Dave Myers' Egypt A Cook Abroad

-Six cooks...

-SHE LAUGHS

..six countries, six incredible journeys.

SHE WHOOPS

Argh!

Stepping outside their comfort zones...

It's not for the faint-hearted, for sure.

..our cooks will travel far and wide...

Route 7 all the way.

..to find some of the most exciting food on the planet.

If you're back in the UK

you've got tandoori chicken.

Nothing like this.

It's beautiful. This is the best food I've had in Egypt.

It's pure, it's got heritage. It's got love in it, you know.

They'll go off the beaten track...

Crocodile! Crocodile sausages!

..meeting extraordinary people...

..exploring ways of life unchanged for centuries.

No electric blenders in the jungle.

Have to do everything by hand.

Take your life into your own hands. We're on the road now.

As they travel, they'll see how the language of food

transcends cultural differences...

I've never huffed on a cheese before.

..and a world away from home.

This is why I love Australia.

-There's no excuse for a bad pie in Australia.

-No.

This is the beginning. Where do we end?

They'll learn lessons that could change the way we cook forever.

I've been cooking a barbecue wrongly all my life.

Wow!

This time, Hairy Biker Dave Myers

is travelling to one of the world's most ancient cultures.

The exciting truth is that Egyptian food is the oldest in the world.

And that's what I'm here to find.

Venturing up the Nile to discover where baking began...

I feel like I'm Indiana Jones and The Lost Loaf!

..he'll find hospitality he'll never forget...

I love Egypt!

..and go in search of the oldest recipes in the world.

I could sit there and eat the lot! THEY LAUGH

'I've travelled the world with my best mate, Si King.

'But he's not been well, the poor sausage.

'Although he's on the mend, he's not ready for a big trip like this.

'So, for the first time, I'm going away without him.'

-I'm going to miss you.

-I'm going to miss you and all.

-Because we always look out for each other, don't we?

-Well, yeah.

Look, just be safe, will you? That's the main thing.

'As a little treat, I'm cooking Si

'one of the Egyptian dishes he'll be missing.

'It's one of our favourites.'

-Coriander, salt, baking powder - bit of bounce.

-Oh, nice.

# It's beginning to look a bit like falafel... #

-What you doing?

-I'm making a list.

-What for?

-My presents.

-Oh, no.

-Oh, go on.

-For what?

Well, I've got a camel.

You give me the hump, you do.

-A drum.

-Yeah, right(!)

-How're they doing?

-They're falling apart, like they did last time.

I've got a pan of Bombay mix.

They've disintegrated. SI LAUGHS

How many times have we done this?

OK, so if nothing else comes out of this trip to Egypt,

I am going to learn how to make perfect falafel.

My trip will take me to the crossroads of Africa,

Asia and Europe.

I'm starting in Egypt's beating heart,

one of the world's greatest cities - Cairo.

I'm in Egypt! And do you know what? I love it.

I love the bustle, all those nooks and crannies and back streets.

Oh, look at that!

I love Middle Eastern food

and I've travelled pretty widely in this part of the world

but you can't claim to have the full picture until you come here.

For thousands of years, merchants travelling the Spice Route

have set out their stalls on Cairo's streets.

And this is where the classic flavours

of Middle Eastern cuisine first came together.

There's got to be some amazing food here

and yet somehow it hasn't made it,

you know, onto our culinary psyche.

Where would one go for an Egyptian?

In fact, can you name me one Egyptian dish?

I've been fascinated by tales of Ancient Egypt since I was a boy

'but that was all tombs and mummies.

'Now I want to get to know the food.'

As one of the greatest civilisations ever known,

Egypt's influence spread way beyond its shores.

So I'm hoping to track down not only some ancient recipes

but the origins of dishes we know and love back home.

Now, I've read if you want to find the best food in Cairo

you have to look on the street.

And to breakfast like an Egyptian, that means ful.

-Looks good. Is it ful?

-Ful.

-Ful.

Well, I've found the ful, you know. And it's like beans for breakfast.

But beans are an Egyptian staple, you know.

The average Egyptian's about 1,500 quid a year,

and beans are really important, you know.

They give you a bit of get up and go. That old proverb,

a million Egyptians every day pick up a plate of beans and say,

"Beans means ful."

Oh, he's got a salad.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Can I have some ful?

-Ful.

-Ful.

-Ful.

-Ful with tahini?

-With tahini, no.

DAVE LAUGHS I want the full ful experience.

Hot, yeah. Si. I mean gracias!

It's bonkers, I end up trying to speak Italian,

though I can't speak Italian,

on a food stall in Egypt when I come for my morning beans for breakfast.

It's brilliant. Olio, olio, calde.

Oh, I even got a sweetie! Have that for me pudding.

It certainly beats going down the caff at home, you know,

and having me beans on toast.

Ah, so that's me ful. Is that my bread?

Ah, smashing. Ah.

Proper Egyptian breakfast. Look at that bread.

Now, what's this taste like?

-Hm.

-Good.

-It's good. Very good, isn't it?

-Really good.

-Yeah.

It's great. It's spicy, it's tasty, it's beans that are soaked

and then they're boiled in the morning

with some spices and it's like a bean porridge.

Then I've got this salad.

I've got some lemon, I've got some very, very light pickles,

then I've got the aubergine.

Oh, that's hot.

This will give me terrible wind.

Beans are a cornerstone of Egyptian cuisine

but a must-have at breakfast, lunch and dinner is bread.

Grazie!

'I know a fair bit about baking bread

'but no-one knows more than the Egyptians.'

Their word for bread, aish, means life.

You can smell this bread all the way from the other side of Cairo!

-It's really good bread, isn't it?

-Yeah.

'Moustafa is a Cairo foodie and chef who wants to show me

'how important bread is to the people here.'

So, is this everyday Egyptian bread?

We eat, like, five loaves of that bread every day

-so it's our main staple diet.

-What's it called?

-It's called baladi bread.

-Baladi bread.

-Baladi means local.

-Look at that. Talk about freshly baked bread.

-Yes.

-It couldn't get any fresher, could it?

-Do you want to try a piece?

-I'd love some.

-Absolutely. Ashraf. Aish.

-Wow.

-Try it, smell the bread.

-Oh, it smells great.

It's made, actually, just yeast, flour, bran and water. That's it.

That's why it's not chewy, it's not gooey,

-have that nice smoked flavour.

-Nice bite to it, hasn't it?

'Baladi bread - it's very like our pitta bread, but thinner.

'After this, pitta is going to feel like chewing a flip-flop.'

How many loaves of bread a day would this bakery make?

Average of between 19,000 and to 20,000 loaves of bread a day.

-Wow.

-In 12 hours.

-But every loaf's the same size.

It's all the same size and that's the talent.

In Egypt, access to bread is almost a human right

and production is subsidised by the government.

The poor get their five loaves a day

for the equivalent of just two and a half pence.

So important is bread that in 2008, threats to the subsidy led to riots.

With chants of "bread, freedom and social justice",

revolutionaries eventually overthrew the government.

Even we have a saying, you can touch anything we have

but don't touch my bread because that's the thing I'll fight you for.

-It's the people's bread.

-Yes, it is.

See how he makes it look so simple and so easy.

So it's one, two, flip, flip.

You flip, you flip back and just use your hand to...

-Ah, he turns it over.

-Yeah.

To meet demand, these guys need to produce a loaf every two seconds.

Luckily, the thin loaves take only a couple of minutes to bake.

Moustafa tells me there are thousands

of these backstreet bakeries in Cairo.

And wherever you find a bakery,

you'll find a nearby stall selling fresh falafel.

But is it right that it's the oldest falafel in the world?

It's the same everywhere, like, everybody's claiming it's,

"We created this, we created that", but falafel or tamiya is Egyptian.

The word itself is derived from the word falafil.

It's three chapters, means full of beans, and that's what falafel is.

Now, to my mind, that means Egyptian fava bean falafel

must predate the chickpea falafel that we get at home.

The chickpeas is a bit dense.

The fava beans is more fluffier.

Get the nice crisp from the outside, really nice creamy from the inside.

-I must admit, I have problems with falafel.

-OK.

I've tried making it with the fava beans, you know,

with the dried broad beans.

I've tried with chickpeas. My falafel fall to bits.

The problem is if you boil the beans actually you make it fall apart.

You don't boil? That's where we go... I've been boiling my beans.

No. You just soak them for in warm water

for a couple of hours, warm water.

If you use cold water you soak it overnight.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-So gives you the nice creamy

-and nice texture like you will taste in here.

-Fantastic.

It is a world of beans, Egypt, isn't it?

-It is, just like...it's really...

-Wow.

That's how it look like, it's like nice balls.

-They're beautiful, aren't they?

-Yeah. It is really nice.

-You want to try it?

-Yeah.

What's good about it is you can get all the nutrition,

you get salad, you get the tahini, which is a sesame seed paste.

You get all those nice greens and with the beans, the proteins.

-And the baladi bread.

-Yeah, the people's bread, country bread.

Yeah, of course. Do you want to try?

That's delicious, isn't it?

The texture's incredible because they're crispy on the outside,

-in the middle they're soft but you can taste the herbs.

-Yep.

There's all the flavour. This is superb.

-I want to try one just by itself.

-Thank you.

The crunch. I just love it.

Oh, that's the best falafel I've ever had.

-Oh, just like yours, right?

-No, mate. No, no, no!

No, but I tell you what - now I have something to aim for.

I'm beginning to see how simple food like this, and bread in particular,

has shaped Egyptian culture.

And that seems to have been the case for thousands of years.

If I am to understand the cuisine here

and see how its influence has spread across the world,

I need to travel back in time.

In Egypt, that's easily done.

I'm leaving downtown Cairo and heading to the Land of the Pharaohs.

-Hello. Can I have one for the big one?

-One?

Is it just one pyramid or do you see the three?

This ticket, just all of them.

-Everything? Oh, brilliant. Yeah, one, please.

-Eight pound.

-Thank you.

'Eight quid for one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

'Oh, that's a bargain!'

Shukran. Thank you.

Today is the first day of Eid al-Adha,

the four-day Feast Of the Sacrifice,

and Cairo's crowds have popped out to stretch their legs.

But for me, seeing the pyramids is the fulfilment of a boyhood dream.

They're absolutely breathtaking.

When this was built, you know, 4,500 years ago,

we were just starting to balance, you know, Stonehenge.

One big lump on two lumps.

And look at it. It makes me heart flutter a bit.

You know like when you stand on top of a tall building and look down?

It's that kind of feeling.

And yet when you see something that's so familiar but it's bigger,

it's more impressive, it's...

It's more awe-inspiring than any cathedral I've ever seen.

But, you know, it's taken me 57 years to get to this point

and it was well worth the wait.

I'd always thought the pyramids were built by slaves, but in fact,

they were built by paid labourers.

Their take-home pay wasn't in cash.

They were paid in bread and beer.

So you could say that this lot were built on the back of the humble loaf!

It's great to see so many people here soaking up the culture

but the crowds are mad. It's time to escape.

Well, this trip just keeps getting better and better.

I finally get a bike at last.

It's going to be chaos.

I've even got a little camera so you can watch with us.

Hey! I love Egypt!

'Egyptian roads aren't for the faint-hearted.

'There seem to be no rules.'

Overtaken by a lad on a pink scooter!

On a plateau above the drifting desert sands is Saqqara,

home to the world's oldest pyramids.

In the surrounding dunes,

they've found thousands of tombs and I can't wait to see inside one.

'Incredibly, I've got the place to myself.'

Oh!

'This is the tomb of Ti.

'Apart from being the royal hairdresser,

'he was in charge of the pharaoh's fields.'

His tomb is engraved with images of farming

from 4,500 years ago.

Look, this one's interesting.

This is like the story of baking, isn't it?

You've got pictures here of people

and they're kind of grinding the wheat.

And there, judging by their elbows, they appear to be kneading the dough.

They were so clever, the Egyptians.

Those conical pots up there, they're like the proving baskets

we have today to put the bread in.

But they do bake them in them as well as proving.

As you go down, you can see, there,

they're shielding their faces because the heat from the fire

and they're cooking them in the pots.

Gosh! Look here, the scribes, they're recording everything.

Could it be...it's almost like

they're writing the first ever cookbook.

You know, this is a step-by-step guide

on how to make a 4,500-year-old loaf.

So that, to my mind, makes it the world's oldest recipe.

It's fascinating.

Thank you very much, sir. Thank you.

Egypt's farming history stretches back millennia

as people settled all along the banks of the Nile.

70 miles south of Cairo is the oasis of Fayoum.

I'm told it's the garden of Egypt

so there should be some great produce to be found there.

Egyptian history is as rich as it is long.

When our forefathers gave up life as hunter-gatherers and started farming,

one of the first places cultivated was the Nile Valley.

10,000 years ago,

'rich soil deposited by the river attracted the first settlers.'

Today, an incredible 95% of Egyptians live along the river

and that makes it more than just a tad crowded.

THEY CLAP

To spread the river's life-giving waters further afield,

Ancient Egyptians became masters of irrigation

and as a result were able to produce a huge range of crops.

Now, I've read about a plant that's indigenous to Egypt

and has almost mythical health-giving properties.

It's called molokhia and it's what's brought me here today.

Hello, Ruby! I'm Dave.

It's good to meet you. Hey.

'Ruby is a fellahin, or tenant farmer on a property

'which has guesthouses, and I'm told he grows molokhia.'

Right, after you, sir!

'Thanks to irrigation, Ruby is also able to grow sweetcorn, lemons,

'bananas and oranges,

'all of which will soon be ready to harvest.'

Wow!

Not ripe yet. They're lovely, though.

RUBY LAUGHS

DAVE LAUGHS

'Around the edges of the fields are olive trees.'

Look at those!

Never done this before, you know, olives from a tree.

Hmm. Mmm!

It's not like I thought, look.

Tastes slightly spicy, it's there,

but it's very different to what we get in a jar at home.

I mean, obviously the oil's there, it's heaving with oil.

It's so fertile here, isn't it?

It is like the garden of plenty.

Is he going to climb the tree?

I'm not going up, have you seen the spikes on the palm?

He's not going up there. He IS going up there.

Blooming heck,

he's shinned up that tree, he's in his 60s.

He's just disturbed a hive of bees.

Here we go. Crikey.

I've only ever really seen dates, we take it for granted, in that

cellophane wrapper at Christmas.

Here we go.

This is my first fresh date straight from the tree,

couldn't be any better... It's sticky, it's unctuous.

Oh, it's like Marsala wine, Madeira,

it's all my Christmases rolled into one.

That was brilliant, Ruby.

Oh.

'There seems to be a division of labour on the farm.

'Ruby tends to the fields, while the house and animals

'are looked after by his wife, Nadia.'

Hey?

Oh, right.

Just up there. Oh, it's heavy.

Oh, right, sorry.

Good?

Hey, thank you! I think she said I'm a man.

All the girls are out having a laugh.

What's the bag made from?

Goat skin, do you just fill this up every day with some milk?

And then, how long do you leave the whole thing for?

So you leave it for three days, and shake it.

Smells cheesy.

Humph it?

What, like the bagpipes?

HE BLOWS

No...yeah? Oh.

Good?

Do you know, I've never huffed on a cheese before.

I'm wearing it, my beard's soaked in cheese,

my glasses, I can't see,

you're covered in it and all, do you want...?

I tell you what, it isn't like this with Delia Smith, is it?

See that's, that's professional huffing for you, look.

DAVE MAKES RHYTHMIC SOUNDS

Big fish, little fish, cardboard box.

'Having made a doubtful contribution to the cheese making,

'I'm off to gather the ingredients

'for the mythical unpronounceable soup.'

Is it makle? Makama? Ma...

Molok-hee.

Molok-hee, sounds Scottish.

Tastes nice, it's quite bland.

It's a bit like privet!

'Of course, being Egypt, the soup has to be served with bread.

'The loaves made in homes like Ruby's are flat breads but

'nothing like the baladi bread I ate in Cairo.

'These are massive

'and ingeniously, they don't need a rolling pin.'

Because one young lady, she takes the ball of dough,

it's very, very loose dough, it's very slack dough,

which, as we all know, that's going to be really good bread.

That's how you start off, the dough goes on.

This lady takes it so far, you keep the circle with a twist,

all without kneading, all without rolling, and it's perfectly circular.

There's a wonderful rhythm to it

because when one piece of dough is ready for the oven

the bread's ready to come out, and it's magic.

It's just the art of flour,

water, air and a bit of salt.

Doesn't that look handsome bread? Can I have a go?

Ah, brilliant, right.

Can I...

So, the technique is...

THE WOMEN LAUGH

'Oh, this bread! It's like trying to knit a jellyfish

'but luckily the molokhia is easier to handle.'

Ah, this is what's known as the pick through.

HE WHISTLES

You know, this reminds me of when I was kid and I'd sit there

shelling peas with my mother, and she used to make me whistle

because if I stopped whistling she knew I was eating the peas.

'I'd love to help chop the leaves and garlic

'but I've got a more important job.'

BABY CRIES

He's one month old. Some ways, I have the future of Egypt in my hands.

I'll tell you what, son, you're going to grow up

with some good bread, aren't you?

'Once the leaves are chopped, a stock is prepared.'

So, it's salt, chicken stock and cumin.

It's just a nice basic broth.

And there it goes in.

'The molokhia only needs to cook for about five minutes.'

What's that?

-Samna.

-Zem-na? Zem-na!

Oh, it's buffalo ghee!

'A generous dollop of crushed garlic is quickly fried.'

Ah, that smells good. Like everything you see in this dish,

it's all from within the radius of the farm.

So, the garlic's browned.

Whoar!

SIZZLING

There you are, you see.

In true Delia style, she's deglazing the pan

with a little of the stock

so you waste none of the goodness at the bottom of the pan. Finis?

Hey.

'In traditional Egyptian households, the men

'and children eat before the women.'

This bread's absolutely stunning.

It's got texture, we saw it baked ten minutes ago.

The soup's wonderful, it reminds me of wild garlic soup.

Very nourishing, very good for you,

and very tasty, very pure tasting food.

And I think that's the thing about Egyptian cuisine, I think

that's its triumph.

It's not complicated,

so the ingredients, the quality and the care in preparation is massive,

and you can taste it.

It's simple food and simplest is best

and simple works because the ingredients

are absolutely superb.

It's pure, it's got heritage, it's got love in it, you know.

'Ruby's family's hospitality is boundless, but there's

'so much more for me to discover.'

Bye, Ruby! Thank you.

'And I've still got half the country to explore.'

Bye.

Bye!

From Fayoum, I'm heading 300 miles south to Luxor in search

of some classic Egyptian dishes and the world's earliest bread.

Once the capital of Ancient Egypt, Luxor is

one of the hottest, driest cities on earth.

Welcome to Alaska!

Thanks to the river, it's amazing what they can grow

but I mustn't be waylaid by the produce.

I'm crossing to the West Bank.

Most people come here for the archaeology, but

I'm hoping to find living history,

proof of an ancient food revolution that changed the world.

This place used to be a popular stop for day-trippers.

But these days, tourists are thin on the ground.

Oh, crikey, it's, oh...

'Luckily I'm here.'

And Egyptian cotton?

-Can I pick a colour?

-Yes, nice colour.

Can I have blue? Can I have blue?

'Oh, it's well over 40 degrees.

'I need to cover my head before the sun boils my brain.'

That's better.

Nice?

I think so, I feel the spirit of TE Lawrence

is upon me - Myers of Arabia.

Shukran, thank you.

Now, I've suddenly remembered I'm halfway through the trip

and I haven't looked at Kingy's list for pressies.

Have you seen this? Camel, rug, mummy (large).

Oh. I'll pick up a few bits here and that'll do him.

This one, nice.

Obelisk, obelisk. Handmade.

No broken, no broke.

I think he'd love that. You see that bobby-dazzler?

It's not on his list.

How much?

200? 100.

120.

120.

150.

A bargain. He's going to love that.

I think I'd better have a dark bag for that one!

I don't know how I'll get it home in one piece.

Do I have to buy the three?

-Yeah.

-How much for three?

Oh, go on, then.

'Well, these blokes can spot a sucker when they see one.'

No. I don't want them. No, no.

No, I've got plenty.

No, no, I've got one. I've got a scarab.

-Not the same, not same.

-No, I've...

You don't see my shop.

No, I'm fine, it's lovely.

'For 30 quid I've got an armful of tat,

'so I'm getting out while I can.'

To find the origins of our daily bread, I don't have to look far.

The temples were built in the desert

but the land nearby has always been farmed.

Mahmoud? It's Dave.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too! Nice to meet you too.

Thank you.

'I've arranged to meet Mahmoud, whose family have farmed

'here for generations.

'Today, they're starting their weekly bake.

'So far, I've only eaten flatbread, but this is different.

'It's called shamsi bread and it

'changed the eating habits of the planet.

'Without this ancient recipe we wouldn't have sandwiches

'or even toast.'

All I really know about shamsi bread is it is the first known

leavened bread in the world.

So, if we're talking of ground zeros,

this is it for the loaf as we know it, Jim.

What's in there, Mahmoud?

So there's no yeast, there's no, nothing to leaven the bread yet.

Ah, here comes the yeast.

What is that yeast?

That's what we call a sour dough bread, which is the oldest,

the best way of making bread in the world.

'The word "shamsi" means sun

'and this is still the only bread in Egypt that's left to rise.

'There's no record of how the Ancient Egyptians first came up with

'the idea of using yeast to leaven bread.

'It's my guess that it was a happy accident.

'With the sun this hot,

'the yeast wouldn't have needed long to work its magic.'

How long do you leave it to sit in the sun for?

Aha, I think where I live, Mahmoud, it'd take about two days!

Would you ever buy bread?

I have to make the bread in my house.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

Mahmoud, why is she cutting the bread and pinching it?

Decoration?

A-ha, a-ha.

'While the bread rises, a fire is lit beneath the clay oven.'

What she's doing now is she's got the rag dipped in water to

clean the oven out with it, she can also tell if the oven's hot

because obviously it's sizzling,

but I think, like most baking,

you get some steam in the oven, you get a better bread,

so it's like a threefold thing.

Right, it's in the oven, 20 minutes,

this is where the magic starts.

'And we don't have to wait long before a wonderful

'smell wafts our way.'

Oh!

You would like to try a little bit?

Oh, gosh, yes.

CRUNCHING

That's absolutely wonderful bread,

the crust on it, from the wood-fired oven,

the inside, it's soft, it's got texture, it's got spring,

it's got life because of that yeast.

It also has a wonderful taste, it's flavoursome bread.

Do you know what I've learnt from this,

that I find absolutely awe-inspiring,

is that not so very far from this very spot, it was where mankind first

started to leaven bread - that is to use yeast to make bread.

Before they started in this place,

everybody in the world ate flatbread.

This really is like finding the Holy Grail, you know,

I feel like I'm Indiana Jones and the Lost Loaf.

It really is a privilege, Mahmoud, to be here with you and your family.

I've got huge respect for you all.

And, by crikey, your bread is amazing.

Thank you.

But can I have a loaf to take with me?

-Yeah, of course.

-Yes!

'Mahmoud's village overlooks the enormous Temple of Ramesses III.'

Hello! Shamsi bread!

THEY CHUCKLE

'Rameses ruled Egypt 1,200 years before the birth of Christ

'and shamsi bread would have been a staple of his household.'

If you imagine like the Victorians when they came here, thinking

they were so clever with their Empire, they must have

thought this was built by people from another planet.

'We know so much about the Ancient Egyptians

'because their civilisation lasted for over 3,000 years

'and they left behind an incredibly detailed record of their lives.'

'I'm going to a small tomb built not for royalty but for a scribe.

'The guide book says it's one of

'the most beautifully decorated ever discovered.'

Oh, wow, Mahmoud, these colours are incredible, aren't they?

How have they stayed like this over the years?

How old is this tomb?

Crikey, so, we're over 3,000 years ago, cos this is extraordinary.

All of this is about food.

This is also a record of what life was like for ordinary people.

Yeah.

What's this scene?

So food had a part with the dead as well as the living.

-You need to feed the spirit.

-Yes.

Yes. It's the same, it's like shamsi bread. That's fantastic, I mean,

we're seeing, when we made the shamsi bread the ladies were doing exactly

the same cuts to make the same shape for my loaf that I have with me.

The lady didn't know why they did it but they certainly did it

3,500 years ago

and it's such a rich heritage that the Egyptians have.

You know, it really is a window on the past.

It's been great to have a glimpse through it as well.

'Tombs here show how important food was to the Ancient Egyptians,

'in death as in life.

'On special occasions,

'families here still take food to the graves of their loved ones.'

On my journey so far, I've eaten street food or food with families.

But there's a restaurant in Luxor that has a speciality I've been

told that I shouldn't miss.

-Ayman? It's Dave.

-Dave.

-Hello!

-Nice to see you.

-Oh, it's great to meet you.

-Pleasure.

'To try this speciality, I've got to earn my keep.'

Ah, this is great, Ayman.

Back in a kitchen cooking with a mate.

Egyptians love their pigeons, don't they?

Why on Thursday?

Is pigeon an aphrodisiac?

-Gets you going?

-Yes.

'Ooh la la!

'To turn these birds into natural Viagra

'they need stuffing with red onion,

'finely chopped coriander,

'and chopped garlic.'

So, what's your favourite Egyptian dish?

How many children do you have?

Night off!

'The flavours are sauteed to bring out the sweetness,

'then it just needs seasoning.'

Yes, chef.

'Rice and cracked wheat or freekeh are separately simmered in stock.

'Once cooked, it's all mixed together ready for stuffing.'

Open wide, patient.

'The stuffed pigeons are poached for ten minutes.

'Then seared over a high heat.'

They look nice and plump, don't they? This is effectively equivalent

of putting your dinner on a sun bed, you know, a little more flavour

and makes it look better,

and everybody looks better with a tan - moi?

'Once crispy, they're ready to serve.'

This is a pharaoh's feast, isn't it?

'Even in one of Luxor's poshest restaurants,

'the food is unpretentious.

'In a country as fertile as this,

'the ingredients speak for themselves.'

Look at that stuffing!

The freekeh's huge now.

That's delicious.

This is really good.

The freekeh's lovely.

It's really quite nutty, it's got some bite to it,

but it's not crunchy. I've cooked freekeh at home before

and found it, maybe it's the way I've done it, it's been a little

too kind of crunchy.

But this isn't, it's got the texture of brown rice

but has loads and loads of flavour and I suspect part of that is

because it's cooked in the pigeon stock.

The pigeon flesh, it's really, really juicy, it's lovely.

'I couldn't possibly reveal

'if stuffed pigeon works as an aphrodisiac but I can tell you

'that in the morning I had a certain spring in my step!'

MUSIC: Good Times by Chic

# Good times

# These are the good times... #

There comes a time in every man's life

when he's got to smarten up a bit, and this for me is it.

'Heading south towards Aswan,

'I'm finally getting to travel on the river.

'This historic vessel is the Steam Ship Sudan. It's the last

'word in vintage style, so one feels duty bound

'to dust off one's coolest suit.'

# Good times

# These are the good times

# Our new state of mind... #

When the British first came on holiday

to Egypt in the late 1800s

they travelled up the Nile on steamships like this.

Fortunately, not much has changed.

Oh, yes! I'm glad I dressed up now.

Oh, ding dong!

Beautiful, it's beautiful, oh, shukran.

You're welcome, sir! You're welcome.

Thank you. Shukran.

The first tours of Egypt were organised by Thomas Cook

and the paddle steamer Sudan

is the last survivor of the company's early vessels.

Some tea. Merci.

Agatha Christie travelled on this very boat in the 1930s.

She was so inspired by the whole experience,

she wrote Death On The Nile.

The clientele are mainly French these days,

so there's a high-end kitchen where I hear

they make Egypt's most popular dessert, Uum Ali.

Good morning, chef!

Good morning.

Hey, good morning! It's lovely to meet you.

So, what do you have there, is that a puff pastry? A mille feuille?

-This is coconut.

-Yeah.

-Some, some golden sultanas.

-Yeah.

-So that's some roasted hazelnuts.

-Yes.

This is building up really nicely.

-And a tiny, tiny amount of cinnamon.

-Small.

Small, yeah, you don't want too much cinnamon.

-Now some hot milk.

-Hot milk.

Ooh, when the hot milk hits the pudding, you can smell

the cinnamon, the toasted coconut,

the roasted almonds, it's going to be good.

Did you used to eat this dish when you were a child?

Do you think your Uum Ali is better than your mother's?

What's this, chef?

-It's just cream Chantilly.

-Chantilly cream.

I mean, the wonderful thing about this dessert,

I mean, Uum Ali, it sounds so Egyptian,

but Uum Ali - it's O'Malley, as in the Irish. There's an Irish lady,

a Mrs O'Malley, and she was the lover of the Khedive

and she made this dessert for him and his children and it spread through

Egypt like a plague of locusts and the Egyptians love it to this day.

Do you know, this is like the most delicate, refined

bread and butter pudding I've ever seen.

'The Uum Ali takes just 15 minutes to bake and smells amazing.'

Oh.

-Oh, it's smelling good, and it's looking good.

-Yeah.

The coconut's been toasted, and those wonderful hazelnuts, and you've

got the milk instead of the custard so it's lighter, it's got the most

wonderful Chantilly topping for sweetness, it's absolutely lovely.

Do you know, I'm going to cook this for Kingy when I get home.

This is a keeper.

Ah, shukran, chef, thank you.

The last stop on my journey is as far south as the boat can take me.

The city of Aswan sits at the top of Lake Nasser and is an ancient staging

post for trade between Egypt and the rest of Africa.

You know, the further south I get, the more timeless

and remote, you know, Egypt seems.

You get away from the hustle and bustle of the cities in the north

and you can practically taste the history, you can feel it the air.

In 1902, the British dammed the Nile.

The rising waters flooded local villages,

displacing a people who'd been living beside the river

for thousands of years.

This ancient civilisation, the Nubians,

were forced to resettle, many of them around Aswan.

It's the last day of Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice.

And a chance for me to try an ancient Nubian dish that has

become a favourite across the entire Arab world.

'I've been invited by the ferrymen, Bassem and his uncle, Ezzat, to join their family celebrations.'

-Oh... Bassem, it's beautiful, a beautiful home you have.

-Welcome.

So, do the whole family live here?

Ah, so you're in the desert,

-you're sleeping under the stars with the people you love.

-Yeah.

Hey, hello.

THEY LAUGH

'I've heard that Nubians go to great lengths to

'guard their ancient traditions

'and that includes their food.'

So, what's on the menu today?

'Unfortunately, both meals are still on the hoof.'

That's lunch. You see, it's a sheep and it's being slaughtered

but, you know, if you're going to eat it, you have to face up to it,

it was a living thing.

'All over world, millions of Muslim households are sacrificing

'their best animal to mark this feast.

'Mercifully for the sheep, and for me, here it's a quick

'and efficient process.'

Oh, children put their hand prints.

'A whole sheep is a lot of meat.

'But nothing will get wasted.'

So that's proper social care, isn't it?

-It's care for your neighbours.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Hey, the liver.

And that's breakfast.

Aha, the heart. Yep.

'The offal is still warm. I've never eaten liver this fresh.'

Breakfast! Hello, I'm Dave.

-Moushira.

-Pleased to meet you, Moushira.

Me too.

Chef, what should I do?

-Cut.

-Uh-huh. Just, how?

-Yes, like this.

-Yeah?

Right, so the liver...

..the heart, again chopped?

Yeah.

The heart's good meat.

I mean, you need to core it properly, and that's the testicles,

they go in as well.

Tough old nuts. SHE LAUGHS

Sheep's nuts are all right.

It's a lot of good meat, it's lean.

I mean, that, if you didn't know, you'd think was a chicken breast,

it's really good meat.

Do you think I have the potential to make a Nubian chef?

Got the spicing going in and it's that Middle Eastern trinity

of coriander, cumin and salt.

It's really pure, simple cooking but it's really, really fresh,

couldn't get much fresher meat.

It's going to be really nice, you know.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hello.

So, this is the main event, this is the fatta.

It is mutton, it's not lamb, it's grown on a bit, and it's very fresh.

What is the spice, is that cumin?

Flavour's going to build up lovely.

CHILDREN LAUGH AND SHOUT

'True to form, there will, of course, be fresh bread.

'The Nubians have a recipe so ancient,

'it predates the invention of the oven,

'it's traditionally made on a hot plate.'

What's the bread made from?

Yes.

Oh, dried okra, we call it okra.

Ah, it's interesting

because it's the first bread I've had in Egypt that's a corn bread.

-Could I taste a little bit?

-Yeah. Yeah.

Hm, that's good, isn't it?

-You like it, really?

-Yeah.

Yeah, I could sit there and eat the lot.

Yeah.

Good, good?

-It's really good.

-Thank you.

Yeah.

'Breakfast is just the start of the feast, but what a way to begin!

'The fresh liver is served with side dishes of ful, falafel and pickles.'

Come in, yeah.

Hello.

Come on, chef.

It's beautiful,

this is the best food I've had in Egypt. I'm sorry, the rest of Egypt.

The liver with the rest of the offal, it's so soft,

spicy and flavoursome.

The bread's great, and you get chips with your breakfast.

Ha, it's so wrong, but it's so right.

Do you think I'm too old to be adopted?

'And between courses, there's time for a smoke.'

HE GIGGLES

They do this seven times, it takes away the evil eye.

LAUGHTER

Nubian chimney!

'After an hour of fairly vigorous boiling and bubbling,

'the mutton is done.

'Fatta isn't just mutton, though.

'It's a clever dish assembled from a number of elements,

'each with a distinctive flavour.'

Ah, this looks good. This is a proper feast, isn't it?

Hm.

That's so good, it's a wonderful dish,

the thing is the mutton is just falling off the bones.

It's really, really tender

but I love the textures of it.

You know, you've got the bread which was crispy,

soaked in that wonderful stock,

remember the spices in the stock, then you get the rice,

half of it's fried, half isn't.

Then you've got the tomato sauce, with loads and loads of onions

and garlic,

and then, of course, you've got the mutton on the top.

The lovely thing is,

you share it together, it's a festival dish.

'Of course, at any party, after the feasting, there's entertainment.'

SINGING AND DRUMMING

'And, on occasions like this,

'the village band goes from house to house.'

'Time to bust out my Strictly moves.'

It's been an amazing week... I'll sit this one out.

I went looking for the pure Egyptian food,

and in a way I found that in Cairo,

but as I got south it got better and better.

I feel I've discovered a cuisine that should be appreciated

more than it is.

Not only do Egyptians know the secret of the perfect falafel,

it turns out they're responsible

for inventing our daily bread, and the Nubians

can take credit for a dish that's a favourite across the Arab world.

In Egypt, the ingredients are king, or rather, pharaoh.

The food may be simple

but it's good enough to have kept the people going

for thousands of years.

It's a culture, a religion of beauty and grace,

that's what I found by the bucketful in Egypt.

I've also learnt

that I can dance and enjoy myself without being full of beer.

I have to go now, I have to go now.

'Unfortunately I've got a plane to catch and I'm a five-hour

'drive from the airport.'

'Crikey, when I ordered a taxi this wasn't quite what I had in mind.'

Bye-bye!

Shukran.

MUSIC: Theme to Lawrence Of Arabia

Next time, Scottish chef Tony Singh

goes in search of the authentic flavours of India.

I'm starving and I want to find out what

we have for breakfast in Punjab.

And uncovers his family roots

on a journey that never stops surprising.

Been asked in for tea.