In this first episode of the series, two-star Michelin chef and co-host of Masterchef - The Professionals, Michel Roux Jr. campaigns for the return of the artisan baker to the UK high street and shares his own unique recipes to show how easy and rewarding home baking can be. Hot on his heels, the Hairy Bikers get revved up and join the Great British Food Revival campaign to highlight the plight of the British cauliflower. They are determined to show that not only is it nutritious, but it can also be versatile and tasty. They rustle up three mouthwatering recipes where the overlooked cauli becomes the star ingredient. (Editor's Choice, New, Stereo, Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 4 Star)
Gregg Wallace and Clarissa Dickson Wright with potato and pork recipes
James Martin takes on the challenge of reviving the British apple
Ainsley Harriott campaigns for British honey and Glynn Purnell rides to the rescue of British cheese.
Gary Rhodes wants us to appreciate the British tomato and Angela Hartnett campaigns for crab.
Michel Roux Jr gets passionate about our heritage pears. Concerned that eighty per cent of the pears we eat are imported, Michel wants to find out what can be done to persuade people to buy British. He also prepares a delicious selection of dishes including a fabulous pear souffle. Veteran food campaigner Clarissa Dickson Wright takes up the plight of British garlic, often not even recognised as a British-grown ingredient. Clarissa takes us to a garlic farm to discover the amazing taste and range of garlic that is grown in the UK, then digs back through her history books to prove that garlic has a long heritage in Britain. To prove her point, she cooks a recipe straight from the medieval court of Richard II.
Gregg Wallace reminisces about rhubarb and heads to Yorkshire to meet the plucky growers who have triumphed in the face of adversity. In the kitchen, he demonstrates that rhubarb has more to offer than a filling for crumble. Meanwhile, Ainsley Harriot reminds us of the taste of a fresh pea straight from the pod. Over ninety percent of the peas grown in Britain are frozen and he argues that we're missing out on one of our best homegrown treats by not eating them fresh.
John Torode champions British beef, heading to Scotland to meet a farmer hoping to revive the fortunes of the Aberdeen Angus breed of cattle, before cooking a four-bone rib roast with Yorkshire puddings. Valentine Warner explores domestic seafood, discovering most of the UK's mussels are exported and the cockle industry has shrunk to almost nothing. He prepares several shellfish dishes in a bid to persuade people they are easy to cook.
Saturday Kitchen Live presenter James Martin meets duck and quail egg producers and prepares a sponge cake, while chef Richard Corrigan champions the taste and health benefits of locally caught mackerel and cooks a range of dishes with it.
Angela Hartnett encourages cooking turkey outside the festive season, suggesting the slower-reared heritage varieties of the bird might help to combat the meat's reputation for dryness. Raymond Blanc explores the plight of plum orchards suffering due to public indifference to their produce, and prepares dishes with the fruit in a bid to get more people using it in their cooking.
Following her Great British Bake-Off triumph, Mary Berry demonstrates a genuine passion for fresh herbs and wants the world to know how easy they are to grow, use and store. She questions a commercial herb grower about why more herbs are not available fresh in our supermarkets and she visits the largest collection of organic herbs in the UK. Mary introduces us to three of her favourite herbs and cooks three delicious meals to showcase them including a superb lemon balm ice cream. Award-winning chef Jason Atherton is passionate about only using fresh, seasonal fruit and vegetables in his restaurant kitchen. Cabbage has always been a staple on his menu but it has an image problem and is shunned by the younger generation. On Jason's revival campaign, he seeks the advice of a young cook and food blogger to find out how to get more young people eating cabbage and he leads by example, using the various cabbage varieties we produce in Britain in truly inspirational ways in the Revival kitchen.
Greedy Italian Antonio Carluccio discovers the shocking truth that we've lost half our beetroot fields in the last 30 years. He doesn't share the memories of over-cooked, vinegary, pickled beetroot we detested in our school dinners, and can't understand why we don't make more of this wonderful veg in our cooking. He opens our eyes to some fascinating varieties, and finds ways to cook beetroot we may never have thought of to inspire us to rediscover a love of beetroot. Matt Tebbutt takes time out from his busy restaurant to champion the cause of British currants in all their magnificent colours. Although we grow plenty of blackcurrants, most are turned into cordial - growers would like to see this super-fruit soon rival the blueberry. Meanwhile, our other currants are no longer easy to get hold of. Redcurrants mainly go into making jelly and the production of white currants has almost ceased. So it's going to be a huge challenge for Matt to make people rethink their attitudes to this native fruity little gem and demand them once again.
Gary Rhodes is fanatical about the quality of the produce he uses, in his relentless pursuit of perfection in the kitchen. He's horrified to discover that, not only have we lost the vast majority of our cherry orchards, but hardly any of the cherries we eat in the UK were grown here. His campaign takes him to meet growers who are trying to buck the trend and fight back, not only with new strains of sweeter, larger cherries, but with old-fashioned heritage varieties. Gary's powers of persuasion to make us fall back in love with the British cherry come to the fore in the 'Revival' kitchen, where he prepares some exceptional dishes, including his signature dessert - a delectable cherry clafoutis. Award-winnnng food writer and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi is passionate about nuts. He uses them in many of his recipes as they are an integral ingredient in Middle Eastern cookery. He discovers that although Britain has a rich history of growing nuts, most of us are completely unaware of this tradition. We can grow fantastic walnuts in the UK but not enough for them to be commercially viable, so most walnuts we eat are imported. Yotam wants this to change and for us to get behind our native nuts like the British cobnut - a nut that most people have never heard of unless they live in Kent, where it is grown. To get us to appreciate these homegrown delicacies, he creates some fantastic sweet and savoury dishes including a magnificent cobnut crumble cream and roasted aubergines with an amazing walnut salsa.
Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr wants the public to revive its tastebuds and be more discerning when it comes to the British strawberry. He serves up a blind taste test with Wimbledon strawberry aficionados Sue Barker, Andrew Castle and Tim Henman, and makes history with a charity that's reviving the age-old practice of gleaning. He also visits East Malling Research Centre, where he uncovers EM 1764, the British strawberry of the future. Saturday Kitchen's James Martin discovers that sales have halved for watercress over recent years. He takes a ride on the Mid-Hants Railway Watercress Line as he pleads the case for this once-loved British product, following its historical trail to Covent Garden where he tries his hand as a watercress street seller, and finds out why this leafy salad is so good for us - from the only man in the country with a PhD in watercress.
Our rabbit population is at its highest since 1950 and Clarissa Dickson Wright wants to revive our culinary heritage and get them back in our cooking pots. Gregg Wallace champions British raspberries as he discovers there is a deadly enemy threatening their survival. Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace heads to Perthshire, where he comes face-to-face with an enemy that threatens the future of the British raspberry - root rot. He visits the remains of Tin City, an entire makeshift community where many Glaswegians enjoyed a holiday while they picked this valuable fruit. In the revival kitchen, he cooks three delicious dishes including his amazing raspberry pavlova. Food writer and cook Clarissa Dickson Wright is as irrepressible as ever as she campaigns for the revival of wild rabbit. She investigates the history of this once highly valued animal, whose delicious meat would grace the tables of kings. She tries to get to the bottom of our prejudices to find out why we aren't eating rabbit anymore. At Anglia Ruskin University canteen, she persuades students to ditch their burgers for rabbit rolls but it is a challenge that even Clarissa finds tough.
Raymond Blanc can not understand why we are not eating more trout as it's both sustainable and delicious. He casts his rod in the river Wye after being given permission by the landowner to fish for Wild Rainbow Trout. Then in Camarthen, Wales, he takes trout to the people to see how well they know their fish and in the revival kitchen he cooks three tasty trout dishes to encourage us all to seek out this fabulous fish. Mary Berry is on a mission to revive one of her most favourite foods, ice cream, after discovering that just two and half per cent milk protein is required to name a product 'ice cream'. She wants us all to go back to basics and learn how to make real dairy ice cream. She uncovers some of the earliest ice cream secrets by exploring a 19th century ice house and confectioner's kitchen at Syon House and then goes to University College London to brush up on her ice cream chemistry. Equipped with an old fashioned street seller's bike and her home-made dairy ice cream, she tackles holiday makers on Eastbourne's seafront to convert them to her cause.
TV chef Ainsley Harriott comes over all hot and fiery as he leads the charge for long forgotten British mustards. He discovers why every kitchen should have its own cannonball as he makes up some Elizabethan Tewkesbury mustard. No one is safe as he descends on the Cotswolds, armed with his very own mustard, to persuade people to keep the tradition of British mustard alive. Passionate cook Valentine Warner has been deer stalking since he was twenty years old and he cannot understand why we don't eat more of this plentiful, sustainable, free range meat. He goes stalking with a countryside ranger as well as finding out how a Lincolnshire culling initiative gets all its meat back into the food chain. He's delighted to track down a like-minded educational project which wants to democratise venison and make people realise it is not a food just for the elite. Finally, Valentine goes back to the classroom as a whole deer is taken into a Nottingham school for the children to skin, butcher,cook and eat.
Matt Tebbutt tries out lambs testicles and lymph nodes as he campaigns for less waste and more offal and Antonio Carluccio goes foraging to revive the fortunes of his favourite ingredient, the British mushroom. It's a match made in heaven, as Antonio Carluccio takes us on a magical journey in search of the hidden world of British mushrooms. After a secret tip off, he takes us foraging for the elusive St George's mushroom, and opens our eyes to cultivated British speciality mushrooms. He meets a young enthusiast who has found a way for us all to grow mushrooms at home - in used coffee grounds. Matt Tebbutt takes on the culinary equivalent of climbing Everest by championing offal. It is cheap, nutritious - and to avoid waste, we should all be eating it. He finds out about one supermarket who is leading the way by selling all the offal from their slaughtered animals. In Barnsley, one of the bastions of offal eating, even Matt's stomach begins to churn as he samples cuts like wesson and reed. But he is then reconverted to the offal cause when he visits a group of lads in Manchester who indulge in some extreme offal eating - but this is fine dining standard.
Michelin starred chef Giorgio Locatelli makes his first appearance on the series and heads to Cornwall. He discovers how the Cornish fishermen used some clever spin to turn the old fashioned and failing pilchard into the trendy sardine that everyone puts on their barbeque. He also tracks down the historical Stargazy pie, a dish which celebrates a heroic fisherman's sardine catch during one particularly bad winter. Another Michelin starred chef Jason Atherton discovers that the gooseberry is no longer a summer fruit of choice in the UK as sales of this berry have fallen dramatically. He is determined to change our perception of it and cooks three mouth watering dishes to prove just how versatile and tasty it can be. He investigates the world of the competitive gooseberry growing and is given access to a contestant's top secret garden.
Award winning chef Glynn Purnell delves into the history of King's Lynn's old fishing yards, before challenging the fastest shrimp peeler in town. He also goes out with the tide in Morecambe Bay to fish for brown shrimp the old fashioned way on a rusty old tractor. The Aylesbury duck is one of our oldest breeds but Masterchef presenter John Torode discovers just how close this ancient bird is to disappearing for good. At a south London school, he shows some budding young chefs the delights of cooking with duck and in the revival kitchen sets out to prove there's more to this tasty bird than a Chinese takeaway.
Some of the best Great British produce is under threat and this exciting series is a call to action as ten of the BBC's best-loved chefs and cooks help to bring our traditional produce back from the brink. We've got the rarest, tastiest and most culturally important ingredients right here under our noses, but they are in danger of being lost forever if we don't rally behind them. In this episode, Michelin starred chef and Great British Menu favourite Glynn Purnell rides to the rescue of British cheese. Cheap foreign imports, misleading labelling and a lack of public knowledge of the sheer variety of British cheeses available mean Glynn has his work cut out for him. But on his journey of discovery he meets some truly passionate cheese makers, samples some great tasting cheeses and shows off his own restaurant-quality dishes that let British cheeses shine.
Monica Galetti flies the flag for British asparagus and is delighted to discover that the season has been extended from eight weeks to six months. Tom Kerridge champions the UK's remaining artisan producers of traditional cured ham and encourages viewers to seek out this delicious meat.
Angela Hartnett champions the revival of real ale as she challenges a group women to overcome natural prejudices and swap wine for beer. Michael Caines celebrates the charms of the hard-working British carrot and proves it can be much more than just a side dish.
Allegra McEvedy champions the humble little oat and discovers that there is much more to it than just porridge. She travels to Scotland to uncover the history of the oat and discovers just how important it was to the sustenance of the nation. She examines its credentials as a superfood, and in the revival kitchen creates three delicious dishes featuring oats - and there is not a bowl of porridge in sight. Over recent years, the UK has lost three quarters of its runner bean fields. Gary Rhodes is backing the British runner bean and broad bean. Both have fallen out of favour with the British public and Gary is determined to remind people of their unique qualities. In Somerset, he finds the martock bean which dates back to the 12th century, and makes up a delicious medieval pottage which was once the working man's staple diet.
Some of the best Great British produce is under threat and this exciting series is a call to action as ten of the BBC's best-loved chefs and cooks help to bring our traditional produce back from the brink. We have got the rarest, tastiest and most culturally important ingredients right here under our noses, but they are in danger of being lost forever if we do not rally behind them. In this episode, chef and proud Yorkshireman James Martin takes on the challenge of reviving the British apple. Forced off the supermarket shelves by identikit fruit that have been shipped in from as far away as New Zealand and Chile, James is determined to show off the qualities of our native varieties. He discovers that we can all play our part in the revival by checking if that tree at the bottom of the garden is one of several hundred varieties thought to be extinct. And he shows three delicious recipes that highlight the variation in flavour of this under-appreciated fruit.
Gary Rhodes wants us all to appreciate the virtues of the British tomato. Unlike our Italian or Spanish cousins we view the tomato as a year round product so ignore the British growing season when our own fruit is at its best. To show us why we should change our ways Gary discovers the wealth of varieties out there, learns how easy it is for us to grow our own and demonstrates a three course menu that has great tasting British tomatoes at its core, including an innovative white tomato sorbet.
Ainsley Harriott shows off his sweet side as he starts a campaign for the revival of British honey. With bees under threat from disease and a lack of awareness of our native honey production, Ainsley has to criss cross the country to find out how we can all play our part in its revival. He also takes to the kitchen to show how honey can add its signature flavour to glazed duck breasts, a warm goats' cheese salad and a fabulous fig dessert.
Clarissa Dickson Wright pins her flag to the mast of rare breed pork. Never one to mince her words, Clarissa believes that government meddling in the 1950s has left us with flavourless commercial pigs, with none of the character of our native breeds. She meets some of the hardworking farmers battling to preserve our rare breed porkers and lets us in on some of her cooking secrets, including how to get perfect crackling on your Sunday roast.
Matt Tebutt leads the charge on behalf of mutton. Knocked for six by cheap imports of lamb, mutton has lost its place as a family staple. Matt is determined to win back its reputation and discovers that the cause is being taken up from the mountains of Wales to the markets of London. He also demonstrates how tasty and versatile this meat can be by cooking stuffed shoulder and a spicy tagine inspired by North African cuisine.
Michel Roux Jr gets passionate about the lost art of baking bread. He sets out to discover the secrets behind artisan bread and shares his own recipes.
Some of the best Great British produce is under threat and this exciting series is a call to action as ten of the BBC's best-loved chefs and cooks help to bring our traditional produce back from the brink. We've got the rarest, tastiest and most culturally important ingredients right here under our noses, but they are in danger of being lost forever if we don't rally behind them. Each episode of The Great British Food Revival takes two passionate presenters on a gastronomic journey to discover, cook with and reinvigorate our great heritage foods. Each show is a campaign by the hosts to raise awareness, get people cooking with, talking about and enjoying these great British ingredients. In this episode, greengrocer cum MasterChef host Gregg Wallace makes a case for the revival of the humble spud. All too often replaced by rice or pasta on our plates, tasty tatties need more respect in Gregg's opinion. He tracks down some heritage varieties that are full of flavour, and whistles up three fabulous dishes including a definitive shepherd's pie and his own favourite, dauphinoise potatoes.
Some of our best Great British produce is under threat and this exciting series is a call to action as ten of the BBC's best-loved chefs and cooks help to bring our traditional produce back from the brink. We've got the rarest, tastiest and most culturally important ingredients right here under our noses, but they are in danger of being lost forever if we don't rally behind them. Each episode of The Great British Food Revival takes a passionate presenter on a gastronomic journey to discover, cook with and reinvigorate our great heritage foods. Each show is a campaign by the host to raise awareness, get people cooking with, talking about and enjoying these great British ingredients. In this episode, Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett attempts to find her sea legs when she delves into why crab is so unloved in Britain. Although our coastal waters are teeming with sweet tasting brown and spider crab, the majority of those caught by our fishermen are destined to be shipped abroad where they are highly prized. Desperate to turn our attitude around Angela, will go to any lengths, including a bout of sea sickness, to make a case for crab. Angela cooks three fabulous recipes that show why this crustacean deserves its place on British plates.
Some of our best Great British produce is under threat and this exciting series is a call to action as ten of the BBC's best-loved chefs and cooks help to bring our traditional produce back from the brink. We've got the rarest, tastiest and most culturally important ingredients right here under our noses, but they are in danger of being lost forever if we don't rally behind them. Each episode of The Great British Food Revival takes one passionate presenter on a gastronomic journey to discover, cook with and reinvigorate our great heritage foods. Each show is a campaign by the host to raise awareness, get people cooking with, talking about and enjoying these great British ingredients. James Martin shows his support for heritage apples, while Michel Roux Jr makes a case for the revival of real bread. The Hairy Bikers get behind the revival of the cauliflower, while Clarissa Dickson Wright puts forward her argument for rare breed pork. Others involved in the campaign include Gregg Wallace, Angela Hartnett, Ainsley Harriott, Matt Tebbutt, Glynn Purnell and Gary Rhodes. In the final episode of the series, taking up the baton, popular cooks The Hairy Bikers bang the drum for the revival of the British cauliflower. It's fallen out of fashion as broccoli is viewed as a greener, healthier option, but the Bikers mean to show that not only is it nutritious but cauliflower can also be delicious when they share three mouthwatering recipes using the humble cauli as the star ingredient.
