Escape to River Cottage
| Escape to River Cottage | |
|---|---|
Escape to River Cottage DVD cover
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| Starring | Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (with commercials) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Original release | 18 March – 22 April 1999 |
| External links | |
| Website | www |
Escape to River Cottage was the first River Cottage television series in which celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall takes over a Dorset cottage and sets out to achieve a form of rural self-sufficiency.
Along the way, Hugh encountered many challenges largely caused by the weather, pests and his own inexperience.
Every week, Hugh meets up with different members of the Dorset community and gets a different kind of food (e.g., fish, pork) from each of them, usually free or bartered.
Local organic vegetable guru Michael Michaud, homecraft expert Barbara and experienced vegetable competitor Roy Gunning all make appearances as the series provides insight into country life.
Hugh goes off to Peggy's pig farm and buys 2 pigs from her, then uses Peggy's trailer to transport them back to River Cottage into a shady copse near the cottage that he has prepared for them.
After that, he meets up with Gary, a diving and fishing expert who instructs Hugh on the use of a speargun. Hugh fails to catch anything, but Gary manages to catch 1 mullet and 2 bass, which they promptly cook and eat.
Hugh then visits Michael and Joy Michaud, who are organic gardeners. Michael goes back to River Cottage with Hugh to help him with his vegetable plot in return for a ham from one of Hugh's pigs in late autumn.
Next, Hugh arrives at the mansion belonging to Antony and Serena Hitchens, who have a severe pigeon problem. Every morning, more than 80 pigeons line up on the roof of their stables. Anthony then teaches Hugh how to cull the birds, and promises Hugh the meat of any bird he culls in exchange for his help. Hugh treats them to Pastilla, a North African treat using the meat of the pigeons he got.
After River Cottage's first blackcurrant crop yields a mere seven berries, Hugh travels to a berry farm and works in exchange for fruit. Hugh joins a group of Eastern European students harvesting raspberries. He eats all the berries that are deemed overripe for supermarket shelves. Later, Hugh prepares a dessert of coffee-flavoured floating islands with blackcurrant syrup for the commune.
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Wikipedia