The Wild Gourmets

[Stewy]

New series The Wild Gourmets starts next Tuesday on C4 @ 8.30pm.

Looks interesting.

The Wild Gourmets

West Country
In the first episode of a six-part series, award-winning cook Thomasina Miers and adventurer Guy Grieve set off on a nationwide culinary adventure through Britain's most picturesque landscapes in search of the best wild food. Their aim is to turn the seasonal food they hunt and gather into mouth-watering feasts.

[Meles meles]

Ive gots lots of suggestions and recipes,

Having been a chef for many years in hotels, restaurants. Worked for many big names.
Any way thats not my point. I am now one with nature. But i have to be honest i do like to live off nature at times.
Their are so many wild herbs, veg, fruits etc to be enjoyed. I have cooked such dishs in the wild that makes my mouth water now.

For reasons of not wanting to turn this thread into an arguement, We wont mention meat/fish.
But I dont shoot!!!!!!

[ChrisJB]

I quite like this programme, but the presenters are pretty abysmal aren't they!

Regards, Chris

[Dan Salter]

Abysmal?...they were great.

God what is it that people have against slightly posh/upper class people who speak properly?....im not one...im common and sound it but i would kill to have had a better education and be able to speak properly/ posh...

SHE is adorable...i would happily marry a girl like her and i would have thought girls would think him a bit of a hunk but i guess not?

Ok so im not "anti" huntin' shootin' fishing either...which is just as well seeing as my heros are Hugh FW, Ray mears and Jimmy Dougherty.

I loved this show...I didnt even know of it until i caught it tonight....Im so jealous of them being able to cook up the days kill in that beautiful stone hunting lodge place....

Cant wait for next weeks...how many have i missed?

[galanthus]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

Abysmal?...they were great.

SHE is adorable...i would happily marry a girl like her and i would have thought girls would think him a bit of a hunk but i guess not

I take it Kate humble is dumped then dan ? Fickle hearted man

[Dan Salter]

Originally Posted by galanthus

I take it Kate humble is dumped then dan ? Fickle hearted man

Absolutely....this new one can COOK ! (and shoot)

[galanthus]

she'd be a nightmare after an argument tho mate 'hmm shall I pop the odd laburnum pod in his corned beef hash or shoot his kneecaps...'

[ron1863]

I enjoyed what I saw of the programme and would love to be able to pick wild, edible fungi, but I would probably only do it the once, as I have no idea what is edible and what's not.

[ChrisJB]

Great? I don't believe it! They are way too pretentious and he is far too keen on showing his backside for my liking! In fact, I find him distinctly abnormal and utterly false.

Anyway, I like my country folk to have beards, preferably one like W.G Grace (apart from the lasses of course).

Regards, Chris

[Nick T]

What sort of beards do you like them to have then

[ChrisJB]

Originally Posted by Nick T

What sort of beards do you like them to have then

Ha ha! Don't ask!

Regards, Chris

[hammock monkey]

what i dont understand about the 'wild' gourmets is the 'you can find all sorts of veg in peoples gardens - i'm just going to borrow some and cook them for the garden owners as payment' trick

eh?

in what way is that wild?
why not just buy the veg from asda, the principles the same - or near as dammit to me!

i do find guy grieve sort of preachy - even though he seems more squeamish than the girl despite letting her know what a big ruffy tuffy he is constantly.

There's plenty out there with raiding gardens etc, thats the stuff i want to see.


keep it coming though, and get rid of the portable larder - if you cant make it good without a van load of kitchen staples then lower your expectations!
same ethic as homebrew wine, i dont expect a chateauneuf de pape when i've stuck a load of nettles in the pot - i just hope for good nettle wine!

[Dan Salter]

Ok i admiti have only caught one show so far but gardens????.....i didnt see any garden raiding...it was food from the wild in River cottage stylee? ok so...the grouse shoot although large wild land is inevitably owned by a land owner...is this what your getting at or have i missed episodes when they raid people allotments?

Either way...i would let her raid my own fridge and cook it all for me as payment any day ! not only will the grub be spot on ( masterchef winner) but she gorgeous too !

Im guessing i have missed nearly all this series as i only caught it last week...is it still on tomorrow ? have seen the book in the shops just hope there is a dvd coming too?

[ChrisJB]

'Fraid so Dan, they do go into peoples' gardens for veg and lovely herbs! But at least he keeps his trolleys on then.

Regards, Chris

[gez]

A load of old tosh... "Yer can we swap this for some of ur veg" or we can just pull up here & get the guns out. yer right . & theres always some expert who just happens to be around ie on the beach picking seaweed. or at the woods picking fungi... come on & there larder in the motor puts mine at home to shame.... bring back the river cottage.....gez

[Dan Salter]

Bah humbug !

i still like it...there will never be another hugh fearnley whittingstall granted but he was still guilty of it...going onto private estates to shoot pigeons if he cooked some for the landowner...Catching grass carp in a private lake...if he cooked it for the owner....same thing really...and he and ray mears regularly cheat and just happen to have a store of garlic with them etc...

Flawed they all may be but they got me interested in looking at the countryside in a different way....and sampling some free food ( and making a year supply of different jams over this summer)

And she is FAR sexier to watch than Harry potter..ooops..I mean Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall ( whos is a hero fo mine so im just teasing)

[hammock monkey]

i agree about having permission to shoot on someone's land, cant be avoided really in the uk, but raiding gardens (with or without permission) is crossing the line between 'wild' and 'domestic' with both feet.
i really disliked HFW at first, i felt he totally misunderstood country people - they would be ashamed to have to return to catching Rabbits, eels etc (as well as not enjoying the killing) when they could afford to buy from the supermarket, and i felt he almost talked down to them when 'enlightening' them to the fact you could eat squirrel etc, but he's become far more humble and less toffy-nosed since the river cott's early days...and very likable in the process.
His book on Meat is especially good, he's really achieved something there to my mind. Pushing animal welfare upwards by persuading the ready meal armies to switch to cooking well farmed animals is worth a gong from the palace and more importantly a voice in the media.
wild gormets on the other hand is one city lad playing 'dens' albeit a couple steps on, and a tv chef trying to cro-bar open a bigger slice of the tv pie.
i'd never buy the book etc, but i'll watch hoping they understand it on a deeper level like hfw, mears etc later down the line.
'ark at me on about it like i'm the daddy...i'll get me coat.

[ChrisJB]

I agree, HFW and Ray Mears are always good value and have added a new dimension to my forays into the countryside, which is a good thing. But surely, not everything Ray eats is; 'delicious/marvellous/delightful/glorious/wonderful/exquisite....' or any other such superlatives he often uses for something that looks (and I'm sure if the truth be known, tastes) positively hideous!

But then again, that just adds to the charm!

Regards, Chris

[hammock monkey]

exactly! fair play to mears and his prof friend for attempting to make staple foods, re-inventing what might have been a year round source of bulky foods essential for enlarging the community - and in the process making a grey sludge that was described as 'the worst thing i have ever eaten' which coming from someone that loves grubs etc is saying something!

watching wild gourmets last night they had 1 ingredient out of approx 15 in one dish that was 'wild'...hmm, as much as i want them to suceed, they need to be aware that if trading standards ever catch up with em they'll be eating 'wild' bread and water!

more power to em tho, its all ultimately for the good i hope

[Crystoculars]

I watched the first program of this series and then promptly went off it for the reasons above, living off the wild does not mean going into a farm shop and trading fungi for onions and eggs to me.

And the garden raid! I mean, it's all very well to encourage people to grow their own because it's right there and it'll be free and the satisfaction you get from picking your own produce is immense, but to show it as living off the wild just appalled me.

[JP]

I watch it but cringe at Guy's slimy so called charm, I think its just another couple of Z list celebs jumping on the band wagon, its Bareable, Jamie Oliver on before it has been a better series IMO what you see is what you get he doesnt ponce about like an expert on everything but has knowledgable people working with him and He is a proper chef not some toffy nosed bint mincing about, I personally think if they was left with out their resurchers they would be boring, what is it with him and the Axe too!! im surprised he has all his fingers watching him perform with that! And if they actually kip in that tent im a monkeys uncle!lol ( err bit ranty that sorry!)
Id like to see something less "Telly" and more Real personally.

[ChrisJB]

Originally Posted by JP

I watch it but cringe at Guy's slimy so called charm, I think its just another couple of Z list celebs jumping on the band wagon, its Bareable, Jamie Oliver on before it has been a better series IMO what you see is what you get he doesnt ponce about like an expert on everything but has knowledgable people working with him and He is a proper chef not some toffy nosed bint mincing about, I personally think if they was left with out their resurchers they would be boring, what is it with him and the Axe too!! im surprised he has all his fingers watching him perform with that! And if they actually kip in that tent im a monkeys uncle!lol ( err bit ranty that sorry!)
Id like to see something less "Telly" and more Real personally.

Ha ha! What a great summary!

Regards, Chris