Argyll - Food Stories episode 2
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00I've been a chef for over 50 years and I've come to realise that the food we eat tells
00:08a story about who we are.
00:13So I'm on a mission to find out what we all like to eat today.
00:17Oh, that is good.
00:19From our traditional dishes.
00:21Long live the Yorkshire pudding.
00:23To those we've made our own.
00:25I mean, that is multi-faceted Britain on one page.
00:28Our meat producers.
00:29There you see a robot, he's picking them.
00:32I find a lot of craft beer is too hoppy, I don't know why, but it tastes alright.
00:38Some of our best chefs.
00:40We're picking scurvy grass, pretty punchy.
00:44Plus those keeping traditions alive.
00:46We've just got to finish, I have no hope.
00:49I'll see how food brings us together.
00:52Dig in!
00:53Lovely, that sort of hot garlic, fabuloso.
00:58And from my home in Padstow, I'll bring you great dishes of my own.
01:02Love stuff like this.
01:04So join me as I unearth the stories behind the food we all love to eat today.
01:17I've reached the northernmost point of my food journey around the UK.
01:24on the west coast of Scotland.
01:30And I've come to this rugged part of the world because I'm fascinated by our growing interest
01:35in wild food.
01:40And I've heard tell of food producers and chefs here in Argyle doing really interesting
01:45things with a natural larder on their doorstep.
01:52To me, Argyle in Scotland is something of an undiscovered foodie destination.
01:58Its bountiful coastline consists of fingers of land jutting out into the sea, which makes
02:04it a little inaccessible unless you travel by ferry or take the long way round.
02:10But to those in the know, it's a mystical and magical foodie heaven.
02:19Argyle encompasses a chunk of the Scottish mainland north of Glasgow and 23 inhabited
02:25islands.
02:27It's dotted with over 60 castles, including the magnificent Inveraray Castle.
02:35And its coastline is studded with sea locks whose watery depths harbour the most amazing
02:41seafood.
02:45I've come to Holy Lock, where I'm thrilled to join Mary Galloway and Alastair Mackay.
02:51Hello.
02:52Get on board.
02:53Nice to meet you.
02:54Nice to meet you.
02:55Mary?
02:56Yes, pleased to meet you.
02:57As they set off on their Creole fishing boat.
02:59Let's go.
03:00Let's do it.
03:01And catch some local longustines.
03:04And what a beautiful day it is to be out on the water.
03:19Before they reach the spot where they sank 50 Creole pots two days ago, Mary's preparing
03:25salted herring as bait for their next round of fishing.
03:31Creole pots, in case you're wondering, are basket-like traps designed to catch seafood
03:36live.
03:37And this method is one of the most sustainable ways to fish for longustines.
03:46Mary and Alastair have worked this boat for eight years, ever since Mary gave up her job
03:51as a teacher.
03:52I was a PE teacher for 30 years.
03:56Why switch from teaching?
03:57I'd always said to myself at 50, I was going to change my job.
04:01It was just the pure enjoyment of being out on the water.
04:04I mean, it's so peaceful.
04:06If you leave the house with a problem, by the time you've been out here for half an
04:09hour, you don't have a problem.
04:11And if you do have a problem, you've got about 12 hours to sort it out in your head.
04:15It's an amazing therapy.
04:17Who would swap this for town?
04:20It's time to haul in the pots and find out what's in them.
04:24I always enjoy the sense of anticipation before the first pot breaks the surface.
04:41The longustines are packed into special trays to keep them alive.
04:46There's a lot of longustine coming up, but it's amazing the amount of bycatch they're
04:51throwing back.
04:53All the young longustine are going back to let them get a bit bigger, which is really
04:57good.
04:58That prawn's just recently molted, but to keep that and to sell it would be no good
05:04because the meat in the tail would be very, very soft.
05:07So we throw them back.
05:09Great conservation, really, just letting them go back and grow.
05:15Just wondered, what are the stocks like?
05:17Very healthy.
05:18The amount is immense.
05:19Every year, it surprises you and shocks you.
05:22We have a good period of fishing, which is usually in the summer months, and in the winter
05:28months when the water's a lot colder, the fishing slows down, but there's still enough
05:33there to make a good living at.
05:37It's so heartening to hear fisherfolk talk of plentiful fish, but I'm disappointed to
05:43hear that Mary and Alistair sell most of this wonderful catch outside of the UK.
05:49The main market for our stuff's in Spain.
05:51Ninety-five percent of what we catch goes there.
05:53I get depressed when I hear that because people in Spain and France are prepared to pay the
05:59price for the greatest longustine, which is what you're catching in the greatest waters.
06:03With all respect, I think it's, people don't eat as healthily here.
06:08Do you sell any locally?
06:09Yeah, there's quite a few restaurants locally, and then there's a fishmonger in Edinburgh
06:15and one in Glasgow.
06:16We meet everybody face-to-face and hand them over the stuff, you know.
06:20Everything we do goes live.
06:22Before we head to shore, Mary sends the freshly-baited creel pots back to the bottom of the lock.
06:30Well I must say I've really enjoyed watching Ali and Mary work.
06:34They clearly love what they're doing, but also I'm quite optimistic because I think
06:39the stocks are very healthy.
06:42More longustine.
06:43They're delicious.
06:47I don't know whether you've ever thought about selling them further afield in Glasgow, like
06:52Cornwall?
06:53I'm sure it can be arranged.
06:58I want to encourage more of you to eat Scottish longustines.
07:02And because it's the Spanish who snap up Mary and Ali's catch and really know how to cook
07:08with it, I'm making arroz roja, or red rice, with pan-fried longustines and haddock.
07:15It's a bit like a paella rice, the same sort of process, but it's really all about the
07:20stock.
07:21And in this case the stock is coming from the longustine shells.
07:25So the first thing to do is to pull the tail off, then crack them.
07:32The temptation is to throw away the shells, but you're going to need them later.
07:38Once you've extracted the meat, which you can also do by cutting down the middle, you
07:44need to bash the shells about a bit, being careful of your fingers of course.
07:49As you can see, I'm talking from experience.
07:53Now I'm just going to chop the heads up too.
07:55There's a lot of flavour inside the longustines head.
08:02Right, here's how to make a super tasty shellfish stock.
08:06So I'm just going to add some olive oil now, some onions, carrots, celery.
08:16Also, some tomato puree, as well as fresh tomatoes.
08:21A herb which I think goes really well with shellfish stock is tarragon.
08:29Then some white wine for a bit of acidity, and some fish stock.
08:35Quite a lot, that's about a litre of fish stock.
08:39You can get fish stock in most supermarkets of course, but it's also worth checking if
08:43your fishmonger makes it.
08:47After 40 minutes on a low simmer, it should be about done.
08:52So I'm now going to strain that through a sieve.
08:56Just push as much as I can through there.
08:59So there's my beautiful Arroz Roja stock, and then the final rice dish.
09:06Let's go.
09:09To some olive oil, add onions and a hefty amount of garlic.
09:13Four cloves in fact.
09:17Ooh, that smells good.
09:20Some dried chilli flakes, and some pimenton.
09:26Smoky paprika. Yum.
09:31Some more tomato puree, and more chopped tomatoes.
09:35Now the rice. This is Calasparra paella rice.
09:39The great thing about Calasparra rice, which is from Murcia in Spain, is that it absorbs
09:45two and a half times its weight in liquid, so it'll really show off my great stock.
09:51I should have added my chopped red pepper earlier, but no harm done.
09:58Bring the rice to a simmer, then pan fry the haddock and longustines,
10:04just very simply with olive oil and seasoning.
10:08So I'm watching over the Arroz Roja, and of course I'm very tempted to stir it,
10:14but it's an absolute no-no with Spanish dishes like this,
10:18because once you stir it, you lose that look of all the grains being separately visible,
10:24so all I'm doing is just moving the pan around a bit so that the heat is distributed uniformly.
10:32Once the fish is ready and the rice has absorbed the stock,
10:36lay the haddock and those beautiful longustines on top with a sprinkle of parsley.
10:42Dig in.
10:47Well, I have to say I'm very happy with this Arroz Roja and the longustine.
10:54It's lovely, and the stock is superb.
10:57There's an expression in Australian called big-noting yourself, and I have to big-note myself.
11:03I have to say this is very nicely cooked.
11:05You do need a bit of aglio e olio.
11:08It's a real pleasure of mine with Spanish rice dishes.
11:11It's a garlic mayonnaise, of course.
11:14It just adds that little bit of pizzazz to the dish.
11:22In Argyle, I'm winding along the shoreline of Holy Lock,
11:26whose waters stretch down to the Firth of Clyde, eventually leading to Glasgow,
11:32and I'm paying a visit to one of Scotland's most intriguing religious sites.
11:38Kilman Church was built in the 1840s on a spot
11:43which 1,000 years ago was home to a Celtic monastery.
11:49And within its medieval churchyards lies Elizabeth Blackwell,
11:54the first woman named on the British medical register as a doctor.
12:00But there's something else more macabre here, which I find particularly fascinating.
12:06This is a mort safe, and it was to prevent body-snatching.
12:10It's built out of iron, so it's so heavy
12:13that the only way you could lift it off the coffin was with lifting equipment.
12:18The reason why Kilman Church was so popular with body-snatchers
12:23was because it's right on the Clyde, and the thieves could come in by boat,
12:28take the bodies and go, but not after the mort safe was in position.
12:36Lucky for me, I've been granted access to the church's legendary mausoleum...
12:44..which houses memorials to the Dukes and Earls of Argyle's past,
12:49who belonged to one of Scotland's most powerful clans, the Campbells.
12:55Sir Duncan Campbell founded Kilman Church
12:58and was the first clan chief to be buried here.
13:02He was once held captive by a suspicious King James I
13:06for associating with enemies to the Scottish crown.
13:11As I enter the church, with its magnificent stained-glass windows,
13:16I'm met by a wonderful sound...
13:20..coming from the century-old church organ
13:23with organist Philip Norris tickling the ivories.
13:30Philip. Yes, good morning.
13:32I just wondered what's so special about this organ.
13:35Well, it's powered by water, which powers the bellows,
13:38but also it powers the action of the organ.
13:40And as far as I know, there's only two left in Scotland.
13:43Well, I just wondered if you could play something.
13:46Shall I play this piece here? What is it?
13:48Ye Banks and Braes of Bonny Doon.
13:51How can ye bloom so fresh and fair?
13:53And I so weary, full of care.
14:04As Philip plays, sound is being created by the weight of water
14:08pushing air through the organ's pipes.
14:11And this tune is a famous one,
14:13often accompanied by the words of Scottish poet Robert Burns,
14:17which tell of a woman looking to nature in a moment of heartbreak.
14:24Ye Banks and Braes of Bonny Doon
14:31How can ye bloom so fresh and fair?
14:39And it's the beauty and bounty of this landscape
14:42that are at the heart, too, of the next food story
14:46I want to tell you about a restaurant on Loch Fyne,
14:49which draws inspiration from the stunning wilderness around it.
14:59One of the things I'm keen to celebrate on this trip
15:02is sustainable gastronomy.
15:05An Inver restaurant has been awarded Scotland's only
15:09Green Michelin star,
15:11which recognises excellence in just that,
15:15sustainable local food.
15:20Owner and chef Pam Brunton is often found foraging on the shoreline
15:25for goodies to put on her menu.
15:28Hello. Greg, hello. Nice to see you.
15:31Pam, nice to see you. You're gathering...
15:33We're picking some scurvy grass. Do you want to try a bit?
15:36Doesn't sound very appetising. No, I don't think it gives you scurvy.
15:39No, it probably relieves you of scurvy on board a ship.
15:42It's very high in vitamin C.
15:44So, er, rarity punchy.
15:48Punchy? It is a very bitter horseradishy.
15:50That would have said it's poisonous.
15:52But, I mean, it's quite good. Small amounts.
15:54With a rich, fatty meat and some creamy, cheesy beans.
15:57Well, can we get in the kitchen? It's a bit chilly out here.
16:00Of course it is. It's Scotland in May, mate.
16:04Pam's dishes are all based around ingredients
16:07that she can gather or grow herself,
16:09or source from local suppliers.
16:12She's going to make me one of her favourites,
16:15roast neck of lamb with wild herb salad
16:18and creamed cannellini beans topped with used milk cheese.
16:23This is from a nearby island, the Isle of Bute.
16:26The animals are herdwicks, so wild
16:28that sometimes the farmer can't find them.
16:30As we always say in this line of business,
16:32they're so wild, they're furious.
16:35Pam starts by brushing the meat
16:37with a warm honey and cider vinegar glaze.
16:40You've got to be very careful with it, though.
16:42A bee will produce less than a teaspoon of honey in its entire life.
16:47Oh, poor things. All that work.
16:49I think of that every time I'm using honey.
16:51It's a very precious ingredient.
16:53It's part of that whole sustainable ethos, really.
16:55Exactly. Respect and understanding of the ingredient
16:57and what goes into producing it in the first place.
17:00Quite right.
17:02Next, she chargrills the meat to render the fat
17:05and caramelise the glaze.
17:08And she's gathered a wonderful array of wild morsels for her salad.
17:13Everything picked outside the restaurant
17:15from the coast and the hedgerows.
17:17That looks lovely. That's some sort of cabbage, I guess.
17:20Yep, this is sea broccoli.
17:22OK, that looks like elderflower, but probably isn't,
17:25because it's a bit early in the year in Scotland, I would suggest.
17:28Sweets this, though? Ah, yeah, yeah, of course. Early herb.
17:31And this one here is cuckoo flower, or lady's smock.
17:34Cuckoo flower? How sweet.
17:36It tastes a bit like watercress.
17:39The sea broccoli goes onto the chargrill.
17:42If you've never tried this scrumptious wild vegetable,
17:45it can be easily gathered on many of the UK's coastlines.
17:51Pam then puts some pine sprigs on the grill
17:54and steeps the lamb in the aromatic smoke.
17:58The slow-cooked beans are made extra creamy with loads of butter,
18:02which she makes herself, and local used milk cheese.
18:06Then it's finished off with a squeeze of lemon.
18:10I suppose this is quite affordable, this dish.
18:13Yeah, that's the brilliant thing about it. I mean, the salad is free.
18:16The neck is one of the cheaper cuts of a lamb,
18:19and then beans are another very cheap ingredient.
18:23Pam finishes off the meat with a coating of brown butter,
18:27then plenty of salt.
18:29To serve, she drizzles on a red wine sauce she made with the lamb juices
18:34and places a generous handful of her salad on top.
18:39I'm so looking forward to tasting this beautiful food.
18:44Ah, here it comes.
18:46Greg, this is my partner Rob, partner in life and work.
18:49All the front of the house.
18:51I also pour wine.
18:53Oh, yes, look at that.
18:55Coming right off the bone there.
18:59Oh, that's very lovely.
19:02And that meat is so tender.
19:04It's got a smoky flavour, but it's not excessive.
19:07And the salad, too.
19:10That is so good. Formidable.
19:13You've got this Michelin green,
19:15What are they looking for, then, in terms of sustainability?
19:18Our very close connection to the natural environment.
19:21So if you look out the window there, you can see the hillsides.
19:24I can't stop looking out the window.
19:26You see the hills and the forests and the water,
19:29which is where we get all of our produce.
19:31So it becomes very important to us to maintain it
19:35for all of the people who are our neighbours.
19:37What do you think they feel about having a restaurant like this
19:40in the middle of nowhere?
19:42One of the nicest nights we've had at Inver
19:45is we looked out into the dining room
19:47and realised that almost everybody who was sitting there
19:50had contributed something to the meal.
19:53So we had the gardeners, who'd obviously brought the vegetables.
19:56We had the guy who'd farmed the lamb.
19:58Even one of the scallop divers was in.
20:00It felt quite humbling, to be honest.
20:02I can see that, because you've got to be part of the community.
20:05Well, cheers to that, Rick. Pleasure having you. Thank you.
20:08Cheers.
20:11It's the next day, and I'm off to the Isle of Bute,
20:15one of Argyll's bigger islands.
20:18I suppose the reason not many people visit this region these days
20:22is you have to hop on and off lots of boats to get around.
20:27It's a bit of a challenge, isn't it?
20:29It's a bit of a challenge.
20:31It's a bit of a challenge.
20:33It's a bit of a challenge.
20:35It's a bit of a challenge.
20:37You have to hop on and off lots of boats to get around.
20:41But I absolutely love this sort of slow travel,
20:45and everywhere you look, you get to drink in those memorable views.
20:51The Isle of Bute used to attract crowds of visitors back in the 1900s,
20:56and in its main town, Wrothsay,
20:58you can see remnants of the island's heyday as a holiday destination.
21:03Where I'm going is legendary in these parts,
21:06where Alistair McFadden, head smoker here at the Isle of Bute smokehouse,
21:11makes the most delectable smoked Scottish salmon.
21:15I just wondered if I could try a bit, actually.
21:17Sure. I've got some here we did this morning.
21:19It looks wonderful. Really deep colour.
21:22Look at that.
21:26It's that cut. What do you call it, then?
21:28This is in between a D cut and a long cut.
21:31Most of our customers prefer this.
21:34Thank you very much.
21:39Delicious. Smoky, salty, but not too salty.
21:43Bit of sweetness in there.
21:45Well, is there any chance of having a look round, maybe?
21:47Sure, yeah, no problem.
21:49Do you mind if I just finish this? No.
21:56I'm very keen to see Alistair's smokehouse,
21:59which must be the oldest I've ever been to.
22:04My gosh.
22:08That is amazing, Alistair.
22:11God, the smell. Unbelievable.
22:14I mean, how long has this been like this for, then?
22:16Started in 1888.
22:19It hasn't been touched for all that time?
22:21No. All that tar has built up over the years.
22:24You mean the environmental health people haven't asked you to clean at all?
22:28You know, I've been through modern smokeries
22:30controlled by computers and dials and everything,
22:32and just coming in here, you can sort of feel the history
22:35of the Isle of Bute in this fantastic kiln.
22:39All right.
22:43Alistair's method for making whiskey-smoked salmon
22:47begins with him dry-curing the fillets in rock salt
22:51and demerara sugar.
22:55Then the salmon fillets are hung on racks
22:58and carefully placed high up in the kiln.
23:03Next, Alistair lays down piles of sawdust
23:07with large shavings on top, and the smoking process begins.
23:14This is the method called cold smoking,
23:17which keeps the fire's temperature low enough
23:20to smoke the salmon without cooking it.
23:22And the special thing about the sawdust
23:25is that it's made from old, recycled whiskey barrels.
23:29Do you think it affects the flavour of the salmon?
23:32Yeah. You can smell the smoke already. Yeah.
23:35The flames will die down shortly,
23:37and that'll just smoulder away all night.
23:41What I really like is that Alistair's got such skill.
23:44I mean, he's judging exactly the right amount of smoke
23:47to get the right heat and where the shavings go
23:50to get everything to start smoking.
23:52It's just when you're sort of eating something like smoked salmon,
23:55which I adore, the thought of it being produced
23:58in a place like this just makes it taste better.
24:02Just wondering how long I'll be able to stay in here.
24:05I think we'd better leave.
24:15As I say goodbye to Alistair,
24:17he kindly gives me some smoked salmon to take away.
24:23Because back in Padstow, I've got an idea to make a dish
24:26which will showcase this great fish.
24:31The tatty scone made with a simple potato dough
24:34is a true Scottish delight,
24:36and I'll serve it with a root vegetable salad
24:39and a slice of Alistair's smoked salmon on top.
24:43Now, the thing about tatty scones,
24:45you need to make them with freshly made mashed potato
24:48when it's hot or warm, not yesterday's leftover.
24:51And the reason for that is when it's hot,
24:53it makes a lovely floppy, soft bread.
24:57So I'm using a ricer because I want a really smooth potato.
25:02A potato ricer is a great gadget to have to hand.
25:05It makes short work of producing lump-free mash.
25:10Add some self-raising flour and a good chunk of butter.
25:14You can use milk in place of butter if you want a less rich tatty scone.
25:20Then season with some salt and pepper.
25:23And in my case, I'm just going to add some spring onions,
25:27very finely chopped,
25:29because I just want that sort of slightly onion-y flavour in the bread
25:33to go with my smoked salmon.
25:36Tatty scones are also called totties,
25:39or in Ireland, they're called potato farls, or fadges.
25:43They're superb with a fried breakfast.
25:46Once you've formed your dough, adding a little water if you need to,
25:50flatten it down on your chopping board.
25:53It's already feeling lovely and light and floppy.
25:57I'm just going to use a side plate just to take a bit round the edges
26:00just to make it as neat and tidy as ever I can make anything.
26:04I'm just not the neatest and tidiest of chefs.
26:07But that looks quite nice.
26:09Just cut that into four quarters.
26:13Put your quarters in a frying pan
26:15and brown them on both sides for three to four minutes.
26:19I love using just a steel pan.
26:21I'm not as keen on non-stick, because I just like seasoning my own pans,
26:26and that just means baking a surface of oil on it
26:29and then just pour all the oil out,
26:31and what's left in there will actually harden
26:34and form a coating which is pretty non-stick.
26:38To make a quick and tasty root veg salad,
26:41finely slice a bulb of fennel
26:44and do the same with some radishes
26:47and a peeled beetroot.
26:51Then throw in some chopped dill,
26:54cider vinegar,
26:57soft brown sugar,
26:59salt and freshly ground black pepper.
27:03Finish with a glug of olive oil.
27:06I'm serving my still-warm tatty scones
27:09dressed with the root veg salad,
27:12a scoop of creme fraiche combined with creamed horseradish
27:16and finally the crowning glory all the way from Argyle.
27:22Well, there it is.
27:23I hope I've done justice to Alastair's superb smoked salmon.
27:29As I leave Argyle, by ferry, of course,
27:33I'm feeling heartened by how good the food is
27:36in this beautiful part of the world.
27:39I urge you to make a visit.
27:42You'll be so glad you did.
27:49If you'd like to see more episodes of Rick's Tatty Scones,
27:54if you'd like to see more episodes of Rick Stein's Food Stories,
27:58press the red button now to watch on BBC iPlayer.
28:04Next time, I'm in Lincolnshire meeting James Dyson.
28:08Down there you can see a robot.
28:10Oh, I see. Yeah, it is, actually.
28:12He's picking them.
28:14I'm getting a bit excited now.
28:17Very summery sweet, I think.
28:19Did you ever do that when you were a kid?
28:23I'll probably taste another of these,
28:25and I'd say it's not as good as Rachel's.
28:27You are a charmer, definitely.