Description
Autumn at Kew bursts to life as Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc turns harvest into story. From tomatoes once feared as poison to a Victorian lunch that made ketchup a star, familiar foods suddenly feel new.
We follow golden beetroot from soil to a glossy onion-and-beetroot tart, watch oyster mushrooms thrive in Kew’s old ice house on coffee grounds, straw and cotton, and meet the last of the legendary Onion Johnnies whose braided Roscoff onions changed British markets and ferries. In Kew’s fungarium, a Darwin-collected specimen appears; in the tropical glasshouse, a pineapple’s royal past steals the scene. Pumpkins bake into a settler-style custard, cider apples are milled the old way, and the finale is a shimmering Apple Charlotte that tastes like autumn itself.
If you love seasonal cooking, food history, and gardens that teach as they feed, this episode is full of small revelations with big flavor. Watch to discover which mushroom substrate wins, why tomatoes took 150 years to be accepted, and how onions built unexpected bridges across the Channel. Settle in and enjoy the whole story.
#KewGardens #RaymondBlanc #AutumnHarvest #FoodHistory #Tomato #Mushrooms #OnionJohnnies #AppleCharlotte