Fresh from his American road trip and culinary tours around Europe and North Africa, Jamie Oliver’s new six-part series on Channel 4 brings him much closer to home as he tours the British Isles to uncover what makes British food so great, and to seek out inspiration and new ideas for recipes.
And episode two of Jamie’s Great Britain brings Jamie to the county with more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other – Yorkshire.
Jamie learns that classic British dishes have been influenced over centuries by colonization, immigration, invasion and exploration, and nowhere more so than in Yorkshire where the Industrial Revolution and the influx of immigrant workers played a large part in changing the food that we eat, mixing fresh new arrivals with old British traditions.
Jamie’s Yorkshire odyssey begins with huge Yorkshire puds and pints of locally-brewed beer at the fabulous Kings Arms pub in the little village of Heath near Wakefield, before he moves on to Leeds with its large Jewish community where he enjoys smoked fish and samples the amazingly creative pub recipes created using Timothy Taylor ales.
After meeting Chinese and Iranian chefs, Jamie gets down to some cooking himself and cooks up Jewish potted smoked trout with a horseradish pate, Yorkshire forced rhubarb stewed in Pimms with rice pudding, Eccles cakes with a cup of Yorkshire tea, a Persian-inspired dish of lamb shanks with Yorkshire beer and baby Yorkshire puddings.
You can catch Jamie’s Great Britain on Channel 4 on Tuesdays at 9pm, and Jamie’s Yorkshire trip will be aired on Tuesday 1 November.
Christmas present ideas – Jamie’s Great Britain book
For your friends and relatives who love cooking, check out the book of the series on Amazon by clicking the image on the left.
And if you’re ever looking for holiday accommodation in Yorkshire for short breaks, find York hotels, Whitby bed and breakfast and Yorkshire Dales cottages on Hello Yorkshire.
