River Cottage 2009

Hugh has been waxing lyrical about the goodness of home grown grub for years and as summer starts in 2009, he's convinced the tide is starting to turn. "Britain's definitely been bitten by the grow your own bug," grins Hugh. While Hugh's a die hard fan of many a veg patch pleasure, there's one garden goodie that excites him more than most. "If I was only allowed to grow one vegetable to get me through the summer, it would be these guys: peas." For Hugh, peas symbolise the start of summer so he heads to the kitchen with Tim the chef to rustle up tasty pea recipes. That's if there's any left after Hugh's finished scoffing straight from the bowl. Tim's cooking a chilled pea soup served as a shooter with shells and shoots used for good measure. Hugh opts for a pea and pork combo with plain boiled, buttered peas with fried chorizo. "All we've been saying is give peas a chance," grins Hugh.

"Anyone who's nurtured a crop of vulnerable seedlings into hearty veg savours the harvest, not only for the joy it brings to the plate but also to the soul," enthuses Hugh. However, the stuff we buy from the supermarkets gets less respect. A third of all the food we buy we throw away. Restaurants can't afford such waste so they have to be experts at using leftovers. But while all chefs use them few would boast about remodelling yesterday's dinner. "In restaurants, leftovers is a dirty word," explains Hugh. Hugh wants to come clean about leftovers and celebrate them on the menu of Canteen. Head chef, Tim, is less convinced but the pair prepare some innovative desserts using leftover grub. Hugh's eggy bready pudding made with stale breadcrumbs goes head to head with Tim's lemon drizzle cake made from leftover mashed potato. And both get a 'spanking' verdict from Tim.