Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip – A Review

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Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip – A Review

Postby jm90 » Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:32 am

For the fifth episode of their series Big Food Trip, Scotsman Nick Nairn and his Northern Irish friend Paul Rankin served up a beautiful trio of dishes on their visit to Campbeltown. We could not taste the food but I am wondering, if a little belatedly, how the programme scored with viewers? I give a few thoughts here.

The two chefs were inspired to create an Ulster scotch egg as their starter, a sort of Celtic fusion using local produce, after a visit to the Kintyre Smokehouse. This was well received by the dining party, a selection of employees and trustees of the Campbeltown Picture House.
Away from the table, the chefs visited Bellochantuy, pronounced erroneously as you would expect, lauding the efforts of the organic produce stall situated by the roadside.
Later the diners were blown away by what looked a tremendously tasty rack of lamb, before Les Oman offered us some interesting historical information, in the process swatting off any suggestion from the Ulsterman that whisk(e)y could have originated there! Calm and informative, but subtly defiant, and it made me laugh in a good way. Not the same kind of laughter some other parts provoked!
With any Campbeltown or Kintyre-oriented TV programme, there are the inescapable cliches that local onlookers helplessly and consistently have to endure; messrs Nairn and Rankin visited a farm in East Kintyre, Ifferdale Farm, before asking the farmer about sheep farming on the Mull of Kintyre, despite being at a location at least 25 miles away from the Mull by road.
This oversight in itself is understandable if annoying, but the descent of the conversation into an inane volley of questions, culminating in the absurdly philosophical point put to the farmer by Nick Nairn that his sheep, sensing their unique dwelling in the lush fields at Saddell, are of a higher culinary quality as a result, actually made me burst into laughter.
The emotional hurly-burly was to continue at the other side of an amazing looking dessert of bramble tart and, after hearing the excerpts from the dining party, a dish that was sumptuous in taste as well. And to think that not long before this they were frolicking so hilariously, like carefree youths in the plentiful rows of bramble bushes, the marquee ingredient for the dish. I was surprised they had ample time to bake for their eager guests!
The dish was sprinkled with almonds, not everyone's 'cup of tea' but an ingredient that added complexity and a unique taste.
For the guests asked to speak, it was obviously a pressure situation, wanting to express their thoughts on the meal without becoming a bumbling incoherent mess or going on for too long. Everyone spoke well and the appreciation of the dishes and of the occasion itself was obvious; as much as Nick Nairn looks like someone with an overwhelmingly self-absorbed nature (as interpreted through a TV screen I hasten to add) he and his colleague are unquestionably top-class chefs.
The last cringe of the night was prompted, with almost melodramatic timing, by one of the guests quoting Fred Astaire: "Heaven, I'm in heaven", and to break the sure-fire silence a fellow guest responded with "That was so cheesy!"
On reflection I can only imagine the discomfort of being at the table at that moment, never mind on seeing such a contextually vague regurgitation broadcast on national television. There should be an exponential scale created for the severity of such experiences.
Nevertheless, the Big Food Trip has hopefully succeeded in showcasing local produce and vindicating the efforts of various artisans to push what is a genuinely special part of the world into the national consciousness, gastronomically speaking. There is a feeling that Campbeltown is becoming closer to the rest of Scotland after some two decades of what can justifiably be called a state of post-industrial isolation.
In terms of food and drink, can Kintyre be beaten outright by another part of Scotland? While other areas of uniqueness exist and are famous themselves, Kintyre as an area will always be competitive in this sphere. While the presenters were frankly quite annoying, the programme did manage to fit a lot into the half-hour slot and represented a polar difference in quality when compared with such an horrific offering as August 2004's Campbeltown.
Most importantly, if I had tasted the food, I know it would have been unforgettable;the guests proved that in their reactions. Score - 8/10
Last edited by jm90 on Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip – A Review

Postby tarmmaker » Sat Oct 05, 2013 8:51 am

From one pedant to another, the famous dancer's name is Astaire not Estaire.

As an aside, local sheep farmers pronounce Leicester as Leester.
Peugeot in invariably pronounced Pyujo.

Anyone can make a mistake!
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Re: Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip – A Review

Postby Bonnie Lass » Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:03 pm

Let's see what Landward does for Kintyre = showing on BBC Scotland Friday 25th October (I think)
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Re: Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip – A Review

Postby WC1 » Mon Oct 07, 2013 11:04 am

I can only imagine the discomfort of being at the table at that moment, never mind on seeing such a contextually vague regurgitation broadcast on national television. There should be an exponential scale created for the severity of such experiences.


jm90 - allow me to identify myself as the person who made you cringe so much. It obviously affected you deeply. Your reaction, however, seems to be completely at variance to that of the many, many people who have spoken to me about it here in Campbeltown, who simply had a good laugh, pulled my leg gently about that closing remark and summed the programme up, more briefly and with much less pomposity than your gratuitous 'review', with "best of the series so far, and didn't it make the town look good". And after all, if you can't have some cheese at the end of a good meal, when can you?
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Re: Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip – A Review

Postby Shona » Mon Oct 07, 2013 6:44 pm

WC1 wrote:
I can only imagine the discomfort of being at the table at that moment, never mind on seeing such a contextually vague regurgitation broadcast on national television. There should be an exponential scale created for the severity of such experiences.


And after all, if you can't have some cheese at the end of a good meal, when can you?


Just as long as it was a vintage Mull of Kintyre cheese! :)
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Re: Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip – A Review

Postby lochend » Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:29 pm

If JM90 does not have a big red face after WC1's reply I would e very much surprised! I think a detention is called for. :lol: :lol:
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Re: Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip – A Review

Postby jm90 » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:33 am

WC1 - firstly it was not my intention to offend or to single out any local individual in a personal attack, even if I do find such occasions excruciating to watch regardless of the genre or programme. If I was heavy-handed and unduly harsh then I apologise sincerely.

The review was critical in nature, and I believe comments fairly, if subjectively, on Big Food Trip. The celebrity chefs for the most part were pretty banterless and cookery programmes in general are a turgid spectacle; many of the host chefs seem to enjoy their own voice more than the food they are actually cooking. The two chefs' aimless questions to the local farmer were consistent with the rest of their contribution in being not funny at all.
Also, predictable clichéd songs like Oh Campbeltown Loch and Step We Gaily, while not doing any favours for the image of the docile teuchter, are more than anything a bore.
Despite this I wrote plenty of a positive note about the meal and the improvement on the BBC's abysmal and ultimately misleading documentary on the town from 2004.
The prospective positive impact on local business is also mentioned, and while a rustic image of the region is appealing and certainly advantageous during a time when people like sophistication through intimacy with their products rather than through being 'brand conscious' (consider the explosion of microbreweries in this country) it can be achieved without the seemingly inescapable clichés every piece of national exposure seems to encourage.
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Re: Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip – A Review

Postby bill » Tue Oct 08, 2013 10:07 am

jm90 wrote: even if I do find such occasions excruciating to watch
.


jm90 wrote:
The celebrity chefs for the most part were pretty banterless and cookery programmes in general are a turgid spectacle;


Begs the question ,WHY WATCH ?
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Re: Paul and Nick’s Big Food Trip – A Review

Postby Shona » Tue Oct 08, 2013 6:20 pm

Well, my late father was a chef and I love cookery shows. Mum recently stayed at High Bellochantuy, too, so I thoroughly the episode.

Didn't the Hairy Bikers come to Campbeltown? Went out to catch prawns, I seem to recall.
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