Original subtitles

I was 19 years old when I first saw Australia.

My dad had just died...

..and I was running away from my old life.

What I found in Australia changed me...

..and I can remember saying, "This is me. I've escaped.

"This is my life."

Today, Australia is so much more

than just another travel destination to me.

My wife is Australian.

- Thank you, Ricky. Scrumptious. - Scrumptious, eh?

And this country has become my second home.

- Love them to bits. - Cheers.

So, after a lifetime of food journeys,

I'm finally retracing some of that first trip.

Now I'm ready to go.

I want to discover how Australia and its food is changing.

I mean, I remember coming up this coast -

it was so remote. You come back now, and it's like this.

Takes me right back.

After travelling the outback...

Ow!

..I'm exploring the New South Wales south coast...

You know, some people think you should swallow an oyster.

Oh, no!

..before making my way back to Sydney...

You know, this is sort of overwhelming to me.

..and I'm bringing my inspiration home to create new recipes.

Oh, that is delicious.

It's going to be another journey of a lifetime.

After heading out from Sydney, up the coast,

around the outback and down through the inland plains,

I'm winding my way south-east,

over the mountains of the Great Dividing Range,

about 400 kilometres from Sydney.

This ancient mountain range runs 3,500 kilometres

down the length of Australia's east coast

and, as the name suggests,

it divides the interior of the country from the coast.

This is a great drive.

I've never done it before, and it's spectacular.

I'm over 1,000 metres above sea level

and, even on this sunny day, you can feel the chill in the air.

These plains were once prized

as some of the best grazing country in Australia

but, after decades of overgrazing and land clearing,

the countryside is rather more bare than it once was.

Still, I find it eerily beautiful, in its own way.

I'm stopping for lunch at Nimmitabel,

one of the oldest towns here in the high country.

It's as good a place as any

to find out what's keeping these historic communities going.

Well, I'm just driving to the coast, but it's a long old drive,

and I've just seen this pub.

It just looks like it might be a bit different.

Let us see.

The Federal Hotel was opened in 1890.

It has a handful of guest rooms, but its mainstay

is this cosy public bar, serving food and drink.

I love finding places like this that have a lot of history.

Is there anything I can get you?

Yeah, I'd like a non-alcoholic beer, actually,

- cos I'm driving. - Why not?

I'm a big fan of Aussie pubs,

and they often serve up a decent steak.

Thank you very much.

- You wouldn't have a steak, would you? - I do, nice thick rump.

- Yeah, that'd be great, yeah. Medium rare would be good. - Perfect.

I can see plenty of events coming up,

mixed with traces of the building's colourful past...

..and I wonder how the town's been faring over the years.

If we go back about a hundred years ago,

it's about a thousand people here.

- Right. - There were six timber mills, six hotels.

It was thriving. If you go back about 50 years ago,

population was about 500,

because the timber mills were starting to close.

The young people were seeing, well, where's their future?

They were moving somewhere else.

And, in the last 10 to 20 years, it got down to about 240.

And this hotel actually was closed, and I bought it,

and basically we tried to resurrect it a bit.

So we try to have festivals and things like that,

and we've pushed that in the last ten years and it's starting to work.

- It's bringing people into town. - It is, is it?

It's now about 360 people in town and they've got new cafes opening.

We've got a petrol station that's reopened.

Things are starting to come back again.

You might have been partly responsible

for the resurgence of the town then, really.

That's what the community tells me, which is a great thing -

but the hotel's not just a drinking hole.

It's a community meeting place.

- Here's your steak, Rick. - Thank you very much.

Very nice.

I must say...

..in line with its, um...

..the old-fashioned nature of this pub,

it's very nice to have some mashed potato rather than chips.

Actually, it's a perfect portion size for lunch.

That was just what I needed to get me to the coast.

I'm heading another two hours down the mountains

to the southernmost stretch of beaches in New South Wales.

It's known as the Sapphire Coast.

Named after its deep blue, sparkly waters,

It's a region I've been coming to for more than 20 years.

It's actually my favourite part of Australia,

not least because it produces some of the country's best seafood.

I love this area. I mean, it's just fabulous scenery, great seafood.

You know, every now and then you have to open a gate or two.

The population here has nearly doubled since I first visited...

..but there's plenty of spaces where nature still holds sway...

..like where I'm going now,

a pristine coastal estuary...

..on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

I love secret places like this.

I've been invited to visit the family beach retreat

of one of Australia's most famous historians,

the late Professor Manning Clark.

Clark spent time here with his wife, Dymphna,

while he wrote A History Of Australia,

his famous, if controversial,

six-volume epic about the building of a nation.

Manning died in 1991,

and today I'm meeting his granddaughter,

who's also a professor of history

and an award-winning author.

Like her grandfather,

Anna Clark has a deep connection to this place and its future.

Hi, Anna. Very nice to meet you.

I can't believe how spectacular this is.

- It's pretty remarkable, isn't it? - My gosh!

- Full of wonder, to be honest. - Yeah.

Well, I've been coming here since I was a baby,

and I'm filled with the same wonder every time I'm here.

My grandparents bought this property about 60 years ago,

wanting to have a kind of getaway, I suppose.

So, what was Manning Clark like, your grandfather?

I really knew him only as a little kid.

He died when I was 12,

and my main memory of him is as someone who took me fishing,

- actually, if I'm honest. - Great. I love that. - Yeah.

It was here. Like, this is where we went.

Anna has offered to show me one of her favourite fishing spots -

and even though I'm not the best at fishing, I can't resist.

- I mean, look at that. - I know, right? Magnificent.

This lake is around four kilometres long,

and shallow, with depths of just a metre or so.

It has some of the cleanest and clearest waters in the country.

Do you Australians all realise

just how wonderful a country you live in?

- I think so. - So do I. Stupid question, really.

- It's very... Yeah. - Honestly, I can't believe it.

It's very beautiful, isn't it?

Can't be many places more peaceful on Earth,

just looking around.

That's it. Perfect.

So, do you think you're good at fishing?

You've put the mozzer on me now, cos I won't catch anything.

- Sorry. - I like fishing, put it that way.

It's one of my favourite things to do ever.

Obviously, I love the thrill of catching fish. There's nothing...

There's nothing better. It's so exciting.

But when you're in a place...

..and, you know, you're in a place

and still enough to watch the tide turn or the sun set,

there's something very beautiful about being in that space

and that time where the fish are a bonus rather than the main game.

- That's how I see it. - Well, I mean, you must be incredibly enthusiastic

- because, of course, you've written Catch... - Yes.

..a book about the history of fishing

and also some thoughts about the future of fishing.

Yeah. I, um... It was a combination of my two great passions, that book.

I was lucky to be able to do that.

In your book, historically,

Australia has been no more sustainable

in terms of fishing than anywhere else, really.

There's a long time where fishing in Australia

was seen to be a sort of limitless resource,

and obviously it's not.

I mean, you must have seen that in your work

with the industry and so on.

- Yeah. - It's not a limitless resource.

In fact, some of it is really precarious,

and if you take too much out, it really stuffs things around.

But, as science has kind of caught up with understanding breeding

and populations and how to measure populations,

we're getting better at understanding

what's sustainable or not.

And increasingly there are places, you know,

that are being managed really carefully,

and people are encouraged to sort of help look after them,

and that emphasis on sustainability,

I think, is making a big difference.

I mean, I think there's some really good news stories

in Australia about sort of limiting the catches...

Yes, people are releasing, or only catching what they need.

Just take enough for tea. You don't need 50.

- Yeah. - You might just need dinner. - Yeah.

I think that - I think that's right.

It's in fishers' interest, isn't it, to be sustainable,

- because otherwise you can't keep doing it. - Exactly.

These sheltered shallows

provide the perfect feeding grounds for schools of fish.

Perhaps that's why they're not taking our bait today...

..because, after two hours, we still haven't caught our dinner.

I'm not sure that luck is on my side, our side today, Rick,

after I've talked myself up and said I'm handy on the fishing rod,

- so we might pack up and keep moving. - OK.

Anna is taking me to her beach shack kitchen...

..where I can start barbecuing.

Early this morning, before you came, I caught this beautiful tailor.

It looks absolutely lovely.

I think tailor's called bluefish in the rest of the world, isn't it?

Certainly in the States and in Europe, I think,

or in Turkey particularly.

It's a lovely fish,

- oily, perfect when it's fresh like this. - Mm.

So, I've just dried it really well.

The drier the fish before you put it on a barbecue,

the less likely it is to stick.

Is that what you're going to do with it today?

Yes, I'm just cooking it over some nice Australian hardwood.

If you can't find tailor,

then mackerel is a great alternative for barbecuing like this.

And, actually, I think I'm just going to put a bit of rosemary

from your herb garden on the top.

The bane of everybody that cooks fish on a barbecue

is it sticks to the grill bars.

Over the years, I've learnt, A, don't have too brisk a fire

and, B, if you can put something on there

just to keep it off the bars, it won't stick.

And the great thing about putting a bit of rosemary like that

is it just gives it a slightly smoky flavour.

So, there we go. We can leave that.

Now, I'm just going to make a little salsa

- to go with it. - Fabulous.

In go some chopped cherry tomatoes and some onion.

A bit of colour. These look really nice, these chives.

- Did you grow them? - Yeah, they're from our garden.

Chives and olive oil are next.

- Just on top? - Yeah, you can pour a bit on top.

Just add some parsley and coriander,

the simpler the better, really.

When you've got fish as fresh as that,

if you start complicating things, you just lose the point, you know?

And I'm finishing it off with some finger lime.

- Native citrus. - Yes, a bit of that for a... - Yum! - ..sort of hint.

I think that'll do.

One of the things I learnt in Greece, actually, and in Turkey,

is you don't need a lot of heat to cook a fish,

and it doesn't have to be sort of bar-marked,

because what you're looking for is the subtlety of the wood

or the charcoal.

- Ooh, yum! - Fantastic.

- Thank you, Anna. - Pleasure.

- That looks very nice. - Look at that.

- Shall we eat? - Yes, let's do that.

I mean, I couldn't think of a better place to have a tailor.

I must say, that does look nice, don't you think?

- It looks beautiful. - So nice to have... I like these tin plates.

They don't break, which you need around here.

- Such a good fish. - Oh, good.

Oh, yum! The rosemary is actually great.

- Isn't it? You can taste it. - Yeah.

That is just so fresh. Nice little salad too. Thank you.

Do people eat a lot of tailor here, then?

They're not a big industry fish because they don't keep.

- You can't freeze them. - It's very soft.

Which is good for you and me,

because it means there's heaps out there,

if you just want to catch it for a meal.

But, I mean, they've got a lot of flavour because they're very oily,

aren't they? But I always think, if you cook fish like this,

that's just straight out of the sea,

- nobody could fail to love fish. - Absolutely. Freshness is the key.

It does spoil you, if you like fishing.

SHE SHRIEKS

There's a whale, just jumping!

That was massive.

Gosh, this is so special.

I can't imagine a better way to return

to my beloved coastline than cooking and fishing with Anna,

because we both think there is a future for fishing

as long as we care for our fish.

I'm journeying south.

I'm on my way to another of

the region's great estuaries, Pambula Lake.

I love driving through these gum-tree forests.

It's really what attracted me to this part of New South Wales,

the south coast, originally.

It's just this sort of green all the way

and then occasional glimpses of the blue sea.

It's fabulous.

This part of Australia

is traditionally home to the Yuin people.

One of the things that's really meant a lot to me on this trip

is the indigenous people's concept of country.

I want to learn more about the Yuin connection to the land

and how they care for it.

So, I'm going to meet Nathan, a Yuin custodian of this country.

Like his ancestors before him,

Nathan Lygon was born and raised here on Pambula Lake.

- Hello. - G'day, Rick. - Nathan, nice to meet you.

Pleasure to meet you too, mate.

Such a lovely day and such a beautiful place,

and I'm loving the bellbirds.

The bellbirds are always a treat here in the morning.

- Aren't they? - Oh, yeah, absolutely. - It's just heaven, here. - It is.

Fortunately, I am very lucky to have connection with this place.

Family's been living here for quite a while.

It's those old people and ancestors that, for thousands of years,

have been caretakers for these lands and waters,

living here in the forests along the river.

Incredibly rich history here,

and I'm so fortunate to be able to share with people here.

"Pambula" means "two waters" in the local indigenous language -

a reference to the two rivers that flow into this lake...

..and Nathan's taking me to a place

where his ancestors enjoyed the bounty these waters had to offer -

an ancient midden.

The white shells we can see on the river bank,

and it's a place where, for thousands of years

of people harvesting the abundance of food,

coming back to camp and sharing that food,

eating shellfish, among many other things,

and depositing the remains of those meals there.

If you were to go back and look back on this place,

you would see some 20 metres of continuous shell

going back up the hill in some areas, probably up to three metres,

maybe four metres deep.

- Amazing, amazing! - Yeah.

One of the sites here on the river

- had dated it to over 3,000 years old. - Thousands of years there.

Thousands of years.

And it's a place where, for thousands of years,

people have been sharing stories,

laughing, crying, watching children swim.

You can imagine just how pleasant it would be to come down here

and gather shellfish on the side of the river like that.

- Yeah, it's not hard to imagine at all, and... - No.

..you know, the old people were clever, and they understood country,

and, you know, I don't think it's any mistake

- that there's quite a large site here. - Yeah.

There's obviously plenty of food in the water and around the rocks.

- Yeah. - But also, this little hill here,

particularly in this cooler period,

is one of the first to get that really nice sun in the morning.

So, there we go.

- Early breakfast. - Early breakfast.

Is the river as abundant now as it used to be?

Unfortunately, Rick, I would say not as what it used to be.

Some of the sites here have actually been excavated and documented,

and I think they found 30 different species.

I would say we have lost a great portion of what was.

Now, when we look at the density of the shells

- and think about the timescale and the timeframe... - Yeah.

..that people were living here and eating those foods,

it requires a certain mind and understanding around sustainability.

- Yeah. - As a modern society,

we've stepped away from that, and it has affected the abundance.

Yeah.

I think in my lifetime

there's been some really wonderful and powerful land care projects

popping up around our local area looking after our tributaries.

Those groups are doing incredible work.

Everyone has their little bit to play

when it comes to being responsible

and trying to look after

this magical place that we have here.

There is one shellfish, however,

that can be found in great abundance here.

Pambula Lake is home to a number of large oyster farms

with acres of cultivated beds stretching out across the water.

Known as Sydney Rock, these oysters are prized

for their creamy texture and rich flavour...

..and those grown on Pambula Lake

are reputed to be some of the best oysters in Australia.

Well, it's really interesting on Pambula Lake,

because you've got modern aquaculture, oyster farming,

next to ancient shell deposits,

and I'm asking myself, are they compatible?

I'm meeting a renowned local farmer to discuss all things oysters.

Sue McIntyre has spent nearly 30 years farming on Pambula Lake,

earning multiple awards for her oysters along the way.

She is also a champion shucker.

- Hi. - Hello! How are you? - I'm very well.

Well, it's very nice to be here, such a lovely part of the world,

- on such a lovely day. - Isn't it gorgeous?

Well, you're obviously busy.

What are you doing here, then, just as a matter of interest?

- I'm just... - You seem to be knocking seven bells out of an oyster.

That's right. So we've got the main oyster here,

and then we've got some overcatch,

so another little oyster that's growing on it,

so we're just separating them off

so that we can keep the main oyster and keep it growing.

Oh, so they're going back in there.

Yeah, so these are our younger stock,

these ones are only about two years old -

and we usually harvest our Sydney rock oysters when they're three.

How many oysters would you grow in a year, then?

We try and grow about 60,000 dozen a year.

- 60,000 DOZEN? - Yeah, yeah.

Mathematics... That's a lot of oysters!

It is a lot of oysters.

I do love them. I mean, you know, there's not many things

that you get to grow that are native,

that don't require any feeding, come in their own packaging,

are good for the environment

and good for people who are eating them, as well,

- and taste fabulous. - I guess that leads me to the question -

how sustainable are oysters, and your oysters?

Very sustainable.

So, I think, you know, the analogy I like to use these days

is if you've got a fish tank and you've got a filter in there

- that's cleaning the water for your fish... - Yeah.

..if you think about the oysters in an estuary,

that's what they're doing and they're providing

that environmental service to the whole of the estuary.

And so being an oyster farmer

that is then tending those little creatures

that provide that service is wonderful,

and in the 28 years that we've been here,

I've really tried to be at the forefront

of making adaptations in our farm

so that as we learn of more environmentally friendly ways

of farming, we've moved into that as well.

And the whole of the Sapphire Coast oyster industry

is really on board with that.

As well as, obviously, creating something that's delicious to eat.

You're quite good at selling the whole concept of oysters!

Not... You're preaching to the converted, I have to say.

All right. Well, how would you consider the flavour

of the Sydney rocks from here?

Oh, because we have a nice flow of fresh water

and the oceanic water,

we end up with a lovely, creamy, salty flavour

with a bit of a vegetable finish at the end.

- So, yeah, they're really nice. - This is...

You could be describing wine there!

A creamy, salty flavour with a vegetable finish at the end.

That's funny, because our tourism body

wants us to use the term "shellar door".

"Shellar door"?

- Which... - How come you Australians have this sort of habit of punning?

- I've noticed it. - I don't know!

So many shops, going through any town in Australia,

- there's a little pun. - Yeah, that's it. I don't know!

- I quite like it. "Shellar door". - Easy humour!

Just looking at them,

I just thought maybe we could try a few, because I do love an oyster.

Oh, I think that's a great idea.

Where should we go?

Do you want to go down into the sunshine down there

- and sit on the edge of the lake? - I think that'd be really nice. - OK.

There we go. So that oyster hasn't been rinsed,

- hasn't been chilled... - Great!

..so it should have that full flavour of Pambula Lake in there.

Hopefully no grit.

No grit. Delicious,

sweet, smooth...

- ..unbelievable! - Fantastic.

It must be brackish water, because they taste of ocean to me,

simply because there's a lot of salt in them.

Funnily, once I tasted oysters, Chesapeake Bay in the States,

and it's fresh water,

and they just don't taste as good,

because you need that saltiness, I think.

- Absolutely. - It accentuates the sweetness of them.

When we do get rainfall and the estuary's impacted

with floodwaters coming through,

the taste of the oyster changes completely,

and even though we might be able to harvest again

based on environmental conditions,

- we always wait for that salinity to come back up... - Yeah.

..because it just doesn't taste right.

You want that just-dunked- in-the-ocean kind of experience

- when you have a fresh oyster. - Couldn't agree more.

There you go.

- I think you can have another one. - Do you know, some people think

- you should swallow an oyster. - Oh, no!

SHE LAUGHS

You definitely need to chew them

to release that beautiful flavour that's in there.

- It's absurd, isn't it? - It is absurd!

It is absurd. There you go. You better have one more.

SHE LAUGHS

- This is the last? - Oh, no, not at all.

- We've got a whole basket here! - No, no, no. Right. I did think...

I think the Sapphire Coast is lucky, particularly this part,

because talking to Sue about oyster farming,

they are totally sustainable,

and I think people around here are working in harmony with nature.

Because I think we're all beginning to realise that nature matters.

I'm making my way north along a stretch of coastline I know well.

I'm lucky enough when I'm in Australia

to spend a fair bit of time here in a little village called Mollymook...

..because I have a restaurant here on the water,

hidden amongst the trees.

It's such a serene and green and peaceful part of Australia,

the south coast.

It's quite easy to forget that this is Australia

and things aren't always like this.

I'm referring in particular to the summer of 2019.

Sas, my wife, and I were at Mollymook, at our restaurant.

We were gathered to celebrate New Year's Eve at the restaurant

when Lake Conjola,

the village right across the water, caught fire.

The fires came within 3km of our restaurant.

And I remember sitting there and looking at Lake Conjola burning

and thinking, how can we celebrate?

As it turned out, over 90 homes were burnt in Lake Conjola.

That year, more than 5.5 million hectares of land

in New South Wales went up in smoke.

It was the most catastrophic fire season ever recorded.

More than a billion animals were killed or displaced,

and 26 people lost their lives.

I remember during that time feeling, well, scared, to be honest.

I mean, you've sort of suddenly become acutely aware

of which way the wind's blowing -

and where we were, fortunately, the wind was blowing the other way,

but it could easily have blown our way,

and I was thinking at the time,

I may end up in the sea, you know, just keeping out of the fire.

I suppose there's nothing like that in the UK -

the sort of incredible, incredible power of nature.

And I will never forget it, of course.

I can't help feeling we live in difficult times environmentally.

It's probably due to climate change,

and whether it's bushfires, droughts, floods,

things are quite radical.

And I guess things are affecting our seas as well,

so I'm very keen to talk to people who make their living from the ocean

and see what's happening.

I've arranged to come to a little jetty

just south of Mollymook to meet a commercial fisherman

who's spent his life working on these waters.

I'm off sea urchin harvesting,

and I've never been sea urchin harvesting before,

so I'm very excited.

- Chris, nice to meet you. - Hi, Rick. Nice to meet you.

- We're going urchin gathering? - Yeah, that's right.

So we're going to take the bait out and see what we can gather.

- Very excited! - Yeah, great. - I love my sea urchins.

Do you want to get on first, then, I guess? See how you do it.

Chris Theodore and his brother

are part of a second-generation family business.

They grew up diving in these waters for abalone,

a delicious and expensive shellfish...

..but in the last 15 years

the business has pivoted to hunting for sea urchins.

And which particular urchins are we going...?

- There's various different species, aren't there? - Yeah.

So we call them the purple urchin here.

It's the Centro rodgersii.

I like your Latin. Yeah!

HE CHUCKLES

They're the ones that we mainly harvest.

A bit closer to the reef,

there's a big ledge that runs out along here...

..and it's just, yeah, covered in really big urchins,

so we don't have to go too far to get them today.

It's a lovely day to be doing it.

I mean, do you go out in most weathers, then, or...?

Yeah, you do have to go out in a lot of weather

just to keep the show on the road, sort of thing, and...

Well, for me, it couldn't be nicer.

- No, no. You've picked the perfect day for it. - Yes.

So my brother Jay's going to do all the diving.

He's had a lot of experience over the years.

What's a really big urchin? That big?

Yeah. You're sort of saying almost, with the spikes,

- the size of a soccer ball, or... - Yeah, yeah. Good lord. - Yeah.

- And the spikes are, what, about that long? - Yeah.

- Well, we'll see shortly! - Yeah, yeah.

They're a bit nasty when they get in the fingers or knuckles, but...!

RICK LAUGHS

Chris tells me that as the seas here have grown warmer,

sea urchin numbers have increased.

There are now so many of them,

they're destroying the coral reef and seaweed habitats they feed on.

We've been fishing this area for the last 15 years,

and they just can't be stopped.

They're a virtually unstoppable force.

They can chew holes in rock, it's that strong.

They grow so quickly, and they're very prolific.

Chris says Jay will be able to collect

a whole bag of sea urchins in a matter of minutes...

..and across a six-hour day,

they'll haul in around a ton of sea urchins.

Presumably the quota's quite high for urchins, isn't it?

Yes, so, no quota on urchins,

because of all the damage they're doing and how prolific they are.

I can see them down there.

It's not that deep. It's really clear.

Surprisingly, sea urchin isn't a popular seafood in Australia.

Instead, Chris exports most of his urchin roe to Asia,

where it's considered a great delicacy.

Occasionally it just looks like patches of white where they are,

but occasionally you can see the bag.

Once his bag is full, Jay sends it up to the surface.

This is the moment of truth.

I love the little parachute that came up.

Wow, look at that!

God, they're enormous!

- Not too bad for 15 minutes. - God, and look at the colour of them!

They're just a beautiful black-purple.

And they're just going like that!

I didn't quite realise how much movement they have.

You just see them in the bottom of...

when you're swimming, and they just look stationary,

but they they're moving all the time.

They're the biggest urchins I've ever seen.

Can I get you to cut one open in a minute?

- Yeah, we definitely can. - Oh, good on you. - Yeah.

Yeah, so we'll crack one open, Rick, and we'll see what we've got inside.

Oh, great.

So as you can see, it doesn't look like much at the moment.

There's a lot of guts that all needs to be removed, and the beak.

- But... - And the beak? Yeah, so this is the beak.

This is the stuff that does all the damage to the reef.

- As you can see, it's very strong, tough beak. - Wow.

Yeah, so then it's just spooned out like this, very, very carefully

as to not to break the roe,

and then sort of give it a shake into the basket.

- There's a lot of roe in them. - There is, yeah.

And then it's just a matter of giving it a good rinse.

Got to be careful to get rid of all the spikes.

We don't want anyone swallowing one of those.

That's the product.

Always really bright, vibrant colour here.

That's a big selling point once we get it over to Asia.

- Right. Well, can I try one? - You definitely can, yeah.

Oh, there we go.

This is the best way you're going to get it, straight out of the shell.

Perfect!

Salty and sweet.

Yeah, exactly. That's the flavour we're after.

It's sort of peak season now, so they're as good as they get.

- Unbelievable. - Yeah.

Sort of full of umami and ozone.

I don't know what I'd liken it to. It's not like...

Obviously not like lobster, not like oysters.

It's just got its own sort of seafood flavour, really.

It's got this sort of fragrance as well.

- Can I have a bit more? - Yeah, definitely. - It's just...

Such a delicate, delicate food from such a harsh animal.

I can't believe anybody wouldn't like that.

I guess they're put off by the look of it, really.

Yeah, it seems an acquired taste, and people that really do like it

REALLY like it, really go out of their way to get it.

It's so versatile,

how many different ways it can be cooked with, and eaten raw, and...

Actually, I like it on an opened oyster.

Just a slice of that on top, raw.

Or I love it in scrambled eggs.

- Yeah. - It really works in scrambled eggs. - Yeah.

My favourite way is just with... on a cracker with lemon juice.

- It's really nice. - Is that right? - Yeah! Yep.

I really enjoyed today, and I think it's very important

simply because my livelihood is seafood,

but also because I think seafood

is an essential part of our diet for healthy living.

So, what Chris is doing in helping to rid the oceans of a pest,

but also making a living out of it, it's very good news.

If there's anything I've learnt in the last few days,

it's that sustainability is the only future for our planet,

but particularly for our seas.

My interest in sustainable seafood has sent me

back up the highway to Sydney,

where my journey began.

I'm here to meet a young superstar of the culinary world.

Josh Niland is one of Australia's most celebrated chefs,

and he's pushing the boundaries of what seafood can be.

He's revolutionised the way we use and eat seafood,

not just here in Australia but all around the world.

I'm visiting Josh not at one of his restaurants

but at the shop where he processes his seafood on the city's fringe.

- Josh. - G'day! How are you, Rick? - Very well. - Welcome.

- Come on in. - Wow. - Yeah. - It's a bit special. - It is!

What is a fish butchery?

Well, it's what you're looking at.

So working like a meat butcher does with an animal,

but applying the same theory to a fish.

There's so much within the butchery world

that's brought secondary cuts to life.

You can apply the exact same anatomical theory to a fish.

So all the offal that sits within the fish,

the head, the bones, all these other bits.

Then we get all this great product.

So, basically, it's sort of,

as they say in pork butchery,

everything but the squeal gets used, then!

Gotcha, gotcha.

JOSH LAUGHS

I'm excited to see Josh's approach in action.

Beautiful fish. This is bar cod that's coming to us

out of the west side of Australia.

So we're going to start this.

I've just taken the collar...

..draw the blade down there...

..like that.

And then what we want to do here,

just separated the collars away from the head,

and then just using the cleaver,

just so that I can cut the head off

as neatly as I can. So...

And obviously this is going to go into

- some fabulous products. - Absolutely.

We make terrines, we make fishcakes,

we make fish pies, pasta, spaghetti bolognese.

We make sausages out of the trimmings as well.

And then, we don't want to shock too many people,

but we take...we actually take the vitreous humour,

which is where all the collagen is in the fish eye...

- Yeah. - ..and instead of using eggs,

we'll use the collagen from the eye to produce ice cream.

And there is no ambition of making that ice cream taste like fish.

It's to prove that the collagen in there

will achieve the same textural outcome as an egg.

Wow!

JOSH LAUGHS

- So... - Just look at it! Just imagine, at fish merchants'...

- Yes. - ..this would be thrown away. - Absolutely.

I mean, look at all the meat there, all the meat there,

all the meat there.

Honestly, this is sort of overwhelming to me.

- You know? - Yeah.

Like, there's a fish, monkfish, in the UK,

they throw the heads away, always, you know?

But then that beautiful monkfish liver,

that when...if it's looked after, like, really looked after,

then that's arguably better than foie gras.

Well, this is fascinating. It really is.

When you say it, it seems obvious, doesn't it?

- Yeah. - You see how expensive a fish is,

- particularly the sort of prime fish... - Yeah.

..if you can get sales of all the bits and bobs

- that people don't eat normally... - Absolutely.

How did this all start for you?

20 years ago, I started cooking, and a lot of that was born from...

I was unwell as a kid. I had cancer when I was eight,

and then during the time of being ill and having chemotherapy

and all of that, I was watching a lot of TV shows,

and that was cooking shows, and, you know,

- one of them was yours, and... - Mine?

Yeah, absolutely.

- Wow! Really? - And so whether it was born of the way...

..in particular you communicated fish, made food really exciting.

So, I started cooking when I was 15. I had great mentors in Australia,

and I was fortunate to go abroad as well

and stand in the same kitchen as Heston at the Fat Duck.

So I think being exposed to great people

and great product here in Australia

was then the catalyst for now what we're doing.

Josh opened his first restaurant when he was just 26,

but the cost of seafood meant he struggled financially.

I think the fear of losing a restaurant

that I was personally responsible for,

that was the key motivator,

and so the solution to my problem was creativity and innovation.

- Let's have a taste. - Wow.

So this is your charcuterie?

Yeah, some of the charcuterie.

I mean, your problem surely is going to be prejudice.

- People are naturally conservative when they eat things. - Yeah.

And it's almost your brain saying, "You're not going to like this

"because it's made out of fish and it should be made out of meat."

- Yeah. - So selling these sort of products is tricky.

Well, I'm trying to use the work that we do at Fish Butchery

to communicate it to the industry

that needs vast improvement

if the generations ahead of us...

If they're to consume wild fish, some of this needs to stick.

- So what we've got there... - Oh, you cut some up for me!

I've got some for you.

This one here, this is sujuk,

so the Turkish... basically sausage.

What's in there, then?

So you've got ground yellowfin tuna.

- Yeah. - And it's got all the spices,

so those wonderful warm cumins and coriander seeds and garlic.

So you can have a try of that one...

And really good with, like, garlic yoghurt

and tabbouleh and flatbreads and...

But there's no fish on it.

I hate to say this, but it doesn't taste of fish.

- It just tastes... - Why do you hate to say that?

I don't know, actually.

I mean, I suppose I was expecting to taste

- a sort of lesser product... - Mm-hm. - ..which tasted of fish,

but actually, it's really nice.

- I can taste the tuna in it now, and it's delicious. - Yeah. Good.

This one here, this is rock flathead.

So flathead here in Australia, it's our fish-and-chip fish.

- I know it well. - You know it well! - Yeah.

Lovely fish, actually.

So, lots of black pepper. Lightly smoked, as well.

Eat it as a two. It's tasty.

- Well, I thought you might want some! - Yeah, yeah, I'll have a bit.

Lovely.

Again, it doesn't taste of fish, but it's sort of...

I mean, I've got to get rid of my own prejudice, which is terrible.

But if you didn't tell me that was made from fish,

I would just say that's a very nice, almost like a sort of boudin blanc,

- you know? It's like... - That's right.

..very nicely spiced and seasoned.

- This one here... - Yeah?

..this is our yellowfin tuna and pistachio salami.

Smells like salami.

Mm. So you have a taste of that one. That's my favourite.

Well, it's sweet, it's savoury, got a bit of smoke,

but the overall... You taste it and you just think, this is lovely.

- Yeah! - What have we got here, then?

So that's a bit of swordfish belly bacon.

- What is really nice with that is the fat in it. - Yeah.

It's really, really lovely mouthfeel, isn't it?

We don't sort of readily, as human beings,

latch on to new things -

and I include myself in that.

I feel rather shamefaced to say that.

But having been here, I do think that this is the way forward.

Yeah.

I'm still a fan of the simple classics done well,

and like all good practitioners,

Josh has that covered too.

All right.

I'm still pretty good at fish and chips!

Look at the crispness of that batter and the crispness of those...

- Those chips. - ..the chips. - Yeah.

- The fish - very moist. - Yeah. - Beautifully firm.

Again, I mean, that's what everybody wants in batter, isn't it?

It's just incredibly dry and incredibly crisp.

But it's like eating puff pastry.

- It is. - Those lovely pastry flakes.

I mean, it's sensational, this.

I know!

HE LAUGHS

And I'm thinking...

Who'd have thought that I'd be having fish and chips

with Rick Stein in Fish Butchery?

- In the Fish Butchery! - Amazing.

After my nearly 5,000km circumnavigation of New South Wales,

I'm on the home stretch.

I'm finally returning to the small town of Mollymook

on my beloved south coast.

It's a place I've loved from the moment

I first laid eyes on it many years ago.

I never dreamt that my wife Sas and I

would be lucky enough to have our own beach retreat here...

..and that it would become my home away from home in Australia.

So nice to be home.

That table, there,

that's where I write many of my cookery books.

There's me in my college days with all the other chefs.

And this is where I put inspiration to work and try out my recipes.

This is my favourite place.

I've spent a lot of my time in here.

There's nothing I like more than coming up with new dishes

for friends and family.

And tonight is no exception...

..as I've invited a couple of friends around

for a welcome home dinner.

Well, it's great to be home.

Back in my own kitchen with everything familiar around me.

So I'm going to do some oysters from Pambula Lake.

Just simply open,

but with a little bit of an addition,

which is some sea urchins.

Chris, the other day, he kindly gave me a box of them.

So, first of all,

some seaweed on this plate,

from a beach, that I've blanched.

That's just to bring the colour up a lovely vivid green,

and use it as a way of propping up my oysters.

I just think it looks great.

So, onto there go my oysters.

They're just so sweet and so plumptious.

Put a slice of sea urchin on an oyster.

I would have to say, this is not going to be to everybody's taste.

Chris, on the boat,

he was saying people either love them or hate them.

There we go.

Three or four wedges of lemon on the plate.

That looks good.

Now just pop them in the fridge

till we're ready to serve.

Next I'm going to make a fish pie.

Now, this is my fish pie from my restaurant in Australia.

The great thing about it, actually,

is that it's topped with panko breadcrumbs,

not pastry or mashed potato.

Makes it a bit easy and a bit different.

So the first thing I'm going to do is make the veloute,

and that's the lovely creamy sauce that goes into every good fish pie.

So first of all, heated up my pan,

and in goes the butter.

Stir it around.

Melt the butter. Flour next.

Stir that in to make a roux.

And now the next thing I do is to add milk and stock -

in this case it's fish stock,

as it's a fish pie -

in thirds. So, we just add some milk.

And the reason I add it in thirds is just to avoid it getting lumpy.

Just stir that in.

Just bring that up to the boil

and let the sauce thicken.

Then, when it's thickened,

I add the next third of milk...

..and fish stock.

Again, stirry, stirry, stirry.

And time to put my last third

of milk and stock in.

Do a little bit of a stir.

That's nice and amalgamated.

And now for my aromatics.

First of all, a couple of fresh bay leaves,

one clove

and then some rasps of nutmeg.

Always find a bit of background flavour of nutmeg

is great in a fish pie.

There we go.

Let that simmer for 20 minutes,

allowing the veloute to thicken nicely.

Next I'm sauteing some onions in a little butter.

So, now in go the onions.

I don't want to brown the onions here,

I just want to make them a bit translucent.

Otherwise they won't look very nice in the finished fish stew.

And now to cook the fish.

And what I've got here is, first of all, blue eye trevalla -

or you could use cod -

salmon,

prawns, scallops -

if you're a bit short of money, leave the scallops out.

Just add a bit more fish -

and cooked mussels.

So I'm going to cut the fish up into chunk-sized pieces.

And the reason for having such a variety

is you've got the firm texture and taste of fish,

plus the sweetness of prawns and the scallops

and the lovely colour and taste of the mussels.

So, there we go.

I'm going to season this fish,

toss it in flour

and fry it in butter and olive oil.

This is what I would call a light dusting.

I don't want any colour here.

I'm just going to fry them

until the flour is cooked

and the juices are sealed inside.

Now, I'm not going to cook these,

but I'm just going to add them to my cooked fish.

Toss them like that...

So that's my filling.

But I'm also putting in some fried mushrooms.

There we go.

To finish off the sauce,

I'm passing it through a sieve into the onions...

Stir that through.

..before adding Dijon mustard...

We'll just put a little bit in now.

..Parmesan,

cream...

Finally, piece de resistance -

a little bit of truffle oil.

Only a little bit.

It's very, very strong.

Oh, that is delicious.

So delicious.

..and my pie's nearly ready for the oven.

I just need to add my breadcrumbs

to give it a deliciously crunchy topping.

I'm mixing them with a little melted butter...

So just stir that in.

..to keep them from burning.

Because everything's already cooked,

this pie only needs to be in the oven

for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Perfect for a simple meal with friends.

Hi, there!

Joining us tonight are musicians Jimmy Barnes and his wife Jane,

who's also a great cook.

- A couple of little pressies for you. - Oh, you're always so spoiling!

- Well, I hope you guys are hungry. - Can't wait!

- Jane, do you want to sit here next to Ricky? - Mm-hm.

- And, Jimmy, do you want to sit here next to me? - No problem.

Scottish-born Jimmy is the lead singer

of legendary Aussie rock band Cold Chisel.

Dinner with a view! We love that.

We've been friends since discovering our shared love of music and food.

I think the kookaburra wants some,

he's sitting on the porch out there!

- Hello! - Hello!

Just busy in the kitchen.

Just made a little starter.

I didn't ask, actually, whether you like oysters or sea urchins.

Are you into these sort of things, Jane or Jimmy?

Well, I'll have to say,

this is going to be my first time ever trying sea urchins.

Well, I've been trying to get Jane to eat them for a long time.

- It's one of my favourite things to eat. - Oh, same here.

I haven't had it with oysters, though, before,

so I think it's going to be a great combo.

- We'll see! - So, this is a first! - But probably just help yourself.

- Maybe just one, Jane, see whether you like them. - I shall. Mm-hm.

Oh, I want to see Jane's face when she tries...

SHE LAUGHS

A lot of people don't like the texture. I love the texture.

- Delicious! - Delicious! See? - Do you mean that?

- All these years... - I really mean it.

I am pleasantly surprised.

Oh, thank you, Jane!

- It's the way you shuck 'em, Chef! - THEY LAUGH

- Oh, yeah. - What a treat. - That is pretty fabulous.

- Taste of the sea, isn't it? - Mm. - Mm-hm.

Well, I'm glad you enjoyed the oysters and urchins -

particularly you, Jane!

Now, next, the fish pie.

- Oh, she's never eaten a fish pie, no! - Oh, I know, I know!

She's never cooked a fish pie, have you, Jane?!

I think I might have seen you cook a fish pie on television before,

- so I'm really looking forward to it. - You may have done, Jimmy!

Oh, that's a British one.

- This is an Aussie one. - An Aussie fish pie. OK, yeah...

In the UK, the fish pie always has boiled egg in it,

which a lot of Aussies find rather hard,

- and generally smoked fish. - Which I love.

This one's different, and you have a mash top,

but this one's got a panko crumb top.

- Look at that. - Thank you. - Yum!

Well, I hope it's going to be all right.

What fish is in it, Rick?

Right, it's salmon and blue eye trevalla,

and prawns and scallops and a few mussels.

- Lovely! - Great.

It's like a feast.

This is delicious, I've got to tell you.

The best Australian fish pie I've ever had.

In fact, it's the only Australian fish pie I've ever had,

but it's absolutely delicious!

THEY LAUGH

Well, I have to say, it's great being back at home,

because good food, good friends, the odd glass of wine...

It's what life's all about.

So great to be back here.

- In your own kitchen. - Right!

It was such a good trip and so interesting.

I mean, things have changed so much with food in this country.

You know, we're just sort of coming into age, I think.

Yeah. I mean, it's like a different world, really.

Well, well done, and welcome back.

- Cheers, everybody. - Cheers! Happy times.

I've always loved the coast of New South Wales...

..but my trip has given me so much enlightenment.

I have to say, coming from England,

I mean, this landscape is just so special.

Just across the river there, you can see in the sandstone,

there's what looks like two eyes looking out.

Yeah, I can see that.

I've met so many really special people.

The best part is that you've left on their heads.

- Oh, yes! - This is so bloody Chinese of you!

THEY LAUGH

You sing to your chicken?

SINGS OPERATICALLY

They taste so good.

If you don't mind me swearing, it's bloody good chicken!

I think everybody I've spoken to, in a way, is on the move.

- Is this how you get around? - Absolutely. This is my farm ute.

- This is your farm ute? - Yeah.

We're always in a hurry, and the cops can't book us in it!

For many years, I think Australia was playing catch-up with food...

I love Australia, but I'm not that keen on these...

- On the sausage? - On the snags. But this is a good one. - I hope so!

..but now I think Australia's becoming a bit of a leader,

whether it's because of new ideas...

..or whether it's because things don't work and they've had to adapt.

I'm not going to make much money out of this,

so I thought I'd try something else.

And I have to say, Australia leaves me confident

about the future, and particularly the future of food.

I feel I'm just starting to scratch the surface

of what Australia has to offer...

..and I can't wait to see what lies ahead.