Rick Stein’s Cornwall episode 25

Rick Stein's Cornwall episode 25

Rick Stein’s Cornwall episode 25: In our fields and hedgerows are plants that are delicious as well as plants that are deadly, as Rick learns from a professional forager who takes him on a tour around the beautiful Camel Estuary. Inspired, Rick creates his own version of a Greek Horta pie with foraged greens.


 

 



Afterwards, it’s a trip down memory lane with his long-time fish supplier Matthew Stevens, who remembers Cornwall before the tourists came. Over a pint with actor, comedian and passionate Cornishman Ed Rowe, star of the BAFTA winning film Bait, Rick examines the impact of second home ownership on Cornish communities.

In this new series Rick Stein reveals the Cornwall that he knows and loves: a unique part of the British isles with a strong sense of identity and a history rooted in its Celtic past. With his famous natural inquisitiveness, Rick shares the road less travelled – championing the food, history, music, art and culture of the county many locals argue should be a country in its own right.

 

Rick Stein’s Cornwall episode 25

 

Rick Stein

Christopher Richard “Rick” Stein, CBE (born 4 January 1947) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and television presenter. Along with business partner (and first wife) Jill Stein he has run the Stein hotel and restaurant business in the UK. The business has a number of renowned restaurants, shops and hotels in Padstow along with other restaurants in Marlborough, Winchester and Barnes. He is also the head chef and a co-owner of “Rick Stein at Bannisters” at Mollymook and Port Stephens in Australia, with his second wife Sarah. He has written cookery books and presented television programmes.

After graduating, he converted a mobile disco in Padstow, which he had run as a student, into a quayside nightclub with his friend, Johnny. It became known for its freeze-dried curries. However, the nightclub lost its licence and was closed down by the police, mainly due to frequent brawls with local fishermen. The pair still had a licence for a restaurant in another part of the building, so they continued with that to avert bankruptcy.

Stein ran the kitchen using the experience he had gained as a commis chef. Eventually he converted it into a small harbour-side bistro, “The Seafood Restaurant”, with his first wife Jill in 1975. As of 2015, his business operates four restaurants, a bistro, a café, a seafood delicatessen, a pâtisserie shop, a gift shop and a cookery school. In 2007 threats against Stein’s businesses were made by Cornish nationalists. His impact on the economy of Padstow is such that it has been nicknamed “Padstein”.

Horta pie (hortopita)

In a lot of Mediterranean countries, foraging for wild greens (horta in Greek) is part of life. I have often asked why we don’t we do this more back home. There is plenty to choose from: nettles, wild parsley, purslane, sea kale, dandelions and wild garlic to name but a few. This pie is also well worth making with leaves you can buy, such as chard, spinach, radicchio or rocket.

Method:

  • To make the filling, combine the greens, onions and lemon juice in a very large bowl, then add the eggs and feta and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Oil the base of a 40x40cm/16x16in ovenproof dish. Line with a sheet of filo pastry, brush with olive oil, then place another sheet of filo on top. Continue until you have five oiled sheets of filo pastry in the dish. Put the vegetable mixture in the dish. Cover with the remaining five sheets of filo, oiling between each layer. Fold in the pastry from the edges to enclose the filling and brush the top with more olive oil.
  • Bake for 50–60 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. If it is browning too quickly, cover it with a sheet of foil. Delicious served warm or cold.
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