Original subtitles

I'm Chris, aka Flamebaster.

I'm a chef and I love cooking with fire.

CHEERING

Flame-baste it, baby!

And one thing it's taught me is that food and fire

is a great way to bring people together.

And I've been lucky enough to travel the world,

cooking and feasting at some of the coolest places on the planet.

- Man, what you got? Oh!

- But to be honest, I haven't really explored or cooked much

around my own country, Cymru.

In this series, I'm on a journey through Cymru

to discover its food past, present and future.

Whoa!

I'll be hooking up with chefs... Nick!

..and local producers,

showcasing some top foodie destinations... Whoa!

..and hidden legends who are striving to protect our food heritage.

And those taking it to the next level.

This time, I'm in Conwy

and I'm going to set this old medieval town alight...

Eclade de moules! ..with plenty of fire...

Chocolate cheesecake. - Iechyd da!

- ..and some juicy eats.

Yes!

So Conwy is known for its massive castle

and the smallest house in Britain.

This old walled market town is one of Cymru's

top tourist destinations.

But I'm not just here to see the sights.

I'm here to cook and eat.

First on the menu is the number-one local delicacy,

the Conwy mussel.

The ancient skill of hand-raking the mussel beds of the Conwy Estuary

is only practised by a few locals now,

and just back from his morning harvest is Tom Jones.

And no, not that one.

- Hi, you OK? - How's it going?

- You don't want to shake my hand! - We'll do a bump.

- You OK? - Great to see you.

- Yeah, nice to meet you.

Ah, they're looking good.

- Is this the haul today? - This morning's catch, yeah.

- Beautiful. Can't get any fresher than this, mate.

They're big boys too, yeah?

- Yeah, they're wild mussels, so they're not grown on ropes.

They're just in the wild in the estuary, yeah.

So they're fantastic. - Awesome.

And tell me a bit more about this rake. I love it.

- Yeah, yeah. Well, we use it. It's heavy.

- Can I have a go? - Yeah. - Wow. It is really heavy.

- Obviously, it weighs more out the water than in.

So you're literally raking

the mussels off the bottom of the sea bed.

- All by hand? - All by hand, yeah. - Very sustainable.

- The whole idea, like, all the small mussels,

the young mussels, all fall through. - Yeah.

So cool, so cool. - Yeah. There you go.

- Do you want me to give you a hand carrying the haul?

- Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Here you are. You grab that end.

OK. - Oh, yeah. It's quite heavy. - I know, yeah.

- This is a good workout. - Good mussels, I told you.

- CHRIS LAUGHS

Since they're left to grow naturally,

Conwy mussels are bigger than common farmed mussels,

which means they're a lot juicier.

- I mean, you can see they're quite dirty at the moment,

so we want to give them a bit of a clean.

- You only harvest these during colder months?

- Yeah, so they're seasonal, the Conwy mussels - September to April.

When the water starts to warm up in the spring,

that's when they spawn and they move. - OK.

- We just don't disturb them then.

- We should all be eating this.

Eco-friendly, sustainable

and tasty. Very tasty. - Yeah.

And a cheap meal... - And a cheap meal. - ..for how good it is.

- THEY LAUGH

The mussels are cleaned in a purification tank,

ready to cook.

And I've got a banging recipe to feed the Conwy locals.

Oh, yes! - Here you go.

Cooking all them, are you? - Yeah, I'll probably need more,

but I know where to come if I need more.

- You know where to come, yeah.

- To cook mussels for a crowd, there's only one way -

the French way.

It's fiery and spectacular

and it's called eclade de moules.

Ooh la la!

I'm so excited.

I've never cooked with mussels this big. Let's go.

First things first, arrange the board.

These nails will give the mussels something to lean on.

This traditional method of cooking a quick meal has been used

by fishermen down the west coast of France for centuries.

Now, you want to start building the base.

And it's essential

you have the hinge side of the mussel pointing upwards, OK?

Because you don't want the mussel to open upwards and ash go in.

So start them off this way.

Now, this may look like a tedious process....

..and it is.

But there is something rewarding about seeing it all come together.

Looking beautiful.

It's like mussel art.

HE LAUGHS

Last mussel.

Yes!

And you can't talk about doing French-style mussels

without using a copious amount of butter.

So on the fire, we go.

I'm just doing, like, a brown butter,

so basically burning the butter,

a bit of vinegar with Welsh caviar.

Laverbread, I love it.

It's laver seaweed. It's a great umami.

Complements the mussels.

It's one of my favourite ingredients.

As a crowd starts to gather, it's time to fuel up the fire.

Traditionally in France, mussel harvesters would use pine needles.

But today I'm using hay

and it's essential that it's organic hay, OK? No chemicals.

Just tuck everything in.

Let's light it up.

Yeah!

Eclade de moules!

The mussels are being baked.

The shells can't open,

so it'll kind of confit its own juice.

It'll get a smoky hit.

Just let it burn down

and hopefully the mussels will be cooked to perfection.

Whoa!

That's a beautiful noise,

hearing the mussels whistle.

These sounds are a sure sign

that the shells are working like tiny little pressure cookers,

slowly releasing steam and almost ready to open.

And this is the reveal.

Yeah!

OK. Let's drizzle...

..this laverbread brown butter

all over the mussels.

And some windblown parsley.

And there you have it.

Eclade de moules, Conwy mussels.

CROWD CHEERS

A cool crowd here today too.

Big love, big love.

Yeah!

And now the moment of truth.

I can't wait to try one.

It smells amazing.

Let's go.

You open up the mussel.

Oh! Look at that.

Plump, juicy Conwy mussel.

Oh, yes.

Come on. Come on!

Oh!

Wow.

Wow. So incredibly juicy.

Sweet, salty, meaty.

And it's a showstopper. It's totally worth it.

Wow. You going to come and try some mussels?

Yeah, yeah. Come on.

Just tuck in. It's hand food.

It's the best way of eating mussels.

Yeah, don't be shy. Come on.

Enjoy, enjoy.

Oh, just look at that mussel. Just look at that.

Hey, Tom. Thank you for coming down, man.

- It's all right. Thanks for cooking my tea.

THEY LAUGH

Have you ever had your mussels cooked like this before?

- Never like this. We've smoked our mussels before,

which is relatively similar, but not as nice as this.

I'd say this is the nicest I've had them.

- It's a beautiful, beautiful smoke and so clean inside.

- Nice big mussels. - Yeah.

- Told you they were big. - They're massive!

Conwy has always been a seafaring town,

but the nickname for anyone who was born within the walls

is a Jackdaw.

The name's taken from the bird that nests

in this town's historic walls.

But it's also the name of one of Conwy's top restaurants.

Owner and chef Nick Rudge is a local lad

who worked for superstar chef Heston Blumenthal,

so he knows his stuff.

- How are you doing? - Very good to see you.

- Good, good. Welcome to The Jackdaw.

- Wow, Jackdaw. The restaurant is looking beautiful.

- Thank you. - Tell me a bit more about Jackdaw and the concept.

- We serve Welsh cuisine here, which I think is quite unique.

We're finding inspiration in the landscape,

in history, in an ingredient.

- And it is crazy that Welsh cuisine is quite rare to find in Wales.

- Yeah, not for the sake of it.

Not to say, "Oh yeah, we use local produce..."

- Because it's the best. - Because it is the best, yeah. - Yes, mate!

- And it is amazing.

And if we have it on our doorstep right here, which we literally do,

why not celebrate that? - Awesome. - Yeah.

- And it's down to that doorstep that Nick takes me

to forage some special ingredients on the muddy shore.

THEY LAUGH

And first up, it's samphire.

Will you be serving samphire raw in the restaurant?

- Yeah, yeah. All of it, we serve raw.

I think once you start cooking it, it just takes away that flavour.

- Like a crunchy sea explosion. - Yeah.

- Salty. - Just absolutely explodes in your mouth, doesn't it?

- And you just pick what you need. - Exactly.

- It's a good forager's rule, really. - Yes. Save some for everybody else,

although I think it'd be pretty hard to clear it all.

THEY LAUGH

And with his eagle eye, Nick doesn't take long

to spot some sea purslane, a salt-tolerant, tasty shrub.

Such an amazing ingredient. - Yeah, yeah.

- Crisp, very succulent.

And we find a plant that I've never tried before -

sea aster.

Wow.

It's a bit more complex. - Yeah, yeah.

- Bit, like, a nutty aftertaste a little bit. - Yeah. Mm.

- Oh, wow. - Mm.

- When the zombie apocalypse comes, we'll still be able to eat. - Yeah.

We'll be fine. We'll be fine.

- Back in Jackdaw,

and I can't wait to taste a couple of dishes

from his tasting menu.

First up, a cured and blowtorched mackerel

straight from the bay.

It's served in a seaweed tart with a salty kipper cream

and the sea veg we just picked.

Yes, chef!

I got the whole place to myself. I can't believe it, man.

- Here's your first course.

- This punchy mouthful has been named The Fisherman's Friend,

and it's obviously going down in one.

Mm!

The beautifully cured, sweet, local mackerel.

That kipper cream is crazy. That's so good.

- Explodes. - And then, boom!

The saltiness from the sea purslane.

- Yeah. - What a flavour, man. - Yeah.

- The next course is all about local Welsh lamb

with the saltiness of the sea veg complementing the sweet meat.

Mm.

Amazing, amazing, amazing.

I love, you can taste the char from the fire,

lamb and purslane, a bit of samphire.

- Yeah. Match made in heaven. - Beautiful combination.

This truly is a celebration of lamb and savoury Welsh umami.

- Yeah. Thank you.

- Mm!

Phenomenal.

- Thank you very much. Thank you.

- Yep. Just an ingenious mashup of super-fresh ingredients.

My next Conwy foodie stop

is just down the street on the busy waterfront.

When the sun's out, nothing hits the spot

like a perfect scoop of ice cream.

And here in Conwy, one legendary family has been serving

the creamiest of treats since 1952.

Parisella's is an Italian family business

selling their own ice cream... Hello, Irena!

..and the head of the family is 95-year-old matriarch Irena.

I feel very honoured to spend some time with the queen of Conwy.

- THEY LAUGH

- You've made my day coming here.

- Oh, you've made my day too.

So how did you get into the ice cream business?

- My dad started off, and eventually we had 12 ice cream vans.

- Wow. - We had the kiosk, and here we are now.

- Here we are now. - Yes.

My brother's children, they're taken over now. - Oh, cool. - Yes.

I don't know if you would like an ice cream, would you?

- Yes! - Yes? - Yes, Irena!

With a selection of 25 flavours, it's hard to choose,

but I've gone for their signature cherry and amaretto.

Oh, thank you so much, Irena.

- Oh, yes. Well, let's hope you enjoy this.

- Iechyd da!

- THEY LAUGH

Wow. - What do you think?

- Mm. Phenomenal.

- Oh, good. Yes. This is the one I like.

- How's the soft scoop? Nice?

Oh, it's very peaceful here. It's nice. - Lovely.

And then this is the bench to commemorate

my late brother, Leo. - Leo.

- Leo. And my late husband.

- Aw. - Yes, yeah.

So I come here and I sit on it every day.

It brings back lovely memories.

- Oh, that's nice. Reminisce good times.

- Yes. Oh, yes.

- Watch the boats roll in and the world fly by.

- What more beauty can you get than this?

- It's stunning, Irena. - Yes, it's lovely. Yes.

- I don't know why people go abroad.

- The weather. - The weather.

- THEY LAUGH

Coincidentally, there's another sweet foodie paradise in town

with an Italian heritage.

Oh!

And this time, it's all about exquisitely crafted chocolate.

And I'm after some for a dessert I got planned later.

Mark Baravelli is the main man.

Wow. Master chocolatiers right here in the heart of Conwy.

- That's us. - What an amazing shop.

- Wales's first bean-to-bar chocolatier.

- Oh, first in Wales? - First in Wales. Absolutely, yeah.

- Wow. Or bean-to-lion.

- THEY LAUGH

So you're making chocolate

completely from scratch, from the bean.

- We feel that it shows off the flavour of the beans

a lot better if you do it that way.

It's the terroir that actually goes into the provenance of the beans.

- So there's different flavour profiles

depending on which parts of the world they come from. - Absolutely.

It's exactly the same as wine and coffee.

There will be vintage years, they'll be really good years,

and they'll be really bad years.

And we want to celebrate that diversity,

that difference in taste.

- Amazing. Can I try some?

- Yeah, absolutely. What would you like?

- What can I get for you? - I love anything chocolate, so...

Tiramisu is one of my favourites.

Would you like to try one of those? - Yes, please.

- So we make this tiramisu using one of our own liqueurs.

- Mm. - How is that?

- It's phenomenal. Phenomenal.

Baravelli's high-end customers include

Faberge and Fortnum & Mason.

But they're not the only ones seduced

by this dark, mesmerising liquid.

- Don't stick your head in. - No, no, no. I'm just so tempted.

You're very disciplined.

I'd be so bad here. I'd be just, boom, boom, boom.

- Oh, I do. - Oh, you do? - Oh, absolutely.

Absolutely, yeah.

- The creative force behind all this choc-tastic craft

is Mark's wife, Emma.

And I can't wait to have a look at her latest creation.

Wow. I've heard amazing things about your eggs.

- I made this for you.

- Welsh dragon. Love it.

- Do you like it? - Wow.

- And then there's a special surprise on the other side.

- Surprise? - Yeah.

- THEY LAUGH

Wow. I love it.

I've never seen my face on a chocolate egg.

Big love for not putting any white hairs in the beard.

- Yeah. - Yeah, massive respect.

How do you eat an egg that big? You need a hammer.

- With a hammer, yeah. - Thor's hammer!

- Well, this one's about 1kg, but the giant ones are 10kg, 12kg,

so you definitely need a saw and a hammer for that, yeah. - Whoa.

It's so cool. Thank you very much. - Enjoy.

- With such a beautiful face on it, it'd be a shame to smash into this.

So these Welsh chocolate wizards have given me some of their luscious

dark chocolate bars for a killer recipe -

a smoky, silky, burnt chocolate cheesecake.

I am totally buzzing to get my cook on

with this beautiful bean-to-bar chocolate.

Conwy is looking stunning in the sunshine.

Rolling smoke in the wood oven.

So easy, but trust me, it's a showstopper.

I start with around 300g of caster sugar

and then 1kg of cream cheese,

a bit of elbow grease,

and in with some orange zest.

A few dollops of whipping cream to lighten the texture,

and some regular double cream.

Once everything comes together,

in with the eggs. Got five eggs here.

Once they're all in and the batter is smooth,

it's time for some vanilla pods.

Although these seeds are tiny,

they pack a hardcore vanilla punch.

Next, some plain flour.

HE LAUGHS The flour is blowing everywhere.

Sorry. You OK?

HE LAUGHS

OK. I don't know...

That's around 50g of flour, give or take.

The flour does help give a bit of structure to the cheesecake.

Now, this needs a good whisk now for a good couple of minutes.

You don't want any lumpy, floury bits.

For the chocolate, it's the dark stuff you want.

Get a hot pan, add some butter

and then the chocolate.

The residual heat will melt everything down

and turn it into this sexy, velvety, runny chocolate

that I fold into the cheese and cream mix.

I add a squeeze of orange juice before scooping the gorgeous,

gooey mixture into a greased tin with baking paper.

I know you're all thinking it.

I am going to do it.

Oh!

I trim the paper just in case it catches fire,

and then give the tin a few bangs to get rid of any air bubbles inside.

It'll need a very high heat for the first quarter of an hour,

then I'll turn it down to around 180 degrees

for another quarter of an hour.

See you later.

Wow.

And there you are.

Bean-to,-bar chocolate char.

Bit of cheesecake poetry.

After it comes out, it should still have a wobble to it,

but as it cools, it'll firm up and set.

Oh, yes, that's what I'm talking about.

It's like a cross between custard and a flan.

And just to finish it off,

got a little something special.

With Baravelli's chocolate,

what else but Parisella's ice cream?

A local Italian celebration

finished with a grate of orange zest.

Beautiful.

There you have it.

Burnt bean-to-bar chocolate cheesecake

and I can't wait to smash it.

Oh! So soft.

Mm!

I know it looks like a heavy cake, but trust me,

it's lighter than the fluffiest of clouds.

The charred, caramelised top gives a beautiful, bitter hit

that complements the soft, delicious, rich chocolate centre.

Heaven on a plate.

Mm!

So, for my final feast, I want to celebrate

this old medieval town with a spectacular dish.

And I'm heading up the Conwy Valley to find some very special pork.

This farm lets native Welsh pigs roam the land,

and I've come here to meet the family that rears them -

Gwen and Rhys Griffiths,

along with daughters Meirin and Branwen.

Yep, yep.

So, Rhys, I am on a mission to find

the best quality Welsh pork I can find.

- We keep a pedigree Welsh pig.

My opinion, the best pig you can get.

- Our customers come back for more because it's the...

It's the taste of the pork at the end of the day.

- It's got the perfect balance between

the back fat and the intramuscular fat

that everyone needs to cook. - Oh, that marbling. - Yeah.

- Yes!

The pigs here live outdoors throughout the year

with cosy sties to shelter.

I love it. So the piglets just roam the fields.

So how old are these?

- So they're around seven weeks old now.

They're still quite nervous, as you can see.

- They are escape artists!

- Yeah. - The pigs are a bit camera-shy.

THEY LAUGH

A pig's natural habitat is the forest,

and the adults here get to root endlessly around the forest floor.

What a life!

These are the big boys.

A reared free-range pig grows at a slower and more natural rate

than one confined to a shed.

And this kind of environment enhances the flavour

and texture of the meat.

- So this is... - Wow.

- This is the man. - The main man.

- Yeah, he's the daddy of everyone here now.

- I think I've just met my spirit animal.

THEY LAUGH

So what makes a Welsh pig a Welsh pig?

The ears are very floppy.

- Yeah, a major factor. - You can see there now, her ears,

she can't see very well, can she? - No.

- And that's why their temperament is... - It does make them...

Yeah, make them quieter temperament.

- Yeah, they love apples. - They love the apples.

- Apples and pork are...

- Yeah. - Good, yeah. - ..a beautiful combination.

THEY LAUGH

Oh, amazing. I do want to bring my kids here,

and they can help you run after the piglets.

- Any time. - Yeah, definitely bring them down. Definitely.

- The farm's pigs are butchered and sold up the road.

So I popped in to meet master butcher Elystan.

- What exactly do you want with the pork, Chris?

- Well, if you can debone it and maybe just take it away from the fat

and it'll be easier for me to roll out.

- I'll tell you what. We'll come around the back,

and then you can show me. - Yes.

What I hope to cook with this amazing cut

is an Italian-style porchetta.

It's a dish where the pork loin and belly is rolled up

with herbs and spices within the crunchiest of crackling.

- It's a lovely light colour on this.

Ideal, Chris? - Expertly done.

- Well, I don't know about expertly, but it's done, isn't it?

- THEY LAUGH

With the meat in the bag,

I've kindly been given space to set up my barbecue

in the lovely back garden of a local Conwy wine shop.

Because to go with my pork, I'm after a tipple made with honey.

Welsh booze expert Carol can hopefully help.

- This is Celtic mead.

This is actually from Ceredigion, but it is their medieval recipe.

Being the traditional style,

it's quite a rich, honeycomb taste to it.

- Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's very sweet.

And how strong is this, then?

- This one's about 12%, this one. - Beautiful, beautiful.

I think this would go perfect for my recipe.

Can I take a bottle? - You certainly can.

I hope there's going to be a little bit of taste afterwards.

- Yeah. Thank you.

- Thank you. - Diolch! - Bye-bye. Diolch yn fawr.

- Here we go, then.

The loin and belly of pedigree Welsh pork

smoked low and slow with a hint of history -

my medieval porchetta.

I'm loving my kitchen here in the beer garden of Vinomondo.

And look at this belly and loin cut.

Stunning, stunning meat.

I'm rolling smoke and the key

to a delicious porchetta is simplicity, OK?

Start off with a nice stuffing.

Here, I've got apricots soaked in mead, dried apricots.

So just start giving everything a rough chop.

Apricots go perfectly with pork

and I pile in the herbs.

I've got sage, rosemary and thyme.

I add some olive oil, a good handful of sea salt,

and plenty of garlic paste.

I mix it all up with the zest and juice of a lemon,

and I like a little heat, so in goes a green chilli.

Plenty of cracked black pepper,

and to sweeten it up, it goes back in the mead.

Phenomenal stuffing.

Right, then. We'll wipe down

and sort the porchetta out.

The origin of porchetta dates back to the Roman times.

Apparently, it was Emperor Nero's favourite dish,

whoever that was.

Anyway, this fruity, meady mix

will work a treat for my Conwy guests.

Now, that is nice and tightly packed,

like a massive pork cigar.

The final touch - a bit of olive oil.

The oil works as a binder for all the sea salt that's needed

to turn this skin into super crunchy, tasty crackling.

To the smoker, I throw in some applewood

to enhance the smoky flavour of this porky parcel.

We're coast to coast on the smoker.

Perfect fit.

And lid on.

Yes, we're already rolling smoke.

And this big boy porchetta is going to take a good four hours, OK?

It's a long cook, but good pork comes to those who wait.

While I wait, I make a coleslaw

with chopped red and white cabbage and a few onions.

Now some apples. Apples and pork.

Come on, man. It's the best combo on earth.

In go a few spoonfuls of Dijon mustard,

plenty of mayonnaise, salt,

a glug of apple cider vinegar

and the best way to mix is with your hands.

Wash my hands.

Let's have a look at this pork.

The smoke has transformed this porchetta

into a dark, rich colour.

But it needs to rest before I can have a look inside.

So it's been resting for a while now.

Moment of truth.

Oh, yes!

Four hours of smoking was totally worth it.

Chef's treat. Got to have a taste before everyone else.

The crackling, the pork, the stuffing,

the resting juices.

Mm.

Mm!

Incredibly moist, incredibly juicy.

And believe me, when the pig has lived

such a beautiful, free life,

you taste the happiness.

Mm.

And those apricots soaked in the mead.

Beautiful flavour.

Right, then.

Let's slice them up for the guests.

To me, every special guest is a local food hero.

So let's get this feast started.

So, whose pig are we eating today?

Yours or yours?

- Mine. - Your pig.

- Ah, Meirin!

- Did it have a name? - Winnie.

- Winnie. Oh, Winnie bach. Winnie bach.

- But I still have another Winnie.

- Oh, you have another Winnie now? Cool.

- Thank you so much.

- Enjoy, enjoy. - Thank you.

- Hopefully I've done the meat justice.

- Oh, I'm going to enjoy that.

- But super chef Nick from The Jackdaw has the final say.

- I don't even need the knife. - It's so tender.

It's falling to bits. It's so tender.

Give it to me straight, brother.

- Oh!

- Yes!

- Yes, chef!

- Do you know what? I've really loved

every second of my time here in Conwy.

Phenomenal produce, amazing places to eat.

Beautiful town, beautiful people.

Right, then. I'm going to have my dinner with these lot.

Nice one!

It's not bad, no?

- Fantastic. - Delicious.