Suffolk - FS episode 8
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00:00I've been a chef for over 50 years, but 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, don't know why, but it tastes all right.
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.
01:18Today I'm in Suffolk, a part of the UK known as its breadbasket.
01:25This county has the perfect soils and levels of sunshine for growing wheat and other grains.
01:33It also boasts some of my favourite bits of English coastline.
01:41I was just thinking, Suffolk is two counties to me, seaward, you've got some of the country's
01:47most attractive coastal towns, teeming with visitors at the weekend, with hidden gem restaurants
01:53and seafood shacks.
01:56And behind me, you've got the classic rolling English countryside, constable country, growing
02:03a huge amount of the nation's cereals.
02:06But everything under these immense famed open skies.
02:15Suffolk is our easternmost county.
02:18Its North Sea coastline is dotted with some of our most famous towns, such as Lowestoft,
02:24Felixstow and Southworld, with its elegant lighthouse.
02:29The county forms part of East Anglia, which grows enough wheat a year to make an amazing
02:35five and a half billion loaves of bread.
02:42And bread is an intriguing food story, I think, which shows how our attitudes to what we eat
02:47are changing.
02:49Because there's been a surge in interest in healthier, more naturally made bread.
02:54And today, one in five of us like to bake our own.
03:01During lockdown, I became fascinated with making sourdough, and I found making sourdough
03:05was a sort of like a sine wave, a mixture of elation and gloom.
03:10The elation when it went well, and gloom when your sourdough would end up a bit like a pancake.
03:16So I'm really looking forward to where I'm going now, because I feel I'm going to learn
03:20how to make sourdough really properly.
03:27Acre Farm in East Suffolk is home to a micro bakery, where husband and wife, Alexander
03:33and Emily, have taken bread making back to its very basics.
03:37Good morning.
03:38Morning, Rick.
03:39How's it going?
03:40Alex.
03:41Nice to meet you.
03:42Emily.
03:43Hi.
03:44Nice to meet you.
03:45They bake about 150 loaves of sourdough twice a week in this traditional oven, which is
03:52fuelled by wood from the farm.
03:55When did you fire this up then?
03:57Four o'clock yesterday afternoon, small fire to begin with, otherwise it will completely
04:01crack the whole thing.
04:02And then we refire it about one o'clock in the morning, get it up to about 450 degrees,
04:06and then just let it drop down over the rest of the night.
04:08Why go to all this bother with wood?
04:10Why not just have an electric oven or a gas oven?
04:13Well, firstly they wanted £20,000 to get the electricity supply from the road to here.
04:18Good enough reason.
04:19And then we've got a ready supply of wood on the estate.
04:22We planted two and a half thousand trees, so it's part of our wider plan to be planting
04:26more trees as we use the wood in the fire.
04:30When the oven's at the perfect temperature for baking, Alexander and Emily need to work
04:36quickly.
04:37They have a batch of loaves ready, which they started making yesterday.
04:42Got to squeeze them out, to watch out for the pebbles.
04:46It's an impressively synchronised operation.
04:49I mean, there's nothing like freshly baked sourdough bread in this world, I think.
04:54So, it was really nice watching you.
04:59Perfect teamwork, eh?
05:00I mean, you've obviously done this a lot.
05:01It's the only time we get to dance, really.
05:04What is the recipe?
05:05Flour, water and salt.
05:07That's it.
05:08Also, thyme, probably the last ingredient.
05:10It takes quite a bit of Alexander's time, especially through the night.
05:13Thyme and love, then.
05:16With today's loaves baking, Alexander is straight back to work, prepping more dough for tomorrow.
05:25The process begins with the starter.
05:28In the jar is a homemade fermented culture, used in place of commercial yeast.
05:34To create a starter, all you need is flour and water, and keep on feeding it with about
05:3750 grams of water, 50 grams of flour each day, and pouring it away for about seven days.
05:43And by the end of that seven days, you've got an active, bubbly starter.
05:46So this is what sourdough bakers take on holiday with them, because if they leave it behind,
05:50it might die.
05:51Yeah, well, it's got a very strict feeding schedule.
05:53It's like a baby.
05:54Mine's called Barry.
05:55Baby Barry.
05:56Baby Barry.
06:01He combines Barry with a precise mix of two types of flour.
06:06So this is 40% wholemeal flour to 60% white flour, and that's because our customers aren't
06:12quite ready for the full whole-grain experience, and it still smells really good.
06:16You get better structure with white flour, do you?
06:18You do.
06:19I mean, there's more gluten present in it.
06:22The flour and starter are kneaded together by a dough mixer.
06:27A slow fermentation improves the flavour and fluffiness of the bread, so it's left in a
06:32fridge overnight.
06:35When you come to take it out, it needs about 20 minutes out of the fridge to kind of wake
06:38it back up again, and after that, it's ready to go.
06:42The proofed dough is then worked and portioned according to the conditions of the day.
06:47With bread making, it can be completely different when it's humid, when it's hot, when it's
06:51too cold.
06:52You've got to feel the dough and work with it.
06:54It's never the same two days in a row.
06:56It's a very tactile way of working.
06:57I'm just watching you making those up.
06:59I just think there's so much sort of therapy in doing something well like you're doing
07:03for people generally, really.
07:11Well, needless to say, the moment I've been waiting for, I'm just itching to try it.
07:20A bit of butter, marmalade, I'm really looking forward to this.
07:27Well, it's wonderful.
07:28A very open texture.
07:30The other thing about it, apart from the wonderful wheaty flavour, is the crust is
07:35so nice and crisp and the centre is so soft.
07:38Almost brioche-y, isn't it?
07:39Mmm.
07:40Yeah.
07:41The customers must be so happy with what they're getting.
07:43It's a labour of love, but people appreciate what we're doing and it's going to help us
07:47all to eat more healthily and feel better, and I only think that can be a good thing.
07:50Well, I mean, it's so heartening that you're doing something so special using everything
07:55local, and I just think it's the future, I really do.
08:00I've got a great recipe which uses sourdough bread.
08:11It's actually for an Italian alpine soup called zappa d'osta, but it's perfect for a cold,
08:18wet day here in the UK.
08:21So, first of all, chop some cabbage.
08:25A good, strong-flavoured Savoy cabbage.
08:28Big, thick-ish strips.
08:31For more flavour, I like to simmer the cabbage in both beef and chicken stock for about five
08:37minutes.
08:38For non-meat eaters, use a vegetable stock with a tablespoon of marmite.
08:43As that's bubbling away, prepare your sourdough.
08:47So, we want about five or six thick slices.
08:50I love these sort of recipes because they're imprecise.
08:53It doesn't matter how much bread you put in, within limits.
08:56Next, pour in a generous glug of olive oil and fry up a good amount of fat bacon.
09:02Portobello mushrooms can be used as a vegetarian substitute.
09:06So, I'm going to fry this till it's really quite brown.
09:09The fat that's coming out of the bacon, I'm going to put into the soup because it's one
09:13of those rich, warming winter soups where the more calories you can get into it, the
09:18better.
09:19So, if you come in from a wet walk in Britain and you're feeling gloomy, like, how long
09:25is February going on for?
09:27This is the sort of soup you might like to cheer you up.
09:31Transfer the cooked bacon to a plate, then throw in your sourdough to soak up the fat.
09:39And then, would you believe, I'm going to add some butter to it as well, just to make
09:42it even richer.
09:46So, that's looking very nice and fried.
09:48Now, the garlic.
09:51Just stir that in.
09:54How can I justify this dish in terms of calories?
09:57I can't.
09:59OK, now I'm just going to put the bacon back in there and now I'm going to make up the
10:03soup.
10:04So, a good layer of bacon, garlic and bread in the bottom and now a layer of cabbage on
10:12top of that and some cheese.
10:15I like to use gruyere or emmental.
10:17Both are mild and great for melting.
10:21Plenty of it.
10:23Keep layering the bread, cabbage and cheese.
10:28A little bit of salt, not too much, because there's plenty of salt in the cheese.
10:31And lots of pepper.
10:34It's smelling so good.
10:36Now, the rest of the stock and then more cheese, yes, more cheese.
10:41Now, soup is not usually baked, but that's exactly what I'm going to do to make sure
10:48all that cheese is beautifully melted.
10:51So, now we're going to bake it uncovered at 180 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes.
11:05It looks and smells spectacular and I can't wait to tuck in.
11:13I mean, it's just lovely.
11:15Slow-cooked cabbage just adds so much extra dimension to what is an absolutely wonderful soup.
11:24Do you know, I can't think of a better dish for a cold winter's day.
11:34In Suffolk, I've left the wheat fields behind and I'm following the salty sea air
11:40and the squawking seagulls towards Southwold.
11:45One of my main reasons for coming here, apart from the fact that it's a lovely place with great food,
11:52is that the author George Orwell came to live here when he was 18 with his retired parents and sister.
12:01For the next 20 years, Orwell would come and go, but it was here that his writing career began.
12:09Animal Farm and 1984 are two of the most thought-provoking pieces of writing I think I've ever read.
12:18Orwell saw himself as a social democrat, though his reputation locally was that of a scruffy womaniser.
12:26But what I didn't know about Orwell is that he had passionate views on the subject of food.
12:34I just thought it would be nice to read an excerpt from an article he wrote for the Evening Standard in 1945 about British food.
12:41It shows a different side to George Orwell, I think.
12:45It is commonly said, even by the English themselves, that English cooking is the worst in the world.
12:52Now that's simply not true, as anyone who has lived long abroad will know.
12:57Here are some of the things that I myself have sought for in foreign countries and failed to find.
13:04First of all, kippers.
13:06Yorkshire pudding, Devonshire cream, doesn't mention Cornish, muffins and crumpets,
13:13Christmas pudding, treacle tart and apple dumplings.
13:17It will be seen that we have no cause to be ashamed of our cookery,
13:21and yet there is a serious snag from the foreign visitor's point of view.
13:26If you want, say, a good rich slice of Yorkshire pudding,
13:29you are more likely to get it in the poorest English home than in a restaurant,
13:34which is where the visitor necessarily eats most of his meals.
13:40I think really the problem in those days was that all English restaurants tried to be like French restaurants,
13:45and didn't do it very well.
13:47In fact, when I started my restaurant, half the menu was written in French.
13:52Why? Looking back you wonder.
13:54There you go. I mean, it is a great bit of writing, it's excellent journalism,
13:59it's, I think, correct about English food.
14:13There's a new cafe in town that I think Orwell would have appreciated.
14:19Set in the grounds of an old hospital, this is Canteen,
14:24a cafe with compassion at its heart.
14:27Run by Nicola Hordern, an accountant-turned-chef,
14:31it strives to make food available to all with an intriguing idea,
14:36pay-what-you-can lunches.
14:39When we're walking in here, it's just a very lovely space.
14:43So just tell me, I mean, this is like a community canteen.
14:47Yes. So the canteen is kind of part restaurant, part community centre.
14:50Yeah, yeah.
14:51So all around us is social housing, affordable housing.
14:53There's quite a lot of poverty in a beautiful rural area, just the same as in Cornwall, actually.
14:58Yeah. Everyone should be eating like this, but I know it's not accessible to everyone.
15:02So we've started a pay-what-you-can community lunch on the last Sunday of the month.
15:07We're just about to have our sixth one in June.
15:09Does it not present the customer with a bit of a dilemma?
15:12It does present them with a dilemma.
15:14We will have a suggested price, and some might not pay at all,
15:18some might pay less than the meal, and some might pay, you know,
15:21what is quite a lot more than the meal is worth.
15:24It's definitely not easy, but that's where the accountancy background comes handy.
15:28You know, I could write up a few business plans.
15:30Maybe one day, not so long from now, will be everything is pay-what-you-can.
15:34I just think it's a very sort of important idea, getting the community involved.
15:39The whole model is so interesting and so hopeful, really.
15:44Nicola is going to cook me a typical lunch she serves here,
15:48using ingredients from local suppliers.
15:53So what are you making?
15:54A rainbow chard and St Jude curd tart.
15:57Fabulous. Loving the look of that cheese.
16:00That's English pecorino.
16:01Is that local butter?
16:02Yeah, that's the Bungie raw milk butter, made not far away from here.
16:06What about all that thyme there, then?
16:08It's organic, and it's going into the pastry.
16:10Well, I'm looking forward to trying it.
16:12I'm just going to let you get on with it.
16:15I do like a flavoured pastry,
16:17and this one has flour, butter, thyme and pecorino cheese.
16:25It looks delicious.
16:28Adding water, Nicola forms the dough,
16:32which she leaves to chill.
16:35Making the tart filling begins with chopping locally grown rainbow chard,
16:40using both the leaves and the stems.
16:43The tougher stems are sautéed first with chopped red onion.
16:50Seasoned, and then the leaves added.
16:56Next, she takes some confit garlic,
16:59which has been slow-roasted in oil for a sweeter, more mellow flavour,
17:03and adds this to the cooked chard.
17:08The pastry is now chilled and ready to use.
17:15Nicola layers in the chard mix,
17:19and tops with a cow's curd cheese.
17:25She then moves on to finishing the tart,
17:28mixing eggs, cream and more of that lovely pecorino cheese.
17:34She pours this luxurious, creamy mix over everything
17:38and pops the tart into the oven.
17:45After 45 minutes of baking,
17:47the tart is served with a dressed green salad
17:51and a sprinkling of pecorino.
17:53It looks mouth-watering.
17:55That's very pretty.
17:57Oh, it's beautifully cooked.
18:00Oh, it's great.
18:02And I bet you can tell me where all these vegetables, the flowers come from.
18:06I can tell you exactly where they're from, who grew them.
18:09Everything we use in our kitchen is completely traceable.
18:12The vision and food at Canteen is inspiring, all the more so,
18:17when Nicola tells me ill health nearly stopped the whole venture from opening.
18:22We've just got the kitchen installed,
18:24and then I found out I had breast cancer two weeks before we were due to open.
18:28Of all times for it to happen.
18:30So, I would say you're a fighter.
18:32I think I am. I just believe in this so much.
18:34It's such a beautiful place to work, and it makes me happy doing this.
18:38I think you're doing a great job.
18:43Vegetables!
18:51I've travelled 20 miles south down the coast to the town of Albra.
18:58This whole area was once home to a thriving fishing industry,
19:02hauling in herring.
19:04But by the end of the First World War, it had fallen into decline.
19:09I first came here 20 years ago for my series Food Heroes,
19:14when Chalky and I were lucky enough, and slightly terrified,
19:18to be launched out to sea with local fisherman Dean Fryer.
19:23That day, he was one of only four fishing boats making a catch.
19:28Another bass, that's good.
19:3020 years ago, when I first started fishing, you couldn't give it away.
19:35But nowadays, that is the most expensive fish money can buy.
19:39If you had to pack up fishing, how would you feel?
19:41What does it mean to you?
19:43Fishing is in you, you know.
19:45You don't want to go work in an office or stack shelves in a co-op or nothing,
19:49but I couldn't do anything else.
19:54And I remember Dean was saying then that he was one of the last fishermen
19:58to keep the local tradition alive.
20:02Well, here he is now.
20:04I tell you, he's still going out seven days a week.
20:16Morning.
20:17Good morning.
20:18Nice to see you.
20:19Nice to see you too.
20:20It's been a while.
20:21Lovely load of bass.
20:23And some lobsters.
20:24Yeah, there's a few lobsters.
20:26Still early on in the season.
20:28What time did you start today?
20:30Up at three.
20:31That's a lie in this morning.
20:33I'm ashamed to say that I'm slightly relieved
20:35I wasn't out on the sea that early this morning,
20:38but it's great to be here to see his fresh oar.
20:42That's a hell of a nice catch actually.
20:44How's fishing generally now then as compared with 20 years ago?
20:48Yeah, on the whole, mussel grumble.
20:50Spring, summer and autumn is still good.
20:53Yeah.
20:54But the winter fishing is not very good.
20:56The cod are just gone now and that's all due to global warming.
21:00Water's just not cold enough for them.
21:03I'm afraid it's a story I hear wherever I go.
21:07After more than 40 years,
21:09Dean is now the only fisherman who goes out regularly.
21:14So why do you think young people don't come into fishing anymore then?
21:19It's not easy anymore.
21:21You can't just buy a boat nowadays and just go fishing.
21:24There's so many certificates, expenses on your licence to fish.
21:29They've just made it virtually impossible.
21:32Keeping up to date with the necessary regulations
21:35is certainly a costly business.
21:37But fortunately, Dean is catchy enough to make a living
21:41and this morning there's a particularly brisk trade.
21:46We've got a whole scape, crab, lobster.
21:48Two wings each and then we'd like some rock eel.
21:53Big one, yeah.
21:54Save me one and I'll come back in about an hour or so.
21:57There you go. Thank you very much.
22:01And in Albura, a thriving hospitality industry
22:05is also helping to drive business.
22:08The restaurants and the hotels are full virtually all year round now.
22:12Sometimes we can't catch enough to keep them all going.
22:15You've got some beautiful fish. You've got quite a little queue there.
22:18I would love to be in their shoes.
22:22My catch-up with Dean has inspired me to get creative
22:26with some fresh sea bass and crab meat.
22:29It's taken me a little out of my comfort zone,
22:32but that's not a bad thing.
22:34Right, I'm going to make some sushi.
22:36Obviously I'm not a sushi chef, but for once in my life I'm going to say
22:40this may not be the best demonstration of sushi cooking,
22:43but it will show you that you can do it at home quite easily.
22:48I'm making sea bass nigiri and crab meat in avocado maki rolls.
22:54Sushi is now part of our food culture here in the UK.
22:58Recent stats show sales surging by 90%,
23:01with many of us choosing it over a sandwich for lunch.
23:05So I'm going to begin with sushi rice.
23:07You can get sushi rice in probably any supermarket now,
23:11and its great property is that when you cook it, it goes really glutinous.
23:16Wash the rice.
23:18When cooking, exact amounts are important.
23:22My 300g of rice needs 390ml of water.
23:27So just bring that up to a boil.
23:29And this will soak up entirely during cooking.
23:32And then we'll turn it right down and cook it with the lid on for about 10 minutes.
23:39Now onto the sea bass.
23:41As it's sushi, this will be served raw.
23:44But first I need to skin it.
23:46Using a sharp knife, slice the fish in half and remove the skin.
23:52I just don't think people should worry about eating raw fish.
23:55There's nothing to fear in something like a piece of raw bass.
23:58It's just got this fantastic flavour.
24:02Slice the fish on a diagonal.
24:04Cut some avocado.
24:07And prepare the crab meat.
24:10I'm using Japanese mayonnaise, which I'm really fond of in a dish like this.
24:19OK, now I'm just going to season the rice.
24:21So first of all, about 4 tablespoons of rice vinegar.
24:25Next, a tablespoon of sugar.
24:28And then about 3 quarters of a teaspoon of salt.
24:32Just stir that in.
24:34There we go, that's ready to cool down and then I can start making up my sushi.
24:38This is a little tip I picked up from a Japanese maestro.
24:42Very hard to handle this glutinous rice unless your hands are oiled.
24:47Otherwise the rice just sticks to your hands.
24:49Don't thump anything down, just use the tips of your fingers.
24:54I'm placing it on a bed of dried seaweed called nori,
24:58which you can buy in most supermarkets.
25:01You've just got to work the rice right up to almost the edges.
25:05So that's about right.
25:06And then make a little levee on the edge.
25:10Sorry, we are getting into a little bit of a mess here.
25:14Now make a little indent in the rice behind the levee.
25:19And then on with the filling.
25:21Add the avocado, a touch of wasabi for a bit of a kick,
25:26and then the crab mix, being careful not to overfill.
25:30Then I press it all together using a bamboo sushi roller.
25:35Here we go.
25:36Over, over, over, over.
25:40And then just push your fingers down a bit.
25:42Squeeze it a bit.
25:44And hey presto!
25:46A perfect maki roll.
25:48Do you know what? I'm quite pleased with that.
25:52It turns out to be delightfully simple.
25:56Next up, the nigiri sushi.
25:59And for this I have a perfect little gadget.
26:02Put your rice in there.
26:05Build it up a little bit.
26:08And then click it out.
26:11Like that.
26:12You put that on there, and then you move on to the next one.
26:16Add a layer of wasabi, a slice of the raw sea bass,
26:21brush with soy sauce, and you're good to go.
26:30So, let's just try one.
26:36Just a total delight.
26:38And the nigiri.
26:39Bit more soy.
26:42That's so lovely.
26:44I mean, it's just such a great way of appreciating beautifully fresh fish.
26:49But it's just a light lunch. Perfect.
26:54Back on the Suffolk shores, Dean's busy morning has calmed down.
26:58And I'm thrilled to hear he's got no plans to retire yet.
27:02I know I asked you last time 20 years ago, but do you still love what you do?
27:06I do, yeah.
27:07I can't say I'm quite as sprightly as what I was 20 years ago.
27:10Join the club.
27:11Bit of a job getting the socks on in the morning now, but...
27:16Well, that was so nice catching up with Dean Fryer again after 20 years.
27:21The fact is, he's catching beautiful fish.
27:23He's selling direct to the public,
27:25so he's getting the whole value of his fish for himself,
27:28which I think is great.
27:29And I think it's great that he's doing that.
27:31And I think it's great that he's doing that.
27:33And I think it's great that he's doing that.
27:35And he's getting the whole value of his fish for himself,
27:37which I think is great.
27:38One of the problems with the fisherman, really, is that it's the middle man,
27:42as in so many cases, that makes most of the money.
27:45Knowing that fish of that quality and freshness
27:48was on sale just on the beach like that,
27:50that would be a reason for coming here in itself.
27:58If you'd like to see more episodes of Rick Stein's Food Stories,
28:02press the red button now to watch on BBC iPlayer.
28:08Next time, I'm in London.
28:12What dim sum means is touching the heart in Chinese.
28:16Make sure everything's chopped and then you can whoosh through the stir-fry.
28:20I'm in great joy.
28:22See when he does the bowl?
28:24Yeah, yeah.
28:25That's the mozza.
28:26Two lovely classic breakfasts.
28:28Two things you should never see being made,
28:30laws and sausages.
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