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Monday 20th December 2010
I have decided I admire geese. They are such confident and noble characters, and a bit nosey too judging from the way they're always stabbing away at things with that sharp little beak of theirs. They amuse me. Of course, Christmas time is not a good time to be a goose, although having seen the way Richard Botterill keeps his geese, and seen several hundred of them take a walk down the lane for a bit of winter grazing, I can't believe a goose could have had a better life than this.
We've been to the Vale of Belvoir which is in that middle bit of England around Melton Mowbray - yes, we had pork pie for lunch. It's compulsory.
It is also famously Stilton cheese country. This is a jealously protected brand, and all cheese labelled Stilton must have been produced in this area. Some comes from places more akin to a factory than a dairy, but Webster's in Saxelbye is different. For a start, you can drive straight past because it looks like a row of cottages; but inside cheesy smells fill the air, and a traditional cheese is being made as it has been since it was first invented.
It's a rich Christmas menu this week, helped by Mike Robinson's partridge recipe, and Rachel Green who cooks for us a Xmas Queen of Puddings.
So I offer you all that this week together with a huge helping of Christmas wishes, and thanks to our researcher Ian Griffiths and director Paul Freeman who have slaved over a hot stove to bring us all these goodies over the last few weeks. And we didn't once catch them with a finger in the pie.
Friday 17th December 2010
It's the time of year to be raising a glass which we do this week with great style with a fine single malt whisky. Ah, you say, they've gone to Scotland. Wrong. We have been to Norfolk where we found's England's only whisky distillery. I wouldn't consider myself a judge of whisky but those who are, after many years of arduous, long drinking experience, tell me that this whisky rates highly; some even say (avert your ears if you're from north of the border) it might even be better than some of the stuff that comes from Scotland. I'm not getting into that argument! Let it be sufficient to say that on one of those below-zero mornings when we were filming before breakfast, the mere whiff of the stuff set you up for the day.
And we have been rubbing shoulders with the landed gentry too, at Houghton Hall, Norfolk country seat of Lord Cholmondley. It wasn't his lordship we were off to see, though. In the parkland in front of his grand roams a remarkable herd of white deer and their keeper, Julian Stoyel, is one of the most informed deer keepers I have ever met. An hour in his Land Rover, watching deer, is a complete education.
Of course, the deer provide Mike Robinson with some glorious vension to cook, which compensates for the bone-chilling time he spent on the Norfolk marshes looking for wild duck and teal. A drop of that Norfolk whisky would have done the poor lad a power of good.
And so would a slice of Norfolk Treacle Tart which Mary Kemp cooks for us. It's what I call a serious winter warmer.
Monday 13th December 2010
If you need something to keep out the cold, then this week's Countrywise Kitchen will feel as good as wrapping an extra blanket round you. We really have got the kind of food that does the business at this time of year.
Not that we had a particularly warm time of it, making this week's show. We've been to the Gower peninsula in south Wales; a place of remarkable beauty and fabulous summer beaches. But it's not really known for its food, and that's a shame because there are some true feasts to be had here. Mike Robinson's on the shore line collecting and cooking cockles and mussels proving that open-air eating is a totally different and hugely satisfying experience; and I had a chilly day on the marshes finding out why the lamb that fattens there has a special quality about it. Here's a thing I didn't know: I've heard that salt marsh lamb is supposed to taste special and I'd always assumed that it was due to the salty grass that the lamb grazed on. Not true. It's special because the saltiness of the soil allows unique herbs and grasses to grow, and it's these that work their flavour through to the lamb.
And to finish off? Mike makes a suet pudding from Welsh Black beef, and in her Gower kitchen, Kate Jenkins (good Welsh name, that is) makes Chocolate Brownies that will make you weep with delight.
People often ask me if making Countrywise Kitchen is as good a job as it looks? The answer is YES! The diet starts next week.
Friday 10th December 2010
What sets small scale food producers apart from the rest of the food industry (apart from the often poor returns for all their hard work) is their sheer commitment to producing food not to others people's mass-produced standards, but to their own. They have a strong belief about how good food should come to the table and nothing is going to stop them from delivering the best. Then there are the ones who have a strong sense of tradition and are determined to keep it alive, not for nostalgia's sake but because they believe in it. On this week's visit to the Malvern Hills we meet both kinds, thanks to some hard work by our dedicated researcher, Ian Griffiths, who in the last few weeks has eaten better than ever before in his life.
He has discovered one of the finest Gloucester Old Spot pigs I have ever seen. These are a rare breed, and so is their owner, Eric Freeman, who doesn't mince his words when describing the glories of this lovely old breed of pig. And how good to see smallholder, Helen Lightfoot, keeping a tradition alive. Listen to her sheer enthusiasm for the food she produces.
We like to mix the savoury with the sweet, so apart from Mike Robinson's special pork recipe, (he's also wild mushroom hunting - I've always said Mike will hunt anything that moves but now he's moved on to things that stand still) we have a dish to tempt you which is brand new to me. Watch Carolyn Chesshire as she cooks up the Malvern Apple Dumplings. This is serious, and very traditional, food to see you through this long hard winter. There's nowhere better to be when the days are cold than in the Countrywise kitchen. Don't you agree? I think we'll postpone our diet till the spring.
Also, could you take a look at 1 of the video links…..when you click on the ‘video’ symbol next to the images of the sausages under the Lake District heading….it plays an old preview clip from the series that’s not Kitchen.
Friday 3rd December 2010
This new series of Countrywise Kitchen comes with a bit of a health warning - it will seriously arouse your appetite. We have been traveling, as usual, to all corners of rural Britain, but this time in search of the very best food and some of our most talented food producers.It's a tough job,I know, but someone's got to do it and it has fallen to me and our chef Mike Robinson to be your taste buds on this splendid tour of the countryside and it's kitchens. Mike cooks and I get to eat, and that's just the way I like it.
We are starting in the Lake District, high on the fells, where the Herdwick sheep grow into glorious lamb and mutton; and lower down the slopes where we will be picking hedgerow fruits for jam making with Jane Maggs, a renowned jam maker who has more fruit in her house than you would imagine possible.She says there's even some stored in the bedroom!
As if lamb and jam weren't enough, Mike goes fishing (and eventually cooking) brown trout before getting down to the serious business of getting the very best from Lakeland's lamb.
Oh, and there's also some Cumberland sausage in there as well to ensure we return home with out waist bands groaning.
This has been a terrific series to make and I hope you'll join us for all five shows in the run up to Christmas, and look out for Mike's recipes on this website because once you see some of his dishes emerge from the oven,I'll guarantee you'll be wanting to try them yourself.
There’s something about going to the Channel Islands that feels a bit like a cheat: you get all the pleasure of a foreign trip for at least half the effort. That’s how I felt, anyway, when we went to Guernsey for this week’s Countrywise.
It is a remarkable blend of three cultures. There is, obviously, a strong British influence, but add to that the nearby French plus the local traditions that Guernsey has developed over the years and you end up with a fascinating blend of a place, and I hope that’s the impression you’ll get when you watch the show.
Guernsey in wartime is one of our themes. Remember, while mainland Britain was never occupied by the Nazis the Channel Islands were for many of the war years.That occupation has left its mark. The memory is still alive, and you’ll hear some voices remembering the darkest days.
We’ll also drop in on the Occupation Museum which, like so many small and dedicated museums, is one man’s inspiration. Have a listen to his tale of wandering the island as a boy, in and out of the old concrete bunkers, collecting guns, bullets, helmets, anything left over from the war, and hear how he turned his collection into one of the most comprehensive wartime museums I have seen.
And here’s a secret I’ll share with you. Countrywise is preparing an hour long show which looks at the British countryside in the years of the Second World War. That will screen later in the year and I’ll keep you in touch with how it’s going.
Finally, pity poor Mike Robinson who joined the team this series as our own ‘hunter-gatherer.’ He’s a chef who cooks what he kills, so you’d expect him to have a pretty strong stomach. But watch what Guernsey goats’ cheese does to him!
Enjoy the show.