Raymond Blanc 
Raymond Blanc on the Great British Food Revival
 10 November 2011



The BBC's successful campaigning food series returned to BBC2 from Wednesday 26 October

Raymond Blanc's episode featured British plums.
Following the success of the first series, BBC’s campaigning food series the Great British Food Revival returns to BBC TWO from Wednesday 26th October at 8.00pm with eight brand new episodes. The series, which really touched a nerve with the British public, aims to highlight the plight of British produce that is in danger of disappearing from our dinner tables forever. Some of BBC’s best loved chefs and cooks will champion the qualities of our traditional produce and encourage us to re think our cooking and shopping habits.

Many of the chefs involved in the first campaign like Michel Roux Jr, Gregg Wallace and Clarissa Dickson Wright are returning but this time they are putting their weight behind the revival of pears, rhubarb and British garlic respectively. They will be joined by other well known food faces including Raymond Blanc who is championing British plums, John Torode who flies the flag for rare breed beef and Mary Berry who is committed to the use of traditional fresh herbs. Each chef is passionate about reviving British ingredients and they embark on a journey to investigate and re-invigorate our great heritage foods.

Michel Roux Jr who previously campaigned for the return of real bread said: "Making this series opened my eyes to just how important it is that some of Britain’s best produce isn’t forgotten. We need to put it back on our shopping lists and back on our plates." Valentine Warner who will be championing the delights of British shellfish in the new series echoes this view and said: "As a nation we’ve become increasingly boring with our food choices. Britain has a wonderful array of produce and it would such a shame if some of these were to disappear from our tables."


RAYMOND BLANC - PLUMS
Transmission date: Wednesday 9 November 2011, 7-8pm
(with Angela Hartnett)


Raymond Blanc is only too aware that in Britain, we have lost 65% of our plum orchards in the last 25 years.  He is so passionate about locally grown produce, especially fruit, that he’s in the process of planting his own orchard.  Included will be some varieties of one of his favourite fruits, the plum.  So Raymond is already doing his bit to save the British plum, now he wants to spread the message that we should and must save our British plums.  Raymond goes in search of intrepid plum growers in the Vale of Evesham, holding on to, and harvesting their orchards in the face of mounting disinterest in what they’re producing.  And he discovers die-hard lovers of plums who are determined to revive the fortunes of this classic British fruit in new and exciting ways.  In the Revival kitchen, Raymond strives to create dishes that demonstrate the breadth of uses for plums: he shows us how to stuff pork with dried plums, he makes own version of a British classic – plum chutney – and with memories of Maman Blanc’s plum desserts from his childhood in mind, he makes a delicious plum dessert with a typical French twist.

To watch the episode again, or to find the recipes from the episode, follow the link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/programmes/b0178b12


Raymond Blanc's new book, Kitchen Secrets, featuring recipes from Kitchen Secrets Series 1 & 2 and many more, was published by Bloomsbury on 14 February and is available to buy online from Amazon, from Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Brasserie Blanc, Maison Blanc, and from online and retail bookstores.


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