Raymond Blanc's Royal Kitchen Gardens episode 5
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00:00Raymond Blanc is passionate about his garden at Le Manoir Quatre Saisons and the amazing
00:08array of fruit and vegetables it provides throughout the year, but he's not alone.
00:15His Majesty King Charles III has long championed the kitchen garden and the importance of growing
00:21sustainable seasonal food.
00:24Now Raymond has been invited to take a glimpse behind the scenes at the productive gardens
00:30of some of the nation's most spectacular royal palaces.
00:34This garden is a true inspiration for creating wonderful dishes.
00:39Raymond will be travelling the length and breadth of the kingdom.
00:42He'll meet the dedicated people who care for these unique gardens.
00:46Little genius, how do you manage?
00:50It's really about inspiring our visitors and showing people what they can grow in their
00:54own gardens.
00:55My celery looks like that already.
00:58He'll celebrate the extraordinary edible treasures they produce with the chefs who use them every
01:04day.
01:05Give me any food, especially when it comes from the garden, perfect.
01:10Is the egg runny?
01:11Oh la la.
01:12Speechless chef, speechless.
01:13Absolutely fantastic.
01:14I wouldn't mind having that every day.
01:15No, not bad.
01:17Inspired by his travels, Raymond will also share mouth-watering recipes of his own.
01:23Heavenly.
01:24I hope you're going to make it in your own home.
01:27Bon appétit.
01:28All, but for a king.
01:30Long live the king.
01:31Long live the king.
01:33Join me as I journey through the royal kitchen gardens.
01:42His Majesty King Charles III is both a keen amateur gardener and a devoted advocate of
01:51homegrown produce.
01:52His Majesty's knowledge of food, of garden, how to grow garden, all sort of heritage,
02:00rare varieties, organically, is immense.
02:05The ultimate symbol of this public and private passion is the magical kitchen garden he's
02:10created at his own family home in the Cotswolds, Highgrove House.
02:17Today, Raymond will be exploring this magnificent estate and discovering the 40-year labour
02:24of love behind the king's most personal commitment to eating local, seasonal food.
02:30How is Her Majesty the King involved in this programme?
02:33Well, everything that we do here is a reflection of his vision.
02:37The Prince's Foundation was set up because of his passion, and so that's what we continue.
02:43Resident chef Luc Windybank will be serving a taste of Highgrove on a plate.
02:48Here's rosemary chicken with roasted butternut squash.
02:52I really love your dish.
02:54It's simple.
02:55It's easy to make at home.
02:57You use all the produce.
02:59It's a magnificent garden, and I love it very much.
03:02And Raymond will be making more divine dishes of his own.
03:06Salad lyonnaise and roasted fig pain perdu.
03:11Of course, with that, you can serve a beautiful ice cream, and you'll be in heaven.
03:16Fig heaven.
03:23Welcome to the wondrous Highgrove Gardens.
03:27Built between 1796 and 1798,
03:31Highgrove House is one of the Cotswolds' most majestic Georgian mansions.
03:39Almost 200 years after it was built, it became a royal residence
03:43when the estate was purchased by the then Prince of Wales in 1980.
03:48Just imagine calling this wonderful place home.
03:54Today there are 17 acres of truly spectacular gardens.
04:02Through His Majesty's charity, the Prince's Foundation,
04:05the estate is also a centre for courses in traditional heritage crafts,
04:10from furniture making to textiles.
04:14What a wonderful place to come and visit.
04:19Divided into an interconnected series of outdoor rooms,
04:23from the iconic Time Walk and the Sundial Garden
04:28to the Persian-inspired Carpet Garden,
04:32each one reflects the personal interests of the King.
04:38The most exciting place for me has got to be the Wall Garden,
04:42and I cannot wait to see what the gardeners are growing here.
04:49CLANKING
04:54I must say I'm a bit envious because these walls are so magnificent,
04:59and of course it protects these wonderful gardens,
05:02and it adds also an element of romance.
05:05It makes it sacred. It's hidden. It's beautiful. I love it.
05:12A picture-perfect mix of productive and ornamental,
05:16the vegetable beds are punctuated with carefully trained trees,
05:20curving tunnels and elegant harbours.
05:25What a beautiful place, and full of colours.
05:28Orange, yellow, purple, aubergines.
05:31Flowers everywhere. Colours everywhere.
05:34And butterflies, actually, everywhere.
05:37That makes me very happy. It's a real garden.
05:46There are over 120 different kinds of fruit and vegetables,
05:50and gardener Mel is part of the team
05:53tasked with tending the impressive one-acre plot.
05:59Hello, Mel. Hello.
06:01Bonjour, bonjour. I'm very interested. What are you up to?
06:04So I'm just direct sowing some giant winter spinach here.
06:07Has it got any chance to grow as big, as gigantic as you would like to?
06:11Yes. Yeah.
06:13We direct sow a lot of our veg just because the ground is warm enough
06:17and a lot of vegetables... And what do you have here?
06:20Oh, so this is a mulch.
06:22So this would be a mixture of manure and compost from the wider estate.
06:28That's a good mulch. I can see it. It's nice. It's sticky.
06:31The smell is really acidic. Beautiful.
06:34So I think your spinach will do very, very well.
06:38Yeah. Besides the spinach, what else is going here?
06:41So behind us here we've got chard, rainbow chard.
06:45So we grow this for the ornamental look because it's so colourful and it's edible.
06:49Because it tastes nice. And yeah, very nice with lots of butter.
06:52And then we've got a mixture of herbs here.
06:55So we have Greek basil, your classic basil, sweet Genovese,
06:59and French tarragon as well.
07:01When the king comes in, does he use a lot of the produce from the garden?
07:05Yes, so everything is grown for him,
07:08and anything that he doesn't eat is taken to the restaurant and then they use it.
07:12I think it's wonderful, that concept, okay, of from vegetables to table.
07:17Yes, definitely.
07:18And I think that's why we all know he was one of the very first persons
07:23who truly connected soil science to vegetables to sustainability
07:29and creating that powerful link that we cannot go on to grow food with chemicals.
07:35Yes, definitely. He was one of the forerunners of it since the 80s.
07:39And the whole garden is managed organically, and it works.
07:47After the break, Raymond uncovers His Majesty's hands-on approach to the garden.
07:52Does the king help you a little bit on the weeding side?
07:55Yes.
07:56Oh my God!
07:57And in-house chef Luc Windybank will be serving a stunning celebration of butternut squash.
08:04Look at that, how gorgeous it is.
08:06Lovely, lovely.
08:07Nature is magical.
08:09It's art world, no less.
08:24Welcome back to Raymond Blanc's Royal Kitchen Gardens and Highgrove House,
08:29His Majesty the King's country estate in the Cotswolds.
08:35Later, resident chef Luc Windybank will be creating a tempting treat,
08:40rosemary chicken with roasted butternut squash.
08:44It's brilliant because of the texture, the crispiness, the colour.
08:48It's not a beige food, you know, it's all alive.
08:53But first, although Highgrove is still very much a private family home,
08:57its gardens have been open to the public since 2011,
09:02which calls for a delicate balancing act for the hard-working team who care for them.
09:09So Mel, can you tell me the challenges of looking after this garden and welcoming the guests?
09:15And feeding the king?
09:17Well, because we are organic, we don't use any chemicals,
09:21so a lot of weeding is all done by hand, so that's quite challenging for us.
09:26We're never on top of the weeds, but it's quite nice.
09:29I think guests come round and they see it, it makes them feel a bit better about their own gardens.
09:34I always have people come up to me and say, thank God you've got weeds.
09:37And it's just accepting that you're working with nature, you're never going to beat it.
09:41So it's just taking your time and trying to enjoy it at the same time.
09:44How many gardens are you?
09:46So at the moment we have about four or five full-time and two part-time and a couple of trainees.
09:51So yeah, not many, and it's a big, big job.
09:55You must be very much in love with what you are doing,
09:58because such a few gardens to create something so beautiful must be huge efforts.
10:04How do you combine everything?
10:06A lot of planning and looking at the weather and planning ahead for the week.
10:11But yeah, you just have to focus on the most urgent jobs, which for us at the moment is harvesting.
10:17And those salads?
10:18And then we have a mixture here of a variety of heritage lettuce.
10:21For the winter or for now?
10:23For now, so we can literally start harvesting them now.
10:26And then we've got more lettuce coming that we're going to put in the blanks,
10:30and that will be lettuce that will go on for October and November.
10:32Does it help you a little bit on the weeding side?
10:35Yes, it will.
10:36Oh my God!
10:37We'll come in after the weekend and we'll find prunings or piles of weeds that he's been busy gardening over the weekend.
10:43Because he's in love with gardens.
10:44Yes, definitely.
10:47Absolutely. Well, thank you very much, Mel.
10:49That's OK.
10:50It was really lovely. I enjoyed it. I learned a lot.
10:53So it's a pleasure to have met you.
10:54Thank you.
10:58Inspired by Highgrove's huge variety of heritage lettuce,
11:02chefs turn to his own harvest for a perfect summer lunch dish, salad Lyonnaise.
11:09Lyon is the belly of France, the self-proclaimed capital of gastronomy,
11:14where the pig is a god.
11:16And of course, in that salad, you will have a little bit of this piggy here.
11:21Not very much, just a little.
11:25So it's a very simple dish, very peasant, very rural.
11:28So all the ingredients you need, my dressing.
11:31French dressing, very simple.
11:34First, a bit of shallot.
11:37I just need half.
11:43Look at it quite finely.
11:50Voilà , très bien.
11:54Then, I will add my Dijon mustard, where else?
11:59OK.
12:00So just be generous.
12:02So then, I'm going to put a little dash of vinegar to start with.
12:07And we're going to start mixing this element.
12:12VoilĂ .
12:16Vive la France!
12:18Très bien.
12:19So then, a little bit of oil.
12:21And the mustard will absorb very quickly.
12:26And the mustard will absorb.
12:30Go slowly, don't go too fast.
12:32Trickle it in, gentle.
12:36You can see how the mustard plays a role, emulsify.
12:39It absorbs the olive oil, it soaks it up.
12:42It creates a beautiful, silky dressing.
12:46So a bit of water to thin it down a bit further.
12:51Check.
12:53Look how lovely it is.
12:56Of course, a bit of salt.
12:57It doesn't need very much, no?
12:59Remember, that's a nice crunch.
13:02VoilĂ .
13:03That's it, one big pinch.
13:05Of course, you want pepper, black or white.
13:18Now, I'm going to put a few herbs.
13:20And my mum would always put tarragon.
13:24Wonderful flavour.
13:25No more than that, it's plenty.
13:27And a bit of chive.
13:29Et voilĂ .
13:30So first thing, you mix that together.
13:40VoilĂ .
13:43It gives that gorgeous little flavour.
13:46I love to create.
13:47You know, food's about creating layers after layers after layers.
13:51And then you feel the magic of food, the magic of herbs.
13:55So then the chive.
14:07Just a quick stir.
14:11That's good.
14:12That is prepared.
14:13So now we have our salad.
14:15That's a frisee.
14:16Very, very beautiful frisee.
14:19And the way I want to show you something,
14:21maybe you think all of you know,
14:24I want you to save some time.
14:26Okay, look, the way I'm going to do my salad.
14:29And I mean all salads.
14:31You hold it here, you've got the root here,
14:33which holds all these leaves.
14:35I'm going to tie it up together.
14:40I've removed all the bad leaves first,
14:42the leaves which are...
14:44Then I'm going to cut here.
14:49VoilĂ .
14:50That I don't need.
14:51And now you just have a mouthpiece.
15:00VoilĂ .
15:02And every piece, you want to have these horrible long leaves
15:06drooping out of your mouth,
15:09embarrassing yourself and everyone.
15:11Okay, voilĂ .
15:14Now I'm going to wash it, okay?
15:16Look at this, gorgeous.
15:18So that goes for any salad.
15:22And it's small pieces, nice texture.
15:26I will take a bit of mash.
15:28I love mash because this one is quite bittersweet.
15:31This one has got a sweet, gorgeous flavour.
15:35I'm going to add a bit of vinegar
15:37for the beastly little things to come out,
15:40if there's any.
15:43After all, they grow on the earth.
15:50Okay, so here we are.
15:51I am ready.
15:52So I'm going to...
15:56Adam, can you give me that?
15:57Where were you?
15:58I didn't see you for about half an hour.
16:01Can you give me the...
16:02Do you want me to take it off and dry it for you?
16:03No, no, no.
16:04We'll do it together.
16:05Together is good.
16:06You can tip it everywhere.
16:07Okay, so just...
16:08Yes, that's right.
16:09It's a garden.
16:13VoilĂ .
16:20So that's a very...
16:22I remember doing the salads at my home.
16:25Remember, I'm a post-war boy, okay?
16:28And every day we would have salads from the gardens.
16:32And every day I would have to shake it off.
16:36Now, this is wonderful.
16:39And you just...
16:40Yes.
16:46Easy, easy.
16:47It's amazing.
16:51And...
16:53Let's have a look.
16:54You see?
16:55Yeah, perfect.
16:56Okay, so now I'm going to have my salad here.
17:00I'm going to put the dressing at the bottom.
17:02Ready to go.
17:04So, one, two, three, four.
17:07VoilĂ .
17:08And I put my salad on the top, ready to be tossed.
17:11No?
17:13Look at that, how gorgeous it is.
17:15Et voilĂ .
17:16And, of course, since we're talking about a Lyonnaise salad,
17:20here is a piggy, here is a bacon,
17:23and that you need to sauté.
17:25Very simple.
17:26VoilĂ .
17:30Plenty.
17:32And that will take about roughly four minutes to five minutes.
17:39So, my bacon is absolutely crispy, golden, wonderful smell.
17:44So, and all we're going to do is that.
17:47VoilĂ .
17:49And now, I'm going to poach my eggs,
17:52which is the last element of my salad Lyonnaise.
17:57So, all we're going to need is water.
18:00So, put it on full.
18:03Now, I'm going to check up on my bacon.
18:05Put it on full.
18:07Now, I'm going to check up the quality of that egg.
18:18And that, you know, there's something special.
18:22The egg white is completely tightly wrapped around the egg yolk.
18:26Look at it.
18:27And you can, there's pressure.
18:29When you touch it, there's resistance.
18:32You know you're going to have the freshest egg.
18:34Absolutely.
18:35Okay?
18:36That's the way to see it.
18:37And, of course, a bad egg, the egg white will spread all around the place
18:41and it will be a big mess in your pan.
18:43Okay, with this one, so you get up.
18:46Just put it here.
18:48Just slide it nicely.
18:51VoilĂ , baby.
18:53And you're going to see what's happening here.
18:55It's amazing.
18:57Because you can see that white completely gather around this friendly yolk.
19:01Beautiful.
19:02That'll take three minutes.
19:04So, stir your salad now.
19:06VoilĂ .
19:07Look at that.
19:11So, now we are ready to serve.
19:13I'm going to add a bit of bacon.
19:18VoilĂ .
19:21I love this.
19:22Beautiful.
19:29It's a beautiful salad.
19:33And now, you can break your little crouton like that.
19:38VoilĂ .
19:41Or break it up like that.
19:43Just in it, give it a bit of texture.
19:46That's about texture.
19:49Just a little bit of chive.
19:55VoilĂ .
19:56So, egg is ready.
19:57I'm going to fish it.
19:59Fish.
20:00Gorgeous.
20:05Let's sit here.
20:08Of course, a bit more pepper.
20:14Tiny grain of salt.
20:15Tiny grain of salt.
20:16Very little.
20:19Et voilĂ .
20:20You have almost the perfect salad, to be honest.
20:23But, a few more shallots.
20:25Deep fried on the top of it here.
20:27It's always a welcome texture and flavor.
20:34Bon appétit.
20:46Coming up, resident chef Luc Windybank
20:49rustles up his simple but satisfying rosemary chicken
20:53with roasted butternut squash.
20:55I think you're a genius.
20:57It's a perfect summer dish.
20:59Thank you very much.
21:00It's special to eat it.
21:01And Raymond explores a very different kind of productive garden
21:05with plants to die for.
21:07Yeah, that's it. There you go.
21:09You see it on your fingers.
21:11Good, eh?
21:13Welcome back to Raymond Blanc's Royal Kitchen Gardens.
21:18Today, chef's soaking up the horticultural splendors of Highgrove,
21:23His Majesty the King's family home in Gloucestershire.
21:28Later, Raymond will be creating a fruity French brunch favorite,
21:32roasted fig pain perdu.
21:36Bon appétit.
21:58But first, Highgrove's resident chef Luc Windybank
22:02is on the hunt for ingredients
22:04to give Raymond a taste of the garden on a plate.
22:09I quite often come down here to just get inspiration for recipes
22:13and just see what's in season and what's good at the moment.
22:16It's always good to take inspiration from nature
22:20because the colours are just wonderful
22:22and you can get lots of different ideas
22:25to go with different things that you're thinking about cooking
22:28and you can see what's good and what works.
22:31Sometimes just seeing different colours together on the plate
22:34just makes things stand out and look alive.
22:44I think it's quite important that we're organic
22:47because there's a lot of damage we're doing to the environment
22:51all around the world in so many different ways.
22:53And just to do a little bit of good by using all natural fertilizers
22:57and not putting any pesticides on there
23:00and killing all the insects
23:02and just letting nature do its thing
23:05and using natural solutions rather than man-made solutions.
23:12So we've got a few different varieties of squash growing here in the garden.
23:15Different colours, shapes and sizes.
23:18And at the moment we're just coming up with new ideas
23:21to try and use up the squashes that are coming into season now.
23:27On Luke's menu for Raymond today
23:29is rosemary chicken with roasted butternut squash.
23:36So the first thing we're going to do, Raymond,
23:38is we're going to dress the chicken with some of this lovely rosemary and lemon olive oil.
23:42So what's in it?
23:43So in there we have some lemons and some rosemary from the garden,
23:46just a little bit of olive oil
23:48and then we've blended that up
23:50and a little bit of seasoning in there as well.
23:53Are you seasoning it before?
23:55I'm going to season it a little bit on the skin.
23:58And then we're going to go in the pan.
24:02So I'm going to get the chicken into the pan now.
24:04Skin side down always.
24:07Nice, nice.
24:08And we get rid of that.
24:09Lovely little nose.
24:11Just a little symphony, you know.
24:13I'm going to put a little bit of salt on the meat side.
24:16Pepper?
24:17A little bit of pepper.
24:18Yeah.
24:20And then we wash our hands.
24:24Right, now while that's cooking,
24:27we're going to get this butternut squash peeled.
24:29Good luck.
24:30They're so tough, aren't they?
24:32They're really tough.
24:33It's nuts.
24:34It's butternuts.
24:36So interesting, of course, there's so many varieties of squash.
24:39I think there's about 1,622.
24:42Something like that.
24:43I love squash.
24:44They're so versatile.
24:45You can do all sorts of things with them.
24:47Soups, you can roast them, cube them.
24:51And they're so robust.
24:53And it's also quite a carby vegetable as well.
24:57So you don't need too many potatoes when you've got a butternut squash.
25:01VoilĂ .
25:03What a beautiful colour.
25:04You can see actually that's the squash which is absolutely ripe.
25:08You know you've got a good squash because it's so heavy.
25:11VoilĂ .
25:12Now you're going to cut it this way.
25:15Tough, eh?
25:16It's a very tough vegetable.
25:19Look at that, how gorgeous it is.
25:21Look at that.
25:23Lovely, lovely.
25:24Nature is magical.
25:25It's artwork, no less.
25:28Right, I'm just going to get a bowl for these seeds.
25:30Absolutely.
25:32To give that as a gift to our gardeners.
25:34Yeah.
25:35They will love you for it.
25:38Look at that.
25:40And that you'll have about, from sea squash,
25:42you'll have about 50 different squashes.
25:45Isn't it marvellous?
25:47I'm going to cut it up and I'm going to dice it.
25:50Yeah.
25:51And then we're going to roast this with some of this lovely garlic and thyme.
25:56We're going to do quite large dices.
25:59Yeah, for texture as well.
26:00It's going to roast and we're going to stir it in one piece.
26:05But you know, as a chef, to me the garden is everything.
26:08To me it's the centre, the heart of the house.
26:11In so much that it grows all of the food from that humble little seed.
26:16You know, you are going to create some beautiful pumpkins, courgettes, tomatoes, whatever.
26:22And that is the greatest gift we can do, you know.
26:25Food from the garden.
26:27Food for me, the garden is the canvas on which you grow your food, your gastronomy.
26:33It's the gift that keeps giving, isn't it?
26:35Yes.
26:38The chicken's looking lovely over here.
26:39Got a lovely bit of colour on the skin there.
26:41No fat, just crisp.
26:43Yeah.
26:44Beautiful.
26:45I could eat the skin on its own, it tastes so great.
26:47Just lovely and crispy when it's cooked well.
26:50So, we're going to get the butternut squash on a tray.
26:52And then I'm going to get you to peel some garlic.
26:54I'm going to do all of it?
26:55We'll do all of that.
26:56Yes.
26:57Et voilĂ , chef.
26:59Thank you very much.
27:00My little offering for the day.
27:01Thank you.
27:02Can I get you to peel some garlic for me?
27:03I can do that.
27:04Frenchman peeling garlic.
27:06I'm just going to add a little bit of this thyme to it, just a couple of sprigs.
27:09It goes a long way with this.
27:10How many cloves do you want?
27:12Three.
27:13I'm just going to dress this with a little bit of olive oil.
27:16Do you want the skin?
27:18If you take the skin off, that would be great.
27:21And then we just want to toss this a little bit so it's nice and evenly coated in the olive oil.
27:28Just salt and pepper as well?
27:30Always salt and pepper.
27:31Yeah.
27:35So my beautifully peeled garlic.
27:37Okay.
27:38So we're just going to pop that into an oven at 190 for about 20-25 minutes until it starts to soften and get a little bit of color on it.
27:44Okay.
27:45Absolutely.
27:46Uncovered just so, otherwise if you cover it, it just steams and it goes really, really mushy.
27:49Okay.
27:52Just to finish this off, we're going to just put some parchment over top just to keep the moisture in a little bit more and keep the heat in.
27:59Yeah, yeah. Perfect.
28:01And then I'm going to chop one of these chilies up.
28:05A few of these spring onions.
28:07So I do the chili.
28:10You can do the chili, sir.
28:11Okay, you do the onions, okay.
28:14So here your granddad's cherry, very soft, very gentle.
28:17Would you want to chop it finely or in tiny little like that?
28:22Thin slices, yes, that would be excellent.
28:25We're not going to cook it, it's just going to go in as it is.
28:30So that's all ready for the squash.
28:32Can I mix it?
28:33They could all mix, they're all going in together into the squash, so they can all stay together.
28:37And with that as well, we're going to add a little bit of lime just at the end of the butternut squash, just for a bit of freshness.
28:44Roll the lime a little bit just to break the cells and let the juice come out a lot easier.
28:52So we cut that in half and that's ready to finish later.
28:55Beautiful colours, so vibrant.
28:57The smell.
28:58Yeah.
28:59And the colours, beautiful.
29:00Reminds me of summer.
29:02So I think our chicken's ready.
29:03Yeah.
29:04So we can get that out and rest it and then we can work some spinach in the same pan.
29:14So let's go on.
29:15What do you want?
29:16Anything you want from me?
29:17So I'm just going to work this spinach down.
29:18I feel useless here, I want to help.
29:20Do you want to cut some chives for me?
29:21Okay, tell you.
29:22Up, half.
29:29And then we've got our lovely squash down here.
29:33Brilliant.
29:34And what we're going to do is we're just going to put all our chillies and spring onions through it.
29:38Lovely.
29:39What an interesting dish it is.
29:41Of course, first it uses all the vegetables from the garden, they're organic.
29:45It's the craft of the chef.
29:46Okay, but it's interesting.
29:47With this little element of Southeast Asia.
29:48Okay, with the chilli.
29:49Okay.
29:50And the lamb.
29:51And I think it's a very lovely, fresh dish.
29:52Bit of lime.
29:53Just a little bit of acidity.
29:54Go for it.
29:55Make it alive.
29:56There's so much sweetness in your squash, that will help a lot.
29:57And I love it as well, your spinach.
29:58I love it.
29:59I love it.
30:00I love it.
30:01I love it.
30:02I love it.
30:03I love it.
30:04I love it.
30:05I love it.
30:06I love it.
30:07I love it.
30:08I love it.
30:09I love it.
30:10I love it.
30:11I love it.
30:12I love it.
30:13I love it.
30:14I love it.
30:15I love it.
30:16I love it.
30:17I love it.
30:18I love it.
30:19I love it.
30:20I love it.
30:21I love it.
30:22I love it.
30:23I love it.
30:24I love it.
30:25I love it.
30:26I love it.
30:27I love it.
30:28I love it.
30:29I love it.
30:30I love it.
30:31I love it.
30:32I love it.
30:33I love it.
30:34I love it.
30:35I love it.
30:36I love it.
30:37I love it.
30:38I love it.
30:39I love it.
30:40I love it.
30:41I love it.
30:42I love it.
30:43I love it.
30:44I love it.
30:45I love it.
30:46I love it.
30:47I love it.
30:48I love it.
30:49I love it.
30:50I love it.
30:51I love it.
30:52I love it.
30:53I love it.
30:54I love it.
30:55I love it.
30:56I love it.
30:57I love it.
30:58I love it.
30:59I love it.
31:00I love it.
31:01I love it.
31:02I love it.
31:03I love it.
31:04I love it.
31:05I love it.
31:06I love it.
31:07I love it.
31:08I love it.
31:09I love it.
31:10I love it.
31:11I love it.
31:12I love it.
31:13I love it.
31:14I love it.
31:15I love it.
31:16I love it.
31:17I love it.
31:18I love it.
31:19I love it.
31:20I love it.
31:21I love it.
31:22What I love, is the coloring of the squash.
31:26The cooking of it is not overcooked and this wonderful sweetness.
31:31I wish you have complemented with acidic, beautiful lamb, there's chicken.
31:37These are frigent chicken.
31:39Look.
31:40So look, it's nicely cooked, not dry.
31:43Lovely.
31:44Beautiful moisture.
31:45A bit cooked through.
31:46I want to get a little bit of that crispy skin.
31:51It's brilliant because you've got the texture, the crispiness, the colour.
31:55It's not a beige food, you know.
31:57It's so alive.
31:58I think you're a genius.
32:00It's a perfect summer dish.
32:01Thank you very much.
32:02Thank you very much.
32:04Pleasure cooking for you.
32:05Thank you.
32:06Thank you very much.
32:07It's a pleasure to eat it.
32:08Thank you very much.
32:10Coming up, Raymond will be hearing how Highgrove's plants are helping preserve ancient skills.
32:17The Native Americans grew that and so the seeds give a lovely purple dye.
32:21Purple?
32:22Yeah.
32:23It's amazing because they're all yellow and they give a purple dye.
32:25That's right.
32:26And he'll be preparing a brunch classic with a fruity twist.
32:30His roasted fig pain perdu with blackberries.
32:41Welcome back to Raymond Blanc's Royal Kitchen Gardens
32:45and the Georgian grandeur of Highgrove,
32:48King Charles III's magnificent family home in Gloucestershire.
32:54Revelling in its edible riches,
32:56Raymond has shared a love letter to heritage lettuce, his salad Lyonnaise.
33:03Later, Chef will be sharing a fruity take on a traditional salad,
33:07Later, Chef will be sharing a fruity take on a traditional French brunch,
33:12roasted fig pain perdu.
33:17But first, he's meeting senior education manager, Kasia,
33:21to learn how Highgrove's newest garden is helping His Majesty's charity support traditional skills.
33:30So Kasia, like you, I love gardens.
33:33I would like to discover what this new centre is all about.
33:38Well, I love gardens too.
33:39And when we arrived here about a year and a half ago, this was all lawn.
33:44And we wanted to create a little garden, a little paradise here
33:48that supports the craft training that the Prince's Foundation delivers here.
33:51Okay.
33:52So I kind of thought, well, how would that work with textiles
33:56and with the woodworking, with the furniture?
33:59And a dye garden seemed the most obvious thing that we could explore.
34:04I'd never really researched dye plants before.
34:07I had a vague kind of idea of what, you know, what was out there.
34:10I had no idea that there are so many plants that yield so many different colours.
34:15Okay, so I'm a very willing student.
34:17So can you show me, for example, a few plants?
34:20This is madder, which is basically...
34:22It looks like weed, does it?
34:23It is. It's like a giant sticky weed.
34:26It grows like a giant sticky weed.
34:28It's not the most attractive thing.
34:30I've cut this back once this year already,
34:32and then with all the rain that we've had, it's just gone absolutely crazy.
34:35But that's important, that's what it does.
34:37That's right.
34:38And it's not the top, it's underneath.
34:41So with this plant, I'm just going to pull a bit out here,
34:44where it's invaded the other flower bed.
34:47Oh, that's wonderful.
34:48So this is the root.
34:50So with the madder, it's the root that you use, and that yields the dye.
34:54What colour will it provide?
34:56It'll give you red, amber, those kind of colours.
34:59Very rich, very beautiful.
35:01It depends on what fabric you're dyeing as well,
35:03because you've got animal-based fabrics like wool and silk,
35:08and then you've got plant-based fabrics like cotton and hemp and linen.
35:15And so depending on the fabric you're using,
35:17you will get a slightly different dye.
35:19That's it, there you go.
35:21You can see it on your fingers.
35:23Good.
35:24When you think about how people dressed in medieval times, way back when,
35:30we think of those days as being really dark and dingy,
35:33but actually they weren't, because people had access to plants
35:36that they could dye their clothes with.
35:38Is there any other plant you want to show which really provides
35:41this beautiful, tall sunflower?
35:43Gorgeous, isn't it?
35:44That's the hoppy sunflower.
35:45So the Native Americans grew that, and that gives a lovely –
35:48so the seeds give a lovely purple dye.
35:51Purple?
35:52Yeah.
35:53The seeds are yellow and they give a purple dye.
35:55That's right.
35:56And what are the crafts you're saying?
35:58So we also have a stonemason's shed.
36:00Okay, that's useful.
36:01So we've been doing some carving, plastering, wood carving as well,
36:05in there as well, so that's really good fun.
36:07Okay.
36:08So supporting those building craft trades.
36:10That's really, really, really vital at the moment,
36:13because a lot of this knowledge is dying out.
36:16How many students go through the Princess Foundation?
36:19So across the organisation, about 15,000 students per year.
36:22That is wonderful.
36:23And we have a really good success rate in terms of getting people
36:26into work at the end, which is what it's all about.
36:30A little question for you.
36:31How is Her Majesty the King involved in this programme?
36:34Well, everything that we do here is a reflection of his vision.
36:38The Prince's Foundation was set up because of his passion.
36:42And so that's what we continue.
36:45That's wonderful.
36:46I think he's been a great mentor.
36:49Could I qualify myself to be part of this programme?
36:53Absolutely.
36:54As an older boy?
36:55We will get you signed up straight away.
36:57Yes.
37:06In honour of his visit to King Charles III's adored Highgrove,
37:10Chef's final dish is a salute to the magical colours of nature,
37:14roasted fig pain perdu with blackberries.
37:22The dish I'm about to do is actually called
37:25pain perdu with figs and blackberries.
37:28But it could be easily called bread and butter pudding
37:32with blackberries and figs.
37:35Why?
37:36Because I think in both cultures there was no waste whatsoever.
37:40Everything was used.
37:41And what a wonderful way to use it, to use tail bread
37:44and to soak it up with eggs, milk, sugar.
37:48Brilliant.
37:49So easy.
37:50And a bit of vanilla if you feel rich.
37:52So what I'm going to do is to crack my egg, beautiful egg.
37:57Organic, of course.
37:59Voila.
38:00I add the sugar.
38:03Add a bit of milk.
38:08Très bien.
38:09Then a tiny bit of vanilla.
38:11Gives it a little extra flavour.
38:13You can always add also a bit of rum, whatever you wish.
38:17And all that you do is mix everything.
38:23Just mix it up nicely.
38:25Break down the egg white.
38:30I'm going to have four portions here, OK?
38:32So I cut my bread to the side.
38:40I'm going to add the bread to it.
38:43Just soak it up.
38:44Voila.
38:45Easy.
38:48Just make sure that the bread is totally impregnated
38:51with this beautiful egg mixture and milk.
38:54Meanwhile, I'm going to...
38:58Because I'm going to do it very much the English way,
39:00I'm going to toast it in 40 grams of butter.
39:03I'm going to brown it beautifully,
39:05so it's lovely and crusty and appetising.
39:08Colours, beige is not appetising.
39:11A beautiful dark gold is really appetising.
39:14So that's very nicely done here.
39:19I'm going to keep it now.
39:20It's good.
39:21It's nicely soaked.
39:24Oh.
39:25I can already...
39:26The gastric juices start running.
39:28I can already taste it.
39:30So there's the bread.
39:31Voila.
39:32Soak it up nicely.
39:34My butter is melting nicely.
39:36I want it slightly brown.
39:38Give a lovely colour to this bread.
39:40If I put it in here now, no colour.
39:42If I wait until the butter is slightly hazelnut,
39:46you'll have a fantastic taste and colour.
39:49So now my bread is nicely soaked here.
39:53C'est joli.
39:54It's beautifully hazelnut.
39:56So now we're ready to toast.
40:00Très bien.
40:04Et voila.
40:06What a beautiful sizzling noise.
40:08So appetising when you hear that noise.
40:11Très bien.
40:13And now we're ready to toast.
40:15So now we're ready to toast.
40:17Très bien.
40:18And now we're ready to toast.
40:20Très bien.
40:32Voila.
40:33Nice colour.
40:39Oh, that's beautiful.
40:42So now my eggy bread is ready.
40:46It's got gorgeous appetising colours.
40:51That's the first stage of the cooking, OK?
40:53We're going to cook them further,
40:55crusting inside, but the inside is not cooked,
40:57so we want to cook the eggs.
41:00I'm going to keep them and bake them later
41:03for about 15 minutes, no more.
41:05I'm going to keep them and bake them later,
41:07for about 15 minutes, no more.
41:09For about 15 minutes, no more.
41:11So the whole eggy bread is cooked through.
41:14I'm going now to take those figs
41:18and I'm going to do a little incision.
41:26So you've got this gorgeous flesh inside,
41:28look at that, how beautiful wrapped it is.
41:33So preparing the figs is easy.
41:35Cut the hard bit, try to keep a little bit
41:38because I find that very beautiful,
41:40it's attractive, and then you just
41:45cut a little bit
41:50and the heat will permeate nicely
41:52inside this lovely fruit.
41:56So now what I'm going to do,
41:57I've got my eight figs which I've cut nicely,
42:00you can see, that will allow perfect cooking.
42:03I'm going to place them here,
42:05side by side, nice and close together.
42:08Up.
42:10VoilĂ .
42:11Très bien.
42:14And then what I'm going to do is to,
42:16a bit of water, to wash them with a bit of water.
42:20I want the sugar to stick to it, okay?
42:23I'm going to add, since 15 grams of sugar,
42:25I'm going to add half of it in here, see?
42:28You can see the sugar sticking very nicely.
42:32And I've got my blackberries,
42:33so they need to be ripe.
42:35Like that fig, if it's not ripe,
42:37you have no flavor.
42:39So there I put my blackberries.
42:43VoilĂ .
42:44And I put the rest of sugar.
42:49VoilĂ .
42:52So there's one more thing I want to do,
42:54is to add a little bit of butter onto my figs.
42:56There's only 15 grams of butter.
42:59Just inside the fig.
43:03VoilĂ .
43:05So that brings a bit of richness,
43:07that will also thicken the jus as well,
43:10and give that a little extra richness.
43:13You can do it without butter,
43:14but I feel it helps a little bit.
43:17Now, a bit of water.
43:21You get the steam as well,
43:22and create a beautiful little syrup.
43:26Très bien.
43:27So now, I'm going to roast my figs and my blackberries
43:30for about 8 to 12 minutes.
43:32That's 170 degrees.
43:34There we are.
43:40That's hot, hot, hot, hot.
43:43VoilĂ .
43:44A beautiful autumnal treat,
43:46or late summer treat,
43:48with a beautiful papier-mâché,
43:50crusty and gorgeous.
43:51The figs are ripe.
43:52They get their juice.
43:54So, you must have all wondered
43:56what's in that bowl.
43:58It's figs which are roasted with the blackberries,
44:01a bit of sugar,
44:02lemon juice,
44:03and puree.
44:04Okay.
44:05VoilĂ .
44:06That's ready here.
44:08I've got my wonderful...
44:10Oh, I'll take that one.
44:11I like that one.
44:12Yes.
44:13VoilĂ .
44:15Look how these colors are so lively,
44:18so beautiful.
44:20My gorgeous figs,
44:21so bursting.
44:22They're so beautifully ripe.
44:25VoilĂ .
44:27Oh, which one's the best?
44:29I'll take the little one here.
44:32Très bien.
44:37I've got this lovely jus
44:39to put around with the blackberries.
44:45Oh, well done, Raymond.
44:47Of course, with that,
44:48you can serve a beautiful ice cream,
44:50and you'll be in heaven.
44:52Fig heaven.
44:54Et voilĂ .
44:55So, my dish is actually pain perdu,
44:57or eggy bread, according to the culture,
44:59with beautiful blackberries
45:01and fat, ripe figs.
45:04Bon appétit.
45:05¶¶ ¶¶
45:28What a wonderful place to call home.
45:30What I love the most about this place,
45:32Highgrove,
45:33is these extraordinary gardens,
45:35grown organically,
45:36no chemicals whatsoever,
45:38surrounded by great professionals
45:41who love what they're doing,
45:42who work with nature,
45:44who work around a philosophy
45:46of total care,
45:47of total care for nature.
45:50I have seen beautiful varieties.
45:52I have learned so much here,
45:54and I really look forward
45:56to coming back very soon.
45:58¶¶ ¶¶
46:27¶¶ ¶¶