0:00:04 > 0:00:08It was 1968 when I first came here to San Francisco.
0:00:08 > 0:00:14I wanted to do my own road trip from the United States to the Mexican border
0:00:14 > 0:00:17and beyond. My dad had just died.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19I'd finished school and I had no idea
0:00:19 > 0:00:22what I wanted to do with my life.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27It was the year after the summer of love and things like enchiladas,
0:00:27 > 0:00:32burritos, guacamole, I had only heard of from the radio,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34but they sounded wonderful.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37But it wasn't just the food.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40I wanted to live a little bit dangerously...
0:00:40 > 0:00:41And I did.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47MEXICAN MUSIC
0:00:47 > 0:00:48Mwah!
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Mm!
0:01:10 > 0:01:14In the 1960s there was a song that really caught my imagination.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18It started, "All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20"I've been out for a walk on a winter's day."
0:01:20 > 0:01:24And it was, of course, California Dreaming.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28And it sort of filled me with a desire to come here to California,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31where the sun shone all the time, where the fruit was bigger,
0:01:31 > 0:01:38where the vegetables were riper, and finally, I made it in 1968.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43So, here I am again, starting a journey here in San Francisco and going all
0:01:43 > 0:01:44the way to Mexico.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Because I want to find what has changed,
0:01:47 > 0:01:52what's Californian cooking like and what's the food of Mexico that is so
0:01:52 > 0:01:55much part of my culinary imagination?
0:01:57 > 0:02:00- MICROPHONE:- Ladies and gentlemen, we're taking it down
0:02:00 > 0:02:03to the dock of the bay right here in San Francisco.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06# Sitting in the mornin' sun
0:02:07 > 0:02:12# I'll be sittin' 'til the evening come
0:02:12 > 0:02:15# Watching all the ships roll in
0:02:15 > 0:02:20# Then I watch them roll away again
0:02:20 > 0:02:24# Oh I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay... #
0:02:24 > 0:02:28Is there a better introduction or a more fitting place
0:02:28 > 0:02:30to start my culinary jaunt?
0:02:30 > 0:02:31I don't think so.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33This is Fisherman's Wharf.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36If you like seafood, or Otis, it's a must.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay, Otis Redding.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Right here in San Francisco.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Thank you sir, appreciate that.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51You know what? That song is so good, I might have to do it twice.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02The famous Fisherman's Wharf was started by Sicilian fishermen who came
0:03:02 > 0:03:05during the gold rush of the 1840s.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08It has a similar feel, I think, to Southend,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11with a smidgen of Margate thrown in.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Anyway, instead of cockles and whelks and jellied eels,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19there's cod and grouper with coleslaw, snow crabs,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22fettuccine with scallops, chowder of course,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24and loads of seafood cocktails.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Well, I was last here on Fisherman's Wharf aged 21 and my
0:03:32 > 0:03:34first thought was, how has it changed?
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Well, not a lot. It's got a bit more commercial.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43But what matters to me is they're still selling boiled Dungeness crabs
0:03:43 > 0:03:48and clam chowder. So I bought myself some picked Dungeness crab with some nice
0:03:48 > 0:03:52cocktail sauce. I just really like the way the Americans do a cocktail
0:03:52 > 0:03:56sauce. It's just ketchup and horseradish. It works a treat.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59And this Dungeness crab, wow.
0:03:59 > 0:04:00It's lovely to be back
0:04:01 > 0:04:03here in San Francisco.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07I'm always sort of thinking, it's a small city,
0:04:07 > 0:04:09it's more sort of European in its feel.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13But that's something to be said for many a city that's on the ocean.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17There's a sort of feeling of, I don't know, excitement.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20The one thing about America that I really think,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23every time I get off the plane, I feel excited.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27And a lot of people say, "Oh, America this, America that."
0:04:27 > 0:04:30But I guarantee that most of them, when they get to the States,
0:04:30 > 0:04:31they feel the same way.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34There's something exciting, there's something...
0:04:34 > 0:04:38great anticipation, there's great food, there's great sights, it's lively.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41And San Francisco is that for me.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43It's my city by the bay, too.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51San Francisco is the start of my journey.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55I'm going south, past LA, crossing the border into
0:04:55 > 0:04:59Baja, Mexico and onwards through the mainland,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03ending in Yucatan and the warm waters of the Caribbean.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Most of the time when I first came here, for food I just grabbed what I
0:05:09 > 0:05:13could. A hot dog, a burger, a pizza.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16But one of my foodie friends in the UK... and remember,
0:05:16 > 0:05:20I wasn't even a chef then, I actually wanted to be a DJ.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24..one of my friends suggested that if in San Francisco,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26you've got to go to the Tadich Grill.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30By American standards, it's practically medieval.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33168 years old.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35It's been here ever since the Gold Rush.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38In fact, it's as old as San Francisco
0:05:38 > 0:05:43and their most famous dish is one called Hangtown Fry.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47It's a sort of oyster omelette for those about to die.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49The boss here is David Hanna.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54So it's a bacon, oyster and egg frittata.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Very good. How did it get its name, then?
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Well, Hangtown was a nickname of Placerville, California,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01where they had a jail.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03And obviously, they...
0:06:03 > 0:06:05- Hanged people.- Hung people there, exactly.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08So it was very difficult to transport eggs
0:06:08 > 0:06:12to the Placerville area and to get oysters, fresh oysters,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15from the Pacific there was very expensive, as well.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17So... And it took a lot of time.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19So what people would do who were on death row,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22they would ask for a Hangtown Fry.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26Seems an odd thing to ask for just on the eve of your death!
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Absolutely. But it would extend their life by a few days
0:06:29 > 0:06:33because to get all three of those ingredients in the same place at one time was kind of a feat.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35They're good stories!
0:06:35 > 0:06:37It's a great story and you know, it's a great dish.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40We're one of the very few places that still serve this.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42More important, for me,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47is eating this very traditional Californian dish from
0:06:47 > 0:06:48the Gold Rush days
0:06:48 > 0:06:52in this beautiful restaurant which, I mean, it's just so American.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54This sort of enormous bar.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57It's sensational. With everybody sitting round it eating.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Well, we love it. It's called the dining counter.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02I mean, it's a great place.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05We've had senators from, you know, from Washington DC
0:07:05 > 0:07:07who have come out here and have a meal.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10There are actors, actresses, other politicians.
0:07:10 > 0:07:11People just up the street come in,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13mix and mingle together and enjoy a meal together.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16I was sort of thinking, yeah, I might open a restaurant like this.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18It's just so convivial, really, isn't it?
0:07:18 > 0:07:21You know, you never know who you'll find yourself sitting next to,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23that's the thing.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26I love the menu here
0:07:26 > 0:07:28and this dish is the most sought-after.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33It's a fish stew made with the best of what's landed the night before,
0:07:33 > 0:07:34plus a few clams.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Some say it's from Sicily, or maybe Liguria.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40But anyway, it's definitely Italian.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42I'm really liking this dish.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46It's really simple. It's just a load of seafood, bit of olive oil,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49bit of white wine and their sauce,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52tomato-based sauce, which actually, Barney won't give me the recipe!
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Which I perfectly understand!
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Apparently it's called cioppino and it was a recipe from Italian fishermen
0:07:59 > 0:08:03who chipped in with various seafood, presumably that they'd caught.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05But the other thing I really like about this kitchen is
0:08:05 > 0:08:08it's very hot in here. There's a charcoal grill here,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12a coal grill and this solid top is really, really hot.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17It reminds me of my first kitchen which was similarly hot.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Sometimes it was hellishly hot,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21but I feel quite nostalgic about it now.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29I suppose a very useful by-product of my travels is to find recipes
0:08:29 > 0:08:31that I could cook when I got back home.
0:08:31 > 0:08:37Especially to adapt the ingredients to what we find in our shops and local supermarkets.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42I got the idea for this dish in San Francisco,
0:08:42 > 0:08:47but my version is very much a fish stew, Padstow style.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55The first thing I do in order to make this Italian style stew
0:08:55 > 0:08:57is to peel these raw tiger prawns.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00And they DID come from my local supermarket!
0:09:00 > 0:09:06Take the shells off, like so, and put the skins, the heads, the tails,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09into a well-seasoned fish stock.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15So now to make the base. This is the sauce.
0:09:15 > 0:09:16First of all, some butter.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Now, this isn't an Italian element, I don't think, in this sort of dish.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21This is very much Californian.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23And now some olive oil, plenty of olive oil.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26It really richens it up nicely.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29And garlic. You might be surprised about the amount of garlic,
0:09:29 > 0:09:31but it really does pay off.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33That's about five cloves, that.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36And now some onions, a small onion, all chopped up,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38because it's not going to be strained, this.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42And now some celery. And again, this is very much a Californian element.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44You wouldn't get this in the Italian.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47And neither actually, next, is the green peppers.
0:09:47 > 0:09:48But this makes it different,
0:09:48 > 0:09:54this is the way food moves from country to country and changes slightly.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56There we go. In goes the green peppers.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59And now some white wine, just any old white wine will do.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01You know, any stuff you've got left over,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04don't feel you've got to buy a bottle of wine
0:10:04 > 0:10:06just to make a cioppino.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09There we go. Now I'm just going to let that bubble down a little bit.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Now this is what I call gastrique.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16Actually, the French call it gastrique.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19It's actually red wine vinegar, three or four tablespoons,
0:10:19 > 0:10:20and about a teaspoon of sugar,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23just reduced right down till it's a syrup.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26And it just makes tomato sauce come alive.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28And now oregano.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31That was definitely in the cioppino dish.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34But I think there were some other spices which they wouldn't tell me about,
0:10:34 > 0:10:38but I could certainly pick up oregano.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41And now chilli, and I have taken a bit of a liberty here, too.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45We are on our way to Mexico, so about a teaspoon of chilli.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48And then tomatoes, just tinned tomatoes.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50As I always say, if you're not in the right time of year,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52better to use tinned.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Now salt, about a teaspoon, I suppose.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Needs to be a bit salty, it's a seafood stew.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02And finally pepper, about ten turns of the black pepper mill grinder.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05I never worked out how to actually measure it.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07There we go. Just look at that.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10I mean, I know I use the word a lot, but it's very unctuous.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15And now just to strain the stock in there.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18And I always say, don't throw away your shells,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22you get so much flavour from prawn shells.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24There we go. In that goes.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27And now I'm just going to leave that to simmer away for about another ten, 15 minutes.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Anybody can fillet a monkfish. There's only the one backbone in it.
0:11:36 > 0:11:37And the great thing about monkfish,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41it's so firm and it doesn't sort of shrink up massively when you put it
0:11:41 > 0:11:43into a stew like this.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Interestingly, I've only got three pieces of seafood.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Monkfish, prawns and mussels.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51The Tadich Grill had about 11,
0:11:51 > 0:11:56as far as I can remember. Three types of fish, mussels, clams, crab,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58two types of prawns.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Scallops. Have I left anything out?
0:12:00 > 0:12:05I'm not sure. But when I looked at it, it is a restaurant dish.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09It's magnificent. But nobody's going to cook something like that at home.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12There's too many expensive pieces of seafood in it.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15So I've just stuck with monkfish, prawns and mussels.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Once the fish and the prawns are in, then it's virtually done.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25I'd say about five more minutes and it's ready.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31One thing I always do before I put mussels in an expensive dish like that,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34is just give them a little sniff because if there's one that's died,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37it will taint the whole stew and ruin it.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42When the mussels have opened, it's done.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45Put the lid on to help that process.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49And then to serve, a slice of toasted sourdough.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51That's very San Francisco.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55Garlic, a good, rough rasp of it, and olive oil.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59And now the stew. It's smelling wonderful.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Like a good old-fashioned fish restaurant.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Butter, garlic, and seafood.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14I think fish stews to do at home should be as simple as possible.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Only three main ingredients, the mussels, the prawns, and the monkfish.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23And simple, keep it simple and then it becomes really cheap, too.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37When I first came to San Francisco's Chinatown as a 21-year-old for my
0:13:37 > 0:13:42usual bowl of noodles in soup and pak choi in a lovely oyster sauce,
0:13:42 > 0:13:47I remember thinking that this is a real living, breathing Chinese community.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52It wasn't a tourist Chinatown, at all.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56This is where the Chinese live and run their businesses and have always
0:13:56 > 0:13:59done so, since the days of the Gold Rush,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03the magnet that first drew so many Chinese to America.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07But of course this is now something of a must for everyone who comes here.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16I was very fortunate to meet a man I've heard of for years.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19He's a chef, he has his own TV show, he's brilliant
0:14:19 > 0:14:22and his name is Martin Yan.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25One, two, three.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27This first batch of Chinese immigrants,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30they came over here to work in the gold mines.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33They worked the railroad and then afterwards they opened restaurants,
0:14:33 > 0:14:37chop suey house. And this is why I call it the living Chinatown.
0:14:37 > 0:14:38People actually live here.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41- All the woks in the world.- Wow.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44This is what I call a lolly shop!
0:14:44 > 0:14:47I don't know about you, I actually have six woks in my kitchen!
0:14:47 > 0:14:48I've only got two!
0:14:48 > 0:14:51- But then I'm not Chinese! - Yeah, I love that...
0:14:51 > 0:14:52The toss. The food toss.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54- That is proper stir-fry. - The food tumbles.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57That's the reason why a round bottomed wok is so functional.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01And also the liquid reduces really quickly, so you concentrate the sauce.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04That's right, because the heat is concentrated right here.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06So you can concentrate, you can reduce the heat.
0:15:06 > 0:15:07Just the right amount of sauce.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10And this has got two - a handle and...
0:15:10 > 0:15:12- It's heavy, that one.- Oh, yeah, yeah.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17- But that's more for...- What happens is when you get older, like me.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19You're still young, you're too young!
0:15:19 > 0:15:20Oh...!
0:15:20 > 0:15:23But then when you're not able to lift up with one hand,
0:15:23 > 0:15:25- you can use two hands.- Oh, of course.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27That's the reason why. And then of course, you know, steamers.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29I use steamers a lot. When you want to steam,
0:15:29 > 0:15:31you just put it right on top of here.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34- And the steam...- So you've got a steamer...- Yeah, you can stack them all up.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39And if you want, you can have two dishes together.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44This is good for fish, for ribs, for chicken, for lobster, for crab, everything.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46You'd get a whole lemon sole in there.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50I've learnt everything there is to know about a wok in about five minutes!
0:15:50 > 0:15:54Five minutes. Actually, you could do it in three minutes, or less!
0:15:54 > 0:15:56- Are you hungry?- Yeah! Let's go and have some...
0:15:56 > 0:15:59- Dumplings.- Dumplings.- Dumplings, Shanghai dumpling, OK.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00Yes!
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Now this is cooking theatre.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16These chefs know what turns the locals on and that's making it a cooking spectacle.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21They've been headhunted in China and brought back here
0:16:21 > 0:16:22to San Francisco.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28This chef, Tony Wu, I'm told is the master noodle-maker of the world.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31He is, I think, quite spectacular.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39What he's doing is putting air and tension into the dough,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42to make it elastic enough to split into noodles.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47He makes thousands of strands in five minutes and the more he twists
0:16:47 > 0:16:51and turns and stretches the dough, the thinner the noodles become.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53It's mesmerising.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02If you come here, then try the dumpling dish.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Chef Wu is making spinach dumplings.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08It's just spinach blended with water and mixed with flour.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Now the filling. It's chopped fresh prawns and scallops,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17seasoned with salt and white pepper.
0:17:17 > 0:17:22And he wants to get a consistency that's almost like a thick paste.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26This he puts into the shell, a bit like making ravioli.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34Those little dumplings go into boiling water
0:17:34 > 0:17:36for about eight minutes or so.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42For the sauce, and it's a really good sauce,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45it's two tablespoons of grated ginger
0:17:45 > 0:17:48and the same amount of garlic.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Coriander, chopped spring onions,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55a couple of tablespoons of chilli and garlic sauce.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Chilli oil and also some sesame oil too.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Soy sauce, a good lot, about four tablespoons.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07Then six of white vinegar.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Now sugar, four of those tablespoons.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16And give it a good stir throughout.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18It's a brilliant sauce.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22It's spicy, sweet, and sour
0:18:22 > 0:18:25and it goes so well with these dumplings.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Now, this is for you.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Something that everybody can learn how to do.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32Now, you pick one for me.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Oh, is that polite?
0:18:34 > 0:18:35Beautiful! Yes.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Beautiful. Now then, this is so important.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40- Yeah.- I watched these being made.
0:18:40 > 0:18:41Yeah.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47They're fabulous! So lovely.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50I just wanted to ask you two questions about,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53well, I suppose Chinese food in San Francisco particularly.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Those two dishes, chow mein and chop suey.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00What are they and where did they originate from?
0:19:00 > 0:19:02You know, that's a great question.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04A lot of people always think you know, chop suey, chow mein,
0:19:04 > 0:19:07is very Western.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09Very European. Very American.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Actually, chow means stir-fry.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Mein is noodle.
0:19:14 > 0:19:15Stir-fried noodles.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Pan-fried noodle is chow mein.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19So it's just a way of cooking?
0:19:19 > 0:19:22It's just, we've got fried noodles on the menu here.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Right, how you present the dish and the basic amount of sauce that you put it in.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30So you could never find the definitive chow mein,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32because there isn't such a thing.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34No such thing. Because everybody would do it differently.
0:19:34 > 0:19:35What about chop suey, then?
0:19:35 > 0:19:38Chop means mixture.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40Suey means cut up pieces.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42Basically all the Chinese dishes,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46is a mixture of cut-up pieces in the plate!
0:19:46 > 0:19:50So in the true sense, all the Chinese dishes are chop suey.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Well, I'm blowed. So it just means we've got
0:19:54 > 0:19:55fried this and that?
0:19:55 > 0:19:58- Right.- Yum Cha.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00In Chinese, Ganbei.
0:20:00 > 0:20:01- Ganbei?- Ganbei.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03- That means cheers?- Cheers.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05- Bottoms up.- Bottoms up. Ganbei.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16When you think about it, Chinese food here in San Francisco
0:20:16 > 0:20:18is every bit American as a hamburger,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21the hot dog, and Mum's apple pie.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26But what I wanted to see was how they make the famous fortune cookies.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28I find them really amusing.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31A lovely smell.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Smells good outside. Smells better here.
0:20:34 > 0:20:35It does, doesn't it?
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Now, this is our semi-automatic fortune cookie machine.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44Take a look. It smells good. It's amazing.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Fresh-made cookies always taste better.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48So, what's in them? They're lovely.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Basically it's sugar, butter, flour.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52That's basically it. Very simple.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57And, "Regular and chocolate adult X-rated" fortune cookies.
0:20:57 > 0:20:58Check your fortune.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Hm. I don't think I can repeat that one.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12OK.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16Well, this is a really nice one.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20It says, people find it difficult to resist your persuasive manner.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25But my wife has this thing that whenever you open a fortune cookie, you add
0:21:25 > 0:21:27the phrase, "In bed", afterwards.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30So, now it reads, people find it difficult to resist your persuasive
0:21:30 > 0:21:33- manner in bed.- How about mine? - And yours, Martin, is...
0:21:33 > 0:21:34Check mine.
0:21:34 > 0:21:40.."You'll make many changes before settling satisfactorily in bed."
0:21:40 > 0:21:44It just... It's funny because even kids love it, you know?
0:21:44 > 0:21:45Check this one, check this one.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47- Right.- There's so many fortunes in life.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54"Rely on long-time friends to give you good advice in bed."
0:21:56 > 0:21:58It's so silly.
0:21:58 > 0:21:59- OK, this one means...- You do it.
0:21:59 > 0:22:00- You do it then.- No, this one's...
0:22:01 > 0:22:06"You're lucky because today you'll meet a new-found friend."
0:22:06 > 0:22:07- You!- In bed?
0:22:07 > 0:22:09- No, not in bed.- I don't think so, Martin.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11In restaurant.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35Well, in 1968 when I was here, the film that, well,
0:22:35 > 0:22:39just wiped the board for me was Bullitt.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42People have seen it recently and said, "Oh, it's dated."
0:22:42 > 0:22:46But no film that Steve McQueen ever made could be dated for me.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50But what they all say is that what isn't dated was the car chase going
0:22:50 > 0:22:55down this street - Taylor - is the car chase by which all others are judged.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Right, I've got an urge now just to put my foot down.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02And if you've seen it you know that every time they go over the hill the
0:23:02 > 0:23:03car sort of leaped up
0:23:05 > 0:23:06in the air, but I can't do that now.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Of course not.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14I'm quite proud of the fact the director of such an iconic film
0:23:14 > 0:23:16was a British man, Peter Yates.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Paradoxically, he also directed Sir Cliff's film, Summer Holiday,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24where they all stop work for a week or two,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26hopped on a double-decker bus
0:23:26 > 0:23:29and sang for much of the time in a carefree sort of way.
0:23:35 > 0:23:41What's so wonderful now is I never would have believed that I would be
0:23:41 > 0:23:45driving the same car, a Mustang, down the same street.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Fabulous. And now I should put my foot on the accelerator!
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Look at that!
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Ask a San Franciscan, or indeed any American of a certain age,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22what is the most famous dish you associate with the city?
0:24:22 > 0:24:26And the chances are it would be mac and cheese.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31They say this dish saved thousands from starving during the Depression.
0:24:31 > 0:24:37One box of it satisfied a family of four for 20 cents, and it's lovely.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45So, just pouring my macaroni into some boiling,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47well-salted water.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48And now to make the roux.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52Basically, you just put some butter into this pan.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56And now stirring in some flour.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00About an equal quantity of flour, just stirring that in.
0:25:02 > 0:25:03And now a teaspoon of mustard.
0:25:03 > 0:25:09That just gives the sauce a little piquance, of Dijon mustard, that is.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Don't let that cook too much or else it turns the mustard bitter.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17And now some milk, a lot of milk. Here we go.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Stirring that full cream milk in.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22I always tend to add it in about three thirds
0:25:22 > 0:25:26when making bechamel sauce which, essentially, this is.
0:25:26 > 0:25:27You have to be a bit patient.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29I like jobs like this.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33I used to do gallons of it in the hotel I worked at as a lad.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37There we go. That's thickened up very nicely.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40And just adding a bay leaf here and some nutmeg.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Enough nutmeg that you can really taste it in the final dish.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46And now some cream.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49I really like dishes like this.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52In fact, when you first go to somewhere like California,
0:25:52 > 0:25:53and I noticed this time,
0:25:53 > 0:25:57the Italian food tends to be not like you get in Italy.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00It's generally much richer.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03If you've got a pasta dish, there's always tonnes of sauce
0:26:03 > 0:26:06and the sauce tends to be rather creamy,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09and you think, well, this isn't proper Italian.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13Then you suddenly realise, well, this ain't Italy, it's California.
0:26:13 > 0:26:14And a dish like this, mac and cheese,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17it's very much a Californian sort of dish.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19It's all about excess, I think.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23There's lots of milk in it, lots of cream, lots of cheese,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25and when you eat it, you just think,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28that's what I like about American food.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30There we go.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Now to fry off the pancetta, the bacon.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37We all know macaroni cheese,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41but macaroni cheese with smoked bacon or smoked pancetta
0:26:41 > 0:26:44is something else.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Good chunks of dry-cured, smoky bacon,
0:26:47 > 0:26:54no salty water coming out of it into the pan, now hard fry and out.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56I'm using grated Cheddar.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59I'm told the Americans use Monterey Jack.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03This dish has the honour to be known
0:27:03 > 0:27:06as the American housewife's best friend.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09The United States' president Thomas Jefferson
0:27:09 > 0:27:14loved mac and cheese so much he served it at a state dinner.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16And why not? It's lovely.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23Top with a mixture of Parmesan and breadcrumbs and into a medium to hot
0:27:23 > 0:27:28oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30And that's it.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Oh, god, it smells so good.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39I mean, just that mixture of cheese, hot cheese and bacon,
0:27:39 > 0:27:42a little bit of breadcrumb, a little bit of Parmesan too.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44It is a fabulous dish.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16Well, I feel I need hardly tell you where this is.
0:28:16 > 0:28:17Just look around.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19It's Haight-Ashbury.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24And I came here in 1968, the year after the Summer of Love.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26I was a bit of a serious boy at the time.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30I was 21 and wasn't really interested in marijuana.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35I was more interested in the fact you could get gallon cartons of milk
0:28:35 > 0:28:37in fridges in San Francisco
0:28:37 > 0:28:41and that hamburgers were not just fried onions
0:28:42 > 0:28:45in a hamburger, but you could get mayonnaise and salad,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48and particularly dill pickles.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53And also down at Fisherman's Wharf you could get fantastic Dungeness crab.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58Now, I was a little bit serious, and in fact, my first wife, Jill,
0:28:58 > 0:29:02when I told her I'd been here in 1968,
0:29:02 > 0:29:07she said, "You're probably the only 21-year-old that didn't go to
0:29:07 > 0:29:09Haight-Ashbury and turn on."
0:29:15 > 0:29:20I fancied some oysters and I was told to go to Hog Island,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23about an hour or so north of San Francisco.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26Well, I would have driven twice that distance
0:29:26 > 0:29:28just to have a real bite of the sea.
0:29:34 > 0:29:39I find the countryside in this part of California very appealing.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42There's something about Scotland here, or Ireland.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45It seems so familiar.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49It is, in its own way, very inviting for the traveller,
0:29:49 > 0:29:53for the wandering gourmand in search of something good to eat.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03This is a great thing to do.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Oysters, I know, are not everyone's cup of tea,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09but for me they're a real delight.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11Well, not all of them,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14because so much depends on the quality of the water,
0:30:14 > 0:30:17where they grow up and the delicate cocktail
0:30:17 > 0:30:18between saltwater and fresh.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24I'm no expert but it smells just right here.
0:30:27 > 0:30:28And these are the oysters.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33Compact, lovely texture and colour, and great smell.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37They're the sort of oysters that people who don't know if they like
0:30:37 > 0:30:39oysters or not would love.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42The man who loved them as much as I do
0:30:42 > 0:30:45is the oyster farmer, Terry Sawyer.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51You see, these are the Hog Island Sweetwater Pacific.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53So, I don't know how you open oysters.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55- Just traditionally on the hinge. - Yeah, go to the hinge.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59- Yeah.- And then what we do is we have just a little bit of purchase.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01Yeah, a bit of a worry,
0:31:01 > 0:31:03I always like to say it's a bit of a worry on the end.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Worry, I like that.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08This is in beautiful shape.
0:31:08 > 0:31:09The meat is firm.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12- Yeah.- It's got good colour.
0:31:12 > 0:31:13I want to see that it's actually got
0:31:13 > 0:31:17a certain amount of what we would call fat.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19- It's plump.- That's the fat there, is it?
0:31:19 > 0:31:22Yeah. But certain times of year you'll come in and this will be
0:31:22 > 0:31:24a very clear oyster, and that's just got no flavour.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27This is just ready to go for the market.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29We're not going to look at it the whole time.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31We're going to enjoy this.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33So, this is...
0:31:36 > 0:31:38Ah!
0:31:38 > 0:31:40- What did you get? - That's a good oyster.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43I get... I get minerality, I get saltiness,
0:31:43 > 0:31:45I get sweetness and I get meatiness...
0:31:46 > 0:31:49..and a fragrance, a fresh beautiful fragrance.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51- GULL CRIES - Somebody else agreed there.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53You know, what are we, an hour,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area?
0:31:55 > 0:31:59- Yeah.- And, yet, it's an area that will produce that water quality.
0:31:59 > 0:32:04The plankton that they're feeding on is just rich,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08the water quality is great.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11So, this is what I get to share with you,
0:32:11 > 0:32:14which is an enjoyable way of making a living.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17- Cheers.- Cheers. I've just had two while you've been talking,
0:32:17 > 0:32:19which probably is a bit rude of me.
0:32:19 > 0:32:20You're ahead of me.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23I'll let you get that open and then I'll cheers you.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29- Good.- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:32:33 > 0:32:34Oh.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39I sort of wonder why people don't like oysters because that, honestly,
0:32:39 > 0:32:42is one of the true tastes of the sea really, wouldn't you say?
0:32:42 > 0:32:44It brings me right here every time.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47I can be anywhere and it brings me right back to here.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50Smelling the smell of the weed and the oysters and all that, it's just
0:32:52 > 0:32:54poetry. Poetry.
0:32:54 > 0:32:55Well, you say it better than I do.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58In California - I'll go on the California side -
0:32:58 > 0:32:59we call it a full-body experience.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04Fantastic. That is so typically Californian, isn't it?
0:33:05 > 0:33:10Terry is a devoted oyster man and I love people who love oysters.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14He's sensible enough to open his farming business
0:33:14 > 0:33:16as an alfresco restaurant.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19I mean, you don't need much when you eat oysters.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21A view of the sea will help,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24but this little sauce really helps them slip
0:33:24 > 0:33:25down beautifully.
0:33:28 > 0:33:33It's made up with a chopped, deseeded jalapeno pepper,
0:33:33 > 0:33:36then chopped coriander and then a shallot.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39Shallots go really well with oysters,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42hence shallots with red wine vinegar.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44Now rice vinegar.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46Well, it is California.
0:33:46 > 0:33:47A squeeze of lime
0:33:47 > 0:33:50and then black pepper.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52There's a lot going on there.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Terry calls his sauce hogwash.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01I'm glad I did that.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03It was indeed, as Terry said,
0:34:03 > 0:34:08the most perfect Californian full-bodied experience.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12But now back to the city for a late lunch.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16Funnily enough, the crew don't really like oysters
0:34:16 > 0:34:18but don't get me started on that.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23CHANTING
0:34:26 > 0:34:29One of the things that interested me was to find out how much
0:34:29 > 0:34:34the Californians owe to the Mexicans in cooking.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36And this is what I like about making these films -
0:34:36 > 0:34:40I learn things as I go along and this, I think,
0:34:40 > 0:34:42is very pertinent to my journey.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47It's a tribute to a Mexican hero, Cesar Chavez,
0:34:47 > 0:34:52a man who in the '50s and '60s fought for the rights of thousands
0:34:52 > 0:34:54of Mexican fieldworkers
0:34:54 > 0:34:57in the mighty Salad Bowl of America, California.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03It was for those who planted the seeds, weeded the land,
0:35:03 > 0:35:07watered and nurtured and harvested the crops.
0:35:07 > 0:35:13They who also cleaned the pools, looked after the kids, fed the dogs.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18It was a tough, long battle that inspired generations of Mexicans.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31Today is his day, and in my humble experience
0:35:31 > 0:35:33where there are festivals,
0:35:33 > 0:35:37never mind what country, what culture or creed,
0:35:37 > 0:35:39there is always food nearby.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45I know because of the journey ahead I'll probably be having quite a lot of these.
0:35:45 > 0:35:50But, well, I can't say no.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54I was just looking at the festival out there and this guy came up and said,
0:35:54 > 0:35:56"You should have some tacos in here."
0:35:56 > 0:35:58He said they're the best tacos in San Francisco.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00So I'm just going to try.
0:36:01 > 0:36:02These are, by the way...
0:36:04 > 0:36:07..carnitas. Oh!
0:36:07 > 0:36:08Oh!
0:36:10 > 0:36:13Carnitas come from Michoacan
0:36:13 > 0:36:15and it's pulled pork.
0:36:15 > 0:36:16The pork is cooked really,
0:36:16 > 0:36:21really slowly in lard with a bit of cumin and a bit of orange normally,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24and this is served with some chopped onions,
0:36:24 > 0:36:28some chopped coriander and a bit of chilli and tomato sauce
0:36:28 > 0:36:31and a bit of salsa verde, green chilli sauce.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37Seriously, you would not get a better taco than this in Mexico.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46If you're of a certain age,
0:36:46 > 0:36:49it's impossible when you're here
0:36:49 > 0:36:52not to think of those heady days of the Summer of Love.
0:36:52 > 0:36:57However, for me it's pretty hard not to think of sourdough bread,
0:36:57 > 0:37:02introduced to San Francisco by European bakers during the days of
0:37:02 > 0:37:04the Gold Rush in 1849.
0:37:07 > 0:37:13In fact, the local football team are the 49ers and their official mascot
0:37:13 > 0:37:15is Sourdough Sam.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22Whoops. Slipped on a chip.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26Anyway, sourdough is still alive and well and doing big business
0:37:26 > 0:37:28at the famous Tartine Bakery.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30The head baker is English.
0:37:30 > 0:37:36Richard Hart, a real sourdough evangelist if ever there was one.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38- This is our dough.- Yeah.- It's been sitting here
0:37:38 > 0:37:40for probably three and a half hours.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44- Yeah.- It's going through bulk fermentation stage.
0:37:44 > 0:37:45It's very soft. It's very...
0:37:45 > 0:37:47It's very wet and airy...
0:37:47 > 0:37:49- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - ..and full of life.
0:37:49 > 0:37:50The job of a baker...
0:37:50 > 0:37:52- Yeah.- ..is you're almost like...
0:37:52 > 0:37:55You're like a farmer, you're a yeast farmer.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58And the yeast are your cattle and the dough is your plain.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00And this is a bit of a crazy concept,
0:38:00 > 0:38:02but, like, it's real because it makes you think about the fact
0:38:02 > 0:38:05that you have to look after it like it's alive.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08So, it's not like if you think of, sort of, industrial bakers,
0:38:08 > 0:38:10it's all about timing, it's all about, like,
0:38:10 > 0:38:14retarding the dough and having these special proving things and all that.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18So, here it's kind of like this is the boss. The bread's in charge.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21Like, we believe that we know what we're doing but the reality is this
0:38:21 > 0:38:24- is the boss...- Yeah. - ..and it tells us what to do.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26- Yeah.- And some days it kicks our arses
0:38:26 > 0:38:29- and other days we feel that we're all good.- Yeah.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32- Can we try some?- Yeah, let's try it, let's try it.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38I mean, just look at that. Look at the colour of that
0:38:38 > 0:38:39and also the pockets.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41Pockets, yeah, of air.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45- Yeah.- I mean, that was really, really lively yeast, wasn't it?
0:38:45 > 0:38:46Do you know what I think?
0:38:46 > 0:38:50Sourdough is what this part of California is all about.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53Like, it's this passion you've got.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58- Yeah.- But it's attention to detail and it's back to what is really good for you, you know?
0:38:58 > 0:39:00I've been here from England ten years
0:39:00 > 0:39:02and I walked into another bakery.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05It was a barn on a farm with two wood-burning ovens...
0:39:05 > 0:39:08- Yeah.- ..and it could have been baking at any moment in history.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11And at that moment I was like, OK, I have to learn how to do this.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13Like, I have to do this.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17And you're exactly right, this part of California started that.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20There was a guy called Alan Scott and he was an oven builder...
0:39:20 > 0:39:23- Yeah.- ..and he had toured around this part of Northern California
0:39:23 > 0:39:25building these old wood-burning ovens.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29- Yeah.- And it kind of ignited this bakery movement.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32And getting here ten years ago, it just blew me away
0:39:32 > 0:39:35and I moved from being a chef to a bread-maker,
0:39:35 > 0:39:36and I've never looked back.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38I love it.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46Back home in Padstow I was searching my mind to come up with something
0:39:46 > 0:39:49that would honour a delicious sourdough loaf
0:39:49 > 0:39:51and my wife Sarah suggested this.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55The ultimate Californian open sandwich.
0:39:55 > 0:39:56Her favourite.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Well, here's some bread that we've made in our own bakery.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06I must confess I couldn't make it as good as that
0:40:06 > 0:40:08but it looks pretty Californian.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10It's got that lovely dark colour to it.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13So, I'm just taking a slice or two here.
0:40:13 > 0:40:14Look at the bubbles in that.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20And I'm just going to brush them now with a little bit of olive oil,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23one side and then the other,
0:40:23 > 0:40:24and put them on my griddle here.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28Just a little bit of a toast, but not too much.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32So just trying to get a few bar marks in this hot griddle pan.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39I think it's impossible to overstate the importance of sourdough
0:40:39 > 0:40:42to California. I mean, it came to California...
0:40:43 > 0:40:47..in 1849, the 49ers, you know, the Gold Rush.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50Apparently, it was a couple of French bakers that brought it over,
0:40:50 > 0:40:54and of course, it was perfect food for the gold miners because it keeps for ever.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58Do you know, I keep sourdough for about two or three months
0:40:58 > 0:40:59in the fridge in a little bag.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02That's how long it will keep without going mouldy.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06Right, then. Onto my chopping board
0:41:06 > 0:41:10and now I asked my wife, Sass - the perfect open sandwich?
0:41:10 > 0:41:13Sydney, California, very similar, and that's where she comes from.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16She said, well, first of all, some good lettuce.
0:41:16 > 0:41:21So, just chiffonade these little baby gem lettuces,
0:41:21 > 0:41:24sprinkle those on top of the bread.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28And then she said this is very, very important.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30Chicken breast, but they mustn't be grilled,
0:41:30 > 0:41:33they've got to be poached so they're nice and moist.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35So I've done that. Thin slices,
0:41:35 > 0:41:37there you go, chicken breast.
0:41:39 > 0:41:40And some good tomatoes.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43Well, this time of year in the UK we've got Heirloom tomatoes.
0:41:43 > 0:41:48You know the ones, lovely fancy colours - greens, browns, reds.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50Thinly sliced as possible.
0:41:50 > 0:41:51Just layer those on.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55That's beginning to look rather nice.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Now, avocado. Now, the thing I want to say about avocado -
0:41:58 > 0:42:03I read recently that avocados cause more domestic accidents in
0:42:03 > 0:42:05the kitchen currently than anything else,
0:42:05 > 0:42:08so this is how you cut up an avocado.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Put it on the chopping board.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13Cut round. Make sure you're cutting towards the chopping board,
0:42:13 > 0:42:14not towards your hand.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16Cut round like that.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19Open it up and then just take your knife
0:42:19 > 0:42:22and take the heel of your knife and just above the heel,
0:42:22 > 0:42:26cut into the stone and then just knock it against
0:42:26 > 0:42:28a chopping board to knock the stone off.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31And now this is the easiest way to take an avocado out of its skin.
0:42:31 > 0:42:37You just get a dessert spoon and scoop it out like that.
0:42:37 > 0:42:38And now slice it.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41It is very ripe, so it's difficult to get neat slices
0:42:41 > 0:42:47but it's almost, the neater the slices the underripe the avocado, and vice versa.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49So that goes on like that.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54Now, a little bit of salt, not too much, and some black pepper.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00And finally some mayonnaise, but not any old mayonnaise.
0:43:00 > 0:43:01It's got to be Mexican.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03So much of what you see in California
0:43:03 > 0:43:05is influenced by Mexican cuisine.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08So, I'm making chipotle mayonnaise.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10First of all, sour cream.
0:43:10 > 0:43:16Equal quantities of sour cream and mayonnaise.
0:43:16 > 0:43:21And now the wonder ingredient, which is called chipotles in adobo,
0:43:21 > 0:43:26and that's basically chipotle chillies cooked down
0:43:26 > 0:43:28with a tomato and garlic sauce
0:43:28 > 0:43:33till it's got a really deep, smoky, rich flavour.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36Fabulous. And now just drizzle that on top.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39Look at that. I mean, that is so appetising.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41That is California to me.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43Fabulous.
0:43:51 > 0:43:55It's my last day here and I've got one final trip before I leave
0:43:55 > 0:44:00San Francisco on my journey south to Mexico, and it's Berkeley,
0:44:00 > 0:44:04about 40 minutes from the city, and the famous Chez Panisse,
0:44:04 > 0:44:08the restaurant of Alice Waters.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12She's a bit of a hero to me because she thinks about food the same way as I do.
0:44:12 > 0:44:17It's all about buying local and cooking what's available from
0:44:17 > 0:44:21the market, or fish market, or fisherman that day.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23I'm really excited.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28I look upon Alice as the nearest America has
0:44:28 > 0:44:30to our own Elizabeth David,
0:44:30 > 0:44:34and therefore, young chefs flock here to work and learn
0:44:34 > 0:44:37in her - I must say, very agreeable - kitchen.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40It's full of the most fabulous fresh produce,
0:44:40 > 0:44:42from rose petals to rhubarb.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48She tastes all the new seasonal dishes the young chefs make.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53This is a sweet pea ravioli with ricotta and morel mushrooms.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58Simple, not too many ingredients, and all very much in season.
0:45:04 > 0:45:05My kind of ravioli.
0:45:08 > 0:45:09I hate to say this
0:45:09 > 0:45:13but maybe the peas want to be cooked one tiny bit more.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15- OK. OK.- They're just a little...
0:45:15 > 0:45:19Taste them. They're just a little crunchy.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21Just that one little thing,
0:45:21 > 0:45:22but it's delicious.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26This restaurant's been here since the early '70s
0:45:26 > 0:45:30but it was borne out of a very simple eating experience
0:45:30 > 0:45:32in France nearly 50 years ago.
0:45:34 > 0:45:35Gosh, I love these.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Do you call them favas? We call them broad beans.
0:45:38 > 0:45:39Broad beans.
0:45:39 > 0:45:44I must say, I feel a bit nervous, because when I set out my wish list
0:45:44 > 0:45:46before we even travelled here,
0:45:46 > 0:45:50the first thing I put down was a chat with Alice Waters.
0:45:50 > 0:45:51I didn't think we'd meet.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55I thought it was a real outside bet, but here we are.
0:45:56 > 0:46:01Well, I'm so delighted to be here, Alice, because, I mean,
0:46:01 > 0:46:03as you... Well, you probably don't know,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05but it means an awful lot to me to meet you
0:46:05 > 0:46:07because you're just so...
0:46:07 > 0:46:12..You're so important in the sort of food that I love to eat.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14Simple local food.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18Just tell me that sort of epiphany moment, if you like,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21when you suddenly saw the future.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25That epiphany kind of happened out in Brittany
0:46:25 > 0:46:29when I went to a little tiny French restaurant
0:46:29 > 0:46:32and I had this really perfect lunch.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34And it was so simple.
0:46:34 > 0:46:41It was a piece of melon and some prosciutto, or ham, French ham.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43And I had a trout with almonds,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45and I had a raspberry tart.
0:46:45 > 0:46:50And I thought, well, why are these so delicious?
0:46:50 > 0:46:54And I came back home and tried to make that raspberry tart
0:46:54 > 0:46:57but I couldn't find the raspberries.
0:46:57 > 0:47:03And then I wanted to find trout and there wasn't any trout.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07And it was like that, that I was on a search for taste.
0:47:07 > 0:47:13And at the beginning of the restaurant, I wanted that thing.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18And I ended up finding it at the doorsteps
0:47:18 > 0:47:22of the local organic farmers.
0:47:22 > 0:47:27And then we became friends and the rest is history, really.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31Well, I mean, you know how important you are to food,
0:47:31 > 0:47:36and certainly the food I love to eat and cook, and so many other people.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40I suppose it was almost a case of being in the right place
0:47:40 > 0:47:41at the right time in California.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45I just thought I would open a restaurant for my friends.
0:47:45 > 0:47:50I never thought that this would be anything more than that.
0:47:50 > 0:47:58Truly, I didn't. But because it was in such contrast to a fast food world out there,
0:47:58 > 0:48:01what we were doing just seemed...
0:48:02 > 0:48:08Almost, you know, like you were going into somebody's house,
0:48:08 > 0:48:10and just eating at home
0:48:10 > 0:48:13and so almost quaint and naive.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19And I wanted everybody to have a good time, so we only had one menu.
0:48:19 > 0:48:25So we were pushed very quickly to finding ingredients
0:48:25 > 0:48:28to make the menu interesting.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30I think that
0:48:31 > 0:48:36was how we started to build this network of suppliers.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42Well, that's how food should be, completely uncluttered by design,
0:48:42 > 0:48:44fancy tricks, latest trends, just good,
0:48:44 > 0:48:48fresh ingredients, prepared expertly, with care.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54Take this rhubarb tart.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58I couldn't take my eyes off the preparation here.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02She is using orange zest, sugar,
0:49:02 > 0:49:06new season's rhubarb, picked that morning,
0:49:06 > 0:49:09and juice from the orange.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12A bit of white, sweet wine...
0:49:12 > 0:49:14Now, this is probably a recipe that goes back
0:49:14 > 0:49:17maybe before the French Revolution.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21Alice was never taken by the fancy restaurants of Paris.
0:49:21 > 0:49:26She loved the small, no-menu places of the French countryside
0:49:26 > 0:49:30but cooked whatever was fresh that morning from the market.
0:49:30 > 0:49:34It was so simple, as simple as apple pie.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42So, I've watched all the stages of this being made by Laura.
0:49:42 > 0:49:43Now to taste.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47The taste is wonderful,
0:49:47 > 0:49:49it's very lovely vanilla ice cream.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53I think what's so special about it
0:49:53 > 0:49:54is it's so crisp.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56And it's sweet
0:49:56 > 0:49:57but it's not too sweet.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59It's the sort of pud,
0:49:59 > 0:50:02the sort of pud I absolutely love.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25So, now I'm heading south to the coastal town of Monterey.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27When I came here 50 years ago,
0:50:27 > 0:50:31most of the travelling was done on the bus.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34Greyhound buses were featured in loads of films then,
0:50:34 > 0:50:36and they were regarded as cool.
0:50:36 > 0:50:41However, I think it's fair to say we spent far too long at Chez Panisse,
0:50:41 > 0:50:43and the sky is starting to darken.
0:50:46 > 0:50:50There are prettier routes, but the hotel is beckoning.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53That and the prospect of a nice, cold beer.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10For some reason, I didn't come here
0:51:10 > 0:51:13on my earlier travels as a 21-year-old.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17I was in too much of a hurry, I think, to get to Mexico.
0:51:17 > 0:51:19Anyway, I wish I had,
0:51:19 > 0:51:23simply to catch the last days of the famous Cannery Row,
0:51:23 > 0:51:26when sardines were in their plenty.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29It's a pretty rich part of the world, this.
0:51:31 > 0:51:32First, the Gold Rush.
0:51:32 > 0:51:37Then 50 years or so later, the sardine explosion.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40This, of course, provided the perfect backdrop
0:51:40 > 0:51:43for the writer John Steinbeck's Cannery Row.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48The story relied on a group of disparate characters
0:51:48 > 0:51:51led by a lovable rogue called Mack.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55All their lives revolved around the canning factories,
0:51:55 > 0:51:58and it was set in the days of the Depression.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03It was a sort of Under Milk Wood, but set on a Californian shore.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11I can't believe there's many a person of my age or probably younger
0:52:11 > 0:52:14that hasn't read John Steinbeck's Cannery Row.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18When I read it as a teenager, I just wanted to be in that world
0:52:18 > 0:52:21of Doc and Mack and his collection
0:52:21 > 0:52:25of ne'er-do-wells in the Palace Flophouse Grill.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29It was a really gritty book about Cannery Row.
0:52:29 > 0:52:33I mean, Steinbeck started the whole book by saying,
0:52:33 > 0:52:38"A poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of life."
0:52:38 > 0:52:41Actually, when I hear those words and read those words,
0:52:41 > 0:52:45it's a bit like many a British fishing port,
0:52:45 > 0:52:49and indeed many a British fishing port that has lost its fish.
0:52:49 > 0:52:54Because that's what happened here in Cannery Row. The sardines went.
0:52:54 > 0:52:59Nobody quite knows why. Some people think the current just changed
0:52:59 > 0:53:01and the fish went elsewhere.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03Perhaps a bit like Cornish pilchards.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06But maybe the answer is a little more simple than that.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09A local marine biologist here was asked about that,
0:53:09 > 0:53:15what happened to the sardines, and he said, "They are all in tins."
0:53:15 > 0:53:19I met with a local restaurateur, Ted Balestreri,
0:53:19 > 0:53:21who was one of the first to set up a restaurant
0:53:21 > 0:53:25in an old abandoned canteen for the factory workers.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28When you opened, what was Cannery Row like?
0:53:28 > 0:53:30There was nothing here. It was all canneries.
0:53:30 > 0:53:31I don't know if you realise,
0:53:31 > 0:53:34this was the sardine capital of the world.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37Eight blocks of canneries, all deserted.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40One was still going, the Hovden Cannery,
0:53:40 > 0:53:42where now the aquarium sits.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46Eight blocks deserted, so why did you open a restaurant here?
0:53:46 > 0:53:48My partner and myself, 27, 28 years old,
0:53:48 > 0:53:50that's the only rent we could afford.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52But you opened in 1968?
0:53:52 > 0:53:54October 2nd, 1968.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57We flipped the lights on, didn't know if anyone was going to come in.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59I haven't been to California since 1968.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02I never came here in 1968. I went to San Francisco.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06Good thing we don't have to depend on you to make a living, Rick.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08You are a little light on the tourism department.
0:54:08 > 0:54:09Well...
0:54:11 > 0:54:15I suppose it's because it would have been, in its rundown way,
0:54:15 > 0:54:17it would have had a lot of atmosphere, wouldn't it?
0:54:17 > 0:54:20Oh, it was the kind of place that nobody knew about,
0:54:20 > 0:54:22- it was your special place.- Yeah.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24We had a saying, then -
0:54:24 > 0:54:27if we made you feel at home, we made a million-dollar mistake.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29Our job is to make you feel better at home.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31Or why would you go out?
0:54:31 > 0:54:33Why would you go out?
0:54:33 > 0:54:36We never, ever advertised home-cooked meals.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38If you and I can't do a better job than that,
0:54:38 > 0:54:40then they might as well stay home.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42But I have to ask you something.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44You know, when you would come in, Rick,
0:54:44 > 0:54:48you'd come to the restaurant 20 years ago, you know, shirt, tie...
0:54:48 > 0:54:50I would allow two hours for dinner.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53You would dine. People don't dine any more, they eat.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55We have lost the ability, Rick.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57Where did it go?
0:54:57 > 0:54:58Everybody is like...
0:54:58 > 0:55:00- Like this.- Yeah.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02I'm doing this all the time as well, now.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05Absolutely. Absolutely, I just wanted to check you out,
0:55:05 > 0:55:06now you'll get a reservation.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11But, I mean. If you don't get back a little sooner,
0:55:11 > 0:55:13I'm going to scratch you from the list.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16Ted, we've all got too much, that's the thing.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20We've got too many things and not enough time.
0:55:20 > 0:55:21Too many things
0:55:21 > 0:55:23and not enough time.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25My dad used to say, you know, I'm proud of you,
0:55:25 > 0:55:29because you did what we call the American dream.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32A man or a woman who never had a chance, never took a chance.
0:55:33 > 0:55:35And you did and I'm proud of you, Rick.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37I'm proud of you, too.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40- We've got a lot in common.- We do.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42- We do.- Yeah.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44It's about time. How come it took you so long to get to see Steinbeck?
0:55:44 > 0:55:46I don't know.
0:55:46 > 0:55:48If I depended on you, I'd go broke.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52I found Ted very entertaining.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55I'm sure he won't take this the wrong way,
0:55:55 > 0:55:59but he could take a significant part in the series The Sopranos.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02I said, Ted, don't take this the wrong way.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05It's a compliment!
0:56:05 > 0:56:07Welcome to the sardine factory, Rick.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09- Yes. Lovely.- By the way, right over here,
0:56:09 > 0:56:12that bar is where Clint Eastwood has his seat.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15That's where he directed his first movie, Play Misty.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18Gosh. Well, I...
0:56:20 > 0:56:21We have five different dining rooms.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24I want you to come by and meet my partner, the chef.
0:56:24 > 0:56:25Oh, good stuff.
0:56:27 > 0:56:31This is Ted's long-time partner, Bert Curtino.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34He is cooking one of the restaurant's specialities,
0:56:34 > 0:56:37sand dabs with breadcrumbs and Parmesan.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45Then, in another pan,
0:56:45 > 0:56:49he cooks some Swiss chard with the tough stalks removed,
0:56:49 > 0:56:53fried gently in butter with shallots and seasoned.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00Now the fish, I can't really say I recognise it,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03but they look like lovely fillets.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06I bet this is the most popular dish on the menu,
0:57:06 > 0:57:08because it is what it is, it's simple.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12He naps the dabs with their own maitre d' butter sauce,
0:57:12 > 0:57:13and that's it.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17I must say, when I heard about sand dabs,
0:57:17 > 0:57:19I thought I have got to taste these.
0:57:19 > 0:57:20I have read about them,
0:57:20 > 0:57:23but I've never tasted a sand dab before.
0:57:26 > 0:57:27What have I been missing
0:57:27 > 0:57:32- all my life? I love the seasoned flour.- It's really light.
0:57:32 > 0:57:35You probably know our Dover sole.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38Yeah, it's one of the finest fish in the world, the Dover sole.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41I've got to say, we have a little competition with our sand dab,
0:57:41 > 0:57:42it's our Dover sole.
0:57:42 > 0:57:43You've got good taste, Rick.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50Well, it's time to say goodbye to my new friends, Ted and Bert.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53Men after my own heart, I feel.
0:57:56 > 0:58:01Because now I'm heading south, through the Salad Bowl of America.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05First stop Pismo Beach, for clam chowder.
0:58:05 > 0:58:06I'll take in the vineyards,
0:58:06 > 0:58:10particularly because the Pinot Noir is so famous here.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15I'll do my best to enjoy the restaurants and bars of Los Angeles.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19And I'll even pay homage at one of the settings
0:58:19 > 0:58:22for my favourite film, Some Like It Hot...
0:58:23 > 0:58:25..before I hit the Mexican border.