- 1 day ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:01We do do sponsor Neven's English food tour too.
00:06The gas part is only part of it.
00:41I'm on the final leg of my food tour in the northeast of England.
00:45This is Reby Castle in County Durham.
00:48It was built in the 14th century and it's considered to be one of England's most magnificent medieval castles.
00:57I heard a wild deer roam around the castle and later I'll be meeting the castle's chef to cook some
01:02venison.
01:03But first, I'm meeting guide Keith Simpson to learn a little bit more about the castle.
01:10Welcome to Reby Castle. Since 1190, only two families have owned this place.
01:16The Nevels from 1190 up to 1569 when they gambled and lost everything in the rising of the north.
01:23And the vanes from roughly 1626 right up to now.
01:27Originally we think there was a large manor house on this site.
01:30But in the 14th century it was converted into the castle we pretty much see today.
01:35But John Nevel in the 14th century built the castle round it.
01:39So we can see round and about there's a low parapet.
01:43Originally that was about 30 feet high and it was surrounded by a wet moat.
01:47So they constituted the outer defences of the castle.
01:51And then if you got past that, inside there were nine towers defending the heart of Reby, which is the
01:57keep and the upper and lower halls.
02:00So sometimes people wonder if Reby is a proper castle.
02:03It most definitely was quite a difficult place to attack.
02:06So Keith, the walls behind you would have been originally the height of that first tower there?
02:10They would, absolutely. That was the outer defence.
02:13But once there was no threat, if you like, the outer walls were taken down so that you could have
02:19a view of the 18th century parkland which we have here today.
02:23So Keith, I noticed some red deer just out there.
02:25That's right. There's 220 acres of parkland out there and there are two herds of deer.
02:31The red are the biggest land mammal in the UK.
02:34And the other herd in the park are fallow deer, which are smaller, usually have dark coats, but some coats
02:40are completely white.
02:42And they're wild animals, they're not farmed.
02:45And they're descendants, we think, of the herds which were here in medieval times, with new stock introduced occasionally.
02:51And the numbers are managed by culling. And when a beast is culled, it's butchered locally.
02:57And then it's either sold in the shop here at Reby or it's used in the Vinery Cafe.
03:02Well, let's go to the kitchen. Let's go.
03:16Thomas, lovely to meet you. And it's my first time cooking in a thousand-year-old kitchen.
03:19It's an experience to work in this type of kitchen. The last time it was used was 1954.
03:25You imagine like 30 chefs in this location.
03:2830 chefs in here? 30, yeah.
03:30And what are you going to make? Obviously the venison here.
03:32So today we're going to be using our own produce. So we've got our own venison.
03:36And we're using the loin because it's more delicate.
03:39We've got our own herbs from the Vinery and our own honey as well.
03:42So we're going to make a marinade and a dressing to go with that.
03:45So what's the first thing you're going to do?
03:46We've already trimmed the meat, so that's ready to go. We're going to make a lovely marinade for you.
03:50So we're using the slow gin, which gives it an earthy sweetness to the marinade.
03:56Balsamic, because slow gin is very, very sweet, we add the balsamic for the acidity.
04:01We add the honey because it's a savory sweetness.
04:04And it also helps when you're cooking the venison to put a caramelization on top of it.
04:10This is the rosemary. Finally chop that. So we're using the pestle and water for the juniper berries.
04:16We're just grounding it down so the flavours of the berries will come out.
04:20And of course juniper is a classic kind of spice to use with venison, isn't it?
04:23Yeah. I try and play with sweet and sour with venison.
04:27Then we've got some whole grain mustard because we want the flavour and the texture as well.
04:33So we just put that and then we're just going to mix that together.
04:36Was venison always popular here in the estate?
04:38Yes, it was. Venison and longhorn beef.
04:41So it's all natural products that are grown on the estate and it allowed them to be self-sufficient.
04:45So we're just going to put the venison into a bowl.
04:48Just into a bowl. Lovely. And just pour that over.
04:50Pour the marinade over.
04:52So how long do you marinate the venison for?
04:53Around an hour. I wouldn't do more than an hour because you don't want to infuse too much into the
04:59venison.
05:00Because you still want the full flavour of the venison.
05:03So that's ready to go. We're going to make a salad.
05:05So the first thing we're going to do is we're going to shave the sprouts.
05:08Alright.
05:09We're then going to zest the orange.
05:12We only need half an orange for this small amount of portion.
05:16When we finish the salad, I want to be able to add some orange segments to it.
05:20So we're just going to do the natural orange segments.
05:23Tom, an amazing kitchen here. I'm looking at all the copper.
05:26And then these big kind of poles on the ceiling.
05:29What are they for?
05:30So in the corner of the kitchen, they used to pull the venison up.
05:35Because you need to hang venison.
05:37And they used to infuse them in the natural smoke for about six days.
05:41God.
05:42So you imagine now, it's the late 1800s.
05:45That's when the light was put in.
05:46Before that, it was just a slit.
05:47Just those thin little tiny windows.
05:49For the arrow slits.
05:51So it wasn't until the 1800s that that actually changed.
05:55So they would have been really dark.
05:57Really dark.
05:57So the only natural light is in the ceiling.
05:59So the chimney.
06:00So that was the only extract for all the smoke as well.
06:04So it wouldn't be a pleasant kitchen to work in like you've got now with all the natural extractions.
06:09I know.
06:09Extractions.
06:09And as you said, 30 chefs in here.
06:11Yeah.
06:12No, I can't either.
06:14This apples from the walls of the castle.
06:18And this adds a slight bite to the salad as well.
06:21And the same marinade that we had for the venison, we're actually going to do for the dressing.
06:26So it's the same dressing.
06:28We're now at the stage where we're going to cook the venison.
06:30And how do you cook the venison?
06:31Because you have something already here.
06:33How do you cook it?
06:33So we're going to actually pan fry it.
06:34So we get a really scalding hot pan.
06:38We'll then cook it three minutes on each side.
06:40And then we'll let it rest for six minutes.
06:43No oven?
06:43No oven.
06:44Okay.
06:44The main thing I say to people when we're doing venison is,
06:48whatever you cook it for, you rest it for.
06:50Oh, very good.
06:51So we're ready to start plating.
06:53Okay.
06:53There's a lot of strong flavours with the mustard, the venison and the sprouts.
06:58So what I want to do is I want to put some creaminess to it and more acidity.
07:01So I'm using some creme fraiche.
07:03And we're going to add some fresh horseradish to it.
07:06Yeah.
07:06So we're just going to mix that.
07:08Just do a natural sweep onto the plate.
07:11And as you can see, it's nice and rare.
07:13Yeah.
07:14And as you said, you utilise all the cuts, the slow cooked ones probably for the shoulder,
07:18is it, or different cuts like that?
07:19So we do a lovely ragu and we're using the haunches and the shoulders.
07:24And that's your salad there.
07:25Lots of really good flavours here.
07:27We've got some pomegranate, the sweetness but earthiness as well.
07:30And then we've toasted some sunflower seeds and some pumpkin seeds for textures.
07:36Tom, that looks so colourful, so it does.
07:38Really beautiful.
07:39I'm dying to taste this venison.
07:40Took in and enjoy it.
07:41Yeah, took in.
07:42Look at how tender that is.
07:44Like it's a beautiful cut, isn't it?
07:45Yeah.
07:46Nice and delicate.
07:47And you're right, it has to be rare.
07:49Yeah.
07:49Nice and pink.
07:51So full of flavour.
07:51The horseradish works really good with it.
07:53Really, really enjoyed cook with you in this stunning kitchen.
07:55Thank you so much.
07:56It's been an absolute pleasure.
08:04I've come back to Newcastle, where I started my food tour around the north-east of England.
08:09The city is often associated with coal mining, railway engineering and shipbuilding.
08:14But the centre of Newcastle is also well known for its stunning classical architecture.
08:19Particularly the elegant streets in a part of the city known as Granger Town.
08:25I've brought you here to the centre of the modern city of Newcastle.
08:30If you like.
08:31So this is generally known as Granger Town.
08:33As you look around here, you'll see very, very distinctive architecture.
08:37I think it's not necessarily what a lot of visitors to Newcastle first expect.
08:40Yeah, stunning.
08:41Industrial city.
08:42They're expecting it to be quite grim.
08:43Yeah.
08:44And actually, you've got all this beautiful sandstone, kind of classical architecture.
08:48It goes back about 200 years.
08:50Beautiful.
08:50Beautiful.
08:51Back to the 1830s, most of this was built.
08:53And it was all the money coming in from industry and from coal mining in the area.
08:58And the people who ran Newcastle really wanted to show off that it was a modern, forward-looking town.
09:05And you'll notice all the signposts around here, all the street names, have Granger Town underneath them.
09:09And Richard Granger was really the mastermind behind all of this.
09:13Okay.
09:13Him and a guy called John Dobson.
09:15They were the architect and the builder who made pretty much all of these buildings.
09:19You've got the wonderful Theatre Royal there.
09:21And all these lovely classical sandstone buildings stretch off down that nice curve.
09:26It's designed to look like Regent Street.
09:28And they wanted these beautiful wide boulevards and shopping streets.
09:32You know, all the people in their fancy top hats could go up and down and do their shopping in.
09:37The centrepiece of it, I suppose, is here, is the Grey's Monument, which was built in 1838,
09:44which is a monument to a local politician, a chap called Earl Grey.
09:49Is that the same person, the tea?
09:51The tea.
09:52The tea fella.
09:53That is him.
09:54Very famous man all over the world.
09:56Very famous all over the world.
09:57Exactly.
09:57But mostly, yeah, for being the name of a brand of tea.
10:01The tea connection really is a kind of legend, almost, that the tea was first made for him.
10:06Okay.
10:06So this particular blend of tea.
10:07He lived not far from Newcastle, in a place called Howick Hall, just to the north of here.
10:13And yeah, the tea, with that very distinctive flavour, like the bergamot,
10:17is supposed to have been made to work well with the water on his estate.
10:21Okay.
10:21And yeah, that's kind of what he's generally known for today.
10:25Which is kind of a shame, because he is also responsible for some of the great political
10:29reforms in Britain in the 1830s.
10:33He was the Prime Minister.
10:34And he was responsible for the Great Reform Act, which reformed British politics massively
10:39at the time, allowed a lot of kind of common people to vote for the first time.
10:45And he's also responsible for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.
10:50That's it.
10:51I didn't know any of this.
10:52It's staggering really that, as I say, now he's remembered really for tea.
10:56And there's an Irish connection too, isn't there, with him?
10:58There is actually.
10:59So the monument was paid for by public subscription.
11:03So basically people signed up money to actually build this.
11:06It wasn't government money that did it.
11:08And if you look on the list of subscribers, one of the subscribers is Daniel O'Connell,
11:13who was an MP at the same time.
11:15So they were kind of political allies in the 1820s.
11:18They were pushing for things like Catholic emancipation, so to allow Catholics to become MPs
11:25and to vote for the first time.
11:27And then in the 1830s, the reforms, various political reforms, the abolition of slavery,
11:32they were working together on that.
11:34It is a very small city, so there's a lot packed into a small space.
11:38You know, you can walk around the whole city centre in kind of 25 minutes and see all sorts.
11:46We do, do sponsor this show, too.
11:53We do, do sponsor this show, too.
11:59Just round the corner from Grey's Monument is a Newcastle institution, Fenix.
12:03It opened in 1882, where it's all clothes, materials and silk.
12:07It's now an apartment store with an amazing food hall.
12:16This really is an impressive food hall.
12:19A treasure trove of fantastic local and international produce.
12:23It's my kind of shop.
12:25But as Newcastle is so close to the sea, I've decided to focus on the seafood.
12:30The Saltwater Fish Company is a combined seafood bar and fishmonger,
12:34where an innovative new menu is created every day based on the catch.
12:39I'm here to taste today's specials.
12:43There you go.
12:45Richard, this looks amazing.
12:47I have to say, such a beautiful presentation.
12:48And an amazing concept within a food hall.
12:51People can sit here, watch the chefs at work.
12:53Yeah, it's unique.
12:54The menu, I'm sure, can change every day.
12:55Yep, on the daily.
12:56So whatever we can get hold of the day before,
12:59it'll go on the specials board.
13:00And when it's gone, it's gone.
13:02When it's gone, it's gone, yeah.
13:03So what do I start with?
13:04I mean, like, this is like...
13:04So you can go for the crispy sushi,
13:06with tuna tata, and that's finished with nori and sesame.
13:11That's delicious.
13:13Then you've got the curried scallop.
13:15Do you know what I love about the idea of this?
13:17Serving it in the shell.
13:18Yeah.
13:19So you've opened it, you've cooked it,
13:20placed it back on sea salt.
13:22Just baked it, yeah.
13:22Baked in the jospa.
13:23So what's on top again?
13:24So you've got the curried butter.
13:26Yeah.
13:26Then it's a nigella and tomato chutney.
13:28And it's just a couple of bits of air coriander.
13:31That is so tasty.
13:32Yeah, it's good.
13:32That lovely combination.
13:33Is there lime in that too?
13:34Lime, yeah.
13:36That is so elegant.
13:37The red bream.
13:38Red bream.
13:38Okay.
13:39So it's just been lightly cured.
13:41Then it's finished with a yuzu vinaigrette.
13:43Love that.
13:43So nice and fresh.
13:44Yeah, just fresh, punchy.
13:46That's delicious.
13:46Bit of a kick to it.
13:48Then you've got the tuna carpaccio.
13:50And this is pepper on top.
13:51You're weak apres.
13:52Yeah, stracciatella underneath.
13:53Nice and creamy.
13:54Yeah.
13:55And again, it's another light one, quite fresh.
13:57They're all so beautiful,
13:57and they're all so different and unique.
13:59Yeah, yeah.
14:00Now, king crab.
14:00Then at the front, you've got the Norwegian king crab leg.
14:03I know this is expensive.
14:04That just came on today.
14:05Did it?
14:06Just for me.
14:07I mean, yeah.
14:08It's quite hard to get hold of,
14:09but I've been lucky enough to get some.
14:11Wow.
14:11And I'm lucky enough to taste it.
14:12Yeah.
14:12Look at that.
14:13So how have you cooked this?
14:14Has this been on the grill?
14:15Yeah, just lightly under the grill,
14:17served with like a chilli and garlic butter.
14:18Yeah.
14:18Yeah.
14:19Just keep it simple.
14:21Oh my God.
14:22Like it?
14:23Do I like it?
14:23I love it.
14:24It's just amazing.
14:26It's a real fun concept.
14:28Like you're here to shop,
14:29but also it's a food destination.
14:30Richard, it's fantastic.
14:31No, thank you very much for coming.
14:32Thank you for your time,
14:33and I'm honestly blown away.
14:34You're a gentleman.
14:35Thank you very much.
14:54Just across the road from Phoenix
14:55is another Newcastle institution, Greggs.
14:58It was set up in 1939 by John Gregg.
15:00It's such a success.
15:01It has 2,600 stores in the UK.
15:04To put that into context,
15:06McDonald's in the UK and Ireland
15:07have 1,500 stores.
15:09What they're famous and well-known for
15:11is their sausage rolls,
15:12their vegan sausage rolls,
15:14their pies and their bakes.
15:15And I'm about to have
15:16my first ever Gregg sausage roll.
15:19Very tasty.
15:21You know, this is what I love about food tours,
15:22coming from a really expensive oyster,
15:24seafood across the road,
15:25coming to Greggs.
15:26They're both delicious.
15:32I've come to Ouseburn,
15:34an interesting part in Newcastle,
15:36with a vibrant creative community.
15:38The Killin Cafe is a little unusual.
15:40As the name suggests,
15:41it's both a pottery and a restaurant.
15:44Plates and ceramics are a real passion of mine,
15:46and so essential to the planning and presentation of my dishes.
15:51We realized that people wanted to come to a restaurant for an experience,
15:55so we gave away a whole year of free pottery classes.
15:59So if you came here and you ate with us,
16:01you could sign up to a pottery class.
16:03So in the end, we made over 20,000 vases,
16:07little pinch pots with customers that came in.
16:11And I remember I actually went to somebody's house
16:14and I saw one sitting on the mantelpiece,
16:15which was really nice.
16:16Well, you were very proud.
16:17Yeah, yeah.
16:18No, it was really nice because it gave us an opportunity
16:21for killing the work in the way that we imagined it to,
16:25where ceramics and making ceramics and making food
16:28and just simple food came together in the one space.
16:31Class, class.
16:32And you're going to show me how to make now something, aren't you?
16:34I'm going to try my best.
16:35Yeah.
16:35So I saw you shaping the clay.
16:37What was the idea of doing that?
16:38Well,
16:39it's much easier if the clay's in a ball shape.
16:42Okay.
16:43Because then when you throw it onto the wheel,
16:46it's got less of a chance of flying off.
16:49So while the wheel's spinning,
16:50I'm going to throw this as hard as I can into the middle,
16:53like that.
16:53Okay.
16:54And now we're going to center the clay on the wheel.
16:59It's the only restaurant in the world
17:01where the chefs have to make their own plates before surface.
17:04I love it.
17:04Well, it's very unique, isn't it?
17:05Now, friction's the enemy here.
17:07If your hand gets stuck to the clay,
17:09Yeah.
17:10Then you can imagine what happens when it's spinning.
17:12I know.
17:12Okay.
17:13Now, the idea is not to center the outside of the clay,
17:16but to get the bit you can't see on the inside centered.
17:20So, put a little bit more water on there.
17:22And I'm just going to slowly push that shape out.
17:26Oh, that's so cool.
17:28Like that.
17:28And I'm actually just slowing the wheel down as I come up to the top.
17:34And I suppose every piece you make is unique.
17:37The idea of handmade ceramics is they're friendly.
17:40They're not supposed to be perfect.
17:41At least mine aren't.
17:42Yeah.
17:43You know, you want them to be different from ones that you can buy off the shelf that are all
17:47the same.
17:47Yeah.
17:47It's hypnotic.
17:48It is, yeah.
17:49Just the spinning and the way when you're doing your fingers.
17:52And then with the cheese wire, confidently going to push that down on the wheel and pull it through the
17:57base.
17:57That's it.
17:58And then you leave your fingerprints on the bottom, but it's okay.
18:01You lift it off and then put it down.
18:04God.
18:04So then when we take the whole object and dip it in a bucket of liquid glaze,
18:09and then we fire it in the kiln to 1265 degrees Celsius, which is our namesake of the pottery company.
18:16That's it.
18:17And then when we bring it back out, there should be a bowl.
18:19That's incredible.
18:20Do you know what I'm really looking forward to?
18:22Is having some of your delicious food in one of your lovely bowls.
18:25The food is much better than the bowl.
18:27I'm looking forward to it.
18:29The Kilin Cafe is open from 10 in the morning to 11 at night, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
18:36And if that wasn't enough, you can come here for a great cup of coffee too.
18:40Breads such as focaccia, sourdough and pittas are made in-house, along with pastries.
18:46And Richard's mum, Susan, bakes the cafes in amazing cakes.
18:50Richard's brother Johnny invited me into the kitchen to see how he makes shakshuka.
18:55This looks like a generous portion with two eggs on top.
18:59I haven't seen this done before, placing another serving dish on top upside down to act as a lid.
19:08Oh my God, that looks fantastic. Shashuka, one of my favourite brunch dishes.
19:12Absolutely, mine as well.
19:13Is it? Is it?
19:14And is it very popular here now?
19:16Very popular indeed.
19:17So how do you finish it off now?
19:18We'll go straight in with a seasoned yoghurt.
19:22Mm-hmm.
19:22So this is Greek yoghurt.
19:24Yeah.
19:24And this is also turmeric, sumac, more spices, absolutely.
19:30It's also a bit of lemon juice for some acidity.
19:33Mm-hmm.
19:33Of course.
19:33And it's also to bring the heat down from the Middle Eastern hot sauce.
19:38So next we'll finish with some sata, sumac.
19:43Sumac.
19:44Yes.
19:44That gives it a lovely floral, is it? Is it kind of like...
19:46Yes.
19:46Yes.
19:47Lovely.
19:48And then we'll just go on a little bit of salt for the egg.
19:51Sounds beautiful.
19:52And looks beautiful.
19:53And what else in there?
19:54So here we just finish off very basically with some dill here.
19:58That's interesting, the dill.
20:00Johnny, this looks so colourful and delicious.
20:02I'm really looking forward to tasting it.
20:03Thank you so much.
20:04Very welcome.
20:14You know, I'm so looking forward to tasting this.
20:16Eggs are one of my favourite ingredients.
20:18Really interesting addition.
20:19It's something I love.
20:20And I suppose the whole thing is getting the eggs really lovely and soft.
20:25Isn't that beautiful?
20:26Wow.
20:27There's a lovely kick to it.
20:29I can see why the yoghurt's important.
20:30That is delicious.
20:32And you might think, oh, it's going to be very spicy, but it's so beautiful.
20:37So these are some of the messe dishes that they do at night time.
20:40First of all, they bake all their own pita bread, their own focaccia.
20:43Like the amount of detail.
20:44Like you can see the oven there.
20:45Look at this beautiful, beautiful, lovely crust on it.
20:47Lovely and kind of spongy.
20:49So first of all, we have the hummus there.
20:50And the hummus is done with some olive oil.
20:53And again, we have a little bit of sumac.
20:54Lovely and smooth.
20:59That's beautiful.
21:00So the next one we have is a sweet potato birani.
21:03And this is done with some sweet potato, walnuts and then feta cheese.
21:08So he was saying the walnuts are right down at the bottom.
21:10So you have to go right down.
21:12I love feta cheese.
21:14The way it's crumbled.
21:15Like it's so beautifully done.
21:22It's sweet, obviously.
21:24Lovely balance from the cheese.
21:26And then the seeds there.
21:28And again, dill.
21:29Dill is very interesting.
21:30That's delicious.
21:31The next one is the labnia.
21:33And this is a strained yogurt.
21:35So it is with extra virgin olive oil.
21:36And olive oil is one of my favourite oils.
21:40That's probably the freshers of them all.
21:42And they're also different.
21:43And see with the bread.
21:44This is so delicious.
21:48That was a great experience for me.
21:50To meet Richard.
21:51To see him making the pottery.
21:52And just hearing the story how it all started for him.
21:54It was absolutely fantastic.
21:55And he's a real craftsman.
21:57And then going into the kitchen to meet his brother Johnny.
21:59Who created the beautiful food.
22:01Gorgeous balance of flavours and textures and spices.
22:04And then I got to meet their mother Susan.
22:06Who does all the home baking.
22:08You know, coming from a family business.
22:10I can really connect with that.
22:11They work together.
22:12And they look out for one another.
22:13But they've achieved something absolutely brilliant.
22:15And I would so recommend.
22:16And hope to come back here.
22:23I've come to the end of my two week food tour.
22:25Of the north east of England.
22:26And I have to say I loved every minute of it.
22:29The people were so warm, friendly, kind.
22:31And great fun.
22:33Of course, the main reason for being here is the food.
22:36And I've been spoilt for choice.
22:38Lobster in Banborough.
22:40Kippers in Craster.
22:41And seafood in Phoenix earlier today.
22:45And then there was venison at Reby Castle.
22:48A really tasty pork pie in an inspiring farm shop.
22:52Some amazing starters at the sixth restaurant in the famous Baltic building.
22:57Crispy pig's ears in the broad chair pub.
23:00Whiskey flavoured creme brulee at Ad Geffrin.
23:03And melt in the mouth braised beef and oyster pie at the small canteen.
23:11But as well as all the good food, there's so much to do here in the north east.
23:15Exploring castles by the sea.
23:17Visiting Holy Island cut off by the tide twice a day.
23:21And a trip in a motorcycle sidecar.
23:26I learned how whiskey was made.
23:28Walked through some beautiful scenery.
23:31Visited the city of Durham and its remarkable cathedral.
23:35And I drove a locomotive.
23:36Something I've always wanted to do.
23:38I swapped stories about Jack Charlton.
23:41Had great coffee.
23:42And met some wonderful people.
23:48At the end of my food tours, I always ask myself the same question.
23:51Would I come back?
23:52And I certainly will.
23:53I had so much fun here in the north east of England.
24:25We do do sponsor Neven's English food tour too.
24:29The gas part is only part of it.
24:32The two parts.
Comments