1
00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,760
'The first day of spring.
That's a good one (!)'

2
00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:15,320
'The weather gods must be appeased
before my voyage can begin.'

3
00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:20,560
'And so a double baptism -
first me, then my boat.'

4
00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,520
'God bless the Bain Marie,
and all who eat in her.'

5
00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:59,000
'The plan is to soothe my soul on
the water, but also to fill my
belly.'

6
00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:05,280
'I'm counting on the new season to
provide for my kitchen and my
karma.'

7
00:01:05,320 --> 00:01:08,320
'My route into rural tranquillity...

8
00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:14,160
..is the inland waterways of
Britain, a slow zig-zag across the
country,...

9
00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,080
..drifting gently towards summer.'

10
00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,240
But I'd find it easier to
wax lyrical

11
00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,520
about the changing season
if spring would get a move on.

12
00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,040
There's a nasty nip in the air...

13
00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:33,600
..and for all the young vegetation I
see, it might as well be Christmas.

14
00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:38,240
It gives you that scary feeling
that, maybe this year,...

15
00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:43,800
..Mother Nature's decided to pack
it in, and there won't be any
spring.

16
00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,440
'The Bain Marie is my new home...

17
00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:52,040
..and my ticket down the aquatic
arteries of the English
countryside.'

18
00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,880
'For further exploration,
I've got my go-anywhere
gastro-bike.'

19
00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:07,760
'In my search for signs of spring,
I'm heading away from the water
and deep into the woods.'

20
00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,120
# DIDGERIDOO

21
00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:17,640
'I'm no seasonal detective,
no expert on the signs of spring,
hence the panic.'

22
00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:21,360
'But Ben Law is.'

23
00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:26,240
'His life, or at least the quality
of his life, depends on it.'

24
00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:30,520
'Ben has made his home
in Prickly Nut Woods.'

25
00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:37,040
'I wanted to live in a way
which was less stressful,
and in a way which was sustainable.'

26
00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:44,000
'Coppicing is an old technique
of forest management.'

27
00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:51,360
'When you cut down a broad-leafed
tree during the winter,
you don't kill it.'

28
00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,800
'The tree will regenerate
and send up new shoots,..

29
00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,120
..and you harvest those
on a regular cycle.'

30
00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,920
'I'm cutting the last trees
for the year...

31
00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:09,160
..and stockpiling materials
for the summer.'

32
00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:15,640
'Charcoal-burning uses up materials
left for a year or two to season,...

33
00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,920
..and forms part of my outlay in
the summer for the charcoal market.'

34
00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,400
CHIMES SOUND IN THE WIND

35
00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,840
I'm on this journey, Ben,

36
00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:36,160
and I'm hoping spring will give me
some interesting ingredients.

37
00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:37,320
Right.

38
00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:43,240
But there's still a nip in the air,
and I wonder if we'll ever escape.

39
00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:47,080
There are signs around us,
among the trees.

40
00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,000
I think I'm missing them.

41
00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,640
Have a look at this one, then.

42
00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,960
Do you recognise this?
The buds breaking?

43
00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,160
Is that pussy willow?

44
00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,280
That's right, pussy willow.
Salix caprea, or goat willow.

45
00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,680
Very pretty, but we can't eat it.

46
00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,640
It's one of the first
bee-fodder crops.

47
00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:13,560
So later, we eat it as honey?

48
00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,520
Absolutely. Or ferment it to mead.

49
00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:20,320
'One acid test for spring

50
00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,000
is to see if the sap is rising
in the silver birch.'

51
00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,440
'Ben has the tools
to provide the answer.'

52
00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:34,080
At the moment, the sap is rising
from the roots of the tree.

53
00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:39,920
We're interrupting the process
and taking the sap on its way up.

54
00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:44,360
You see how far spring is on
by how fast it flows.

55
00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,720
I don't want to go further.

56
00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:52,320
You're just going through the
first layer, not into the main wood.

57
00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:54,000
Through the bark?

58
00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,240
Yes. You should see the sap now.

59
00:04:57,280 --> 00:04:59,560
Doesn't hang around, does it?

60
00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,320
No, it comes through quite fast.

61
00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,040
This is your first spring
consumable?

62
00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:13,880
Yes. It's hard to know
the exact moment to tap the birch.

63
00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:18,800
You can tap it for ten to 15
days at the start of spring.

64
00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:24,560
After that, the sap's too high, too
thick, and you can't tap the tree.

65
00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,800
Any earlier, you won't get any sap.

66
00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:29,360
It's quite impressive,

67
00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:31,880
though I can see we'd have to wait
quite a while

68
00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:33,680
before that demijohn fills up.

69
00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,720
Yeah. It's coming through slowly,...

70
00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:42,520
..and that one will take three
or four days to get a good amount.

71
00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:48,480
'Luckily, Ben had tapped another
birch tree which had given half a
gallon of sap'

72
00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,520
'After removing the pipe,
clay seals the scar,...

73
00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:59,040
..and ensures no permanent damage
is done to the tree.'

74
00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:07,760
'Back at Ben's al fresco brewery,
he showed me his recipe
for birch sap wine.'

75
00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:14,040
'The sap is filtered through muslin,
then topped up with hot water.'

76
00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,400
'The frothy brewer's yeast goes in,

77
00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:21,080
and the demijohn,
with an airtight valve,...

78
00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,600
..will be left
for three months before bottling.'

79
00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:27,200
That's it?
That's it.

80
00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:29,800
Spring essence for future
consumption

81
00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:35,720
Yep. I have last year's
for present consumption. This is it.

82
00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:36,920
This is the birch sap?

83
00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:38,960
This is the birch sap.

84
00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:50,000
Mmm. It's got much more flavour
than I expected.

85
00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:51,240
Mmm.

86
00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:53,160
It's got real depth,

87
00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,760
because I tasted the sap.
It was slightly insipid.

88
00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,040
This has...character. I was going
to say oaky,

89
00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,520
but I guess it's birchy.
Birchy, yeah!

90
00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:09,160
'As the sun set, Ben and I moved
to the fire, and settled down
to some wine buffery.'

91
00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:13,720
Flowers... and honey...
More honeysuckle than urine.

92
00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,560
Good colour.
Mmm. There's something appley there.

93
00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:20,720
Very young. Last year's crop.

94
00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:22,040
Slightly petillant.

95
00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:23,520
Beetroot and ginger.

96
00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:25,320
Very fruity.

97
00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:30,320
No cough mixture in this one.
Benylin, surely!

98
00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:35,400
'Nature's revenge for our
premature spring celebration...

99
00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,560
..was not just a sore head,
but snow.'

100
00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:44,000
'I pulled in among a
well-established colony of narrow
boats.'

101
00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:53,400
ENGINE STOPS

102
00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:04,280
What sort of boat's that, then?

103
00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,000
Bit bright, innit?

104
00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,080
It shows up your paint job a bit,
doesn't it?

105
00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:12,760
What do you think?

106
00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,680
Bit of a lunch box,
innit, a fibreglass lunch box.

107
00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:21,400
It's got more class than that,
hasn't it? Lunch box?

108
00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,440
'Steve Walsh
deals in canal-related scrap,...

109
00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,960
..and the roof of his boat
shows off his magpie instincts.'

110
00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,160
'He may have a harsh turn of phrase,
but he's a resourceful chap.'

111
00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,200
Is this a wind-up?

112
00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,080
'He even has a use
for chicken carcasses.'

113
00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,920
Chuck it over there.
Keep it near the edge.

114
00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:52,000
And just sit and watch,
and you'll see 'em.

115
00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:53,840
Have they always been here?

116
00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:56,920
No, someone put 'em here

117
00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,200
or they escaped from a pond.

118
00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:02,840
They crawl across the land...

119
00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,200
Really?
and the river is ideal for 'em.

120
00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:09,040
You might feel 'em pulling.

121
00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,280
Really? They give a tug?

122
00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:13,320
Quite strong.

123
00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:17,520
You've got one there. See it?

124
00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:18,600
Oh, yeah.

125
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:20,920
Ease it towards the bank.

126
00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:22,640
I want to be sure he's holding on.

127
00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:24,560
I'll stick the net under.

128
00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:27,920
That's it, we got it.

129
00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,880
Watch it, it might pinch ya.

130
00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,120
That's a genuine freshwater
crayfish.

131
00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:35,720
Yep, American signal.

132
00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:39,600
Really? So these are
the American invaders...

133
00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:40,720
Yeah.

134
00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:42,600
..who eat the English ones?

135
00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:46,520
They eat the English ones,
the fish, the fish eggs.

136
00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:50,680
Nobody knows yet how much damage
they are doing.

137
00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:57,640
'These monsters are so successful,
we didn't see an English crayfish.'

138
00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:03,480
'We did our best to redress the
balance by eating all we could
catch'

139
00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:08,600
'Five minutes in boiling water,
and it's time to get cracking.'

140
00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:11,320
They're like giant cockroaches.

141
00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,440
Little mini lobsters. Scampi.

142
00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:16,800
What do we do?
Break that off.

143
00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:21,000
I won't ask if you washed your
hands. We don't worry here.

144
00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:24,840
Take that black vein out of it.

145
00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:26,320
Like on a lobster?

146
00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,760
Yeah.

147
00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:30,440
There we go.

148
00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,600
That is extremely good.

149
00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,400
You can also
eat the meat out the claws.

150
00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,200
On your own for a couple of weeks?

151
00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:47,800
Mm-hm.

152
00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,160
How are you gonna survive?

153
00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:55,080
If I keep running into helpful
people like you, I'll be all right.

154
00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,280
Then again, with a boat like this...

155
00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:00,440
What's wrong with it?

156
00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:03,160
You're OK as long as the sun shines.

157
00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:06,440
What's wrong with my boat?

158
00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:07,720
You changed its name?

159
00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:09,440
Yeah, to the Bain Marie.

160
00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,440
That's bad luck.

161
00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:13,920
You could run into bad luck.

162
00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,480
How very reassuring(!)

163
00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:21,760
Thank you, Steve. Just what
I need on my maiden voyage(!)

164
00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:49,600
As we head west and actually
get some miles under our belt,

165
00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,480
the local climate's
changing all the time.

166
00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:55,960
It's misty here, but very mild.

167
00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,320
I'm hoping that means the hedgerow
herb garden will be coming through.

168
00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:13,320
'A search
for some budding spring greens...

169
00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,280
..is an activity that doubles
rather well

170
00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,360
with being a canal-side nosy
parker.'

171
00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:26,520
There's an old cooks' saying -

172
00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:29,920
"Herbs that grow together,
go together."

173
00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:34,320
And here we've got young chervil
and wild chives.

174
00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:39,640
Chervil grows up three or four feet
in the summer to be cow parsley.

175
00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:41,400
You see it everywhere.

176
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:46,200
The leaves, when young,
have a delicious parsley flavour.

177
00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:52,000
Be careful, because there are things
that look like this and are
poisonous.

178
00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:55,760
The key is fine hairs
you can hardly see,...

179
00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:59,600
..but if you look closely, they tell
you this is chervil, and you're OK.

180
00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:06,720
These wild chives are exactly like
the chives you get
in the supermarket, only better.

181
00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,520
Here! Are you picking my chives?
Cheeky!

182
00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:24,160
Um... a couple. Sorry, I didn't
realise this was your patch.

183
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,680
You can have some.

184
00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,680
'Never one to turn down invitations,

185
00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:34,520
..I went in for a taste
of canal-side hospitality.'

186
00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:36,560
Coming aboard!

187
00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:41,560
Is there a whole set of lore
and culture I need to tap into...

188
00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,080
..to be a proper boat-person?

189
00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:49,240
It does do well to follow
the British Waterways Boaters' Code.

190
00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,440
I'm not talking about...

191
00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,040
As long as you know what is
expected of you.

192
00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,280
I still have trouble with
locks...

193
00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,680
..but I'm talking
about the culture, behaviour.

194
00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:07,960
People who are
used to being on boats
usually knock before they walk in.

195
00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:15,080
There's not much privacy,
so if I'm in the bath and people
walk in, it's like, "Hello !"

196
00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:21,480
So boaters wait for you to say,
"It's OK to come in now."
That's important.

197
00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:23,880
And then they come
and see you in your bath?

198
00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:25,560
They'll hopefully wait!

199
00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,920
I have already made
one aquatic faux pas.

200
00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:34,680
I met a guy called Steve
down near Oxford.

201
00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:38,680
He said it was bad luck to change
the name of my boat.

202
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:40,160
Which, of course, I've done.

203
00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,160
What can I do to reverse the effect?

204
00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,120
I'd adopt a positive mental
attitude.

205
00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,840
You're as doomed as you want to be.

206
00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:53,520
'Beatrice suggested improving
my waterborne vibrations

207
00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,360
with lucky horseshoes.'

208
00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:02,600
'She did one for the Bain Marie,
and I did mine for her
former incarnation, Silver Mist.'

209
00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:19,600
With these, I should have luck
coming out of my ears.

210
00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:25,360
Talking of ears,
I think it's time for my first
piece of terrestrial protein.

211
00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:33,520
'A fine sight of the season, and a
sign that winter is on the way
out,

212
00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,360
..is hares
with a touch of spring fever.'

213
00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,440
'The killing of hares
is a contentious issue.'

214
00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,520
'I met a man who knows more than
most about these creatures.'

215
00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:51,120
'He practises the art of
long-netting,

216
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,680
usually done at night.'

217
00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:56,680
'Hares in Britain are not
endangered,

218
00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:59,040
but are scarce in some areas.'

219
00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:03,440
'These days, long-netters like Chris
Smith, as well as killing them,...

220
00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,720
..capture live hares for
re-stocking.'

221
00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:12,200
Now, this is an absolute classic,
look at this.

222
00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:14,960
There's a run here.
The hares use it.

223
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,720
You can see bits of hares' fur here.

224
00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,280
I'm going to run
right the way through.

225
00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:26,160
This is the traditional method
from the 1880s when I was a boy!

226
00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:30,720
There we go. That should do it.

227
00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,880
It's getting the tension right,
so I want to go about there.

228
00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,720
The hares are out on the field.

229
00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:42,640
I'm making too much noise
for night-time practice,...

230
00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:46,000
..but since I know where they are,
we're OK.

231
00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,440
I was speaking to an old lady
about countryside ways.

232
00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,520
She said, "We called it shushing."

233
00:16:54,560 --> 00:17:01,040
"Shh! My dad took us when I was
young, and all he said was 'Shh'!"

234
00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:05,200
That's the game,
one man against the beast.

235
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:10,040
You have to get on close quarters.
You can't stride up to them.

236
00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,680
We need the wind to our advantage.

237
00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:15,920
WHISTLES

238
00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:18,440
'Long-netting by day
is a team game.'

239
00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:22,760
'Chris and I
keep a watchful eye on the nets,...

240
00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:28,320
..while beaters
spread across several fields
walk the hares towards them.'

241
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:37,040
Hares often stop on the close side
of the hedge and leap over the top.

242
00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,920
That's a one.
Keep down, here's another.

243
00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,960
Now he's gone back again, look!

244
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,040
Now, watch this.

245
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,320
Just watch this.

246
00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:52,320
No! Bugger me,
he wasn't having any of that.

247
00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:55,040
There's one coming over the top.

248
00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,320
He's coming down...

249
00:17:57,360 --> 00:17:59,360
He's going for it.

250
00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,200
He's going... There he goes!

251
00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:08,920
'Only a hypocrite would argue the
death of hunted hares is without
pain

252
00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,800
..but bear in mind hares are mortal,

253
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,560
..and deaths offered by nature
are none too pleasant.'

254
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,720
'The ability to deliver
a swift dispatch is important,

255
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:23,960
'and Chris didn't need help.'

256
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,960
Right. That's broken his neck
nice and clean.

257
00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,240
Now we need to get him out.

258
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:36,920
Often they chew through the net.

259
00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,760
If you ain't on 'em fairly quick,
you get big holes.

260
00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:43,640
That will feed seven or eight.

261
00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:55,320
'For flavour, the hare
should be hung for several days.'

262
00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:59,360
'We swapped yesterday's for a
week-old beast from Chris' larder.'

263
00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:08,880
If you're going to take a hare
from the field to the table,...

264
00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:14,120
..there are various
intermediate tasks to be done.

265
00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,320
One of them is getting the skin off.

266
00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:21,760
First get a little bit of skin
close to the belly...

267
00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:23,960
..and start your slit.

268
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,360
Get your blade under the skin...

269
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,720
..work it up towards
the chest of the hare...

270
00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,000
..always taking care

271
00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:37,280
not to pierce that membrane
that keeps in the stomach contents.

272
00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:44,120
You want them to come out nice and
easy at the end, quickly,...

273
00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:45,520
..cos they're pretty smelly.

274
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,240
Once you can get your hand between
the skin and body, it gets easier.

275
00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,600
You can just pop the back legs out.

276
00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:03,720
And then you can just pull the whole
thing off like one big jersey.

277
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,680
'Beheaded and jointed,
the hare is ready for the pot.'

278
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,600
'First, the meat is quickly browned
in a little hot oil.'

279
00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:24,840
'A splash of Ben's elderberry wine
is perfect for de-glazing the pan.'

280
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,680
'The rest of the bottle goes in.

281
00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:36,760
The pan is topped up
with boiling water.'

282
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,400
'Canal-side herbs are popped in,...

283
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:47,160
..and the lid goes on for three
hours of very slow simmering -

284
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,120
..plenty of time
to swab down the deck...

285
00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:55,640
..and feed the rest of the crew.'

286
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,160
Now we get to the
ever so slightly risky bit.

287
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,960
We're going to thicken the sauce
using the blood from the hare.

288
00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:12,920
The important thing is that we put a
bit of hot liquid

289
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:14,960
into the blood, stirring it,

290
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:19,040
to warm it before we put it
in the sauce,

291
00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,440
otherwise it's going to coagulate.

292
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:25,840
Then the blood can go straight in.

293
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,280
That's already starting to thicken.

294
00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:36,120
The meat goes back in.

295
00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,080
The lid goes on.

296
00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,080
Dumpling time.

297
00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:53,200
Dumplings are a great tradition
of English cookery.

298
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,080
There's no better way to put starch
in a stew

299
00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:58,440
than a good old-fashioned dumpling.

300
00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:05,520
My dumplings are made very special
with my hedgerow herbs -

301
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:07,960
chives and chervil.

302
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:16,520
It's very important that a dumpling
puffs up and gets nice and plump...

303
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:19,920
..so always use self-raising flour.

304
00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:26,560
To stop them being very doughy,
you mix it 50-50 with breadcrumbs.

305
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:28,840
Same quantity of suet.

306
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,320
One egg yolk.

307
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,000
Mix it up.

308
00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:38,080
Get ready to get sticky hands.

309
00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:49,320
Just coming together
very nicely now.

310
00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:55,880
It's basically pastry,
little doughballs popped in the pot.

311
00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,120
That's all there is to it.

312
00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,440
One big dumpling which I'm going
to make into six small ones.

313
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,200
'After 25 minutes, the dumplings
will be plumplings,

314
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,280
and the stew is ready for the
table.'

315
00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:11,600
This is new.

316
00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,120
Did your mother put dumplings in?

317
00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:15,880
Not with a hare.

318
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:21,760
We got our own recipe, marinade 'em
in scrumpy, and basically roast 'em.

319
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:23,440
That's the southern way?

320
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,600
It's our way.

321
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:27,640
Don't forget the gravy.

322
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:31,080
That's interesting with the blood.
I'll have to remember that one.

323
00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:32,520
You eat a lot of hare?

324
00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:34,680
Quite a few.

325
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,040
I like it about twice a year.

326
00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,360
That richness, it's a rare treat.

327
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,480
That's nice.

328
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:53,200
It's rich.

329
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,640
I've never known
why it's called "jugged".

330
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:01,440
I think they used to cook it
in a jug. I don't know.

331
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:04,280
A theory - jugged meant pissed,

332
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,080
and you put booze in -
it's a drunk hare.

333
00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:11,240
Who knows the originations of this?

334
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:13,440
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