Our Food

Giles and the team start in Norfolk, a county where local, seasonal foods are just as important as large-scale commercial farming. Giles learns to tell the difference between a male and female crab when he gets a taste of life as a Cromer fisherman, while Lucy Worsley uncovers the Mexican past of our traditional Christmas turkey. The team also discover how the humble turnip changed the way we farm, and why half of all our sugar comes from a rather grubby Norfolk root.

Giles and the team head to North Wales, where food is about making the best of the basics. Giles follows in the footsteps of the Welsh drovers who walked cattle hundreds of miles to market, while Alex Langlands heads to Snowdonia to meet some of our hardiest sheep. James Wong learns what it takes to farm leeks on an industrial scale and the team discovers what makes Welsh sea trout so incredibly special.

Giles and the team explore Kent. You'd think there could be nothing more British than the garden of England but food here also has a distinctly continental flavour. Giles gets a taste of what British beer was like before the arrival of hops from Europe, while Alys Fowler uncovers the real roots of English cherries. Lucy Worsley heads to Whitstable in search of shellfish and the team learn about the secret lives of the shepherds, or 'lookers', who watched their flocks on Romney Marsh.

Giles and the team head to the west of Scotland. This is a wild, remote landscape where food was once all about survival. Now Scottish food is prized the world over. Giles learns how the deep sea lochs of the west are perfect for salmon farming. A fish caught in a river is subsistence food. A fish farmed and smoked is a billion dollar industry. James Wong discovers why the warm, wet climate of the west is so good for wild mushrooms, while Alys Fowler finds out about the role of the humble potato in the Highland clearances.