0:00:07 > 0:00:10I've always fancied doing a bit of a culinary journey,
0:00:10 > 0:00:11starting in Venice,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15then travel to Croatia, to Albania,
0:00:15 > 0:00:17going all over Greece
0:00:17 > 0:00:22and finally into Turkey and finishing up in Istanbul.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24I see it as a bit of two sort of bookends.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27At one end, the fabulous food of Venice,
0:00:27 > 0:00:32and the other, the fabulous Eastern food of Istanbul,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34and in between, who knows?
0:00:34 > 0:00:40So, a long culinary journey. Who could ask for anything more?
0:01:10 > 0:01:12I haven't come very far on my journey -
0:01:12 > 0:01:16just a short hop from Venice to Croatia.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Really good food here and not too pricey,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22and then it's south to Albania.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26I've had some great seafood in Croatia, mainly little fish,
0:01:26 > 0:01:31because they sell the prime ones to Italy, who've got a bit more cash.
0:01:31 > 0:01:32This is my lunch.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39There's memorable lamb up in the mountains, slowly roasted on spits.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42This is food unchanged by time.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45They cooked this way before the Ottomans, before the Romans,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48probably before the ancient Greeks.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54That's simply the best piece of roast lamb I've ever tasted.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57All the cooks I've met here say the food is very simple,
0:01:57 > 0:02:01very tasty and cooked with lots of feeling.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07It's the deepest, darkest fish stew I've ever tasted.
0:02:07 > 0:02:08Yeah!
0:02:09 > 0:02:15I knew nothing about Croatia and I got here and I just love the place.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17The thing is, it's so unspoilt
0:02:17 > 0:02:21and the people have got no sort of pretentions, they're just...
0:02:22 > 0:02:24You just get on with them straight away
0:02:24 > 0:02:26and the food sort of reflects that, really.
0:02:26 > 0:02:31It's, yes, simple food, but it's cooked with such affection
0:02:31 > 0:02:35and the quality of the raw materials are so good,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37I just keep having these sort of memorable meals
0:02:37 > 0:02:40and can't believe how lucky I am.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49This is Ston. It's famous for three things.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51First of all, its salt pans,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55for making the white gold of the Dalmatian coast.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Secondly, and because the salt is so precious,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00the great walls of Ston.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Built in this configuration to stop the pesky Venetians,
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Turks and an assortment of pirates from nicking it.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14And finally, number three - and this is what interests me the most -
0:03:14 > 0:03:18the fabulous oysters that grow from a fine cocktail
0:03:18 > 0:03:21of saltwater and fresh.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24It's that that makes them so special.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Marijana Franusic is a connoisseur of these fabulous oysters
0:03:29 > 0:03:31and she's showing me around.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Well, Marijana, can I try them?
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Yes, why not? Try the best oysters in the world.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40Well, they're what we call native oysters,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43so I... Oh, I'll have a bit of lemon, yeah.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45I love oysters, by the way, so this is...
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Yes, me, too, like oysters.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51This is the Ostrea Edulis, the best oysters on the world
0:03:51 > 0:03:53and only live in Bay of Mali Ston.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Oh, Edulis?
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Yes, the special oysters, Ostrea Edulis,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00you have another sort of oysters on the world,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03but the special live only in the Bay of Mali Ston.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06No, no, we have Edulis in England, in Cornwall.
0:04:06 > 0:04:07No, you have not.
0:04:07 > 0:04:08We do!
0:04:08 > 0:04:10No, you have not. This oyster...
0:04:10 > 0:04:12But it's the native oyster. We do, I'm sorry, but...
0:04:12 > 0:04:14No, you didn't.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16We do.
0:04:16 > 0:04:17No.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Look, I'm sorry, but I do know my oysters.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21We do, they're... Edulis are the latest...
0:04:21 > 0:04:25These oysters, Ostrea Edulis live in the Bay of Mali Ston
0:04:25 > 0:04:29and some...region in France, but not in the United Kingdom.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31They do!
0:04:31 > 0:04:32No!
0:04:32 > 0:04:37They do! Right, OK, have it your way, whatever you say.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41But let me just say, whatever you say, they're very good.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43They're plumpcious, they're full of flavour...
0:04:43 > 0:04:44Yes.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47- ..they're sweet, salty. I love them.- Sweet, salty, yes.
0:04:47 > 0:04:53The people come here, especially for eat this oyster and other seafood.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55The violets.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Violets. Are we going to try these?
0:04:57 > 0:04:58Yes, maybe one.
0:04:58 > 0:04:59I just find them...
0:04:59 > 0:05:03I've had them before in France, I just find them a bit bitter.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05But maybe these are a bit different.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06You try.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08OK. Are you going to have one, too?
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Always look a bit like scrambled egg, I think.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12I don't know why they call them violets,
0:05:12 > 0:05:14cos they're not violet, they're yellow.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Yellow. We said here "sea eggs".
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Mh-mm.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Urgh!
0:05:22 > 0:05:25It may be one of those things, people are always saying to me,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28"Is there anything you won't eat? You like everything."
0:05:28 > 0:05:31I think I might say "I don't really like violets."
0:05:31 > 0:05:32Do you?
0:05:32 > 0:05:33Mmm, the oysters are better, I think.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Yeah, I think the oysters... Let's go back to the oysters.
0:05:36 > 0:05:37Let's go back to the oysters!
0:05:37 > 0:05:39The best in the world.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41The Cornish ones are quite good.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46'You say tom-ay-toes, I say to-mah-toes, etc.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49'Needless to say, we agreed to differ,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53'but the oysters were very good. Very good indeed.'
0:05:57 > 0:06:01In the scheme of things, I haven't had much Croatian wine in my time.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04But from what I've tasted, I like it.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08It's well made, pricey, virtually unpronounceable,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12strong - like so many wines these days - but lovely.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15The most famous of the reds is Dingac
0:06:15 > 0:06:21and the vines that make the grapes, Plavac Mali, I find fascinating.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24They're like poor, tortured creatures,
0:06:24 > 0:06:28like something from Dante's Inferno, fighting for a toehold
0:06:28 > 0:06:32in the stony soil to stop them slipping off and into the sea.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41I've got no head for heights, so just standing here's bad enough,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45but the thought of having to go down that incredibly steep slope
0:06:45 > 0:06:50and tend these Plavac Mali wines is just terrible.
0:06:50 > 0:06:51I don't know how they do it.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56But the fact is that it does produce this absolutely fabulous wine
0:06:56 > 0:06:59called Dingac, and they say
0:06:59 > 0:07:01it's because of the stunted nature of the vines.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06They get very low yield from each of them and presumably those roots have
0:07:06 > 0:07:11to work so hard, not only to get into the soil, but to stay there.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Imagine the winds that blow up this slope.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Just thinking, you know,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19in the old days, people would go off on grape-picking holidays.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21You can see an ad saying,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25"Come to the coast of Croatia, have a lovely holiday picking grapes,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28"drinking the local wine and having lovely food"
0:07:28 > 0:07:30and this is what you'd find.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50We - I mean me and the crew - stop for lunch on our travels
0:07:50 > 0:07:53virtually every day. We just turn up unannounced
0:07:53 > 0:07:56on the off chance that there will be room for us.
0:07:56 > 0:08:02Sometimes, very rarely, the food is utterly brilliant - like this.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05We're not supposed to be filming,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08but we just stopped for lunch on the way to a location.
0:08:08 > 0:08:09Yeah.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11- You've got black lips and...- Have I?
0:08:11 > 0:08:15..and you look strangely alluring and so I just wondered,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17tell me honestly what you think of this.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21It's quite simply the best black risotto I've ever, ever eaten.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25It's so black, but it is sensational
0:08:25 > 0:08:28and I think what I'm starting to think about Croatia,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31about the seafood cooking in Croatia,
0:08:31 > 0:08:37it's always, always done simply and absolutely at the minute.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40This one was made seconds ago.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44Your lips are very black.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47All right, all right!
0:08:47 > 0:08:50But at least you won't see how much wine I'm drinking.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54It's 16.2%, do you realise that?
0:08:54 > 0:08:58I know, 16.2! We're going to... Are we working this afternoon?
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Yeah.
0:09:00 > 0:09:01You know, in...
0:09:01 > 0:09:02Have a little bit more.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04..back at home they wouldn't call this wine,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07it'd be fortified wine, it's so strong.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10OK, cut there.
0:09:10 > 0:09:15'No more driving for me. 16.2%? You've got to be joking.
0:09:15 > 0:09:16'What's happening to wine?'
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Could I possibly match how good that cuttlefish risotto was?
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Well, I'm going to give it a try in my lovely kitchen
0:09:25 > 0:09:27on the island of Symi.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30This is cuttlefish risotto. It's very black.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36I'm surprised that cuttlefish isn't more popular,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39because it has got the most wonderful flavour,
0:09:39 > 0:09:44but I guess it's because of the ink that, if you buy cuttlefish whole,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48it's very difficult to avoid puncturing the ink sac
0:09:48 > 0:09:50and then you get ink over everything
0:09:50 > 0:09:53and you can't get it out of your hair or your hands
0:09:53 > 0:09:55or wherever else you might put it!
0:09:56 > 0:09:59But this one, fortunately, they've taken the ink sac out
0:09:59 > 0:10:03before delivering it to me, which I'm very happy about.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08PAN SIZZLES
0:10:12 > 0:10:17I just love the smell of the caramelised sugars
0:10:17 > 0:10:19in cuttlefish as it cooks over a high heat.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23It's just delicious.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Now some salt - just enough to make the salt police's eyebrows rise -
0:10:29 > 0:10:32and then chopped shallots - about two -
0:10:32 > 0:10:35garlic - a couple of cloves -
0:10:35 > 0:10:40and then risotto rice - in this case arborio, probably the most popular.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Now stir that around, making sure that each grain is coated,
0:10:45 > 0:10:50and then pepper, as much as you like, and white wine.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53I'm using Pinot Grigio, crisp and unoaked.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57And now stock, a good fish stock.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59I made this earlier this morning.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04And the secret with risotto is keep adding the stock and then
0:11:04 > 0:11:07letting it cook down, then adding some more,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10and all the time you need to be stirring because what you're doing
0:11:10 > 0:11:13is making the outside of the rice break up into the stock
0:11:13 > 0:11:17and it gives you this lovely creaminess.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20I think there's probably about five minutes more cooking time,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24so now the bit I really enjoy, which is...
0:11:26 > 0:11:28..the cuttlefish ink.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30I shouldn't bother to try and get cuttlefish ink
0:11:30 > 0:11:33out of a cuttlefish, it'd be all over the place.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43Now, a very important - see what I mean? -
0:11:43 > 0:11:47very important observation I've made about black ink risotto
0:11:47 > 0:11:50is that, wherever it says two sachets,
0:11:50 > 0:11:57make it four because if you only use two, it'll be grey risotto.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00There's not a lot of flavour in the cuttlefish ink,
0:12:00 > 0:12:04so it's not going to be overpowering if you double the amount of ink.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06So, four in.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11I knew that was going to happen.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12Now look at this.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18'I know people - real food lovers - who will tackle oysters,
0:12:18 > 0:12:20'spider crabs, winkles and whelks...'
0:12:20 > 0:12:21Excuse me a second.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26'..but go pale at the sight of a black risotto.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28'It's purely the colour.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32'Get over it, I say. Wake up and enjoy the ink!'
0:12:40 > 0:12:43I'm just putting a little bit of butter in there.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46You know, I'm obsessed with the sheen on a risotto,
0:12:46 > 0:12:50after being told that your risotto should look like the lagoon
0:12:50 > 0:12:53in Venice, with that sort of lovely sheen.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59Now I'm going to do a highly controversial thing, but...
0:12:59 > 0:13:05I love Parmesan, not in all seafood risottos, but just in this one.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09I'm sure the Italians will say, "Never, never, never,"
0:13:09 > 0:13:14but this was Croatia and I'm sure it had Parmesan in it.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21So that is looking absolutely lovely, blacker than black.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27So now just finish off with a bit of parsley,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29which you won't see, but it's there.
0:13:37 > 0:13:38And now, to serve it up.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Well, we're just about to go over the border
0:14:01 > 0:14:04from Montenegro into Albania.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08I'm a bit apprehensive. I mean, I know very little about Albania.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10It's interesting.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13I may be coming into a sort of new world.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15I don't know whether the food's going to be good
0:14:15 > 0:14:18or whether it's going to be frightful,
0:14:18 > 0:14:20but I'm really looking forward to it.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24I'm hoping I'll find some very local food
0:14:24 > 0:14:27that I can really get enthusiastic about,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30but it may all just be hamburgers and chips.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36'Welcome to Albania.'
0:14:45 > 0:14:46Before I came on my journey,
0:14:46 > 0:14:51a lot of my chef friends asked me why I was going to Albania.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54I said, "Well, I know the food of Spain and Italy, France,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56"Thailand and even India...
0:14:58 > 0:15:02"..but who can name just one dish from Albania?"
0:15:02 > 0:15:03Go on.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05Well, that's why I'm here.
0:15:13 > 0:15:14HORN TOOTS
0:15:18 > 0:15:21I spent two hours at the border - there was something wrong -
0:15:21 > 0:15:23and after that it was dark.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25It was so dark,
0:15:25 > 0:15:30there was just a few pale lights in the distance, and so quiet.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32So I woke up this morning to this,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36and there's just this sort of sense of innocence in the landscape here
0:15:36 > 0:15:38and, for 50 years,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Albania was closed to the rest of the world, a bit like North Korea.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45It's almost as if it's a place that's just begun.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Mrizi i Zanave is a restaurant in northern Albania.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53In fact, it's a place I've heard of back at home
0:15:53 > 0:15:55because the restaurateur and chef, Altin Prenga,
0:15:55 > 0:15:59has a big reputation for being self-sufficient.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03All of his produce comes from round here.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05- Hello.- Hi, Rick. - I've heard a lot about you.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08- How are you?- Very...- Nice to meet you.- ..very nice to meet you.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12- Sorry, I don't speak English too much.- Oh, it's fine.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14His place is really popular.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19The idea of going out en famille to eat in Albania is fairly new.
0:16:19 > 0:16:2350 years of strict communism up until the early '90s
0:16:23 > 0:16:24changed the habit of the nation
0:16:24 > 0:16:28and they're just getting back into the swing of eating for pleasure.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35I'd missed breakfast and I could smell beans and pork cooking
0:16:35 > 0:16:39and said to Altin, "I've just got to try some of this.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41"A small dish, just to keep me going."
0:16:43 > 0:16:46- This is the...- Just been looking at it. God. I mean...
0:16:46 > 0:16:49It's Kalmet beans. It's local...
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Kalmet beans.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55..a variety from this area and smoked pork meat.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Oh! Simple, honest, flavourful.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03In every area of Albania,
0:17:03 > 0:17:08poor people, normal people use this traditional soup.
0:17:08 > 0:17:14In the mountain, smoked goat or smoked sheep, OK?
0:17:14 > 0:17:18And in this area, it was the pork, smoked, no? Ham.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23Perfect. Ham, salt, beans, water.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25Life.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Part of Altin's restaurant empire was an old concentration camp
0:17:33 > 0:17:37used for keeping the intelligentsia away from the towns and cities.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Now Altin wants to plant a vineyard here and make a creamery
0:17:42 > 0:17:46and a place to make local cheeses, but keeping tradition alive.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54I asked him to cook one of his most popular dishes and he told me
0:17:54 > 0:17:58it was a Sunday afternoon favourite around here called jufka.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02It's chicken with pasta, but not as we know it.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11Those chickens look very free-range, a lovely yellow colour.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15I was just asking what the little yellow ball is in the middle,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17I thought it might be a kumquat, but it's actually an egg yolk
0:18:17 > 0:18:21which would have come out of the cavity of the chicken.
0:18:21 > 0:18:22This is real slow food.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35How long's that going to go in for, then, Altin?
0:18:35 > 0:18:37Ten, 15 minutes.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39And no liquid for the pasta? Just cooks without...
0:18:39 > 0:18:42No, the...first cook is toasted, OK?
0:18:42 > 0:18:44Toasted, yes.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46OK? And I take outside...
0:18:46 > 0:18:50- Yeah.- ..and I put the warm...- Stock.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53- ..stock, yes. - Fab. Like the idea of that.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00All around the restaurant, there's lots of culinary activity.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02I think Altin may be overcompensating
0:19:02 > 0:19:04for the television crew,
0:19:04 > 0:19:08because his wife is dressed up in ancient Albanian costume -
0:19:08 > 0:19:12not a thing she does every day - and she's making a pancake
0:19:12 > 0:19:15traditionally cooked by the shepherds in the mountains.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17It's called flee.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21It's made up with about 30 layers of thin batter
0:19:21 > 0:19:22and lashings of melted butter
0:19:22 > 0:19:27and it's cooked with a hot lid laden with red-hot coals.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35- You like to taste?- Oh, I'd love to taste, Altin, thanks.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37- Attention, it's too hot.- No, no.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Yum. Very good butter.
0:19:43 > 0:19:44That's really nice.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46- It's the butter that makes it.- Yeah.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58After the pasta is toasted a bit, Altin adds some chicken stock
0:19:58 > 0:20:01and puts it back in the oven until the pasta,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03or jufka, has absorbed it.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Then it's ready to serve.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Oh. This is delicious.
0:20:16 > 0:20:22Just...food like this, what happened during the communist era?
0:20:22 > 0:20:26The people eat in south Albania, in north Albania,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30in the sea or in the mountain, you take same food.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32Everybody ate the same.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34- No local dishes, just all the same. - Yes.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Stopping the communist, start the democracy,
0:20:37 > 0:20:43the Italians, French and every different style from the world
0:20:43 > 0:20:47and don't remember old tradition from Albania.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Well, what you're doing is great
0:20:49 > 0:20:52cos this food is full of character
0:20:52 > 0:20:54and I really admire what you're doing.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57- Gezuar! To you.- My friends.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Wherever you go in Albania, you can't fail to see these.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Some people call them concrete mushrooms,
0:21:07 > 0:21:14but they're gun emplacements built by a paranoid dictator, Enver Hoxha.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17He was convinced the west was about to invade
0:21:17 > 0:21:21and the country was full of spies - very Ian Fleming.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32There were nearly three quarters of a million of these concrete horrors.
0:21:32 > 0:21:33A lot are being broken up.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37They look like long-dead, giant crabs on the beach,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40something from an HG Wells story.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44But they do give resonance to the tales I've been hearing
0:21:44 > 0:21:49about how difficult it was to get fish during the 50 years
0:21:49 > 0:21:52when the country was virtually isolated from the rest of the world.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59So in-shore fishing along the sensitive coast of Albania
0:21:59 > 0:22:00was highly restricted.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Somebody told me yesterday that previously,
0:22:05 > 0:22:06during the communist era,
0:22:06 > 0:22:08which went on for a very long time,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11people had forgotten how lovely prawns were
0:22:11 > 0:22:14and actually used to feed them to the pigs.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19I'm never happier than when I'm out fishing,
0:22:19 > 0:22:23particularly on a lovely, glassy day like this.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25Oh, wow!
0:22:25 > 0:22:27You never know what's going to come up in a net
0:22:27 > 0:22:29and I know my octopus, those are good ones.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33They cook very, very well, very tender.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Well, as a bit of a ichthyologist -
0:22:37 > 0:22:41that's a sort of fish or seafood lover in Latin -
0:22:41 > 0:22:43we've got not only a prawn,
0:22:43 > 0:22:46but we've also got a sort of mantis shrimp.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48You think you're looking at two eyes
0:22:48 > 0:22:50but, actually, what you're looking at is the tail
0:22:50 > 0:22:51and the head's the other end.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54I suspect it's for some sort of protection,
0:22:54 > 0:22:56but...well, there you are. You see?
0:23:01 > 0:23:04I was just talking to the fisherman, and he was a teacher,
0:23:04 > 0:23:07but he says he loves to be out here fishing,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11here in the summer and in the lagoon in the winter,
0:23:11 > 0:23:13and what a great way of life, I have to say.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22People from the nearby towns and also from the capital, Tirana,
0:23:22 > 0:23:27come to these marshes to fish and to enjoy the lovely soft, salty air.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32And maybe because you weren't allowed to fish here
0:23:32 > 0:23:33for so many years,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36you have a better chance of going home with a good-size bass.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46One of the earliest restaurants round here was started by a couple
0:23:46 > 0:23:50with just a sofa and a camping stove in the woods.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54It's called Trendafili Mistik - mystic rose.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Blerina, will you ask Diella how the restaurant started?
0:24:01 > 0:24:04THEY SPEAK IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:24:10 > 0:24:13We came here in the first with a sofa from our house.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21And some dishes from our house
0:24:21 > 0:24:25and we built a small camping in this place.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33We cook with lots of love and passion.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42And we always think that we're cooking for kings and for empires.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50'This is Noshi - a good name for a cook, I think -
0:24:50 > 0:24:55'Diella's husband, who spends all day cooking on these hot coals.'
0:24:55 > 0:24:58And Noshi's cooking some large bass, some smaller bass
0:24:58 > 0:25:00and some red mullet.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04He just pulls the hot coals from the back and puts them at the front,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06just so that he gets the right temperature,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10and he's constantly adjusting the heat to everything.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13It's sort of a salutary lesson in what constitutes good cooking
0:25:13 > 0:25:16because, you know, now, in most kitchens,
0:25:16 > 0:25:18you've got, like, computer-controlled ovens,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22you've got fish that's cooked three days before and boiled in bags.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26This is where the true taste of good fish cookery would come from.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36One of the key dishes here is eels cooked with stock and rice.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38The restaurant is right next door to a lake
0:25:38 > 0:25:42where there are lots and lots of eels, so it makes perfect sense.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Diella starts by melting butter - rather a lot of butter -
0:25:49 > 0:25:53and olive oil...then onions, two chopped onions,
0:25:53 > 0:25:55and one chopped red pepper.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01And now fresh chopped tomatoes, around about four or five.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Then rice. This isn't a risotto, more of a pilaf.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12By that, I mean the rice doesn't become soft and creamy.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19She's just said we'll steal some stock from the chicken...
0:26:19 > 0:26:22that's about 200-300 millilitres, just...
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Bit more, 400 now. That's good.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30I wouldn't mind guessing the rice came from around here -
0:26:30 > 0:26:33it looks like risotto rice, but it's not a risotto.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36The eel comes from the lagoon just outside.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40I mean, you couldn't get more local than Albanian cooking,
0:26:40 > 0:26:41you just could not.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46So into a large shallow pan, a bit like a paella dish,
0:26:46 > 0:26:52in goes the rice and the peppers and, on top, one by one, the eels.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55But this is only halfway through.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59The whole dish is put on the fireplace on hot coals.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02You may be thinking, "Oh, how romantic,"
0:27:02 > 0:27:03but the simple truth is that,
0:27:03 > 0:27:07like many places, the people here didn't have ovens.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10They had fireplaces with a cooking pot.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Now a thumping great heavy metal lid is put over the whole lot.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18It's basically a peka - how the shepherds cooked meat
0:27:18 > 0:27:21and other dishes in Croatia and in Albania -
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and that's loaded with hot embers
0:27:24 > 0:27:27so it cooks top and bottom for about 20 minutes.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37There they are.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40'Jack, my son, has come from Cornwall to see me,
0:27:40 > 0:27:45'and also Blerina's mother, Natasha, has come from the capital, Tirana.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49'Blerina, by the way, is our indispensable interpreter.'
0:27:49 > 0:27:52- Jack, Blerina.- Hi, Jack. How are you? Did you have a nice trip?
0:27:52 > 0:27:55- Very, very nice. It was very uneventful.- OK.
0:27:55 > 0:27:56- Very nice to see you. - Good to see you.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00- We're just going to go and sit down and eat.- They look very nice.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05'So, after 20 minutes or so, the peka will have worked its magic
0:28:05 > 0:28:10'and the eels should be sweet and silky and the rice al dente.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15'As they say in Albania, gatuar ne perfeksion - cooked to perfection.'
0:28:19 > 0:28:21What do you think, Jack?
0:28:21 > 0:28:24It's really... Well, that's the first thing I've tasted in Albania,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26it's absolutely wonderful, really.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Like you said, the eel just tastes sweet.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32Mm-hm. It's absolutely fabulous, don't you think, Jack?
0:28:32 > 0:28:37Brilliant. Stock, the eels... love eels. It's really good.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40I'm so happy to hear that.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Natasha, would you have had food like this in the communist rule?
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Before the '90s, you mean, in the communist rule,
0:28:48 > 0:28:55we had very few food and we had rations, but it was insufficient.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57When the communist era came to an end,
0:28:57 > 0:29:01what can you remember most about the change?
0:29:01 > 0:29:04We were... The first thing that... were the bananas.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08We had never had bananas in Albania and it was only...
0:29:08 > 0:29:10Some black ones. Very, very ripe.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12- Only once, in '74...- Yeah.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15..they brought bananas. They were very much ripe...
0:29:15 > 0:29:18and it was the first time that we saw banana
0:29:18 > 0:29:23and the person in charge who imported these banana
0:29:23 > 0:29:25was condemned to prison later on
0:29:25 > 0:29:28because it was food of the enemy and we shouldn't bring it.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30- All the craziness. - Unfair on the banana.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33I can understand Coca-Cola being a symbol of capitalism,
0:29:33 > 0:29:35but this is unfair on the...
0:29:35 > 0:29:37Coca-Cola, of course. We couldn't even mention the name.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39Banana we could say,
0:29:39 > 0:29:43but to say Coca-Cola was just like to say we love capitalism.
0:29:43 > 0:29:44Wow.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46Yes, it was very difficult.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49We knew how to cook because our grandmothers told us,
0:29:49 > 0:29:51but we didn't have the ingredients.
0:29:51 > 0:29:56I didn't realise quite how difficult it was to eat food,
0:29:56 > 0:29:59because you'd imagine with, you know, with this sort of landscape
0:29:59 > 0:30:02that you could just go out and find your own produce.
0:30:02 > 0:30:07We had the sea, we had the lagoons, we had the... But we didn't fish.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11Yes, we had treasures of food and we didn't use them.
0:30:11 > 0:30:12Unbelievable.
0:30:12 > 0:30:17Unbelievable, yes. Absurd. Nonsense, to think of it.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22I remember my mother talking about rationing during the war
0:30:22 > 0:30:26and she said simple ordinary things became wonderful.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30For instance, stews made with any vegetables you were lucky enough
0:30:30 > 0:30:32to get hold of, cooked with rabbit,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35would be exulted to an epicurean feast.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39And that's what I'm about to cook, Albanian style.
0:30:40 > 0:30:46This is Albanian rabbit stew, lepur comlek.
0:30:47 > 0:30:53So to start, just put a lot of olive oil in a really hot pan
0:30:53 > 0:30:54and brown the rabbit.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Maybe thick ones first...
0:30:59 > 0:31:00..and then the thinner ones.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06Talking about the dictatorship, about 50 years of dictatorship,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10and what happened to the food, well, that's two generations, 50 years,
0:31:10 > 0:31:11and at the end of it,
0:31:11 > 0:31:14I suspect people had forgotten about the traditional recipes,
0:31:14 > 0:31:15but now they're beginning
0:31:15 > 0:31:18to sort of try and remember what those dishes were,
0:31:18 > 0:31:20dishes like this lovely rabbit stew,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23and I just hope it'll come back.
0:31:23 > 0:31:28But it's interesting to me, a couple of generations, you forget it.
0:31:28 > 0:31:29That's really sad.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37I've cooked quite a lot of rabbit in my time.
0:31:37 > 0:31:38It goes so well with garlic,
0:31:38 > 0:31:42especially wild garlic when it's in season in the early spring.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50Next, bay leaves, just broken up, a couple of them.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54One cinnamon stick - a little touch of the Ottoman Empire here.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58And then whole allspice berries.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02I like these dishes from the Balkans
0:32:02 > 0:32:06because they've got this sort of spicy subtle hints to it.
0:32:06 > 0:32:07And now some red wine.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Well, that's much more western.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13I don't know that the Ottomans used wine in cooking.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15They certainly drank a fair bit.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19And now some vinegar. The original recipe was red wine vinegar
0:32:19 > 0:32:22but I'm actually using balsamic. It makes for a darker stew.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29Now tomato puree, just a couple of generous dessert spoonfuls.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33So I'm just going to chop these tomatoes,
0:32:33 > 0:32:35which I've previously peeled.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38I can't tell you what a pleasure it is using tomatoes like this.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40I mean, I am apt to say, back in the UK,
0:32:40 > 0:32:42you're better off using tinned tomatoes,
0:32:42 > 0:32:44but it's not quite the same thing.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49Oh, if there were tomatoes like this all year round. Bliss.
0:32:51 > 0:32:52Now a chicken stock,
0:32:52 > 0:32:56and lots of sundried oregano from the mountains outside of Lezhe.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59I was really pleased to find out
0:32:59 > 0:33:03that the Albanians' main meal of the day is lunch.
0:33:03 > 0:33:04Mine, too.
0:33:04 > 0:33:09What could be better with good company and some rather nice wine?
0:33:09 > 0:33:12And, of course, in Albania, they'll also be cooking game -
0:33:12 > 0:33:16pheasant, hare, pigeons - much in the same way as this.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18But plump rabbit takes a bit of beating.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Touched by fire. I'm looking for some really good colour on there,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32on those onions, so I'm just adding a little bit of sugar as well.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35This is partly, I mean, there's loads of sugar in onions anyway,
0:33:35 > 0:33:37but it's also to increase the colour
0:33:37 > 0:33:40cos that looks much better in the final dish.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44Plus I'm looking for some sweetness, as with the balsamic vinegar,
0:33:44 > 0:33:46just to contrast with the acidity
0:33:46 > 0:33:49of the wine, the vinegar and the tomatoes.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56So I'm just adding these onions now
0:33:56 > 0:33:58about halfway through the cooking in the oven,
0:33:58 > 0:34:01because otherwise they'll overcook and break up.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05So that goes back in for around 45 minutes...
0:34:06 > 0:34:10..and it's time to take a look at the landscape.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13And with some well-worn Albanian proverbs
0:34:13 > 0:34:16which might well come in useful on my culinary journey.
0:34:18 > 0:34:23Number one - in times of need, the pig is called Uncle.
0:34:27 > 0:34:28Number two -
0:34:28 > 0:34:32if you have figs in your knapsack, everyone will be your friend.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39Number three - the early bird may catch the worm,
0:34:39 > 0:34:45but the second mouse gets the cheese. Think about it.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49This is my type of food -
0:34:49 > 0:34:52something you'd expect to find in a village bistro
0:34:52 > 0:34:55and never in a Michelin-starred restaurant.
0:34:55 > 0:34:56Lovely.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07So this is Skanderbeg's castle
0:35:07 > 0:35:12and he was really considered to be the founder of Albania.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14Is this part of the cooking...?
0:35:14 > 0:35:16Well, no, but I think cooking's really, you know... I'm sorry,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19but cooking and history always go hand in hand, you know,
0:35:19 > 0:35:22like cod and salt and all that sort of thing.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Anyway, Skanderbeg thought, "I'm not putting up with the Turks."
0:35:26 > 0:35:29I think he fought something like 14 major battles
0:35:29 > 0:35:30and kicked the Turks out.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35Anyway, one of his last battles against the Turks,
0:35:35 > 0:35:39he won it, but about ten or a dozen of his noblemen,
0:35:39 > 0:35:41including his nephew,
0:35:41 > 0:35:44were captured by the Turks and taken off to Istanbul,
0:35:44 > 0:35:49and he pleaded for their lives, but to no avail.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51And here's the interesting bit,
0:35:51 > 0:35:56because the Turks flayed them all alive - it took 15 days -
0:35:56 > 0:36:01and then they cut up their bodies and fed them to the dogs.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04Sadly, it's the little things that finish you off.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08He, Skanderbeg, died of malaria three years later.
0:36:10 > 0:36:11Wow.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13Tough, eh? How's that, then?
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Sort of slightly reminds of me tales you used to tell me as a child
0:36:23 > 0:36:25when you used to promise a Sunday lunch,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28but we'd end up traipsing around a ruin or something.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39That day we travelled south to the port of Vlore.
0:36:39 > 0:36:44Conveniently, there was a cross in the sky marking the border
0:36:44 > 0:36:48between the Adriatic Sea and the clear, deep Ionian Sea,
0:36:48 > 0:36:51which goes all the way down the west coast of Greece.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01'Blerina, our interpreter, was brought up here,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04'and it was good to hear her earliest memories about food.'
0:37:06 > 0:37:09When we used to go to the seaside,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12walking always because there were no cars, very few cars,
0:37:12 > 0:37:17and we used to get very tired until we arrived at the seaside,
0:37:17 > 0:37:24we had, in a newspaper, bread, tomatoes, cucumbers and cheese.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26We kept that all in our hands
0:37:26 > 0:37:28and one bite here, one bite here
0:37:28 > 0:37:30and we were very happy
0:37:30 > 0:37:33and everybody could tell that you were eating because it would smell,
0:37:33 > 0:37:35the tomatoes and the cucumbers would smell
0:37:35 > 0:37:37metres and metres away from you,
0:37:37 > 0:37:41and if somebody didn't have that with them, they were, like, jealous.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43- I like...- So happy. - ..when you say the bites,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46cos I notice Albanians bite into cucumbers.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48They don't have little slices.
0:37:48 > 0:37:53Yeah, we eat the whole cucumber because such a flavour in it.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55It is that you know that it's summer.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59The tomatoes that were in season, they would smell wonderful
0:37:59 > 0:38:04with the cucumbers and the cheese and the wholewheat bread.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08That was the perfect combination. It was a paradise.
0:38:08 > 0:38:09You couldn't ask for more
0:38:09 > 0:38:13and the memories come with the smell of the foods.
0:38:17 > 0:38:18Being so close to the sea,
0:38:18 > 0:38:22Jack and I decided that we really wanted to have some seafood.
0:38:22 > 0:38:26At the hotel where we were staying, I said to the chef, Aldo,
0:38:26 > 0:38:29"Look, just cook me your favourite seafood dish,
0:38:29 > 0:38:33"the one that goes down really well with the customers."
0:38:33 > 0:38:37Well, no surprise, it had to have an Italian influence -
0:38:37 > 0:38:39he trained in Florence, after all -
0:38:39 > 0:38:42and it turned out to be a mixture of seafood -
0:38:42 > 0:38:48mussels, clams, squid, fresh prawns cooked in olive oil, parsley,
0:38:48 > 0:38:53a little bit of chilli there, white wine, tomatoes and stock.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58You know, this is how I think people like their seafood.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02The Italians call it frutti di mare con spaghetti.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04Just saying that makes my mouth water.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08It cooks in no time and it's a great restaurant dish
0:39:08 > 0:39:11because it can be on the table in less than ten minutes
0:39:11 > 0:39:17and what else would you want sitting right next to the sea? Buono.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20What did you think about the recipe?
0:39:20 > 0:39:22Well, I like the way that he was using the prawn head stock
0:39:22 > 0:39:24and the fish stock to flavour it.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26- It was...- Yeah, I've never seen that done before.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30I mean, the rest of it was fairly sort of standard fish linguine...
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Oh! Try it, though. He's got it.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35I mean, God, that is really good
0:39:35 > 0:39:36and, I mean, he's using, I mean,
0:39:36 > 0:39:39- I love these local gambas, don't you?- Yeah.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41I mean, what's good, it's Italian,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44but they're using all local, really good quality local seafood.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47And to think only 20 years ago, they weren't even eating any fish
0:39:47 > 0:39:50and prawns weren't...didn't even know you could eat them and now...
0:39:50 > 0:39:52It's extraordinary, but, you know,
0:39:52 > 0:39:54human beings, I think, are very conservative.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59I remember somebody telling me that, in the Irish potato famine,
0:39:59 > 0:40:00that they never thought to eat
0:40:00 > 0:40:02limpets or things like that from the sea
0:40:02 > 0:40:05because we're all like that, we're all very conservative, I think.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07I think in archaeological digs,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09if you find limpet shells being eaten,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12it tends to suggest they're not doing particularly well,
0:40:12 > 0:40:14cos they're the last thing they'll eat, you know?
0:40:14 > 0:40:16Well, you know that at Redlands, our old house,
0:40:16 > 0:40:18there was a midden of limpet shells there.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20- It was bad times for them.- Amazing.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30Now this is something that should never really have happened
0:40:30 > 0:40:33because in our notes, written by the producer,
0:40:33 > 0:40:38it said, "Short drive through lovely meadows filled with wild flowers
0:40:38 > 0:40:43"to meet up with shepherds who'll cook lamb and make fresh cheese."
0:40:45 > 0:40:48The only trouble is that those particular shepherds have long gone
0:40:48 > 0:40:51and now we have to find some new ones.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55We're following the local mayor, Gasim,
0:40:55 > 0:40:59who assures us that they're a mere ten minutes away.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03OK, it's an Albanian ten minutes.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Basically, he hasn't a clue!
0:41:08 > 0:41:10This is about my idea of personal hell.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13Well, I'm not enjoying it much myself,
0:41:13 > 0:41:15I haven't got much of a head for heights,
0:41:15 > 0:41:18but I just think it's important to get up to where the shepherds are,
0:41:18 > 0:41:21because a lot of the cooking here in Albania
0:41:21 > 0:41:22is based on shepherds' dishes.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25There's lots of sort of lamb cooked on spits
0:41:25 > 0:41:30and lots of bean stews with sort of smoked mutton in it, I think,
0:41:30 > 0:41:32or pork, but mutton quite often,
0:41:32 > 0:41:36so I just want to get up and see what they're cooking.
0:41:36 > 0:41:37But, my God, it's a long way up.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40I hope we're not going up that road up there.
0:41:42 > 0:41:47Apparently, this was a military base for making rockets.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49Why would they make rockets up here?
0:41:49 > 0:41:51How would they get the materials up here?
0:41:51 > 0:41:53You can imagine some trendy restaurant opening up here
0:41:53 > 0:41:56and being, like, elBulli on steroids, you know,
0:41:56 > 0:41:59just a nine-hour trek up a mountain.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02There's a shepherd...and some sheep.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Ah, no. Apparently this is not the right shepherd.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Our shepherds are still a long way off.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15Cars can't get there because there are too many rocks
0:42:15 > 0:42:16so Gasim, the mayor,
0:42:16 > 0:42:22insists Jack and I travel the rest of the way on mules...
0:42:22 > 0:42:26very much the way that Byron explored this wild countryside.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37Now, I don't know much about Albanian mayors,
0:42:37 > 0:42:42but I do know that Gasim has quite an entourage of pretty women
0:42:42 > 0:42:46who follow him around carrying bottles of wine and raki.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49This could well be a tradition left over by the Ottomans.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00"Land of Albania," Byron proclaimed
0:43:00 > 0:43:03in the book Childe Harold's Pilgrimage,
0:43:03 > 0:43:07"let me bend mine eyes on thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09"The cross descends,
0:43:09 > 0:43:14"thy minarets arise and the pale crescent sparkles in the glen."
0:43:21 > 0:43:25Those were his thoughts on a once Christian country becoming Muslim.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31He found - probably because he was, after all, Lord Byron -
0:43:31 > 0:43:36the Muslim rulers here, especially the notorious Ali Pasha,
0:43:36 > 0:43:40treated him and his entourage with great hospitality and generosity.
0:43:46 > 0:43:47Wow.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51If you're partial to roast lamb -
0:43:51 > 0:43:57golden, sweet, slightly smoky roast lamb - you'll love this.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00It's the classic way of cooking goat or sheep
0:44:00 > 0:44:02and there are no spices,
0:44:02 > 0:44:06just salt and pepper and the best of the beast.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14- Looks like a doner.- Doner kebab?
0:44:14 > 0:44:15Yeah, on the spit, you know,
0:44:15 > 0:44:19the elephant leg that you get in those nice late-night eateries.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21It's probably better for you.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23But the same bits.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26This is not everyone's cup of tea.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29It's called kokoretsi and it's what the shepherds cook
0:44:29 > 0:44:32after they've killed the lamb or a baby goat.
0:44:32 > 0:44:37The prized offal - the liver, the lungs, heart and kidney -
0:44:37 > 0:44:41are put on a spit and wrapped in loads of intestines.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45This protects the offal from burning
0:44:45 > 0:44:48and they say it gives it an added flavour.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56As important as the meat is the fresh curd cheese.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59The curds are put in a muslin cloth to drain,
0:44:59 > 0:45:02just by hanging it on the branch of a tree until it sets.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08This one was from early this morning.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10They've milked the goats at five o'clock this morning
0:45:10 > 0:45:14and made the cheese straight away afterwards and I was just thinking,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17"Well, of course they would, we're so far away from anywhere,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21"you're not going to get a milk truck coming around every morning."
0:45:21 > 0:45:24- It's very nice.- It is, isn't it? It's so fresh.- Very fresh.
0:45:24 > 0:45:29Lovely and firm. And slightly... you can taste it's slightly goaty.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32I suppose, rather fancifully, I was expecting to taste
0:45:32 > 0:45:36sort of elements of thyme and oregano and rosemary and fennel
0:45:36 > 0:45:40and mint, because we've just walked through pastures of them.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42But it just tastes really special.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48I'd put myself as an eater first and then a cook.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53That sounds a bit daft, I know, but there are chefs
0:45:53 > 0:45:57that don't really enjoy tucking into food that much.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00Their minds are a little too involved in the way food looks.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05All I know is that I get terribly excited
0:46:05 > 0:46:08when I can smell and see scenes like this.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11It's irresistible to anyone who loves food.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18It's absolutely fantastic. So nicely salted, isn't it?
0:46:18 > 0:46:22- Have you tried it?- It's really salty, yeah.- It's really great. Mmm.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28I feel... I feel a sort of Neanderthal in me.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34Oh, I could eat this every day.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37I wouldn't like the walk, but I could definitely eat it every day.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39Actually, Jack, you didn't walk.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43If you're brought up in the mountains of Albania,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45I think this would be
0:46:45 > 0:46:48your quintessential roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53Ah, great, thanks.
0:46:53 > 0:46:54What bits have you got there?
0:46:54 > 0:46:59We've got some...heart, obviously intestines and some liver.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03To your average British person,
0:47:03 > 0:47:07I suspect this would not be a first choice, or even a third one.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12The eating of offal back at home is in sad decline
0:47:12 > 0:47:16and as for the intestines... Well, it's a bridge too far.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18But I love it.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22Mmm. You fancy putting it on the menu at St Petroc's?
0:47:23 > 0:47:28Might struggle to sell it, but it's delicious. I'd definitely eat it.
0:47:28 > 0:47:29Same here. It's fab.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34I don't know why people get so squeamish about stuff like this.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36I mean, what more could you want?
0:47:36 > 0:47:37A glass of red.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42- Gezuar!- Gezuar.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Next I'm cooking one of Albania's national dishes.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52It's lamb, yogurt and rice.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54It's very easy to do.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59So from my Greek kitchen by the sea...this is tave kosi.
0:48:06 > 0:48:12This dish is probably the most well-loved dish for Albanians,
0:48:12 > 0:48:14their comfort food,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17and, funnily enough, it does remind me a bit of shepherd's pie.
0:48:20 > 0:48:24Basically it's butter, lamb and a couple of cloves of garlic
0:48:24 > 0:48:26all thrown together and well seasoned.
0:48:30 > 0:48:31I really liked Albania.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34It had a sort of agricultural innocence,
0:48:34 > 0:48:36because it's just not been developed,
0:48:36 > 0:48:40and because of that, I guess, they're quite superstitious
0:48:40 > 0:48:43and I remember we were driving down a country lane with Blerina,
0:48:43 > 0:48:47our translator and guide, and a weasel went across our path
0:48:47 > 0:48:50and she put her hands over her eyes like this.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52I said, "Oh, what's the matter?"
0:48:52 > 0:48:55I thought she was about, she was worrying we were going to crash.
0:48:55 > 0:48:57She said, "Nuselale! Nuselale!"
0:48:57 > 0:49:01Which is Albanian for a weasel. And I said, "Oh, what's the problem?"
0:49:01 > 0:49:03"You can't look at a weasel," she said.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05"If you look them in the eyes,
0:49:05 > 0:49:08"they'll come and steal the clothes off your washing line."
0:49:11 > 0:49:14One of the things that I've learned here is that Albanian cooks choose
0:49:14 > 0:49:17just one herb to go into a dish.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19In this case, it's the local sundried oregano.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27Tave kosi actually means creamy casserole and, in this case,
0:49:27 > 0:49:30the cream is, of course, the fine yogurt they have here.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34To make it like a light fluffy custard,
0:49:34 > 0:49:36I'm mixing it with four eggs, and it's this
0:49:36 > 0:49:41that gives the lovely satisfying comfort element to the whole dish.
0:49:41 > 0:49:42Yummo!
0:49:44 > 0:49:47I'm making a roux here, but, quite unusually, I suppose -
0:49:47 > 0:49:52cos normally you use milk - I'm putting yogurt and eggs into it.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54I won't actually carry on cooking it.
0:49:54 > 0:49:59Now the reason for this, I suppose, sort of yogurt-bechamel sauce
0:49:59 > 0:50:05is that it's going to go on top of the lamb, I suppose a bit like...
0:50:06 > 0:50:08..I don't know, moussaka, really.
0:50:08 > 0:50:13I think all the Balkans are fond of putting sort of milky sauces
0:50:13 > 0:50:16on top of meat and it'll bake in the oven,
0:50:16 > 0:50:18just put some nutmeg on the top of it,
0:50:18 > 0:50:20it'll bake in the oven and, when I take it out,
0:50:20 > 0:50:23it'll be all lovely and brown and crisp on top.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27So I really like the combination and it's absolutely yummy.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34So that lamb's now tender.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36I'm just going to add a little bit more water
0:50:36 > 0:50:37cos it's cooked right down,
0:50:37 > 0:50:42because I'm also going to add some rice so I don't want it too dry,
0:50:42 > 0:50:45otherwise the rice won't absorb the liquid and swell up.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49So rice, just about 60 grams, just stir that in.
0:50:52 > 0:50:57And we're ready to put everything into a baking dish.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03There's a part of me that would really love to be a food historian
0:51:03 > 0:51:05and sit on panel games
0:51:05 > 0:51:10and wistfully tell people about the origins of well-known dishes.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12I wouldn't mind betting this dish
0:51:12 > 0:51:15was the forerunner to the famous moussaka,
0:51:15 > 0:51:19the favourite dish of the British on holiday in Greece.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22But instead of layers of mince and bechamel,
0:51:22 > 0:51:26it's the creamy sauce on top and, as ever, the grated nutmeg.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32Well, this goes into a medium oven for about 40, 45 minutes...
0:51:34 > 0:51:38..and when it comes out, it should be all sort of light and dark brown
0:51:38 > 0:51:40and speckled with that nutmeg.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44This is a bit of inside information.
0:51:45 > 0:51:50My friend who tests out all the recipes, Portia, cooked this dish
0:51:50 > 0:51:51to see if it turned out all right.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55Well, her kids came back from school, tried it and now,
0:51:55 > 0:51:58from the last conversation I've had with her,
0:51:58 > 0:52:03she's had to cook it five times because the family love it so much.
0:52:14 > 0:52:19This is the Llogara Pass - it's not for the faint hearted.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21This road is relatively new.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24Before that, I'm told, it was a nightmare.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28These are the Ceraunian Mountains.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30The name comes from the ancient Greeks
0:52:30 > 0:52:34and aptly describes them as thunder torn peaks.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37I couldn't help but think about James Bond coming down here.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42This, after all, is a perfect place to outrun villains
0:52:42 > 0:52:46and dodge helicopter attacks and, even when you've reached the bottom,
0:52:46 > 0:52:48the James Bond theme continues.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55That's it. A Russian submarine base and...
0:53:00 > 0:53:03..apparently Khrushchev came here with his General Zhukov
0:53:03 > 0:53:06and said, "Let's leave history to the Greeks and Romans
0:53:06 > 0:53:08"and build a submarine base."
0:53:08 > 0:53:11That sounds like something you might have read in a history book.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13No, I've got it in the notes.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15It's a bit like James Bond.
0:53:15 > 0:53:16I mean, first of all that terrifying,
0:53:16 > 0:53:18death-defying drive and now this.
0:53:20 > 0:53:25I could imagine the Aston Martin going down those zigzag roads.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27I...didn't even open my eyes.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30I had them buried between my knees.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33Yeah, I think...we admit, we were both too frightened to drive it.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36I didn't drive it, Pete the sound recordist did.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38And a sterling job he did, too. Thank you, Pete.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40He did. Gosh. And now this, though.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42I mean, you can imagine looking, binocs down over there
0:53:42 > 0:53:45and see tiny little men running around in black boiler suits
0:53:45 > 0:53:47about to destroy the world.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50And then some sort of alarm sounding as the secret service...
0:53:50 > 0:53:53- Yeah, yeah.- ..start rappelling down the mountain.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02At the top of the pass is a famous restaurant called Sofo's.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06Anyone who's had a holiday here would probably know it.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Sofo - that's him, a good central-casting Bond villain -
0:54:10 > 0:54:15used to be a cook on an Albanian submarine during the Cold War
0:54:15 > 0:54:18and I always say, if you can cook on a submarine
0:54:18 > 0:54:22and still have a happy crew, then you can cook anywhere.
0:54:22 > 0:54:23Sofo describes his food
0:54:23 > 0:54:26as traditional, hearty, no-nonsense Albanian fare.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34- Cheers.- Cheers.- Good health.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37Many, many years of energy to continue on.
0:54:37 > 0:54:40- To you, too, Dave. - Oh, thanks a lot, Ricky.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45Typically in Albania, you just say, "Oh, we'd like a light lunch,"
0:54:45 > 0:54:49but here it is and I'm like a fox in the henhouse because...
0:54:50 > 0:54:54..I've really, really struck sort of mission central here
0:54:54 > 0:54:56because we've got, like, so much local food.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59I just want to run through a few things before I forget them,
0:54:59 > 0:55:01but I'm trying not to.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05Over here we've got wild mountain herbs and vegetables in filo pastry
0:55:05 > 0:55:08and this is breast of lamb stuffed with minced lamb
0:55:08 > 0:55:10and some boiled egg in the middle.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12I really like this.
0:55:12 > 0:55:13It's sort of garlic and yogurt,
0:55:13 > 0:55:17which I think would go really well with the lamb cooked over wood.
0:55:17 > 0:55:18What else have we got?
0:55:18 > 0:55:21Well, we've got a lovely sort of baked cheese dish
0:55:21 > 0:55:24with local pale green peppers and tomato
0:55:24 > 0:55:29and the flavour is so special, lovely salty tartness.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33And this is lambs' brains, just simply lambs' brains in batter
0:55:33 > 0:55:36and deep-fried, which I've just tried.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38This one, I've just got to refer to my notes
0:55:38 > 0:55:40which dropped on the floor - was it ever thus? -
0:55:40 > 0:55:47this is polenta with kidneys, liver, lungs chopped up. Very good.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51And here, kureci - internal organs again, lungs, heart, kidneys,
0:55:51 > 0:55:55wrapped in intestines, cooked on the barbecue.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59Utterly fantastic. A table full of the very best Albanian dishes.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02I'm in heaven. What do you think?
0:56:02 > 0:56:04I'm in heaven, too. I've got offal on the left of me,
0:56:04 > 0:56:08offal on the right and here I am in the middle.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10Tennyson.
0:56:10 > 0:56:11Stealers Wheel.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14- No, no, no, The Charge Of The Light Brigade.- Reservoir Dogs.
0:56:14 > 0:56:15No, no, no.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18"Cannons to the left of us, cannons to the right of us,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21"into the valley of death rode the 600."
0:56:21 > 0:56:23Maybe they were listening to the Stealers Wheel song.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26No, Jack. That's where they got it from.
0:56:36 > 0:56:37Well, it's been lots of fun.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39Lots of fun. Thank you very much.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41'Jack was with me for just a couple of days,
0:56:41 > 0:56:43'then I had to continue my journey
0:56:43 > 0:56:47'crossing the border into northern Greece without him.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49'But we both loved Albania.'
0:56:49 > 0:56:51- See you later.- See you.- Bye.- Bye.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00My trip to Albania was far too short - I realise that now -
0:57:00 > 0:57:05but it is a journey, after all, and I have to move on.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07I loved the food, too.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11It's very basic, but there's nothing wrong with that.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15I think Albania is the one last surviving place in Europe
0:57:15 > 0:57:18where there exists a real sense of adventure.
0:57:18 > 0:57:20There's still an air of innocence about it
0:57:20 > 0:57:23and the people are warm and friendly.
0:57:24 > 0:57:30Combine that with empty beaches, good seafood, lovely mountain dishes
0:57:30 > 0:57:33and I know I'll be coming back and spending a bit longer.
0:57:41 > 0:57:46Next time, I leave Albania and head south to northern Greece.
0:57:46 > 0:57:47What would I do with them?
0:57:47 > 0:57:49Well, I'd put them on a barbecue.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51What would you do with them?
0:57:51 > 0:57:53This is the Greece I know and love.
0:57:53 > 0:57:54I just feel I'm back.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01- That is a fantastic chicken pie. My gosh.- Thank you.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06- You worried about whether I'd like it or not?- Yes.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09Well...that is truly Byzantine. Delish.
0:58:09 > 0:58:11Thank you. Thank you.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15If there's anything more Byronesque than this, I would doubt it.
0:58:15 > 0:58:19Peop... Oh! Excuse me.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22They do know how to cook fish in Greece.
0:58:23 > 0:58:28And so my gastronomic journey from Venice to Istanbul continues.