all
:07:52. > :07:59.know where we buy the meat from, the produce from and who we supply. We
:08:00. > :08:07.cannot let the customer down. They have the trust and faith in you. It
:08:08. > :08:13.is criminal to abuse that trust. It's Saturday morning and Nigel is
:08:14. > :08:19.visiting Leagram's Organic Dairy. You have cut through the cheese now.
:08:20. > :08:23.Three times. Is it important that you limit that to a certain number
:08:24. > :08:27.of cuts? Like many of the Ribble Valley's local chefs, he likes to
:08:28. > :08:30.know where his cheese is coming from and believes having such a close
:08:31. > :08:37.relationship with producers is an integral part of creating the
:08:38. > :08:41.perfect menu. Dealing with the food producers has enriched my life. You
:08:42. > :08:44.learn about food, what it takes for a person to go out and grow
:08:45. > :08:48.cauliflowers, be with animals seven days a week. It gives you an inkling
:08:49. > :08:52.into their lifestyle. The chef is a conduit, it's helped to bring the
:08:53. > :08:55.farmers and chefs into the kitchen and have a look at what's happening
:08:56. > :09:02.to their produce in the kitchen. It looks very delicate. It is at this
:09:03. > :09:09.stage. So much flavour even after such a short period of time. After
:09:10. > :09:15.carefully selecting the right ingredients, Nigel invites me into
:09:16. > :09:19.his kitchen at North Cote. I recognise the cheese, where has
:09:20. > :09:22.everything else come from? We have a local free range egg. He's got
:09:23. > :09:27.something in mind he wants to make from Faye's cheese, but the question
:09:28. > :09:31.we all want to know the answer to is can you really taste the difference?
:09:32. > :09:39.All I have done is melted that cheese. There it is, that cheese
:09:40. > :09:42.that we know and love. Then we pop the egg on the side there and then
:09:43. > :09:48.we put our little tomato on there which we have dried with some garlic
:09:49. > :09:54.and thyme. I you liking this? I am, it looks that even I could cook this
:09:55. > :10:02.and that is saying something. It would be a miracle.
:10:03. > :10:07.That is delicious. You can taste the cheese, it's really lovely and
:10:08. > :10:11.amazing to think that it's come from a ten`mile radius. Yeah, and it just
:10:12. > :10:14.shows you that you don't need to go far away to get absolutely quality
:10:15. > :10:19.ingredients but the simplicity of that dish I think is the key ` but
:10:20. > :10:22.buy locally, gain some knowledge of where your local suppliers are,
:10:23. > :10:25.don't just shop on a phone or on the internet and really build
:10:26. > :10:33.relationships with local people that helps the local economy and makes us
:10:34. > :10:36.all happy, I think. When it comes to self`policing and
:10:37. > :10:40.trust, the Ribble Valley Food trail is a model being looked at in other
:10:41. > :10:44.parts if the world from Northern Ireland to Tazmania. Whether or not
:10:45. > :10:48.it will be rolled out in other parts of the UK remains to be seen, but
:10:49. > :11:02.here at least, going back to basics, seems to be working.
:11:03. > :11:11.Coming up, I discovered just how much hard work goes into preparing
:11:12. > :11:13.potted shrimp. We have five trays. How long could that take you? I am
:11:14. > :11:27.mangling it at the moment. Given the rise in reports of food
:11:28. > :11:32.fraud, it is no wonder there is confusion about some of the products
:11:33. > :11:36.on the shelves. We asked this food critic to act `` `` ask who is
:11:37. > :11:49.policing our food? Spaghetti bolognaise is one of the
:11:50. > :11:54.nation's favourite dishes, and unsurprisingly so. What could be
:11:55. > :11:57.better than some lovely beef simmered in some extra virgin olive
:11:58. > :12:01.oil, served over pasta made with free range eggs? But hang on a
:12:02. > :12:06.moment, what if the beef is some old pony that should be racing in
:12:07. > :12:16.the 3:10 at Kempton? What if the free range eggs are actually
:12:17. > :12:18.captured in a cage? And what if the extra virgin olive oil is rather
:12:19. > :12:21.less innocent that it claims? All of these items and many more have
:12:22. > :12:24.been the subject of food fraud over the past few years. So how
:12:25. > :12:27.confident can we be in our food? How can we be certain there won't
:12:28. > :12:30.be another horse meat scandal? How can we be sure that our food does
:12:31. > :12:32.what it says on the tin? What we've seen are failings in the system
:12:33. > :12:35.with more fraud and less testing of our food. And a report just
:12:36. > :12:42.published by the National Audit Office has underlined the problems.
:12:43. > :12:45.It says the government failed to spot the possibility of horse being
:12:46. > :12:51.passed off as beef earlier this year. There's confusion over the
:12:52. > :12:53.role of the Food Standards Agency which is in charge of food
:12:54. > :12:55.regulation. And it says that detection of fraud is falling short
:12:56. > :13:01.of what we as consumers should expect. It's our local Trading
:13:02. > :13:06.Standards who are the food police on the ground doing the checks. And
:13:07. > :13:10.drastic cuts to their budgets is putting the whole system of
:13:11. > :13:16.detecting food fraud at risk. I'm just going to take these three and
:13:17. > :13:18.do some checks on these. To understand the challenges Trading
:13:19. > :13:22.Standards face I'm spending the day with food enforcement officer Ayse
:13:23. > :13:27.Singh. We're visiting an award winning yogurt factory in Suffolk.
:13:28. > :13:33.220 grams. Is the packaging only four grams on these? I thought it
:13:34. > :13:42.was 12 grams. Because this is the sheet they've got out. They've got
:13:43. > :13:44.the wrong sheet out. The consumer needs to know exactly what they're
:13:45. > :13:46.getting and what Trading Standards are looking at here is a
:13:47. > :13:51.discrepancy between weights. It says it's both 200 grams and 220
:13:52. > :13:53.grams. Looks like it's just an oversight, but they have to get it
:13:54. > :13:56.right, so the consumer knows what they're getting. Ayse's team have
:13:57. > :14:02.had two successful prosecutions recently. They found out consumers
:14:03. > :14:05.were being ripped off by companies selling jam and sauce that didn't
:14:06. > :14:07.contain what they claimed on the label. But the problem is across
:14:08. > :14:10.England there are now fewer officers like them on the hunt for
:14:11. > :14:15.dodgy food. Against this, reports of fraud are rising. In the first
:14:16. > :14:18.six months of this year there have been 812 reports of food fraud
:14:19. > :14:23.reported to the Food Standards Agency. That's an increase of a
:14:24. > :14:27.third on this time last year. Trading Standards are also
:14:28. > :14:30.reporting an increase. And yet their budgets nationally are
:14:31. > :14:33.reckoned to be down a third and the number of samples they're sending
:14:34. > :14:36.for testing are down by almost a quarter. I think there is a crisis
:14:37. > :14:42.in the regulatory services, in Trading Standards. We've lost a
:14:43. > :14:44.third of our inspectorate. Talking to colleagues recently, they're
:14:45. > :14:49.expecting to slash by a further 50 percent in some cases. And I think
:14:50. > :14:52.we now start to see the picture, that in some cases throughout the
:14:53. > :14:57.UK we'll have no trading standard service in three years time. With
:14:58. > :14:59.local authorities reporting cases of fraud up by two thirds last year
:15:00. > :15:06.and limited resources Trading Standards have to try and predict
:15:07. > :15:11.problems. Back at the dairy they're taking a sample of milk away for
:15:12. > :15:14.routine testing. And one sample is the one I'm going to be sending
:15:15. > :15:17.away for testing, one sample is going to be retained by the
:15:18. > :15:22.business for them to sort of store until the results come back. Poor
:15:23. > :15:24.weather has meant milk yields are down this year. Dairies across the
:15:25. > :15:27.county are being tested to make sure milk isn't being watered down.
:15:28. > :15:31.Recessions also make fraud more attractive. So officers on the
:15:32. > :15:34.ground are very busy. And so is the Food Standards Agency. It's in
:15:35. > :15:39.overall charge of our food safety. Their Fraud Branch has never been
:15:40. > :15:44.busier. The FSA has been repeatedly criticised as being not fit for
:15:45. > :15:48.purpose. It was accused of acting too slowing during the horse meat
:15:49. > :15:52.scandal. So is the current system tough enough? Let's put these
:15:53. > :15:56.things into perspective, in relation to the horse meat incident.
:15:57. > :15:59.In the prior year there were over 90,000 samples collected. There
:16:00. > :16:02.were over 20,000 authenticity tests. 8,000 of those were on meat
:16:03. > :16:06.products. There have been several areas that we've been targeting for
:16:07. > :16:09.a number of years. It just wasn't necessarily in the public
:16:10. > :16:12.consciousness. But a former head of Authenticity at the Food Standards
:16:13. > :16:16.Agency told us we are now less well equipped to uncover fraud. Dr Mark
:16:17. > :16:22.Woolfe spent nine years in charge and he believes budget cuts are
:16:23. > :16:28.undermining the system. The FSA rely basically on Local Authority
:16:29. > :16:30.results. And obviously local authorities now are under financial
:16:31. > :16:35.pressure and therefore the amount of sampling that they're doing has
:16:36. > :16:43.been quite severely reduced. So I think the whole system is really
:16:44. > :16:45.quite severely weakened. It's clearly a challenge in the current
:16:46. > :16:48.financial environment for local authorities to do the work they
:16:49. > :16:51.need to do. But the FSA has invested considerably more in this
:16:52. > :16:54.area in the last year to boost their resources and their efforts.
:16:55. > :16:58.And it's clear that the system is detecting problems. But it's going
:16:59. > :17:01.to be challenging in the future, the threats will also keep evolving.
:17:02. > :17:05.And the service that's there to protect consumers will also
:17:06. > :17:08.continue to evolve as things change. Two weeks after our visit to the
:17:09. > :17:12.diary, the samples of milk have been tested. Everything was OK, the
:17:13. > :17:17.sample of milk had not been watered down. But I did discover another
:17:18. > :17:19.problem in the system. The number of public testing laboratories has
:17:20. > :17:25.shrunk dramatically over the past decade. Down from 20 to just nine.
:17:26. > :17:29.It's another sign that less testing of our food is taking place. But
:17:30. > :17:33.food fraud has never been more attractive to criminals. A Food
:17:34. > :17:37.Standards Agency report lists all the products that it thinks could
:17:38. > :17:41.be or have been the subject of fraud and it's quite a list. Honey,
:17:42. > :17:46.wine, fruit juice, spices, olive oil. But should all testing be paid
:17:47. > :17:51.for by the public purse? What about the supermarkets? After all, we buy
:17:52. > :17:54.most of our food from them. Tesco were one of those found to be
:17:55. > :17:57.selling products containing horse meat. I've come to their lab in
:17:58. > :18:02.Wolverhampton to find out what they're doing now. You've got
:18:03. > :18:06.thousands of products in Tesco, how do you decide what to test? We take
:18:07. > :18:10.a balanced view of where the biggest risk might be that
:18:11. > :18:13.something could go wrong. So we could be telling consumers there's
:18:14. > :18:19.chicken in the product, we need to be sure it's chicken and not turkey.
:18:20. > :18:21.Since horse meat was found in some of the products they were selling,
:18:22. > :18:28.Tesco say they now carry out eight times more DNA testing. Crystal
:18:29. > :18:32.ball moment, do you think something like the horse meat scandal could
:18:33. > :18:34.happen again? Our sole objective is giving our customers the best
:18:35. > :18:40.confidence we can in the products that we produce. To ensure that
:18:41. > :18:45.that kind of activity, if it were there, we would catch it. And
:18:46. > :18:47.because our supply chains are shorter, we understand them better,
:18:48. > :18:52.we've got better controls and testing's stronger than it ever was
:18:53. > :18:57.before. That fraud should not happen again. While Tesco are
:18:58. > :19:02.confident they've learnt lessons, the rest of the food surveillance
:19:03. > :19:06.system is under increasing pressure. The big question is, can it cope?
:19:07. > :19:10.Whilst the majority of our food is safe and what it says it is, food
:19:11. > :19:14.fraud is an established crime. And it's all about money. And where
:19:15. > :19:18.there's money to be made, criminals will be attracted to food fraud.
:19:19. > :19:21.The thing is, food is a global industry now, it's complex and hard
:19:22. > :19:23.to police. Making sure it is what it says it is, is very, very tough
:19:24. > :19:33.indeed. Traditionally, no trip to the
:19:34. > :19:39.seaside is complete without eating some seafood. And here in Southport,
:19:40. > :19:42.they've been shrimping off the coast for generations. Sadly, it's
:19:43. > :19:48.an industry that's now in decline, as I found out when I spent the day
:19:49. > :19:52.with the resort's last shrimpers. It's a fair old drive out to the
:19:53. > :19:57.sea, but we've come in search of something quite special ` Southport
:19:58. > :20:01.shrimps. I've joined one of the resort's last shrimpers, Christian
:20:02. > :20:04.Peet. His family have been shrimping off the coast here for
:20:05. > :20:09.generations, but now there's only a handful of shrimpers left.
:20:10. > :20:13.Christian and his wife Tuk are out in all weathers, hoping for a good
:20:14. > :20:19.catch. What is it about this coastline that makes it so good for
:20:20. > :20:23.the shrimps? Well, we've got the River Ribble on that side and the
:20:24. > :20:27.Mersey on that side of us. The shrimps wash out the rivers and
:20:28. > :20:31.they settle here at Southport. The sand's very clean, so we get a
:20:32. > :20:33.really nice, clean brown shrimp. The quality of the brown shrimps
:20:34. > :20:39.here is second to none, they are absolutely fantastic. There's been
:20:40. > :20:42.a big decline in shrimping in the North West. The channels are
:20:43. > :20:45.silting up and there are fewer shrimps around to catch. But
:20:46. > :20:50.Christian's determined to do his best. We've just tied the net up
:20:51. > :20:55.now so we're going to start moving in a minute. And we'll put this net
:20:56. > :20:58.out and this net will actually sit up like that as it drags along the
:20:59. > :21:02.sea bed. So it's almost like an envelope? Yes, it is, really. As
:21:03. > :21:05.the net drags along, the shrimps will actually jump. And they should
:21:06. > :21:08.hopefully jump into the net, along with other fish and maybe a few
:21:09. > :21:20.crabs and various other creatures as well. Why is it still so low
:21:21. > :21:27.tech, is it to keep your costs down? You don't really need
:21:28. > :21:30.anything fancy to catch shrimps. As you can see, as long as the wheels
:21:31. > :21:33.are moving and you can drag along the sea bed, you can catch the
:21:34. > :21:37.shrimps. But it always has been and always will be a cottage industry.
:21:38. > :21:40.And we're basically keeping that cottage industry going at the
:21:41. > :21:50.moment. We're going to pull the net in now, see how we're getting on!
:21:51. > :21:53.Oh, it's all happening! Good luck! We've got ourselves a plastic
:21:54. > :21:58.bucket! We've got a plastic bucket, but not many shrimps. They look
:21:59. > :22:03.like a bug or an insect when they come out like this. I'm used to
:22:04. > :22:08.seeing them curled up. Yeah, they do. At this time of year they are
:22:09. > :22:13.reasonably small. This one is slightly bigger. But they are
:22:14. > :22:17.absolutely beautiful to eat. The taste is very sweet, as we'll find
:22:18. > :22:22.out later on when we cook them. They really are a treat this time
:22:23. > :22:28.of year. And is most of the rest of that no good? No good, we throw it
:22:29. > :22:31.back in the sea. Right, OK. Luckily for Christian, Tuk's from a farming
:22:32. > :22:38.family in Thailand so is used to hard work. I love it. Do you? I
:22:39. > :22:45.can't see many women would enjoy it, day in, day out. You get used to it
:22:46. > :22:51.when you do it every day. That's what I was doing in Thailand so I
:22:52. > :22:55.get used to it. In the winter, when it's freezing cold, what's it like
:22:56. > :23:03.out here on a day like that? You know, January, minus two? Cold!
:23:04. > :23:08.Freezing cold! But is there something you'd rather be doing? To
:23:09. > :23:13.be honest, in any job I do, I love working. Anything, you know.
:23:14. > :23:23.Potting, shrimping, peeling. Cleaning! I love everything I do.
:23:24. > :23:28.You're a one in a million! Then we spin round in a circle when we get
:23:29. > :23:30.into the corner. Tuk and Christian may be among the last shrimpers in
:23:31. > :23:33.Southport, but Gerald Rimmer can remember when there would be at
:23:34. > :23:40.least 40 men working the beach with their horse and carts. Well, I
:23:41. > :23:47.started when I got demobbed in 1949, from the Navy. And my father was
:23:48. > :23:53.shrimping at the same time. So with my demob money, I bought a horse
:23:54. > :23:58.and I started shrimping. Did you enjoy it? Oh, I enjoyed it. What is
:23:59. > :24:02.it about shrimping? There's a bit of solitude on your own, that's
:24:03. > :24:06.what I liked about it. The horse took you out? Yeah and he could
:24:07. > :24:10.find his way back, even if it was foggy. It sounds ridiculous, but I
:24:11. > :24:18.carried a compass in the horse and cart. But more often than not, it
:24:19. > :24:23.would get you off. Tell me a bit about what the community was like
:24:24. > :24:27.with 40 horses and carts out there? Well, it was great. It was like a
:24:28. > :24:32.troop going in the middle of the night. With candle lamps on. Most
:24:33. > :24:37.of the old people ` what I thought was old ` in the village picked
:24:38. > :24:43.shrimps, cos it was extra money. It was a cottage industry. And they
:24:44. > :24:46.did it in their own homes. And is there a sadness that it's an
:24:47. > :24:51.industry that's seen a decline? Oh, it has declined, yes. There's no
:24:52. > :24:56.market stalls now, as such. And if you buy them in the supermarket
:24:57. > :25:01.they're very expensive. But having been out, I understand why they are
:25:02. > :25:09.expensive, cos it's hard work. It is hard work. It's time consuming.
:25:10. > :25:14.But still a great taste. Oh yeah, great taste, yeah. Back at
:25:15. > :25:19.Christian's house he boils up the shrimps and lays them out on trays
:25:20. > :25:22.to cool. So that's a good morning's work. It's the start of the season,
:25:23. > :25:28.so you weren't expecting a miracle. But five trays. Commercially,
:25:29. > :25:31.what's that worth to you? By the time we've peeled them and you've
:25:32. > :25:35.eaten a few of them, we might scrape ?100 out of it, something
:25:36. > :25:39.like that. But we don't expect a lot of shrimps this time of year.
:25:40. > :25:42.But I've more than enough for a sandwich so we'll settle for that.
:25:43. > :25:47.Fingers crossed, on a really good day, what could you do? On a really
:25:48. > :25:54.good day I would expect to catch ten times as much as that. Wow.
:25:55. > :25:58.Maybe more. Incredibly, all the shrimps are peeled by hand. Is
:25:59. > :26:06.there an art to this? How do I do it? Squeeze the head like that. And
:26:07. > :26:13.pull the tail out. Now squeeze a little bit here and pull it out.
:26:14. > :26:19.That's it. We've got five trays to get through. How long could that
:26:20. > :26:23.take you? Cos they're really small shrimps, it might take us a little
:26:24. > :26:30.bit longer than normal. And to be honest, I'm mangling most of mine!
:26:31. > :26:32.Two to three hours. Really? So we're going to take the shrimps.
:26:33. > :26:37.This is what we caught yesterday, they're nice and fresh. After
:26:38. > :26:41.they're peeled, the shrimps are them cooked in butter, lemon juice
:26:42. > :26:49.and a special blend of spices. It's a closely guarded family recipe. So
:26:50. > :26:53.Tuk's a demon at this as well. But you do the finishing touch. I put
:26:54. > :26:58.the butter on. I finish them off by putting a nice seal of butter on
:26:59. > :27:02.the top of the pots. Let's see if you've got a steady hand. Where do
:27:03. > :27:04.they go from here? These potted shrimps now will go to various
:27:05. > :27:13.restaurants throughout the North West. Various wholesalers, one or
:27:14. > :27:18.two fishmongers. We supply some really good restaurants all over
:27:19. > :27:23.the North West, really. It's hard work, but there's a lot to like
:27:24. > :27:27.about it as well. Yes, it's a job that I enjoy and for me, life's not
:27:28. > :27:33.just about money. It's about finding something that you enjoy
:27:34. > :27:38.doing. And we both really enjoy what we do and we're very proud of
:27:39. > :27:40.what we do. And there was no way I was going to leave without trying
:27:41. > :27:45.some freshly potted shrimps. So, the end product. There you go. What
:27:46. > :27:48.have we got here? We've got some fresh Southport samphire grass,
:27:49. > :27:52.which I picked off the foreshore and I blanced just a couple of
:27:53. > :27:56.minutes in some boiling water. Got some fresh watercress and some of
:27:57. > :27:59.teh shrimps that I've just cooked. Served on a toasted crumpet with a
:28:00. > :28:05.lemon wedge. Nice and basic, nice and simple. But I'm sure you'll
:28:06. > :28:13.agree, tastes fantastic. Nutmeg? It's gorgeous. Do you like it? Do
:28:14. > :28:15.you know what? This is absolutely beautiful and I appreciate it more,
:28:16. > :28:19.because I appreciate all the hard work that goes into it. There is a
:28:20. > :28:24.lot of hard work, as you've seen today. But the end product is worth
:28:25. > :28:30.it. Fantastic. Good, I'm glad you like it. I really do. That was such
:28:31. > :28:35.a lovely day and the shrimps tasted great. Now, don't forget, you can
:28:36. > :28:46.catch us again on the BBC iplayer. But we're back next Monday at 7:30
:28:47. > :28:56.on BBC1. Until then, goodbye.Next week, a special friendship. This is
:28:57. > :28:57.a blessed