Lymington

As they continue on their sailing journey around the south coast to the pretty harbour town of Lymington in Hampshire, Dick and James Strawbridge are on the hunt for the best local ingredients for their chosen menu that they'll serve on the boat at the end of the show.

Brief history
Dating from Anglo-Saxon times, Lymington Quay was a busy commercial port exporting great quantities of salt to Newfoundland and importing coal for the salt industry. Salt was a booming trade along the Solent coast up to the middle of the 19th Century and was a vital commodity – as well as preserving and improving the taste of food it was used for tanning hides to make leather and for treating wounds. A centre for smuggling in the 18th century, the quay is said to have a warren of tunnels.

The Beaulieu River is centrally located on the Solent, close to Cowes, Lymington and Southampton, and is one of the most picturesque rivers in the south. It forms part of the Beaulieu Estate and is one of the few privately owned rivers in the world. The local area has 18th century cottage displays at Buckler's Hard where warships for Nelson's Navy were built. Nearby you will find picturesque Beaulieu Village, as well as the National Motor Museum, Palace House, Beaulieu Abbey, World of Top Gear and James Bond Exhibition.

Featured local producers

Dick and James start off by heading to S & J Shellfish at Snooks farm. Joan Mitchell buys just landed crab and lobster from local fishing boats on the Solent. She also leases part of the Beaulieu River where she rears native oysters. Her crabs are glorious and all of the processing is done daily with nothing added so they're fresh.

Snooks farm, crab and lobster picking, Joan and David Mitchell, Lymington S041 5SF - Tel: 01590 688501

Next up the boys head to Goodall's strawberry farm to pick strawberries. Brian and Pauline Goodall run this pick your own farm that specialises in early strawberries. They buy in bumble bees to pollinate the early strawberries in the cold weather. Varieties include El Santa, Elegant, Sanata and Mariella - a variety they have name after their youngest granddaughter. Their south-facing slope, plenty of much and well-guarded family growing techniques are the secret of his great strawberries. Flowers, broad beans and potatoes are also available. Dick and James picked some strawberries here to make dessert with later on the boat.

Goodall's at Bampton's Farm, pick your own strawberries, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 5SH
Get Dick and James' Strawberry compote recipe

The boys then join Gary Eveleigh to forage for anything wild and edible. Gary runs pleasure cruises for tourists, but in his spare time enjoys foraging, mainly for seaweeds such as samphir, laver weed, sea beeat and sea purselane. He also has a license to forage for gulls eggs, which Dick and James take to make gull's egg tortilla on the beach.

Gary Eveleigh - Mob: 07850 947618
Get their Gull's egg tortilla recipe

Dick and James next visit Tatchbury Manor Farm to see their rare breed pigs. Sarah Richards in the pig farmer and butcher on the farm, and produces high quality pork joints and bacon, award-winning black pudding and sausages. She runs a small farm on the edge of the New Forest where huge slow-grown, long lived, rare breed outdoor reared pigs wallow in muddy fields. Her farming methods are all slow and natural as possible, and for her, the quality and flavour of the meat is paramount. Dick and James take some pork belly from Sarah to cook up for the main meal later on.

Sarah Richards, pig farmer, Tatchbury Manor farm, Soton, Hants SO40 2HA - Tel: 07786697919
Get Dick and James' Belly of pork and black pudding recipe

Also from this episode:

Get their Sea bass baked in salt crust recipe

Other notable local producers

Salt boiling houses, Caroline Hill, Lymington SO41 0RJ - Tel: 01962 860511
Hurst Castle
Mrs Tee's wild mushrooms
Setley Ridge Vineyard