(pleasant music) - Cooking is really at its best when it's shared.

(drums booming) Wow.

So I'm off to visit inspiring communities across the country to see how food brings them together.

That's a bit of all right.

- Hey.

- [Mary] Exploring some exciting places.

It's extraordinary, it's huge, isn't it?

- Look at that, beautiful.

- I can think of no better place to be.

Whilst sharing mouthwatering recipes of my own.

That looks amazing.

I can't wait to eat it.

I'm at the ready.

So let's get to it.

(people cheering) (gentle music) (dramatic music) So much of the food I love to share is inspired by adventures I've had along Britain's beautiful coastline.

I've so many wonderful memories of family holidays on the coast.

Dorset's Jurassic Coast is really special.

From its natural larder to its hidden treasures, it's one of my favorite places to escape to.

(gentle guitar music) What my family love most about our trips is the delicious seafood.

Nothing is better than eating it fresh from the sea.

(gulls cawing) Local lad, Sam Shuker, feels just the same.

Hello, there.

- Hello there, young Mary.

- You must be Sam?

- Yep, that's me.

- And dad John is working.

That's good.

- Hi there, Mary.

- Nice to see you.

And who's the little dog?

- That's Bobo.

- Does he have a life jacket?

- Oh yeah.

- Yeah.

- I'll get you on.

- Okay.

Sam's a fully qualified scallop diver, having learnt everything from his father, John.

So once you've got all that kit on, how many do you reckon to get?

- Well, I should get round about 100 scallops.

- 100 scallops?

- Yeah, it's cake down there.

- You put them into a net, or a bag, or what?

- This is what we use.

- Neat little shopping bag.

- Yep.

I hold it with my left hand.

- You look pretty young to me.

How old are you?

- I'm 21.

Well, I've been fishing for five years now.

In my last year, I've just been starting scallop diving.

And soon as I got down there, it was just, I was literally like a kid in a sand pit.

It was just, seeing all the sea life, and the scallops, and nature, there's nothing quite like it.

- [Mary] Makes you feel good.

- It makes you feel alive, it really does.

- So, are we ready to go?

- Well, as I'll ever be.

Let's get in there.

(pleasant music) - [Mary] To help him reach the seabed, Sam puts on a weighted 20 kilo belt.

- All right, I'll see you later.

(respirator hissing) (plucky music) (Bobo barks) (water burbling) - He's coming back, he's coming back.

(respirator hissing) Hand diving is a sustainable method of fishing, because it causes little environmental damage.

Sam can spend over an hour down there.

Luckily, he's not going for that long today.

Good thing, 'cause I'm getting hungry.

- Ah man, that was awesome.

- [Mary] Have you filled that fishing bag?

- Oh, I've stuffed it all right.

- Gosh, that's cram jam full of scallops.

- Yeah, that was pretty ding dang good.

- And so you reckon there's a good 100 there?

- I would say there, yeah.

- And they are tightly closed.

- [Sam] Beautiful.

You know, this is how we should eat seafood, fresh out of the water.

- [Mary] Any under 11 centimeters are returned to the sea, and allowed to grow.

But there are plenty left for the recipe I want to make.

- How many scallops would you like, Mary?

- About 20 or 30 would be lovely.

- Oh, brilliant.

I'll shuck you a few, then.

- That was pretty quick.

- Oh, I've had experience of it.

- What a lovely young chap.

Shucking is not the job for me.

You're just cleaning it?

- Yep, that's your scallop.

- Oh, that's beautiful, isn't it?

They look absolutely amazing.

So shiny and fresh, straight from the sea.

Couldn't be better.

- I can't wait to see how you cook 'em.

(pleasant music) - Seeing scallops harvested like that is truly impressive.

I may not have joined Sam underwater, but I can share one of my own special scallop recipes with him.

Start by heating a large frying pan until very hot.

Add a tablespoon full of oil, and a knob of butter.

And you know how just fresh these are, straight from the sea.

When the butter turns a rich nutty brown, throw in the scallops.

The trick is to fry them for no more than 30 seconds on each side.

A little pepper and salt, if I haven't lost my hat.

If you don't have scallops, king prawns are a good alternative.

That's it, I'm taking them off right now.

To go with these wonderful scallops, there's nothing better than oyster mushrooms.

They're very meaty, and I like to cut them fairly thinly lengthways, just like that.

And yes, you do eat all the stalk.

It's the best part.

All they need is to be fried in some oil, butter, and finely chopped garlic.

Sheer luxury.

A little pepper and salt.

And stir well.

And it'll take two to three minutes to cook that.

Just turn it over.

I often like to do this with two spoons, but as I'm on the beach, it's either saving the hat, or using two spoons.

Saving the hat.

A good glug of white wine will get the sauce going.

Do you know, it's something about with the sound of the sea behind me, and the wind, it is lovely.

I really feel I'm on holiday.

It's 300 mil of full fat cream that transforms this dish into something divine.

So that's a lovely sauce consistency there.

A little squeeze of lemon juice, some fresh tarragon.

That'll give a wonderful flavor.

More color and flavor from parsley.

There it is, perfect sauce.

One last thing to do.

These are the star of the show.

Let those go in.

Don't they look beautiful?

(gentle music) Doesn't that look delicious?

I hope Sam is looking forward to sharing with me.

I've shared scallops many a time, but I've never cooked them for a professional scallop diver before.

Let's hope this recipe has done justice to his catch.

- Oh wow, Mary, this looks amazing.

Thank you so much.

- Well, you said when you came off the boat that you would be starving, so you've got a good portion.

- It really is.

- [Mary] Come on, see what you think.

- Mm, wow.

I honestly think this is the best scallops I've ever had.

I didn't know they could be this beautiful.

- Well, they couldn't be fresher, could they?

And I think the important thing with scallops, whether you cook them in the oven, whether you fry them, however you do them, is to do them just for a few seconds each side, because if you cook them for too long, they're tough.

- Don't overcook 'em.

(plucky music) - Because my family loved the coast, whether it's summer or winter, I always have a simple warming recipe up my sleeve that's perfect after a long day out.

Lasagna is an absolute staple for most families, and I've got a brand new one.

It may not be the classic lasagna, but it's easy, creamy, and delicious.

Start with 500 grams of diced chicken thighs.

There, it's beginning to sizzle straightaway.

So I'm just tossing that until it's lightly browned, and not cooked.

Then add some chili, garlic, and mushrooms, and let them sizzle.

Won't take long, that's it.

Then I'm going to add 200 grams of young spinach, lovely and dramatic.

Looks as though it won't all go in, but I assure you it's going to.

So just turn that until it's wilted.

Rather than the fuss of making a bechamel sauce, I've got a much better plan.

So, that's bubbling away.

Add the creme fraiche, and you know me, full fat creme fraiche, all in one go, 200 mil.

Add some parsley, all to add flavor.

Give that a stir, and let it bubble up, and then that is a thin mixture.

I'm going to thicken it up with a little bit of corn flour that's been mixed with water until smooth.

That's the creamy chicken done.

Now onto the tomato layer.

Add two tablespoons of sundried tomato paste to a tin of chopped tomatoes.

That really does add a depth of flavor.

Boost it further with a tablespoon of chopped thyme, and of course, pepper and salt.

So, just give that a good stir.

And no need to do it on the cooker.

It's going to get cooked when you put the lasagna in the oven.

Now just bring it all together.

Spoon a third of the creamy chicken mixture into an oven dish.

It'll look a pretty thin layer, but it's right.

So just spread that out so everybody gets a little bit of chicken.

Then about 1/3 of the tomato, and blob it.

Don't try and spread it, 'cause it doesn't spread.

Then I'm going to take the lasagna sheets that I've been soaking.

I might have to overlap this a bit, but that'll be all right, because I've softened it.

But you'll need three sheets.

Keep building the layers, and finish with a generous topping of grated cheddar.

The more flavorsome, the better.

Mature would be good.

Right, that's all ready to go into the oven.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in a 180 fan oven until the topping is a gorgeous golden brown.

(pleasant music) There it is, bubbling away in here.

Oh, and it's heavy I might say, too.

There we are.

And it smells really good.

The sort of smell you want to open the door and come into.

Can you see the steam coming from it?

So if I'm quiet for a moment, you know why.

This really is moreish.

Great dish to share, but on the other hand, I don't know how much is gonna be left.

(pleasant music) (dramatic music) It's not just the seafood that lures us to the Jurassic Coast.

The name says it all.

Charmouth Beach is littered with fossils.

Enthusiasts of all ages come here to share their passion for our ancient past.

(tool tapping) I'm told local expert, Nigel Clarke, is the man to talk to.

(tool tapping) Is there any chance of me finding fossils today?

- The cliffs around here are 150 to 250 million years old.

You're actually seeing a cross section of the seabed here, and every time these waves hit these cliffs, more fossils get washed out.

So you've got as much chance of finding a fossil as the next person coming down on the beach.

- So what do you think I might find?

- Well, normally around here, if you're lucky, you do find some bits of ammonite.

When you look at this fossil, luckily this is cracked on the beach.

And when you actually lift it up, you can see it's got some traces of fossils just here.

- [Mary] Right.

- [Nigel] But if you investigated it further, you've got a perfect ammonite right in the middle there.

- It's just like a little curly shell.

- It is like a curly shell, but this is 180 million years old, and you're the first person to have seen this since it was formed during the Jurassics age.

So it's a perfect ammonite right in there.

- It looks lovely.

(pleasant music) All this fossil hunting has made me work up an appetite.

I might not have a recipe for ammonites, but I do have one for a marine animal that's far more available to us.

Moules mariniere, a great classic.

I'm doing it on a beach.

The sun is out, there's the sea.

What could be better?

Gosh, it's warm.

So I've got the moules here, and they're lovely and fresh, but just go through them.

If any of them are open, which that one is slightly, can't you see, slightly open?

And then if you just bang it on the table, it's closed.

If they don't close, don't use them because that means they're not fresh.

(pleasant music) This is a quick cook, starting with oil and butter sizzling in a pan.

And then I've got shallot here, and they're very finely shredded.

Fry them for three to four minutes to soften.

Give it a good stir.

They want to go translucent.

Add four crushed cloves of garlic, and 150 mil of white wine.

(wine sizzling) In go the mussels.

Oh, smells wonderful.

Then on with the lid, and you just cook those for a few minutes until every one of those mussels have opened out.

Luckily, there's something to look at while I wait.

I think they should be ready now.

They're all opened.

There they are, absolutely perfect.

So in the pan now is just the wine, and a few shreds of shallot.

So at this stage, you almost want to call the family.

They will wait for no one.

Keep the pan boiling until that flavorsome liquor is reduced by half.

Now, in goes the cream.

Yes, double cream, of course.

That's it.

And then just bubble that up.

I'll give it a stir.

And, pepper and salt.

Not too much salt, because mussels come from the sea and they're fairly salty, and some pepper.

Return the mussels to the pan, and add a squeeze of lemon juice to give them a final lift.

I want them piping hot, so I'll give them a good stir now.

Bubble them up, and then I'm in for a taste.

Oh, great smell there.

(pleasant music) That's how it should be.

Very, very hot, and they look amazing.

So tempting.

Little bit of green on top, parsley.

Well, who could resist trying right now?

There they are, kept in their shell.

Discard one half of the shell, then scoop up as much of the juice as I can.

Doesn't get much better than this.

(gentle music) Food from the sea takes all sorts of forms these days, and I'm keen to understand more about it.

Happy to share his knowledge is local fisherman Mike Webb, who is experimenting with a whole new crop, seaweed.

- There we go, so yeah.

- So this is sugar kelp?

- This is what we've been growing.

- [Mary] How long have you been doing it?

- Oh, it's about the third year we're doing it now.

We'd really love to expand it, and upscale it, and get more people interested, see what we can do with it.

- [Mary] I've never thought of seaweed being harvested and used like this.

- It's fairly easy to grow, to be honest.

Basically, we send off some fertile material to some labs, and they give us back some twine that's basically got some young seedlings growing on it.

We deploy it on a rope, we leave it for six months, and it grows into adult sugar kelp.

Sustainability-wise, there's no fertilizers, there's no fresh water used.

It creates ecosystems.

It's just a winner.

- So, what do you do with all this when it comes out?

- Oh, it goes to a range of people.

We've got a local restaurant.

He's a very experienced chef messing round with different recipes to encourage other chefs he knows to start using it.

- Well, I'm looking forward to tasting it.

- Yeah, see what you can do with it.

It'd be nice to see someone like yourself, you know, get your hands dirty with it.

(pleasant music) - I'm ready to see how the seaweed is transformed.

Chef and restaurateur Nigel Bloxham has been cooking with it for close on three years, and has invited me to share his creations.

So Nigel, this is the finished product of the seaweed that is farmed just out there.

- This is just simple.

This is sugar kelp crisps.

We've simply just brushed it with oil, sesame seeds, in the oven, 15 minutes, done.

- It sort of tastes of the sea, but what I like about it is it's so crisp, and sesame seeds go rather well with it.

- [Nigel] Very well.

- It's as light as a feather.

- Next, Nigel wants me to taste a simple seaweed butter, which can be topped with gutweed.

It looks a bit like moss, or the stuff that is clinging onto a boat.

- That's exactly what it is.

It's that weed that looks like beard, and it's got a horrible name, 'cause they call it gutweed, so to get everybody eating it, 'cause it's terribly good for you, is rename it.

This is crispy seaweed.

It's been washed out, and then deep fried.

- It would look lovely as a garnish, as well.

- It's great.

- It looks tempting.

Far better than on the side of a boat.

- This is your Chinese crispy seaweed.

I know they use lettuce and cabbage, but this is the real thing.

- This is really tasty, and it tastes salty, it tastes of the sea.

It's crispy, and appealing.

- Yeah, absolutely, it's fantastic.

- It sort of melts in the mouth.

Who would've thought gutweed could be so moreish?

Nigel has one more dish for me to try.

So I'm getting down to business now.

- Yes.

- Yes.

- This is the hake done with a tapenade.

- [Mary] Tapenade, I think of black olives, and so what's in this tapenade?

- That's a green olive with the sugar kelp, a little bit of oil, a little bit of seasoning, little bit of garlic.

- It's very appealing to look at, and you've got a bit of the crispy sugar kelp on the side.

- Yes.

And we got a little bit of mash underneath, which we've run a bit of seaweed through.

- That's very tasty.

Quite salty, no need to have any more salt.

- [Nigel] No, we didn't add any salt to the fish.

The fish has got the flavor from the tapenade.

- So why do you like sharing the seaweed, and what is the reaction from your customers?

- I like it because it grows really easy, it provides us more oxygen to the atmosphere than forestry.

We should be eating it, because it's got loads of vitamins in it.

It's got a lot of omega three in it.

That's where the fish get their omega three.

It actually comes from the algaes.

- Thank you so much, Nigel, for sharing your enthusiasm for edible seaweed.

And I, for one, love this one.

(glasses clink) - Cheers.

(pleasant music) - Well, I certainly don't want to be left out of the fun, so I've created a recipe which uses seaweed, but the type you can buy in a supermarket.

So this is a first for me.

I have not used seaweed before, and nori is a Japanese word for seaweed.

And it's the nori that makes it very, very special.

So you often get it in sushi, wrapping round that rice.

It has an unusual taste.

It's slightly fishy, and I think I might soon become addicted to it.

I'm starting with a mixture of fresh vegetables.

First of all, the daikon.

Now, that is a Japanese radish.

I've cut that into shreds.

Takes time to do, but well worth it.

Celery.

Red pepper.

And the carrot I've grated, coarsely grated carrot.

Some spring onions cut on the diagonal.

Because they're all finely sliced, the sumptuous dressing will have lots to stick to.

This looks so bright and colorful, and also full of flavor.

The soba noodles will help carry the flavors, too.

And they're sort of soft, but they don't stick together, they're excellent.

That's it.

Gonna give that a bit of a stir, but it needs that really lovely dressing, so I'll show you how to make it.

Measure two tablespoons of grated ginger, olive oil, and soy sauce, with four of rice wine vinegar.

Pepper and salt.

And remember that the seaweed's a bit salty, too.

It combines very well just with a fork, you don't need a whisk.

Drizzle over, and toss thoroughly so every sliver is dripping in the delicious dressing.

So that's the salad all finished, and we just need the star ingredient, our seaweed, to bring it all together.

(plucky music) And I'm trying to make it sort of noodly.

With a sawing action, you can hear that it's crispy.

I'm a bit frightened that it's going to blow away.

Over there, there's a kite surfer, and he's doing very well, and I don't want him to have my seaweed.

Right, I'm gonna put a little bit of that nori in.

And the color gives it a lift as well, doesn't it?

That's it.

And finally, the taste test.

That is absolutely scrumptious.

It's a taste of the sea, it's well seasoned, lots of crunch, and it didn't cost the earth, either.

Delicious.

(pleasant music) (gentle music) The Jurassic Coast has been a joy, with so much wonderful food, and many skills to share.

But there's one last ingredient that has always made me think of the sea, salt.

But I'm not using it on some fish.

I'm about to use it in one of the most mouthwatering cakes you will ever taste.

If you're wanting a cake that's totally indulgent, then my salted caramel cake fits the bill.

Start with cracking the eggs into a bowl.

(gentle music) That's the four eggs in there.

I suppose I ought to be crushing those up and putting them round hostas so the slugs don't get there.

Measure in the chilled baking spread, and self-rising flour, along with caster and light Muscovado sugar.

Then half a teaspoon full of salt, sprinkle that over, and then a teaspoon full of baking powder.

Make sure that it is a level teaspoon.

If you heap it up, the sponge will rise up and fall down again.

So just put that in.

Finally, add one tablespoon full of milk, three tablespoons of tinned caramel, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Put the beaters in absolutely upright, otherwise I will shower the whole table with flour.

(mixer whirring) And then gently move it around.

(mixer whirring) And you see that the Muscovado sugar and the caramel have made it this lovely soft brown color.

Split between two 20 centimeter tins, and bake at 160 fan for about 25 to 30 minutes.

(pleasant music) Now for the salted caramel icing.

It's simple, and wonderful.

Cream together butter and icing sugar, then add the sea salt and remaining caramel, which is what makes this cake so special.

That's smooth, rich, and a glorious caramel color.

So I'm ready to ice the cake.

(plucky music) That's it.

You might say that you have to be patient when you are icing a cake.

I just like doing it, and I enjoy it.

I take time.

To balance out the subtle salt, some rich shop bought vanilla fudge.

Just makes it look very smart.

There it is, salted caramel cake.

Just look how that's going through, beautifully.

I'm trying very hard not to drop it.

It has that lovely, soft mixture in the middle, and then a really wicked icing on top.

This is absolutely delicious, yummy.

I might even go back for a second slice.

Everyone will want a piece of this stunning cake.

(dramatic music) I've just loved my time on the Jurassic Coast.

The coastline here is so special.

The views, the history, and of course, the food.

And the people here love to share it.

(upbeat music) Next time.

Bit chilly, I think.

I'm heading to a festival where sharing food.

- You can see in their eyes if the food is good or not.

- And cooking for others.

That is absolutely delicious.

Is at its heart.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

- Happy days in the sunshine.

(glasses clink) (pleasant music) (pleasant music continues) (pleasant music continues) (no audio)