All language subtitles for Marcus.Wareings.Tales.from.a.Kitchen.Garden.S02E05.1080p.WEBRip.x264-CBFM

A year has passed on my
East Sussex smallholding.

I've been spending more time out
of the kitchen and in the garden.

This helps me get away
from absolutely everything.

You can't not love this.

Come on!

I've had plenty of successes...

I've got a glut of ingredients
that I'm going to be sharing.

And that's a lovely thing.

..and a few failures, too...

I've just been to feed the pigs,
and they're not there.

But with the help of my friends
and neighbours...

Come on, Stu! Get your back into it!

I thought farming was just about
animals!

No-one talks about fencing!

..I'm going to bring in more
produce...

I'm going to see if I can get some
wheat in the ground.

..more livestock...

I've never seen so much poo
in a field in all my life!

..and use every inch of my land
and garden...

Here we go. First Wareing potato!

It's hard work.
But it's worth it.

..all year round.

You know autumn's just around
the corner when the sun

goes behind the clouds.

Because I know a better
understanding of ingredients...

So much more to learn.
So many new dishes to cook.

..will lead to some incredible
new recipes...

This place is on fire.

It just gets better and better
and better.

..as I discover the secrets
of a kitchen garden.

It's the height of summer,

and East Sussex has been basking
in weeks of unrelenting sunshine.

And although I'll never complain
about having good weather

when I'm out and about,

I'm thankful that a recent burst
of rainfall has really got things

growing in the kitchen garden.

In the last 24, 48 hours,
things have really changed a lot.

I know weeding's one of those
jobs that not everyone likes.

I don't mind.

One thing I have noticed is,
since we've had a bit of rain,

is in that are things that are just
coming to life and have sprung up,

especially the weeds. They are
definitely in full force.

But also just going
round now and harvesting.

This is the time,
everything's sort of coming to life.

Radishes are ready, some cabbages.
The salads have just shot up.

Look at those babies!

What I'll do when I'm down here,
rather than just let everything

grow to the maximum,

I just start picking early
a little bit, especially radishes.

That's a completely different
flavour to what you ever buy

in a supermarket.

The pepperiness of that
radish is incredible.

Bit of chard.

BIRDSONG

Because that's so young,
in a salad, that is delicious.

With chard, normally when it's
fully grown, you have to cook it.

But that, being so young and baby,
even the root, perfect for a salad.

One of the really enjoyable jobs
that I have is being able

to just come into the kitchen garden
and just pick some produce

and then just put it into
the kitchen.

And that's a lunch or dinner

for whoever wants it.

Food is always on my mind,
whether it's cooking it,

growing it, or rearing it.

And as a Lancashire boy,
lamb is one of my favourite meats.

So last year, I was thrilled
to introduce three sheep

to the smallholding.

Welcome to East Sussex.

Don't be eating my bushes!

Look at all this prepared for you.

And despite having a small flock
of my own,

I know there's still more for me
to learn about this wonderful meat.

So to help explore its flavour,

I've set up a taste test
with my neighbour, farmer Stuart.

I've cooked two different
types of chops. Yours?

I can feel the pressure now!

I've got yours,
I've got some Romney Marsh lambs,

and I just want to see
what the difference is.

So they always say what really makes
a difference to the flavour

of the meat is what the animal
itself has eaten.

So your salt marsh lamb
will have eaten near the coast,

and ours from your land here
have eaten nothing

but Wealden grass.

I have to say I like them both.
But there is a subtle difference.

Look, they're both good.
I've cooked with Salt Marsh lamb

all the way through
my cooking career,

and there's always been
one point of difference for me.

The meat is incredibly dark

and it's a much stronger flavour.

And just by looking
at those two chops,

I know which is which.

To understand the flavour,
you have to go and see

where they're living
and what they're feeding on.

Point me in the right direction.
I'm sure you must know someone.

I do, yes. Who?

You need to go
and see my friend, Chris,

down on Romney Marsh.

He'll show you the most desolate
landscape you could rear sheep.

Really?

It's picturesque,
but in a very harsh way.

Field might be
a couple of hundred acres,

so you need very good dogs.

Has Chris got good dogs?

I bought mine from him. One of mine.
Did you? Really? Yeah.

And does he train as well?
Yes. Would he take Esme?

Well, I don't know about that!

I'm leaving Esme to guard the farm
whilst I head 30 miles east

to Romney Marsh in Kent,
where the sheep roam freely

over hundreds of acres
of inhospitable terrain.

I'm meeting Stuart's friend
Chris Job,

who has been a shepherd here
for almost 40 years.

So if anyone knows about
the Salt Marsh lamb, it's him.

Hello, Marcus. Good to see you.
Good to see you, sir.

Nice to meet you.

OK, so we're going to go
out and do the sheep.

Can't do that unless you have
a crook.

You have that one.

These are shepherds' crooks.
They're not weapons!

They're an extension of our arm.

So if we're trying to guide
the sheep in,

that's what they're for.

There's Mist and Becky,
they're both sisters.

They're both eight-years-old.
Let's go and do it.

Chris looks after 1,000 ewes
and currently has 1,200 lambs.

So Mist and Becky are essential
in controlling such a big flock.

What's the plan now?
So they're scattered everywhere.

The sheep are scattered everywhere.

So now you're going
to gather up all those. Me?

You're going to gather up,
you with the dogs,

and you're going to give them
command to go, which was the...?

Shh!

Now, look, look.

Stand. OK, Marcus.

Shh!

There we go.
Wow. The speed of them!

That's a hell of a distance.
And wow, look at that.

That's 400 metres up there.

My goodness!
Look how fast she's got up there.

We set them off,

they automatically,
through your training,

know that their job right now
is to gather... All those sheep.

..all the sheep, and bring them...
Bring them back to us.

..towards you. Yeah. We've given
them one command. Yeah.

That's extraordinary!
How many sheep are out there?

There must be about 300,
400 sheep out there. Right.

Just gently walking...
Doesn't want to upset them.

..walking by.

You can tell on the meat
when an animal's been stressed out

because you get little blood spots
in between the layers of fat

in the meat.
So we don't want to do that.

You know, we want them to just
walk up quite nicely,

and the dogs are just moving
them as gentle as possible.

And you can see none of them
are stressed out.

And actually, the lambs are still
with their mums,

they've not got mixed up.
Yeah.

So they've now brought them back
and they're saying,

"Well, how much
closer do you want them?"

The reason why I've
come here is to understand,

I've never been to see the Salt
Marsh lambs on the Salt Marsh.

What's it all about?

Why is the flavour
so unique to them?

I think it comes from the grass.

This ground here is SSSI.

What does that mean? This is a Site
Of Special Scientific Interest,

but this is peat underneath. We're
standing six foot below sea level.

So without these sea walls
and drainage,

we would be in the sea. Really?

So how long ago was this underwater?

A good thousand years ago.
And around the 13th century,

that was when the Romney
was established on here

and they bred the sheep to
be on Romney Marsh. Really?

They wanted a hardy sheep
that would take the exposure

in the summer, the winter
and the winds and the rain.

Why is it called salt marsh?
Because it's not salty meat?

Because the salt is in the ground.

So it had salt water coming over it
and going back out again

and the salt would be left on
and that would sink

into the layers of the peat.

That was a long, long,
long time ago. Oh, yeah.

It's probably not as strong
as it originally was,

so perhaps that's why we can't
taste it in the meat? Yes.

But it's still there
in that grass.

So the darkness of the meat
is down to the fact

that this pasture is peat-based?
It's peat-based, yeah.

It's taken me a while to get
out onto the salt marshes

to come and see them.
So it's been absolutely fantastic

to see the sheep
and the dogs working,

and everybody just seems so happy.

Yeah. Which always makes
to a great product in the end.

I have been cooking Salt Marsh lamb

for as long as I've been
a head chef running a kitchen.

That's 27 years now.

First time I've come
to see it for real.

And there's a little bit of me
regrets not doing it sooner,

because I've learnt so much
from Chris today.

The history on this landscape
is incredible,

and that's what makes
the flavour so special.

Enjoying the unique tastes
of locally-produced food

has been an exciting part
of my new countryside lifestyle,

just as much as being able to grow
and pick my own fruit,

which is a novelty
that will never wear off.

Ah, there we go.
There's a few round there.

One thing you've got to
do with raspberries,

you've got to hunt for them.

And then, of course, you've got
the little empty ends here,

where the birds
have had the raspberries.

That's fine.
A little bit of food for everybody.

And I haven't covered them
over this year.

I might just have enough
just to make a batch of jam.

And there's no time
like the present.

We've got our sugar, which has
got the pectin already added.

And I'm going to add a little bit
of lemon juice into it.

And I've got these lovely
dried rose petals as well.

Smell that. It's incredible.

It's almost stronger than the rose
itself when it was in the garden.

Wow!

So let's put a couple of handfuls
of those into my raspberries.

Squeeze of lemon.

Straight in there.

What I want to get from this
is I want to get that smell.

I want to be able to smell
the rose petal.

You can add anything into this,
you know,

just that little hint of rosemary.

You know, we've got edible
flowers around us.

We've got the sunflowers,
I remember eating those last year.

And you could put a little bit
of the sunflower petal, you know,

into your jam. Just make it
a little bit more interesting.

I don't think you should
look at a jar of jam

as being any worse off
than a fabulous meal

in a great restaurant.

I think a jam on your toast
or on a sandwich,

why can't it be as good
as any meal you've ever eaten?

What you want to do is get
that up to a rapid boil.

Mm. Smells amazing.

You know what? It's almost like
a little extra pinch of salt,

I just can't help myself.
Why not?

I think it's really important
that you just use your own flowers

from your own garden.
You know there's no sprays on them

or anything. That's looking nice.

You see it starting
to thicken up now.

Nothing better than the fresh smell
of jam in a kitchen garden.

And that's about good now.

Now just a little tester.
A couple of ways to test it.

You can put some on a plate
like that, pop it into the fridge,

give it a few minutes, run your
finger through it...

..and it'll hold. Mm!

We are now ready to put into
the jars while it's nice and hot.

And there's a lovely little
surprise when people open those.

They'll be like,
"Oh, what's that on there?"

Lovely!

The smallholding has yielded plenty
of great produce this year,

but going forward, I think I can
push myself by experimenting

with some more unusual flavours.

We've done all of this this year,
so lots of different salads,

some chard,
we've got the gooseberries,

we've got the raspberries.
Just the usual, the usual fare.

So I've invited round exotic fruit
and veg grower Laura

from The Wonky Parsnip to see
if she can give me any pointers

on spicing things up.

I think the garden is conventional.

I think wasabi is the most radical
thing that I'm growing!

We'll help you out here! I'm trying!

So you've got, like, a huge
amount of rhubarb here, Marcus.

That is not,
that's not even a third of it.

We've cut and used so much
of it already.

Well, I think you should have
a go at making rhubarb cordial,

or even better, rhubarb wine.
How do you do that?

Get the rhubarb stalks, chop them
up into chunks, in a bucket,

bash them with a rolling pin,
add sugar.

All right. Leave it out in the sun,
especially on a hot day like this

for 24 hours. And you'll end up
with a huge amount of juice,

which you can then just use
straight away as cordial.

Or you add certain yeast,
so I added a red wine yeast,

add then water, leave it for six
to eight months, beautiful.

Wine? Wine. Rhubarb wine.

Laura's brought a box of unusual
and inspirational produce with her,

all of it having been grown
locally in Kent.

Something in that box that's
standing out, that I don't believe

is being grown in this country,
and that's that big watermelon.

Yeah. Did you grow that? Yeah.

So these are my pride and joy
of this year.

Wow! They're stunning.

So I propagated loads of seeds,
planted half outside,

half in the polytunnel.

The ones outside
didn't survive at all.

The ones in the polytunnel
have done extraordinarily well.

Let's have a little taste.

That is as good as it looks.
It looks stunning,

it tastes incredible. Yep.

Kent-grown watermelons.

Now, that's something I didn't
ever think I'd ever hear.

What else have you got in there
that's a little bit different?

So, ginger, physalis,
we've even grown some okra.

This one here's called
a Mooli radish.

They've kind of got a really hot
wasabi, horseradish kind of taste.

And then you've got these lovely
leaves on the top

that you can also cook with.

Also managed to grow
sweet potatoes this year.

The plant's based in the polytunnel
along the outside of it,

so it's still quite warm.

So we managed to grow the orange
and purple sweet potatoes. OK.

And we've got lemongrass as well.

How long does this take to grow?

If you planted some seeds
in the spring,

you'd have a decent-sized plant
by now.

And another great thing
about that is in the summer,

there's just the smell
of the lemongrass

keeps all your mosquitoes away.
Oh, really? Yes.

If you're doing this, why isn't
everyone else doing it?

I think a lot of it is just
knowledge and what we're doing here,

growing this unusual stuff,

there's nothing different
to growing your kind

of more conventional stuff.
There's nothing magic about it.

Just lots of water, lots of compost.

But the basic principles
kind of work for everything.

Inspired by what Laura has been
able to produce in a corner of Kent,

I wonder if she's got any
ideas for an underused area

of my garden?

This is an old compost heap,
because I know the soil's

good here. Yeah.
What do you think?

I think maybe let's keep
it easy for yourself,

grow something that's going
to come back every year.

So maybe things like Jerusalem
artichokes. Yeah.

Even some globe artichokes around
the back would do really well.

They also work great
because when they go to flower,

they bring in the bees.
They're really attractive. Yeah.

And then obviously amazing
in cooking as well.

Maybe even some outdoor
tomatoes here. Oh, right. OK.

Might do quite well.
You've got a little sun trap.

You know, there's not too much
of a wind.

So what about,
what about the watermelon?

You could try a watermelon!

Why not?!

What you've shown me, Laura,
is don't be afraid to try.

I mean, we've even got on the farm,
I've got a blue banana tree,

which I've had in
for five years now.

Blue? Blue. And haven't had
a banana yet.

But apparently we used to grow
them in Europe a lot

in the kind of olden days.

And we also have got an avocado tree
which is on about the same age.

So I'm hoping next year I'm going
to have a blue banana

and an avocado.
That's impressive.

Yeah, that would be very, very cool.
That could be quite incredible.

And those are two fruits
that are coming on boats

from a long way away, huge mileage.

And, you know, the carbon footprint,
that's the one thing

we're trying to really reduce. Yeah.

And being...growing more here,
growing more

in our own back gardens,
I think is really encouraging.

And it's such a satisfying thing.
It's very special, isn't it? It is.

And going into the garden, picking
things like bananas or avocados

or even just figs... Yes.
..it's just beautiful.

You forget sometimes. What are we
going to have for pudding?

Well, let's go and just get some
figs off the tree. Yeah.

And I think you tend to grow,
I think you tend to cook

with a lot more love.

As I become a more confident grower,

I realise how lucky I am
to be involved in food production.

But I wish I'd had the opportunity
to start at a much younger age.

So when I heard about a school
that successfully established

their very own farm,
I had to pay them a visit.

You know, being on the farm
and growing

always puts a smile on my face.
It's hard work.

And I'm curious to see

how a school does it.

There's definitely going to be
jobs to do, that I do know.

So we'll go and check it out.

With everything from pigs
and ponies to pumpkins,

Grovelands Primary School
in Hailsham offers a unique

hands-on experience
to even the smallest pair of hands.

That's bringing back some memories.

I'm meeting teacher Heidi Greenwood,

along with her class
of junior farmers.

Welcome to our farm!
I've come to help out.

Hello!
It certainly smells around here!

I hope you're ready to do
some mucking out today! I am!

Right, these look great. I bet
they've got names, haven't they?

Yes. So what are they called?
This one's Whisper. Whisper?

And Olivia, Strudley and Pixie.

They're little, aren't they?
They're kiddie ones.

They're little ones, Pygmy goats.
So they stay little.

Can I stroke one?

Their coats are so soft.

They're beautiful, aren't they?

And what about the big one
behind you? That one's Wonky.

I'm keen to get a flavour
of how the kids help out.

Tell me what to do.
Is this for me? Yeah. That one?

Yes. This is great!

You have to... Yeah. Can I grab
some of that on there?

Is Marcus working hard enough,
girls? All right, you tip that

onto my shovel. There we go.

Scrape some of that on there
and I'll get rid of it.

There we go. There we go.
Out there.

How long you been doing this?

I joined the school
last September.

So basically within a year?
We've built a farm

purely with volunteers.
So this whole set up here

has been built by our school
community.

We have Saturday morning build days
with people volunteering their time,

bringing their children along,
everybody getting involved.

It's been very multi-generational.

We've had grandparents,
great-grandparents coming to build.

So all the children get involved?
Throughout the week,

we have hundreds of children
that come through the farm.

They're responsible for coming
in the morning and feeding

the animals their breakfast,

and doing all the chores,
collecting eggs and things.

It's a 365-day-a-year,
it doesn't end. Yeah.

That's a massive commitment
for a school.

We've been really lucky
here with our school community.

We have a rota of about 26 families
that have committed their time

to come on the weekends
and in the school holidays to look

after our animals. What do
the children get out of it?

They get opportunities for coming
out of the classroom and learning

a range of hugely different skills,
learning empathy with our animals,

learning responsibility.
Regardless of the weather,

they still have to come out
and chip in.

And we're teaching children
about budgeting.

I note down whenever I buy feed
or bedding, the children can see

what we're spending.
Also teaching children

about where their food comes from.

So we're really broadening
children's understanding of animals

and about countryside.

Although we're in a town,
it doesn't look like we're in a town

when we're here. But we've built
a small farm

in the middle of a housing estate

in the middle of a very big
town in East Sussex.

And so for these children to access
the countryside in school,

during school time,
has been wonderful.

Right. How are we doing?
Right. We've done that one.

Well... Good. Should we get Marcus
to empty this? Yeah, where do I go?

You lead the way. Someone show
me the way. I'll get this over.

Oh, well done.

To have this at your school,
it's brilliant.

Look at all these eggs.

You can't imagine how
that's going to encourage

so many of these young kids maybe
one day going into farming.

I think we've got the future
generation of farming right here.

Brilliant!

And back on my farm,

I've got a full house as I'm being
visited by Becky and Mist,

Chris and farmer Stuart.

As a thank you for my trip to
Romney Marsh,

I'm going to cook them a spot
of lunch.

Lamb belly.

A cut of meat that is, well,
very much underused.

This is out of the one cut of
a lamb,

it is probably one of
the cheapest cuts.

We think it's quite fatty.

But there's a huge amount of flavour
in the lamb's belly

and I'm going to be serving
that with a smoked aubergine,

a baba ganoush. It's just a
perfect accompaniment to this type

of lamb dish.

I'm starting by cooking
the aubergines directly

on the coals.

The skin will burn and the aubergine
will start to crack,

and that lovely smoky flavour will
start to just taint the lovely flesh

of the aubergine.

For the lamb glaze, I'm starting
with a pan of stout...

..into which I'm adding some
of my honey.

There's a real nice bitterness with
stout, and that's why

it's really nice when you add
the fresh honey into it.

It just gives it a lovely balance
of bitter molasses flavour

with the beautiful freshness
of the honey.

Next, it's onto the rub.
Into your pestle and mortar,

fennel and cumin seeds,
just gently toasted,

and then just gently break
them down.

Some smoked paprika. Got some
smoked chilli flakes.

Very, very dark brown sugar.

And in here, we've got some
chopped rosemary,

we've got some salt,

we've got a little bit more
smoked paprika.

I think one of the key things in
here is the sugar and the smoky

flavours that just give the lamb
breasts just a little edge,

a little something different.

But before I move on to the lamb,
the aubergines need checking.

The aubergines cook really quickly
when they're in such

an intense heat.

And don't worry about the skin
breaking. It doesn't matter.

Now that the aubergines are really
soft, I'm taking them

off the coals.

And then moving on to the lamb.

There's not a lot of meat on it,
to be really honest with you.

And that's why we leave them whole.

But the key always with the lamb
is just give the fat just

a little scoring.

That just allows us

to get the rub nicely inside.

Rub it in, get it in there.
Forcing it into the cracks.

Now it's ready for the grill.

And what you get is that lovely
crackling going on there.

That's the fat starting to burn.

CRACKLING

Sounds good.

It smells even better.

Grab your glaze.

All you're looking for
is just great caramelisation.

So I'm just going to lift
that up there.

If you're a very big fan
of cooking outside,

it doesn't get much better
than this.

Now, how good does that look?

And that's just the first part.

With the lamb nicely charred,

I'm going to finish it in the oven.

One last bit of the glaze
over the top.

A few sprigs of the rosemary.

Right, tinfoil top.

I'm covering it tightly and putting
it into the oven on a low to medium

heat for around three hours.

Moving on to the baba ganoush,

I'm removing the cooked aubergine

flesh and squeezing out
any excess water.

I'm adding parsley.

A pinch of cayenne and some
smoked chilli.

Tahini, which is a sesame seed
puree.

Some lemon zest and juice,

garlic and seasoning.

This is an age-old dish, but you
also need to take

into consideration what it is you're
serving it with, too.

And because the aubergine doesn't
have a great deal of flavour,

it needs all these other ingredients
for it to come to life.

That just needs...more tahini.

Give it a mix.

That's it. Good to go.

They look incredible,
smell incredible.

And you can see that lamb fat
that you've got there,

and that's why we need to cook
it down really slowly

so that you can render that fat
out and just gently

cook everything through.

Just cut those up into nice chunks.

Look at that. Absolutely delicious.

There is no posh way of serving
this type of dish.

This is just cut it up into pieces,

and you're just going to have to
get dirty.

I think Chris and Stuart
are in for a treat.

Now there's a feast!

A feast for friends.

You've brought the dogs with you!

Right. We have got here some
lamb belly.

Very interesting, cos that's
normally a really cheap bit

that we get minced. Yeah.

The secret is how to cook it.
Grab some.

Oh, the fork goes in nice and easy,
doesn't it? It's lovely, isn't it?

What's really nice is that you can
taste everything.

You can taste that honey.

You can taste the sweetness
of the meat.

For a cheap cut of meat,
that's delicious. Mm.

Around me here in East Sussex,
we've got rolling hills.

We've got a kitchen garden.

It's the beautiful side of farming,
you could say.

But when you go down to the salt
marsh and you meet a shepherd

like Chris, you then get to see
the other side,

how tough farming can be.

I've been to see my stick maker

and this is for you. Wow!

Oh, my goodness! Look at that.

That's absolutely stunning!
Hand-carved with a pair of collies

on because we had the two collies
running.

Oh, my goodness me.
Chris, that's so generous!

Do I look the part?
Just need a dog now.

You're a shepherd now.

I've only got three.

The three Lonk sheep that came
onto the land here,

that was the beginning for me.

Now, going and seeing the sheep
on the salt marsh

and then being given this fabulous
gift from Chris just cements why

I'm doing this.

And it just makes it that little bit
more special.