Rick Stein's Cornwall

In this episode, Rick takes us to the place where his passion for Cornwall began – his family home at Trevose Head on the north Cornish coast, where as a child he would go fishing with his father. He explores the wild yet beautiful landscape of the Land’s End peninsula with the artist Kurt Jackson before heading to the tranquillity of an heritage apple orchard preserved by head gardener John Harris. Here Rick picks some apples to make his mother’s Apple Charlotte pudding.

Rick Stein meets young chef Tom Adams, who runs Combeshead Farm, a leading field-to-fork restaurant in Cornwall. Here they grow and produce all of their own food, from sourdough bread to pork pies, as well as rearing a small heard of Mangalitsa pigs, a hairy, old-world breed which produces exquisite hams. Rick tries out a new recipe – pork chops with a sloe berry sauce – before moving on to the village of Rock, where his son Jack holds a clam bake on the shore of the Camel Estuary.

Rick Stein meets his good friend, the actor and comedian Barry Humphries, who fell in love with Cornwall in the 1960s when he escaped London to develop his now famous character, Dame Edna Everage, with near-disastrous consequences. Barry talks about his friendship with Britain’s favourite poet, John Betjeman, and asks Rick to review his homemade fishcakes. Rick also goes fishing for crab, before cooking a simple yet delicious crab omelette. And he takes a dip in the chilly north Atlantic with an eccentric group of wild water swimmers called the Perranporth Blue Tits.

Rick explores one of Cornwall’s hidden secrets, the secluded and stunning Fowey Estuary, joining his friend on a boat trip to learn about the history of the area and getting a unique view of the beautiful buildings along the river bank. Downstream, after a meal of crab scotch eggs at a fashionable new restaurant, Rick discovers that the historic town of Fowey was once a hotbed of piracy. Just above the town is a family making a prize-winning Cornish vodka, which Rick uses to make a delicious pancake with a wild blackberry compote and Cornish clotted cream.

Join Rick for a trip on the world’s busiest chain ferry that links Cornwall and Devon across the Tamar River – on the Torpoint ferry Rick chats to ferry controller Mike Bright. Following this short journey, he explores Torpoint, a town on Cornwall’s Rame peninsula, with historian Harry Bennett. Now for a real highlight of the series, Rick visits the mystical woodland setting of Golitha Falls, near Liskeard, to find the spectacular cascades and waterfalls. Whilst here he also chats to the very lovely Dawn French about all things Cornwall, including why she’s made it her home. Rick then heads down to the south coast to visit Seth Pascoe at Cornish Seaberry Co to learn how and where his produce grows. As well as being great to cook with, Cornish Seaberry have partnered with Cornish drinks companies Colwith Farm Distillery and Driftwood Spars Brewery to create vodka and beer flavoured by their berries.

In this episode of Rick Stein’s Cornwall you will explore the world-famous Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden in St Ives with artist Anthony Frost – noted for his abstract works consisting of brightly coloured prints and collages. Fish for red mullet on the Lizard with fishermen, Danny and Tommy Phillips – two wonderfully Cornish gents from Cadgwith Cove which is located in a must-visit spot on the south coast. Then you’ll meet Sophie Alexander and Stephen Holloway at Source Kitchen in St Ives to chat about their artisan produce and hyper seasonal dishes. Finally, travel further down west to the tiny village of Porthgwarra to meet RSPB Chough expert, Paul St Pierre. Recipes in episode 11 include red mullet on confit potatoes with black olive tapenade – cooked at Source Kitchen.

In episode 12 of Rick Stein’s Cornwall, you’ll visit quite possibly the prettiest church in the world, St Just-In-Roseland Church. Explore the waterside haven of St Mawes by foot and water with Alex and Olga Polizzi from Hotel Tresanton as well as meeting chef Paul Wadham. Then it’s up to Launceston to be introduced to some of the best meat in the country at our Cornish butcher, Ian Warren from Warrens Butchers. Their steaks are simply fab. Rick then explores potter Jack Doherty’s studio in Penzance before returning to Padstow to listen to Dave Brown and St Merryn Ukes – a rather good local ukulele band. Recipes in episode 12 include steak with béarnaise sauce to celebrate meat from Cusgarne Farm.

As Rick’s Cornish odyssey nears its end, he takes a break in the city of Truro, where he discovers an unusual ghost story and tours the magnificent cathedral with friend Daphne Skinnard. He also meets a family passionate about offal, who prepare him a meal of pickled ox tongue and beef heart tacos, and in the county’s most northerly parish, on a wander to Hawker’s Hut, he tells the story of an eccentric vicar who would retrieve the bodies from nearby shipwrecks and bury them in his church graveyard.

Rick Stein travels to St Ives to meet one of Britains little-known artists, Alfred Wallis. In the shadow of Bodmin Moor Rick visits a very rare collection of medieval stained-glass windows in the church of St Neot. It is here he ticks off an item on his bucket list by taking part in a rather unusual celebration called Oak Apple Day, marking the occasion when Charles II became king.

Cornwall has more than its fair share of folktales. Perhaps the most famous is found near Lands End, where Rick recounts the tale of the Mermaid of Zennor. A short distance away, Rick joins a small army of seaweed harvesters who are feeding an increasing appetite for a natural food more common in Japan.

Cornish king crab is on the menu for Rick as he heads out of Newquay to catch and cook this tasty crustacean. Afterwards, he takes a trip inland to Bodmin Moor to meet Robin Hanbury Tenison, one of the 20th century’s last great explorers. His farm is home to one of Cornwall’s most ambitious rewilding projects, where Robin’s son, Merlin, has recently introduced a pair of wild beavers who are doing their best to restore biodiversity in this corner of Cornwall.

On a visit to a dairy, Rick meets a man who is paid to eat 700 samples of cheese a week and cooks his sumptuous cheese and chive scones. His next stop is the salty old fishing town of Newlyn, the unlikely setting of one of Britain’s most revolutionary art movements. Rick discovers an intriguing tale of deception behind one of the most famous paintings produced here.

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.

Following in the footsteps of Turner, one of Britain’s most loved artists, Rick discovers how much the Cornish landscape influenced his work. At Newlyn Fish Market, Rick counts in the daily catch with the head auctioneer, who tells him how the market has adapted to modern times. Surrounded by beautifully fresh fish, Rick takes away some monkfish and fires up his BBQ to make a grillade of monkfish with roasted red pepper sauce. At Caerhays Castle, home to the nation’s largest collection of magnolias, Rick discovers how this corner of Cornwall was once home to some of the great Victorian plant hunters.

In the town of Looe, Rick learns about a time when the Cornish were taken as slaves by North African pirates. He joins one of the last fishing boats in St Mawes and uses the catch of lemon sole to make a warm, delicious salad. In Newlyn, he meets two entrepreneur chefs who cook mackerel to perfection.

Rick forages for mussels in his favourite rock pools, tours Bodmin Moor’s dark past with his son Jack and cooks a foolproof souffle with artisanal Cornish goat’s cheese.

Rick discovers Europe’s largest tea plantation on the banks of the River Fal, bakes a simple yet sumptuous fruited tea loaf and finds out how Cornwall inspired Charles Dickens.

Rick goes fishing under sail for his favourite oysters, makes a delicious fish soup and discovers the all-but-forgotten story of Cornwall’s ancient capital, Lostwithiel

Rick enjoys one of the world’s most scenic ferry crossings, rustles up a tasty vegetarian tart, and investigates the Cornish influence on Oscar-winning composer Malcolm Arnold.

On the trail of the greatest Second World War poet’, Charles Causley, Rick catches up with bestselling author Patrick Gale before heading home to whip up his favourite sea bass dish.