Rick Stein's Cornwall

In the final episode, Rick visits the Rame Peninsula. Far from the traditional tourist track, this part of Cornwall is famed for its cliffs and beaches. Rick also meets a beachcomber who has found some remarkable objects washed up on the shore. In mining country, Rick explores the history of the Cornish pasty and shows us how to cook them the proper Cornish way.

On the banks of the River Tamar, Rick visits a little-known mausoleum with a rather macabre story. On the wild Atlantic coast, near Bedruthan Steps, he meets fellow chef Emily Scott, who recreates the meal she cooked for President Joe Biden during the recent G7 summit. And Rick takes to the waves with an inspirational organisation who offer therapy using the power of surfing.

Rick joins a team diving for razor clams, which he takes back to the kitchen to make a quick but tasty dish of grilled shangurro clams. At the end of Newlyn Pier, Rick visits a scruffy little hut that until recently played a huge part in determining the height of everything around us. And in the Penlee Museum, Rick is shown some of the beautiful items made a century ago by fishermen using Cornish copper and meets a metalworker who is bringing copperwork back to the town.

Rick is in Falmouth, discovering that far from being 'that bit on the end of Britain’, Cornwall used to be at the very heart of the British Empire’s communication system and is still very much a working port today. It was the seas around Cornwall that inspired author William Golding to write his famous novel, Lord of the Flies, and his daughter Judy tells Rick how her father was horrified by what he witnessed during the war. And Rick gets to enjoy dishes prepared for him by an innovative young chef called Andy Tuck, who cooks everything over wood – forget your BBQ, this is cooking with fire on a whole new level

Rick boards the ferry in Penzance to take him to the Isles of Scilly, a group of islands which were once part of Cornwall. Here, he finds out about the islands’ rich history, including one of the Royal Navy’s worst shipping disasters in which 1,500 men lost their lives. In the world-famous gardens of Tresco, Rick meets a beekeeper attempting to breed a native Scillonian honeybee to deal with the harsh Atlantic climate. This inspires Rick to cook a honey pudding with Cornish ice-cream and a butterscotch sauce.

Following in the footsteps of one of his literary heroes, Rick roams the dramatic north Cornish coast to tell the story of one of Britain's best-loved writers, Thomas Hardy, and his little-known love affair with a Cornishwoman. Another famous writer, Dylan Thomas, dubbed Rick's next stop, Mousehole, as "the loveliest village in Britain".

Rick meets "Springwatch" presenter and biologist Gillian Burke, who takes Rick on a walk through a rare habitat called an Atlantic temperate rainforest on the banks of the Helford River. Rick also follows his passion for cured meats when he discovers a husband-and-wife team making premium Cornish salami.

Rick Stein takes a trip back in time to his early days running a nightclub in Padstow before a bracing dip in Bude's stunning sea pool. Then Rick braves the notoriously wild Atlantic waters to learn about the ancient fishing method of handlining at Sennen Cove off Land's End. The catch of the day is some deliciously plump pollock, which Rick uses to make the ultimate fish pie for the head gardener of Tresillian House, John Harris.

As Rick’s Cornish odyssey nears its end, he takes a break in the city of Truro, where he discovers an unusual ghost story and tours the magnificent cathedral with friend Daphne Skinnard. He also meets a family passionate about offal, who prepare him a meal of pickled ox tongue and beef heart tacos, and in the county’s most northerly parish, on a wander to Hawker’s Hut, he tells the story of an eccentric vicar who would retrieve the bodies from nearby shipwrecks and bury them in his church graveyard.

In episode 12 of Rick Stein’s Cornwall, you’ll visit quite possibly the prettiest church in the world, St Just-In-Roseland Church. Explore the waterside haven of St Mawes by foot and water with Alex and Olga Polizzi from Hotel Tresanton as well as meeting chef Paul Wadham. Then it’s up to Launceston to be introduced to some of the best meat in the country at our Cornish butcher, Ian Warren from Warrens Butchers. Their steaks are simply fab. Rick then explores potter Jack Doherty’s studio in Penzance before returning to Padstow to listen to Dave Brown and St Merryn Ukes – a rather good local ukulele band. Recipes in episode 12 include steak with béarnaise sauce to celebrate meat from Cusgarne Farm.

In this episode of Rick Stein’s Cornwall you will explore the world-famous Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden in St Ives with artist Anthony Frost – noted for his abstract works consisting of brightly coloured prints and collages. Fish for red mullet on the Lizard with fishermen, Danny and Tommy Phillips – two wonderfully Cornish gents from Cadgwith Cove which is located in a must-visit spot on the south coast. Then you’ll meet Sophie Alexander and Stephen Holloway at Source Kitchen in St Ives to chat about their artisan produce and hyper seasonal dishes. Finally, travel further down west to the tiny village of Porthgwarra to meet RSPB Chough expert, Paul St Pierre. Recipes in episode 11 include red mullet on confit potatoes with black olive tapenade – cooked at Source Kitchen.

Join Rick for a trip on the world’s busiest chain ferry that links Cornwall and Devon across the Tamar River – on the Torpoint ferry Rick chats to ferry controller Mike Bright. Following this short journey, he explores Torpoint, a town on Cornwall’s Rame peninsula, with historian Harry Bennett. Now for a real highlight of the series, Rick visits the mystical woodland setting of Golitha Falls, near Liskeard, to find the spectacular cascades and waterfalls. Whilst here he also chats to the very lovely Dawn French about all things Cornwall, including why she’s made it her home. Rick then heads down to the south coast to visit Seth Pascoe at Cornish Seaberry Co to learn how and where his produce grows. As well as being great to cook with, Cornish Seaberry have partnered with Cornish drinks companies Colwith Farm Distillery and Driftwood Spars Brewery to create vodka and beer flavoured by their berries.

Rick explores one of Cornwall’s hidden secrets, the secluded and stunning Fowey Estuary, joining his friend on a boat trip to learn about the history of the area and getting a unique view of the beautiful buildings along the river bank. Downstream, after a meal of crab scotch eggs at a fashionable new restaurant, Rick discovers that the historic town of Fowey was once a hotbed of piracy. Just above the town is a family making a prize-winning Cornish vodka, which Rick uses to make a delicious pancake with a wild blackberry compote and Cornish clotted cream.

Rick Stein meets his good friend, the actor and comedian Barry Humphries, who fell in love with Cornwall in the 1960s when he escaped London to develop his now famous character, Dame Edna Everage, with near-disastrous consequences. Barry talks about his friendship with Britain’s favourite poet, John Betjeman, and asks Rick to review his homemade fishcakes. Rick also goes fishing for crab, before cooking a simple yet delicious crab omelette. And he takes a dip in the chilly north Atlantic with an eccentric group of wild water swimmers called the Perranporth Blue Tits.

Rick Stein meets young chef Tom Adams, who runs Combeshead Farm, a leading field-to-fork restaurant in Cornwall. Here they grow and produce all of their own food, from sourdough bread to pork pies, as well as rearing a small heard of Mangalitsa pigs, a hairy, old-world breed which produces exquisite hams. Rick tries out a new recipe – pork chops with a sloe berry sauce – before moving on to the village of Rock, where his son Jack holds a clam bake on the shore of the Camel Estuary.

In this episode, Rick takes us to the place where his passion for Cornwall began – his family home at Trevose Head on the north Cornish coast, where as a child he would go fishing with his father. He explores the wild yet beautiful landscape of the Land’s End peninsula with the artist Kurt Jackson before heading to the tranquillity of an heritage apple orchard preserved by head gardener John Harris. Here Rick picks some apples to make his mother’s Apple Charlotte pudding.