Chat Ed : Welcome to this evening's RIVER COTTAGE FOREVER chat with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
angie : Hi Hugh
king monkey : hi hugh
Kris : Hi Hugh gr8 show.
whippet : woo hoo
DavRav : Tops bud
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Hi everyone, I hope you liked the show. It's actually one of my favourites because in Delia a new star is born.
sergeant_howie : Hugh - I think your brilliant - but why suffer as a small holder when you must be making plenty of money?
gr
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall chuckles
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Well, it would be hypocritical of me to pretend that I'm financially dependent on small holding. I get paid by Channel 4 and make decent money from my books. Nevertheless I love living down here in Dorset. I love feeding myself from my own garden and my own livestock. It's a lifestyle that once you've started, you wouldn't have it any other way.
Allan : what did you (Hugh) used to do before you moved to Rivcer Cottage, and what made you decide to move there ?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : I used to work in London as a journalist, writing about food, restaurants etc. It was great fun but I always had a yearning to get back to the good life. I persuaded Channel 4 to finally let me do a series at the cottage, which gave me the chance to keep pigs, chickens etc and really make a go of it. I have now sold up in London completely and live in Dorset full-time. Best decision I have ever made.
Chris Morton : Hugh, living in Gloucestershire I have always found myself surrounded by vegetarians, and always feel, probably unnecessarily, the need to defend my meat eating. Have you ever felt this pressure to stand up for meat eating and how to you go about it?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Yes, but I often find that vegetarians are sympathetic to the River Cottage way of dealing with meat. What bugs me is the hypocritical carnivore who stuffs himself with a plastic ham sandwich made from factory-farmed pigs, then rings in to complain that I have been out shooting squirrels and rabbits for the pot. I'm writing a book about meat right now. The first chapter is all about the morality of meat production.
Pinky : We have seen Nigella eating pigs ears on Nigella bites.....if your crops failed would delia's been on the menu?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : You'll be happy to know that Delia is alive and well and has born a litter of fabulous piglets since the show was filmed. She will live a long and happy life as a breeding sow. Some of her piglets won't be so lucky.
Andrew Lintell : Is their anything you won't eat ?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Yes. I hate a fried egg when the white is still runny on top - YUK!
Chat Ed laughs
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Otherwise, pretty much anything goes.
Julia : Can I ask a specific hen question? I have 4 Warrens and two have started laying soft shelled eggs, despite lots of grit and a good diet. Is this their old age (3yrs) or is there something else I can do to perk them up a bit?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Have you tried oyster shell? And are they getting plenty of greens? Cabbage leaves chopped up and mixed with corn gives them a calcium boost. Also organic layers' pellets usually have the vital trace elements for good egg shell formation. Good luck Julia.
lucy : Hugh, firstly I think your the sexiest fella on the tele! So I wana know if you've got any other projects on the way? I'll miss you if you've not! (not in a pyscho stalker way, honest)
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall laughs
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Yes, good things happening right now. Too early to spill the beans, but if you like River Cottage I think you'll like what we are planning to do.
David : Hugh - how did you keep a straight face when the vegan mice mind manipulators performed their ceremony in the first series?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : They were lovely people. I'm open-minded about these things. The curious thing is, the mice actually disappeared after their visit. You'd have been impressed if you'd met them face to face.
Trilby : Hugh, who would be your ultimate dinner party guests?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Oh goodness. I hate these kind of questions!
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall chuckles
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : I'd like to meet Escoffier, the father of modern cooking and Elizabeth David - writer of the greatest cookbook so far - French Provincial Cooking. But I'd also like to meet Alexander the Great. That's why I hate this question.
JMC : Hugh did you make a conscious decision to keep your family away from the camera unlike other TV chefs I could mention?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall laughs
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Obviously the decision wasn't only mine. My wife has her own career. In fact, we only met a couple of years before the first series and she was abroad a lot. We are now a happy family all living together in Dorset, but being on tele is not everyone's cup of tea.
cloclopops : i am having promblems with the cockrel and the hen when they r mating he tends to catch her and she has a bald pach under her wing because off him.wot do u fink i should do about this?should i keep them apart or leave them too it?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : I'm having problems too. My king cockerel at the moment is a real bully, grabbing hens by the head, neck and wings and basically it seems more than they are able to take! It's not a major worry though. If they get sores or cuts, a little antiseptic spray should help, but they should be fine.
Jonathan B : What was the name of the aphid eating bugs? are these only available from specilists or where could i get some?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : They are a kind of tiny wasp. You can get them mail order, details can be found on the website www.just-green.com
Celt : Hugh - What would you consider to be your most successful project at the cottage?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Maybe the most satisfying thing was keeping pigs for the first time. I've had a pair or three every year since except last year because of Foot and Mouth. I couldn't buy the piglets I usually get in March. I really missed them. I've now got 3 cracking pigs again and enjoying them greatly.
disco : how did the grass carp really taste do not lie
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall laughs
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : I liked it but, I admit, it was no salmon or sea bass. Quite an earthy flavour but very rich, well-textured flesh. The demodification had limited success, but perhaps with a bit more time it would have been really delicious.
Verity SW : Hugh, I know you have a large audience and fan number, I'm just 12 and I absoloutly LOVE your show! Where you surprised at the audience number you got, what with your show being not the kind of genre you'd expect from a mainstream show?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Um, yes. I never expected what we were doing to have more than a cult following. Perhaps it's just a big cult! But I do think we've tapped a rich scene of rural fantasy and I hope lots of our viewers get to make some reality out of it too. Including you Verity.
Kevin : Any chance of a deluxe boxed set of River cottage?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Currently under discussion with Channel 4. We get this request so often that we must do something about it.
Calvin Jones : Hugh, do you have any tips on following the small holder lifestyle at university. I dont want to end up living of pot noodles
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : I bet most university towns have a farmers' market. Fill your shopping basket with local fruit and veg and maybe some cheaper cuts of meat and the River Cottage cookbook will tell you what to do with them. You could also keep chickens, 2 or 3 maybe, in even a small back garden for your student scrambled eggs.
Swanson : What is the most peculiar animal/vegatable you have cooked and eaten. How was it?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : In the Amazon I ate a grub about an inch long that lives in a kind of palm nut. It tasted of coconut and was crispy when I fried it - absolutely delicious.
Chat Ed : That's it! Thanks for coming and talking to us Hugh and don't forget, the River Cottage cookbook is available from the Channel4 Shop - channel4.com/shop or call 0870 1234 344.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Thanks for coming in to the chatroom. I've had a blast. Back to my devilled kidneys now. I took a cow to the slaughter this morning and picked up the offal this afternoon - yum yum.
Chris And Fabian : Cya Hugh
Jon Sarah : thanks!!!!
mongoose : cheers
sergeant_howie : so long hugh...
Gaynor : Byesie Bye Hughsie Woosiee!
Verity SW : hugh, you're ACE!
kato : Thanks Hugh, you've cheered me up!
leanne rothery : see you hugh
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : Will Delia find a truffle? Tune in next week...
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall leaves the room
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