[theme music] Here we go!

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'm going on my most ambitious British adventure yet.

It's going to put a smile on your face.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Meeting some of the finest chefs in the world.

Raymond Blanc.

James.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Cooking my way from the far south.

You've got beautiful blue eyes.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): To the northernmost reaches of the land.

It's a magical experience.

Whoa!

You've got to do this.

It's amazing.

And using some of the best produce you'll find anywhere.

It is a spectacular place full of amazing people and amazing food.

This is going to be a bit special.

And some of the places require a little bit more effort to get to.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'll be traveling by land, air, and sea TONY SINGH: There, look!

- Look, dolphins!

TONY SINGH: Dolphins!

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): So join me as I explore the British Isles from islands to highlands.

♪ ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ ♪ JAMES (VOICEOVER): Today, I'm in one of the most spectacular parts of the British Isles, the magnificent Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands.

And joining me is my mate and top chef, Nick Nairn.

JAMES: I'll tell you what, it is beautiful here though, innit?

It's stunning.

So what do you know of the food from this area then?

NICK: When you're up in deer country, salmon from the river-- I mean, the best salmon on the planet.

Best salmon.

NICK: You've got incredible game, but you've also got pastureland here.

So you've got great beef, great lamb.

It is-- it is a bit of God's larder up here.

♪ ♪ JAMES (VOICEOVER): North of Perth and south of Inverness, the UK's largest national park is home to four of our five highest mountains, covers parts of five Scottish counties, and has 1.9 million visitors a year.

We're heading east of Aviemore to Glenmore.

JAMES: So we're en route now for a little surprise for you because you may or may not know that around here somewhere-- Uh-huh.

--is a herd of reindeer, wild reindeer.

Now, I have heard of this.

And I kind of thought it was an urban rumor.

I didn't think it really existed.

Do they?

Well, apparently they're native to the UK.

I didn't know this.

There's now about 150 of 'em.

Are you joking, 150 reindeer?

150 reindeer roaming round here.

What happens at Christmas time?

Does Santa come up here?

They fly away.

[bright music] ♪ ♪ JAMES (VOICEOVER): We're meeting Fiona Smith at the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre.

She's one of the team who look after this unique free range herd.

♪ ♪ NICK: Hey, how are you doing, Fiona?

Good, thanks.

How are you going?

I'm very good.

I've never-- JAMES: How are you?

Yeah, nice to see you.

I have to say, I don't think I've ever seen a reindeer before in real life.

I bet you didn't think you'd see in Scotland either.

Me neither.

Why is their coats coming off?

FIONA: So just now, they're losing their old winter coat.

So it is literally coming off in handfuls.

- Uh-huh.

- Look at that.

FIONA: Help yourself.

It's literally just coming off.

This one's hungry.

FIONA: Yes, this is Doctor Seuss.

- Doctor Seuss.

- Dr.

Seuss is always hungry.

And the finer, darker coat you're seeing underneath is their summer coats.

And the antlers, they're like velvet.

Mm-hmm.

So the velvet skin is protecting the bone that's growing underneath.

So they're growing new antlers just now.

So they're quite delicate?

They're very delicate.

They're very sensitive.

There's a really rich blood supply in there growing the bone underneath, full of nerve ends.

So if they break an antler just now, it's like you're breaking your arm.

It's part of them.

It's growing bone.

So they grow between March and August.

Come the end of August, blood supply cuts off, velvet strips away, and then that's the solid bone antlers that you see them with.

And do they shed them each year?

FIONA: Every year, yeah.

JAMES: So what do you feed them on?

OK, so we-- Whatever's in there.

Exactly, somebody's interested.

So we give them a cereal mixture that we make up ourselves.

JAMES: OK.

Barley, sugar beet, a ewe and lamb mixture, which they love and works very well for hand-feeding.

Would you like to hand-feed a reindeer?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- So first-- FIONA: They cannot bite you.

Cup your hands.

NICK: OK.

Forget the flat hand for the horse.

OK.

There we go.

Now, Doctor Seuss, you are one hungry reindeer.

And oh, you've got a really nice nose.

Yeah, yeah, they're completely covered in hair.

Yeah.

They've got tiny, tiny teeth, so they literally cannot bite you.

NICK: Do you know, reindeer are my new favorite thing.

I love them.

JAMES: Why here?

I mean, it is beautiful here, but why here?

This specific herd, they came here back in 1952.

JAMES: Right.

FIONA: So they were reintroduced.

So reindeer are native to Scotland.

NICK: Wow, that is amazing.

So they died out about 800 to 1,200 years ago.

Predominantly, these were bred for meat, originally.

Yeah, yeah, and they still are.

You know, reindeer is a staple diet right across Scandinavia still.

And actually, this herd, initially was brought over in the kind of, maybe another good meat source post-war.

But actually, the general Brit didn't want to eat reindeer.

And as a display herd and through tourism, that's now how they earn their keep.

- These guys are so tame.

- Aren't they great?

- It's amazing.

- Incredible.

Yeah.

I've never seen anything-- they're so soft as well, aren't they?

I know.

I know they're-- they're placid, you know?

They've got a great temperament.

How on Earth do you end up doing this?

Well, like a lot of these reindeer here today, I was born into it.

And so-- JAMES: You were born into it?

Yep, I was born into it.

It's my family business.

And me and my brother were both born into reindeer herding.

All right.

And so, my family took it on in the '80s.

They didn't reintroduce the herd.

That was a Sámi man, Utsi, that reintroduced the herd with his wife, Dr.

Lindgren.

There can't be many people who've got a CV saying reindeer herder.

I don't even have a CV.

[laughter] JAMES: So we're in the summer now.

Do you have to shelter them in the winter or not?

FIONA: No, not at all.

They head further into the hills in winter.

We do very little with them in winter.

Being an Arctic animal, they are totally ready for all conditions the Cairngorms are gonna throw at them.

And if we don't see them in the middle of winter because the conditions are too harsh for us to either drive, walk out onto the hill, then we leave them to it, you know?

They get on with it.

- Fantastic.

NICK: Is that why they've got such big feet?

FIONA: Absolutely.

It's their snowshoes.

NICK: Snowshoes.

FIONA: So it spreads their weight.

It digs through snow.

They'll walk and put the same footprint into the front as their back, so they're using the same compressed snow set once.

So everything about reindeer is designed to save energy, to keep them warm.

Minus 20, minus 30.

They don't feel the cold 'till it hits minus 35.

And they can survive down to minus 70.

[gasps] [calm music] ♪ ♪ I know we're in Scotland, but it is like looking in another country, innit, seeing this?

NICK: Yeah, it's extraordinary.

I mean, you really could be in the Arctic Circle.

That's what it feels like.

Thank you so much for that.

No, you're absolutely welcome.

♪ ♪ That was a real treat.

Good, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

All right, guys.

Take care.

Take care.

FIONA: See you later.

- How amazing is that?

That's incredible.

And you didn't even know they were in Scotland, you see?

No, I didn't.

I'd kind of heard about them, but I'd never seen it before.

But I really, genuinely think you ought to get some.

Can we fit him in a Mini?

♪ ♪ JAMES (VOICEOVER): While Nick ponders the notion that reindeer are not just for Christmas, I found a place just four miles south by the beautiful Loch An Eilein for my next cook.

♪ ♪ So I thought, for my first dish, I'd utilize the amazing salmon that they have from these parts.

Now, I'd be lying if I said this salmon comes from here behind me.

There's pike apparently in here.

I'm not cooking with that.

There's far too many bones in it.

But this, I thought I'd do a simple little brunch dish using smoked salmon and serve them with a nice little dill pancake.

So starting off with the pancakes, I've got some plain flour in here together with a little bit of baking powder.

And these are like little risen pancakes.

And then this is where we separate the eggs.

So I want the egg yolks in one and the egg whites in the other because these are going to be light and fluffy.

And because of that, the baking powder will help, but also, the whipped egg whites will help a lot.

So we'll just separate these.

And use your hands.

Going from shell to shell palaver.

Messing around.

So a bit of salt and pepper in the egg yolks, and then just gonna chop up some dill quickly before it ends up in Wales.

Chop it all up, stick that in the bowl, quick.

And then, I've got some milk.

We're creating a little batter with this.

Mix this together, first of all.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ Like that.

Try not to make it too thin at this stage.

That's what we're looking for, really, with our nice little batter.

♪ ♪ And turn our attention to the egg whites.

We can lightly whip up our egg whites.

Just whip these all up.

This will create a much lighter pancake.

And with that baking powder in there, they'll be nice and light.

It's much easier with the machine, to be honest with you.

Anyway, moving on.

♪ ♪ Mix this together.

And then, we're creating-- when you fold this all in, the more time you have messing around, the less likely your pancakes will rise.

That's the kind of mixture that we're looking for, like that.

So once you get to this stage, we can simply cook these using some butter, a block of butter.

You butter the skillet.

I love that.

Then we're gonna pop our nice little pancakes onto our little skillet.

There.

♪ ♪ So we just cook these nicely on a skillet.

And these want about two minutes one side, turn 'em over, two minutes the other side.

Once you get to that stage, flip 'em over.

But you can see the baking powder and the whipped egg whites puff them up like little blinis.

♪ ♪ So once you got to this stage, we'll then take these off.

And these can quite happily sit there.

So next, get a pan on the stove.

And I'm gonna do this with a little bit of scrambled egg.

So for scrambled eggs, we just need four eggs.

[calm music] Like that.

In the pan.

♪ ♪ They're gonna go in.

Black pepper.

I know I'm using the same bowl.

For people, this has already had eggs in it before you start to pick up the phone.

To be honest, I was gonna do duck.

That would cause a bigger problem.

And then, this is the secret-- double cream, double cream.

Don't start changing this and use low fat.

Double cream.

And then what I'm gonna do is grab some of this amazing smoked salmon.

And then, what I'm gonna do is just chop this all up and fold this into my scrambled eggs.

♪ ♪ But look, get a nice little bit of foaming butter.

Now, the key to scrambled eggs is do this slowly.

So pour the eggs in.

♪ ♪ And when you add them, don't stop whisking.

♪ ♪ You see, now it starts to thicken up.

Then you take it off the heat.

Then you add the salmon.

You see, look, it should be like that.

♪ ♪ So I'm just gonna keep that warm on there.

And then we can just plate this.

And I've got these pieces of smoked salmon that we can just put on here like that.

Then take some of our nice little dill pancakes.

Put a dollop of creme fraiche as well if you want to do that with the smoked salmon.

Nice little bit of wedge of lemon.

Serve that with it as well.

But then, of course, it's about the scrambled egg.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ So there you have it-- a great brunch dish of smoked salmon, warm little dill pancakes, and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon.

Done.

[upbeat music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): Today, I'm in the breathtaking Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands with my mate, top chef Nick Nairn.

Earlier, we met some friendly reindeer.

Doctor Seuss, you are one hungry reindeer.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): And I did a cook by a beautiful loch.

Now, I'm not sure how, but Nick has persuaded me to let him drive my pride and joy.

Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Yeah.

Quite an incredible little thing.

And there's just something pretty special about driving a Mini in the Highlands-- not just any Mini, James Martin's Mini.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): He'd better be careful.

Nick's meeting Kirsten Gilmore, whose inventive dishes have inspired a celebrated book.

Whilst I'm in Aviemore, I couldn't not go to the Mountain Cafe.

It's got a fabulous reputation for cooking fresh, local produce.

And it's run by a Kiwi chef.

- Hi, nice to meet you.

- How are you doing?

Nick.

- G'day.

I've heard so much about this place.

And I'm wondering, what makes it so popular?

Good food.

Good food, wholesome food, honest food, local ingredients with a wee Kiwi twist going on.

I work really hard at it.

Everything is homemade.

We don't buy anything in.

Do you sell a lot of avocados?

Yeah, we do sell a fair bit, but I like to pimp my avocados.

We do it on a lovely slab of local black pudding with avocado smash and scrambled eggs with our homemade bread.

It's very good.

Yeah, that's a Scottish twist on it.

Yeah, it is.

NICK: A healthy Kiwi breakfast.

And so what's on the menu today?

What's today's special?

KIRSTEN: I'm gonna make you a fish soup today.

And we're gonna knock some local fish into that.

I've got some lovely coley, some lovely smoked haddock, and some trout.

NICK: God, I can't wait.

Are you gonna be kind to me?

Of course I am.

KIRSTEN: Good.

[energetic music] ♪ ♪ I'm gonna put a slosh of olive oil in there.

NICK: OK.

KIRSTEN: And then we're going to whack that butter and lemongrass into that.

Oh, lemongrass, so this is the kind of Kiwi influence.

What are you doing here?

Um, I came here for a weekend skiing.

Uh-huh?

Yeah, and I never left.

- Why is that?

- Married a Scot.

Ah, you married a Scot.

I got trapped.

That's not a trap.

It's a joy.

So tell me, how did this get started?

KIRSTEN: I was working in the outdoor shop downstairs.

I'd taken a break from cooking.

I'd worked for a couple of years in London, and I was quite burnt out.

Did a little bit of traveling and then-- sorry, getting distracted, just gassing.

Whack those carrots in.

NICK: Carrots in.

OK, we get the carrots going in there.

KIRSTEN: Awesome.

NICK: It's all softening down nicely, and it's smelling of that lemongrass thing.

Where did the Kiwi influence come from?

KIRSTEN: Being brought up there, I was brought up on a farm.

NICK: Mm-hmm.

And my grandparents cooked and made everything from scratch.

They also had their own orchard.

We had our own animals.

My grandfather was Hungarian, so it was all about pickling, salamis hanging in the garage.

It was incredible.

Ah, so you've come from a real foodie background.

Yeah.

NICK: So fennel, and that fennel is quite a kind of Kiwi thing.

We use it a lot for salads and with, like, whack a bit of olive oil on it.

And I put the whole lemon in.

I just really like the flesh, and I like the flavor it gives.

So I'll whack that in.

NICK: So you've got curly parsley, you've got some chives, and you've got a bit of dill.

OK, so I like to pop my fish stock in now.

NICK: So we added the bouillon and then the white wine, and reduce that down, then the spuds-- ♪ ♪ --and finally, the water.

KIRSTEN: Yes.

NICK: You bring that up to the boil, cook it out to the-- what is it, 10 to 20 minutes?

KIRSTEN: Mm-hmm.

NICK: A bit of cream.

KIRSTEN: Yup.

NICK: Blitz it, and then it's the fish.

The fish, we are then going to transfer it from this pan into a smaller pan.

And we're gonna add the fish and cook it to order so the fish doesn't overcook and we get the best out of it.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): So while Nick takes a seat, Kirsten blitzes the soup and adds the fish.

Wow.

Now, that is very good.

And I'll tell you what I like about it.

I love the lemony tang you've got from putting lemon in.

And way, way, way down in the mix, way past the dill, is that little bit of lemongrass, that little bit of Kiwi at the bottom of the bowl.

Absolutely.

This chowder's delicious.

Thanks for showing me around your kitchen.

Can I just wish you every success for the future?

Not at all.

Thank you.

It was great to meet you.

It's been a pleasure talking to you.

- Cool!

- Yeah!

[playful music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): And my next dish is a Mountain Cafe favorite.

♪ ♪ Now, you're gonna like this dish, trust me.

You don't have to go all the way to Aviemore to appreciate it.

Now, Nick wasn't the only person who spent time in that cafe.

As a crew, we all ate there for lunch, and I had this dish, and I wanted to show you it now.

It is the best millionaire shortbread I've ever tasted.

So it starts off with a biscuit base.

So first thing we do is we incorporate all these ingredients by hand to create our sort of shortbread.

So take the softened butter.

There's a whole block of butter gone in there and some corn flour.

You gotta remember, it's Aviemore.

People are going mountain climbing and all that sort of stuff.

It really is spectacular.

Now, whenever I've made millionaire shortbread, I've never made it with dark brown sugar and certainly haven't made it with corn flour.

But it works fantastic.

As soon as you bring these together, then you can pop it in our tray like that.

Once we've got our nice little bit of shortbread, then we use our fingers and push it down into the edges.

You don't want to overwork it, so it's a good idea to always try and do it by hand.

Now, I've set the oven at 170 degrees because we need to cook this for 20 minutes.

♪ ♪ So after 20 minutes, I've got this in various stages because it's much easier to show you.

So you've got the nice little cooked biscuit.

By reducing the temperature down, it just cooks nice and evenly, almost without color, really.

And then it's about the filling.

If you're a little bit squeamish about food like this, you might need to turn it over because it's gonna get a lot worse.

You thought the butter in this was bad.

This was a block of butter.

This is the filling in between the sandwich.

This is what this is.

You start off with some of this.

This is dulce.

And what we do is, we take a decent bit of this.

So it's not caramel.

It's basically caramelized condensed milk.

♪ ♪ But also what's different about this is, although that's got sugar in it, we add a bit more sugar.

And then, this is for you lot that are a bit squeamish, a little bit of butter.

♪ ♪ A block.

And we mixed all this lot together.

Now think of this like the sort of food equivalent to an energy drink.

When you eat it, you get this massive rush.

So all you're gonna do is just, basically, heat this up.

You're just dissolving the sugar.

We're not boiling this.

So we just get this mixture like this and then pour it onto our biscuit.

I mean, you already know this is gonna be good, don't you?

It's gonna be bad.

But it's gonna be good.

Look, just take a little bit of this mixture, and you just allow it to seep into the corners.

So once the dulce mixture is on, you leave it for about 20 minutes.

So you're only two layers in at this point in time because then what we do is grab some dark chocolate, quite a bit of dark chocolate.

You just take a little bit of butter.

The butter's getting less, you see?

That's the main thing.

And we mix this together.

And don't start changing the recipe of this by using a bit of milk chocolate.

It's got to be dark chocolate and butter.

And we warm it up.

And then once you get to that stage, you then take your chocolate, pour it over the top.

♪ ♪ You can use a palette knife for this one.

Go into the corners.

I have to say, when I started this journey, I didn't think I'd be doing something as simple as millionaire shortbread.

But this is off the charts.

Once this layer's in, you need to leave it to set for about 20 minutes.

But I've just popped mine in the fridge just to set a little bit in here because this is what it's all about.

And then we take our knife, and we cut around.

It's the anticipation of this, you see?

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ Now, I'm gonna let you into a little secret.

It's not a so little secret, really.

I've been a pastry chef for 30 years of my life, 30 years of my life.

This is what pastry chefs eat.

You can create all the fancy stuff all you want-- the cones, the foams, and all that kind of stuff.

This is what you want to eat.

And it's just how I remember it because as you cut it, it's this middle bit.

It's not liquid.

It's not set, but it's just, mmm!

♪ ♪ Now, it depends on how you're feeling how big a slice you take, really.

I had two of these.

I had two of these, two like that.

That's what I had.

♪ ♪ Now, normally, I have a golden rule in TV.

It's an unwritten rule.

It's my rule.

I don't like to eat on camera.

I stuff my face off camera, as you can tell, but not on camera.

However, this, I'm gonna make an exception.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Unbelievable.

[calm music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): Today, I'm traveling in the stunning Cairngorms National Park with my mate, top chef Nick Nairn.

Earlier, Nick took himself to the legendary Mountain Cafe in Aviemore.

It's a cafe above a sports shop in the middle of Aviemore.

But you're knocking out some really good food.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): And I made some unbelievable millionaire's shortbread.

This is off the charts.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): I'll be catching up with Nick a little later.

Meanwhile, I'm visiting the Rothiemurchus Estate, and quad biking is just one of the many activities on offer.

- Hi.

- How Are you doing?

You all right?

- Welcome.

For you.

Thank you.

♪ ♪ All right, let's go.

EMMA: Yeah.

[bright music] ♪ ♪ JAMES (VOICEOVER): Quad-trekking works in harmony with the farming side of the estate.

And Emma from Highland Venture is leading me through these ancient pine forests.

♪ ♪ JAMES: This is a bit of good fun.

EMMA: All seasons in one day sometimes.

♪ ♪ JAMES (VOICEOVER): This amazing place is at the forefront of wildlife and cultural conservation and has been run and cared for by the Grant family for 18 generations.

♪ ♪ - Thank you very much.

- No problem.

Enjoy.

Johnnie's waiting for you over there.

JAMES: See you later.

- Woo!

Aha!

200 quid, It'll Be Alright on the Night.

♪ ♪ [peaceful music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): I'm meeting Johnnie Grant who's gonna tell me about the estate's Highland cattle.

♪ ♪ JAMES: So this is pretty spectacular.

JOHNNIE: Yes.

This is a wonderful, natural woodland, native woodland.

JAMES: I mean, it is really native woodland.

It's something like from Jurassic Park, innit, really?

It is incredible.

I mean, what trees have we got in here anyway?

JOHNNIE: This is the Caledonian Forest of the Highlands.

And these trees are Scots pine and birch that you see just here.

And the birch lets the light in and helps the grass to grow.

And the pine provides shelter all the year round.

JAMES: So how did you end up putting the cattle in here in this woodland?

JOHNNIE: Well, we do put the cattle, for centuries, in the woodlands in the winter.

JAMES: Yeah.

But we tend to keep them on the grass in the summer.

But about five years ago, we had Mumford and Sons here-- The band?

--for a concert.

Right.

And they needed all the fields for camping and the concert.

JAMES: Right.

JOHNNIE: So we were wondering what to do.

And we thought, well, we might fence another place.

But then it occurred to us that the cattle might be perfectly happy in this wood for about 10 weeks.

So we popped them in here, and they did really well.

In fact, they averaged 30 kilos heavier that year.

- 30 kilos?

- Yes.

And what do you put it down to?

I mean, there's more things to eat, or?

Well, it's the variety of choice there.

Of course, there is also peace and quiet.

There's about 50 acres of woodland here.

Yeah.

And they were able to just roam where they wanted.

But the problem is with this, they're difficult to find, hence we can't even see any yet, so.

It's hard work for the stockman.

Exactly.

The great thing about Highland cattle is that they're very healthy, and they don't fall into holes or-- JAMES: All right.

JOHNNIE: --do anything stupid.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): It wasn't long before we tracked down these impressive, traditionally reared animals who rely on this protected natural environment for their survival.

[calm music] So these look happy cattle.

Yeah, they have happy cows, yeah.

Very happy.

JOHNNIE: He's inquisitive.

JAMES: Yeah.

JOHNNIE: He was just checking you out.

What sort of a guy is that?

Don't mention a chef.

[cattle lowing] JAMES: But they are quite shy and quite timid by breed, aren't they?

They're closer to a wild animal than other cattle.

JAMES: Yeah.

I actually prefer the meat of these more so than Aberdeen Angus.

But you've gotta take these a lot further, haven't you?

These are slower maturing cattle, and they're more like an Aberdeen Angus meat than an Aberdeen Angus is.

JAMES: Yeah.

That is, it's all to do with the marbling of the meat.

And that's what sort of melts during the cooking and gives it its special taste.

We keep them until they are 30 months of age.

JAMES: Yeah.

JOHNNIE: Then they are matured for four to six weeks.

And you can only do that by hanging the meat on the bone.

So we do that very carefully in our own premises where we can actually watch the carcass, you know, every day and make sure it is all looking good and all the temperatures are absolutely perfect.

In a way, the butcher has to love the meat, as the farmer does.

JAMES: Now, I'm gonna let you into a little secret.

I actually nearly bought a couple of cattle about four years ago.

And some farmers put me off and said, they're a nightmare to look after.

They'll destroy your fences.

JOHNNIE: It's like any animal.

If you look after it, it looks after you.

JAMES: Right.

JOHNNIE: And that's it.

And they're great at foraging.

One of the points of Highland cattle is that it's a big, wide mouth.

Because the great thing about having the wide mouth is that they can browse on the rough vegetation, which then keeps the grass in good condition.

And that is all a part of building up an organic soil.

And the great thing about this is you see the process all the way through.

They're born here.

They're raised here, dispatched, and then sold in your shop.

JOHNNIE: And then we sell them in the shop, yes, mm-hmm.

JAMES: It's the ultimate.

- Yup.

Yes, yes.

I mean, I think it's delicious.

♪ ♪ Now, I've been doing this job a long, long time, and I feel very honored.

And I've been a pig farmer for most of my life when I was growing up.

I've got a passion for animals and their welfare.

And being up here in the Highlands and seeing these as close as you are now, it's a magical experience.

Just look at that.

♪ ♪ JAMES (VOICEOVER): Before I leave, I'm just checking out the estate farm shop, which stocks a diverse array of local produce.

All right.

How are you doing, boss?

SHOPKEEPER: Not bad.

How's yourself?

This looks like the right place to buy it, so.

It certainly is.

JAMES: Do you know what?

There's a massive selection here, isn't there, really.

Great venison.

I'd quite fancy a joint, so I'm gonna have one of those and one of those, if that's all right.

SHOPKEEPER: Rib roast here?

JAMES: Yeah, and one of those.

I'll take a fillet, yeah.

SHOPKEEPER: And a fillet.

I think that's supper sorted.

It certainly should be.

Enjoy.

- Thank you very much.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): And that delicious meat is ideal for my next dish.

What can you say?

The scenery and the cattle were beautiful, as is this dish.

And I'm gonna use an amazing piece of fillet of beef for this and do a classic carpaccio.

We can then trim this up to about there.

So the first thing you're gonna do is season it with black pepper.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ And then we need a really hot pan.

That's the key to it.

And get a little bit of butter, but you want this to brown straight away.

Keep the pan nice and hot and pop the beef in.

And literally leave it in the pan and let it sear.

So you're not cooking the steak, you're just coloring it.

This is just gonna really add to the flavor of this carpaccio.

So while that's happening, we can then prepare our cling film.

Keep your eye on the beef because you want to evenly sear this on all sides.

And then, what I like to do, really, for a carpaccio, you grab some salt and pepper and pop that over your cling film, some salt.

But I'm gonna use some fresh thyme.

So once the meat is all nicely, evenly sealed, take the pan off, and then pop the beef on the cling film.

And then what you need to do now is just tuck the cling film in and tightly wrap it up.

Once you get to that stage, grab either end of the cling film and just keep rolling it all up, and it'll tighten it up like that.

And then you need to pop it in the fridge to allow it to cool.

Now, I'm gonna serve this with some candied walnuts, which is really simple.

We start off with a bit of water in the pan, and you need to make a sugar syrup.

And for that, you almost need equal quantities sugar and water.

And what you want to do is just warm this up.

You don't need to boil it.

You're just dissolving the sugar.

So once you've got to that stage, we can then take this off the heat and then pop in some walnuts in the pan.

♪ ♪ And you basically just pop them in the sugar syrup for no more than about a minute.

And then what you want to do is lift them out of this.

If you put them in the syrup too long, they just soften up.

And then, get some very, very hot oil.

And as you deep fat fry them, it caramelizes and makes the walnuts go crunchy as well.

And do these in batches.

It's a good idea.

♪ ♪ It's important when you're cooking these like this, not to overcook them and let them go brown.

♪ ♪ Once you've got them out like that, and then we can turn our attention to what we've got left in here.

This is the walnut sort of sugar syrup.

I'm gonna make a nice little pickle.

And for that, you just add a little bit of white wine vinegar.

And then, all I'm gonna do now is grab our pear.

You can either slice these or peel them.

And when I mean peel them, you literally, you start off peeling them and just keep peeling them because this is gonna be our nice little pear pickle.

And then when you've got your pears done, you can take a couple of tablespoons of this pickling liquid.

And we just leave the pears to one side just to sit there.

Only wants about five minutes while we make our dressing.

Touch of mayonnaise, a bit of blue cheese-- you can use Stilton, whatever you want, really-- and then just a tiny little bit of Worcestershire sauce.

Give it a blitz.

♪ ♪ And once you've got everything mixed together, that's your dressing done.

And then, all it's a matter of doing now is really plating it up.

So when your beef is cooled down, you get a nice little bit of color on the beef.

Take that out.

Grab yourself a platter because this is a proper dish.

It requires a proper plate.

And then we can slice this.

It's much easier to do it in half first.

And you can see you've got a nice sealed edges.

And then all you do is, you cut this into thin slices.

So really, with carpaccio, it's all about the quality of the meat.

And I have to say, Highland cattle from Scotland, it doesn't get any better.

Now, if you want it even thinner, well, this is a nice little tip.

Take yourself some cling film, and then just press it.

And as you press it, it opens out.

It's all about building up little layers now.

Pickled pears, you can just pop these on all over.

Bit of the watercress.

What I love about watercress is the pepperiness of it.

Dollop the old dressing all over.

And then, what I do love with this, celery centers.

You just take the leaves off, and you just put a few of these on it as well.

Not forgetting you've got the walnuts as well.

Black pepper over the top.

A nice pinch of salt.

And then, always, always, I always think with carpaccio a nice drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

And there you have it.

I think that dish does it justice-- Highland beef in a carpaccio.

All you need is bagpipes.

[bagpipe music] [upbeat music] ♪ ♪ JAMES (VOICEOVER): Today I'm in the stunning Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands with my mate, acclaimed chef Nick Nairn.

We're heading to the River Spey, renowned for its whisky distilleries.

But I've got an altogether different experience in store for Nick.

♪ ♪ So I was reading that there's been a surprising number of injuries during whitewater rafting.

Have they?

NICK: Yeah.

- All right.

I don't normally get nervous, but.

I thought you were a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

Well, I kind of am, but you've been winding me up.

And you've got my head-- my head all-- ♪ ♪ JAMES (VOICEOVER): We've finally arrived at Tamdhu to find a place to change before meeting our instructors from Active Outdoor Pursuits.

JAMES: See, first I'd like to apologize.

NICK: Yeah.

JAMES: Mainly to you, but to for the viewer.

NICK: Yeah, the viewer's gonna suffer.

Not even Brad Pitt could look good in this.

No, it's not a good look at all.

You see, I blame somebody from the office.

NICK: Why's that?

This is the second time now I've had to get dressed in rubber.

Oh, you think somebody's got a little-- I don't know what it is.

Mm, uh-huh.

Whatever, it's not a good look.

[tense music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): We look utterly ridiculous.

And while Jim gives us the full safety briefing, Freddie, who's running the safety boat, is looking a bit worried.

What happens if we fall in?

You're just gonna float down the next bit, and we're gonna get you out of the water as quick as we can.

But there is a particular method that we want you to use when you do or if you do fall in.

Did he say, "if you do"?

Or "when you do"?

JIM: Bit of both.

He said "when."

JIM: A bit of both.

Yeah, I'll be out in the canoe as well, guys.

So if anything does go real Pete Tong, I'll be there to kind of-- So you're safety boat?

- Yeah, I'm your safety boat.

- Boat slash canoe.

You've got to trust him.

That's the question.

- Well, you know.

- I mean, I don't trust-- I don't trust either of you because you're not in the same gear as what we are, to be completely honest with you.

JIM: OK, guys.

Oh, oh, you're sitting on my hand.

Aye.

JIM: Cool.

There's quite a lot of him.

JIM: So we're gonna have to paddle forward a little bit.

NICK: Here we go.

Steaming ahead.

Got the top team.

OK.

[upbeat music] Into the breach, dear friends.

♪ ♪ So this is the Spey, guys.

Probably one of my favorite rivers in Scotland.

Very, very popular for salmon fishing, whitewater-- Completely mad.

JIM: --canoeing.

And on top of that, better than all of that is the whiskies.

Whoa.

JAMES: Woo-hoo!

♪ ♪ There's a lovely little eddy line just coming up again.

Be a little bit of fun.

♪ ♪ I did not expect that.

JIM: Expect what?

Go backwards?

We're going to go backwards.

♪ ♪ We're actually going backwards.

JIM: There's a big rock there, guys.

Pop there.

JAMES: Are we going down there?

NICK: Yeah, we're going down there.

JIM: Yeah, go down that little drop there.

FREDDIE: Yeah, come on, right in the middle.

NICK: Why are we going through the big nasty bit?

JIM: Oh, you gotta have the most bit of fun, eh?

NICK: OK.

[laughter] NICK: Oh, I thought we were going out there.

Oh, that was fantastic!

I don't know what I was worried about.

You all right?

JIM: Oh, yeah.

I'm great.

JAMES: Are we going down there?

JIM: Yeah, right down there.

NICK: See what the big standing waves are?

JAMES: Argh!

NICK: Here we go.

[yelling and laughter] ♪ ♪ NICK: Yeah, yeah, good.

Oh.

JIM: Cool, so we just gently paddle forward there.

NICK: OK.

James, are you glad you're up the front?

JAMES: Yeah, yeah, in fact, I'm getting drenched here.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

NICK: Yeah, we're going in.

JAMES: Where are we going?

Where are we going?

JIM: Straight forward.

JAMES: Oh.

And relax.

Oh, that was fantastic!

I dunno what I was worried about.

Nicely done.

Unfortunately, we've got one last final challenge, though.

We've gotta get the boat back up the steps.

Um, I think I've broken James.

I can't get out.

Just leave me here.

[calm music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): Now, back to the safety of dry land and my final dish in this glorious landscape with the mountains behind me.

♪ ♪ This really is a special part of the world.

And it's really here you get to see the size of what the Cairngorms is.

It's spectacular.

But anyway, I thought I'd do a dish that's really suitable for this area.

It's a big, grand dish using amazing beef.

So first thing we do is take our onions.

But you cook these with the skins on.

So keep the root on.

And then, we take some local whiskey, just a little bit.

And then we take some beef stock.

♪ ♪ We almost cover the onions.

And then what you do is bring this to the boil.

Put it on the heat.

Cook this for about 40 minutes and allow it to cool.

And then what I've got here is some that I've got prepared.

But these are what you get.

You get these whiskey and beef braised onions.

These are amazing.

So when you cut this, slice them through.

Now, this is a good idea to keep the root on for this.

It just holds it all together.

And then, to simply cook these, I'm just gonna start off with a little bit of oil and straight onto our barbecue because what I want to do is char these.

♪ ♪ Now, I'm gonna flavor this whole dish with a little bit of butter, but special butter, because I'm gonna use some Scots pine for this.

So you take a little knob of butter, just a little bit, pop that on here together with just a little bit of garlic.

And then, we take some of this amazing Scots pine because it will flavor the dish as well.

All you do is just take the sprig, sit it in there.

This is the centerpiece of this dish, really.

And that's our beef.

And I've got some amazing rump steak.

And when you get beef really good and you get really good beef, let's face it, in Scotland, wherever you are, you have to use a bit of beef that generally isn't used that much.

This is a rump steak.

Now, it's the cheapest of the lot, but definitely the best flavor.

Now, this is called Shorthorn, this is from.

And then I take this beautiful bit of beef.

Look at that.

And cut it a decent thickness.

Try not to-- it's not a minute steak, this.

We are in Scotland, you know?

You have it proper, like that.

A bit like when I took the crew out for fish and chips last night.

Deep fried pizza, one of them had.

Deep fried pizza!

I didn't actually-- I thought it was a Scottish myth, to be honest.

Look, that's what we want.

Look.

That's what you're aiming for.

Charred.

They're not burnt, just charred.

Now, I'm gonna take my steak, so season it up.

[bright music] ♪ ♪ And then, we're gonna grab some of this pine butter that I'm just gonna rub over the top.

And then, I'm basically just going to barbecue this straight on the hot coals.

♪ ♪ Give my hands a quick wash.

Now, with the purple sprouting broccoli, really, for this, try and get the ones with the thinner stems.

If they're thicker, just cut them down because I'm gonna cook this like asparagus, just straight over the coals.

And then use some of this pine butter just over the top.

♪ ♪ Look.

♪ ♪ See, this is about ready.

Look.

Look how quickly it takes to cook.

Look.

Just lift this off.

And then, our steak, just look at this.

[chuckles] Life is good.

♪ ♪ Now, the key to cooking a steak is to let it rest, particularly with a rump steak.

However long you've been cooking it for, be it six, eight minutes, leave that for the same amount of time to rest, really.

Then just pop the mustard into the pan.

♪ ♪ And a little bit of this English mustard, just a little bit.

So we can then take a bit more whiskey because it'd be rude not to.

You can flambe it if you wish, and get rid of the alcohol.

♪ ♪ And then, this is the key to it.

You use that liquor that we've cooked the onions, just a little bit of the liquor in there.

And what I'm gonna do is reduce this down by half, and at the same time, add a touch of double cream just to stabilize it.

It's a simple little mustard sauce.

Little knob of butter until it's ready.

A bit of salt and pepper over the top.

And then, we're gonna simply plate it.

So grab your steak.

Take all these nice little bits of chargrilled broccoli.

And then with these, this is where we open them all out and we get a bit cheffy like that.

♪ ♪ Then you take your sauce.

Look.

We serve this with our steak.

[calm music] I love dishes like this.

I really, really do.

So there you have it, my local rump steak with a nice whiskey and mustard sauce, nice chargrilled onions, and a bit of broccoli.

Right, well, it'd be rude to eat this all on my own, so come on then.

Oh, man.

I spotted you.

- I've been hanging out.

- Just look at that.

It smells fantastic.

It looks fantastic.

But come on, come on, come on.

I want to taste this.

JAMES: What is it about rump steak, though, for chefs?

It's so much more tastier, don't you think?

People get put off because they think it's gonna be a little bit tough, but oh, man, that flavor, the barbecue flavor on that is just stunning.

That is worthy of the setting, James Martin.

And I don't say that lightly.

You enjoyed today, though, didn't you?

NICK: Yeah, I did.

JAMES: Bit nervous whitewater rafting.

NICK: Yes.

JAMES: But it was actually really, really good fun.

And what a spectacular place.

I have to say, to have this on your doorstep, you're a very lucky chap because it is spectacular.

Cheers.

Cheers, mate.

- It's a great place.

- Mm.

[theme music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪