Sean starts his gastronomic travels in the beautiful coastal town of Whitby, where he joins local trawler men at work, bringing in the catch of the day. His challenge is to catch some fish and then cook it with chips and a side order of mushy peas. He is then judged by two award-winning fish and chip experts. Will his fish supper meet their exacting standards? He then heads to Morpeth to take on the challenge of trying to convert a group of Northumberland offal-haters with some stuffed lambs' hearts. This is a massive challenge, but Sean has a recipe in mind which he thinks will have them licking their lips – and their plates. Sean then mobilises the residents of the West Yorkshire village of Denby Dale to help him make a 2.5 ton meat-and-potato pie. Denby Dale is world famous for its massive pies and the recipe Sean has chosen was last made for Queen Victoria's golden jubilee. It is his biggest challenge to date and the pressure is on: the pie made for Queen Victoria went rotten before anyone had a chance to eat it! Last stop on the first leg of Sean's northern road trip is Liverpool, where he talks tripe before serving up the forgotten delicacy to some unsuspecting shoppers. Can he convince them that tripe is tasty?
This week, Sean starts in Broughton-in-Furness in Cumbria, where he enlists the help of the local residents in an attempt to break the world record for the largest Cumberland sausage. Making a potentially record-breaking sausage is easy compared with the task of manoeuvring it down town in time for the official measuring. In Morecambe, Lancashire, Sean tries his hand at salmon fishing the traditional way,with a device that resembles a full-sized football net. A novice to this type of fishing, Sean is soon tripped up by a salmon – embarrassing to say the least, but he does catch a corker! Teeside's favourite fast food is parmo (deep-fried chicken or pork in breadcrumbs topped with a béchamel sauce and cheese). In Middlesborough, Sean decides to give it a 'gourmet twist', but is this a good idea when the discerning locals know exactly what they like after pub closing time? Sean submits his entry for judging at the annual Parmo Awards. Will he face his biggest defeat to date? Finally, in the Lake District, Sean finds out what it was like to cook for the country-house set in the 18th century. This is a massive challenge as the Georgians ate à la française – all their courses were served simultaneously – and Sean is working from the original recipes which have no specified timings or quantities. It is hard work getting his head around salmagundi (a salad with cooked meats, seafood, vegetables, fruit, leaves, nuts and flowers). Hopefully he will not end up poisoning his guest diners from the National Trust!
This week, Sean boards The Scarborough Flyer, a classic locomotive from the 1920s. His challenge is to cook lunch for a carriage full of local dignitaries. This is easier said than done, since the train's kitchen is only just big enough for Sean to turn around in. To make matters worse, Sean has a disaster with his gelatin. All in all, the train is not the only thing that works up a head of steam on the trip from Crewe to Scarborough! Sean's next culinary challenge is to persuade 30 guests at a Blackpool B&B to rekindle their love affair for a local delicacy by serving up the best black pudding in the North for breakfast. Will the plates come back to the kitchen clean or will Sean be left with a mountain of blood sausage? From Blackpool he heads to Manchester, to work an eight-hour night shift at Smithfield Market, packing and selling veg. He then cooks up a vegetarian Indian feast in the car park for 120 of his co-workers. He ends up in Ripon, where he challenges the city's residents to a traditional apple and cheese pie bake-off. It appears that Sean's biggest challenger is a four year-old!
Sean Wilson competes in a pork pie bake off.
