Rick Stein's Food Stories

He pays homage to actor Stan Laurel then braves Morecambe Bay's treacherous mud flats to meet a shrimp fisherman and discover an old favourite, potted shrimps. Back home in Padstow, Rick is joined by his son, Jack, to cook his Mum's shepherd's pie.

Rick rediscovers his love for the foodie heaven of Argyll where land and loch yield exquisite produce. He meets chef Pamela Brunton, a Michelin Green Star winner, whose menu showcases local and foraged ingredients. He catches langoustine with teacher-turned- fisherwoman Mary Galloway and explores a century-old smokehouse. At home Rick cooks arroz rojo and tattie scones with Scottish smoked salmon.

Lincolnshire is a county of farming innovation where Rick meets inventor James Dyson who allows him special access to his farm of the future, where strawberries, tended by robots, are grown all year round. Chef Rachel Green cooks Rick traditional plum bread and he meets pig farmers producing the finest Lincolnshire sausages. Rick makes simple strawberry sorbet and the ultimate bangers and mash.

Amid Belfast's buzzy food scene, Rick tucks into Filipino-style Sunday lunch. On Northern Ireland's Atlantic coast, he meets an award-winning chef, with a 'no waste' approach, who turns fish offal and under-used species such as dog fish into stunning dishes.

At Britain's best market in Bury, Rick immerses himself in the rich food traditions of the northwest. In Manchester he meets Joe Otway, an exciting chef reinventing those traditions for a hip crowd, and at a shop selling old vinyl records Rick recalls how much joy Manchester's music has brought him. Rick cooks a scotch egg for a ploughman's and one of his favourites, liver, bacon and onions.

On Wales' Gower Peninsula, Rick meets the farmer raising salt marsh lamb and thanking his lucky stars none of his sheep have been blown up by the WW2 bombs still buried there. Rick's intrigued to try vegan rhubarb pizza, made by social-media star Gaz Oakley, and he's hoping to catch a fish whilst coracle fishing at night on the River Tywi. He cooks rack of lamb and shows us how to smoke sea trout.

Rick gets his chops around the ultimate jerk chicken made by the man behind Bristol's most exciting Caribbean food kitchen. He delves into the history of the city's African-Caribbean carnival and witnesses the healing power of food at a café staffed by victims of modern slavery. He dips into the recent craze for fermented foods and makes his own version of a modern UK favourite, the burrito.

Half-way through his tour of our favourite foods Rick visits a Suffolk bakery making artisan sourdough. He meets an old friend who sells fresh fish on the beach and, in Southwold, Rick discovers that the writer George Orwell held surprising views on English cooking. If you thought sushi was too tricky to make yourself and cabbage soup couldn't possibly be delicious, Rick will change your mind.

Rick's in London, the city where he started out as a chef, which is now home to 120 world cuisines. In Chinatown, he's entranced by the art of making dim sum and in west London he witnesses the magic of mozzarella making. DJ Stuart Maconie, who's written a book on the 'Full English', tells Rick about the hilarious variations he's had of our favourite breakfast.

Rick continues his food tour of London in Walthamstow, meeting head brewer Jaega Wise who explains why craft beer is so fashionable. Rick discovers more about Walthamstow's little-known silent film studios, and in west London, over a bowl of borscht at a Ukrainian restaurant staffed by refugees, he is reminded of how food creates community. Rick brings back a favourite ready-meal, chicken Kyiv.

In Kent, The Garden of England, Rick harvests English cherries at a family-run farm. From Ramsgate he heads out to sea in search of Dover sole, his favourite fish, and in Margate he celebrates the artist Joseph Turner and our love of fish 'n chips. At home, in Padstow, he makes red velvet chocolate and cherry cupcakes, and shows us a simple French dish called Dover sole à la meunière.

Rick delves into Glasgow's multi-cultural food scene, tucking into Korean and Pakistani dishes and finding out how Italian food became part of the city's fabric. He discovers the best chocolate he's ever tasted, made by an artisan chocolatier who used to be a car engineer, and uses it to make profiteroles. He also teams up with son Jack to make an inexpensive Stein family favourite, osso buco.

Rick's in London, the city where he started out as a chef, which is now home to 120 world cuisines. In Chinatown, he's entranced by the art of making dim sum and in west London he witnesses the magic of mozzarella making. DJ Stuart Maconie, who's written a book on the 'Full English', tells Rick about the hilarious variations he's had of our favourite breakfast.

Food writer Gurdeep Loyal gives Rick a tour of Leicester's finest Indian food, from a hidden gem food truck to the Indian equivalent of high tea at the Ritz. There's Michelin Star fare from Brummy chef Aktar Islam and the story of how a traditional mill was saved by the local demand for chapati flour.

Rick ends his UK food tour on home turf, the West Country. He meets a bevy of food pioneers from Riverford's Guy Singh-Watson, who blazed a trail for organic food before many of us knew what it was, to the famous cheesemaker Mary Quicke, finishing with his friend and fellow chef Mark Hix, the master of simple British food. Rick cooks a carrot tart tatin and a cheese, potato and spinach filo pie.