John Wright, River Cottage Foraging Expert, talks about his experiences on the new River Cottage Autumn show…
Two things people often ask me about the River Cottage programmes are ‘Is it fun?’ and ‘Is it real?’. I always assure them that it is certainly real and most definitely fun. Two of the major sequences I am in for this series were a little more real and perhaps a little less fun than usual.
The crab potting expedition (episode 1) was a bit too authentic for my liking. Hugh and I were wading about, waist deep, in treacherous and very cold waters wearing only shorts and t-shirts. Anything that needs to be done in the sea or in front of a camera is always more complicated and time consuming than normal – that day we had both complications and I got my first ever taste of hypothermia. Travelling back in Hugh’s Landrover with its blast furnace of a heater I was burning on the outside and shivering inside. I want a stunt double next time…
The foraging competition was the most tiring piece I have ever filmed. My hairdresser’s car (as my ‘friends’ call it) is not the most comfortable vehicle and driving all the way too and from Cornwall with a camera crew in the back was a bit more energetic than I like. We genuinely got hopelessly lost in Exeter and genuinely got stuck in a traffic jam in Plymouth. The director seemed to take it as all part of the fun but Steve and I were distraught. In the end we ran out of time and missed out on two things I was desperate to find – seaweed and mushrooms. We were so keen to win and I knew that a good collection of these would have clinched it for us. I got home exhausted after 14 hours of hard foraging. Who won? We did!
Catch up on all the goings-on at River Cottage.
Try all the River Cottage Autumn recipes from the show.
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