SPEAKER_01 0:00

BBC Gardeners World Spring Fair returns to the stunning setting of beautiful Bewley in Hampshire from Friday the 1st to Sunday the 3rd of May. Among the newbies at the show this year making his debut is Andy Clark, a dynamic, UK-based food and drink television producer, who has a passion for gastronomy and broadcast media. Putting them together, making him a vibrant voice in food entertainment. We might even hear about some of the credits he's got on some of the television programmes you've already watched, but I'm delighted to say that he joins me to look forward to the show. Andy, good to catch up with you. Um this is your first time at uh Bewley for Spring Fair. Are you looking forward to it?

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Very much so. I love Beauty, it's such a lovely place to go. And um I love I love gardening, I love eating, I love drinking, I love the outdoors, so I think it's perfect that I'm gonna be at uh Beauty Gardeners World Spring Fair. I'm really looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

That that food, drink, and gardening, that's a heady mix, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Absolutely. I think do you know what I love being outside, I love to be barbecuing, making drinks outside, doing a bit of gardening, and you can sort of bring it all together, which is sort of what we're gonna be doing at uh at the spring fair, because I'm gonna be on um the spring table, um, which is a lovely area where I'm gonna be hosting some sessions all about food and drink, and also going to be uh hosting my own masterclasses, which is really exciting, and I can't wait to get stuck in.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

I mentioned uh at the top of our chat that uh you've been involved with quite a lot of TV programs as well, Saturday Kitchen to name but one. But just give us a brief sort of potted history of your how you've you've merged that food, drink, and television thing all into one.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Yes, well, I used to be um a producer and director by trade. So for years worked on lots of programmes from Blue Peter to Richard and Judy, and then the first food programme I worked on, I um uh helped uh develop the format for Saturday Kitchen when James Martin took over in the mid-nauties. And then um I worked on that for I think on and off about nine years and was producer on that. And I got to know a lot of um chefs and drinks experts that all became really good friends. So when I moved on, um moved back to Bristol, uh, where I'm from, um, I started hosting uh events and doing some writing, and all of my chefs and drinks expert friends sort of encouraged me to do that. They said, I've got creativity, I clearly love eating and drinking, and uh sort of took it to the other side of the camera. That was sort of bit of a sideline while I was also working on programs with uh the likes of uh Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver and people like that. But then um then it sort of took over and became the the main bit of my work and uh hosting lovely events where I'm sort of introducing people to uh food and drink matches or how to make cocktails, and then suddenly I'm being asked to write books, uh internationally published books on cocktails. So it's sort of a bit, I think you called it a curveball, Steve. What does it mean?

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Yes, absolutely, and I think we've established beyond all doubt your pedigree uh to be at the at the show doing what you're doing, uh Andy. So it is a spring event, um, and we'll we'll talk about the the rest of the event in the moment, particularly the the gardening side, perhaps. But on the spring table tastings, you're going to be talking about food and drink. So spring-inspired cocktails or uh mocktails we have now as well, don't you? Or pairings that particularly go to well go well together at this time of the year.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Absolutely. I think people start to get excited about food and drink again. As soon as the sun comes out, we see the flowers coming up. Look, we're surrounded by lovely daffodils, and soon the tulips will be up. People start thinking about alfresco dining for Easter, don't they? And everybody's praying that they can do a barbecue rather than doing a Sunday roast with the with the rain tipping down outside, don't they? But I think people get um a renewed excitement about produce and ingredients because obviously, you know, asparagus will be coming into season soon, while garlic is just getting out there, and I love that seasonality. And what we were keen to do um at the spring table at uh the spring fair is to do some different food and drink matchings. I'm gonna be doing some um wine and cheese pairings. Uh, there's gonna be a few other things going on, but actually, my sessions that I'm really excited about are doing um some non-alcoholic um uh drinks and getting people to sort of uh sample and test alongside with me, whether it's using things from the garden, like you know, um sort of different herbs, uh, also honey. Think about all those wonderful bees that are out there making gorgeous honey. We can you, you know, make some honey syrups and put them in drinks. So it's gonna be a little bit of a uh an explore. And I think people, I don't know about you, I think people get really worried about the idea of, oh, I don't know what to match with, what drink to match with what food, or how to make a cocktail. And actually, do you know what you don't be intimidated. Don't be intimidated by it. Trial and error, it's the way we work, it's the way I certainly work, and hopefully I can um put people's uh uh fears at bay uh during the sessions at the spring table.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Sounds like a fantastic session. And you mentioned non-alcoholic cocktails or mocktails as they're often referred to. I I read that non-alcoholic drinks are on the rise significantly in the country. Younger people are not drinking alcohol, and as we know, the you know, the pub trade is saying that that people aren't going. But the whole idea of of low and no alcohol beers, cocktails and things like that, it is on the rise. And uh the quality of those have changed, haven't they? A lot of plant-based uh elements to these things now, which makes them really tasty.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Absolutely. I think you know, if you think about it, you know, uh a lot of people, you know, want to make their own decisions, they don't want to feel like they've just got to uh uh go with the flow and sort of go down the uh oh, I'm gonna drink an alcoholic drink route, you know, which is always the traditional thing. Um, but also if you think about it in the context of uh the weekend or enjoying the outdoors or enjoying the gardening, you know, you don't necessarily want to be drinking an alcoholic drink while you're uh attending to the garden. Uh and so actually, you know, when people come around, you can make a lovely, lovely non-alcoholic uh drink in a massive picture jug for all, for children, for adults, for whether you're manning the barbecue, whether you're gardening, whether you're relaxing in the garden, uh, you can do it for all. And actually, year on year, a lot of the products that are being made that are non-alcoholic, whether it is non-alcoholic spirits, or you mentioned the non-alcoholic beers and ciders, they're all getting better and better. I think, you know, the the innovation is there. Um, and also, let's face it, something that goes really, really nicely in drinks, as you mentioned, are um things from the garden, like herbs, you know, muddling mint into a drink, into crushed ice, you know, in that sort of mojito sort of way, um, is lovely. You can pick things in the garden as long as you know that they are edible um and get fragrance out of them and use the oils to to uh spritz over over your drink or actually put in a drink. And I get really excited about how uh gardening and uh drinking can go hand in hand, especially from the point of view of uh non-alcoholic drinks.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Absolutely. Two uh two good points you make there. Safety first, gardeners. Don't go don't get on the cocktails and then get your secateurs out. That's a good one. Oh no. A lovely phrase you used there, which was muddling mint. That's gonna be my my two watchwords for the summer for the spring and summer, I think.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Brilliant. Well, look, muddling, people go, what's muddling? So muddling is where you extract the oils and the uh uh aromats out of uh out of either uh fruit or herbs. You know, you can do it with rinds, like I said, you can do it with uh uh uh herbs, and it's just lovely, and you instantly it invites you in. You see, you know, when like for example, if I were to get some mint and muddle it in front of you now, you can imagine that wonderful smell that you smell. And actually, when you've got a drink or glass in front of you with something like that in it, it just oh the smell invites you in that makes your mouth water, and it's a really, really easy way to get people excited about it.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Absolutely intoxicating in its own way, is it not? Absolutely opposite way of putting it. So Andy, you've uh been become known uh now, as we've talked about your pedigree, for making food and drink approachable, because there are people who, let's be fair, as you've already alluded to it, are frightened of trying things. What what's the top tip for trying something new this this uh this spring? I mean, you you've mentioned sort of don't worry about it, have a go, but what there's something unusual perhaps that people might not have thought would work, but will.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Now, if you are making a non-alcoholic drink, if you're trying to make yourself a non-alcoholic cocktail, um one thing that it's easy to it's easy to go down the route of making it a little bit too sweet and replacing uh the sort of the alcohol hit with um, I don't know, uh a flavoured syrup or something like that. And no, that they've got their places, and I make some lovely flavoured syrups. But what I would say to you, and people might not think about this, always have in your cupboard to hand some um vinegar, either an apple cider vinegar, a red wine vinegar, or any fruit-flavoured vinegar. You know, you go to a lot of stands and stalls um in a lot of uh fairs, and you'll see wonderful fruity vinegars out there. And um, you can use them in dressings, which are fantastic. But if you don't have the alcohol in a drink, I often say add a dash, maybe a teaspoon of um a nice palatable uh fruity vinegar because that will give you that little bit of zing that you will miss because there's no gin in it or vodka or tequila, whatever it is. So, do you understand what I mean? It's like it will make it'll give you that little oh, that's nice, and you can do it with citrus juice, you know, a squeeze of lemon and a squeeze of lime, always have a little bit of citrus handy or put in your freezer some pieces of um lemon and lime so you can just go to it if you turn, if you turn around and go, oh, I haven't got a lemon or I haven't got a lime. But if you've got vinegar, it lasts a long time in the cupboard, and at sometimes a little dash of that may give you what you're missing from your non-alcoholic cocktail.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

That is a superb top tip. And I guess in food terms, I mean we talk about um salt, sour, sweet, and and umami, don't we? Um, and and is that using the vinegar in that way, particularly something like what was the last one I had, raspberry vinegar. Um I mean, is that what you're talking about? Finding a balance.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Yes, yeah, absolutely. It's about you don't want it to taste like you're drinking a glass of salad dressing. Do not get me wrong. Nobody needs that, but it's about adding a little bit. Remember, you can add, but you can't take away. So if you're making uh a cocktail, just literally add a tiny weeny bit and then think, is it giving me the zing I want? And then add until you get to that point, maybe just add it like teaspoon by teaspoon at the time. But honestly, um, it always uh works wonders uh whenever I do it. So yeah, give it a go and see what you think. And also, you you I don't know, if I was coming around to your house for dinner, I doubt whether if I if if you were cooking for me, it would be the first time you're cooking that dish for me right in front of me, right? So, same with drinks, don't worry about doing drinks or making cocktails in front of people because just make sure the trial and error has gone on in you know, in solitude, maybe at home, on your own, give it a go, make the mistakes, and then hopefully you'll look like an absolute bartender whiz by the time your friends come round and you've perfected your your cocktail.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

We'll have people turning up for dinner parties not with a bottle of claret, but with a bottle of good quality vinegar at this rate.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Absolutely. And do you know what? A lot of those have got really good uh uh gut health benefits as well. So make sure they've got one that's got the you know the live the the live bacteria in it and uh win-win. You can have a little bit in the morning and it's restorative. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Now, if your mouth is watering already and why wouldn't it be, then the place to go for more information is the website bbcgardenersworldfair.com. The dates for your diary Friday the first to Sunday the third of May. Lots of information on the website about how to get tickets and timings for when you can see all of the experts, including Andy, uh, at the show over the weekend. Um Andy, the rest of the show. Um I'm sure you'll have time to have a walk round, is is an assault on the senses in both terms of colour and smell and touch, isn't it? I mean the gardeners and Bewley's a beautiful setting that you've already alluded to, but the rest of the show provides uh a very good day out.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Yeah, absolutely it does. There is with an event like this, with the BBC Gardeners World Spring Fair, there really is something for everybody because obviously I'm gonna be on the spring table. I've got sessions going throughout the day um each day. Uh, but I'm hoping to scoop off to scoot off to the other stages. The main stage, um, the main sort of uh drop-in stage is sort of 30-minute talks going on that stage, and there's gonna be loads of really, really talented, wonderful people uh talking about the outdoors and back gardening on that stage. Uh there's the in-conversation stage as well, which I'm looking forward to uh dropping in there. There's gonna be there's gonna be personalities everywhere, you know. We're gonna get really, really excited. I'm I'm I'm a good one for taking lots of selfies. So we'll see by the end of the weekend um how many selfies I've taken with uh uh various people.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

So uh yeah, keep count. We'll keep it. Yeah, are you a good gardener?

SPEAKER_00 12:54

I love gardening. I I do I do like gardening. Um I would say I'm really good with my flowers and my my pots and stuff like that. And uh um sometimes if I don't know what a plant is, I get a bit like, oh not too sure. But I think luckily I live I've got a lovely um garden. I'm looking at all the shoots of green out there now as we speak. Um but luckily a lot of the um uh bushes and shrubs and hedges are all quite low maintenance, they're much more low maintenance than me, Steve. Put it that way. But um, so they don't need a lot, they just need a bit of trimming. So as long as you get the you know the trimming at the right time of the year and all the rest of it, you're fine. But I do love colour. I uh you'll always see me wearing bright colours. My cocktails will be bright colours uh uh at the spring table as well. But um I absolutely love um colours from flowers, so I do really enjoy tending to my uh uh my flowers in the garden.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

Absolutely. Uh and just going back to when you made the transition from sort of behind the camera to in front of the camera, what what was the catalyst for that? I mean, why then, man? Why why become you know the person that you are now and the personality that you are now?

SPEAKER_00 14:04

I think my sort of transition from being behind the camera to being in front of the camera s all of happened when I moved back to Bristol. I was in London for about 30 years, university, working, as I said, um producing and directing. And when I came to Bristol, um, you know, I'm from the area originally, and in the time I've been away, Bristol had become very much a hotspot for independent food and drink, independent restaurants, independent bars. Um, and I it corresponded with me moving to a house with a beautiful big garden. So this whole outdoor lifestyle, appreciating the garden, appreciating the food and drink scene, all came hand in hand. Um, and then people started asking me to come into their restaurants and do a food and drink matching night. Um, and that sort of escalated, and then um at a local magazine said, Would you write an article every other month about a restaurant and you could prepare a drink that you could buy in an independent drinks shop with the dish and get the recipe from the show? So it just it just sort of snowballed, I guess. And it was because I moved to the restaurant being such a vibrant uh food and drink scene that it's sort of that it sort of happened really, and uh, and I'm really pleased it has because I've still got so many of the same friends. I've been working with some people who I worked with when I was producing and directing, but now they asked me to come on their their programs in front of the camera. So that's really, really fun, and I'm still friends with these people, so it's really nice.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

It's all gone full circle for you, hasn't it? So, what is next? You've got a busy diary, you've got people, uh, your phone ringing off the hook with uh invitations to go and do things. What's uh what's next for you?

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Um, also, as well as uh doing hosting spring table at uh the spring fair, um I'm going to be doing uh Good Food Show Summer, which is going to be a lot of fun, and that is uh at the NEC, and there is also uh BBC Gardeners World live there as well, and it's lovely because we get to catch up with all of our lovely friends in the gardens uh and uh have a little have a little drinky as well. Um, I'm also gonna be hosting uh Pub in the Park again this year. This will be my sixth year hosting that. This will be in Marlowe, uh, also in May. Um what else have I got going on? I I go on um I'm a regular on Alan Titchmarsh's uh Love Your Weekend programme on ITV as well. I do a best of British section on there with cocktails and food and drink, and we filmed that in a farm in Hampshire, and it's all about celebrating uh the outdoor life and there's a bit of um wildlife, there's farming, there's celebrities, and I'm always there with my cocktail shakers in hand. Um so I'm gonna be still doing that throughout the year as well, which I'm really looking forward to.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

And then all of a sudden, it'll be Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Andy, an absolute pleasure to catch up with you. Let me just remind people BBC Gardenersworldfair.com is the website where you can get more information, the date for your diary, Friday the 1st to Sunday, the 3rd of May, where each of those days you can catch up with the absolutely brilliant uh Andy Clark. Andy, really good to uh to chat. Enjoy the show.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Thank you so much. Looking forward to it. And if anybody who's listening comes to see me at the spring table, come and say hi and we'll have a drink together. See you soon.