River Cottage Season 15

Synopsis

Hugh spends the summer as a vegetarian, to see what simple pleasures are being overlooked. Travelling the UK in search of committed veggies, Hugh learns all about a new world or flavours from all corners of the globe that have one thing in common - no meat allowed.

Main Cast

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Himself

Age : 59 | Popularity : 15%

Episodes

Episode 1

16 October 2011 - Bring It On!

In this first episode, Hugh makes peace with the pigs, and says goodbye to bacon sandwiches, and instead heads into the River Cottage vegetable garden to see what green summer vegetables he can get his hands on to set him on his way. A classic summer garden soup is a sure fire winner.

Episode 2

23 October 2011 - Grow Your Own

This second programme is all about the garden. Hugh and the garden team revel in the first sweet roots of summer - delicious whether snaffled down raw in the veg patch or cooked up into dishes like a glorious beetroot tarte tatin.

Episode 3

30 October 2011 - Feast

Hugh prepares to cook a meat-free feast. But he faces a battle with the slugs who are tucking into his vegetable patch with vigour! Catering for a wedding party, Hugh has convinced the couple, Louise and Phil, to have a vegetable banquet. Hugh visits Jagdish Ghelani, owner of Indigo restaurant in Leicester, who regularly prepares south Indian speciality feasts for over 450 people. Back at River Cottage Hugh begins perfecting his curries with a fresh homemade aubergine and bean curry. He also knocks up some stuffed courgette flowers.

Episode 4

06 November 2011 - Summer Pleasures

Hugh's commitment to a summer without flesh takes a hit when he joins a fishing trip and has to pass up the fresh mackerel sushi. So he visits Sachiko in Birmingham, where a Japanese chef introduces him to the vegetarian ways of Buddhist monks, and cooking techniques entirely dedicated to wowing the palate out of any yearning for meat or fish. Back on track, Hugh plunges back into traditional English summertime and prepares a full cricket tea without a pork pie in sight.

Episode 5

13 November 2011 - Power

Hugh immerses himself in the pleasures of wild swimming with vegetarian triathlete Colin. Meanwhile, Tim and James go head to head in the kitchen with a summer veg showdown. Colin Hill has swum the English Channel, the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, and he puts pay to any suspicion that a meat-free diet lacks power. But his pasta-heavy diet lacks imagination - pasta and ketchup, anyone? So Hugh whips up some delicious carb-loading dishes that provide plenty of flavour as well as energy.

Episode 6

28 November 2011 - Cost

Hugh is well into his summer without meat. But even though he's turned veggie, life goes on - and it's time to take two of the River Cottage sheep to slaughter. But Hugh now reckons when it comes to cheap delicious seasonal food, vegetables can't be beaten. To prove his point he accepts a challenge thrown down by the landlady at a local pub to try and wow customers with his veggie treats, including golden squashes and pea and mint ice cream.

Episode 7

27 November 2011 - Finale

Hugh has spent the summer dedicating his time and attention to vegetables. In this final episode his experiment of not eating meat ends, and it's fish he first turns back to. Still keen to share the vegetable love, Hugh invites a group of local children who hate veg to join him in the garden, and attempts to win them over with pizzas and garlic butter. And James at the River Cottage restaurant cooks a mouth-watering pumpkin and blue cheese pastie.

Episode 8

12 April 2012 - Veg Heroes

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall looks back at his summer of vegetarian living through the eyes of the people who helped turn him from a committed carnivore into a veg muncher and cruncher.

Crew

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