Growing up by the seaside, it's no surprise that Jack considers fish and chips the ultimate British dish. While the Stein family have a host of fish and chip restaurants, Polly and Jack choose to indulge in the east end of London's best, Poppies. Here Polly reveals the meal's origins, how the fish met the chip and all about its upgrade from street stalls to restaurant seats. Back in Cornwall, Jack cooks his recipe of fish and chips, confidently touting it as the best one that can be found in the country. He perfects the chips, tenderly mushes the peas and gives a blow by blow breakdown of how to make the most moreish crispy batter. Keen to make this mission more challenging for himself than it already is, Jack takes the dish to a city two hours from the coastline, Croatia's capital Zagreb. Lack of access to fish means the locals often preference meatier dishes and he takes his concerns to Executive Chef Marinko Topalovic, of Canopy by Hilton.
A seaside classic of potted shrimps in butter, the episode opens in the British Library with Polly. It's a potted history of potted shrimp! Jack looks at some of the very first recipes of a variety of potted ingredients from the 18th century. Back in his Cornwall kitchen, Jack uses only the best Morecambe Bay shrimps to make his potted shrimp, with particular care, as it's also his mother's favourite dish. Reprogramming his vocabulary, shrimps become prawns as Jack crosses half-way across the world to Darwin. An immediate blow to the plan, Simon Matthews, owner and chef of Pee Wee's Restaurant, alerts Jack to the fact he's arrived a month too early for prawn season...so they hatch a back-up plan of potted crocodile and crabs instead!
Opening with a visit to Chiltern Farm, Jack and Polly are given the low down on a variety of pig breeds by pig-farmer Keith Bennet. And did you ever wonder why pork is paired with applesauce? It turns out that back in the more Medieval days, pigs were slaughtered in Autumn as they couldn't survive the winter- at the same time apples were harvested. Hence the pairing is not only a tasty combination, but one of seasonal convenience too! Back in his Cornwall kitchen Jack cooks a very British pork and apple bun, starting with the brine right through to stewing the apples; all before swiftly whisking off to Bangkok. In Bangkok, Jack's first encounter is with Executive Chef Tep of Taan restaurant. A chef who already has a reputation for mixing up Thai dishes to surprise his customers, he is the perfect aid for Jack on his mission..
While kippers are knighted, the British Breakfast of Champions, Jack still has a hard time convincing Estonian's that his twist is rooted in British culture rather than the Estonians claiming the local herring as their own.
While spotted dick may be the showpiece, Polly is insistent it is served with ice-cream- the traditionally flavoured brown-bread version! Her enthusiasm for the dish is overwhelming as she takes Jack through a history of the frozen favourite while visiting a traditional ice-pit at the London Canal Museum. Polly also reveals just how the curious name of this dish came about. Back in his Cornwall kitchen, Jack show us how to steam up a spotted dick from scratch.
Before he does anything, Jack tastes the most famous jellied eels in London at Graham Manze's eel and pie shop - a location that his father Rick previously frequented, with Graham presenting a photo to prove it! While tasting away, Polly dishes the dirt on jellied eels dating back to the 10th century, and how it developed into the ' treat' food for the hungry and poor of the 19th. Back in his Cornwall kitchen, having never cooked eel before, and with Graham not sharing his secret recipe, Jack improvises in the most classic British way he knows, by adding carrot, onion, bay leaf and malt vinegar.
Over some cheese toasties at London's infamous Borough Market, Polly and Jack discuss the many different proposed meanings of 'Welsh rarebit' and how it came to be the name of this simple cheesey dish. As Malmo is one of the vegetarian epicentres of Northern Europe, Jack is confident he can't go wrong presenting a cheese dish. He meets the Creative Director and chef of restaurant Folk Mat & Molten, and despite having never heard of the dish, she agrees to give Jack a hand.
It's pub grub at its finest, as Polly clues Jack up on all there is to know about sausage and mash. We find out why the nickname of 'the banger' is so appropriate and how the potato came to be the carb-accompaniment of choice. Back in his Cornwall kitchen, Jack dishes up a very indulgent mash and gives us some secret twists for the perfect gravy; soy sauce, Worcester sauce, miso paste, ketchup and yeast extract.
With Singapore presenting such diversity in culture and cuisine, Jack's on a mission to make the Singaporeans love steak and kidney pie as much as he loves their food.
Roasts existed long before the oven, and it's at Ham House in Richmond where Polly reveals to Jack that the real key to roasting beef then was down to the wood fire. Actually a rigorous skill to be able to produce the perfect roast in the 16th century cooked over an open fire, Jack promises to Polly that he will uphold the British reputation of being connoisseurs of the roast all the way to South Africa's Capetown. Back in his Cornwall kitchen, Jack proudly roasts up his local breed of beef. Not holding back on the trimmings, he also creates the perfect accompaniment with bone marrow gravy from scratch to finish.