River Cottage: Summer’s Here, Channel 4, 8pm

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Ah, the scent of freshly-cut grass in the air, newborn lambs gambolling giddily in the rolling hills and the gentle sound of a hacksaw slicing its way through the carcass of a newly-slaughtered veal calf. Yes, it’s summertime down at River Cottage, and floppy-haired foodie Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is back with another bellyful of delicious recipes, fun foraging tips and bizarre homebrew concoctions.

Oh, and bit of campaigning on the way, of course. A keen champion of welfare rights, Hugh seems to have given veteran Irish comic Jimmy Crickett a route out of the dire comics’ retirement home to lend a hand with the script. As a result, you’re never more than a few minutes away from a pun more excruciating than being smashed round the head with a Le Creuset skillet pan. Particular lowlights include Hugh booming “Give peas and chance!” after dealing with some freshly picked legumes and “Simply the zest!” after grating some lemons.

You’ll be familiar with the cosy-as-a-hairshirt set-up of the show by now, and despite occasionally playing a bit like The Observer Magazine: The Movie, with its endless procession of Jocastas, Florences and Tobys cooing over rustic cocktails and home-reared hams, there’s some great stuff on offer. Notable moments include tips on making your own boozy concoction from gorse (free booze!) and an update on Hugh’s landshare scheme, which matches gardenless urbanites with landowners willing to let them flex their green fingers on their patch.

Of course, it wouldn’t be River Cottage without a bit of tub-thumping. This week, Hugh takes on that perennial culinary hot topic – veal. Did you know that the majority of surplus-to-requirements male dairy calves either face being shipped to the Continent to be kept in a 1.8m crate, or a bullet to the head? Shocking, but there may be a third way, courtesy of British “rosé veal” farmers who take the calves on and give them a better life, making sure they get the roughage and roaming room they need instead of 20 weeks in a crate drinking the white stuff. Is it an ethical alternative? You decide. Or as Hugh puts it, “Veal or No Veal!” Ouch.

by Stewart Turner, Tuesday 2 June 2009

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