What you got going on here? Ham, egg and chips?
Great British food.
'As a chef, food is my life.'
Lovely. Uh-hum. Ah-ha-ha-ha!
Don't try that at home!
'But as far as my mate Len goes, we're on a different planet.'
My rules are this - never eat anything you can't spell
and never eat anything you wouldn't want to step in.
THEY LAUGH
- This is the chicken's feet. - Chicken's feet? - That's right. - No.
'I've travelled the world,
'but never had the courage to experience new cuisines
'and always stuck with what I know.'
- Look, what's your favourites here? - Chips. - Chips?
'But after using a pancake once to wipe me face...'
What is he like!
'..me family said enough was enough
'and that my taste buds needed to be brought into the 21st century.'
Hot!
There's a lot more to this culinary world of ours than pickled walnuts.
'It's time for me to show Len a whole new culinary world...'
- I'm going to do it. - '..that will make his palate purr.'
- You're not talking food adventure? - Food adventure indeed!
- Ho-ho! - Ho-ho!
What is that I see - is it a tandoori chicken?
- I liked it. - And that's all I need to know.
For the last decade, I've been a judge on Strictly Come Dancing.
London born-and-bred 71 years ago,
my taste buds have been influenced by my nan's cooking.
I've never eaten spaghetti, had a curry and even pizza -
well, looks a bit exotic.
I was also born and brought up in London but as a chef, my palate has
experienced and travelled to every part of the globe.
Over the last 20 years, there has been a food explosion across Britain
and now, no matter what you desire, every cuisine is catered for.
For me, I have ten favourites that are never far away
from the table at home. And my perfect dinner?
Well, prawn cocktail to start,
full English breakfast - oh, and a jam roly-poly!
Oh! It's food heaven!
My mission during our time together is to educate his taste buds
and see if I can replace anything on the ten-from-Len board
and show him that there's more to life than a prawn cocktail from 1976.
Today, we've rolled into one of my old stomping grounds -
the East End of London. I've got me elastic-waistband trousers on
and for once, I might try and throw a few surprises Ainsley's way.
Cheers, mate! And on today's menu, I throw Len a Vietnamese surprise.
Now where did they come from?
It's the Phantom of the Deep!
THEY LAUGH
'We tuck into a few childhood memories.'
This is delicious.
'And I'm going to coax him and the local East Enders into trying a brand-new dish
'inspired by today's foodie adventures.'
- What do you think? Tell the truth! - Absolutely lovely.
And that's a man who knows a thing or two!
As part of a great international city, the East End of London
is celebrated for the wide range of social backgrounds it represents.
Historically, it's always contained some of the poorest areas of London, playing host to a transient
community - primarily new immigrants, but over the years this melting pot
of people have created an urban jungle as rich in culture as it is diverse.
Do you know what, Len? There's a bit of a buzz in the air.
- There's a bit of energy about this place. London, your home town. - Yeah.
- How does it feel? - It's wonderful and do you know, I lived the first eight years of my life
not more than half a mile from here and we used to come up here all the time.
And you probably knew everybody as a nipper. All that type of stuff going on.
All the doors were open, you know.
You could go in anyone's house down my road.
It was like a village, in a way.
Yeah, I understand that.
- And gradually, you know, everyone moved out, as did my family. - Yeah.
And then, you know, other people moved in, so...
- Do you miss it, then? - Yeah, I do miss it, really.
Yeah, it was great.
There is something really comforting about going back
somewhere, even if it's changed a bit. There must be something familiar here for you.
Oh, well, it's all familiar, you know. Nothing's changed
but everything's changed, you know what I mean?
But it's great. I love it.
As I said, there's a real buzz around here. There's energy,
people coming and going, trains noise.
- It makes you feel alive. - Yeah, yeah.
- What was it like shopping around here in those days? - Well, I mean everyone knew everybody.
We had greengrocers' shops, so we'd go take a few apples and pears and this and that into one shop
- and he'd give us a few sausages and a pork chop. - Beautiful. - And that's how everything worked.
And I suppose you could say, "I'll pay you next week",
or "I'll pay you at the end of the month", something like that.
- A lot of trust. - Not in my grandfather's shop, there wasn't!
There wasn't? Really? Was he a bit tight?
- Yeah! - Does it run in the family! - No, of course not!
There's so much food choice around here,
we could eat anything, but I've decided to start with a cuisine
I know has never passed Len's lips, Vietnamese.
Our Oriental adventures start in the borough of Hackney,
home to London's buzzing Vietnamese restaurant scene.
Of the estimated 55,000 Vietnamese people currently
based in Britain, around 30% of 'em live right here.
Most sought refuge in 1979 in the aftermath of the Vietnamese war
but a large proportion gravitated towards London,
forming a bustling community.
Now around a third of London's Vietnamese population
work in the hotel and restaurant industry.
And with over 20 Vietnamese restaurants
right here on Kingsland Road,
what better place to bring Len for his first bite of the day?
This part of London has changed a lot since Len was a nipper,
so he may find things a little unfamiliar.
To ease him in, I think I might give him
a bit of a clue to our first foodie location.
Did you ever see that film Good Morning, Vietnam?
- I did, Robin Williams. - Wasn't it brilliant? - Brilliant.
Did you ever look at it and think to yourself,
"God, I'd like to visit a place like that"?
Well, I would like to visit those exotic places but they're
always so far away and, to be honest, I've never fancied the food.
My whole life has been based around trying to
look at food in a different way, bringing all these wonderful
flavours globally together, bringing all these flavours together
and then, when they're blended and when you've got these recipes
that have been matured over many, many generations, Len, it just
kind of excites me and that's what I want to share with you.
Are there chips involved?
I suppose I could find a portion of chips. Come on.
This award-winning restaurant has been serving traditional
Vietnamese cuisine to the locals since 2002.
Song Que caff prides itself on creating authentic dishes,
specialising in pho,
a slow-cooked noodle broth infused with fragrant herbs and spices.
I think it's about time Len experienced this century-old
uniquely classic Vietnamese dish,
- so I've brought him to meet the lovely family who run this place. - Hi.
- Nice to meet you, this is Len. - Hello. - Hi, Charlene.
Hello, Charlene, Ainsley.
Sisters Charlene and Joanne are here to greet us.
- I'm going to have a bit of a chat. - See you later. - See you later.
This is a true family business,
because the person responsible for the seriously delicious aromas
emanating from that kitchen is none other than Charlene's mum Anh.
Oh, the smell in here, the smell is fantastic. Hey, how are you?
- I'm fine, thanks. - Yeah, goody-good.
I can't believe all these ingredients. What are you making?
- Mum's making the traditional pho. - Yeah.
- You can see here, this stock with all the beef bones. - Yeah.
The most important thing is the amount of bones you put in it,
so the more bones, the more sweetness of the flavours comes out.
Yeah. Gives it an intensity, I should imagine.
Yeah, and, I mean, every different region's...
They use different spices, different amounts of spices that makes
- the depths of the pho different. - The smell's absolutely lovely.
It's amazing that we're only half a mile from the City of London,
we've just come a little bit east,
there's so many Vietnamese restaurants in this area.
Why is that?
Well, it started off with just a few restaurants and then more people
came and invested and it just grew to be known as the Vietnamese road.
The food that you prepare and serve here, is it traditional
Vietnamese or do you just change it slightly for the English palate?
- I think my parents stuck to the authentic. - Yeah? - Yeah.
So if I went to Ho Chi Minh, I'd get the same food, more or less.
More or less the same.
Pho is a complex dish that has layers of depth and spices.
So today we're going to use seven spices.
- Yeah, you've got the star anise. - Yeah, some cardamom, cinnamon bark.
Cinnamon bark, yeah.
Coriander seeds, roasted pepper, with the roasted ginger and onions.
- So you put these on the grill, yeah? - Yeah.
To get a lovely sort of flavour.
It kind of sweats the onions and the ginger
and gives out the flavours of the ginger and shallots.
Did you grow up with this type of food?
Yes, I grew up with it since I was really young,
like every week Dad would make a pho on Friday
and we were probably eating it for three days, Friday to Sunday.
Oh, wow! So it actually lasts. Once you boil it up, it just...
Yeah, it lasts and the longer you leave it, I mean, there's just more
depth in the pho, it just tastes even better the longer you leave it.
- Beautiful. - I've got some photos to show you. - Oh, right.
This is your mum and dad.
- This is in this restaurant back when it opened in 2002. - Fantastic.
This is my mum between my grandparents
and my aunties as well as my cousins at the front.
- Right, and this is taken in Vietnam? - Yup.
And were you born in Vietnam or was you born here?
- All three of us, my siblings and I, we were born here. - Right.
So what's she doing now, then?
So after it comes off the grill, you just place it into this net here.
Yeah. Do you know, once you warm things like ginger
and everything else, it's so...
so wonderful. Lovely, now what happens, then?
So Mum's just going to add the spices, star anise, cardamom...
I love the idea of those peppercorns being roasted,
that must give it such an intense flavour, that.
It's almost like an infuser. You get the old-style sort of tea.
- Like teabags. - When you just pop the tea inside. Yeah.
And look at that. What's that called in Vietnamese?
- In Vietnamese, it's called chai kow. - Chai - kow? Chai kow, yeah. - Chai kow.
Look at that. Can I just have a look at that?
That is brilliant, look at all those beautiful herbs and spices in there.
It's almost like you could shake them up.
And you can, like, sort of smell it already.
So that goes into the soup for 20 minutes
and then it's ready to serve.
Fantastic, I'm looking forward to seeing that.
- I've never tried Vietnamese food at all. - OK, you should.
Yeah. Is it similar to Chinese food?
China and Vietnam is quite close, so there are aspects that are similar.
So we sell some Chinese dishes here but, Vietnamese food,
I feel that it's quite lighter. Some dishes is quite lighter.
Well, it will be coming out any second now, I'm going
to try a bit of Vietnamese food. Oh, come on!
- Ready to serve up now? - Yes, we're ready to serve.
Great, I'm looking forward to this.
We've got the noodles, we've got all of these wonderful different types of
meat, which means you get different textures going on in the bowl.
- And different flavours too. - And what have got here?
- We've got some tripe and tendon. - OK.
- We've got flank and rare steak. - Wow.
- This is the tripe? - Yeah. - I don't think Len's ever had tripe before.
He might find it like elastic bands.
I think he's going to think it's a bunch of elastic band, he really is.
- We've got this stock here going on. - Oh, it smells absolutely lovely.
- Right, this is for Len. - All right, then. - It's all ready.
Wow, this looks good.
- All of this goes with it? - Yes, all of it. - Thank you very much, Mum.
- Thank you, Mum. - This was really, really brilliant.
The smell is fantastic, just wonder what Len's going to think.
Oh!
Now, this has been lovingly prepared for you, Len, look at that.
- Beef pho. - Beef pho, yeah.
And you know you can have it with tofu, you can have it with
chicken, you can have it with seafood, isn't that right, girls?
- Yeah. - And this is beef? - And this is beef.
So it's got different types of beef in there.
You've got the shank in there, you've got the tendon in there,
you've got some nice rare bits of beef in there
- and you got a bit of tripe. - Tripe?! - THEY LAUGH
- I'm swerving that. - This is basil, this is like a kind of...
- I know basil. - Different type of basil, though, Len.
This is the sweet basil.
- Some bean sprouts. - A few bean sprouts, a few chillies.
- Go easy on them. - No, I will do.
You can't have soup with chopsticks. That's lud... Now you are talking...
Unless they're straws.
Are they hollow? Suck away.
AINSLEY CHUCKLES
What are you like?
I think all of Len's joking around is what's known as delaying tactics.
Go for it, try that lovely little...broth.
- No, just straight into your gob, I think. - Some noodles in here too.
Where? Oh, yeah, I don't want any of that tripe.
Now, where did they come from? It's the phantom of the deep.
Where did they come out of?
- Lovely. - Just going to try the broth. - The broth is the best part ,I think.
- Now, the broth is nice. - Isn't it lovely?
It's got like a slightly peppery taste to it.
The peppercorns, they roast them off, so you get that lovely flavour
- coming through. - Now, this beef looks nice, actually, lean.
- It's nice. - Take it or leave it or you quite like that flavour?
I like it.
'So far, so good.'
- What about a little bit of tripe, then? - No.
- Honestly, Len, I wouldn't lie to you. - I swear to you...
I wouldn't let you eat something if you'd think it was awful.
- Give me a small bit. - Oh, God...
No, that's huge!
All right, all right, don't frighten me, it's a bit of tripe.
Have another fish in there.
What about this small piece of tripe, then?
Ah!
That's it, go on, then. Little bit of soup.
Yeah, OK, give us a chance, I'm looking at it first.
'Never in my life did I think I'd give tripe a go.'
I'm going to go for it.
'But you get nothing in life if you don't give it a try.'
Gristly, isn't it?
It's chewy, yeah, but it's like...nothing else,
just a bit of tripe.
- Not up your street? - Not at all. - Well done. - I did try it, didn't I?
Well done for trying it.
Len, I'm always proud of the fact that you try it. I really am.
What a treat.
Your mum was a revelation in the kitchen,
just the way she cooked and the love comes out in the food.
- A bit of tendon, do you fancy a bit of tendon? - I will not eat the tendon.
I've done the tripe, all right?
- Thank you, girls. What do you say? - Yo. - Yo. - Yo.
- Yo, baby. - Yo, baby. - Yo. - Yo, yo.
Well, I gave it a go and I think I was quite adventurous.
But, Ainsley, I think pho is more up your street.
Vietnamese food isn't just about pho,
there are many other delicacies that are just as important
when it comes to understanding this wonderful cuisine.
You could try a crispy, savoury Vietnamese pancake.
This can be filled with an abundance of gorgeous ingredients,
including prawns and chicken served with a side of fresh herbs.
So, so tasty.
Or what about this classic?
Marinated skewers of grilled pork and sliced spring onions
and rice vermicelli served with an Asian chopped salad,
nuts and crispy fried onions for, oh, extra deliciousness.
Or, if red meat is your thing, how about grilled beef wrapped in leaves
served with a wonderful fresh herbs sprinkled with nuts for crunchiness?
Simply mouthwatering.
And, finally, for a more exotic bite,
you could try spicy soft-shell crab
fried whole then mixed with chilli, spring onions and garlic.
Oh! Sheer loveliness.
So the first taste of the day took Len completely
out of his comfort zone but, after all, that is what I'm here for.
So our next port of call on today's food tour is rather more
familiar to him.
Just a hop, skip and jump away is the famous Spitalfields Market,
a place Len knows well.
You're not wrong, Ains, my old manor.
It's hard to imagine now
but Spitalfields used to be a rural area until the Great Fire of London
swept through the city in 1666 and changed everything.
By this time, market traders had started
operating beyond the city gates on this very site.
And in 1682, King Charles II granted a silk thrower called John Balch
a royal charter giving him the right to hold a market right here.
In the late 1800s, a new building was erected
and the market began to take shape as the place we recognise today.
Len, do you get happy memories when you come back to here?
Ainsley, when I was 15 and I first left school, I had four months with
nothing to do and I came and worked as a porter here in Spitalfields.
- How much did you get paid there? - Oh, about two quid a week.
- Was it really? - Humping hundred-weight sacks of potatoes.
- And all week, it's unbelievable. - Unbelievable, isn't it, now?
Couldn't buy a cup of coffee.
And was it a great atmosphere down here?
Wonderful, wonderful, you know, so much fun.
- I think you're taught about a few values of life, though. - That's right.
And, of course, before that, I was always coming here with either
- me grandad or me uncles, yeah. - What about the history of this place?
Spitalfields, have you got any memory of that?
Yeah, it was originally an area where there was a ho-SPITAL and
gradually that got changed to Spital, it was Hospital Field.
- And then it became Spitalfields. - Wow.
And my ancestors were silk weavers and they set up
here in Spitalfields, this is where they worked.
So we go back...blood in me goes back
- 300 years to this area. - Wow. - Eh?
- Come on, let's check out the food in here. - Come on.
This market has changed so much since I was a nipper
and worked here.
The fruit and veg stalls have been replaced with fashion
- and the thing that gets Ainsley jumping is the street food. - Len.
- What? - You've got to smell this, look at that.
Turkish. Turkish Wrap House.
And the beautiful meat and, again, you know,
- all the spices. - I can smell it.
- Yeah. - Just put a tiny little piece on there, Miss. - Oh!
Oh!
- Look at this, Len, eh? - Eh?
- Oh, lovely. - It's lovely.
- That's lovely, thank you so much. - You're welcome. - Hot and spicy.
Vietnamese-style stuff going on here.
You didn't have that in your old day, though, did you?
Of course not, no.
- Basically we had fish and chips and pie and mash. - That was it.
- That was it, I think. - Look at this.
What type of people come here now, is it very varied?
Yeah, yeah, diverse, different people,
different cultures and stuff.
Delicious, yeah.
- I'll not put all put that in a bit of tissue paper. - No, no, no.
- Cheers, mate. - Cheers, mate.
There's one type of food served here
that's a real taste of Len's childhood.
That's Jewish cuisine.
Now you're talking, Ainsley!
I was brought up in a Jewish neighbourhood,
so, salt beef and bagels were as familiar as egg and chips.
Around 150,000 Jewish immigrants settled in Britain from the
late 19th century,
with the majority flocking to London's East End,
setting up shops, theatres and over 40 synagogues.
And from the 1880s to the 1970s,
Spitalfields was one of the largest Jewish areas in Europe.
The vibrant community that grew and flourished here
left their mark, not only on the culture and architecture,
but also on the food.
Nana Fanny's has been serving up salt beef bagels since 1944.
Oh, yes, folks, the year I was welcomed into the world.
Nana Fanny would slow cook rich, briny brisket and make
sandwiches for the stall holders in the nearby Brick Lane Market.
Oh, Len, what a smell. What a smell. Hello, mate.
Hi, how are you doing?
Today, Fanny's grandson, Ivan, runs the business.
The recipe for his grandmother's salt beef
is a closely guarded family secret
and I tell you, I can't wait to get stuck in!
Len, I bet you this brings back some memories.
- Let me tell you. Salt beef... - Yeah.
Have you been here long, Ivan?
Well, my grandmother taught me and that's going back to '44.
Year I was born.
The year you were born. Young man.
I need to make him a bagel. Can I come round there, Ivan?
I'm going to go round and have a bit of a...
Hello, sorry to crush your space here, mate!
- Oh, this is brilliant. Do you mind, Ivan? - No, not at all.
Yes, sir, what can I do for you?
- Let me find out. Is it brisket? - It's brisket.
How long is it salted for?
We keep that in the brine for about three weeks.
It is about four hours cooking.
Oh, look at this. It's just lovely, absolutely.
I don't even know if he wants the bagel.
I think he's going to be straight into that.
- I will have a little bit of salt beef. - Yeah.
What do you think of that, Len?
This is delicious.
Do you know what it is? As we walk up and down here,
there's so many outlets now.
Yes, it's the new thing in the markets.
A wonderful draw for everybody.
Len, would you like gherkin and mustard?
Gherkin and mustard, 100%.
What a piece of meat this is! Look at this.
- Absolutely lovely. - That's nice. - Oh, lovely, lovely.
- You just want to eat it. - Len, enjoy.
Ivan, Len used to get £2 a week. How much would you pay me an hour?
- I'd pay you the same. £2 a week! - Here you are!
- Ivan, thanks a lot, Ivan. - Thanks, guys!
Cheers, mate!
That was lovely. Proper food!
Len, I've got to say, I was watching you. There's a little
bit of mustard on the corner of your mouth and you were biting
into that salt beef and you were licking your lips at the same time.
And the pickle. A bit of slap and tickle in there. Oh!
That was very special, wasn't it?
It's my type of food.
Let me ask you. Did you like the salt beef?
I'll tell you what, Len, between me and you...
Loved it!
Just up the road is a fourth generation local producer,
using modern methods for the most traditional Jewish delicacies
and one that used to be a real Christmas treat - smoked salmon.
Smoked salmon was a Jewish staple and very much still is today.
The salmon goes into the kiln on one side and 24 hours later,
it comes out on the other side.
H. Foreman and Son was established in 1905 by Harry Forman,
an immigrant from Odessa in the Crimea, who started smoking salmon.
It's now in the hands of great-grandson Lance.
The business has always been based in the east end of London.
A lot of people think that smoked salmon is this ancient
Scottish tradition, but it was the fish that came from Scotland.
They came down to London and it was in the east end of London
where the salmon was smoked.
This is what we use to smoke the fish.
It's a log of oak.
It is absolutely pure. You know exactly what it is.
Smoked salmon was introduced into fine dining and to chefs
and restaurants and delicatessen and it took off as this
great gourmet food.
That would've been around the 1920s,
early part of the 20th century.
In the spring of the 2015, H. Foreman became London's
first food and drink company to be awarded PGI protection
for its London-cured smoked Scottish salmon.
Oh, smoked salmon, brown bread, oh, lovely jubbly!
Now, I know Ainsley is supposed to be in charge of this culinary
adventure, but this is my neck of the woods and I know these streets.
And one of my favourite childhood eateries is just around the corner.
- Look at that. - What?
I used to go in here as a kid with my grandad
60... more than 65 years ago!
- It's a pie and mash, Len. - Come on, we'll have to go in!
Fantastic.
- Hello, mate, how are you doing! - Hello, mate. Nice to see you.
- Nice to see you too! - Nice to see you!
He's just dragged me in here. Is this the original pie and mash shop?
- The original. - You must be in your element. - Yeah.
What do you fancy?
- Pie and mash. Some eels? - All right, then. - Pie and mash and some eels.
This is yours, mate!
OK. If you'd like to grab a seat, I'll bring it over to you.
Bob, looking forward to this, Bob.
Pie and mash and eel shops have been an east London staple
since the 19th century and Bob's nan started this one in 1915.
Now, the secret to a traditional mince beef pie is a crispy top
with a pudding-y bottom, made by using two types of pastry,
short for the top and suet for the bottom.
And, of course, you've got to have mashed potato,
usually spread around one side of the plate
and topped with a vibrant green parsley sauce, called liquor.
The mash was originally sold as an accompaniment for the eels,
but people started to have it as a side with the pies,
and so pie and mash was born.
- Here it comes! - Hey, hey!
I can't believe this is my first East End pie and mash.
- Is this the original liquor, Len? - That's the liquor.
Wow! Look at this.
This is unbelievable. So, we take a little bit of the liquor...
Some people have it all over the top and everything.
Some have it swimming.
Oh, lovely. So how many years have you been here now?
- 100 years. - 100 years!
My gran, she had five children and each of them opened pie shops
and carried on.
Do you remember this one, Len?
I do. My grandad used to have a greengrocers a bit further up
and when I was a little kid, I used to go with him to the market
and then on his way back, we used to come by, about eight o'clock-ish,
we'd either come in here, or the cafe up the road, a cafe.
- The other one must have been there 100 years or more. - Yep, more.
So, has the menu changed much over the years?
- Not at all. - Exactly the same?
They're made exactly the way my nan made them,
exactly the same recipe.
I bet you've got it written down in her handwriting, haven't you?
I have a book at home with my mum's cakes and stuff,
all written in her handwriting.
- She's been gone 20 odd years, but you never forget, though, do you? - No.
How lovely. And what about these eels, then?
- I've just been eating eel. - Yeah? - Lovely!
The eels, everyone thinks they're British, but, in fact, it was
the Dutch that were responsible for that, wasn't it?
Something to do with the Great Fire of London.
Yeah, 1666, yeah. And, of course, London was obliterated
and there was not a lot of food about and the Dutch started bringing
them over and eventually, there was a royal charter
that the only eels came from the Dutch.
The first pie was an eel pie. Wasn't me! No.
- It was an eel and mash. - Eel pie. - Isn't that fascinating?
I didn't know that!
And that's why you've got the parsley sauce that goes with fish.
I didn't know that.
Now, in your heyday, how many pies would you get through in a week?
- Thousands! - Really? - Yeah.
- Thousands! - In our heyday, yeah.
- '50s and '40s and so on. - Yeah. - During the war.
- During the war, all the pie shops got a meat allocation. - Right.
So they could make pies to keep people fed.
And, of course, around here is the street where gangsters
Ronnie and Reggie Kray grew up.
- They used to come in here as kids. - What? The Krays? - Yep!
- Dad used to give them a clip round the earhole. - Really?
Yeah. What they used to do when they were schoolkids,
- what all schoolkids do... - Undo the vinegar
and just do that and wallop.
That was it. They'd get a clip round the ear,
they'd go home, tell their mum
and she'd give them a clip for doing it.
- Yeah. - I mean, when the funerals passed by,
we had a phone call asking us if it would be convenient for them to stop
outside the shop for three minutes.
Wow, isn't that lovely? You've got all that history behind you.
You see, you boys, when you start talking about that,
there's something about having roots, isn't there?
My parents as immigrants came over, albeit in the '50s,
- but you guys, it's embedded. This is embedded in your soul. - History.
Yeah, the history, so when you start talking about food,
I can so appreciate why he likes the traditional food,
because it's part of the history, it's in your body, ingrained.
I'll tell you what. It's been terrific to come back, reminisce.
Bring back me old taste buds. Cheers, mate.
Thanks very much, Len. Thanks very much.
You're not going to send the Krays after me, are you?
That would be a job, wouldn't it?
- An absolute pleasure. - All the best. - See you, mate. Ta-da. Thank you.
- How was that? - Fantastic, Len. - Bit of fun? - That was brilliant. Loved that.
This area is not just known for its diverse and delicious grub,
it's also got quite a reputation for a certain drink. Gin.
Since being introduced to London 400 years ago,
gin has enjoyed a thriving and somewhat notorious trade.
During London's gin craze of 1700s, the city was full of distilleries
and breweries and many were concentrated here.
So it's surprising that for the past 100 years,
east London has had no spirit production.
But now, the East London Liquor Company
has come along to revive the local drinks industry.
We're the first distillery in east London,
to make whisky and gin in over 100 years.
The whole gin craze appears to be growing.
There are 100s of gin producers out there that put all sorts of weird
and wonderful things in their gin.
It's the quality of our raw ingredients that sets us apart.
Pretty much every gin in the world will have juniper, coriander,
angelica and a citrus fruit of some sort.
And beyond that, where you start to put in more signature flavours.
Signature flavours for the boys include pink grapefruit,
cardamom and cubeb, a member of the peppercorn family.
These are the juniper berries that we use to make our gin with.
It's very oily and has a very distinctive juniper aroma.
Juniper berries are the only thing, by law, that you have to add
in order for it to be called gin.
After that, you can let your imagination go wild.
The process is started when you add the ingredients
to the grain, spirit and water
Then we turn the mixer on.
As it heats up, the alcohol becomes a vapour and it takes with it
the flavour compounds from the chemicals.
Then we turn the steam on. This takes hot steam from these pipes
and starts to heat the mixture in this steam jacket down here.
After an hour and a half, the gin is ready for the bottle,
and, more importantly, for the drinking.
The kind of dream was to make something by locals for locals.
There's a kind of honesty to that.
You can come and watch us distil and we're really keen on debunking
the, sort of, myths that distilling is a dark art and there's secrets.
There are no secrets. There's a nice metaphor of that, of actually
sitting at bar, looking through the glass window and seeing us do it.
Just up the road is another artisan brewer,
who's breaking new ground with beer.
I think why the craft brewing industry has really taken hold
in the UK is because you've got a new demographic of drinker
and a new demographic of server that is passionately obsessed as we are
as brewers, about drinking and tasting and educating people.
Logan Plant set up the Beavertown Brewery in the basement
of the Duke's Brew & Que three years ago
with the aim of bringing a new wave of beer taste to the locals.
It was something I really wanted to try and recreate,
that vibe of big, stimulating beers, trying many different types
of recipe using different yeasts, hops and many different styles
and pairing them to foods.
We specifically started with the Rye IPA that went great
with the pork.
You get the spicy earthy tones of the rye and the smoked porter,
called Smog Rocket, which goes great with the beef ribs.
You get a molasses char burnt smokiness.
For Logan and his mate Nick Dwyer, the designer names of the beers
may be out of this world, but there's a method to the madness.
Most of it comes from talking to Logan about what he wants,
what he's been reading about, what I've been reading about.
We read a lot of graphic novels and comic books and things like that
and he does a lot of reading around spiritual things.
He's obsessed with the Knights Templar and illuminati-type
things, which is where the big triangle B comes from.
Cans provide the perfect visual platform for artwork
and Nick's kind of nailed that.
Gamma Ray is called Gamma Ray because the first time we brewed it,
it was in the light and it was bright orange, as a lot of beer is.
We were taken aback about how it was.
The new wave of brewers is definitely about pushing
ourselves and the industry forward through the sharing of knowledge
and upping what we do within the beer.
We've been on the go all day, so it's time to take a quick break
before Len's next treat.
- This is the life, isn't it, Len? - Yeah.
- Really is the life. - All the best. - Cheers, mate. Thank you.
- No, thank you. - I don't know about that.
I have to leave you, because I've got my influences now,
from all the various places around the East End of London.
I'm going to go and do a bit of cooking.
And I'll be coming over to do a bit of eating!
- Look at you. Just relax. - See you in a minute.
I'll see you in a minute, Len.
The dish I'm going to cook for him is a nod to those vibrant Vietnamese
flavours and ingredients he's seen earlier today.
I'm cooking Vietnamese minced pork in lettuce leaf cups.
That's great. When you want to feel refreshed, there's nothing better
than a bit of Vietnamese flowering tea.
It inspires me. It gets me going, really, because I'm going to be doing
Vietnamese pork mince, inside crispy lettuce cups for Len.
A classic dish, actually, but I think the combination of that beautiful
warm mint, inside the chilled, crunchy lettuce cups,
will just be perfect for Len, just for him to get a real taste
of Vietnam.
OK, starting off, get a bit of oil into our pan.
I've got my shallots and garlic, so I'm just going to chop those up.
You can crush this up if you want.
There's something about chopping your garlic.
If you've got those knife skills and fancy having a go, chop it up.
Straight into our hot pan.
Now, I have to say, I love using fresh chillies.
If there's an opportunity, another great tip, of course, is
keeping it in your freezer.
You just chop them up and then throw them in to your cooking.
If you haven't got that, use some chilli flakes.
OK, I am using a nice lean pork mince.
The lean ones are about 10% fat.
Some of them are much higher in fat.
If you're going to use that, then you're going to have to pour
that fat off, OK?
Let's get some of those spices in now.
Of course, I am talking about five spice.
Wonderfully, sweet aromatic flavours and smells coming through there.
That's your fennel, cinnamon, your star anise.
Those combinations of flavours together just works so well
when they're cooked down in the pan.
Really lovely.
Beginning to get wonderfully aromatic.
All those five spice flavours are just coming out of the pan.
Now, we can just add our wet ingredients.
First of all, we have got the nam pla, which is our fish sauce.
Now, don't forget, this is quite a pungent flavour.
A pungent aroma is going to come from your pan.
Don't get put off by that, guys, OK?
Soy sauce...
And, finally, your honey.
Good drizzle of honey. This will just bring it all together.
Sweeten all of that up quite beautifully.
That's fabulous. And my water chestnuts.
I'm just going to chop the remainder of those up.
You want to chop them up quite small. Don't forget, these guys,
these are going into your lettuce cups, so you don't want them too big.
And a small can of this will be absolutely perfect.
Here it is. In we go in with those.
It's almost like little diced pieces of potato going in there,
but it's not. I'll tell you what it does add to it,
it adds the most fantastic crunch and that's what I want.
You bite into it, you get the outside crunch of the lettuce.
You've got the beautiful succulent Vietnamese style pork mince
in there too and then you've got the additional bite
of the water chestnuts.
And that smells heavenly. The real taste of Vietnam.
I'm just going to let that cook down
until the pork mince is cooked through.
Should be another three or four minutes, no more than that.
Just enough time to refresh myself, as it is hot in this kitchen! Oh!
Now, when your mince is cooked down, you can see that.
Dried out a little bit now and you want to take on that lovely,
rich, brown colour. That's what you're looking for.
You can see the flecks of chilli and the water chestnuts in there.
When that's cooled slightly, we're going to incorporate our bean shoots
into it and that's it, guys.
It really is so, so simple. Keep it nice and crunchy and we can just
start to pile those into our little lettuce cups.
Bean sprouts don't need to be cooked and you can have them in a salad.
You can certainly serve them like this, which, I think, is
absolutely perfect.
OK, let's garnish them up now.
Got a little bit of fresh coriander going in there too.
OK, so, lots of bits all over.
That's it. All those lovely flavours.
All right, we've got a few chilli rings just popping around
there like that. That's lovely.
And last, but not least, I've got some of these little carrots
made into flowers, which I think are just really ever so pretty,
just captures the colour, if you like, of the country.
And there you have it.
Now I think these are absolutely delicious.
But let's see if my Vietnamese cups can raise a smile from Len.
- Look at that, Len. - Let me have a look at that.
- Just take that? - Yeah, grab that, take the chilli out,
cos I know you're not a chilli fan.
There's a little bit of chilli chopped up in it.
Also, I've chopped up some water chestnut in there.
That's very, very tasty. It's better than it looks.
- A bit like you. - Oh, thanks a lot, Len! - Moreish!
That's what I like.
I'm looking forward to feeding the people of the east end of London.
Come on, you lot, line-up, line-up, Len is about to feed you!
- Want to have a go, sir? - Come and have a go. Come on.
- What do you think? Tell the truth. - Absolutely lovely.
Not over-spicy, is it? A little bit of spice in there.
Coriander is good. Little bit of spice, but it's very fine flavours.
And that's a man who knows a thing or two.
Now look, "Mmm," he's gone. Straight away, before he did anything.
Mmm. Mmm.
Get hungry watching all of this going on!
- It's wonderful. - Really? Where are you from? - From Germany.
- Oh! - HE SPEAKS GERMAN
Yes.
I loved it. Really good! I just went to Vietnam, as well,
- and it's just as good. - The lady loves it.
I love it as well, Len.
How does it feel coming back to your old ground?
It's great. I should come here more often.
Yeah? Well, it's nice just to get passionate again about something.
It is and I've got to say, what a diverse amount of food.
It is amazing.
Did you like the Vietnamese thing or...?
- Yeah. - I didn't understand you loved the broth, you loved the...
- The hospitality was lovely. - Always.
Always lovely. So welcoming.
And we walked into that market and the smell of salt beef
filled your nostrils and the expression on your face,
totally changed. You were like a little kid again! Like this!
Wow, that is a true taste of me youth, old salt beef.
Just like nowadays after they have been in the pubs and that,
they go and have a kebab or whatever.
We used to go down Brick Lane and have a salt beef sandwich
- and salt beef in a... - Bagel. - Bagel.
You could have rye bread or bagel and the mustard sauce going on top
and a pickle and everything. It all just, kind of...
- what did you call it? The pickle? - Slap and tickle!
- The slap and tickle. - Bit of slap and tickle.
Put a bit of slap and tickle in there, mate. Lovely.
So, after our day of authentic Vietnamese cooking...
- No! - Don't frighten me. It's a bit of tripe!
I got a taste of me childhood!
- You're not going to send the Krays after us! - No!
Will any of today's dishes make it into Len's top ten?
Not quite, Ainsley!
I have certainly nibbled on some fascinating food, but for today,
at least, my top ten stays the same.
What a fabulous day we've had in the East End of London.
Ainsley is going to have to go a long way to beat that!
Well, I'll take that on.