The Hairy Bikers are on the road once again and this time they’re coming to the Peak District.
Si King and Dave Myers are back home in the North of England for their latest programme The Hairy Bikers Go North. The eight-part series on BBC Two has so far seen the pair visit the likes of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumbria, and Northumberland, stopping off at beautiful locations along the way.
Tune into BBC Two this Thursday (4th Nov) at 8pm to see the pair descend upon the beautiful Peak District as they head out to meet the northern producers who are revolutionising the British food scene.
The Bikers start their journey off in style by heading to the world-famous Chatsworth House - a cornerstone of the National Park. Rather than explore the history and grandeur of the house, the pair are here for something far tastier – the legendary farm shop - a promoter of all local, Peak District produce. Since 1977 the shop has showcased the very best of the Peak District’s vast array of world-class food producers.
Finding out how important the shop is to the community, the bikers have a chat with Tony who runs the butchers counter selling meat raised on the estate’s own 5,000-acre farm. As well as picking up some Sage Derby (a cheese that has been made locally for over 400 years) Si and Dave get inspired for their first cook – traditional Derbyshire Oatcakes.
The bikers then ride onto a community food project historic Heage Windmill to pick up the rest of their ingredients - flour. Here they meet Lynn, one of the volunteers that help get the sails turning on the only working six-sailed stone towered windmill in England, while millers Anthony and Tim reveal the secrets of the mill.
With their panniers full of local Derbyshire produce, the pair head to their accommodation – a 16th manor house near Bakewell - Harthill Hall where Henry 8th is said to have slept. With a fire roaring the chefs start to mix the batter for their Derbyshire oatcakes, ready for breakfast in the morning, along with a Melandra loaf.
After a filling Derbyshire breakfast, the bikers ride to the village of Eyam to visit Stella’s Kitchen – an African restaurant run by Cameroon-born Stella, a former UN worker. Based in her farmhouse, Stella brought the cooking of her homeland to her village when she moved to Eyam after marrying a local. She teaches the bikers about Cameroonian spices and cooks them a Mbongo goat, a traditional black coloured stew made with tomato sauce, onions and a unique mix of African spices.
Inspired by Stella’s cooking, the bikers cook a ‘world-patty’ with a filling made of seasoned meat, potatoes, peas and onion – mixing the best flavours from different parts of the world.
They then set their sights on making the Bakewell Tart’s little brother, the Buxton Pudding where they head to the town itself to visit The Buxton Pudding Emporium. Dom and Alan took the recipe and made it their own for which they won two gold stars at the Great Taste awards.
Riding through the magnificent scenery of the National Park, the bikers make their way to Stanage Head to meet a couple of park rangers – Tom and Harriet - to treat the rangers to a proper Peak District picnic cooked with local ingredients. Heading to Little Morton Farm they pick up the perfect eggs and sausage meat to make proper northern scotch eggs, which they serve alongside savoury parmesan custard tart, and peanut and cherry cookies. Eating out of the back of the rangers' van in the rain, the bikers enthuse about the beauty and special qualities of the Peak District and the people who live here.
The Hairy Bikers Go North has been produced for BBC Two by South Shore. Episode 7 airs at 8pm on Thursday 4th November on BBC2 and will be available for catch up on BBC iPlayer.
