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6 Episodes 2011 - 2011
Episode 1
46 mins
Chef Jamie Oliver starts his culinary tour of Britain where his family roots lie. First he seeks street food in London's ever-immigrants-swamped East End, where his ancestors ran one of the many, often innovative food stalls or restaurants. In Essex, where his family moved to a seaside resort, Jamie buys North Sea shrimp, sole and mollusks to treat his family to his version of traditional beach food.
Episode 2
47 mins
In Yorkshire, Jamie concentrates on the legendary meat and, taking it as an example, how Jews introduced and helped adapt various culinary traditions from their continental European countries of origin when the industrialization of northern England transformed its agricultural society and attracted many immigrants. Iranians are a fascinating example of a new immigrants wave, whose dishes appeal so much to British taste that their restaurants seem the new rising fashion.
Episode 3
46 mins
In Wales, lamb dishes provide a red thread, but again Jamie finds 'British classics' largely the result of welcome immigrant input. The coal mines brought Italian, who used British ingredients to reinvent some of their rich cultural heritage, including pasta, Bolognese sauce and ice-cream. Ports like Cardiff brought more exotic immigrants, such as Yemeni, masters of lamb cuisine with mild spices and feisty extras. Local Welsh inputs include see-weed for lava-bread and lobster, once cheap for local consumption until the steam engine enabled export and prices exploded.
Episode 4
46 mins
Jamie visits Leicester, where he discovers the impact the British Empire and our love of spice have had on Britain's food culture. He meets Gujurati chef Amita Mashru, who has transformed a pub into one of the city's most popular curry houses.
Episode 5
46 mins
Jamie starts his exploration of (south) England's West Country in Bristol, the second British port, for long a major gateway to the empire, trough which people and produce flooded, especially from the West Indies, with abundant and strong spices, as demonstrated by the Jamaican community. Jamie combines with local ingredients, like the troublesome but refined Gloucester pig race.
Episode 6
47 mins
Jamie ends the tour of Britain in Scotland, from Glasgow along the West Coast to the islands. He concentrates an local game, including rabbit and deer, as well as seafood, including salmon, muscles, scallop. Again, history saw foreign influxes and influences, like Roman pheasant introduction and Viking fish processing, as well as spices and seasoning.