New ITV series has the perfect ingredients

Chef and TV favourite Ainsley Harriott and glorious National Trust gardens at Tynesfield with guest appearance by Nailsea resident Peter Speight in Episode 8.

Chef and TV favourite, Ainsley Harriott will once again be on our screens, in his brand-new series; Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off, airing on ITV1 and ITVX from Saturday 18 May.

The series, which will run for 10 episodes, is filmed at three National Trust locations, famed for their abundant kitchen and walled gardens: Blickling Estate in Norfolk, Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire and Tyntesfield in Somerset.

Peter Speight, a local Nailsea Resident who was the winner of the Nailsea Town Council photo competition ‘Images of Nailsea’ will also be appearing in the show. Peter will appear in Episode 8 when Ainsley is joined by chefs Genevieve Taylor and Nico Reynolds at Tyntesfield in Somerset. Ainsley collects Patty Pan squashes from Tyntesfield’s kitchen garden to be the centrepiece in his ‘Chargrilled Summer Squash and Spring Onion with Chilli Dressing and Whipped Ricotta’.

Genevieve shows why she’s known as the ‘Fire Queen’ by using the pizza and kamodo wood fired ovens to create a perfect ‘Pizza Blanca, Topped with Gorgonzola, Chard and Sweet Red Peppers’. Her pepper and chard picked from the garden just moments before cooking.

Nico gets excited by the Tyntesfield onions which he uses on his ‘Grilled Cod and Prawn in a Ginger and Coconut Broth’.

Of his time, with the National Trust, Ainsley commented “All of us have been blown away by the produce that’s grown at the National Trust and the freshness of the ingredients. Chef and restaurateur, Cyrus Todiwala, who cooked with me at Blickling, said he’s never been able to take an onion from the soil, put it onto a table and use it like that. He was genuinely excited.
“Visiting the three locations has made me realise how much diversity there is in the National Trust. For example, at Wimpole Estate there’s a farm where this wonderful wheat is grown and then turned into flour, so that it can be distributed to all the other National Trust properties and used to make their ever-popular scones. Did you know they serve more than 3 million a year?! Wow!

“I know from the other chefs that they, like me, had a fabulous time at the Trust. We met really wonderful people – volunteers, staff and visitors. It was a glorious way to spend the summer and I hope everyone can feel the energy and joy we experienced, when they watch the series.”

For the show’s producers, the National Trust was an obvious location, as Andrea Jackson Creative Director for Plimsoll reflects “The National Trust’s kitchen gardens gave us the most beautiful backdrop for our series and an extraordinary choice of fruit and vegetables that allowed Ainsley and his guest star chefs to celebrate a diversity of food styles and cultures in their recipes”.

Leanne Clarke, Assistant Commissioner for ITV Entertainment and Daytime said: “We are delighted to be working with the National Trust on this brand new series which will see the amazing Ainsley Harriott back on our screens.
“Brimming with delicious dishes made by fresh produce from inside some of the most beautiful gardens – this series is not one that you will want to miss.”

Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off starts 11:40 am on Saturday 18 May, and then weekly for 10 weeks on ITV1 and ITVX.