Lagoons, Nougat and Dumplings All Over the Place

Today we've got the top ingredients for a tasty trip around Europe

with Ed and his CBBC mates, or as he calls them...

The Prize Dumplings!

-Chris gets carried away with the cream.

-Something like that.

Ben struggles with a sticky spoon.

Johny turns into a mixing bowl.

This is simple stuff!

Just add a dibblish dash of Victoria...

SHE CACKLES

..a pinch of Michelle and a good dollop of Hacker and Dodge.

-Oh!

-Some badness dropped out of me.

# All over the place, all over the place

# North, south, east, west, on a bizarre quest

# Me and my mates all over the place

# It's true what you heard, everything is absurd

# Whatever we do is strange but true

# All over the place, all over the place

# Stuff to do in Europe that is totally ace

# And it turns up all over the place. #

Oh, hello, I'm Nina Petrie.

And I'm Nina Johnson.

BOTH: Let's go geothermal engineering!

-Today, I'm visiting...

-WE'RE visiting.

..Svarsengi Power Station,

one of Iceland's most impressive pieces of geothermal engineering.

Your rosy cheeks will turn even redder with excitement

when I tell you how a geothermal power station actually works.

It's generates electricity using hot water

that's created under the ground.

All right, Petrie, that was my line. MINE!

It also created one of Iceland's most popular tourist attractions.

The Blue Lagoon!

That was also my line. Hee-hee!

SIRENS BLARE

I hear a beat. I see a flash.

I wonder what they're going to ask?

I think that's the Icelandic police coming to arrest you two

for crimes against impressions!

You can always hide in the naturally heated warm water

and cover yourselves in the gloopy white mud.

That's what locals did when they first bathed here

and found that the mud had great effects of their skin.

Yep, this is basically a giant hot bath where you use mud

instead of soap.

Now people come from all over the world to visit for a soak

and a mud bath.

Time to take a dip, boys.

Ooh, this really is like getting in the bath.

It is, isn't it?

I feel like I'm on an alien planet,

especially when I turn round and see you next to me.

-Va-va-va-va-va!

-Stop doing that. Shall we go and explore?

-Show me to your leader.

-Stop it!

-All right, sorry.

Over 600,000 people visit this place every year to bathe in the water.

That's around twice the population of Iceland itself, and, remember,

this water is toasty.

For that, you've got to thank plates.

Not dinner place, but tectonic plates,

the massive slabs of rock that make up the Earth's crust,

like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

Did you get all that, Chris?

So why is the water naturally hot again?

It's because Iceland sits on two tectonic plates,

so the red-hot magma under the Earth is closer to the surface

and it warms the water as it comes up.

-So it's like a giant water heater?

-Yeah, kind of.

Doesn't explain why it's blue, though.

If only we had two extremely professional

and knowledgeable scientists to tell us.

Today's question was why is the water in the Blue Lagoon blue?

And the answer is - it isn't!

-Yes, it is, Nina Johnson. I can see it.

-No, Nina Petrie.

The waters in the Blue Lagoon are actually made up of three

active ingredients.

Those ingredients are silica, algae and minerals.

The blue colour comes from the silica...

See, I told you it was blue.

..and the way it reflects the sunlight.

The waters of the Blue Lagoon are actually white. See.

The silica just makes it APPEAR blue and that silica is also used

to form the mud that is used as a beauty product here.

Let's demonstrate.

Ooh, thanks for that, Nina Johnson(!)

Plenty more where that came from.

You don't think is just some big brilliant prank by the people

of Iceland to get everyone to cover themselves in mud

-and wander about a bit, do you?

-I hope not, cos it feels great.

Our skin is going to look amazing after this.

Yeah, it's going to be glowing like the midnight summer sun in Iceland

-when the sun hardly sets.

-Something like that.

Actually, you might need more before that happens.

Gah! Eurgh!

So where do you FANG-zy going on our summer holidays, lads?

Give over. I'm almost as bored of that joke

as I am of going to Transylvania ever year.

I quite liked it.

What? Last year we got dug up by an angry mob of peasants every morning.

No, the joke - where do you FANG-zy going? Heh-heh. Good one.

Fangs!

Look, we can go somewhere different this year.

-We could see the Northern Lights!

-Blackpool? No, no, no!

All them candyflosses are bad for your teeths.

No, no, no, the Northern Lights.

It's a beautiful natural phenomenon occurring in the skies over Iceland.

Iceland? It's got 24-hour sunlight.

The sun never sets. We're vampires!

FARTS

Yeah, I can almost smell my fur burning already.

No, sorry, Dodge, that was me.

-Oh!

-Some badness dropped out of me.

No, we'll go in the winter, when it's dark all the time.

No, I can't wait till winter for the holidays.

Yeah, we want to go now, we want to go now.

-Antarctica?

-Ah, the ant capital city.

No, I don't like ants. They get right in your pants.

I don't wear any pants.

It's got nothing to do with ants. It's in the South Pole and get this.

It's dark for weeks on end in the winter, which is

the same as summer here in the UK.

It's nearly twice the size of Australia,

consisting of almost 14 million square kilometres of ice.

BORING!

And what are we going to eat, a killer whale?

He's more likely to eat us.

Eurgh, I taste rank!

China. It's got 3.3 billion people, largest population in the world,

-so there's loads to sink your teeth into, so to speak.

-Very good.

It's also the biggest producer of garlic in the world.

You're mad, you are. Mad, I tells ye!

-No, thanks. I'm off down the bins.

-No, no, hang on, hang on.

-Florida?

-The Sunshine State? Good thinking, bat brain.

Fine. We'll just stay here and watch horror films then.

Grow Your Own Garlic 5?

Followed by Sun Blazing Sunbathing?

And, for vegetarians only - Revenge of the Aubergine.

Oh, yes, it sounds great. I'm TERRIER-fied. Do you get it?

FARTS

-I can almost smell the fear.

-No, no, that's me again, Dodge.

-Oh!

-More dirt dropped out of me.

-Disgusting!

Oh, Ben, I just love bees. Coolest insect ever.

Yeah, Ed, no-one catches bees in a net

and no-one should be catching bees at all

unless they're a qualified apiculturist.

Apiculturist? No-one's sticking needles in my bum!

Come here, bees. Buzz-buzz-buzz!

Yeah, that's an acupuncturist.

I'm talking about an apiculturist.

A beekeeper, just in a posh way.

Yeah, whatever.

The reason I'm trying to catch these French bees, right,

is I've heard that they taste of nougat. Nom-nom-nom!

Er, no, the nougat tastes of the bees or, more accurately,

of the honey they make.

Can you stop doing that?

You know that bees will sting you if you irritate them.

It's a good job I'm not irritating, then.

Yeah, not at all, Ed(!)

Montelimar nougat has been famous here for over 300 years

and was the main reason travellers made a BEE-line to visit the town.

It's like bringing back a stick of rock from your holidays in Blackpool.

Now they have 12 factories producing the sweet stuff.

It really is nougatville!

Well, I haven't managed to find any bees yet,

but we have found a man and a cauldron with some sweets.

-TRANSLATION:

-Hello.

What are these yummy sweets?

-TRANSLATION:

-Well, this is the famous Montelimar nougat.

It's the world capital of nougat.

And what's the special ingredient?

Every sweet's got a secret ingredient. What's this one?

-TRANSLATION:

-Well, there is natural sugar,

lavender honey from local bees and...

-Did you say bees? Do you keep bees here?

-Oh, no!

What's that buzzing noise then? There's definitely bees in here.

OK, I'm going to find the bees. You find out about the nougat.

Come on, bees. Buzz-buzz-buzz!

Europe's tastiest food.

France's toughest critic.

He's better than you.

It's Rene Mangetout.

Only one of you will be crowed nougat MasterChef.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

-Do you speak French?

-Of course I speak French!

Get to work!

Oh, it's great. It's a bit like shaving foam.

Something I have a lot of experience with -

mainly through pies to the face.

C'est tres bien.

Oui.

Oui.

OK.

Here comes the pistachios.

Ben must now spread the sticky nougat mixture and allow to cool.

Very tense.

Oh, look at that.

The first batch of my notoriously nutty nougat is ready.

Rene must now decide who will be crowned nougat MasterChef.

Ou est le nougat?

TENSE MUSIC

Ben Shires...

..your nougat is officially awful!

HE RETCHES

Mr nougat man...

..I do not like it...

..I LOVE IT!

MUSIC: La Marseillaise

Tres bon bon bon!

Tres bon bon bon!

And zat, in case you did not know,

is French for "very good sweets".

Hmm, au revoir.

# Lately, Michelle, I've been losing sleep

# Dreaming about the cars that we could see

# Luckily, we are in Stuttgart

# If there's one thing it's got

# It's plenty of cars

# This is the home of Mercedes Benz

# Interesting fact, tell your friends

# Karl Benz invented the first ever car

# Only had three wheels, did it get very far?

# It's old, 1886, only car on the road when it showed off its tricks

# First ever trip was a bit of a joke, four laps of the tracks

# Stalled twice then broke

# I-I-I-I-I-I just want to take these cars on the autobahn

# You can drive as fast as you like

# On ones with no speed limit, so no cause for alarm

# Everything I see just makes me want to drive

# Germany, home of the motor car

# Mercedes Benz and Porsche here in Stuttgart

# Volkswagen, Audi, BMW

# If you're into vehicles, it's the place, it's the place for you

# At Motor World, more cars to see

# Half a million visitors annually

# Built on the site of an old airport

# Now home to all forms of transport

# Boxes, just to clear, classic cars are displayed in here?

# Yeah, inside measured to precision for the best climactic conditions

# I-I-I-I-I-I just want to take these cars out on the road

# But they're all safely locked up

# Only the owners have the secret code

# Everything I see just makes me want to drive

# Germany, home of the motor car

# Mercedes Benz and Porsche here in Stuttgart

# Volkswagen, Audi, BMW

# If you're into vehicles, it's the place, it's the place for you

# And I'll tell you what, Michelle, they've even got a car hotel

# It's a vehicle-lover's dream

# Some of the bedrooms are themed

# The beds are made of bits of car just like sleeping in a garage

# Look at this one, oh, my gosh

# I could wake up in car wash!

# Everything I see just makes me want to drive

# Germany, home of the motor car

# Mercedes Benz and Porsche here in Stuttgart

# Germany, with your cars I'm impressed

# I'll take one for a spin as soon

# As I've passed my test! #

Welcome back to A Home Abroad.

I'm here with house hunter, Tim,

who's looking at this property in the Czech Republic.

It's a little bit outside his preferred area,

so will he want to check it out?

So, Tim, first impressions?

Well, it's not a bungalow in Australia.

Well spotted. It's a castle in the Czech Republic.

Right...

because I was looking for a bungalow in Australia.

This is Castle Houska, a 16th-century chateau.

There's been a building on this spot for over 1,000 years.

Amazing.

No, cos this is really nothing like what I asked you to find me.

But, if you look over here, you can see the beach.

Oh, really?

I can't see anything.

-Well, you're going to need these because it's 400kms away.

-OK.

What are the local facilities like?

What? Not good?

There aren't any,

-but if you're looking for a castle...

-Which I'm not.

..this isn't one of those boring, predictable castles

cleverly located near a source of water

or a valuable piece of land to defend.

No, the unique point of this castle

is it's not near anything useful at all.

-Incredible!

-Wow, you really are selling it to me(!)

Can we look at the next one?

There's one last thing I really think you should see.

-The hot tub?

-Nearly.

-It's the chapel.

-Which has a hot tub?

No, but something quite hot is rumoured to be

right underneath this floor.

-Hell!

-Oh.

Sorry, what? Hell?!

Yeah.

Back in 800 and something,

legend has it that this chapel was built over a giant pit,

which, as legend has it, was the actual proper gates to Hell.

Well, in that case, I'll take it.

It's not a bungalow in Australia.

No, but, like Australia, it's down under, fiery hot

and they do a mean barbecue.

Where do I sign?

DEMONIC CACKLE

Don't sign your soul away to the Devil

because this is supposedly the gateway to Hell and it's also

thought to be one of the most haunted places on the planet.

I think Ed and Vic should get to the bottom of this.

Ed and Victoria, you have 34 seconds to find out as much as you can

about Castle Houska and the gates of Hell.

Victoria, you have Mira, who knows all about the scary stories.

Ed, you have Miroslav, who wrote all about the castle.

Tri...dve...jedna... Go!

-Mira, where are the gates of Hell?

-They are buried beneath the chapel.

-How deep is the hole?

-It's endless, never-ending.

You don't want to drop something down there by accident.

-Have you been down there yourself?

-No, I'm too afraid.

Why would you build a castle on a hole?

So nothing can get out to the outside world and survive.

Oh, yeah, clever, actually.

What happens at night? Are there any ghosts or anything like that?

-Sometimes it gets dead scary.

-Like what? What happens?

Like weird screeching noises.

HOOTER SOUNDS

Gah, out of time.

And the winner is...

Victoria.

Yes! Get in!

You get to carry the night vision camera around the haunted castle.

Ooh, I've always fancied myself a bit of a ghost hunter.

Aargh, it's a ghost!

It's just you in the view finder.

Oh, aye.

Whoooo-aaaah!

Whooooo!

The ghost hunters should keep their eyes peeled

for the famous ghosts at Houska.

A giant frog human, a headless black horse

and a scary woman who's often seen peeking out of the doors.

HE SCREAMS

Oh, it's just Vic!

-So, under this very floor is the gates of Hell.

-Yeah.

Look, what is that? She's squashing a mouse.

It's not a mouse.

It's a jackal...or a dinosaur, I don't know.

Look, there's a little demon on here.

-Can you feel anything?

-Oh...

What? What is it? What can you feel?

SHE LAUGHS

-SHE SNORTS

-I'm so sorry.

You won't be snorting and laughing in a minute, you two.

The cellar is one of the most haunted parts of the castle.

It has been said to contain the bones of mythical monstrous beasts.

It's black! I can't...

Ooh.

-Maybe we shouldn't be in here.

-But, look... What's that?

-I can feel something.

-THEY SCREAM

Miroslav, what are you doing?

-TRANSLATED:

-Welcome to Castle Houska and the gates of hell.

This is not a place you want to spend a great deal of time in.

Does that make you feel better about this place?

No!

THEY SCREAM

THEY SCREAM AND SHOUT

Oh, no. He's over there.

-TRANSLATED:

-Goodbye. Laters.

Slovakia. Turecka.

Ed versus Johny in the main event.

I'm Gordon Ramsay. Yes.

I'm facing my worst nightmare ever - a man running a Slovakian

restaurant who doesn't know how to cook proper halusky.

It's not difficult!

Now if I'm going to save your little stinking restaurant,

you've got to start listening. Right.

Where are all the ingredients? Yes.

Ah, well, it's an old recipe that my Slovakian grandmother taught me.

It's very simple.

All you need is salt, sheep's cheese, bacon, potatoes and some...

FLOWER - you forgot about the flower.

Don't you mean this sort of flour?

Now, what you do is you get all the ingredients, yes,

you put them in a bowl, yes, and then you mix them all together.

There you have it - a lovely, traditional Slovakian dish.

I mean, this is simple stuff!

Actually, you're supposed to cook it

before you put the sheep's cheese in.

Oh, forget about it! I'm done.

I'm not even sure he's the real Gordon Ramsay.

No, me neither, Ed.

If he was the real Gordon Ramsay,

surely he'd know that these are halusky dumplings.

They love them round here,

so every year they hold a festival in their honour.

You might know them as potato dumplings,

but whatever their name, up to 4,000 people have turned

up for the past 21 years for a slice of the dumpling action.

Today's main event will see who can make

and eat these dumplings in the fastest time.

Better find out how to cook them properly, then.

Let's dig out that recipe.

You'll need a potato peeler.

A grater.

One bowl for preparing the dough.

A colander for cooking the dumplings.

One chopping board. One knife or soup spoon for throwing the dumplings.

A sharp knife for cutting bacon. Mind those fingers.

And one frying pan.

No hand protection our double-ended spoons are allowed.

Nice try, guys.

..Learn to dance like a Slovakian.

You guys will believe anything! There's dumplings to be cooked.

Get on with step three...

Look, I've got my team - the Prize Dumplings.

How embarrassing, we've all come dressed as the same thing.

I'm looking for my team. Are you guys Potato Heads?

-ALL:

-Yes!

-Yes.

When I say "Potato" you say "Heads".

-Potato.

-Heads.

-Potato.

-Heads.

HE CHEERS

Yes.

Nice team bonding, Johny.

Maybe you'll high-five your way into the history books,

just like last year's winners.

The team cooked their dumplings in less than 23 minutes

and then wolfed them down in just 47 seconds.

No pressure, guys.

Johny, you know the score. We've got to get this done in under an hour.

-These are the judges.

-Yeah, I think they've already started.

-What?

Exactly. Three, two, one, get on with it!

First up, everyone's favourite job - potato peeling.

Look at that skill. Look at that potato-peeling skill.

Bacon cutting is going well. I say bacon... It's mostly rind.

Bacon... Well, fat chopping done.

Now Ed is on to his next task.

Mustn't cut myself. Mustn't cut myself or I get disqualified.

How's that peeling going, Ed? You're so slow.

Faster, faster.

OK, sorry.

One of the rules is you must not cut or grate your fingers.

If you do, then your whole team could be disqualified.

Ah!

No! Oh, no.

I've actually cut myself.

Oh, no.

Keep it quiet, maybe the judges won't notice.

-Disqualification!

-No. I'm putting a plaster on.

-I can see blood.

-I'm putting a plaster on.

-Game's over.

I'm putting a plaster on.

I'm stirring now. Much safer.

I can't cut myself stirring. Ah!

Ah, that... No, I haven't, really.

OK.

Once the flour, grated potato

and salt have been mixed into a dough, it's time to chop this

dough into little pieces and cook them in hot water.

In Slovakia, this is dramatically called, "Throwing the dumplings."

Oh, this has just got even less enjoyable.

I've got to cook this...

I've got to cook this over the chimney.

Ed's dumplings are cooked

and are almost ready for some sheep cheese action.

Meanwhile, Johny has brought his own fan club.

-THEY CHANT:

-Johny! Johny! Johny!

Don't cheer him. Don't cheer him on.

One of my team has gone to have a sing.

Milan has decided that singing is clearly more important than wining.

Not keeping your team together, are you?

-I might just go and do some singing.

-They're deserting you.

-I know!

What's going on?

Time to BLE-E-E-E...nd in the sheep cheese.

Hurry up, Johny. We're nearly finished over here.

Yeah, us too, us too.

Now for some finishing touches -

crispy bits of bacon for some decoration.

Look at that - a lovely, sliding trough of halusky. Mm!

OK, so that's stage one of the event -

making the dumplings - done.

Ed's team did it in...

But Johny's team are slightly ahead with...

Now, for stage two.

Let's get this on the road and let's see whose taste best.

-Is it good?

-WOMAN SPEAKS SLOVAKIAN

Oh, OK. Go.

The teams have to chomp their way through 3kg of halusky dumplings.

That's like eating over seven tins of baked beans

from the one bowl!

BREAKING WIND SOUND EFFECT

But less stinky. Good luck with that.

Hang on...Milan is still not here.

He's probably fed up with you flapping about.

Is that him singing now?

HE SINGS IN SLOVAKIAN

Milan!

So last year's winners chomped it down in 47 seconds.

You guys are well past that now. Come on, you dumplings!

I know you can eat this!

I can't eat all this.

You know what? I'm actually going to give them a hand, I'm so confident.

-What are you doing?

-It looks like you need a bit of a hand there.

Are you taking the mickey?

Ergh...

The last spoonful.

Yes!

CHEERING

Well done, Johny, let's high-five your team.

Denied. Well, two out of three ain't bad.

Woo!

Ed, I'm just going to go home, relax for a little while.

I'll see you tomorrow.

THEY LAUGH

Will the judges take pity on Ed saying as his team are a man down?

Did they spot that Ed grated his thumb?

Will Johny be denied once again in slow-mo action replay?

Have they done enough to impress the judges?

Who is going to be crowned the dumpling darling

and who is going to put the "duh" into dumpling.

-TRANSLATED:

-And the winner of the Turecka Halusky competition is...

Johny!

Yes! Well, Ed, look on the bright side -

at least you lived up to your team's name.

You really are a prize dumpling.

Well, I still say it wasn't my fault. I'm off to find Milan. Milan!

-Leave it Ed. It's not worth it.

-Stop singing, Milan!

You've been watching All Over The Place Europe!