Devon farmer Rod Hall, who runs the organic soup company Rod and Ben’s from Bickham Farm in Kenn, near Exeter, can be seen digging up potatoes and picking herbs for a summer soup with Celebrity Masterchef finalist Dick Strawbridge and his son James when he appears on ITV’s Hungry Sailors this month.
Filmed back in June, the programme follows the famously moustachioed Dick and his son James as they start their journey in Cornwall and sail along the south coast to the City of London. Mooring in tiny harbours and busy ports, they drop in on local farmers, fishermen, foragers and food producers along the way and cook up local delicacies back on board an 1800s pilot cutter, the Amelie Rose.
’It was great filming with Dick as he’s full of fun,’ says Rod Hall (above right), who started Rod and Ben’s soups 11 years ago. ’He is passionate about local producers, so he was genuinely keen to find out what goes on down here at the farm. I also spent a memorable afternoon eating lunch on board the boat, which was moored at Turf Locks at the entrance to the River Ex. Dick clearly loves his food - and his gazpacho wasn’t bad, either!’
