02x03 - Lostwithiel

[bunniefuu]

This is my son James.
And this is my dad d*ck.

We're exploring the coastlines
of the Southwest

in search of ingredients
to cook aboard our boat the Morwenna.

We're going to call into ports
and harbours along the way,

meet the locals,
then pick up great ingredients

to cook some tasty dishes on board.

Which is just as well,
because we're very hungry sailors!

Today we're heading for Lostwithiel,

where we'll be making
mouth-watering mussels...

Look, there's one portion,
there's two portions.

...a beautiful beef stew...

After a good day's work, the sort
of thing you want to come home to.

A stunning piece of meat.

And cheese cake
with a crunchy Cornish twist

all to cook dinner
for some very special guests.

Oh, that's plenty!

We're sailing up river towards
an old trading post, now silted up.

When we get then, we'll moor,
go exploring

and then invite some friendly locals
to eat on board with us.

We always take turns with the menu.

Today I'm cooking the starter,

and we're going to join together
for the main course.

And then I'm doing a dessert
to tile for.

The thing is - our guests are going
to choose whose dish they prefer.

So, Dad, good luck...
'cause you're going to need it.

So, Dad, good luck...
We'll see.

We'll be making our way
on board the Morwenna

up the River Fowey
towards Lostwithiel

as far as the tide and
its treacherous mud flats will allow.

But before we go too far upstream,

we jump ship to join a mussel farmer

who's heading around to the next bay
to inspect his ropes.

He's promised to take us along.

I hope Dave doesn't mind us
MUSCLING in on his territory. Oh!

This is quite exciting.
Hi, Dave. Lovely to meet you.

How are you? Nice to meet you.
I'm James.

I'm d*ck.

Jump aboard.

JAMES: Dave Hancock's going to show
us the ropes - quite literally.

He's been running the family business
for nearly 20 years.

There we go.

We're motoring out from his mooring
in Fowey Docks to St Austell Bay.

I love the fact
that we know this am so well.

but we've never done this before.
We eaten so many of Dave's mussels!

It's the first time we're going
to go and get some for ourselves.

How long have you been here
to get mussels, David?

I started probably
about 15 years ago.

But not with mussels. I initially
started with Pacific oysters

and then swapped over
to growing mussels.

How did you develop the expertise

to harvest, grow,
produce your own mussels?

Mainly - believe it or not - by
doing trips to Scotland and Ireland.

I spent a lot of time on the west
coast of Ireland with mussel farmers.

This sounds like a holiday!

A couple of pints of Guinness,
and I'm now an expert mussel grower!

You're not just dredging them up?
No, this all grown on ropes.

You hang your collector ropes
in the water

at a certain time of the year

and you collect your spat,
as we call it, or your young mussel.

You just dangle ropes in the water,
and little seed mussels come along?

That's basically what we do.

There is nothing
more environmentally friendly

than mussel farming
because basically all you're doing -

you're harvesting
a natural resource.

You just put the rope in the water.

It doesn't always work like that,
mind.

What's your verdict on YOUR mussels,

compared with the ones
from Ireland and Scotland?

This is the best by far. Got to be!

Try that one there, Steve.

The ropes or droppers
are evenly spaced along a line

that's held up by buoys
on the surface.

The ropes are hauled aboard
and checked.

The larger mussels are harvested,

and the smaller ones can be left
to keep growing.

Wow! So that goes down six metres?

Yeah. Just get a piece up for you.

How old are these?

This is about 15-months-old now.

So 18 months that'll be ready
to cook? Yeah, 18 - 20 months.

That's a fully grown,
nice-to-eat one?

Yeah. That's right.

There's mussels everywhere.

Drag one through the stripper, Steve.

d*ck: It'd take forever to strip so
many mussels from the rope by hand.


to do the work for him.

That's my kind of engineering!

The rope runs
between two circular blushes,

which strip the mussels off
in seconds. It's ingenious.

We can get about two tons on the deck
within two or three hours, easy.

When they're like this, it doesn't
take very long to get them up.

We've got a pretty decent haul -
alive alive oh!

So it's time to head back
to the docks,

where the mussels
are cleaned and graded.

♪ If could choose the life I please

♪ Then I would be a boatman

I'm just thinking, look,
there's one portion,

there's two portions.

There's another one.

This is MY portion.

I want this one.

Before they're ready for cooking,

the mussels go into a large
purification tank of seawater,

where they're treated with UV light
to k*ll off any bacteria.

Of course we can't resist
a bit of competition.

So it's game on to see
which of us could fill a crate

without getting shellfish
all over the floor!

[GUFFAWS]

Come on, let's go!
Oh, that was really good.

Mine was better than James's,
wasn't it? Come on, Dave.

It'd be splitting hairs,
to tell you the truth.

Dave, it's been a real pleasure.

Got some of these
to take home with us.

We were wondering if we could cook
some for you on board the boat.

Yeah, love to. Love to.

We'll see you on the boat, Dave.
Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you.

I've got a feeling not all of these
are going to make it back!

They're amazing. 50 fresh!

Fishing trips always make us hungry,

and these lovely fresh mussels
are just begging to be eaten?

We found a little beach
called Readymoney Cove

and we've decided
to cook some of the mussels.

We couldn't wait to take them back
to the boat.

But of course lots of different ways
of doing it.

We're going to be cooking it

with garlic, onions,
flat-leaf parsley and wine.

We like Cornish cream.

So we'll add in some cream,
for that extra dunkability.

'Cause the bottom line is
the juice is as good as the mussels.

James is doing all the work,
and I'm on mussel patrol.

This bit is interesting because
if they're open and they don't close,

we don't use them at this stage,
but when you cook them,

if they're closed,
you don't eat them.

Those are a really good source
of protein.

In the Second World w*r,
a shortage of meat in America,

and the diners took to sewing
mussels instead of burgers.

This onion's ready.
I'll just get on with the garlic.

Start cooking whenever you're ready.

There you go.

The race is on to get enough mussels
to go with that.

A bit of olive oil in there.

When the onions and garlic soften,
we're going to put the wine in.

We don't need to put too much in
'cause inside of each of these

is a little bit of liquid. 50 the
sea flavour goes into the whole dish.

I've got a big bunch
of flat-leaf parsley here.

We're only going to pop that in
at the end, aren't we?

Parsley's one of those herbs
you use all the time.

You can eat it with almost anything.
Watch out, my gadget.

Pop it in the machine.

I found this old hand mincer
on the boat

and I want to see if it works.

There's probably a good reason
why these aren't very popular.

It's not very good.
OK, just chop it, just chop it.

That's quite sad.

In with the softened onion
and garlic goes a good glug of wine

and of course the mussels.

Give this a bit of a shake, son,
yeam Yeah.

Here we go.

Quick peek. Ooh!

It's getting there.

Pass the cream.
Cornish cream!

Lots of nice mussels.
This smells really good.

There we go. Over the whole lot.
Give it a quick once over.

Give it 30 seconds
and then we're eating.

Lid on! Lid on!
Let it heat, and then we're home.

Crusty fresh bread
to soak up that delicious liquor,

and we're ready to eat.

Wow!
Oh, yum.

Can we start?
Of course we can.

So these are rope reared.

Rope grown.
Sea farmed.

Oh, yum! It's been a while.
I haven't had mussels in ages.

♪ When you're smiling

♪ When you're smiling

I've got my starter sorted
for tomorrow night's dinner.

We've got our first guest

and we've had a very tasty snack to
set us up for the rest of the day.

What could be better?

We're in Cornwall
on the latest leg of our voyage

to discover the best food
the county has to offer.

We're making our way upstream
from Fowey to Lostwithiel.

We've already got our first guest,
plus all we need for our starter

for tomorrow night's dinner
on-board our boat.

The River Fowey
is a really magical place.

I absolutely love it.

You've got the touristy side
over them

with all the cottages,
fishermen's homes.

And then you've got old buildings
like this that sum up this area.

Heading up the river to Lostwithiel,

over the centuries,
the river silted up.

That's going to cause a problem or two.

We pass the Bodinnick ferry

and then the few jetties which still
see major trading action.

This is where one of Cornwall's
most famous exports is loaded

and shipped all around the world.

China clay, of course - not pasties.

But just as we're enjoying
the scenery,

our skipper Rob
is about to kick us off.

The river's getting too shallow

and this is as far
as Morwenna can go.

We'll have to carry on to
Lostwithiel under our own steam.

Lostwithiel Bridge was built
in the 13th century.

The eastern half's newer
than the western half

'cause the river changed its course and
they had to build a new wing to it.

Quite interestingly,
a famous American diver

actually built a platform
and jumped off, doing a high dive.

There was only seven feet of water,

so it wasn't exactly
a pleasurable experience,

but that didn't stop him.

Three weeks later, sadly he died
jumping off Waterloo Bridge

In a similar stunt.
Duh!

He should've learnt his lesson.

We've got masses of Cornish mussels.

Now we're on the search
for some beef.

It should be just up the road
somewhere.

We're looking for a main course
for tomorrow night's dinner

and we've heard about a farm nearby

that produces
just what we have in mind.

We've come to meet owner Tom Earl
and stockman Shand Aldridge,

who looks after the herd
of pedigree South Devon cattle.

Tom! Lovely to meet you!

Great to see you. Welcome.
Very good to see you.

A bit of a racket.
The cows and calves are separate?

We want to split up the cows,

so we can put two different groups
of cows with two different bulls.

How long have you been a cow farmer?

You look like a cow farmer.
You've got the outfit.

James is taking the mickey.
'You look like a cowboy.'

I've been doing this
for about five years.

What before? Before,
I've been doing more financial work.

This is a refreshing departure.
Quite a big change.

Huge change. Very refreshing.

It's a very good antidote
to office work.

They're quite noisy.
What do you want us to do?

First, you might need to change
your clothes.

The cycling gear in a crush with the
cattle might be a bit interesting.

We'll get some bibs on. Lead the way.

Ready for action.
You don't look ready for action.

I suppose you're just supervising.

You guys definitely are, though.

We're ready.
Perfect.

You said there were two jobs?

Tail clipping and spraying along
their backs with some fly spray.

Paper, scissors?

I think I'm going to take
the spraying rather than tails.

It looks not like my sort of job.

Come on, girl. In you go.

I wouldn't always get so close
to the business end of a cow.

But South Devons are gentle giants.

They're the largest British
native breed

and they're sometimes known
as orange elephants,

because of their size, colouring
and placid nature.

Come on, little ones.

He's dribbling all over James.

He's all right. He won't get worms.

I'll worm you in a minute.

My chemical backpack
sprays protection

from worms, lice, mites and flies.

I got this end.

There's the end of the tail.

Can you feel them? Just saw through.

The tails need trimming
for hygiene reasons,

if you catch my drift.

What do I do with these?!
Pop it under your hat.

This is actually a clean one.

I've seen someone
with dingle berries on them.

I'm having a great time.

I'm calling out a number and using
this cool gadget to worm them

for the coming season when
they are out grazing. Meanwhile...

[LAUGHS]

Oh, the tail's there.

No, I haven't done his tail yet!



Don't let her go.

That wasn't so nice.

Now my dad's shown off
his hairdressing skills,

it's time to get the herd
back out into the fields.

[COUNTRY MUSIC]

It's like the crèche
at the back here.

Let's move them along.

Obviously, you get your hands dirty
quite a lot with these.

I do, I do. But it's worth it.

Do you want to join us for a bite?
That would be very nice.

I'll make sure he washes his hands.

Do I have to?
You have to as well.

Yeah, you do.

Would you like some beef?
We'd love some beef.

Have we earned it?
Have we helped out enough?

Don't argue!
Look at this.

I've got rid of some of the stains.

My hands are clean enough to cook.
Shall we eat some beef?

I don't think it's going to make it
back to the boat.

Where have I heard that before?

Got the beef
and James has had a cunning plan.

I've thrown a spanner into the works

and want I want to cook
this beef with stones.

We are going into the unknown a little bit.

We're going to make a chimney.

If we pop this on here,
all the hot rice gasses that go up

will go into our stones
sitting in here.

Unfortunately, they're sitting
on top of those little spaces,

which means cold air is going
to come in. Not what we want.

We have to make it sit flat.

Of course, we could cook our beef
in a pan like any normal person.

But where's the fun in that?

We're going to suspend our stones
by putting some big screws in.

We need a row of holes
drilled around here.

We could have a forage
and see what we can find.

Go and have a forage.

Forage away, son.
I'll just struggle on by myself

to make our stovepipe stone heater.

[SIGHS]

Don't touch the exhibits.

There's lots of different ways
of doing this.

What we are interested in doing is
getting a sizzle factor for our beef.

I've now got somewhere
to rest my rocks.

I couldn't find anything.

A couple of pieces of scrap metal in there.

I'll drop the rock in. If it comes
out the bottom, I've made a mistake.

Stoke up the fire for me.

How long do you reckon
we have to heat these rocks for?

They're quite big, aren't they?

I'll pop it on here.

That's enough time
to do all the cooking.

We're making a sauce, aren't we?
Of course we are.

That's actually quite scary.

We've got this beef,
it's absolutely gorgeous.

We're going to cut it across
the grain, so it's very tender.

And something to go with it
called adobo sauce.

It's a very famous
Spanish/Latin American sauce.

Hands up,
everybody who's heard of that?

You hadn't, had you?
No.

A teaspoon of coriander seeds,

a teaspoon of black pepper,

a teaspoon of cumin seeds,

some paprika and oregano.

I'm going to bash these up and
add in some vinegar and lime juice.

The idea is something fresh,
zingy and powerful

to go with quite simply cooked beef.

Have you spotted the gloves?

We did scrub our hands
after handling the cows,

but hey, better safe than sorry.

This is quite unusual for us.

James hasn't gone for chilli.
No.

We've gone for sweet peppers.

Or huge chilli's
and he hasn't told me.

That is the other option.

It's going to be quite sharp. Oh,
we've got the sweetness in the apple.

Sweetness in the apple and peppers.

We started off in the sunshine...
A bit of rain.

But we've got rocks coming.

We're at the farm museum
at St Winnow,

and John and Angie don't mind
if we go and take cover.

I don't want this to go soggy.

I've got that. You can tidy up
and do everything else.

Someone's got to stay and look after
the fire, don't they?

[LAUGHS]

♪ By THOMAS:
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head

Make it very hot.

You need more wood.

The rock should be getting hotter,
son.

Have you got an umbrella?
I don't need one.

He made me do some work.
It's not right, is it?

It's actually quite hot!

The heat's coming up
and going onto my bald patch.

Are you all right, Dad?

It's a dirty job,
but somebody's got to do it.

It's actually stopped raining.

Nobody told me!

I did a very good job, son.

Be careful.
Thank you.

Here we go, then.

The tricky business is getting
our hot stones onto a slate

that we've covered
with sprigs of rosemary.

Then we can oil them and start
sizzling those lovely strips of beef.

Tap that end.
Tap what end?

The side away from you.

Just put it back on the fire.

No.
Yes!

Two at a time, Dad. That's the way
to do it. Definitely.

He's very bossy.

I'm right. You know it.

They're hot!
They should sizzle. Are you ready?

[SIZZLING]

It worked!
Well done.

It smells great.

It's really cooking.
I never doubted it would.

That smells really good.
We've got rosemary under it.

We didn't want to break the slate.

The rosemary is infusing it
with more flavours.

Right...they're hot.

Can I put it in a sandwich?
Put it in a sandwich.

Amazing.

Smells great.

Hot rock 'n' roll stone-seared steer.

It smells fantastic.

Are you ready to eat it?

You weren't shy on that one,
were you?

I don't think we can get
any more in.

[LAUGHS]

I'm going for this one.

Delicious South Devon beef cooked
on stones in the rain in Cornwall.

With an... [JIBBERS] Adobo. Come on,
it's not that difficult to say.

[LAUGHS]

My happy dance.

It's quite a sandwich.

We've taste-tested
the main ingredient

for our starter and main course
on Morwenna tomorrow night.

With such amazing produce,
we can't fail to impress our guests.

But I need to start thinking
about a pudding

that will put my dad
well and truly in the shade.

We're on a coastal cooking journey
around Cornwall, the Channel islands

and the isles of Scilly.

Today we are Lostwithiel,
once a major port

shipping out tin to Europe
and beyond.

But rubble from the tin mines slided
up the river

so that the boats couldn't get in.

So tin mining grew the port
and then kind of k*lled it off.

Luckily the town survived, though.

We're on a mission to discover the
great food this area has to offer,

meet the people who produce it,

and collect ingredients as we go.

We have already got muscles and beef.

And we have invited Dave and Shand
to join us on board for dinner tomorrow.

James has sneaked off to get some
extra provisions

so I've have a chance to explore
somewhere close to my heart

and to the history of Lostwithiel.

This is Restormel Castle built
just after the Norman Conquest

by the wonderfully named
local sheriff Baldwin Fitz Turstin.

Several families owned the castle

before it was handed over to
the Duchy about 700 years ago.

The first Duke of Cornwall was
Edward, the Black Prince,

and the current Duke of Cornwall.
Prince Charles,

is a son of the Queen

so it has stayed in the Royal family
since then.

It is a really obvious round shape.

That is all about defence.

The idea is that cannonballs could
skim off the outside of it.

The royalists captured Restormel
Castle from Cromwell's Roundheads

in 1644.

And it was left to go to ruin.

While my dad is busy getting his
history fix

I'm after some
local knowledge of my own.

I have come to a coffee shop
in the middle of town

where chef Len is famous
for his fairings,

a traditional Cornish biscuit.

He might just give me an idea
for my pudding.

Tell me the story behind fairings.

They actually started or
they are recorded to start

at around about 1160.

This is really old-fashioned stuff.

In Smithfield Market.

It was actually a ginger biscuit

which eventually turned into the
gingerbread man.

Do you ever play around with the
established flavours of ginger fairings?

Personally no. But I have heard they
do various types.

Do you know what, I feel
a competition coming on.

How about the classic Cornish fairing

versus a slight twist
on another version?

What, you mean like a challenge?

Who are we going to do as a taster?

Shall we do it here
in the coffee shop?

I'll tell you what we'll do.

I will get onto the bowls club.

So, how about trying your version
and my version on the bowls club?

I am looking forward to this.

First Len is going to share his
secret fairing recipe with me.

Eight ounces plain flour.

Three ounces of butter.

That is almost half fat
to flour, isn't it?

You're being quite particular
about these quantities.

I'm afraie I am. I always feel
it has to be precise.

Four ounces of caster sugar.

Two teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda.

The idea, basically, is to
have them crispy on the outside,

and soft in the centre.
Nice.

And two teaspoons of baking powder.

These ingredients are
pretty much what people

have got lying around
in the cupboards.

It is all very straightforward
and very simple actually.

Two teaspoons of mixed spice.

One teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

We use three teaspoons
of the ground ginger.

The other key ingredient
is golden syrup.

Nice, OK.
Four ounces.

This then adds the softness to the
centre bit we were on about.

So I've got the idea now but I've
come up with a twist of my own.

All I'll say is, home-made candied
orange and lemon peel

and white chocolate.
A kilier accommodation.

To make the candied peel
we peel off this segment

and try to keep it as whole
as possible.

First I'm going to simmer my orange
and lemon peel with sugar

and then scrape off the pith,
which is bitter,

and then into the oven
to finish it off.

And here is the topping. White
chocolate and cardamom pods.

Sugar, spice and all things nice.

Meanwhile Len has finished
off the biscuit mixture.

We now take it and you roll it.

And you plonk them on
the baking sheet.

In the oven it'll sort
of flatten out.

And it crisps and cracks
and everything.

I've got some of my
extra ingredients here.

I'm going to mix in all of the
candied lemon and orange.

The ba*ls of cookie dough will
melt into biscuit shapes in the oven.

Chef's perks.

Len has agreed to meet me
at the bowls club later on

with my fairings and his
for a battle of biscuits.

James will has his work cut out
to convince the locals

it's a good idea to mess with
centuries-old tradition.

You have to give him credit for trying.

I, on the other hand, know
all about winning combinations.

I am back on the Morwenna, preparing
tomorrow's main course.

Beef and beer. They go together.

You don't have to drink the beer. You
can put the two of them together to cook.

Here we have got a lovely place of shin.

It has got all this marbling through
it which is like this the sinews.

We have to cook it slowly

And that's turn all goody and tasty.

So, a bit of shin,
a little bit of streaky bacon,

some red onions, throw some carrots
in and, of course, some local beer.

First things first. The beef.

You can spend a long time trimming
off all these bits of fat

and thinking you are doing yourself
a favour.

You are not because
the flavour is in the fat.

By leaving it in there, as long
as you cook it long enough,

it will just dissolve. No-one
will ever know it's in there.

I like putting bacon with it. That
adds a bit of saltiness to it.

Time to get on with our veggies.

They are going in here.

This will all dissolve,
disappear into our dish.

It's just a matter of chopping it
so it is small

and it can all go together.

I've got little baby carrots
here for this dish.

They are not going to be chopped.

That sort of size does us.

Peeling them? Nah.

Throw a couple of sprigs of
rosemary there.

Better have some garlic.

That will do nicely.

The principle is very simple.

Prepare everything, go over to the top
of the stove and then you cook it.

Bacon in first.

That's giving out some nice fat.

This isn't the sort of dish you mush.

Making it the day ahead is
the right answer.

The next thing we are putting
in is the onions, garlic

and a big knob of butter.

That will soften down
and we'll add some flour

and cook the flour off.

That is our thickening agent.

A couple of tablespoons.
I'm just breaking it all over it.

It is looking like a big gloopy
paste. Time for some liquid.

Ohhh!

And we are getting some of our
aromatics in now.

And we are getting some of our


That will cook and reduce a little bit.



This is a picture
of Cornish tranquillity.

Bowls in the countryside.

But I'm here for a true contest,

an almighty battle of fairings
against Len.

There will be crumbs. There will
be broken biscuits.

But this hungry sailor will be
victorious. At least I hope so.

♪ Eye Of The Tiger

Hi, Len, good to see you.

Welcome. Let's get
this competition on the road.

I can tell he's confident.
He's got the home advantage.

Of course.

That is good.
Not under too much pressure.

Hello, gentlemen. We have got two
different types of Cornish fairing.

Traditional Cornish fairings.

And ones with candied peel
and a bit of chocolate.

Would you like to have a little taste
and tell us which...

Traditional.

You haven't even tasted this one.

Just a touch spicy that.
That's quite tasty.

Try that one.

That is the normal, standard.

That is nice.

Are we preferring that one?
One each.

That is the traditional one.

They are quite nice but...

It is the same as that but it's got
orange and lemon candied peel in it.

I will give you this one.
That is the best one.

The original. 3-2. Hurrah!

You are drawing level.

I am sorry but I'm going to go for...

Oh, 3-2.

This is my vote. That one.

Well done, Len.

That is the better one by far.

Being a Cornishman I've got to
say the Cornish one.


You can have half each.

Five-and-a-half each.

Good evening, ladies.
We would love you to cast

the deciding vote for our
little fairing competition.

Thank you.

OK.
They look interesting too.

We will give you a couple of seconds
to deliberate

and then we'll come back and hear
the verdict. Enjoy.

Thanks very much.

It is the moment of truth.

Judge number one.
Could we have your vote, please?

Judge number two?

Judge number three?

[CHEERING]

'All, well, never mind. I've got
bigger fish to fry now.

My dad.

My fairings may not have won
tonight's competition

but to show there are no hard feelings
I've invited Len to dinner tomorrow night.

I'm going to be using
the biscuits in a dish

that is good enough
to beat my dad.'

So I am getting on with my dessert,

a Kernow cheesecake.

Break up of these lovely traditional
Cornish biscuits.

OK, so I've got a nice
fine biscuit crumb here.

There is about 2509 in there.

And then I'm adding 100g
of melted butter.

Wow. The ginger and lemon
from those biscuits is amazing.

In it goes.

The next thing, and this is
a tip my wife taught me,

just to press down
the biscuit crumb.

Now I'm onto the cheesecake itself

which are simply made with three eggs

I'm going to beat
and add a bit of sugar.

Once those eggs are beaten in,
add in 150g of sugar.

Now that is mixed together
I add coconut.

I've that cream cheese
and mascarpone.

A total of 700g.

This is the last one. About 1000 of
mascarpone to the 600 of cream cheese.

And just mix into a nice smooth
velvety mixture.

OK, ready to add the lime into there.

And now I just pour the smooth
mixture over the biscuits.

It is into the oven for 35 minutes

which gives me time to make the
special glaze

I want to serve with it.

I've got three lines in there,
four sprigs of mint,

about 100mi of white rum
and a load of sugar.

And then little bit
of soda water.

Simmer this on the style for about
half an hour

until it reduces in volume

and I may add little bit more sugar
to make it nice and drizzly.

The Morwenna is filling
with interesting aromas.

I hope it's not the sweet smell
of success for James.

♪ Only love ♪

We're on the River Fowey near
Lostwithiel,

searching for the best local food
and people to share it with.

Dinner on board the Morwenna tonight
is just about sorted

and we've got Dave, Shand
and Len coming to join us.

I'm planning to slum-cook
my beef in ale tonight

and we want beer batter
for our mussels.

But not just any old beer.
I want to find a real local brew.

They've been making beer here since 1851.

Roger Ryman is the head brewer.

Welcome to St Austell Brewery.

Are we really making Tribute?
We are.

The first thing we need
is lots and lots of barley.

Beer's made from four basis ingredients -

barley, water, hops and yeast.

Have I earned a pint yet? We haven't
started. We've got to get that crushed.

First the barley's heated, dried,

crushed and mashed.

Then the grains are steeped in hot
water to release sugar.

A bit like making tea.

What have we got here?

That's going to be 50,000 pints
of Tribute.

So we need to make sure that's
right. There you go. Wow.

NIeer mashed. Get the smell off
that.

The hot, sweet liquid is drained off,
boiled, and the hops go in.

It's then cooled, strained and filtered,

ready for the yeast to be added to
get fermentation underway.

And this is where the fermentation
takes place? Yeah.

The beer's going to stay here for
seven days,

the yeast is going to feed on those
sugars and convert it to alcohol.

Seven days later, it's beer?
Seven days later it's beer. Yes!

Come on! The beer's ready?

This is where we take the beer from the
fermented vessel and fill it into the tasks,

ready to go out to the pubs.

$0, from the cask, in the pub, to
drinking it, how long?

Around about two weeks.

Right, two weeks out. Long enough.
Get me some of that beer.

You must have some beer hanging around!

We need to put some in the tasks first.

More work!

I don't normally work this hard to
earn a pint.

But I know it's going to be worth it.

Your very good health.
Cheers.

I've drunk my share of this one.

[CONTENTED SIGH]

How long have you actually been
a head brewer?

I've been a head brewer here
at St Austell since 1999.

I moved down from Scotland. I was
brewing up there before I moved here.

I've worked in brewing all my
career.

When did you make your first batch?

My first real job in brewing was at
Scottish 8. Newcastle Brewery.

I went from Newcastle up to
Edinburgh, did my Masters in brewing

and worked up there for several
years

before coming down to Cornwall.

What I would like to do is take some
of your Tribute to the boat -

James has missed out...

Are you going to come and join us for
a bit to eat? I'd love to.

Fantastic. We'll feed you
if you give us some beer.

OK, I'll bring the beer round.
Meanwhile I'll just sit here

very quietly and just enjoy myself.

Well, I've got my beer sorted.
I wonder what James is up to.

I'm getting on with my pmpantions
for dinner.

For my mum's Yorkshire puddings,
I've got three ounces of flour,

and I've made a little hole for
a well

I'm going to put in one beaten egg.

Start in the centre where
I made that well,

I'm now adding in three flnld ounus
of milk and two flnld ounus of water.

Add the milk a little bit at a time,

but near the end you can be a little
bit more generous,

because the mixture of this
has slappened up a bit.

The starter today is going to be
mussels in beer batter.

So we get the mussels out of
the shell - shucking them.

This is the inside of the mussel.

All that liquid is the salty
flavouring in it.

I'm making a little sauce to go with
my starter.

It's a veloute.

I'm not too fussy about how finely
I did this.

What I'm going to do is strain it all
at the end.

In there I add my chopped shallot.
Let that soften for a moment.

Now I'm adding in some flour.
I want to cook the flour now.

What I'm going to do here,
I've moved it off the heat,

I'm going to add some wine.

That's about a wine glassful.

We like big wine glasses.

Starting to thicken up.

Being in Cornwall, saffron spice has been
coming to Cornwall for hundreds of years.

It's going to add that flavour to it
and also that colour.

That's a little bit too thick.
I need some more liquid.

I'll get that from some mussels.

When they cook, they open up,
let the liquid out.

Pop the lid on.

We've got a lovely leftover piece of
flank.

We're going to marinade it with some
black pepper, Worcestershire sauce,

a load of thyme, and leave that for
about an hour.

So tonight we're having...

Anybody in there?
Hello, Len! How you doing?

Our guests have arrived.
There's ien the baker,

beef farmer Shane,
Roger from the brewery

and mussel fisherman Dave.

Our diners get to know each other
over a glass or two of Roger's beer

while we get on with the starter.

We're making mussels in beer batter.
My batter is so simple.

In here we put some rice flour.

It's about 150g.

Now I add some beer. I want it to be sort
of a bit like single cream consistency.

Add a bit of salt and pepper.

Very nice. Very nice.

[JOVIAL CHATTER]

I can guarantee you've never had
this before.

Or you may not have again!

There are three or four mussels in
every batter parcel.

And they don't take long to cook.

Kitchen roll to soak up the excess
oil and they're ready to serve.

Right, here we go.

This is a nice delicate little
starter.

We've done the hard work.
All you do is eat it.

Finger food, isn't it?

You're making me feel posh now!

Doesn't look like a big starter.

This is refined dining. It looks
great, though.

You try it first.

Mm. Those mussels are cooked
perfectly. A very nice meal.

Interesting. Interesting flavour.

I've never had mussels before, so
it's all new to me.

I'd eat it again. Would you?
If we had decent cooks!

[LAUGHTER]

Right, David, what does the mussel
man say about the mussels?

Excellent.

The dip is very nice.

Something completely different for
me.

But what does Roger the brewer
make of my beer batter?

This is really working for me.
It's delicious.

This place of flank is marinated
nicely,

so now we're going to grill it for
about five minutes each side,

and then leave it to rest.

Any Yorkshire person
would be proud of that!

Here we go...

Asbestos fingers.

While they're cooking, there's time
to toss the veg in with some butter

and slice that lovely tender flank.

The Yorkshires don't look up to my
mum's standards,

but the Morwenna oven is just not
hot enough.

Never mind. They can act as little
boots

for a cargo of mommy-flavoured
mash potato,

sailing on a stew of beef shin,
cooked in a fantastic Cornish beer,

all topped off with a bit of extra
South Devon beef for good measure.

Mm! It just melts.

The flank is very nice. Nice and
rare in the middle.

I'm going flank over the stew,
but I like all of it.

A few greens on there.

They just make it feel a little bit
healthier!

They're both very nice.

I do like that that's been cooked
for a bit longer.

But this is very nice.
Very nice indeed, thank you.

After a good day's work, this is the
sort of thing you want to come home to.

A stunning piece of meat.
It is a stunning piece of meat.

The stew that's been slowly cooked,

that meat is super tender.
It's falling apart.

Last but not least, I hope, my
Kernow lime cheesecake

and mojito drizzle -

a mixture of white com, mint, sugar,
soda and lime.

Drink your port.

I'm looking for the moustache.
I think we should pour it over.

Mm. Do you like it?
Oh, it's good!

I think the zestiness means that you
can get away with all that sweetness.

Do you know what's really nice?
The flavours are light.

Shall we see what they think'!
Yeah.

Oh, that's bloody lovely!

That's nice!

That is beautiful. You can taste
the flavours through it.

I saw this really dark base and the
yellow,

the first thing I thought was Cornish
county colours. It's black and gold.

I don't do coconut normally, but
somehow that does actually work.

It's just enough, not too much, just
the end of it to give you a taste.

Very, very nice.

We need you to make some decisions now.

What we're going to ask is for your
opinion of each course.

If it was your fabulous, stick your
hand up.

Who preferred the starter?

Who liked the main course the best?

And who liked the pudding the best?
I've got to vote for the pudding.


one for the pudding.

Well, there's a little thing
we've been doing.

My dad worked on the starter.

We both worked on the main course.

And I worked on the dessert.

That means I think I win today's
competition, Dad.

Oh! [LAUGHS]

You're making the rules up as we go
along! Yes!

James, I'm on your side.
Three to one!

Well done.
Why are you applauding?

Why are you applauding?

Our guests have gone
home and for the first time

James gets to gloat
over his performance.

This is the beginning of a lot of
red stars.

I don't think so...

Don't put it on top of mine!
You didn't have to do that!

We've had a fascinating time around
Lostwithiel

and met some great people,

even if their voting habits are
a bit suspect.

But I'm confident I'll soon be back
to my winning ways,

perhaps at the next port of call
on our Cornish cooking adventure.