♪ [Mixer whirring] Leith, voice-over: I'm Prue Leith-- cook, caterer, restaurateur, cookery school founder, and writer of 16 cookbooks.

♪ I'm in my 80s, so I haven't got time to waste.

This series is all about the things that really matter to me-- family, fun, food, and friends.

Ha, ha!

Got to let it out while you can.

[Laughing] ♪ Ah, da da da da ♪ Leith, voiceover: We'll be sharing simple, home-cooked recipes... Oh!

I did it.

And what does that do?

Well, unfortunately, it's not quite doing it.

[Both laugh] Leith, voice-over: ...and celebrating the best produce.

I'm lucky enough to live in the astonishingly beautiful Cotswolds, with my long-suffering husband, John.

And now, he's agreed to join me in the kitchen, too.

[Cork popping] Oh... Voiceover: Coming up today, top garden designer Mark Lane joins me in my kitchen... This is the first time I've ever cooked on TV, so you're going to have to tell me if I'm doing stuff wrong.

Leith, voiceover: ...John learns a new skill... John: Uh, so, it's a dying art.

Can you just show me how you lay and what I need to know, should I go back and try my own fence?

[Laughs] Leith, voiceover: ...and I've got a hack for making mayonnaise.

If the mayonnaise is too thick for you, if you wanted to make it thinner, you can just add a bit of water.

Welcome to my Cotswold Kitchen.

♪ ♪ Voiceover: I want to show you a recipe that might be an oldie, really old-fashioned, but in my eyes, it's a goodie well worth reviving.

♪ Today, I'm going to do good, old beef stroganoff.

It's the best of dishes.

It's a little complicated to do, but it's absolutely worth it.

♪ And I'm going to serve it with a leek risotto, which is half-made here.

I'll just tell you what we've done so far.

A chopped leek, sweated gently in a mixture of oil and butter, a big clove of garlic crushed into that, and then I've added the rice, which is now going to get fried, and then I'll start to add the stock.

♪ Voiceover: I'm using risotto rice for this recipe.

Right, so now for the beef stroganoff.

This dish was first eaten in Russia during the mid-19th century, when it was named after the famous nobleman Count Stroganoff.

The most important thing is the beef.

It has to be filleted beef.

Voiceover: You need the equivalent of one small steak per person.

I'm making this for four people.

First, cut it into rounds, and then into strips with a very sharp knife.

With all meat, you should always try to cut across the grain, because if you cut it with the grain, it's inclined to be stringy, because it'll break along the stringy lines.

So, you have to go against the grain.

Okay, so that's our beef for later.

And then let me just tell you about the other ingredients.

This is chopped-up shallots.

Those are shallots.

And they can be round, but they're often this shape.

They're often called banana shallots.

So, you need to just peel them and chop them up.

Any old how... Some sliced mushrooms.

And these are dried mushrooms.

They're actually dried porcini.

And porcini are the most delicious fungus.

Voiceover: "Porcini" means "little pigs" in Italian, and we've been eating these since Roman times.

Soak them in water for at least 10 minutes, preferably longer, but keep the juice.

So, those are the soaked ones.

♪ Voiceover: Now I'm going to cook the steak.

Put some oil in the pan and get it nice and hot.

And then the beef should sizzle as you put it in.

And don't put too much in at once, because you don't want to cool the pan too much.

Don't bother to try and brown it all over, because you want it to be pretty rare at the end.

If you can toss them a little bit, you want to keep them nice and juicy.

[Meat sizzling] Voiceover: Cook the steak in batches... Whoops.

...but keep an eye on the rice.

When your rice is beginning to brown, the next thing you do is put in a splash of wine, not more than a coffee cup full.

Let that boil away, and then the way you make... a risotto is to keep adding small quantities of stock, and the rice will gradually absorb it.

So, a tablespoon of hot stock, and let it bubble away.

[Sizzling] It must be confessed that this risotto, which is going to taste absolutely delicious, has got a few slightly-burnt grains of rice in it.

That happens to pretty well all cooks.

I suppose the moral of the story is, don't try to do two things at once.

But it'll be fine.

♪ The wine gives it a lift.

It's not necessary, but... So, it'll take about 20 minutes before we've got all the stock in and the rice has absorbed it all.

♪ Voiceover: Now for the sauce.

I'm cooking the shallots in butter for extra flavor.

But all the time, I'm watching the rice.

You see, once you can pull a spoon through the risotto and it leaves a kind of path like that, or a gap, you know it's absorbed most of the liquid, in which case, you add a bit more.

So, that's the end of the liquid.

When it's absorbed all that, I think it'll be done.

♪ Voiceover: Now I'm adding some sliced garlic to the shallots.

You don't have to crush it.

So, that's going in with the onions.

The reason you put the garlic in after the shallots or onions is because garlic has more sugar in it, and it burns quicker.

So, if you put them in at the beginning, the garlic will start to burn before the onions are cooked.

So, I'm going to put the mushrooms in with the shallots now.

Smells lovely.

Voiceover: Next, chop up the porcini, which will add lots of flavor.

The fun aspect of this recipe is we're going to flambé it with brandy and Marsala, a fortified wine.

The thing to remember is that alcohol won't light very easily if it's stone cold.

It needs to be a little bit warm.

But if it's really boiling hot, you'll get a flame right up to there.

So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to put the Marsala in first, warm it up a bit.

So, stand back a bit, just in case.

[Lighter clicks] Yeah, it's burning, but it's just burning on the top.

Can you see the flames?

Voiceover: Flambéing helps burn off the alcohol but also concentrates the flavor.

♪ This is perfect now.

Still got a bit of bite.

♪ So, now, we're going to turn this into a creamy sauce.

♪ Voiceover: First, pour in the water from the porcini, add some beef stock, and let it reduce down to concentrate the flavor.

♪ Then English mustard and some whole-grain mustard, followed by creme fraiche.

♪ So, here, we have the mushroom sauce that goes with the beef.

I think the great thing is, never put the beef back into the sauce to reheat it, because it's going to overcook.

♪ Voiceover: Finally, add some parmesan to the risotto.

♪ I'm gonna just dish it up as a portion, but you could, of course, do it in a great, big serving dish, if you like.

I think you need some of the sauce in the bottom.

♪ Then some beef... a bit more sauce, which will warm up the beef without cooking it, a bit of parsley... and then a few parmesan crisps, why not?

I'll tell you how to make these later.

It takes 10 minutes, and it's easy as pie.

♪ That risotto is honestly good enough for supper by itself, or lunch by itself.

It's lovely.

♪ It's interesting-- the main flavors are porcini and mustard, then the beef comes through.

You know, the concentration of that flambéed brandy, the Marsala, the mustard, they're all strong, grown-up flavors, and it's absolutely lovely.

So, that is stroganoff with leek risotto and parmesan crisps.

♪ Voiceover: Up next, I'll show you how to make those delicious parmesan crisps... And then you need to sort of flatten them a bit.

It doesn't matter if they're a bit ragged.

Voiceover: ...and acclaimed gardener Mark Lane shows off his cooking skills.

Leith: You've done it before.

There we go.

Like that?

[Laughing] Leith: You old fraud.

You knew perfectly well how to do it.

♪ Voiceover: I'm back in my Cotswold Kitchen, my absolute favorite room in the house, where I spend hours experimenting and trying out simple hacks to make cooking fun.

♪ Before Mark Lane, the amazing garden designer, comes as my guest today, I want to show you a little hack-- how to make parmesan crisps, which is what I used on my beef stroganoff earlier.

♪ Parmesan crisps on top of beef stroganoff is a bit of a luxury you don't necessarily need, but they do make it look a little bit more interesting, and, otherwise, it can look like stew.

So, to make a parmesan crisp is about the easiest thing you could do.

Voiceover: Start with grated parmesan.

Place dessert-spoon-sized mounds a bit onto a baking sheet.

♪ And then you need to sort of flatten them a bit, like that.

It doesn't matter if they're a bit ragged.

♪ Voiceover: Then place in a hot oven at 180 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes, until brown and melted.

♪ While they're really soppy, if you want to have them curly, you can put them over a rolling pin, or you can just have them flat.

♪ If you don't have a silicon rolling pin, you can put a bit of cling film over an ordinary one.

That will do it.

You just want to have something that's non-stick.

Voiceover: So, put these on a stroganoff, sprinkle on a salad, and they also make a nice snack.

But, really, I think they're best just eaten, like... That is so delicious.

That's the best thing to serve with drinks.

It's a little bit salty and has that umami, cheesy, parmesan taste.

Lovely.

♪ And they're just fun to do.

♪ ♪ Voiceover: Today, award-winning gardener Mark Lane has come round to cook for me.

But, before that, we're taking a stroll around the garden.

And now, I get to feel a bit nervous.

It's still a work in progress.

It's lovely, though, 'cause you've got the transparency going on, which I really love, and then the verbena sort of popping through with that lovely hint of color.

I mean, I like really vulgar color.

Yeah.

But I'm disappointed this year, because I don't think we've got enough red.

Yeah.

But... Some deeper red would be gorgeous.

You could always duplicate the persicaria and remove some of that sort of down.

Yes.

Mark, I would so much prefer to stay here and go on picking your brains.

But we've got a job to do.

We do.

And you've got to cook for me.

I do.

So, come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Kitchen.

♪ Well, this is exciting.

My guest, who is a garden designer, a writer, but he's also a keen cook, Mark Lane, welcome to my Cotswold Kitchen.

Thank you very much, Prue.

Thank you.

I'm really looking forward to this, but I'm very nervous, because this is the first time I've ever cooked on TV.

So, you're going to have to tell me if I'm doing stuff wrong.

You know what?

It's just so good to meet you.

And I will try to not talk gardening all the time.

But tell me, first, what are you going to cook?

Well, we are going to make a wonderful yogurt and plum cake, and then I'm going to be making a warm kale salad with peanut butter dressing.

♪ So, what shall we start with?

Let's start with the plum cake, shall we?

So, we're going to mix the dry ingredients and then, separately, we're going to do the wet ingredients, then we're going to combine the two.

So, we've got some flour.

♪ Leith, voiceover: Mark starts with the dry ingredients in one bowl-- flour, caster sugar, baking powder, and a pinch of salt.

So, just very, very gently mix those up, Prue.

Like that.

Voiceover: Now for the wet ingredients-- melted butter, some yogurt, and three eggs.

♪ Now, I don't know if it's the right order for doing it all.

It doesn't matter.

Voiceover: Then vanilla extract and the zest of an orange.

Okay, then one goes in the other.

Then we... Ooh!

[Laughs] There we are.

Give me that.

And you give that a mix-up.

I love simple cooking that can be done in, like, one or two bowls or just one frying pan.

Voiceover: Mark pours the mix into a lined and greased cake tin.

Then we've got the lovely plums.

So, these have been diced, so we've got them into quarters.

And we want to make it look pretty, so we're going to do sort of a nice, little starry effect, sort of nice circular around the outside.

These will eventually drop down when they go into the oven.

Do you grow a lot of fruit?

I do, I do grow a lot of fruit.

I love fruit, so we've got plums, apples, pears, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and as long as, you know, you give the fruit enough sunlight, nice sort of moist, fertile soil, there's not really much you have to do to them, apart from giving them a good prune, sort of, in the early spring.

Let's cram a few more in.

Let's cram 'em in.

♪ Voiceover: A sprinkling of demerara sugar tops it off.

Perfect.

Yeah.

So, into the oven.

Into the oven.

So, that's 175 for about 35 minutes.

Looks delicious.

Goodie, right.

Now, we're going to do the salad.

Yep.

Now for the kale.

Absolutely.

Really delicious, really healthy.

Now, I love this sort of cooking, because it's all done in one frying pan, which makes it so much easier.

We've got some garlic, some spring onions, a red pepper, some lovely tomatoes, and some potatoes, which we've pre-boiled, and then some thyme and some Thai basil, just to give it a little bit of a kick, and, finally, that lovely peanut butter dressing.

So, take two cloves of garlic, give them a good old press, break them down.

First of all, we need some rapeseed oil.

Just a drizzle into the pan.

Lovely.

Voiceover: Mark puts crushed garlic, then spring onions, into the hot oil to sweat, followed by the peppers.

I'll chop up the tomato, nice and rough, nothing fancy.

I like food that has a good bite to it.

Leith, voiceover: Then the tomatoes are added to the pan... I'm just going to chop some Thai basil.

You don't want too much.

It's quite potent.

Prue, tell me, I've always wanted to learn this-- How do I do the old... [Both laugh] ...chopping away?

How do I do that?

Okay, I'll show you.

You've got the right idea.

One holds this down, and the other goes up and down.

Before you chop it, just squish it all together and do some cuts that are just to get it started.

And then you do the fancy... Chop, chop, chop, chop.

Bottom there... Yep.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

Like that.

Then scrape it all together again.

But the main thing is to keep one hand on that and the other one... Let's give it a go.

Leith: That's right.

You've done it before.

Mark: Like that?

You old fraud.

[Laughing] You knew perfectly well how to do that.

Well, it's always good to learn from the pro, isn't it?

Always good to learn.

And then do it better than her.

I see.

I'm getting your message now.

[Mark laughing] Voiceover: Mark is now going to expertly chop a few sprigs of thyme and add to the vegetable mix.

They need a few minutes to infuse with the tomatoes.

Alright.

What happens with the potatoes?

So, with the potatoes, they will go in next.

Put them in, stir them through, and then, last but not least, put the kale on.

Just put it on the top initially.

With the heat, it will start to sort of wilt down slightly.

Then after sort of a minute or so, give it a stir-through.

So, why do you love gardening so much?

As soon as you have a garden, even if it's a tiny plot, you just become interested.

And now, I'm completely obsessed with it.

But you didn't always garden, did you?

No, so, I was in publishing beforehand.

And then, yeah, unfortunately, in the year 2000, I was in a car crash and had to rethink my life and career, and then retrained as a garden designer.

How did you jump out of that into: "I want to be a garden designer"?

I was very lucky in the sense that I was at Royal National Orthopaedic at Stanmore for 12 months, and there was a horticultural therapist.

And she could see me looking out the window.

One day, she said, "Mark, let's get outside."

And she just got me to sow some seeds and to plant some bulbs.

And for the 10 minutes, I'd completely forgotten about my pain and everything else that had gone on, because I was just focused on that one thing.

It was like an act of mindfulness, and I just thought, "Crikey, this is having a profound effect on me."

And, actually, I wouldn't change anything now, because I absolutely love what I do.

If I fall out of my wheelchair, I fall out of my wheelchair.

You know, I just get back up again.

You can't always think to yourself, "Oh, what if I say now yes to everything?"

Well, I think that's so admirable, and it's so uplifting, because I'm sure there are many, many people who just need that moment of inspiration from somebody else who will just point away or open up a window.

Yeah.

So, I've just mixed up some peanut butter with some water, just to make it a little bit runnier.

I've never, ever heard of anything like this.

So, this is done now.

This is done.

This is done.

Give it a good stir.

And it just gives it that little sort of nuttiness, which also brings out the rapeseed as well.

Because I always feel like, with a salad, you always need some kind of a dressing.

Isn't that colorful, as well?

Look at that.

Do you know, Mark, I think it's generally accepted that it's much healthier if people can be outside more, but I think gardening is the best of all, because it's physically tiring.

You have enough sense of achievement, and afterwards, you get the results of your labor.

It's very true.

I mean, it's what's called the biophilia effect, which is our innate need to be surrounded by greenery.

So-- and the research has shown, you know, that just being outdoors for ten minutes can lower your blood pressure, can reduce your heart rate.

And we know that getting your hands into the soil releases serotonin in the brain.

So, it's the happy feeling.

So, I would say, do gardening with bare hands and eat a bar of chocolate at the same time, and you get a double hit of serotonin, but don't mix the two up.

But it's a lovely way of sort of trying to explain that feeling you get.

That's interesting, because I can't bear gardening in gardening gloves.

Right, let's have a look at your cake.

♪ Looks good enough to me.

Nice and golden brown?

Yes, I think that would qualify as golden brown.

That looks good.

Do you think?

That looks lovely.

So, we're going to tip it up?

Leith, voiceover: The cake needs some time to cool, especially as the plums will be very hot.

But at least we can try the salad.

Oh, it does smell peanutty.

That's good.

Let's taste this while we wait for the pudding.

I do like food that you can just tip into a plate and it looks delicious, because it is delicious.

And you don't have to decorate it or... And that kale is nice and soft.

Mmm.

Very good.

It's got that nuttiness.

The peanut is very interesting.

Well, we go to Thailand a lot, and I love Thai food and the simplicity of Thai food.

And I just-- I also love the way that they add nuts and cashews and peanuts into their food.

It's always so delicious.

Voiceover: Now for that beautiful plum cake.

♪ Looks delicious.

There we go.

One cake, one fork... Thank you.

And some yogurt for the top.

♪ "Bon appétit."

♪ Mmm.

Nice, eh?

Mmm.

Gosh, those plums are sweet.

That's delicious.

It's the combination of acidity and sweetness, isn't it?

Lovely.

Really lovely.

Mmm.

Hot.

Especially when you get the plum.

[Laughs] It's typical of me.

I'm so greedy, I can't wait for it to get cool.

I have to go and eat it straightaway.

I am exactly the same.

Delish.

Absolutely.

Mark, thanks so much for coming.

Thank you for having me.

Can you give me another half an hour to tell me about my problems outside?

Of course I can.

Good.

♪ Leith, voiceover: Still to come, John learns an ancient skill... This is a Yorkshire billhook.

Looks like a medieval instrument.

It is what it used to be.

Voiceover: ...and I have a hack for perfect mayonnaise.

The only thing you really need to remember is to add the oil very, very slowly.

♪ Voiceover: It's a privilege living in the Cotswolds, but what I've come to realize is that this countryside takes a lot of upkeep, using skills that date back centuries.

John has gone off to see our friend and neighbor Robin Dale, who is an absolute champion hedgelayer.

♪ Voiceover: Robin is a local farmer, but also president of the National Hedgelaying Society.

He's 77 years old, but he first learned these skills at 18.

Basically, he knows everything about hedges.

John: Morning, Robin.

Morning, John.

Alright?

Yep.

Bush telegraph told me you were hedgelaying.

I must say, this looks very good.

It's all about being neat and tidy.

[Clipping] I know Prue's done it.

I know a bit about it.

So, tell me what I should know.

Well, basically, the hedges, like around this field here, were originally enclosed in 1720 on this farm, and hedges divide fields up, and the formation of fields is to do with the weather, the soil type, and everything.

Now, the hedges are hawthorn.

They have prickles on it, so it keeps stock away from the hedge, and it acts as a windbreak.

So, how old is this hedge?

Well, believe it or not, I originally planted this hedge 35 years ago, and I've laid it twice already.

So, you're doing it about every 15 years?

Possibly.

Sometimes less.

Leith, voiceover: The hedges create shelter to keep animals out of the wind, but they are also home to other creatures.

Every type of animal lives in the hedge.

Field mice and birds can nest in here.

Now, on this farm, I'd leave-- what we call perching posts, which is hawthorn, which has got all the lovely red berries on for the birds in the winter.

Leith, voiceover: Hedgelaying is an ancient skill dating back to the Romans, useful for keeping livestock in and enemies out.

The skill went into decline across the 20th century, but today, it has its very own royal champion in the shape of King Charles.

His Majesty hedgelays himself, and he could see that that skill would get lost.

So, it's a dying art?

Yes, it's a-- and His Majesty then, through myself and others, we started to get training of young people.

I think we must have-- had taught last winter between 500 and 600 people.

Can you just show me how you lay and what I need to know to do it, should I go back and try my own fence?

[Laughing] This is a Yorkshire billhook.

Looks like a medieval instrument.

It is what it used to be.

You hold it like that, and then you start just there, about six inches up, cut into it.

How much of a bend do I take on it?

Well, don't-- Too much?

All you're doing is splitting it.

Leith, voiceover: The idea is to cut into the bark, then bend the branch and lay it flat.

I think John has the hang of this.

To get it to lie straight with my snips, take some of these off.

All the way up?

All the way up.

Makes it neat.

It'll lie in better.

Combined age of both of us together is amazing.

[John laughing] Now, you want to cut this off.

Okay.

Now, it's gonna reshoot round here.

Okay.

That's better.

That's just how I want it.

Leith, voiceover: Once the structure is in place, the top is woven with branches to secure it.

So, it's a bit like the top of a basket.

It is a basket weave.

And I was taught this basket weave back in '68, and I've never done it any different.

Everything has a-- a place.

Take that one off.

Leith, voiceover: Robin is meticulous about his hedging.

He snips out all the end bits so that it's really neat.

I'm going to level them up now.

Leith, voiceover: The UK has around 30 different styles of hedge.

Each region has its own.

So, this is what we call the Midland.

So, this goes right up to Derbyshire, goes right down to Oxford.

Over many years of hedgelaying, my actual style hasn't changed.

You can tell that it's me.

[Tool buzzing] ♪ [Buzzing loudly] It looks marvelous to me.

Yes.

I think it looks great.

In 20 years' time, God willing, you'll look at that and think, "I created that."

And that's what it is.

It's a living thing.

That's what's so lovely about it.

No different to Prue doing her baking.

If you start off right and obey the rules, it'll come out right.

So, really, for hedgelaying, just like cooking, follow the recipe.

♪ ♪ Mayonnaise is so much more delicious if you make it yourself, "A," because I think it tastes amazing, and "B," because it's much cheaper.

[Whirring] ♪ Everybody has a jar of bought mayonnaise in the fridge, and I'm no exception, but I do like to make my own.

Voiceover: You're going to need a blender, and I'd better show you how to get it right.

I've got 2 egg yolks in there.

Voiceover: Give the eggs a whiz... [Whirring] ...then add a couple of teaspoons of Dijon mustard, which will thicken it... ♪ [Whirring] Now for the oil.

You can do it all with olive oil, which would be very luxurious and very rich.

So, I like to have two-thirds sunflower oil and a third of extra virgin olive oil, or even just a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil at the end for the flavor.

Voiceover: For two egg yolks, I'm using 250 mils of sunflower oil and a dollop of extra virgin.

The only thing you really need to remember when making mayonnaise is to add the oil very, very slowly.

♪ [Whirring] Voiceover: I like to pour the oil from a jug, because you can control it more easily.

♪ I'll show you how we're getting on.

Do you see, once it's beginning to get thick like that, you can start to add it a bit faster.

♪ Right, and I'm going to add the rest of the ingredients.

Now, this is all for flavor, so you can put what you like in it.

Voiceover: I'm adding lemon juice, two teaspoons of white wine vinegar, some pureed garlic, and seasoning with salt and pepper.

♪ Right.

Now, if the mayonnaise is too thick for you, if you wanted to make it thinner, you could just add a bit of water.

♪ That's perfect, just how I like it.

So, that's my hack for homemade mayonnaise.

♪ So good.

♪ Voiceover: Like any chef, my store cupboard is full of essential ingredients, and one I use every day is salt-- usually, the bog-standard variety, and sometimes a few fancy flakes.

Salt has many, many uses, and there's a family in North Wales who are our Today's Food Heroes.

Let's go and see what they do.

♪ Voiceover: On the south coast of Anglesey, you'll find Halen Mon, a salt producer, originally started in 1997 by husband and wife Alison and David Lea-Wilson.

Since then, the whole family have become involved, and it's transformed into a world-renowned business.

But it took them a while to land the idea.

We opened an aquarium, and we welcomed many thousands of visitors, but the business was very seasonal.

We knew we had the natural resources of the sea.

We thought, "Well, we'll try something else."

And we came up with the idea of making sea salt.

♪ Leith, voiceover: So, how exactly do you go about extracting salt from the sea?

We already had a license to draw seawater out of the Menai Strait.

We pay the Crown Estates for that, because the King now owns all coastline around Britain.

We literally did start with a saucepan of seawater on the agar.

And I have to say, the results weren't that inspiring.

However--However, we did realize that, you know, that was basically what you have to do.

Leith, voiceover: After lots of research, trial and error, they finally developed a product they were happy with, and then built a salt-cote right by the sea.

So, a "salt-cote" is actually an old French word.

It literally means a building by the sea that makes sea salt.

Okay, just going to open up our pump house now.

Tide's high, ready to pump.

Leith, voiceover: Ronan has been the operations manager for over 10 years.

Ronan: This is where the process starts.

So, we've got our seawater intake pipe beneath us.

It goes out about 100 meters, so we'll pump once a day at high tide, take in 20,000, 25,000 liters at a time, and that does this for one day.

So, equivalent to an Olympic swimming pool.

We're so lucky with the quality of the water we've got here, because of the mussels, the oysters, the sand beds-- everything's just naturally filtering the water for us.

♪ So, the seawater's typically three, three and a half percent salinity or saltiness.

We then evaporate that seawater, make it even stronger.

♪ And then we evaporate that brine.

The salt flakes will form on the surface over time.

They get heavier and heavier, sink to the bottom.

This salt will be rinsed and then dried.

So, that'll take two days.

And then it'll be packed or flavored or smoked.

Leith, voiceover: After years of producing pure sea salt, Alison and the team have developed dozens of different flavors and products.

The one that we're best known for is the pure white sea salt, and it comes in a flake.

This one is our oak-smoked sea salt, and we smoke this ourselves in our own smokery, which is on site.

I think the smoking adds an almost caramel edge to it and almost sweetness.

This is called "popeth," which is Welsh for "everything seasoning."

It's lots of different seeds and chili and onion and garlic and a little bit of sea salt, and it makes the best crust on bagels, but on bread too.

And it really does light up the whole mouth.

♪ I am incredibly proud of being a successful Welsh business.

♪ So, if you take a little pinch of our sea salt in your food or in your cocktail, then you are literally eating a piece of Wales, and that's a fantastic feeling and a great privilege.

♪ Leith, voiceover: Still to come, I cook an old favorite for John... It's beginning to look like I remember, bearing in mind that I've bought so many cookbooks in the hope of finding the recipe.

Leith, voiceover: ...but I fail to score a perfect 10.

I think it's absolutely delicious.

It's nine-tenths of the way there.

♪ Leith, voiceover: My husband loves good food, and today, I'm on a mission to recreate a dish he ate on holiday almost 20 years ago.

♪ So, now, John is back with me, and I'm trying to solve a problem.

We're going to try and make your aubergine dish that you go on and on and on about.

Just tell me, where did you eat this thing?

Um, first of all, in Georgia and right across Georgia, and especially in Tbilisi and through to Azerbaijan.

And I did have the recipe, but I lost it.

I wrote it on a napkin, and somehow, it just vanished.

Well, I have a feeling it might be what-- when I was at cookery school, it was called aubergine caviar.

♪ So, the first thing we have to do is to cook these so that they're really squashy in the middle.

And it's a good idea to just prick the skin a bit to stop it cracking all over, because it lets out the steam.

♪ Voiceover: Drizzle the aubergines with olive oil.

I use a nice, big paintbrush-- not the one you paint the wall with.

Put them in the oven for 40 minutes.

♪ While that's baking, I just think we'll mix up all the rest of the ingredients that are going to go into this.

First of all is tahini.

Can I stop you?

What is tahini?

Tahini is sesame.

The white sesame seeds, not black sesame seeds.

Then I put 2 tablespoons.

I can see why they called it caviar, because it was that sort of color.

Well, the recipe says 2 tablespoons, so that's a dessert spoon.

So, I did a bit more, like three.

Voiceover: Add a teaspoon of cumin and as much chili as you like... ♪ ...followed by some crushed garlic and the juice of a lemon.

♪ And now we've got some flat-leaf parsley and some mint, okay?

Voiceover: I put some aubergines in the oven earlier, so they should be ready by now.

So, I hope they won't be too hot to handle.

♪ Ah.

Quite hot.

So, we now need to split them open.

And can you scoop out the insides?

Can I pinch still?

And where do they go?

In there.

Okay.

We're putting it in the sieve, because it can be too liquid.

And so, I thought if we make it a bit dry, we can always add the juice back.

Voiceover: Next, John's going to mash it with a fork to create a paste... Smells good.

We've had a lot of aubergine very recently, haven't we?

I think it's our new favorite vegetable.

It's beginning to look like I remember, bearing in mind I've bought so many cookbooks in the hope of finding the recipe, and failed miserably.

This is looking good.

Voiceover: Then some pepper and the salt... That, honestly, is as close to it as I've ever got.

Excellent.

That is brilliant.

Voiceover: But before I let John taste, and as we are celebrating the aubergine today, I have another dish I want to show you.

♪ Right, that's John's favorite aubergine dish.

And now, we're going to have mine, which is an absolute classic.

It's just a kind of aubergine pie made with tomato sauce and fried aubergine and mozzarella cheese, bit of old cheddar cheese too.

Voiceover: Start with some olive oil in a pan, not too much, as the aubergine absorbs it.

Then place the sliced aubergines in the hot oil and brown on both sides.

♪ And then, if you turn them over as they brown... Keep them moving?

Yeah, keep them moving and keep them browning, and I'll keep slicing.

♪ Yes, I think that aubergine's a great veg, because it takes flavor very well, and it's great for vegetarians, because it's sort of substantial, and it makes the basis for a good stew.

Voiceover: We have so many, I'm going to use a second pan.

It's important that they're really brown.

I think they're all cooked.

We're just waiting for them to get some brown on them to give them some flavor.

So, I'm going to go over here with the tomato sauce, and I'll start layering it up.

So, I'm going to put... a layer of tomato sauce in the bottom here.

Smells lovely, doesn't it?

And then a layer of aubergine slices.

Voiceover: I'm using a classic tomato sauce made with onions, garlic, chopped fresh tomatoes, seasoning, and a few chili flakes.

Let it simmer 'til you get a nice, thick sauce.

Good.

Will you watch mine?

Yep.

And then we put a little bit of cheese.

Voiceover: Next, add grated cheddar, mozzarella, and a few basil leaves.

Keep layering the tomato sauce, cheese, and aubergine until it's all used up.

It doesn't really matter which layer you end with, because you're going to end up with putting cheese on top.

So... I think that's enough, darling.

Okay.

And then we'll do one more layer of aubergine.

You want it nice and flat, so when you put it under the grill, it doesn't burn in batches.

Voiceover: Finish with a layer of cheddar cheese.

So, that's going into the oven, 180 degrees, for about 25 minutes, until the top is beginning to look all melted and bubbly.

Okay?

♪ Voiceover: While that's baking, let's try the aubergine caviar, which I'm just going to drizzle with some olive oil.

Right, now, we're going to serve this with pita bread, and then we'll cut it into strips.

John, I'm nearly ready, so you tell me what we're drinking.

Well, we're going to see which you prefer to drink with this wonderful dish, whether you want a red or a white.

♪ Alrighty.

So, we need to taste both together, don't we?

Right.

There's your red.

There's your white.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

♪ Does it taste like Georgia in 2006?

♪ I think it's absolutely delicious.

It's nine-tenths of the way there.

I think it just needs a little bit more tahini, more of that sort of peanut buttery... Mmm.

It's absolutely delicious.

Very, very good.

It is good.

I like the oil on it too.

♪ I always prefer red, so... I must say, that is very delicious.

It's almost spicy, and I don't think the spice is coming from there.

I think it's the wine itself is very lively.

♪ This is softer and bigger and rounder, and I actually prefer the white with it.

Actually, so do I.

♪ Good.

Right, so our aubergine and mozzarella bake is ready.

I'm going to get it out of the oven.

♪ Wow, that's hot!

My goodness, it smells divine.

Well, I think that looks delicious, doesn't it?

Voiceover: Garnish with some basil leaves.

The sweetness and fragrance will complement the tomatoes.

And it looks good.

Can we just tuck in?

Okay?

Yeah.

Goodly, goodly, goodly.

I hope it's not going to do that stringy bit on me.

It might, because the mozzarella does.

♪ Mmm.

That is delicious.

And if you get a stringy bit of mozzarella, that's the best bit.

Mmm.

That really is good.

You know, honestly, I love them both, if one's allowed to love food.

♪ First, this is my favorite, but the truth is that aubergine is just such a wonderful vegetable, and it does so many things well.

♪ I think we need more aubergine in our lives.

Well, I have bought some seeds for our garden, surprise, surprise.

I might live to regret this.

[Laughs] You know, every time you grow something, you never grow a little.

I don't know where I get it from, but I think nothing in moderation comes from something nearer to you.

Yeah, that's my motto.

I think that's enough.

♪