Episode 20 Landward

As we build up to St Andrew's Day, what better way to honour

our patron saint than a celebration of his country?

It's Landward time.

Hello and a very warm welcome to Landward.

In a moment, Euan will have some exciting news

about one of our rarest and most elusive animals,

but first, here's what else is coming up on the programme.

Fishing in a post-Brexit North Sea.

Will the waters be calm or choppy?

Brexit to me means a re-balance of a wrongdoing from 40 years ago.

Euan gets a good deal for some surplus apples.

Tip them in here. They go off to be processed and in return,

I get a bottle of apple juice or cider.

-In it goes.

-And Nick and I get creative

with the juices of a coastal berry.

-Oh, my goodness!

-Very sharp, you're thinking. Yeah.

But first, Euan has been to a secret forest location in Aberdeenshire

where there have been some exciting feline findings.

The wildcat is an iconic animal that few of us will rarely, if ever,

manage to see, but today I'm going to meet a man who devotes

most of his spare time in trying to capture images

of what some call the Scottish tiger.

The Scottish wildcat is one of the world's most endangered animals

and Britain's last surviving native cat.

Sightings are rare,

so we were amazed when we heard that six individual wildcats

had been identified in a single Aberdeenshire forest.

Kevin Bell made the discovery.

-Kevin. I'm Euan.

-Nice to meet you, I'm Kev.

Kev's the Aberdeenshire project officer for Wildcat Haven

and he's been capturing photographs of these elusive beasts

he calls ghost cats for the last three years.

Why do you call them ghost cats?

Because of the rarity.

It's the last remaining native predator we've got

and once it's gone, it's gone for good.

With numbers as low as 50 that are flying about, yeah,

we need to do something now

or it's going to be gone within the next five years.

With feral cats or hybrids,

a wildcat that has crossbred with a domestic cat on the loose,

getting pictures of even a single true wildcat is no mean feat.

So what do you bait the traps with?

Mackerel.

-Smelly old mackerel.

-Smelly old mackerel, yeah, yeah.

So how often do you come up here to check the traps?

I normally set the cameras here and check them probably three weeks,

I'd leave it about three weeks.

So most times you draw a blank?

In three years, I've only found six.

Many hybrids, many ferals, domestics,

but seeing the real deal is really special.

It's a celebration when you see the ghost cat.

So you've actually got a few images that we can see, though?

-Yeah, we have. Yeah.

-Shall we go have a wee look?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

What's great about this clip is, obviously, you can see the tail.

It's thinner, but it comes into a thick club tail.

-And that's in daylight as well.

-Yeah.

-Is that unusual?

-It is.

Usually, they are nocturnal.

-Can you get another one there?

-Yeah.

It's the framing of it.

You've got the sun, is that the sun coming up?

Yeah. The sun is just rising there, yeah.

And coming along the log like that, is that to take bait, is it?

Yeah. I mean, we put some bait out on the tree,

but you notice with the wildcat, it's never taken the bait.

It's just more curious to what's there.

-It's having a wee sniff.

-Yeah.

So what are you looking for in terms of markings?

How would I know that that's a proper wildcat

and it's not a domestic cat?

Basically, the striping is perfect.

Especially on the hind leg region.

But the neck stripes, the stripes on the legs, the dorsal tip.

Kevin's pictures of so many of these pure-bred wildcats in one location

are exciting, but the outlook for the species is by no means secure.

The future for the ghost cat just now is very grim.

Unless action is taken immediately

to neuter all the feral and domestics, it will be gone.

So these guys, in the absence of other cats, wildcats,

will start breeding with domestic cats?

Yeah. That's the main threat to the wildcat.

It's a great feeling to know that they still exist in the wilderness

and they need to be kept in the wild where they belong.

They've survived for this amount of time.

Let's just give them a helping hand to get there.

News that a wildcat has been filmed in Aberdeenshire is great,

but it's a sobering thought that unless we do something soon,

we're going to lose them forever.

Future generations will hear stories about a cat that used to live

in the Scottish Highlands,

the Scottish tiger, but not any more.

I'm continuing this week's mystery tour

by not revealing exactly where I am either.

But I'm on the hunt for flora, not fauna.

Foraging for one of Scotland's least-known super-foods.

I'm in a secret location that I cannot reveal,

but what I can tell you is it's somewhere on the east coast

and I'm here to harvest a very special berry.

Good to see you. Adam.

-How's it going?

-Very well. Very well indeed.

-Where are the berries?

-This way.

Let's go. Lead on, then.

Willow Walker and Adam Forrest run a business together,

foraging for these mysterious berries.

So, Adam, why all the secrecy?

Well, we are here to pick a berry that is becoming a lot more popular

in restaurants and shops across the UK.

Right.

So it's definitely worth protecting

the sources that we have of this in the country.

-And this is it, Willow.

-Yeah.

-What is it?

-It's sea buckthorn, Dougie.

-Sea buckthorn?

-Sea buckthorn.

It's probably Scotland's finest superfood.

It's one of the most nutritionally complete fruits in the world.

-Really?

-Yeah. It's very, very high in vitamin C

and vitamins A and E as well,

and vitamin K, actually.

But also it contains a lot of omega oils.

-So it's really good for you?

-It's really good for you.

It's really good for your immune system in particular.

Let's get on with picking it then, shall we? I'll let you do it,

-cos I'll end up badly.

-OK, well, you do have to mind these spines.

Sea buckthorn is typically found in coastal areas.

As a foodstuff here, it's been a little under-appreciated,

but elsewhere, it's been highly prized -

as its botanical name indicates.

Well, the name Hippophae comes from the Greek,

which means shining horse.

So presumably, it makes your horses shine.

I think Genghis Khan,

he fed it to his armies and his horses and everybody,

so that's why they did so well.

-And they were particularly shiny?

-They're very shiny.

And the Russian cosmonauts,

they've used it in their space programmes

as a really good food for the cosmonauts.

It might give you a shiny coat, but how does it taste?

It's definitely tart. It pulls your cheeks in.

Some people describe it as really sour pineapple,

but I don't think it's like that.

I think it's just an incredibly tart and slightly creamy citrus fruit.

Sounds intriguing. But do take care,

if you're out foraging like us

to make sure you know exactly what you're looking for.

And while you can pick a few for your own use,

if you're doing it commercially, like Willow and Adam,

you'll need permission of the landowner.

These berries are destined to be turned into juice.

People drink the juice pure as it is

and some people use the juice for smoothies

or as an ingredient in cooking.

There are lots and lots of things you can do with this juice,

and we sell to wholefood and health food shops,

a small selection of them, and some very nice restaurants and hotels.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-So what kind of things

do the restaurants and hotels use them for?

Well, a lot of them make desserts, but you can use it with fish.

It's quite good with game and vegetables and salads

and what have you.

And I will find out just how good sea buckthorn is as an ingredient

later in the programme when Nick and I

resume our West Coast road trip on the quayside in Oban.

Now, earlier in the series,

Sarah spoke to farmers about their hopes and fears for agriculture

after the European referendum result.

This week, she is visiting Peterhead,

Scotland's busiest fishing port,

to find out what Brexit may mean for the future of the industry.

Summer's Brexit battle saw the fishing industry

thrust into the spotlight.

For many fed-up Scottish fishermen, June's EU referendum was

the opportunity they'd waited decades for.

Fishermen argue that when Britain joined the Common Market,

it lost control of their industry.

Strict catch quotas were imposed,

fishermen were paid to leave the sector and destroy their boats,

while other EU countries were allowed access

to prime Scottish fishing grounds.

It's no wonder then that 92% of fishermen

are believed to have backed Brexit.

Now, with the nation about to embark on divorce proceedings,

I want to find out how the industry is feeling about the future.

Skipper Jimmy Buchan was a vocal supporter of the Leave campaign.

-How are you doing?

-I am very well, thank you.

-Welcome on board.

-Thank you.

He fishes for langoustine and monkfish,

and his quota, the amount he can catch each month,

is set by the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.

It's designed to protect fish stocks,

but Jimmy and many of his colleagues who voted for Brexit

blame it for the decline in the industry.

Brexit to me means a rebalance of a wrongdoing from 40 years ago.

During the late '90s when the pressure really came on

to white fish stocks, I had to make a decision.

I either had to do what many of my colleagues do,

which was decommission my boat,

leave and go and create a new career,

or change and adapt. So I changed to catch langoustine,

monkfish, cod, away from the traditional haddock.

And how are stocks now?

I mean, to be fair, the stocks are exceedingly well.

They have recovered.

That is partly due to legislation, but it's also been

the good governance of the fishermen themselves.

Another bone of contention has been access to fishing grounds.

Any vessel registered within the EU has equal access to all EU waters.

A recent study found that between 2012 and 2014,

51% of fish and shellfish caught in Scottish waters

were landed by boats from outside the UK.

What do you think the Brexit negotiations will mean

for Scottish waters and foreign fishing vessels?

The fish are swimming in our waters,

and I think it's a bad day and a bad deal

that our rights have been traded away by our politicians.

Obviously, there was a deal done,

and we get less of that share than what our European counterparts get.

Who should be in charge of allocating quotas

once we leave the EU?

Well, my opinion, I think it should be the stakeholders.

In this case, the fishermen, the fishermen's representatives.

We must take account of science.

Science is important, but one thing I am sure of,

it shouldn't be politicians.

Do you think the industry, the fishing industry,

can be trusted to self-regulate?

Absolutely. Without a question of doubt.

Not everyone is as positive as Jimmy.

The increased control he wants may come at a price.

Since 2007, Scotland's fishing industry

has received £77 million from the European Fisheries Fund.

170 on the roe! 170 on the roe!

And here in Peterhead, the £49 million required to redevelop

the port and fish market will be part-funded with EU money.

In the Dolphin Cafe,

where fishermen and buyers gather after the morning market,

Brexit is still a constant topic of conversation.

We got a pretty bad deal on the way into Europe and there's concerns

we'll get a bad deal on the way out of Europe.

Many worry that when divorce negotiations with the EU begin,

their industry could be bargained away to secure rights elsewhere.

Previous governments have used the Fishing Bill, if you would like,

as a bartering tool to gain other gains in Europe.

Yeah, there is the potential

that fishing rights could be traded away for something else.

There is anxiety, too, in the processing sector.

-What are the boys up to?

-Oh, we bought fresh fish from Peterhead.

Andrew Charles from Aberdeen is the third generation of his family

in fish processing. He voted to remain.

One of the few in the sector that did.

-Why?

-Well, just through what I've seen.

The last ten years, I've seen fisheries management work,

I've seen our stock levels come up,

I've seen our catching sector thrive.

I think we've got a fantastic opportunity to grow and prosper.

The way you voted to seems to go against a lot of fishermen

-who voted to exit.

-I know, I know.

-What sort of response do you get?

Well, do you know what, I hope they're right and I hope I'm wrong,

that coming away from Europe is going to lead to

a much more prosperous fishing industry,

but unfortunately, historically,

we have managed our fisheries,

when Westminster was in charge of managing the fisheries, very badly.

It has been crisis managed.

All our stock levels were driven to a level which were unsustainable.

-That control...

-Yes.

-You're concerned about that control coming back to Westminster.

Yes, I believe that Westminster, it's not important to Westminster,

the welfare of the fishing industry.

What I would want to see is the fishing stocks being ring-fenced.

I would want to see huge investment in fisheries protection,

I would want to make sure that every European boat coming into our water,

catching our fish, was properly monitored.

I don't see any plan for that or any investment being put aside for that.

There remains more uncertainty than certainty

about the future of fishing.

Brexit negotiations will only be part of the story.

For ports like Peterhead, the relationship between the industry

and governments in Westminster and Holyrood will be just as important.

For the last few weeks,

I've been finding out about the weird and wonderful place names

across the country and asking for your suggestions.

Well, viewer Alan Casey got in touch about this place,

Auchtermuchty in Fife.

Known to the locals simply as Muchty.

But you could be forgiven for mistaking this place

for another village altogether.

Because this is also Tannochbrae,

the fictional community from the TV series Dr Finlay's Casebook.

However, Auchtermuchty takes its name

from something far less glamorous

and relates to its agricultural past.

Like many Scottish place names, this derives from Gaelic.

"Auchter" meaning upland.

And "muchty" meaning pigs.

So it could be "hill of the pigs" or "field of boars".

Although a local guy just told me

it means "place that smells of pigs".

Not sure if that's true, though.

Well, there's no sign of any pig-rearing in the village today.

But you will find a statue in tribute

to Muchty's most famous son, Sir Jimmy Shand.

Maybe in the future they'll have one for The Proclaimers,

who are also from here.

If you have any intriguing place names to suggest

and you can tell us something about the origin,

get in touch via the Landward Facebook page or e-mail...

Now, it's the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

and here in Scotland, we enjoy abundant fruit harvests.

So much so, we often don't know what to do with it all.

But Euan is in East Lothian,

to find out about a project that uses the surplus

and helps the local economy.

If you're lucky enough to have an apple tree in your garden,

then you will know there are only so many apple pies and tarts

that you can make before you end up with apples on the ground

rotting and going to waste.

But I've come to this beautiful walled garden,

just south of Edinburgh, to find out about a scheme that finds a home

for the apples that you don't know what to do with.

Mary, how's the picking going?

Well, quite well so far.

This orchard belongs to Mary Fawdry.

It was planted in 1947 when her family bought the house.

The two acres yield about a tonne of apples every year.

So do you pick them all yourself?

Well, in days gone by, I did.

-So what's this variety?

-This is called Newton Wonder.

So what do you do with a tonne of apples?

They used to go to waste and go to the birds

and now, they go to make cider.

-That's a clever trick.

-It's a very good deal, yes.

The birds aren't so happy.

For the past three years,

Mary has taken her apples to the Apples For Cider Scheme

run by the Thistly Cross Cider Company.

Here's the way it works. I bring my basket of apples to this shop

just outside Dunbar. I weigh them and if it comes to more than 7kg,

I tip them in here, they go off to be processed, and in return,

I get a bottle of apple juice or cider.

How good is that?

Dougie visited this company in 2009, when they were just starting out.

Peter Stuart, one of the founders, was clear about the goal.

East Lothian has hundreds of established apple trees

in big country house gardens and things like that

and we can make a truly Scottish cider.

Peter, we saw you talking to Dougie there about a Scottish cider.

What is a truly Scottish cider?

Scottish apples, fermented and matured in Scots whisky casks,

made with wild yeasts,

so it's got provenance and it's all about the place that it comes from.

-So it's got Scotland running through it?

-Absolutely.

How does it work? What's the mechanics of

your bag of apples lying under the tree to producing a cider?

We take the fruit, we press them, we turn it into juice

and we leave that juice to ferment for a month

and then mature it for a number of years.

So who's got involved in the scheme? Who's bringing you their apples?

Everybody.

From people who have got a couple of trees in their back garden

to farmers who might have inherited an established orchard,

then up to community groups, who've planted orchard in the last decade

and they're starting to get a lot of fruit produced.

We offer an end product for their fruit.

What about from the apple supply point of view, how's that going?

It's been another bumper year, actually.

We've already crossed 100 tonnes of donations

and we've still got a couple of weeks to go.

What about Mary? She has given you approximately a tonne of apples,

what's she going to get for that?

She's going to get a whole load of cider.

Probably in the region of 12 cases of her choice.

12 cases of cider in exchange for apples that would otherwise

rot on the ground. That has got to be a good thing.

Hints of whisky.

Earlier in the programme,

I was in East Lothian picking sea buckthorn berries.

And now, we are going to turn them

into what we hope will be a tasty treat.

Back in the summer, Nick and I went on a foodie road trip

on the West Coast and we've been saving

some of our sun-drenched exploits to brighten up the winter months.

How are you doing?

You'll see us treat the people of Luss and Ganavan

to some of our delicious delicacies,

but today, we're in another favourite destination.

Well, today, our culinary location

is the bustling ferry and fishing port of Oban

-and sun-kissed it is, too.

-It's always sunny in Oban.

Yeah, that's right(!)

So we are going to cook some scallops with some bacon

and we're going to make a sauce using sea buckthorn juice.

Now as you know, prickly little plants,

orange berries and this is the juice now.

I know you haven't tasted the juice so far.

-I have not.

-And now is your opportunity.

O-o-oh!

HE COUGHS

Oh, my goodness!

Very sharp, you're thinking, yeah?

You might even be thinking, minging.

I'm actually thinking that's not pleasant.

But we're going to make a really nice sauce out of this.

So we've got some butter, shallots, a bit of chicken stock,

little bit of cream and the sea buckthorn.

And you, my friend, are going to make a sauce

that is going to turn that

into something that is utterly magnificent.

-OK, before we start, I've got one question to ask you.

-Yes.

Do you have any chewing gum? HE LAUGHS

Water. I wouldn't mind some water.

OK, for the sauce, Nick, what do I have to do?

A little bit of butter into that pan, into the saucier.

In it goes. Okey-dokey.

Get the shallot in, finely chopped shallot.

-All of it in?

-Yes.

That's one shallot.

So the next thing, we put a little bit of fish stock in. OK.

We're going to let that fish stock reduce down.

Whilst you're reducing the sauce down, I'm going to fry some bacon,

because we are going to serve this with some king scallops

and the sweet scallops, they love that saltiness of the bacon.

And it's a streaky bacon. Thin slices. In it goes.

That's something I absolutely adore.

The smell of frying bacon.

That, yeah, but served with scallops. Delicious.

Any kind of savoury thing works really well

-with the sweetness of scallop meat.

-Wonderful.

Apparently, I'm not the only one that likes the smell of bacon.

OK, so that's that bacon come out now.

-How are you getting on with that sauce?

-It's reducing down, yeah.

Right, OK. So we can add the sea buckthorn now.

Not very much I would suggest.

-I would add a couple of tablespoons to start off with.

-OK.

In it goes. I quite like the colour of it.

I thought that, because it was kind of orange in flavour,

it might be sweet, but it was anything but.

-Very astringent, sharp.

-Yeah.

-OK, let's have a little taste.

Just see...

-That's enough.

-OK.

Two tablespoonfuls.

So the next thing you do is add a little bit of cream.

-OK.

-About a tablespoon and a half.

-A tablespoon and a half.

Yeah, in it goes, in it goes.

Right, that's it. Bring it back to the boil.

And as soon as it boils, add all of that butter and chuck it in

-and whisk until it's all dissolved, right?

-OK.

And then we are going to take it off the heat.

So here we go with the scallops.

In they go. The secret with scallops when you're frying them

is to get the pan really nice and hot.

-Salt and pepper?

-Can I put it down there?

-Yeah, put it down.

-Will it be safe?

-All good, yeah.

I definitely need some pepper.

OK, so that's the scallops done.

-OK?

-Lovely.

Tiny little bit of lemon juice on the scallops.

OK. A bit of salt. Pepper.

-How's that sauce looking?

-It's looking good.

Do you want to taste it and tell me what you think?

-It's working really well, actually.

-Ha-ha!

-It's working really well.

OK, so a little bit of bacon in here.

Tra-laa!

-Scallop on top. Ho-ho-ho!

-You're very excited.

I am, I am. I'm just liking this. I'm liking this.

-Add a wee bit of a...

-And, maestro, your sauce, please.

-How much?

-Just a little drizzle over the top.

-That's it.

-Can we have a wee taste ourselves?

We can. We'll just make one up here.

Voila!

Thank you. For you, sir.

-Thank you very much.

-There we go.

-Down the hatch.

-Cheers.

That's great.

That's so good, but the sea buckthorn was so strong earlier on.

And the sauce has made it rich, creamy, lovely.

But it's there. The acidity is there

and the flavour of the buckthorn is there as well.

-Nailed it.

-Beautiful.

-Right, let's see what the good people of Oban

think of our sea buckthorn sauce.

-They've waited long enough. Let's feed them.

-They have, yeah.

-Oh, it looks nice.

-It does look nice.

-Does it taste nice?

That'll be up to you. You tell us.

-Would you like to try and tell me

-what you think? I'd love to try.

-So, just down in a oner.

-In a oner?

-In a oner, go for it.

Down in a oner. That's the way to do it.

-Down the hatch.

-Oh, that's nice.

-Wow.

-Thank you. So who are you?

-Me?

-Nick Nairn.

-LAUGHTER

-It's juicy.

-Oh, it's great, isn't it?

-Smashing.

Really good scallops.

Lovely. The bacon, oh, and the sauce, it is to die for.

-What sort of sauce is it?

-Sea buckthorn.

-Sea buckthorn?

-Sea buckthorn.

-Sea buckthorn.

-Oh, right.

-Have you come across it before?

-I haven't.

It's very nice, very nice.

-It's delicious.

-C'est tres bon.

If you're going to use it, use it sparingly. THEY LAUGH

I'm going to take that bit of bacon, because I love it.

Avec la coquille St Jacques, le bacon et ce fruit de mer

que je ne connais pas. Tres, tres bon.

Just say, "Sea buckthorn is delicious."

-Sea buckthorn is delicious.

-LAUGHTER

Doug, how was it for you?

Incredible. Everybody who tasted it was very excited, loved it.

Nobody, obviously, had had sea buckthorn sauce before.

And they really liked the combination of flavours.

Well, I had a French gentleman.

He said it tasted of wild mushrooms

-and another lady that said it tasted like seaweed.

-Interesting.

Yeah. And the seaweedy thing, I kind of get that seaweed thing.

Definitely. There's no doubt about it, it's an intense flavour

and it's magic when people taste something

they've never had before and they love it.

Well done, you. Now that's all we've got time for this week.

Here is what is coming up next time around.

Oh! Wrong bit.

Sarah demonstrates her lack of talent with a sewing machine.

I made a jumpsuit in S6, I should be able to do a rosette.

And we meet the young farmers getting the most out of goats.

I've always wanted my own business and now to think that the goats were

standing in a field a week ago and now we are packaging it up

to send away to a top restaurant in Peebles is amazing.

So join us again, next Friday, 7.30, BBC One Scotland.

From all the Landward team here in sun-kissed Oban,

-thank you so much for your company. Bye for now.

-Bye.