San Francisco Floyd's American Pie

When the shadow of the grasshopper

falls across the tail of the field mouse

on green, slimy grass,

and a red sun rises above the western horizon,

silhouetting a young and tautly-muscled Indian warrior,

perched with a bow and arrow,

cocked and aimed straight at you,

then it's time for another Martini.

AMERICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS

We were shocked when the news of the earthquake broke.

San Francisco had had such happy memories for us.

Happy, at least, all of those who took part in this programme,

we have discovered are alive and well.

Apart from the Golden Gate Bridge and Frisco Bay, I knew little

of the place. So I was anxious to get down to the Fisherman's Wharf

and see if it was all it was all they cracked it up to be.

So, hopping onto a cable car,

you trundle down the precipitous hills, famous for car chases

in countless cop movies, heading for the Frisco Bay. ..Sorry, Otis.

Actually, Fisherman's Wharf was full of wonderful smells of shellfish

and prawns and clam chowder and the food here was fresh and honest.

However, I didn't think the authorities had showered

this historic area with a great deal of love and affection.

It was, quite frankly, a bit tatty,

but the Dungeness crab was brilliant.

Happily, the Italians have turned this quarter into a Little Venice,

full of fish restaurants. One of the oldest is Alioto's,

where I went to sample that unique Sicilian atmosphere,

where well-groomed men in dark suits talk hard deals in soft voices

over a plate of cioppino, a great family dish. Get it?

So, not even pausing for a merry slurp,

on with the cioppino-cooking sketch.

Cioppino is the signature dish of the Italian section

of Fisherman's Wharf. It is basically a fish stew.

So, without further ado,

bit difficult here cos it is a busy kitchen and they are working,

some freshly-made, but uncooked, tomato sauce,

some fish stock, finely shopped onions,

carrots, a wonderful Frisco Bay fresh crab,

sole fillets, fresh prawns,

clams, garlic,

thyme, basil, red pepper, parsley, olive oil

and over here there is a saucepan.

So, in we go with a little bit of oil.

Try and get the gas up to maximum there.

And we'll put a small handful of carrots in.

Let them sweat off in the olive oil.

Followed by a small handful of onions.

Usual basic trinity of making things, you know,

onions, garlic, tomatoes.

We've seen it throughout America, these three important ingredients.

It's been peppers and leeks in other parts,

here, it's garlic, onions and carrots.

Let them soften down and sweat down, OK?

Then, into that we'll add some of our fresh tomato -

but uncooked - sauce.

Like that.

Little stir. That's Jan working away behind me. He's the head chef here.

A very accommodating friend, I must say.

One side of French fries in the fryer, please!

Then some fish stock into that.

I didn't make this fish stock, but you know the deal. Up to me, Clive -

fish heads, tails, bones, water, bay leaf, onion, carrot, clove,

simmered for 20 minutes or so.

And also don't forget, always a good tip, this is the kind of stuff

you can freeze in ice cubes in your deepfreeze,

so that you have stock on hand.

Good. Right, what did I say we needed next?

We need some white fish next.

Sole fillets - chopped up.

We want to make this rich and luxurious,

cos we are in California, after all, so we'll whack a lot in.

Stay with that, Clive, for a second.

In go my lovely clams.

-What are you doing here, Jan?

-Savoy stock.

We have some fresh rainbow trout, and we serve it with this sauce.

-Beautiful.

-It's made with onions, fresh mushrooms, shallots,

white wine, lemon juice.

And we garnish it with prawns right on top.

Had to bring Jan in there because there's no point pretending

that this is a set-up shot. I mean, this is a working kitchen.

They are serving 400 meals over this lunchtime right now,

and, as usual, Floyd's in the middle being a nuisance!

Anyway, where was I? My little spices and herbs can go in now.

Over here.

Red chilli pepper, to make it a little bit spicy,

fresh basil to give it that lovely Mediterranean flavour,

even though we're in California, and some ground thyme.

I, personally, would like to use fresh thyme, but there we are.

Also, a load of lovely, fresh, chopped parsley.

The clams are beginning to open, the white fish is cooking,

so, we can now add our prawns,

which won't take very long. In they go.

Like so.

Then I think we should add a little drop of white wine.

To me, first of all!

Always check it's good enough to cook with, and it is!

A drop of that in there.

And then, ultimately, our crab.

Fresh Frisco Bay crab claws. In they go.

Look at that!

Sole, prawns, crabs, clams - the whole bit.

That will now simmer away for 15-20 minutes.

The next time you see it, I'll be conducting one of my brilliant

off-the-cuff interviews about fruity passion, love and tenderness,

about food on the West Coast.

I so enjoyed my San Francisco mini-break

that I told my chum Barry about it.

He got so excited he wants to read you this commentary.

Here, Rome, Naples, Milan and Sorrento

blend in the mists of the Pacific coast.

In the shadow of the Golden Gate,

the sounds, colours and scents of Italy excite the eye

and stimulate the appetite.

That was really quite good, can you say a bit more?

Here, Rome, Naples, Milan and Sorrento

blend in the mists of the Pacific coast.

In the shadow of the Golden Gate,

the words, sounds, colours and scents of Italy

excite the eye and, again, stimulate the appetite.

This was really good. I'm just sorry you couldn't have been there,

you'd really have enjoyed it, cos the food was good.

Cor, that looks splendid!

Thanks, Barry, it was. The cioppino turned out wonderfully,

and during the cooking, I added a few mussels from my very latest chum

Michael Corl... I mean, Nunzio Alioto, the proprietor.

That's very good. You know, Fisherman's Wharf, it's interesting.

In the beginning, when Fisherman's Wharf established itself

about 60 years ago,

all the people that come here were primarily from Sicily or Italy.

Consequently, the food being very spicy and very flavourful.

I must say, you did an excellent job.

It's reminiscent of the old style and the old school of cooking

with wonderful spices and tomato-y, peasantry food. It's very nice.

Walking around here, if you squint your eyes, close down a little bit,

-and mute your ears, you could think you were in Italy.

-That's right.

Yes, very much so.

What brought the Italians and the Sicilians here in the first place?

An opportunity in America to do better than what they were doing

in the old country. When my grandfather came here

he was a fisherman. Left Sicily, he came over with his brothers,

the former Mayor of San Francisco, who was Joe Alioto,

his dad sent for him. Came over, started a little fish stand here.

Family now is four generations down the road, 60 years in this location

and still preparing the foods of our native country.

And will your kids take on, when you...?

I don't know, I hope not!

But most likely.

It's a hard business, it's a lot of hours. But it's fun.

Going flat out here on the home straight are my very latest chums,

Forrest Tancer and his girlfriend Joy Sterling,

who are doing a high-speed check their grapes,

some of which we made into a sparkling wine

here at the Iron Horse Winery, in the Sonoma Valley.

Superb. At breakfast time this morning, the director said we'd do

a Californian barbecue.

I said that's boring cos they all know what that is, you know,

over-marinated ribs, greasy hamburgers, loads of fried onions,

and stuff like that. But I agreed...

But look at this lot, Clive!

Is this California barbecue or is this Provence?

I mean, take the bread for a start. Locally-baked around here.

This is a fougasse, little lard pieces inside there.

You get that in Provence.

Absolutely amazed to find it here in California.

Look at these vegetables. They could have come from Avignon!

Freshly caught salmon, just landed this morning.

Lamb that would make any farmer in Wales or even Provence

really thrilled.

Quail, cheeses. When I first glanced at these - up to me, please, Clive -

about five minutes ago I arrived here and I thought,

"Hello, I've been had again!"

Because the Americans are a cheat race sometimes, aren't they?

They copy things and all that kind of stuff.

So, I naturally assumed all the cheeses were imported. Not so.

Look at them! These are all locally-made goat's cheeses.

Here is a locally-made blue cheese.

Let's taste that, because it's fascinating to find this stuff here.

Quite honestly, a Bleu d'Auvergne or a Roquefort would come third

if this was judged by international panellists like myself.

Take a look at this - a hard cheese dried with cocoa around it -

very odd! But look at this.

Are we in the Pyrenees or are we in California?

Blue oyster mushrooms, cinnamon caps, shitake, and blanc puffballs.

All to be used. And what do I use?

I mean, this is true, we always beg, borrow and steal kitchens.

They throw this lot at me and say,

"Oh, look, the film's expensive, the crew are getting tired.

"For heaven's sake, cook something inspirational immediately!"

So I put on my inspirational jacket. Just in case the taxman's watching,

I do have to wear these costumes from time to time.

So, what will we do? We'll do some lamb.

Very easy. This is loin of best California lamb. We need a knife.

Down here a moment, Clive!

California, San Francisco, all that kind of stuff,

is to do with wild flowers. Remember the old song?

"If you're going to San Francisco?" Still with me? You looked confused.

"Wear a flower in your ear." Well, I'm not going to wear them in my ear

I'm going to cook with them.

I've marinated these mushrooms,

some asparagus in wine vinegar and olive oil, little leeks,

but, most importantly, the lamb here.

So, I cut these into little escalopes. Like that.

Just dip them into the olive oil to give them a little bit of fat.

As they go on to the grill, which they will,

and they're going to cook only for a minute or two on each side.

You're going to go whizzing round the countryside and look at things,

and I'm going to prepare a super sauce from these lemons.

They're called Meyer lemons. I've never seen these before.

They're a cross between a tangerine and a lemon. You can eat them,

make a sauce, put them into drinks, much more importantly.

I'm going to create a wonderful sauce.

So, for the moment, our little bits of lamb go onto here.

And, it's worth noting...

that this perfect fire - get close up - that's exactly how

a barbecue fire should be.

Especially if you make them from vine roots. Absolutely superb!

Talking of vine roots,

go and have a spin round the Napa Valley and the Sonoma Valley

and see how the Californians

are coming first in the world with wine-making.

I was so impressed by the vineyards of northern California

that I told my friend Barry about it in the pub when I got back

and he was so impressed too

that he wrote this piece commentary, which he wants to read to you now.

Thank you.

Chardonnay, Pinot Noir - names as resonant as Provence

with the artistry of the finest wine-making.

Carefully selected clones from Oregon and California,

some for sparkling and some for still wines,

have been brought to Iron Horse to increase

the complexity of wines nurtured here.

There's experimentation, too. The variety Vionnier...

That's absolutely brilliant, Barry,

I think they've got the drift. He's really good at commentary, isn't he?

Anyway, let's get back to the cooking!

There's a lovely little portrait of California on the grill.

Succulent leeks being grilled, asparagus,

little brochettes of mushroom,

kumquats, sage and garlic.

A drop of lemon juice.

Put it into my double saucepan like that.

Then I put in some eggs - little fresh pullets' eggs from here.

Whisk those in.

And here, melted gently, some good California butter.

Just whisked in. This will take a second or two to do. Stay with it!

Up here, Clive! The gas on this thing is completely out of control,

and these refined little sauces need the subtlest of touches!

After waiting for you lot to go round the wineries

and the vineyards, I got a bit grumpy when they came back late...

Ah, I've done it!

Right. Beautiful consistency!

Let me just taste that.

Those Meyer lemons give that a supreme flavour.

Actually, it's the best egg liaison sauce I've ever made!

Next time you see this dish I shall probably be sitting in the middle of

a field with cornflowers, daffodils in my hair and stuff like that,

enjoying myself and having a deep

and meaningful philosophical conversation about California wine.

Who did you say this chap was?

-It's me, you fool.

-No, the chap on the right.

-Oh, sorry.

Forrest Tancer he is.

-He's the proprietor.

-Oh, yes.

What do you think?

Well, the fascinating thing is the garlic.

It's such a wonderful complement to those mushrooms.

And then getting a little bit of the Meyer lemon in there is just...

Brings forward this tremendous flavour.

I mean, it's so fresh and so delicious.

-This really is a springtime dish, isn't it?

-It really is, yeah.

Listen, you've had some big people drinking this stuff, haven't you?

Yeah, we have.

You know, the way I think about this,

with Gorbachev's and Reagan's summits,

two of them having this same wine used at both of those events

and, to me, I think perhaps the...

You know, it's wonderful to make great wine,

but the thought of having wine that's made to toast world peace

is beyond comprehension. I mean, that is...

If they actually enjoyed it and they got a little bit of...

of the high of the great wine that it is,

and they said, "Let's shake on it."

FIREWORKS EXPLODE

I love Chinese food. Manchester and London have brilliant Chinatowns.

But my guide, Shirley Fong Torres,

reckons Frisco is the business. We'll see!

Chinatown, I don't know whether you know this or not...

-I know nothing about it at all.

-It's like a community in itself.

It's like a little Hong Kong.

So you don't have to buy a ticket for Hong Kong, you just come to

San Francisco's Chinatown! There are 30,000-40,000 people living here.

And back in the 1800s, when the Chinese first came here,

they were really isolated in a five-block area,

and so they banded together as a community.

And that is our Chinatown developed.

Today, it's 24 blocks.

At each block you see restaurants galore. We love to eat!

Lots of food, lots of shops, jewellery shops, banks.

Cos we're also frugal people, so we like to save our money.

Are there Chinese bandits as well, like gangs and tongs, and things?

Those days are, as far as I'm concerned, pretty much past.

Back in the late '60s and early '70s, we had a horrible time with gang wars

and extortion. We did have that element, there's no denying it.

However, today Chinatown's very safe, thank goodness!

We really feel comfortable walking around, day or night.

It's just...

very colourful, with a lot of red, green and gold.

Shirley took me all over town.

But I was so impressed by the Dim Sum Palace

that I told my friend Barry about it in the Chinese restaurant.

And he was so impressed too that he wrote this piece of commentary,

which he wants to read to you now.

Thank you. Prawns in snowy batter,

fresh, minced water chestnut, pork buns and chickens' feet.

Names resonant with the ambience of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.

For 1,000 customers the carnival atmosphere of the Orient

comes to this teahouse in San Francisco.

They surrender to the dim sim, or "heart's delight",

a walking cafeteria of number seven, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce,

-number five, Singapore noodles...

-..To me, they're so touristy

and so common. I'd rather get this item,

which is a shrimp and Chinese parsley and chives, a turnover.

It's deep-fried. It's excellent.

Here, I would rather try this. SHE SPEAKS IN NATIVE TONGUE

This is a vegetarian roe.

What's neat about it, Keith, is that the wrapper

is not the typical wrapper, but instead, it's made with soy bean.

So even though it's deep-fried, it's kind of healthy.

-What are these?

-Hello!

Oh, right, the rice noodle roll again

in two different contexts. This particular one is filled with shrimp

and green onions and chives. I believe it has yellow chives.

-And this one has barbecued pork.

-Pork, right.

-Would you rather have seafood or pork?

-Pork, please.

-All right.

This one is the same type of rice noodle

and it's stir-fried into a warm dish with baby shrimp,

shitake mushrooms, carrots and barbecued pork.

-I'm in heaven!

-You like it?

-I love it!

-Wonderful.

..Number 448 - shark's fin dumpling,

-number 732 - fresh, minced water chestnut. Number 997...

-Sorry, got to interrupt.

Got to rush off to San Francisco's most fashionable restaurant, Stars, run by my new chum, Jeremiah Tower.

He's so new, even Barry hasn't met him.

-I've had enough.

-Enough drinking.

-What are you going to do?

-Good champagne! I'm going to cook these two prawns.

This is Hawaiian blue prawn, raised in Hawaii. Also in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia.

The pink ones are Monterey prawns which only occur between Monterey and San Francisco. They are wild.

The others are farmed. Both are fresh. We're lucky to get that here. That's unusual in America.

-So, let's go for it!

-Sometimes our viewers get carried away about the recipe.

Can you explain these? Clive will pan down. He does that.

Chopped garlic, mixed herbs,

"sweet 100s", or cherry tomatoes,

chopped parsley, salt and pepper, butter for the sauce.

In the middle of the dish we'll put fava beans, or broad beans, peeled.

In England, they leave the peel on, and they're revolting!

-When were you last in England, Jeremiah?

-Oh, er...

Some memories from childhood are never erased! Those awful broad beans I remember.

These are peeled twice and barely put in boiling water,

artichoke buttons, rosemary, fish stock, butter.

Clive, I'll leave this to you. Just watch Jeremiah, get close-ups, wide shots, all that stuff!

These are the smallest ones.

I'll put them all in together... just to get them started.

The garlic in now.

About a teaspoon of chopped garlic.

Turn them around, but you don't want the garlic to burn.

Add a few herbs.

Now I have to deglaze with white wine.

Have you had trouble leading your customers,

the American public into accepting the sort of food you like to cook?

It's a question both of an adventure and intimidation, I think.

Some people don't dare send it back!

But most people come here for something new.

Just give them another toss. Now I have to get them out of there.

-Sauce.

-Shall we just run over this sauce again? Clive, get a good close-up on that.

It's a deglazing of the pan, so it's butter, white wine, the juices from the prawns,

garlic and chopped parsley, which is the fresh green colour.

The big ones are the Montereys.

And the three little ones are the Hawaiian blues, which turn pink as well.

Now we just need to put the artichoke in the centre...

..some of the broad beans, or fava beans, on top...

and then you get to swirl some of the saffron sauce over.

-How is this sauce made?

-It's sour cream and saffron.

-How much of this would you like on?

-That's great.

-Enough?

-Yeah.

I'll add chopped parsley to each prawn.

-There you have it!

-That's California.

-That's California!

And so, dear gastronauts, it's the end of this BBC maxi-break.

Behind the glitz and glamour lie ruthlessness, bitterness and angst.

The relationship between producer and presenter - like true love - doesn't always run smooth.

Late one night, he was slagging off my performance, so I bet him 50 to reverse roles!

So here is David Pritchard, cook, directed by Keith Floyd.

-What was the last film you saw?

-Guys And Dolls.

-Frank Sinatra and Lana Turner.

-You really keep up!

Heavens, yes.

Was that pre-Zulu or after Zulu?

-This was about 1952.

-Oh, right.

Now, after about 42 programmes and 150 cooking sketches that you've directed,

your first opportunity to do a bit of cooking on TV yourself. Start and finish in your own time.

Clive will take a couple of cut-aways as he feels necessary. Just start and finish it.

Without further ado, this dish has impressed me in San Francisco.

It's an impressive dish, and will be when I've finished. So, Clive, without any more ado -

as that man who drinks a lot and wears bow ties says - let's look at the ingredients.

Here we have clams, well cooked so the shells have opened,

parsley, carrots, chopped potato,

celery, peeled Italian tomatoes.

We'll top the whole thing with Parmesan cheese - see that, Clive?

I'll whack in some rice when it's halfway through cooking, and onions and some garlic.

I'm going to whack in this garlic. It's roughly chopped, peasant-style.

Then I'll put in some onions. Whack! Now some carrots and parsley, cos they've got mixed up.

Some potatoes - yum-yum, you're saying! Then some celery.

It's all sizzling away in olive oil, pretty good virgin olive oil.

Down to the pot, please. Don't look at me!

-Whack, whack, whack! Now I'll season that with freshly-ground black pepper...

-Dear, oh, dear!

Well, OK...right... I hadn't rehearsed that bit.

And salt - not too much! Or too much pepper(!) Don't look in the pot!

It's going all right so far, isn't it?

Now that has got to simmer down, it's got to melt down,

the flavours have got to intermingle and get to know each other!

They're introducing each other now, as we speak! As I speak. So here we go!

Now...they're now introduced. I'm going to whack in some tomatoes, or tomay-toes, as they say here.

Lovely plump, soft, red, Italian tomatoes. This IS an Italian dish.

Clam chowder comes from New England.

The Breton fishermen brought clam chowder to Nova Scotia.

The Italian fishermen here have adopted it, have made it very garlicky, very tomato-y,

and it's not that white-ish soup that you get in New England, it's a rich, red, luscious thing!

Here - this is vitally important, Clive!

When you were discussing with Floyd how this would be shot, I actually cooked the clams in some water.

This is the juice that came out of the shells.

Sorry about my hand trembling. It was a late night last night! It's going in now.

Now I'm going to let that simmer down for 25 minutes.

Get down in this pot, Clive - not right in it, but get down so we can see what we're doing. Jolly good!

We'll join you later. By the way... No, no, no, no!

Rice! I have to put the rice in. A sign came up and said, "rice". The rice goes in...

and while I'm at it, I'm going to put the clams in, too.

So whack the clams in, stir that around, and you can see those lovely colours getting to know each other.

We'll end the shot there. Next time you see it, we'll be eating it!

This is an honest cookery programme. It's the first time I've ever cooked this, right?

Some cheese...handful of parsley... not too much.

Now, try that, and tell me that that's the best thing you've ever tasted in your entire life!

Or not!

-It absolutely breaks my heart to tell you that it IS delicious!

-Honestly?

-Honestly. You try it.

It's peppery, it's cheesy, it's clam-y, it's vegetable-y, it's bloody marvellous!

-It is, isn't it? Let's have some more.

-OK, walk over a cliff, Clive. This is superb.

-This is the only harmonious moment you'll ever see of Pritchard and me.

-You're a wonderful director!

-What are you doing after the show?

-I'm going to a dance, actually. Want to come?

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd