Rick Stein's Cornwall season 3 sees the popular TV chef and restaurateur returning to BBC Two and serving up another moreish slice of Cornish life, as he takes the road less travelled to champion the food, history, people and landscape of his beloved home county.
"I’ve lived in Cornwall for most of my life — it’s made me who I am today and inspires so much of what I do," smiles the lovely TV chef Rick who opened The Seafood Restaurant in the fishing port of Padstow in 1975.
Airing weekdays, the series sees restaurateur Rick sharing his favorite childhood haunts while discovering how to make Cornish cider and artisan goat's cheese and learning the secrets of growing tea.
The 10-episode series kicks off with Rick on the beach below his late parents’ house near Trevose Head, where Rick spent his summers as a child and where his love of seafood began.
After foraging for fresh mussels and rustling up a seafood omelet at the home he shares in Padstow with Sarah, his wife of 12 years, Rick heads for Bodmin Moor with his son, Jack. There, father and son reminisce about the Cornish ghost stories Rick used to scare his three sons with!
Here's all you need to know about Rick Stein's Cornwall season 3 on BBC Two...
Rick Stein's Cornwall season 3 release date
The 10-episode series of Rick Stein's Cornwall starts on Monday, February 13 at 6.30 pm, running weekdays Monday to Friday for two weeks.
Episodes will also be available on BBCiPlayer. We'll update you with any US or international air dates once they are announced.
Is there a Rick Stein's Cornwall season 3 trailer?
Sadly there's no trailer available for the 2023 series of Rick Stein's Cornwall. If one does appear before the start of the series we'll post it here.
In the meantime, to whet your appetite, do take a look at the 2021 trailer for the show...
Interview, locations and what happens in Rick Stein's Cornwall season 3
Rick Stein told us more about what’s on the menu for season 3 of Rick Stein's Cornwall…
We can’t think of a better way to lift spirits in February than a return to Cornwall! Do you have a favourite place there?
Rick Stein says: "I’d have to say on the beach below my parents’ house, near Trevose Head. As a child, I’d walk down the steep, slippery path from the house above to clamber in the rock pools below. Every summer, I’d scramble over Merope Rocks and look for little goby fish and lobsters with my dad. Little did I know then that my childhood adventures on those rocks would provide the inspiration I needed to open my seafood restaurant 20 years later!"
You forage for mussels in the first episode — is that Merope Rocks?
"Yes, when I opened the restaurant I started coming [back] to pick mussels because they’re bigger here. I pick them [for the series] to make a simple mussel omelette at my home in Padstow, where I live with my long-suffering wife, Sass [Sarah] — who isn’t overly keen on my coastal foraging! Here’s a tip: If you’re foraging for mussels, they’re better flavoured when there’s an ‘R’ in the month – so September to April!"
Good to know! Seafood aside, which artisan producers do you champion this series?
"Cornwall is about more than just seafood. The county gets a lot of rain, making it perfect for growing things and grazing livestock. I meet Katie Wood and her partner, Glyn, who rear 150 goats on a hill in the shadow of Bodmin Moor, and see how they make really brilliant goat’s milk cheese. Of course, I don’t leave empty-handed!"
Tell us what you’re inspired to cook…
"I use their Polmarkyn White Cheese to cook my twice-baked cheese and thyme soufflé in my new kitchen in Padstow. What’s so special about twice-baked soufflés? It gets you out of trouble! By the time you get soufflé to the table, it’s sunk – re-baking them turns them into lovely looking soufflés and takes all the tension out. Bake the soufflés for about 25 minutes, let them cool for 10 minutes, then simply turn them out, place upside down in a greased baking dish and pour some double cream over the top of them. Put a bit of pecorino [a salty Italian cheese] and black pepper on top, bake for 10 minutes and serve fresh from the oven. It can’t fail you as a cook as it always comes out spot-on!"
What’s this we hear about you visiting Bodmin Moor to reminisce about the Cornish ghost stories you used to scare your three young sons with?
"When I had a day off I liked nothing better than making my escape inland away from the sea and onto Bodmin Moor. As far as my kids were concerned, this was bandit country — a place full of ghoulish tales, much of it fantasy folklore. It’s a bit wild and dangerous — and I have to admit, I loved scaring them! I remember there were a lot of trolls and then the Beast of Bodmin. The higher we climbed, the taller my tales became!
You also have a go at making some heritage cider…
"There’s an idea that Cornish scrumping makes you legless — well, I can attest to that! When I was a teenager, we used to drink cider from Haye Farm, just outside Lerryn, and I’m delighted to say that decades on the farm is still producing cider thanks to Raynor Winn [who wrote the 2018 bestseller The Salt Path] and her husband, Moth. Seeing the way it’s made — the old-fashioned way — just makes it taste better. It’s like history in a glass. And the scent of fresh apples in my nostrils inspires me to cook a cider, chicken and leek gratin."
No visit to Cornwall is complete without a sing-song! Tell us about the all-female sea shanty group you meet…
"The biggest sea shanty festival in Europe is held in Falmouth in June, but it does result in a rise in the number of late-middle-aged, slightly balding men a bit like myself, wandering the town! Thankfully, there’s one shanty group who bucks the overwhelmingly male trend and I meet the musical director of the 15-strong female group, Claire Ingleheart. For the group [Femmes de la Mer], it’s about celebrating the sea shanty tradition and heave-hauling it into the present day. They’re fabulous!"
