Original subtitles

I am Adam Richman, global food explorer.

I've come all the way from the USA.

Oh man...

..to taste the very best of Britain.

Cheese... Oh, I love that.

Some of the world's most famous foods

share their name with the place in Britain

where they were created.

Oh my god! That's good.

So I am using the map as my menu...

If I am in Eton, I have to try Eton Mess.

..eating my way around the country...

..place by delicious place.

Eating Earl of Sandwich, Sandwich in Sandwich.

Bake well the Bakewell in Bakewell.

Real Aberdeen Angus in Aberdeen.

And I'll be exploring all the areas nearby,

to find out what other awesome eats are on offer.

God, this is beautiful.

I'm here and I am hungry.

Ooh!

This is Adam Richman Eats Britain!

From Cardiff to Carnarvon,

Wales is a country with a rich culinary tradition.

So, I'm beginning my journey

in a beautiful, historic Welsh county

that's the birthplace of a dish like no other.

I'm in Glamorgan.

Right now I'm in Rubina,

three miles north of the city centre of Cardiff,

for my first taste of authentic Glamorgan sausage.

And the locals have told me

that the best place to try it is here at Snail's Deli.

Fran?

Hi Adam, welcome to snails Deli. How are you? Are we hugging?

We're hugging, we're hugging. I like this, I like this.

Nice to meet you.

Now where does the name snail come from?

So our daughter at the time, who was obsessed with bugs,

absolutely loved bugs,

and she always had snails crawling up her arm.

So we thought, "Well, it's short and sweet,

"and people will remember it."

Do you serve snails?

We used to. We don't... They are not so popular.

In fact, my daughter is the only one that eats them.

(LAUGHS)

She went from playing with them to eating them.

Playing them to eating them with a bit of garlic.

It's the circle of life. Yeah.

Fran has created a thriving community hub in her cafe,

where locals flock for the fresh local fare.

And their Glamorgan sausage,

cooked by chef Finn, is a consistent crowd pleaser.

I think I'd be remiss to come to Wales

and not talk about Glamorgan sausage.

Of course, and being in Glamorgan, we are in south Glamorgan,

so the Glamorgan sausage did originate here.

Well, I've never seen it made.

It seems like somewhere between croquettes...

Yes, like a little mini croquette,

you make up the mix together, so you get...

Show me, show me, show me, can we see it made?

OK we're going to bring you through to the kitchen

and we're going to show you how to make some.

Glamorgan isn't your traditional meat sausage.

It's vegetarian, and it's coated in breadcrumbs.

It rose in popularity in World War II,

when meat was strictly rationed.

So, instead of being filled with meat,

it's filled with the finest Welsh cheese,

and the most iconic vegetable in Wales, the leek.

This is where the magic happens.

Now first of all, what kind of steroids

are you feeding those leeks?

This...

Could you just hold up that Olympic torch looking thing?

Look, you, see? This is what we grow here in Wales.

It's so fertile, our land is so fertile and so luscious.

Look at that for a specimen. Isn't that wonderful?

Is that standard issue, like that's the normal size leek?

That is a good one, that is... They obviously had good fertiliser.

Now chef you are making the beginnings of the Glamorgan?

I am yes, so, we have these sliced and diced up leeks,

nice and fine,

and the better it is to squeeze them all together.

Traditionally, the Glamorgan sausages

are made with Caerphilly cheese,

although before that, it was Glamorgan cheese,

but unfortunately the Glamorgan cattle

in which Glamorgan cheese was accessed

had gone extinct for a while.

So what are we working with, cheddar?

So today we are working with Welsh cheddar

because it gives a nice, strong kick at the end.

We also had about two tablespoons worth of powdered mustard

and a handful of parsley.

With a big handful of thyme,

with around three eggs in this batch.

What is it traditionally served with?

So, traditionally, it's served in a sandwich,

with a pot of chilli jam and a bit of rocket.

I love the fact that we've hit on yet another vegetable

that Americans call something different.

We usually say arugula or baby arugula.

Ah, that's it.

But I think rocket's way cooler. Mm.

Like before it was a racoon in Guardians of the Galaxy,

it was a delicious bitter green

that, you know, yuppies put on their crab cakes.

Yeah, well, it's not rocket science, is it?

Oh, nicely done.

Oh, I am a quick one.

He is, I am going to send him to the pun-itentiary.

So what are you putting into the egg wash now?

This, this is what is going to make the breadcrumbs

stick to the Glamorgan sausages.

Oh, so they're all going to get a breadcrumb coating.

Oh yes.

They'll be paneed before they go ready for the fryer.

Listen to her with 'pane'!

And then they go in the deep fryer?

They do, yes, so all set.

We fry them until golden brown.

And then I finally get to taste this Glamorgan legend.

Ooh!

This is your glam and jam.

We've got the Glamorgans on their own.

Or you can have them here in a sandwich,

and we have the chilli jam, all homemade, enjoy.

Amazing glam and jam from Fran for the man, I love that.

There's a faint, almost perfuminess to the local leeks

that I was not prepared for.

It's really just so fragrant, and it's so much fun to eat.

Like, they have all this fresh bread

loaded with jam.

Super soft. Oh, I love this bread.

Oh my god. Oh, that is fantastic.

That is really fantastic.

There's something about high quality soft white bread,

going soft to crunchy to soft,

to the crunchiness of the rocket again,

going spicy savoury, from that jam,

through a very different sort of aromatic, allium-onion note

from the actual Glamorgan.

And then going to, oh my God, butter.

They may call this the snail,

but I'm going to eat this very quickly.

Mm! Good morning Glamorgan.

Glamorgan sausage in Glamorgan. Done and dusted.

But that is not the only dish to put Wales on the culinary map.

So, I'm heading into the centre of Cardiff to seek out some more.

Now this is something I'm really looking forward to.

I'm feeling pretty lucky because I get to meet head chef Matt

at the acclaimed restaurant The Potted Pig.

Matt's the guy behind the mouth-watering menu

of their modern British dishes,

with their strong Welsh flavours and heritage.

And I'm kind of feeling twice as lucky,

because Matt's making me two of their most popular dishes.

Thank you for having me in the kitchen.

I've heard so much about this restaurant.

What are the two dishes we're going to make?

Welsh lamb faggots, traditional ones,

served with mustard mash,

sauteed peas, and then a rich jus to finish.

These large sort of meatballs

were a South Wales staple 200 years ago,

as they were pretty cheap to make, as well as delicious and nutritious.

Now, they're a household name found in pubs across the country.

And then our second dish will be Welsh rarebit.

Essentially, cheese on toast but pimped up a little bit.

First up, Matt is prepping the meaty dish

made from off cuts and offal.

Originally made from pork offal, the recipe has been adapted

over time, and lamb has become the meat of choice.

We have our Welsh lamb trim. Yeah.

I also have heart, lungs, gall fat, all of those put together.

Once minced, dried herbs, cumin, Madeira wine,

and garlic puree are added.

The mixture is then shaped into balls,

and wrapped in pig caul fat,

which is kind of like nature's cheesecloth.

It keeps it moist and it helps keep its shape.

That is amazing.

My mum and dad, apparently, tried to get me to eat this

when I was younger.

Course I didn't like it back then because it is...

It's offal.

You don't really want to eat that as a child, so...

O-F-F-A-L. Not A-W-F-U-L.

It's not awful, it's jut offal.

These are our final products, we will get them into the oven.

With one dish in the oven. It's on to the next.

Arguably the best known of all the Welsh named classics,

Welsh rarebit.

So basically, the base of a rarebit,

you make, you make a roux containing butter, flour.

It's not entirely clear where the name rarebit comes from.

One theory suggests it derives from Welsh rabbit,

an old slur used by the English towards Welsh peasants

for substituting pricey meat for cheaper cheese.

Well, whatever the reason, this one has an extra local ingredient

that's not in the history books.

Is that the beer we're using, chef?

Here we have cutch, it is a dark red ale.

Seeing this word everywhere, what does it mean?

Cutch? Hug. Aww.

Cutch as well, it's a slang word for hug in Wales.

Give me a cutch.

That's awesome. I am going to bring that back to Brooklyn

Warm milk is then added to the roux and whisked together.

The mixture is finished off with mustard and, most importantly,

a strong Welsh cheddar, which goes by a different name round here.

Here is our Welsh dragon cheese here.

Welsh dragon cheese.

I didn't know you could milk a dragon.

Probably be about half at a time,

again just so that you're not getting lumpy rarebit essentially.

That's a whisky business.

So this is our final product here, so...

Ooh...

Nice thick rarebit.

Whilst we've got this cooking, I am just going to add

a few knobs of butter to the pan to add our leeks to.

To add yet another layer of Welsh wonderfulness,

Matt layers melted leeks on the toast,

before topping it with a generous serving of his cheese mix,

and grilling it to perfection.

And how about that?

My offally good meatballs are cooked too,

waiting to be coated in lamb and beef jus.

While Matt plates it up,

I take my seat and get my taste buds ready for a big old cutch.

Oh, thank you, chef.

So here we have our traditional Welsh rarebit,

and here we have our traditional Welsh faggots,

mustard mash peas, and a rich jus to finish it on top.

Chef, thank you so much.

Hope you enjoy it. I really hope you enjoy it, thank you.

Thank you! Oh my gosh.

I legitimately don't know what I want to eat first.

I mean, you eat with your eyes

and it's just amazing,

like the glaze on this alone,

how creamy and whipped the potatoes,

you can see grains of mustard in them.

And the rarebit, I got to try the rarebit.

I got to.

I just know it's going to be so like melty magnificent.

I got to get in there.

Oh, those leeks, though.

Forgot he was putting these leeks in.

Where to begin?

It's overwhelming in the best way possible.

Holy moly.

It's got, like, a creaminess and depth

of almost like a lobster thermidor.

And it gets every part of your tongue.

I've never had anything like this

in all of my life, in all of my life.

I am floored.

Like, I will be thinking about the flavours in this rarebit

on my flight home to America.

I've gone for my cheese course. Let's get on to the meat.

Look at it.

It's almost like a sausage casing,

but you can see it's got this shiny coating.

Oh.

It is like a doner kebab,

lamb meatballs, Shawarma, and falafel

had a baby.

And then coated it in the single most glorious glaze

I've ever had in my life.

OK, a little bit of peas.

There's layers of flavour,

a variety of techniques, a variety of textures.

One of the best meals I've had in my life.

My mission to eat the very best of Britain

has led me to beautiful South Wales.

Now, I've already sampled glorious Glamorgan sausage,

and wonderful Welsh rarebit, but I'm still in Cardiff

and there is more synonymous treats

that are calling my name, Welsh cakes.

So I'm heading to a shop across the street from Cardiff Castle,

to meet Jo, who's been baking them for over 15 years.

Ooh, hi. Hi there.

Smells amazing in here.

Also known as bakestones,

or, if I am kinda showing off,

Pice ar y Lychwan in Welsh.

How many different varieties do you have?

Oh we do, probably about 30-40 different varieties.

What's the most extreme?

Mainly the sour cherry and dark chocolate.

That is quite unusual. Oh my god, that sounds amazing.

Urm, we do pistachio and lemon.

Do you guys have a favourite?

My favourite is traditional.

Yeah, me too, can't go wrong. Traditional too?

Yeah.

What's inside them? Well, we use sultanas.

But I think years and years ago, traditionally,

it would have been currants.

Essentially sultanas, just like raisins with attitude?

They are like big raisins, I guess.

Big raisins. What kind of dough is it made from?

It's very similar to a scone dough.

Would you like to try one?

Oh yes, I most certainly would, please.

The best way to try it, hot from the griddle.

Thank, duvachoid.

Cresa.

Oh boy. Oh, it smells amazing. It smells like Christmas.

(GIGGLES)

It's super comforting, like the smell reminds me

of making sugar cookies with my mother at home.

Oh, it smells so good.

Right, my very first authentic Welsh cake in Wales.

Mm, that's fantastic.

It's somewhere right between shortbread and cake.

Way more moist.

This puts the traditional scone in a headlock

and it goes, "Why are you hitting yourself,

"why are you hitting yourself?"

And, listen to me, you got me loving raisins,

that alone, you deserve like a Nobel prize for, I mean...

Calling them sultanas, it's like the stage name of raisins.

They used to call me dried grapes but now I'm sultana.

These were magnificent.

While they are warm, may I take some to go?

Of course.

Thank you so very much.

I love these, you're going to love these. Onward.

So far, everything I've tried on my tasting tour of South Wales

has been delicious and traditional,

and, well, super Welsh, which is awesome.

But my final destination takes its inspiration from further afield.

Housed in this beautiful Victorian building is Cardiff Market.

What started off in the 18th century as a farmer's market

now sells everything under one roof, including a huge variety of food.

And excitingly for me, there's one trader here

that reminds me of my own family's kitchen.

There is a restaurant here that makes pirogues,

polish dumplings,

authentic but with a little bit of a twist.

And I have heard that this is a bite I cannot miss.

Now, this is pretty big for me,

because you may not know this, but I am half polish,

so I get to experience a bite of Wales,

and a bite of my family's own past.

I am extremely excited, and I am also extremely hungry.

Chezt.

Chezt, hello. Welcome to Pierogi Cardiff.

How have the Welsh people responded to Polish food

in the middle of the capital city?

They are very welcome.

So many people, tourism to the Poland,

and go to the Krakow to the Warsaw, to the big cities,

and they know our culture and our kitchens,

so they know Pierogi.

Violetta sold over 70,000 dumplings last year,

and her rotating menu of seasonal fillings are a huge hit.

We have five fillers.

Butternut squash kiln and Barley.

Wow. Butter beans. Garlic. Spinach.

Fresh herbs. Duck, cottage cheese.

Potatoes. Are there duck pierogi in Poland?

Yeah, there are, of course, our...

My bubby was holding out on me, she never hooked it up.

Will you show me how you make some of these amazing products?

Yeah, of course, come inside please.

How do you say 'awesome' or 'that is really cool' in Poland?

Ziabeshta.

Alright, ziabeshta, let's go and see some pierogi being made.

So this is the duck...

This is the duck one you eat before, yeah.

And I know it's a secret, can you tell me one other thing

that's in there, other than duck,

just one thing?

I know you can't tell me the whole recipe.

Erm...

And don't make it salt and pepper. Spices.

Oh, I knew you were going to say that, come on.

No, it's a hundred percent meat and, and spices.

May I try it? Of course.

OK, so walk me through it. So I have my amazing dough.

Yeah.

I have my duck meatball. Do I flatten it?

Yeah, a bit squashed.

OK, squash a little bit.

How much squash, too much?

No, it should be fine, and I use my finger like that.

Uh-huh. To make a taco.

Yeah, and stick the dough together.

And then you prick with the fork.

Yeah, we do it twice to make a shell, you know.

After when they are ready in here,

they go into the boiling water.

So first of all, we put our dumplings to the water to make,

and waiting about three minutes

and they are ready to go.

What is it like for you now

because you have Wales citizenship now, right?

Yeah, I am. Do you speak any Welsh yet?

No, not Welsh, sorry. My daughter is learning at school.

The Welsh language, yeah.

I am still learning English, so... (LAUGHS)

You are doing great with English.

You are doing better than I am with Polish.

Enough talk. It's time for me to taste a little bit of Poland

in the heart of Wales.

Between family, friends, and travels,

I have eaten some pretty great Pierogi,

so I got to admit the bar is set high.

OK, Adam, it's ready. Enjoy your pierogi.

Thank you. Oh, the plum sauce. This is the plum sauce?

Yeah, this is the plum sauce. And what's on top?

The fried onion. Fried onion.

Yeah, it is.

Oh right, thank you so much.

Thank you so much, enjoy your food.

Chenguba. Thank you, chengbua.

These things are so tender.

Imagine just one step past al dente pasta,

like risotto tender.

Smells bananas.

Mmm, that is crazy.

There's so much going on. Punchy, punchy duck flavour.

So, you get the texture. It's super pliable.

Imagine like, I hate to say it,

almost like a peanut butter sandwich,

on, like, soft white bread.

That tender yield, you know, biting through like noodles,

that are just, just a little more cooked.

So, it's super pillowy.

And this is delicious.

It's so good.

And as someone with Polish heritage, I'm proud to take part in it.

Proud to showcase it, not only as some

of the best pierogi I've ever had.

Sorry, Grandma, but it's also a place

where other people can find this beautiful city,

make it their home, and bring a bit of their home with them.

So, come, have a little bit of my home, my heritage.

In the capital city of Wales because...

I initially came to Wales to try the iconic Glamorgan sausage,

but I've discovered a feast of traditional treats,

from Wales and beyond, all lovingly prepared,

to create some of the most memorable meals of my journey so far.

But, to come to a city that I've never been to before,

in a country that I've only visited once before,

obviously, I want to try the traditional dishes,

the ones that are famous the world over,

but I've also been able to enjoy a taste of the best of modern,

multicultural Britain as well.

Toyachanvow, Glamorgan. I have truly loved my time here.

It's not Canadian, but it rhymes with Mountie.

A lot of chewing involved, a lot of chewing.

You don't like the flavour of coconut?

You're not going to like it. I like it.

This magical coconut chocolate bar that comes in twos.

I am a fan of the bounty.

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