The Gastrocast Forum

[CantCookInScotland]

I've just watched a repeat of the River Cottage Road Trip.

I have to say I'm impressed with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. The last time I saw him on tv was I think his first series and I thought he was mostly about eating disgusting things and courting controversy.

Maybe this was some producers idea to get people watching? Who knows. He's come a long way since then anyway.

Road Trip was a lot better. It started off in Dorset I think. He was at a scarecrow festival, where he made a scarecrow out of vegetables then later chopped it all up and made minestrone out of it.

There was quite a lot packed into the episode. Fishing, hunting for wild mushrooms, shooting ducks at night and then cooking them over an open fire.

It all looked quite delicious. He ate it with fried apples and blackberries picked from nearby.

He kept the ducks heart and liver and made a little mini kebab with bacon as a starter as he didn't want to waste anything after shooting it himself.

He went out looking for Damsons and met a lady who made Damson Gin. She helped him make a big cheesecake for an outdoor dinner party he was hosting. They drank lots of the Damson Gin while preparing it and by the end they both looked pretty wasted.

The highlight for me though, has to be when he went to Dumfries and saw a butcher making haggis. It wasn't actually as disgusting as I thought it would be. We saw the heart, lungs and liver used to make it. I've seen the same thing before in primary school.

My friends dad's a butcher and I remember he brought the whole thing in once for show and tell. Though the set on tv looked much more like meat you'd buy from the grocery store. The stuff my friend brought to school looked like something out of a horror film.

We saw the offal being chopped up in a machine. Then they added oatmeal I think and stock from the lambs insides and some beef offal. Then they made the haggis.

The highlight though was when the butcher said now lets go out and we'll catch some wild haggis.

We saw them out running around in fields with nets and dogs doing haggis calls and eventually catching a wild haggis. It was just a haggis with some feathers stuck in it and some eyes. Like you see in scottish souvenir shops.

They cooked it on a fire and ate it with oatcakes. With a little bit of whisky drizzled over the top. It looked fantastic.

I recommend watching it. It's on Channel 4 I think at 8pm in the UK. I'll certainly be watching it again next week!

[Podchef]

I've seen the whole show and was quite impressed by the breadth of the thing. It's a bit like A Cook on the Wild Side where Hugh goes off to forage for his food and tries to eat without spending a sous. I haven't seen all of that series, but it is much earlier.

I have mixed feelings about his latest venture--River Cottage Treatment. I think the premise is good, but the effort is marred in some way. Don't quite know.

I've gotten to see it via the miracle of the internet. Otherwise I don't think Hugh will ever make his way to the States any time soon.

Road Trip shows the possabilities of what a travel and food show could be.

I supposes they'll be trooping out the River Cottage Christmas and the 10 Bird Roast later this month as well. . . .
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[Pat]

I've been watching Hugh down here in Oz. They've been showing repeats of one of his shows.

He's very entertaining. I have a book of his published in 1995 called Cuisine Bon Marche. It's subtitled From the market to the Table - inventive cooking that puts ingredients first. It was remaindered and I picked it up for $NZ2. A bargain!

He was formerly a restaurant critic for Punch and then Sunday Times cookery correspondent. He was also writing for the Sunday Telegraph. Not sure if he has kept up the writing, however.

Just saw a lovely episode where he was shooting pigeons of his landlord's manor house outbuildings - then turned them into a meal for the squire and his wife. Delightful.
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[Podchef]

Pat,
Great to have you on the forum!

I've never read any of HFW's writing you mention, but I have his River Cottage Cookbook and his Meat book--both worth a read.

I have been fortunate enough to see most of his stuff either in the UK, via dvd or over the internet. US food TV is pretty pathetic and I don't think they would ever air his programmes.

He has some interesting ideas and themes.
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