Food Unwrapped (2012) s06e03 Episode Script
Blue Fin Tuna, Ice Cream, Peas
1 Let's go! Us Brits love our grub and our shops and supermarkets are stacked high with food from all over the world.
Whoa! But how do we really know where our food comes from? I've come to ask you how dangerous my nuts are? We'll be travelling far and wide Hoo-hoo! Look at how high up we are! .
.
to reveal the truth about the food we eat.
That is not as I would expect at all.
Coming up, I'm in Spain where an entrepreneur is staking £4.
5 million on bringing endangered blue fin tuna back to our dinner plates.
Look at that! This is a moment in history, isn't it? Yeah, it is.
I find out why even the poshest ice cream - We use a secret ingredient.
- What? In these? .
.
won't stay smooth once you've taken it home.
- That is the gritty texture? - If you've abused your ice cream enough.
And I'm in for a bumpy ride as I find out why some frozen peas cost around 78p a kilo while others can cost a whopping £3.
75 a kilo.
Oh, [BLEEP.]
! First up, tuna.
I'm a few miles off the Mediterranean coast of Spain where a Norwegian entrepreneur is making massive waves in the tuna industry.
I'm really excited cos I'm going to see something I've never seen before.
It's a blue fin tuna farm.
They actually breed these animals, which for me as a farmer makes perfect sense.
We should really stop taking all these wild fish out the sea.
Scientists have been trying to breed Atlantic blue fin tuna in captivity for decades, but no-one has succeeded in turning it into a large-scale commercial project until now.
So strange, you're just chugging along and all of a sudden out of nowhere these huge cages appear just floating around.
- This looks like Harold.
- Yeah, it's me.
- Hi, I'm, Jim.
Harold Dahl has been farming these Atlantic bluefin tuna here since 2008.
I see it's feeding time.
What's for breakfast? The same as everyday.
Herring.
Atlantic bluefin is the biggest type of tuna in our seas.
Whoa! They can grow up to three metres long and each of these pods is bigger than five Olympic swimming pools.
- Look at that.
They're the size of sharks.
- First meal of the day.
How big do these fish get? The ones we have here, they're between 170 and 480 kilo.
- Nearly half a tonne of fish.
- Yeah.
They can become twice as big as that.
So the 480 kilo fish here, does that have a name? Yeah.
That's Steven Gerrard.
Steven Gerrard's got a tuna named after him! It's a pretty special fish, that, it is.
Bluefin tuna are magnificent creatures.
Often called the Ferraris of the sea.
But overfishing has totally decimated the species.
Strict EU caps are now in place, with bluefin off the menu for most of us.
Is the prize worth fighting for? Are these extremely valuable fish? Extremely valuable.
The potential per kilo fish should be around 80 euro.
Wow.
That's one expensive fish.
In January 2015, the first Pacific bluefin tuna of the season sold at auction in Tokyo for an astonishing £1 million.
Harold obviously sees this as a business venture.
But if he succeeds then everything could change for the survival of this species.
He's invested £4.
5 million which includes a hi tech laboratory where the bluefin are grown from eggs.
Here we have the eggs.
- Tuna eggs in here? - Tuna eggs in here.
And you collect the eggs from the big nets that we saw? Approximately two million eggs.
Oh.
Just imagine if my chickens could lay that many eggs.
Two million eggs! Look at that! So these will be hatched in approximately 24 hours.
The problem scientists have faced is how to breed bluefin from eggs? The biggest hurdle has been the spawn surviving the first 20 days.
And Harold believes he's solved it.
Wow.
Look at this place.
Well, this is the start of the food chain.
This are the different algae cultures that we have produced.
The algae isn't for the tuna, it's used to feed tiny crustaceans called copepods.
This has been Harold's biggest breakthrough.
These are perfect food for the baby bluefin to survive - the first critical 20 days.
- These are the copepods.
You really have to focus to see them, and they are tiny Oh, wow! Yes, they are miniature.
- They're sort of like little tiny shrimps.
- Yeah.
This is why we have been successful in getting this part of the production right.
A lot of people are struggling.
- You can't go to any books about this stuff? - No.
This is trial and error.
Who would have thought tuna farming hinged on a plastic cup full of tiny little funny shrimps.
Up to 40% of the baby bluefins won't survive in captivity.
Last year, Harold's yield was 250.
This year he hopes 20,000 will mature.
This fish is 32 days.
- They grow so quickly.
- Yeah, they do.
- Can I feed them? - Yeah, you can try.
Just a little bit with your fingers.
I can't believe I'm feeding captive bred Atlantic bluefin tuna.
- This is a moment in history, isn't it? - Yeah, it is.
So tell me.
The tuna in here, will I see that on my supermarket shelves? Our target is to sell it to premium sushi restaurants.
And how long will it take for these little fellas to be on my plate? Two years' time from now, they will be around 25, 30 kilo.
Two years' time? Right.
I'll see you in two years then, little guys.
Coming up, if bluefin tuna is so rare and expensive, then what's the tuna that's in my 80p supermarket tins? - That's a steamer? - Yeah.
- I thought it was the subway.
I thought I was going to get the train to Madrid.
I've bought this ice cream a couple of weeks ago.
It's the nice stuff.
It's a little bit posh and yet it's gone kind of gritty.
The texture has changed.
It's within date.
What is going on? I've only bought it a fortnight ago and it's really, really gritty.
- Gritty? - Yeah.
I've had that on my plate.
It had sand in it.
Sand in my ice cream?! It's not a very enjoyable experience, to be honest.
Exactly! That's why I'm ringing you! How do I stop it from happening? It sounds like your freezer is over-performing.
That's the only thing it does in our house.
Do you know what the problem is? Too much ice cream.
I get one of those headaches.
To get to the bottom of why my ice cream goes gritty, I'm in London to meet an ice cream maker who has come up with a clever way of making this classic treat.
- Hi! Kate.
- Nice to meet you.
So let me get you some safety gear.
- Safety gear?! Really? - A glove.
- Yeah.
- This is serious.
I'm getting dressed for this.
Ahrash Akbari-Kalhur's ice cream parlour is more like an alchemist's lair.
What do you put in your ice cream? Milk, sugar, egg yolk, cream.
This one's vanilla, so we just use pods.
What is it that you add to your ice cream to make it so smooth? We use a secret ingredient.
- See these tanks here? - These? - Using liquid nitrogen.
One of the coldest substances on earth.
So here we go.
Step away.
And you can actually see it coming out.
I'm just collecting it in the jug.
Gosh.
That's cold, isn't it? The actual liquid is almost -200 Celsius.
So yeah, try and avoid touching it.
We're going to pour it in.
The liquid nitrogen goes into the mixing bowl.
Freezes the ice cream whilst we churn it and then it all simply evaporates off.
- So that is cream to ice cream in seconds.
- Yeah, in about 40 seconds.
So is it the speed of freezing that stops it being gritty? Basically the science is, the quicker you can freeze ice cream, the smaller the ice crystals, so the smoother the texture.
Freezing with nitrogen means that the ice crystals don't have time to grow and develop within the structure of the ice cream.
So after all that churning and superfast freezing, how does it taste? - That is so smooth.
- Good.
That is smoother than Barry White, isn't it? Unfortunately this wizardry isn't cost effective for large-scale ice cream production.
So how is it possible to mass-produce ice cream without those gritty ice crystals? I'm in Norwich where this family's been making ice cream for nearly 100 years.
- Hello, Chris.
Kate.
- Nice to meet you.
Factory manager Chris Codling is going to let me in to the secret of how to make smooth ice cream on a industrial scale.
- This is a falling film cooler.
- Ah! So the cream is literally cascading down the outside of the cooler to take out the maximum amount of heat.
But this is cream and not yet ice cream.
Flavours are added Smells delicious.
.
.
and then it gets frozen.
This is where the magic happens.
This is the ice cream freezer.
Cos we can't see inside this magic box, - I need to know exactly what's happening in there.
- OK.
What happens is the ice cream mix is pumped in which has got three blades on it.
So it whips air in as it rotates and that's what makes the ice crystals very, very small.
And it's forced out through the tube here.
There is it! Look at that! Mate, you've got skills.
That looks pretty smooth to me.
That is delicious.
Incredibly smooth.
Almost like a mousse.
So after churning, the secret to making really smooth ice cream is to stop ice crystals forming by freezing it as quickly as possible.
So if we get down to the nitty-gritty, if I was to take a pot of your ice cream home, might it be a bit gritty? If you look after it properly it won't.
Later, I put these ice crystals under the microscope.
If it's not to do with how it's made, then how do they get in my ice cream? That is the gritty texture.
If you have abused your ice cream enough.
Next, frozen peas.
Budget ranges start at around 78p a kilo while premier brands reach £3.
75 a kilo.
Sometimes they're really expensive, sometimes they're really cheap.
What's the difference? How can I tell the posh pea from the poor old pea? I think one would look greener.
Sometimes they do save the money with the packaging.
May the peas be with you.
Yes, indeed.
May the peas be with me.
So here we are.
It's four o'clock in the morning .
.
and I'm off to pick peas.
And I don't really like peas.
After the break, my day gets a whole lot better You've not spat that out, - so you must think that's a good grade.
- I think they're great.
.
.
as I uncover the secret of cheap peas.
Oh, [BLEEP.]
! Now, all peas look the same to me.
So why are some peas cheap and others expensive? - Are you Stephen? - I am.
- You must be must be Mark.
Good morning.
- So you're the pea man? That's right.
I'm the pea man and you've come to see just how we do it then.
- I am.
Are these peas? - These are potatoes.
- Oh! - That was the very first field of peas harvested yesterday in the country.
'Farmer Stephen Francis grows peas over nearly 5,000 acres 'and his team collect samples to help determine 'when the crop is ready.
'And they're ready.
' - These now are absolutely perfect peas.
- These are bang on peas? Bang on where we want to be.
'Each of these four massive harvesters costs £435,000.
'And they'll run nonstop for 24 hours 'while these peas are at their peak.
' - And we are looking for a double A grade pea.
- Double A grade.
That's what we're doing today.
That's what we're wanting to achieve.
- So what other grades are there? - Well, we go A, B, C and D.
Around two-thirds of all peas sold in the UK are top grade.
They're sweeter, with a moisture level of 80 to 90% and they command the highest price.
You've not spat that out so you must think that's a good grade, then.
I think they're great.
So it's a race against time to harvest the double-As before their sugar turns into starch and their moisture level plummets to 14%.
Those peas will be a lower grade and much cheaper.
So these are premium peas, and all peas start off as premium peas and then slowly - kind of come down to the mealy kind of - Spot on.
- In 24 hours' time, these will be a B grade pea.
- Really? That quick? That quick.
We have got to get on, get it done, military precision.
- Would you like to have a go on one of these babies? - One of these things? - Yes, one of these things.
- Yes, I'd love one.
- Sure you can handle it? No ides.
I might be terrible.
LAUGHTER 'If I balls this up, Stephen is going to lose a ton of money.
' BLEEP 'But consumer appetite for expensive double-A grade peas 'is limited.
'We buy around 85,000 tonnes of posh peas a year, 'but we also by around 45,000 tonnes of cheap peas.
'So there's only so many double-As that the supermarkets want.
' That was a little bit more complicated than I thought it - was going to be.
- It looked like it.
I ballsed up the edge of your field a little bit.
- Is that the journey for the pea, or? - No, no, no.
That carts now will tip into a lorry and the lorry will need to go as quickly as he can to the factory to make sure that we - have processed them in time.
It's all done in under 150 minutes.
- Really? - Going off to a factory to be frozen? - The pressure is on.
'45 minutes away in Boston, Stephen has eight trucks looping 'between the field and this factory.
' So how far away from the end of the line are we here, then? Takes about 20 to 25 minutes to get from this point to the end.
- Is that all? - Yes.
- Wow, that is quick! So this is a standard amount of peas that come in on a truckload? A lorry like that will hold about 20 tonnes but we're actually only putting about seven tonnes in it because you have to make sure that all of those peas get within the 150 minute criteria.
Wow! Want to have a look? 'The peas are frozen individually, using blasts of air 'so they don't stick together.
' 'So posh and poor peas start out exactly the same.
'These are the frozen double-A peas destined for the premium ranges.
' When harvesting the lower grade peas, there's no 24/7 rush to freeze them.
Stephen uses just three tracks, filled right to the top.
As they cost less to harvest, the savings are passed on to us.
Earlier, I visited an Atlantic bluefin tuna farm LAUGHTER .
.
where this highly prized and critically endangered fish could be making a comeback.
I'll see you in two years, then, little guys! But if bluefin is so rare and expensive, then what is the tuna that supermarkets are selling as steaks and in tins? Why are they so different? What is the tinned tuna? It's all fairly mushy, but when you get it as steak, it's really firm.
- Presumably, tuna is tuna.
- Yes, that's exactly the same tuna.
Just different parts of the fish, I think.
- You are going to fish around for the answers.
- Yes, exactly! 700 miles north from the bluefin tuna farm, I've come to Galicia in Spain, and one of Europe's largest tuna processing factories.
- Hi, there.
You must be Marcos.
- Nice to meet you.
How are you doing? Nice to meet you.
I'm Jimmy.
I've come to see your tuna and what kind of tuna you put in your tins.
- OK, so let's go.
But first we have to suit up.
- OK.
They produce around 270,000 tins of tuna a year that sell all over Europe.
- What kind of tuna is this? - It's yellowfin.
It's yellowfin, yes.
- Yellowfin tuna.
Can I taste some? - Yes, sure.
Please.
Go on.
- Wow! - Yeah.
- That melts in your mouth.
- It's like butter.
'Yellowfin tuna can grow up to one and a half metres, 'about half the size of the prized bluefin.
'It can fetch around £15 a kilo.
With a firm and meaty texture, 'yellowfin is what we are most likely to see 'as tuna steaks in the UK.
'But what's the stuff that ends up in our tins?' This is skipjack.
- This is skipjack? - This is skipjack.
- Look at that.
This is the smallest tuna species.
This is around five kilos.
Five kilos? It's still quite a big fish but it's nothing compared to the bluefin, which is bigger than you.
Yes, sure.
When you see little tuna, it means it's probably skipjack.
So virtually all the tuna that goes into tinned tuna that I'd see in my supermarket is actually this fish, the skipjack tuna.
Yes, that's right.
'Most of the tinged tuna in the UK is skipjack 'and the oceans are full of them.
'As such, they're much cheaper -- just seven pounds a kilo.
' So when these fish arrive, what do you have to do with them? First of all, we have to defrost it, OK? - And then we cook it with the steam.
- In here? That is one massive steamer.
- Yeah.
- That is huge.
- It's huge.
- I thought it was the subway.
- I thought I was going to get a train to Madrid.
- Yes.
- Can we cook these now? - Yes.
- Let's do it, boys.
In it goes.
'The skipjacks are gently steamed at 100 degrees Celsius for an 'amazing two and a half hours before 'they're boned, filleted and flaked.
' - Can I taste some? - Yes.
- I recognise this.
'Next, it is tinned up and a liquid preservative is added.
' We're funny, aren't we, the Brits? 'The sealed tins then go back into the steamer for another hour.
'This prevents any possible remaining microorganisms from flourishing 'in the can, lengthening shelf life, 'but the trade-off is the tuna can go soft, compared to a firm tuna steak.
' - And this is off to the supermarket now? - Yes.
- So I will let this one go on its way.
- Come on.
Let's go.
- Off you go.
Earlier, I discovered it's ice crystals that make my ice cream gritty, even though manufacturers go to great lengths to make it smooth.
- That is cream and to ice cream in seconds.
- Yes, in about 40 seconds.
'But why do I get ice crystals in my ice cream at home? 'It was smooth when I bought it.
'To get some answers, I'm meeting food scientist Dr Sue Bailey.
' Hello.
'And microscope technician Bob Morrison.
' - Is this your microscope, Bob? - Yes.
It's my microscope.
- It's ginormous.
'It's specially set up to look at the structure of frozen food 'without its melting.
' I've got two tub of ice cream.
This is one straight from the supermarket.
'And I've brought another tub that I have 'had in my freezer at home for a couple of weeks.
' So what we're going to do first is we will just cool down this pot with liquid nitrogen.
'Bob's electron microscope is one million times more powerful 'than the human eye.
' So it is literally on the end of that rod? It is on the end of the rod and it goes into that little cold state there.
It's like you are serving up dessert for a little mouse.
'The ice cream sits inside a refrigerated vacuum-sealed 'chamber, where it is for pelted with beams of electrons to build up 'a super detailed image.
' So what are we seeing here, Sue? It's got smaller crystals, not large, jagged crystals.
So that's the ice cream that when I have a spoon of, - it's very smooth.
- Lovely and smooth and creamy.
- Great texture.
'The tiny ice crystals measure around 50 microns or '0.
05 of a millimetre.
'That's about half the width of a human hair and undetectable 'by the human tongue, which is why my new ice cream feels so smooth.
'Next, the ice cream that's been in my freezer at home.
' We're seeing very large ice crystals here because this ice cream has been subjected to thermal heat shock, which means that when you put it in your freezer at home and then take it out, go to your family, put it back in the freezer, take it out what will start happening is that the water that has defrosted cannot create any new ice crystals.
It has to actually join to form a much larger ice crystal around the crystals that are already there - and that is what gives you a gritty mouth feel.
- Yes.
- That is the gritty texture.
- If you have abused your ice cream enough.
Supermarkets stop their ice cream going gritty by keeping it constantly frozen.
So the trick -- after serving, make sure you get your ice cream back in the freezer as quickly as you possibly can.
Next time, I'm in Peru, learning the secrets of turning coffee beans into instant freeze-dried coffee.
Oh, my God, it's like Narnia! I ask -- is there really a difference between cheap and expensive vodka? This looks like the beginning of one of the Matt Tebbutt's parties.
I'm flattered, Jim.
Shame you can't come.
And I find out why it is so hard to make Wensleydale from sheep's milk.
So they are quite flighty? LAUGHTER
Whoa! But how do we really know where our food comes from? I've come to ask you how dangerous my nuts are? We'll be travelling far and wide Hoo-hoo! Look at how high up we are! .
.
to reveal the truth about the food we eat.
That is not as I would expect at all.
Coming up, I'm in Spain where an entrepreneur is staking £4.
5 million on bringing endangered blue fin tuna back to our dinner plates.
Look at that! This is a moment in history, isn't it? Yeah, it is.
I find out why even the poshest ice cream - We use a secret ingredient.
- What? In these? .
.
won't stay smooth once you've taken it home.
- That is the gritty texture? - If you've abused your ice cream enough.
And I'm in for a bumpy ride as I find out why some frozen peas cost around 78p a kilo while others can cost a whopping £3.
75 a kilo.
Oh, [BLEEP.]
! First up, tuna.
I'm a few miles off the Mediterranean coast of Spain where a Norwegian entrepreneur is making massive waves in the tuna industry.
I'm really excited cos I'm going to see something I've never seen before.
It's a blue fin tuna farm.
They actually breed these animals, which for me as a farmer makes perfect sense.
We should really stop taking all these wild fish out the sea.
Scientists have been trying to breed Atlantic blue fin tuna in captivity for decades, but no-one has succeeded in turning it into a large-scale commercial project until now.
So strange, you're just chugging along and all of a sudden out of nowhere these huge cages appear just floating around.
- This looks like Harold.
- Yeah, it's me.
- Hi, I'm, Jim.
Harold Dahl has been farming these Atlantic bluefin tuna here since 2008.
I see it's feeding time.
What's for breakfast? The same as everyday.
Herring.
Atlantic bluefin is the biggest type of tuna in our seas.
Whoa! They can grow up to three metres long and each of these pods is bigger than five Olympic swimming pools.
- Look at that.
They're the size of sharks.
- First meal of the day.
How big do these fish get? The ones we have here, they're between 170 and 480 kilo.
- Nearly half a tonne of fish.
- Yeah.
They can become twice as big as that.
So the 480 kilo fish here, does that have a name? Yeah.
That's Steven Gerrard.
Steven Gerrard's got a tuna named after him! It's a pretty special fish, that, it is.
Bluefin tuna are magnificent creatures.
Often called the Ferraris of the sea.
But overfishing has totally decimated the species.
Strict EU caps are now in place, with bluefin off the menu for most of us.
Is the prize worth fighting for? Are these extremely valuable fish? Extremely valuable.
The potential per kilo fish should be around 80 euro.
Wow.
That's one expensive fish.
In January 2015, the first Pacific bluefin tuna of the season sold at auction in Tokyo for an astonishing £1 million.
Harold obviously sees this as a business venture.
But if he succeeds then everything could change for the survival of this species.
He's invested £4.
5 million which includes a hi tech laboratory where the bluefin are grown from eggs.
Here we have the eggs.
- Tuna eggs in here? - Tuna eggs in here.
And you collect the eggs from the big nets that we saw? Approximately two million eggs.
Oh.
Just imagine if my chickens could lay that many eggs.
Two million eggs! Look at that! So these will be hatched in approximately 24 hours.
The problem scientists have faced is how to breed bluefin from eggs? The biggest hurdle has been the spawn surviving the first 20 days.
And Harold believes he's solved it.
Wow.
Look at this place.
Well, this is the start of the food chain.
This are the different algae cultures that we have produced.
The algae isn't for the tuna, it's used to feed tiny crustaceans called copepods.
This has been Harold's biggest breakthrough.
These are perfect food for the baby bluefin to survive - the first critical 20 days.
- These are the copepods.
You really have to focus to see them, and they are tiny Oh, wow! Yes, they are miniature.
- They're sort of like little tiny shrimps.
- Yeah.
This is why we have been successful in getting this part of the production right.
A lot of people are struggling.
- You can't go to any books about this stuff? - No.
This is trial and error.
Who would have thought tuna farming hinged on a plastic cup full of tiny little funny shrimps.
Up to 40% of the baby bluefins won't survive in captivity.
Last year, Harold's yield was 250.
This year he hopes 20,000 will mature.
This fish is 32 days.
- They grow so quickly.
- Yeah, they do.
- Can I feed them? - Yeah, you can try.
Just a little bit with your fingers.
I can't believe I'm feeding captive bred Atlantic bluefin tuna.
- This is a moment in history, isn't it? - Yeah, it is.
So tell me.
The tuna in here, will I see that on my supermarket shelves? Our target is to sell it to premium sushi restaurants.
And how long will it take for these little fellas to be on my plate? Two years' time from now, they will be around 25, 30 kilo.
Two years' time? Right.
I'll see you in two years then, little guys.
Coming up, if bluefin tuna is so rare and expensive, then what's the tuna that's in my 80p supermarket tins? - That's a steamer? - Yeah.
- I thought it was the subway.
I thought I was going to get the train to Madrid.
I've bought this ice cream a couple of weeks ago.
It's the nice stuff.
It's a little bit posh and yet it's gone kind of gritty.
The texture has changed.
It's within date.
What is going on? I've only bought it a fortnight ago and it's really, really gritty.
- Gritty? - Yeah.
I've had that on my plate.
It had sand in it.
Sand in my ice cream?! It's not a very enjoyable experience, to be honest.
Exactly! That's why I'm ringing you! How do I stop it from happening? It sounds like your freezer is over-performing.
That's the only thing it does in our house.
Do you know what the problem is? Too much ice cream.
I get one of those headaches.
To get to the bottom of why my ice cream goes gritty, I'm in London to meet an ice cream maker who has come up with a clever way of making this classic treat.
- Hi! Kate.
- Nice to meet you.
So let me get you some safety gear.
- Safety gear?! Really? - A glove.
- Yeah.
- This is serious.
I'm getting dressed for this.
Ahrash Akbari-Kalhur's ice cream parlour is more like an alchemist's lair.
What do you put in your ice cream? Milk, sugar, egg yolk, cream.
This one's vanilla, so we just use pods.
What is it that you add to your ice cream to make it so smooth? We use a secret ingredient.
- See these tanks here? - These? - Using liquid nitrogen.
One of the coldest substances on earth.
So here we go.
Step away.
And you can actually see it coming out.
I'm just collecting it in the jug.
Gosh.
That's cold, isn't it? The actual liquid is almost -200 Celsius.
So yeah, try and avoid touching it.
We're going to pour it in.
The liquid nitrogen goes into the mixing bowl.
Freezes the ice cream whilst we churn it and then it all simply evaporates off.
- So that is cream to ice cream in seconds.
- Yeah, in about 40 seconds.
So is it the speed of freezing that stops it being gritty? Basically the science is, the quicker you can freeze ice cream, the smaller the ice crystals, so the smoother the texture.
Freezing with nitrogen means that the ice crystals don't have time to grow and develop within the structure of the ice cream.
So after all that churning and superfast freezing, how does it taste? - That is so smooth.
- Good.
That is smoother than Barry White, isn't it? Unfortunately this wizardry isn't cost effective for large-scale ice cream production.
So how is it possible to mass-produce ice cream without those gritty ice crystals? I'm in Norwich where this family's been making ice cream for nearly 100 years.
- Hello, Chris.
Kate.
- Nice to meet you.
Factory manager Chris Codling is going to let me in to the secret of how to make smooth ice cream on a industrial scale.
- This is a falling film cooler.
- Ah! So the cream is literally cascading down the outside of the cooler to take out the maximum amount of heat.
But this is cream and not yet ice cream.
Flavours are added Smells delicious.
.
.
and then it gets frozen.
This is where the magic happens.
This is the ice cream freezer.
Cos we can't see inside this magic box, - I need to know exactly what's happening in there.
- OK.
What happens is the ice cream mix is pumped in which has got three blades on it.
So it whips air in as it rotates and that's what makes the ice crystals very, very small.
And it's forced out through the tube here.
There is it! Look at that! Mate, you've got skills.
That looks pretty smooth to me.
That is delicious.
Incredibly smooth.
Almost like a mousse.
So after churning, the secret to making really smooth ice cream is to stop ice crystals forming by freezing it as quickly as possible.
So if we get down to the nitty-gritty, if I was to take a pot of your ice cream home, might it be a bit gritty? If you look after it properly it won't.
Later, I put these ice crystals under the microscope.
If it's not to do with how it's made, then how do they get in my ice cream? That is the gritty texture.
If you have abused your ice cream enough.
Next, frozen peas.
Budget ranges start at around 78p a kilo while premier brands reach £3.
75 a kilo.
Sometimes they're really expensive, sometimes they're really cheap.
What's the difference? How can I tell the posh pea from the poor old pea? I think one would look greener.
Sometimes they do save the money with the packaging.
May the peas be with you.
Yes, indeed.
May the peas be with me.
So here we are.
It's four o'clock in the morning .
.
and I'm off to pick peas.
And I don't really like peas.
After the break, my day gets a whole lot better You've not spat that out, - so you must think that's a good grade.
- I think they're great.
.
.
as I uncover the secret of cheap peas.
Oh, [BLEEP.]
! Now, all peas look the same to me.
So why are some peas cheap and others expensive? - Are you Stephen? - I am.
- You must be must be Mark.
Good morning.
- So you're the pea man? That's right.
I'm the pea man and you've come to see just how we do it then.
- I am.
Are these peas? - These are potatoes.
- Oh! - That was the very first field of peas harvested yesterday in the country.
'Farmer Stephen Francis grows peas over nearly 5,000 acres 'and his team collect samples to help determine 'when the crop is ready.
'And they're ready.
' - These now are absolutely perfect peas.
- These are bang on peas? Bang on where we want to be.
'Each of these four massive harvesters costs £435,000.
'And they'll run nonstop for 24 hours 'while these peas are at their peak.
' - And we are looking for a double A grade pea.
- Double A grade.
That's what we're doing today.
That's what we're wanting to achieve.
- So what other grades are there? - Well, we go A, B, C and D.
Around two-thirds of all peas sold in the UK are top grade.
They're sweeter, with a moisture level of 80 to 90% and they command the highest price.
You've not spat that out so you must think that's a good grade, then.
I think they're great.
So it's a race against time to harvest the double-As before their sugar turns into starch and their moisture level plummets to 14%.
Those peas will be a lower grade and much cheaper.
So these are premium peas, and all peas start off as premium peas and then slowly - kind of come down to the mealy kind of - Spot on.
- In 24 hours' time, these will be a B grade pea.
- Really? That quick? That quick.
We have got to get on, get it done, military precision.
- Would you like to have a go on one of these babies? - One of these things? - Yes, one of these things.
- Yes, I'd love one.
- Sure you can handle it? No ides.
I might be terrible.
LAUGHTER 'If I balls this up, Stephen is going to lose a ton of money.
' BLEEP 'But consumer appetite for expensive double-A grade peas 'is limited.
'We buy around 85,000 tonnes of posh peas a year, 'but we also by around 45,000 tonnes of cheap peas.
'So there's only so many double-As that the supermarkets want.
' That was a little bit more complicated than I thought it - was going to be.
- It looked like it.
I ballsed up the edge of your field a little bit.
- Is that the journey for the pea, or? - No, no, no.
That carts now will tip into a lorry and the lorry will need to go as quickly as he can to the factory to make sure that we - have processed them in time.
It's all done in under 150 minutes.
- Really? - Going off to a factory to be frozen? - The pressure is on.
'45 minutes away in Boston, Stephen has eight trucks looping 'between the field and this factory.
' So how far away from the end of the line are we here, then? Takes about 20 to 25 minutes to get from this point to the end.
- Is that all? - Yes.
- Wow, that is quick! So this is a standard amount of peas that come in on a truckload? A lorry like that will hold about 20 tonnes but we're actually only putting about seven tonnes in it because you have to make sure that all of those peas get within the 150 minute criteria.
Wow! Want to have a look? 'The peas are frozen individually, using blasts of air 'so they don't stick together.
' 'So posh and poor peas start out exactly the same.
'These are the frozen double-A peas destined for the premium ranges.
' When harvesting the lower grade peas, there's no 24/7 rush to freeze them.
Stephen uses just three tracks, filled right to the top.
As they cost less to harvest, the savings are passed on to us.
Earlier, I visited an Atlantic bluefin tuna farm LAUGHTER .
.
where this highly prized and critically endangered fish could be making a comeback.
I'll see you in two years, then, little guys! But if bluefin is so rare and expensive, then what is the tuna that supermarkets are selling as steaks and in tins? Why are they so different? What is the tinned tuna? It's all fairly mushy, but when you get it as steak, it's really firm.
- Presumably, tuna is tuna.
- Yes, that's exactly the same tuna.
Just different parts of the fish, I think.
- You are going to fish around for the answers.
- Yes, exactly! 700 miles north from the bluefin tuna farm, I've come to Galicia in Spain, and one of Europe's largest tuna processing factories.
- Hi, there.
You must be Marcos.
- Nice to meet you.
How are you doing? Nice to meet you.
I'm Jimmy.
I've come to see your tuna and what kind of tuna you put in your tins.
- OK, so let's go.
But first we have to suit up.
- OK.
They produce around 270,000 tins of tuna a year that sell all over Europe.
- What kind of tuna is this? - It's yellowfin.
It's yellowfin, yes.
- Yellowfin tuna.
Can I taste some? - Yes, sure.
Please.
Go on.
- Wow! - Yeah.
- That melts in your mouth.
- It's like butter.
'Yellowfin tuna can grow up to one and a half metres, 'about half the size of the prized bluefin.
'It can fetch around £15 a kilo.
With a firm and meaty texture, 'yellowfin is what we are most likely to see 'as tuna steaks in the UK.
'But what's the stuff that ends up in our tins?' This is skipjack.
- This is skipjack? - This is skipjack.
- Look at that.
This is the smallest tuna species.
This is around five kilos.
Five kilos? It's still quite a big fish but it's nothing compared to the bluefin, which is bigger than you.
Yes, sure.
When you see little tuna, it means it's probably skipjack.
So virtually all the tuna that goes into tinned tuna that I'd see in my supermarket is actually this fish, the skipjack tuna.
Yes, that's right.
'Most of the tinged tuna in the UK is skipjack 'and the oceans are full of them.
'As such, they're much cheaper -- just seven pounds a kilo.
' So when these fish arrive, what do you have to do with them? First of all, we have to defrost it, OK? - And then we cook it with the steam.
- In here? That is one massive steamer.
- Yeah.
- That is huge.
- It's huge.
- I thought it was the subway.
- I thought I was going to get a train to Madrid.
- Yes.
- Can we cook these now? - Yes.
- Let's do it, boys.
In it goes.
'The skipjacks are gently steamed at 100 degrees Celsius for an 'amazing two and a half hours before 'they're boned, filleted and flaked.
' - Can I taste some? - Yes.
- I recognise this.
'Next, it is tinned up and a liquid preservative is added.
' We're funny, aren't we, the Brits? 'The sealed tins then go back into the steamer for another hour.
'This prevents any possible remaining microorganisms from flourishing 'in the can, lengthening shelf life, 'but the trade-off is the tuna can go soft, compared to a firm tuna steak.
' - And this is off to the supermarket now? - Yes.
- So I will let this one go on its way.
- Come on.
Let's go.
- Off you go.
Earlier, I discovered it's ice crystals that make my ice cream gritty, even though manufacturers go to great lengths to make it smooth.
- That is cream and to ice cream in seconds.
- Yes, in about 40 seconds.
'But why do I get ice crystals in my ice cream at home? 'It was smooth when I bought it.
'To get some answers, I'm meeting food scientist Dr Sue Bailey.
' Hello.
'And microscope technician Bob Morrison.
' - Is this your microscope, Bob? - Yes.
It's my microscope.
- It's ginormous.
'It's specially set up to look at the structure of frozen food 'without its melting.
' I've got two tub of ice cream.
This is one straight from the supermarket.
'And I've brought another tub that I have 'had in my freezer at home for a couple of weeks.
' So what we're going to do first is we will just cool down this pot with liquid nitrogen.
'Bob's electron microscope is one million times more powerful 'than the human eye.
' So it is literally on the end of that rod? It is on the end of the rod and it goes into that little cold state there.
It's like you are serving up dessert for a little mouse.
'The ice cream sits inside a refrigerated vacuum-sealed 'chamber, where it is for pelted with beams of electrons to build up 'a super detailed image.
' So what are we seeing here, Sue? It's got smaller crystals, not large, jagged crystals.
So that's the ice cream that when I have a spoon of, - it's very smooth.
- Lovely and smooth and creamy.
- Great texture.
'The tiny ice crystals measure around 50 microns or '0.
05 of a millimetre.
'That's about half the width of a human hair and undetectable 'by the human tongue, which is why my new ice cream feels so smooth.
'Next, the ice cream that's been in my freezer at home.
' We're seeing very large ice crystals here because this ice cream has been subjected to thermal heat shock, which means that when you put it in your freezer at home and then take it out, go to your family, put it back in the freezer, take it out what will start happening is that the water that has defrosted cannot create any new ice crystals.
It has to actually join to form a much larger ice crystal around the crystals that are already there - and that is what gives you a gritty mouth feel.
- Yes.
- That is the gritty texture.
- If you have abused your ice cream enough.
Supermarkets stop their ice cream going gritty by keeping it constantly frozen.
So the trick -- after serving, make sure you get your ice cream back in the freezer as quickly as you possibly can.
Next time, I'm in Peru, learning the secrets of turning coffee beans into instant freeze-dried coffee.
Oh, my God, it's like Narnia! I ask -- is there really a difference between cheap and expensive vodka? This looks like the beginning of one of the Matt Tebbutt's parties.
I'm flattered, Jim.
Shame you can't come.
And I find out why it is so hard to make Wensleydale from sheep's milk.
So they are quite flighty? LAUGHTER