Episode 15 Landward

Hello and a very warm welcome to Landward, your weekly diet of the

best of rural Scotland. We're here to launch a project to get our

children passionate about Scottish seafood. But, first, here is what

else is coming up on the programme: Today I have come to an

agricultural show with a difference. I am at the first ever Scottish

Smallholders Festival. Sarah is in Shetland to reveal the

unique qualities of Shetland wool. These sheep have been here for the

last 5,000 years. They have learnt to adapt themselves to a very

specific climate and environment. And we're back on the gallops with

Scottish racehorse trainer Jim Goldie. He's our superstar. He is

one of the best horses in Britain Seafood Scotland have just launched

a programme to encourage more children to eat seafood. Over the

next couple of months, they will be travelling to schools up and down

the country to teach pupils how important seafood is to their

health. Today, Nick and I have come to Brechin High School to see if

the pupils here have a taste for Another day at school, off to class

for the first lesson of the day. This is no ordinary day with Maths

and English and other subjects on the timetable. Today, textbooks

have been replaced by the taste and texture of seafood. Seafood

Scotland has launched a programme to educate schoolchildren about the

quality and health benefits of Scottish seafood. The pupils of

Brechin High School and surrounding primaries are the first of many

schools to benefit. We're hoping to make kids familiar with seafood.

There are so many children who don't eat seafood at home, who have

never seen a whole fish, who don't really know where they come from.

They see maybe a box of fish in the freezer cabinet. They are not

familiar with the whole fish story and they are not familiar with

eating different types of fish, so they have a workshop where they

taste seafood food, look at some seafood. We have got a filleter

here to show them what happens to the fish and somebody working with

some big charts we have developed to show them the journey from sea

to plate. Do you like eating fish? Yes, kind

of. What kind of fish do you like to eat? I don't know. Do you know

anything about the different kinds of fish? Some of it. Do you like

fish? Yeah, most fish. What's your favourite? Haddock. Cod and haddock.

How do you like it cooked? granny sometimes makes kedgeree

with it. Are any of the fish here today fish that you are not

familiar with? Probably crab. there any fish or shellfish that

you don't like? No. You like all fish? Yes.

It is not just about looking at fish in a chiller cabinet or tank.

All the pupils get the chance to taste everything from sardines to

mussels. This session here is being run by Cat Frankitti from Fish For

Health. The whole idea is that you get to try everything here. Cat,

sorry to interrupt you. No problem. How do you go about encouraging the

pupils to taste this wonderful seafood? I have invited them to my

Come Dine With Me. I can already see from the looks in their eyes

who is a little bit nervous about trying. Who is not too sure about

trying? Well, you guys come forward because once I have convinced those

that are a little bit uncertain, the rest will trust me. OK, do you

want to try a bit of smoked trout? Yes! Well done, that fella. There

you go. Not a problem. That can just go into the bin. Now, you

trusted me. Thumbs up? Thumbs up! Will we go on with the mackerel now,

then? Yes. Here we go. You have got a tail there. That should be good.

What are you thinking? Thumbs up? Yes! Now, this part of the world is

just a few miles along the road from Arbroath, so you would think

that most people would have tried Arbroath Smokies, but apparently

not. Ian Spink here has been, quite literally, smoking in the

playground all afternoon. Ian, how's it going? Very well, thanks.

How has the reaction been to Arbroath Smokies from the pupils?

Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. I think it's really important for

them to see where it comes from, and see it being cooked in front of

them as well. OK, how to bone an Arbroath Smokie. Lay it down on its

back, break the skin down to its tail and just pull it apart. Easy

as that. That fish now has only got a few wee bones left down the side

there and all that lovely thick white meat is bone-free. Feel free

Well, smoking in the playground is definitely not a good idea and I've

just been sent for by the Heedie. Mr Dempsey, I am very sorry about

smoking in the playground, but has today been a success, do you think?

I think it's been an overwhelming success. This is very much about

what the Curriculum For Excellence is about, showing them how to adopt

a healthy lifestyle, healthy eating, also, the story of where the fish

has come from in the first instance. Overall, I think it has been a

great success. The first Seafood In Schools

project has been a resounding success. It may just open the mind

of these teenagers that there is more to seafood than just a fish

What's been good about today? get to find out different things

about the fish. Do you like eating fish? Not really. Why don't you

like eating fish? I just don't like the taste of it. Do you think after

today you might go away and try Later in the programme, Nick will

be in a classroom for some Asian fusion cooking. Now, last week we

visited top racehorse trainer Jim Goldie in his Renfrewshire Yard.

This week we are joining him as he prepares one of his horses for the

Ayr Gold Cup Festival. South of Glasgow, near the village

Uplawmoor, is Jim Goldie's racing yard. He has 60 horses in training.

Although race horses have been selectively bred for hundreds of

years, they still retain the instincts of their wild ancestors,

and Jim tries to work with these instincts. When we are training

them, we are mimicking nearly everything that happens in the wild.

When they're racing they run in a pack and when they're in the middle

of the pack they feel security because the one in the middle is

less likely to get caught and eaten. The ones on the outside are a

little bit uptight because they become the target. You watch horses

and they are almost like synchronised swimmers. They have a

natural rhythm to do it and in the race we just mimic that. Race

horses have been bred for their competitive spirit and the good

ones want to win. One horse that certainly has shown that desire to

win is Hawkeyethenoo. In August, he won the Stewards Cup, the first

time a Scottish trained horse has ever done that. He is a big

powerful animal. He is a great traveller. He travels to Goodwood

and places like that and eats and drinks on the road. If they leave

here and go to another stables and don't eat and drink when they're

away, they don't perform. It is vital that... Yes, we're talking

about you! It is vital that they do all that. He knows he's the boy.

He's very special. The more a horse wins, the more weight it has to

carry in handicap races. It is a sign of Jim's success with

Hawkeyethenoo that the weight he carries has almost doubled since

the horse arrived at the yard. he came to us I think he was 55,

and he's now 108, so to put it in turns he has improved... Don't bite

my wellies! He has improved a back of cake. He has improved over 50lbs.

He is now humping 50lbs more than what he was when we got him. He's

climbed that much in the handicap. He's our superstar. If we wanted,

we could take him around the world. He's our ticket to go to probably

Dubai or Australia, Hong Kong, places like that. Whether we will

is debatable, but he's one of the best horses in Britain now. He's

one of the top handicappers. He's getting into the elite.

For now, Dubai will have to wait. Ayr is the next stop for

Hawkeyethenoo, along with two other horses from Jim's stable. Next week

we'll be following Jim as he Still to come: Nick gives Scottish

seafood an Asian twist. Asian food is based on four things: hot, sweet,

salty, sour. It should have all of those things together.

Sarah finds out why no Shetlander would be without their woolly

jumper. Thoroughly genuine, every last ditch! And cosy. It is at the

The Scottish Smallholder and Grower Festival is a brand new event for

2012. It is aimed at anyone with a wide interest in sustainable living,

from producing food, practising crafts, even generating power and

energy. Euan was invited along to Today, I've come to an agricultural

show with a difference. It maybe lacks the grand scale of the Royal

Highland Show and it's a little best specialist than a lot of

regional shows, but today I am at the first ever Scottish

Smallholders Festival. There is no definition in law of a smallholder,

unlike a crofter. Basically, we would say a smallholder is anyone

with less than 10, 20 acres. But we don't put definitions on

smallholders. If you believe you're a smallholder, we're happy with

that. There is a lot going on today. This is the first event. We've

showing classes for a sheep, goats, pigs, poultry and waterfowl. We

have a craft and foodhall. We have craft and trade stands and a whole

Basically, if you can keep it, grow it then eat it yourself you will

find it here and, of course, you've got the great sausage competition

that I will be judging a bit later. It's very popular and it's getting

more popular as people seek a different lifestyle to the rat race,

to coin a phrase. I think people want to have more control over

their lives and smallholding, in its widest sense, is about that.

It is often called the Good Life. I think smallholders would say it is.

With a focus on rare and traditional breeds, one animal that

is really popular with smallholders are pigs, and that is reflected in

the big entry in the pig show, and that's where I'm going just now.

What have you bought today? I have brought two kunekune pigs today.

What is a kunekune pig? Kunekune pigs are from New Zealand. Kunekune

means round and fat. They are the smaller, hairier breed of pig. It

started off about six years ago, I saw it on TV. I think Gordon Ramsay

had two pigs to fatten up. I researched it and these were the

friendliest ones - we've got two kids - a reasonable size. If you'd

asked me six years if I'd eat my pigs it would have been a definite

no, but as time has progressed we've done it and are quite proud

of the fact, as well. The kids come out, they tidy up behind the pigs,

they have done a bit of training with them, as well. It's a family

thing. And you've been winning? got a first for our small piglet

and I got a second for Best In Show. Not bad! Well done!

Alison's daughter, Anna, is also taking part today in the young

handlers competition and, by the One of the best aspects of a

smallholding lifestyle is you actually get the chance to eat

something that you've produced yourself. Today, I'm delighted to

be judging the sausages. I have got some help off Matt here. It looks

like a minefield. What we're looking at is, as a young child

when you get your first breakfast and you see that sausage, that's

the memories you're looking for. Then you go into the taste, and

that's when your taste buds will be able to distinguish which ones are

better than others. There's a lot of pressure to get this right.

taste buds will help you. You need a wee bit more moisture in there,

don't you? So, five? Five. As you can see, we have got a lot of

sausages to eat. This is going to I've just had a telephone call from

the girls selling tickets to say they've run out of adult tickets,

and it's fabulous! It's going better than we could have possibly

imagined. The tag-line for the festival was to 'Inform And

Inspire', so we want people to go away from here saying, yes, this is

something that I can do. If people are already smallholding, I'd like

them to go away thinking, I can do that better! We'd hoped that

everybody is going to have a good time and that this is going to be

the first of a tradition and that the Scottish Smallholder and

Growers Festival will go on to bigger and better things. Well,

I've certainly got a great taste for smallholding and sustainable

living from what's gone on here today. For the visitors, it gives

them a chance to reflect on the year gone by and get inspiration

anything you see on the programme or have a fascinating story to

share with us, please drop as an The weather here in Brechin is

absolutely fantastic, but what about the prospects for this

weekend and beyond? Here is Judith Well, we have seen a rat Deschamps

read we, but things are going to settle down as we head into the

weekends and for the beginning of next week. It is all tied in with

this area of high pressure exerting its influence across got it in time

for the weekend. This weather front will bring some showers to the

north-east corner of Scotland tomorrow. It will be a cold start

to the day tomorrow, but they will be bright spells from the word go.

There will be some showers along the north coast and in the north.

There will be bright, sunny conditions across the island's ants

in southern Scotland. It will feel pleasant and the sunshine with

light winds. A fresh north-westerly wind coming in the across the far

north, bringing showers. It will feel quite golden that win. The odd

passing shower for the Outer Hebrides. If you're thinking

heading out to the hills tomorrow, I think it will be more Southern

Rangers that fare better. It will be dry with decent spells of

sunshine and visibility will be excellent at the summit, but it

will be greasy at the peaks. More in the were applied across the

northern Rangers and some showers as well. The showers will turn

wintery at the highest peaks. Double leads to severe wind chill

factor. Four Insurers waters As far as the rest of Saturday his

concern, holding on to the dry conditions and it will be cold

overnight. There will be some frost and mist and fog patches. For

Sunday, the High holds nicely and the weather front pulls away.

Sunday will be one of those beautiful autumnal days. Mr fog

patches will clear quickly. It will be predominantly dry right across

the country. Winds will be like. Bible hold on as we head into the

beginning of the week, that Monday night will be cold with a

widespread frost and some mist and fog patches, especially in central

and southern Scotland first thing in the morning. Generally, a lot of

dry weather and sunshine with highs of 11 or 12 Celsius. On Tuesday we

had this high still trying to hold on. This were the front attempts to

make inroads on Tuesday. It may bring some rain across western and

southern corner for a time, but it will retreat. On Wednesday we are

back to plenty of dry, bright weather with decent spells of

The pupils here at Brechin High School are loving this. Many of

them are tasting seafood for the very first time. Now Nick, The Man

With The Pan, is going to spice things up a bit. Over to you.

you, Dougie. Guys, do you like spicy food? Yes! That's what I like

OK, what we're going to make today is an Asian seafood broth and we're

going to put some monkfish in it. Has anyone tasted monkfish before?

No? It's a delicious, really meaty fish and it goes really well with

these spices. Here's how we do it. We start off with a pan and I've

got some stock in here. We're going to favour this with Asian stuff.

Asian food is based on four things: hot, sweet, salty and sour. It

should have all those things together. We start off with about a

teaspoon of Thai fish sauce. That's the salty element. The sweetness

comes from honey, and about a teaspoon of honey into the broth.

The sour is going to come from lime. Finally, the heat comes from chilli.

Now, if you don't like it really spicy, just use a little bit of

chilli. Now it's time just to give the broth a little bit of a taste

to make sure you've got that base right. Definitely hot, definitely

salty, definitely sweet and a little bit sour. That's just about

right. Another flavour we'll add in is ginger. What we're doing is

building up layers of flavours, so the ginger goes in there, as well.

A little bit of vegetables in here now. The carrot, we're just going

to cut that into little fine discs. About a tablespoon of celery.

Continually building up the flavours. Spring onion, a lovely

fresh, perfumed flavour. We're going to add the noodles at this

stage, as well. The noodles have been pre-cooked so they just need

to be warmed through. You know what this is? It's a herb. Cress?

Coriander? Yes. I'm going to put loads of it in here because I

absolutely love it. Finally, the fish. That thing that we tend to do

in this country with fish, the worst thing that we do, is we

overcook it. This is the monkfish tail and I'm going to cut it into

thin slices. How long do you think it will take to cook? Two minutes?

About one minute. We'll just put them straight into the broth and

we'll give those a mix around. As soon as they start to turn opaque,

that's them done. That's it. It's that simple, quick and easy to make

something that is totally delicious. A fabulous way to cook fish and

really healthy, as well. We just serve this in a nice big bowl as it

comes. Would anybody like to taste it? I would. You would? You're up.

And you, as well. If you want to come round and have a taste. Down

the hatch. It's really nice. It's really nice! I'll take that! Quite

spicy! You can see the colours coming on your brow! What do you

think about the flavour, though? Very tasty. Very nice. Very spicy

and very nice. I'll be back next week with the pan outdoors to cook

Next week it's Wool Week in Shetland, a series of events

celebrating all things woolly. The islands are well known for

traditional products like Fair Isle sweaters. Those traditions,

obviously, continue, but as Sarah finds out, they are now being spun

These are Shetland sheep. Their wool is considered to be the finest

of any native British breed. Its insulating qualities were so prized

that the first people to climb Mount Everest wore clothes made

from Shetland wool. There wool from Ronnie Eunson's sheep will be on

show at Wool Week. Ronnie is part of a producer group that sells 100%

organic Shetland yarn. I assume this is a Shetland wool jumper.

it is! It's thoroughly genuine, every last stitch. And cosy. It is

at the moment! Now, I understand the wool is prized for being very

fine. Why's it so fine? It's a trait of the breed. These sheep

have been here for the last 5,000 years. They've learnt to adapt

themselves to a very specific climate and environment. Part of

that adaptation is their ability to shed water and to retain warmth.

Wool brokers Jamieson & Smith started Wool Week. They deal with

the 84% of all Shetland's wool clippings. It's renowned for its

fineness and you can see the crimp and the fine fibre. Yeah, it's

quite springy, isn't it? Yes, you've picked up on that. That's

one of the key points of Shetland wool is the handle. That's the

springiness, the soft handle. This sets it apart from other wools and

that follows through into your finished product. And I hear that

Queen Victoria was even a fan? Queen Victoria's stockings were

made in the Shetlands in the late 1800s. It was a worsted spun, where

it is all drawn up in one parallel line. Then it was all hand spun

into a very fine one-ply. So, she would have worn something similar

to this for her stockings? Yes, and there was no itch. That would have

been good! But it's not just itch-free

stockings that we can make from Shetland wool. Jamieson's parent

company sells 100% Shetland wool carpets and the luxury mattress

company Vi-Spring sells Shetland mattresses to the likes of Harrods.

You're looking at the top end with Shetland wool. That's where it

belongs. It is the finest wool in the world. So, from the woolshed

here in Lerwick, to Harrods! Yeah. Amazing. Yeah.

And that tradition of excellence has been carried forward in style

by the contemporary textile students from Shetland College. I

visited them as they put the finishing touches to their degree

show. Ella Gordon uses Shetland wool in her designs. These

photographs show the inspiration for her collection. That's mostly

all my granny and granddad's croft. Just the colours, like the oranges.

That is that kind of time. I just get really inspired by that kind of

era because so much would have changed in Shetland. It went from

being predominantly crofts and stuff to there being a lot of

incomers and things changing, so I want people from Shetland to feel a

connection to them, but then, also, that it would strike a chord with

anybody, so it wouldn't matter where you're from, you'd just think,

I like that! I have a lot of this scallop, which is taken from their

croft house roofs. And the hexagons, which is like chicken wire at my

granddad's croft. How important was it to you to use the Shetland wool

theme? Really important to me. All these cushions are filled with

Shetland wool because I think it is such a good thing for people when

they're buying it you can say, it is knitted in Shetland wool, filled

with Shetland wool. It's just If you're interested in

contemporary uses of Shetland wool or more traditional styles, it will

all be on show at Shetland Wool Week. The programme is online and

forward/landward. Now, while Shetlanders are celebrating their

wool, here's what we'll be up to I join the students of Scotland's

first pig academy. So, how old are these, Gregg? These are about two-

weeks-old. They seem quite happy. Yeah.

We examine the impact of hill tracks on our stunning mountain

scenery. It's a question of getting a balance. They have gone a wee bit

over-the-top and they need to be reined in.

And Euan finds out how to make charcoal from rhododendrons. Nice

and gently, over to the kiln and tip it right down the middle.