Michel Roux Jr says 'buy British pears!'

The Great British Food Revival is back on BBC Two, we caught up with Michel Roux Jr to talk about pears

Many don’t realise that chef Michel Roux Jr, despite having a proud French name and French heritage, was actually born in Pembury, Kent. So when he was asked what produce he’d like to champion for this series of the Great British Food Revival his thoughts turned to his birthplace and the fruits of the Garden of England.

“This year I’ve chosen pears, though plums and cherries came close” he tells me. (Incidentally Raymond Blanc has taken up the cause for plums). "Making this series opened my eyes to just how important it is that some of Britain's best produce isn't forgotten. We need to put it back on our shopping lists and back on our plates."

The problem with pears

As Michel points out in his section of the show, not only have sales dwindled over the last decade, but 80% of the pears we do eat in the UK are imported. What’s more there are only a handful of types to choose from in the shops. The Victorians on the other hand enjoyed over 600 varieties.

The problem with pears, as anyone who’s ever bought them knows, is that they’re hard when you buy them, then after a long spell in the fruit bowl, become soft and ready to eat all on one day, before turning to mush on the next. Indeed one of the facts we’re told in the show is that pears rot from the inside out.

Pear innovation

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Michel meets producers who are investing not only in new orchards, but also in new technologies. He meets one such farmer whose facilities can ripen the pears in large batches, just enough to ensure only a perfect ready-to-eat pear hits the shops.

Perry

We move on to talk about perry, the sparkling alcoholic drink made from pears. Cider producers like Julian Temperley have spoken to me about the ‘Magner’s effect’ a decade ago, which saw people moving from the commercial offerings to microbrewery and artisan products soon afterwards. “I hope people automatically move on from ‘pear ciders’ to proper perry, it’s the true pear effervescent drink” says Michel. Perry used to be more popular than it is now, and indeed Babycham was made from perry pears.

In the kitchen

Of course a food show wouldn’t be a food show without some recipe demonstrations, and the format here remains the same as the last series. There’s a starter, a main and a pud, to break up the location segments.

It’s Michel’s main I’m most interested in however; braised beef cheeks with pear and bitter chocolate sauce. Like some fruity, meaty menage-a-trois, this dish is a most interesting combination, and one I intend to try. Pears and chocolate is a no-brainer, and we’re now used to the idea that a bit of bitter chocolate in mainly South American beef cooking works. But all three? Michel assures me it’s good.

Finally I ask Michel about Clarissa Dickson-Wright’s chosen product, garlic. ‘I think it’s great, there’s some lovely garlic being grown in Britain now. I use garlic from Jersey in my restaurant”.

Did you watch the show? Do you try and buy British when shopping? Are you going to try his braised beef cheeks dish? And finally do you remember Babycham?

Let us know below.

Want more pear recipes? Try these

Henry Dimbleby's upside-down pear tart

Phil Thompson's pear mousse

Philip Brocklehurst's pear pudding

The Great British Food Revival airs on BBC Two from Wednesday 26th October. Or catch up on the iPlayer.