Eastern Europe Hairy Bikers' Bakeation

'By now you've probably realised

'that there are two things that we really love in this world.'

'Biking and baking.'

'So we've decided to combine them.'

'In an epic five-thousand-mile Bakeation.'

'So far, Europe's been good to us.'

'And with three stages done, it's time for a bit more of a challenge.'

'You're right, dude, bring on Eastern Europe.'

'Specifically, we've got Slovakia first,

'then Hungary,

'and finally Romania.'

'It's a biggie, and I'm expecting, well, the unexpected.'

Sweetheart!

'It's amazing to think that by the end of this one,

'we'll be halfway through!'

'Yeah, mate, but there's a good few countries left to go.

'Austria, Italy...'

-Look at the nuts on that.

-Thanks very much!

THEY LAUGH

'France, and finally Spain.'

We love you more than you'll ever know.

'We can be glad that it's not only us doing the cooking.'

'Yes -

'we've lined up some of the world's very best bakers

'to teach us a thing or two.'

'So sit back and relax.'

-'It's time for the next leg of our spectacular...'

-BOTH: 'Bakeation.'

'These days, the European Union is forever expanding its boundaries.'

'So it's only right us Brits should start to expand ours.'

'To see how a rejuvenated Eastern Europe

'is revitalising its rich baking heritage.'

'The capital of Slovakia, Bratislava,

'is where we'll begin our odyssey.'

'It's slap bang on the mighty River Danube,

'and practically sits on the hem of the old Iron Curtain.'

'Yet during Communism, it was a world away from the West.'

'The same can't be said these days.'

Cor! What a ride that was.

All the way from Bavaria to Bratislava.

Hey, but dude, worth every single mile. What a fabulous city.

It truly is where Eastern Europe meets Western Europe.

-Yeah. The gateway, dude, the gateway.

-Oh aye.

And as we head east,

I long to shake off the oppressive shackles

of capitalism and commercialism, and enter that new world.

'That new world starts here in Bratislava,

'before we travel on to Hungary.'

'Then we push further east into Romania,

'to the very edge of the European Union.'

Cos we're travelling to Romania for...

..a big beano!

-It'll be brilliant!

-Yeah.

You see, the reason we're having a party is, my wife's Romanian,

and we're going to go to Transylvania to see me in-laws.

'I've not seen them since the wedding. What a day that was.

'They certainly know how to party in Romania.'

'I can't wait to see them again, dude.

'But we've got a lot to explore before then.'

'I'm looking forward to taking in the magnificent cafe culture

'in Budapest.

'They've said goodbye to Communism,

'and rediscovered the decadent art of fine patisserie.'

Then we go across the Hungarian plains.

But what we must do as well is get off that road before the border,

and explore a bit.

'But it won't be all fine dining.

'With that many miles to cover,

'we'll need to sample some roadside snacks, Hungarian style.'

'Then, at last, we'll hit rural Romania.'

'Aye, where hearty rustic baking rules the day.'

'And I can't wait to see my wife and her family.

'They always put on such a fantastic spread.'

'Dude, I'm itching to get started.'

-We should have brought them something from England.

-Oh aye.

But hey... Marks and Spencer.

I tell you what, I could do with some new undies as well,

they're a bit threadbare.

Da da da la da da!

You could be anywhere. This is the beginning of homogenised Europe.

'It's incredible how far east western Europe's come.'

-Come on, you pervert.

-Sorry.

Damska moda, that would be ladies' fashion.

Per Una, damska obuv, this is all damskas.

-So it makes sense that manskas...

-Yeah...

Is downstairs-skas.

Is it just me, or is it you worry?

It truly is like a corner of Blighty in far Bratislava.

Waist 36.

'That's all very well, Kingy,

'but it's not the Bratislava I came to see.'

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye!

-Bye-bye!

'We'd struggle to find a true taste of Bratislava

'in your average shopping mall.'

'As Dylan sang, "The times they are a changin',"

'and here in this small country,

'it's been a long and winding road from Communism to cafe culture.'

'So let's leave the big brands behind,

'and get a slice of the real Slovakia.'

Well, Marks and Spencers, it's all very well, but...

Where do Slovakians go for their baking?

-Oh, I think I might have the answer.

-Ooh!

-Ooh!

-This looks good.

-It does, doesn't it?

That's all homemade baking, isn't it?

-Hello!

-Hello. I'm Dave.

-Mirka.

-Mirka?

-Mirka, hi, I'm Si.

-Hi.

-Good to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Hey, what a great cafe.

-We've found baking!

-Yes!

'So let's grab a seat and try some of this for ourselves.'

Ooh!

-So you are getting each sort so that you can share.

-Brilliant. Thank you.

This is traditional plum cake.

Plum is a widely used fruit in Slovakia.

-Many people make alcohol out of it.

-Yeah?

But we make cakes. DAVE LAUGHS

And this is Tvaroh torte.

Basically a cheesecake, and we serve it with homemade strawberry jam.

Oh wow!

And finally, this super crumble

with rhubarb, plums again and apples.

-May I join you?

-Oh, you absolutely may.

-Yes, please.

Oh, do you mind if we tuck in?

That's lovely, because it's not too sweet, and you can taste the plums.

Oh, it's lovely.

What for you is Slovakian baking?

For me, Slovakian baking is using what you have in your backyard,

and using traditional ways of doing it.

But nowadays, I think it's taken an interesting turn,

because we are being opened to different influences.

People have started to travel. We watch even British cooking shows.

Have things changed an awful lot in Slovakia in the past ten years?

During the Communism regime, everything was quite scarce.

People didn't travel, people didn't get ideas from outside.

We don't want to go back to those days, because choice is always nice.

'So they're mixing it up a bit.'

'This American-style cheesecake is made using tvaroh -

'a Slovak soft cheese.'

-Oh! That's lovely!

-That is, isn't it?

I can't wait to taste that.

'And a crumble? We could be at home.'

'It must be all those British cookery shows

'they've been watching over here, Dave.'

-Mmh. Oh, that's a brilliant crumble.

-Beautiful.

It's good, traditional home cooking.

When I looked at the menu, just the little twists on everything,

and I think that's what, whatever a good cafe,

a good restaurant should do.

That's a big compliment from you. Thank you.

Because you must know your stuff.

'Well, we do know our stuff when it comes to eating cakes,

'don't we, Dave?'

'It's all the practice we get, Kingy.'

'New ideas seem to be flooding into Slovakia.'

'So it's only natural that bakers like Mirka

'are soaking up all those new-found foreign influences.'

'While we're here,

'we want to have a crack at something really traditional -

'an age-old Slovakian classic.'

'And where better to head

'than the city's ancient historic castle overlooking the Danube?'

'To cook a glamorous Slovakian cousin

'of our own humble bread and butter pudding -

'Zemlovka.'

Gem-klova.

Zem-sclova!

Gemsclova.

Gems... Anyway, it's a bread and butter pudding from Slovakia.

But the secret is, this bread and butter pudding

is quite heavily spiced, and it's stuffed full of fruit.

So you can have two of your five-a-day,

and still feel like, "Yum, it's good."

Seasonal fruit at that, you can put in what you like.

He's the sort that'll have two of his five-a-days with a vodka and orange.

It doesn't work like that, doesn't it?

-It does! It's orange juice, what's the matter? Anyway, crack on.

-Right. Right.

Uh-uh-uh-uh.

My UFO has landed over on the Danube, I come in peace, Earthling!

Give us that!

We've got to cook in that, you've had your head in it!

Milk goes into pan.

The butter goes into milk.

Ugh!

-Sorry, is that melted?

-Yeah.

-Ha ha ha.

-Oh we're playing that game, are we?

-Oh, no, no...

-Oh, well...

-Clean, clean, Simon.

-Yeah, well just be careful.

-No butter on new togs.

Stick this on the heat till the butter's melted.

-It can't be more complicated than that.

-No. Is it on, dude?

Oh, aye, soon it'll be bubbling like a Bratislavan go-go dancer.

When have you been to a Bratislavan go-go dancer?

You're a dark horse, you.

You don't think I was sitting in that hotel room, do you, all night?

I was out ripping up Bratislava.

Yeah, right.

Eggs - one...

..two...

..three.

And after that, we add some sugar.

Take the whisk, and whisk those three eggs and the sugar together.

There's one thing that's come to my mind since we started doing the baking on the road.

-What's that, mate?

-That, compared to other forms of cookery,

baking can involve a certain amount of manual labour.

Ah! It has crossed your mind, has it?

Handy, that!

Right. Go on, mate.

Now onto the spicing of the Zemlovka.

Go on, say it again, but a bit butch.

Zemlovka!

Now we couldn't kind of get any vanilla extract,

vanilla paste or fresh vanilla, but we've got some vanilla sugar.

-How much do we put in?

-Erm...

-That'll do.

-That'll do.

For the pedantic amongst you, it's about a teaspoon of nutmeg.

And just whisk those as you go, into that lovely - ooh!

Cinnamon.

A teaspoon.

If you follow this recipe at home, don't be too pedantic

with what fruit you use, what type of bread you use,

indeed, how much spice you use.

It's really going to work,

it's going to set solid and it's going to taste great.

-So a little bit of what you fancy with this one...

-Does you good.

-Now, I'll just check the buttery milk.

-Ooh!

-Beautiful.

-It is, isn't it?

So there we have it. This is the liquid part -

the dribbly bit - of your Zemlovka!

'In the old Communist Bratislava, you wouldn't have found

'fancy French bread like this brioche for your Zemlovka, oh, no!

'But in the new Slovakia, well now that's a different story.'

-There you go.

-Thank you very much-ski.

'When you start building a Zemlovka,

'it's much like the bread and butter pudding your mum makes.

'Layers of bread, and raisins soaked in tea.'

Now, we need to go on to the fruit part of this lovely, lovely pudding.

'As with the bread, you can use any seasonal fruit you like.

'We've gone for apples and pears.

'But when they're about, nectarines and plums are also popular in Slovakia.'

BOTH: Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum-dum.

I remember me mam saying, "A gentleman needs to learn how to dance."

Put your hand up behind my back.

BOTH: One two three, one two three, one two three, one two three,

da da da-da-da...

You'd be a right fat girl if you were a girl.

Anyway, right.

'Zemlovka is a very old Slovak recipe.

'But most cultures have some sort of bread and butter pudding.

'It's a waste-not, want-not dish,

'perfect for using up yesterday's stale loaf.

'And by combining the bread with a glut of seasonal fruit,

'you've got quite a satisfying yet frugal recipe.

'So no wonder it's occasionally eaten here as a main course.'

Now put on the eggs, butter, milk and spice mixture.

And that's going to soak down into the bread

and it's going to bake into quite a nice little custard.

'Let's sprinkle on some rough cane sugar to give it a golden caramel glaze.'

And how long does that go into the oven for. Dave?

-How long do you think, Si?

-Till it's cooked.

Yes, which will be about half an hour to 40 minutes at 180 Celsius.

Thank you!

Ah! Smells great. Oh-ho-ho!

That, I think, is what you would call a great success.

-Zemlovka.

-Zemlovka.

-My first taste.

-That texture's perfect.

-Isn't it?

It's like bread and butter pudding crossed with a Dutch apple cake.

With a bit of Christmas thrown in for good measure.

-I'm enjoying this, man, it's really good.

-It's beautiful.

What a place to eat it, as well.

Yeah, you've got the Austrian wind farms over there.

-Hungary.

-Yeah, Budapest beckons.

And then, way over the hill, Transylvania.

Meet my mother-in-law.

MUSIC: "Let' Tmou" by Kamil Mikulcik and Nela Pociskova

Most of us only ever come across Slovakia

when we see them on the Eurovision Song Contest.

But we've been here just one day

and there's obviously so much more to this tiny country.

We'd love to hang around, but with so many miles to cover tomorrow,

we set our sights eastwards.

A new day, a new country.

Eee, I hope you've packed the factor 50, Kingy.

Oh, yeah, it's another glorious day, dude,

but we've got biking and baking to do - let's crack on.

Today we're leaving Bratislava and crossing into Hungary

with the SatNav set for its capital, Budapest.

You know Kingy, what makes this journey so exciting

is that before 1990, we wouldn't have been able to do any of it.

No, the Iron Curtain would have stopped us before we got anywhere near Bratislava.

Today it's barely a lace curtain,

so at the Hungarian border, you can just ride straight through.

Mind you, the rain seems to have been pulled in at customs.

Oh, lovely, mate, I'm drying out nicely.

There's an old Skoda!

In Bratislava we saw the flood of western influences,

fusing with traditional Slovakian baking.

But the fall of Communism here in Hungary has seen a rebirth

in their rich food culture, and they like to celebrate it.

This is more like it, this is Eastern Europe.

it's all depression and guns and that, it's brilliant.

But it's not all muck and bullets, you know.

You see, a museum is always like a mirror - a reflection of the country's culture,

and Hungarians are obsessed by food. This is a bread museum!

Hold on, hold on.

That is a 100mm MT12 tipusu panceltoro de waff-waff wa-ticky.

That, dude, is a gun.

And this, my friend, is a goulash gun - the field kitchen.

For knocking out goulash on a daily basis for the troops.

You see, Napoleon was right, wasn't he?

An army marches on its stomach.

Good idea if you ask me.

Next you'll be saying there's a bread bazooka somewhere.

It's over there.

What?

-There she is, isn't she beautiful?

-Magnificent.

This illustrates just how important bread is to the Hungarians,

that they would take this basically portable oven

into the battlefield to make their daily bread.

And that says something about the Hungarians' passion about food.

As do these indicators - anybody that puts indicators

on their bread oven's all right with me, I tell you!

They're not going to lose it, are they?

But alongside all the weaponry, there's the goulash gun

-and you've got your bread oven.

-It's brilliant, man.

It must be so important - thing is, I haven't seen any bread yet.

Where's the bread museum then?

Over there.

-Bread Museum.

-Kenyermuzeum.

Man, this is mad!

Bread that looks like a wedding cake.

-Look at that, bread on string...

-Bread that looks like sausages.

Plaited bread.

A chain of pretzels.

Man, there's so many varieties here.

Yes! The crackling scones that we're going to cook.

Oh, brilliant!

-Do you know, we've even got the lattice absolutely dead right.

-Yes!

'A bread museum might seem a mad idea to us.

'But, under the uniformity of Communism,

'all these wonderful breads were replaced by identical loaves

-'from bread factory number 47.

-That sounds a bit dull, Comrade King-ski.

'It was! But, seeing that amazing variety suggests to me

'that these Hungarian bakers are a passionate lot.

'Well, I can't wait to get to Budapest, mate -

'I think we might be in for a treat.'

Here we are - Budapest.

Ooh-er, looks a bit posh, mate, doesn't it?

Built on the banks of the very River Danube we left behind in Bratislava,

Budapest has undeniably a grand and opulent feel.

I'm definitely not getting the eastern bloc vibe though, are you?

Looking about, it's not surprising the scholars of the day

referred to it as the Paris of the east.

Apparently, at one time the only city in Europe

to have more cafes was Paris itself.

Yeah, regimes and wars may have come and gone in Budapest,

but cafes and cakes are something that's in the DNA of this city.

But Communism and cakes?

Yes, they're so bourgeois, so very decadent.

So how did they fare under Stalinism?

Well, we've heard about a 140-year-old patisserie

with a very decadent menu.

Now this is a part of eastern European life that I could get to love,

sitting in a place like this,

just thinking about philosophy and writing my novel.

But you don't get up till 11 o'clock.

I know what you're like, you'd end up in a gulag.

'That would never do, Kingy.

'You couldn't get cake like this Kremes in a Siberian gulag.

'These rich layers of vanilla egg custard encased in puff pastry

'would have Stalin turning in his grave.

'Auguszta's the fifth generation of the Auguszt family

'to devote themselves to the art of fine patisserie.'

Auguszta, your cafe in Budapest has quite a big reputation.

Why is it so special?

Because we have good cakes,

and we've been having good cakes for 140 years now.

Patisserie, as opposed to baking, it can be quite decadent, can't it?

It's a treat, it's a luxury.

So how did you cope with the patisserie during the Communist times?

It was a very difficult period.

My grandparents, they were deported to a little small village

with three little children.

Their shop was taken away, their home was taken away

and they weren't allowed to leave the village.

Just because they were higher, upper-class,

they were considered dangerous to this idea of socialism

and they were made... Their lives were made impossible.

Once the baking became homogenised and you had, like, state bread,

as opposed to different types of bread and cake,

it must have seemed like you were just ripping up

and throwing away all those years of knowledge and craft.

Yes, it was a very difficult time,

and at first my grandfather worked in the agriculture,

but soon every evening they made bonbons and little candies

when the children were asleep.

So, even then he tried to continue his profession

because he loved it so much.

After all these years, all that history,

all the wars, the coming and going of Communism,

you're here in Budapest and people can still come

and enjoy your cakes, have a conversation,

-and it's fabulous. You've survived!

-Fantastic.

'Kremes and communism might not have got on very well.

'But, unsurprisingly, the Kremes won out in the end.'

That's absolutely lovely. What a treat that was.

-Fabulous, wasn't it?

-I'm happy you liked it.

-Would you like me to show you how we make it?

-Oh, yeah!

Oh, so this is it?!

Yes, this is where the famous Kremes is made.

I will give you these aprons, if they're big enough for you.

It's highly unlikely but...

Oh, look, very handsome.

Kremes, I think, is it what we would call a vanilla slice in England?

Yes, I guess, and this is what we sell most of.

We sell like 200 or 300 pieces on a Sunday or Saturday.

And this is the original recipe that your grandfather

-and your great grandfather...

-Yes.

-That's what they did.

-Everything is as it was 140 years ago.

-Fantastic.

And now this is the king of the Kremes now, is this right?

'With 300 Kremes being sold on a good day,

you can't begrudge the use of a little mechanisation.'

Oh, this is puff pastry the easy way.

'While the pastry bakes, we can find out what's in the magical filling.'

Flour, egg yolk, sugar, milk.

And, what is the most important - vanilla.

That's real vanilla.

What's this called?

A vanilla pod.

Pod?

A vanilla pod, OK.

So, first we need milk,

and while it is cooking we have to mix the egg yolk.

It's a good custard, isn't it?

-Yes, lovely.

-Proper vanilla custard.

You cut the vanilla. Put it in the milk, please.

You're very generous with your vanilla, aren't you?

Yes. The sugar can go in it.

You can take the whisk, one of you.

I knew it! I knew it!

He's really good at this!

And I'll help you put the flour in it.

And I'll just watch the vanilla.

It's hard work watching vanilla.

You guys are really professional.

'20 years ago, ingredients so familiar to us at home

'would have been pretty hard to find in Communist eastern Europe.

'Amazing to think just how much has changed.'

-And then we're going to take it to the...

-Oh, to the machine.

-Yes.

You!

'Well, how else would you whisk egg whites, Kingy?'

It's a pattern that we just seem to be following,

-and I have no idea why.

-But you're stronger.

See. I can see the results.

There's brains and there's brawn.

And that's why the brawn's using the machine!

Can't hear you!

Oh, that's stiff.

Hot milk into this.

More milk, more milk.

'Let's get this custard back on the heat.'

-He's good, though.

-Strong!

-Strong!

I'm not a pack horse!

Come on, or you'll split!

Well stop... People are punching us and everything!

-Enough?

-Yeah.

Very nice.

-Very nice. It's got a wobble.

-It's got a really nice wobble to it.

That's it, fabulous.

Look at that, it's like a fat girl on a motorboat.

Whoom!

Whoom!

Oh, that's good.

Gabor? Gabor, please.

Go on, Gabor, let me get out of the way here slightly.

Slip the layers on each other.

Because it's quite fragile, isn't. it?

Yes, they break very easily.

Ho-ho! No pressure!

And then he will cut it...

Oh, that's fantastic.

-Very nice.

-Oh, how lovely.

Oh, wow! Like a professional.

Well done, dude, you busy man! Well done, well done.

I can feel another coffee and maybe another little cake coming on.

Dude, I'm following you upstairs, come on.

And I know what cake I'm having!

Get your order in quick, Kingy, these Kremes don't hang about.

Much like us, dude.

Hungarians are clearly very proud of their baking heritage.

And they've had to work harder than most to hang onto it.

Well, Si, I for one will sleep very well tonight knowing that they did.

Next morning we head out of Budapest.

It would be unfair to judge a country's baking prowess by its capital alone.

So, we're off for a slice of country life.

We're heading for Holloko,

apparently a perfectly preserved Hungarian village.

So perfect, it's now a World Heritage Site.

But it's a long way to ride in one go!

So what do you say, mate, we break the journey?

Good plan, mate. As long as there's something to eat when we stop.

Oh, there will be!

At home you'd perhaps get a bacon buttie and a mug of tea at the side of the road.

But here, they do things a little differently.

Yes! Langos. Do you know what?

I've never had this since I was in Romania.

Now we know we are in eastern Europe.

-Yes!

-Bet they're not as good as me mother-in-law's, though.

THEY CHUCKLE

-Hello!

-Hello.

-Hello.

Do you remember how to order langos?

-I do.

-Go on then.

Langosi - two?

What's next?

Cheese.

-And then...

-Oh, and garlic.

-Garlic.

-OK.

THEY LAUGH

Sour cream sprinkled with cheese and some garlic. Do you see that?

We're fluent. That's what we are!

For those of you who have never had a langos before,

it's a cross between a giant pancake, a giant doughnut.

It's unique in the world to eastern Europe, but by God it's good.

It is the best.

But it's so far away from that fine patisserie that we had in Budapest.

But in its own way, it's equally as valid and fabulous.

It's part of a culture of food.

Lil makes these at home, you know. It's interesting, a lot of food has migrated to Romania from Hungary.

Although a lot of the Romanians would say it's the other way round, but it's not really.

She'll do them with salad cream.

-But they put a lot of dill in them in Romania.

-Oh yes.

It has that taste. Sometimes I go home.

"Just something light, love," and there'll be this plate of langos.

-Lovely.

-And it's a really good home bake.

Oh yes!

Now there is an art in eating a langos.

I've just watched two gentlemen. One of those gentlemen halved it.

Halved it.

Like so. The other one rolled it.

Like so.

I don't care what you do with it, as long as it goes in your gob.

If you're on Weight Watchers, don't eat one of these.

Every day's a red day with a langos.

Mm!

'Oh Kingy, these are such a taste of Eastern Europe,

'they really make me homesick for my wife's wonderful cooking.'

Hello, love. Yeah, we've got the first whiff of Romania.

-We've stopped at the first langos stall we saw.

-Oh!

It was good. They're different to the Romanian ones.

They're round, they're round like pizzas.

First at the top, it was raw garlic, then they used sour cream,

and then a sprinkling of grated cheese on the top.

They're different to the Romanians. Kingy said they're better than the Romanian ones, love.

I didn't Lil, I didn't!

Yeah. Well, see you soon.

Anyway, they're not as good as your mother's. Anyway, love you. Bye!

'Well, those langos should see us through till tea time, dude.'

'Yeah. Tea time next week!'

We're heading deep into the Hungarian countryside,

to the village of Holloko.

As it's a World Heritage site, we thought it might be worth a look.

Ah, the perfect venue for our next bake.

Crackling scones, or Pogacsa, as they're known here,

are a popular savoury scone eaten all over Hungary.

They are fantastic!

People often say on our programmes

you get the blokes who'll sit there going "I don't like the cooking, but I watch it for the bikes."

Now, those blokes will sit there going,

"I know. But could you make that for me, love?"

"Would you mind, pet? I like the sound of them."

Now, here we are in beautiful Hun-gar-y, and...

we're in the middle of nowhere, basically.

This is true, truly, truly rural Hungary.

There's some beautiful Hungarian bakers there to keep us company.

Yeah. There's the beautiful ladies here.

-Hello, ladies.

-Hello.

-Hello.

Hello. Aren't they lovely?

And this is great because this is a communal oven for the village,

which is another focal point of the village, as the church is,

as the community centre is the cafe is - everybody comes here.

So the whole infrastructure of this rural idyll

is based around food, worship and drinking coffee.

What more could you want?

-Smashing. Thank you.

-What are you doing now?

-What?

-What are you doing now?

-I'm going to get the crackling scones started.

-Go on then.

-It just sounds appetising, doesn't it?

-It does.

Put some milk in a pan blood warm.

I think I'm just about there.

That'll do you.

Clean hands.

Ow! That's hot. Right. Now remember, when you're making bread or leavening yeast,

if the liquid is too hot, you will kill the yeast.

Go and run round a bit. Go on! Run round until it cools off.

See this here. Look at that. Bacon, streaky. Beautiful.

It's too hot!

So... The ladies.

Look, the ladies watching him run round. See.

To the lukewarm tepid milk, add a sachet of dried yeast.

While we wait for that to come to life, I'm going to finely chop what in essence is streaky bacon.

What's interesting about Hungarian cuisine as a whole, actually,

it's very homemade, it's very wholesome and it's very hearty.

You want them crispy, and you want all the fat to leach out.

That's what we're after. There's nothing better than the smell of bacon, is there?

Right. The dry goods. Take a bowl of flour.

To the flour, add half a teaspoon of salt.

Now go careful with your salt,

because we've got some cheese in this and we've also got salty bacon.

They're a scone, and we want them to rise up and have that lovely split in the middle.

We know it's leavened with yeast, but we're going to put a cheeky teaspoon full of baking powder

in there, just to make sure that it achieves kind of levitation.

Now this is a Hairy Bikers' cheeky creation.

We've got two tablespoons full of parmesan cheese to go in there.

You could use a local hard goat's cheese,

but by God cheese, bacon - oh, yum.

And a tablespoon of caraway seeds.

Very local, very yummy, and very special.

That's what you want. That's the colour on it.

It's gone all crispy. We're just going to leave that to cool now.

Now with clean hands, just mix the dry goods carefully together.

'I can't wait to see what the ladies are busy cooking up.'

'Well, they're first in line for the oven, so we'll find out soon.'

'But, in the meantime, I'll get busy melting this butter.

'When it's liquefied, bung in some sour cream and give it a good mix.

'Si, have you seen what they've made? Delicious-looking cottage cheese pies.'

'I hope they offer us a nibble when they're baked!'

Now to the butter and the sour cream, we add two beaten eggs.

And as I say, make sure that it's not too hot,

or else you're going to scramble your eggs.

That's fab.

The yeast has really started to work in the milk.

We add the yeasty milk to the butter, sour cream and egg mixture.

-Captain Muscles!

-Oh, not again!

Take the dry goods, place them in front of your friend.

And whilst he grafts his nuts off,

I'll dribble the liquid into that to make a dough.

Now at some point, you want to feel this mixture, so you're going to have to get your hands in it

and dispense with the spoon.

I love this bit.

I'm glad you do.

It's great when you get involved.

Right. A nice clean bowl there.

-Nice. Nice dough, that.

-It's beautiful.

And that's what you do, just knead it so you can...

It doesn't need long, it's just five minutes, you know.

'A quick knead is all this requires. We don't want it to be like a bread roll, after all.'

That's it dude, look at that! Lovely, that, man.

That, my friend, is cracking dough for a crackling scone.

Now just put this somewhere in a draught-free environment,

for about an hour and a half until it's doubled in size.

I tell you what, though.

-Wow!

-Follow those ladies.

Oh, ladies!

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Oh dude, oh, it's warm.

-Straight from the oven.

Nice!

Beautiful!

-Ladies, thank you so very much.

-Thank you. It's lovely.

You see mega, it's everywhere!

THEY SING IN HUNGARIAN

'Well, it would be nice to have something to go with those scones when they're ready.'

'How about a classic Hungarian goulash soup,

'originally cooked by stockmen out on the Great Plains.'

-Yes!

-Goulash soup!

You cannae come to Hungary without making goulash soup,

and the assorted paprikas that go in it, can you?

Yeah. Paprika is playful, passionate and perfect.

'First up, let's brown some seasoned and floured beef,

'before we get out our secret weapon.'

The goulash gun!

-Lovely.

-Goulash gun.

-This'll be a laugh.

-Set the tripod up over the fire.

'Like most peasant dishes, goulash was always cooked outside.

'Now, the gas burner's not that authentic, but the goulash gun certainly is.'

'King, this cooking apparatus is actually called a bograc.'

'A bograc? Oh man, let's stick to goulash gun, shall we?'

Next...what a stupid idea this is!

-Over here.

-I told you we should have put it on the floor!

Now, to start the goulash,

we have to get the vegetables in and sweating for ten minutes.

'As for the vegetables, you can pretty much use what you like.

'But a bit of garlic always hits the spot.'

Well, that's well and truly risen.

'I thought I'd give Kingy a bit of a rest from the manual work.

'And with him on veg duties, I'm going to knead in the bacon bits.

'We're out in the sticks now, mate,

'and this sort of hearty rustic cooking is what Hungarian food is really all about.'

'These particular scones often appear in Hungarian fables and folk stories,

'in the backpack of a young man setting off on his adventures.'

'Isn't that what we're doing, mate?'

'We're not that young, Si! After our scones are cut out,

'we leave them to rise for half an hour.'

'But don't forget to score them, like on that picture in the bread museum.'

Right. Goulash soup. Let's crack on with that.

'There are many optional elements to a goulash,

'but paprika isn't one of them.'

'So let's be generous with it.'

'Paprika is a ground dried chilli pepper,

'that was introduced to Hungary by invading Turks in the 16th Century.'

'The spice now defines Hungarian cooking.

'You can buy hot, sweet or smoked varieties.

'For this dish, we're keeping it sweet.'

I've got a couple of tablespoons of caraway seeds. I'm just going to give them a bash.

Pretty soon the whole neighbourhood are going to know we've got a goulash on.

Yes, aren't they?

-About three bay leaves?

-Yeah, perfect.

'In with a blob of tomato paste, and at last, those lovely chunks of beef.'

'It's what the Hungarian cowboys would have used.'

'But this is a pretty relaxed recipe, so go with what you fancy.'

If you have really good beef stock for this, your goulash is going to be sensational.

Beefy bits.

Oh! Oh ho ho ho!

Et voila!

'A little eggy wash will give these a golden brown glaze.'

Now, let's go to battle with a wood-fired oven.

'We had some practice baking in a wood-fired oven back in Germany.'

'Practice doesn't make perfect, Kingy. No two wood-fired ovens are the same.'

'Fingers crossed this one will be kind to us, then.

'Now, it's time to bulk out our goulash with some spuds.'

Now I reckon, let that simmer for about 20 minutes,

and we're going to have a big cauldron

of the best beef goulash soup you've ever had,

-and the scones will just be cool enough to eat.

-Fabulous.

Ah! The wood-fired oven has been exceptionally kind to us.

When we think scones, we think cream teas.

But to Hungarians, they're savoury sustenance food,

fit for the backpack of any intrepid adventurer.

And with a dollop of sour cream added to our goulash,

we're ready to tuck in.

Oh, look at them. The scones. Look, it's split down the middle.

Oh! Now that's the sign of a good scone.

And that goes on. Oh! Look at that eh?

Now this is proper Hungarian cuisine, rich and hearty and lovely.

Goulash soup, eh?

-If you don't make these at home, you're nuts.

-Yeah.

-They're fabulous!

Do you know, all that's missing is a nice glass of wine,

and I think that's on the agenda for tomorrow.

When Lil and I drive to Romania, it's motorways most of the way.

But back road Hungary has really opened up a new side to this country.

It might be slow going, but it gives you time to soak up the scenery.

But the adventure's not over yet, mate. We've got some wine to find.

Kingy, time for another pit stop.

Oh, thank you.

Oh thank you. Thank you very much.

Everybody says in Hungary, the best wine is in the Tokaj region.

Tokaj is there.

So Si, I reckon we should stay somewhere around Tokaj,

because we can't buy wine without tasting it first,

and we're not going to make the border today.

-Let's stay somewhere there, then.

-Look.

-Where?

A town called Mad.

Oh, let's stay there, man.

-A night of madness in Mad. I'm mad for it.

-Yeah.

Another couple of hours and we find ourselves in wine country.

To the north, we've the fringes of the Carpathian Mountains

and to the south, the vast open Great Plains of Hungary.

This has given the Tokaj region a unique geology

and the perfect climate for growing grapes.

Something they've been doing here for over 1,000 years.

Oh wow!

Here, Dave, did you see those beautifully fine vineyards?

We found Mad.

We've found a lovely hotel, we just need to find some wine now.

And for that, we're going to need some help.

The locals told us Endre Demeter is the man to see.

He's part of Tokaj's new generation of winemakers.

Crikey, dude, this is a bit swish.

Yesterday, we were cramming deep-fried langos in a lay-by!

Before we came out to the village somebody was saying to us,

at the time of Louis XIV,

he actually preferred Tokaj wine to French wine.

And also, there was a type of wine then that was actually more

expensive than gold.

Yes. It's a very special wine we make,

which is not produced anywhere else in the world, the Aszu.

And it's a speciality.

And tsars and kings and all the noble people

just loved it in the Middle Ages, and later also.

That's a privilege. I thought we were coming to taste some wine,

and it's turned into something a bit special.

It's not your fault, because during the Communism, for 50 years,

we were forgotten.

So in the last 20 years we've started to rebuild our reputation.

I think I'm beginning to realise now how special Tokaj wine is,

-and I didn't before.

-No. Absolutely.

-And I'm dying to taste some.

-Oh, wow!

It's quite sweet but it's got a really dry finish, hasn't it?

Mm. That's remarkable.

Like baking, top quality winemaking is an art

that really needs the loving touch of a craftsman.

And just like the bland uniformity of Communist bread,

the Soviet style regime literally crushed the life

out of Tokaj's grapes.

But now, the old traditions are flourishing again,

and Tokaj wines are well and truly back on the map.

Cheers to that!

Do you know, I've felt every kilometre on my backside

on that bike to come here, and it's been worth every lump in the road.

-Yeah.

-To Tokaj.

-To your good health.

-To Tokaj. Cheers.

-That's classy, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Ah, trying before buying has its upsides, Kingy.

And I'm sure Endre can find one or two more for us to sample.

Oh! The things we do for our art!

This morning we finally strike out for Romania.

This isn't a land of fancy cakes and fine wines though, is it, dude?

No. Romanians cherish their down-to-earth country fare.

It's just the kind of food that we love, too.

And the kind of food my wife Lili loves to cook,

and I can't wait to see her.

Not that long now, mate.

We're heading for Sighet,

Lil's home town in the remote region of Maramures in northern Romania.

But first things first, we've got a border to cross.

Passports at the ready!

So far we've breezed through national borders

like they were hardly there.

But Romania's new to this EU game.

Hello!

-Hey, hey, we're in!

-And there's Lil waiting for us!

Hey! Welcome to Romania!

-Oh, oh!

-Yes!

-Sweetheart!

-Yes.

-Yes

Oh, I've dropped my glasses and everything.

-Go see my friend!

-Hello! Hello, big man!

-How are you?

-Hello, big man. Just turn around, just like that.

Like that. Fantastic.

-Viva Romania.

-Viva Romania!

It's lovely to see you, darling.

Hey, dude, I didn't know where to look!

Well, don't look at your SatNav,

we're heading where most roads aren't even mapped.

Well, let Lil take the lead on that then.

Maramures is surrounded by mountains.

It's so isolated it's kept many of its centuries-old traditions.

It's what drew us here several years ago, when we were first on TV.

I'm so excited about being back, I barely notice the potholes!

Yeah. Speak for yourself!

Dave, we're here, mate. Sighet!

This is where Lili and I first met.

Do you know what? It only seems like yesterday.

And there's the hotel where Lil used to work.

That's where we fell in love!

-Bleugh!

-Oh, don't be like that!

After a rest, Lil's taking us to a bakery she's known since childhood.

Oh! Ah! So is this it, Lil?

-Yeah.

-The bakery you used to go to?

-Yes.

This is a small bakery that I used to come to,

and my children used to come to as well.

And this bakery serves the whole community around,

and this is very, very important

because, everybody around has got fresh bread.

It's evening now and the shop is shut,

but like all good bakers, they're busy making the next batch

of fresh bread for tomorrow's customers.

And the bakery's owner, Monica, clearly loves her job,

whatever the time of day.

-Monica!

-Hi, I'm Simon.

We've been to some really fancy bakeries around the world,

but this is the reality of baking.

The local bakers. It's not magic.

People work hard all night to make your daily bread.

Is bread the main thing from this bakery?

LILI ASKS IN ROMANIAN

Da.

SHE SPEAKS IN ROMANIAN

Bread is the main thing that they bake,

but they also bake produce for schools and high schools.

Why does she feel it's so important to service her community with bread?

SHE SPEAKS IN ROMANIAN

They love the idea of the neighbourhood and the high schools having fresh produce.

It's very important for them to have this

and not have something that's packed,

and has been in the package for days.

That's what they want for their children, to have fresh, healthy products.

SHE SPEAKS IN ROMANIAN

-Because there's love in it.

-Yeah?

That's exactly what she said.

-We'd better help before we get chucked out.

-You might be right!

-Yeah?

-Monica, set us to work.

Monica, slaves for a day.

Time and time again on our travels

we've seen the same four ingredients flour, water, yeast and salt

combined into a dough.

But in skilled hands,

that dough can become a dozen different types of bread.

And you can't deny they have a lot of fun making them.

-What's happened, dude?

-Acuma!

-Octopus.

I've a feeling, Kingy, that we won't be going home until we get it right.

Well, it was you that offered us as slaves.

I know! And I still need my beauty sleep

for our big family shindig tomorrow.

It's a religious festival today, and everybody is off to church.

Well, almost everybody.

Kingy, it's the party tonight!

Lil's off to her uncle's to get things ready.

And we need to slip off for some party preparations of our own.

Sighet is surrounded by forest.

So unsurprisingly, many of the houses here are built out of wood.

As it's a public holiday today, nobody is working.

And where this traditional wood carver's yard is normally

a hive of activity...

today it'll make a clandestine kitchen

-for us to bake our surprise party offering.

-Oh!

-Oh it's lovely, that.

-Ha-hey!

-Oh.

It's not only the gates in Maramures that are huge.

Good grief, I thought I'd shrunk.

COCK CROWS

That cockerel's late, isn't it?

We're going to cook a curly pie, the pie that is...

Curly.

Like a lot of Romanian cooking,

the curly pie is simple, unpretentious, wholesome food.

It's perfect party fare.

COCK CROWS

-Shut up!

-He's a belter, isn't he, that rooster?

Crack on with the dough, dude.

First off, sparkling mineral water.

The sparkles work a bit like baking powder, giving the dough a lighter texture.

Two tablespoons of oil. The oil gives you the stretch.

Now to the oil and water, add some salt.

Most people think about Romania

and think about Transylvania, the Carpathian Mountains.

But to me Maramures is where that kind of romance and folklore

is really still alive.

And it's like the last outpost against, I don't know,

Eastern Europe being eroded by a lot of western rubbish.

It is Dave, you're right.

It's about the character of this county and I love it.

It's quite eccentric, isn't it? As eccentric as a curly pie, really.

And, as I add flour to the water, it will begin life as a batter.

But with the wonder that is baking, it will become a dough.

# A deer, a female deer Ray, a drop of golden sun! #

And this dough needs kneading, because then you release

the gluten in the flour, which makes the pastry

really stretchy, like samosa pastry, so we can roll it really thin.

And believe me, we need this thin. Woah! Over to you, Tarzan!

Oh. It's nice, actually. And just knead away,

single hand or double handed method,

whichever way you fancy, depending how big your balls are. Of dough!

-Look at that, eh?

-Imagine the damage your wife could do with that!

I know. Well, the Maramures woman is a strong species.

-You married one.

-I know, it's great.

Right, now roll this out, as thin as you can get it.

You want it thin enough to read a newspaper through.

Thinner than Kate Moss on a fast.

Bob's your uncle. It's magic!

Now for this bit, you can use whatever round template of choice.

Now the traditional filling for this is sheep's cheese and spring onion.

It's like a lot of eastern European foods,

actually the recipes and the contents are quite frugal.

Traditionally, some sheep's cheese

wrapped in a sheep's bladder.

-You don't get cheese like that at home do you?

-No.

But there are plenty of substitutes.

A good old Greek feta will do the trick.

That's crumbly.

Oh, that's fabulous.

You sprinkle it onto the pie.

Some of these fabulous fresh spring onions.

Now, it's time to put the curl in your pie.

It's dead easy. Just take one side over like that,

and see use that perimeter of your template.

Transfer your curly pie to the dish, like so.

-Oh, lush.

-Now you top this off with a mixture of eggs and yoghurt.

And you just splodge this on.

When we say splodge, we mean splodge.

-Are you a bit of a splodger, Kingy?

-Oh, aye.

A splodge between friends, there's nothing the matter with that!

Mm. Pop this into a pre-heated oven,

about 180, 200 degrees Celsius,

for about half an hour until golden brown.

While you're doing that, I'll crack on with a variety of fillings.

Now, if you don't fancy going rustic,

go and knock yourself out at your local deli.

Fancy charcuterie, fine cheeses and exotic mushrooms

can all be used here.

The world is your oyster when it comes to curly pie.

But even though we're using such fancy ingredients,

it's still a good frugal dish.

Because when it comes to filling a curly pie, a little goes a long way.

We've baked plenty of pies for the big bash.

But we'll leave some for the woodcarvers,

I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

This wonderful curly pie exterior doesn't give up the secret

of its tasty filling, until you sink your teeth into it.

But there'll be no sinking of teeth into these beauties,

till we get to the party.

Lil and all the family will be expecting us soon,

so we'd better get our skates on.

Hello! Hello!

-Hello.

-Oh, it's great to be back!

I'm kissing all these blokes, you know,

and I've got no idea who they are yet!

-Vassily!

-Well, this is Lil's Dad, Vassily.

And these are our hosts

Lil's Aunt Henyetta.

And Uncle Ilya.

We're now in the bosom of your Romanian family.

And we're sure of a good party and some good food.

Right. Wa-hey!

I can't believe we've finally arrived.

Yeah. And we've crossed a few borders to get here.

And just a stone's throw from here is the Ukrainian border, the edge of the EU.

In the garden, the party preparations are in full flow.

Ilya's got the wood fired oven up to temperature.

While Lil's mum Veronica and Aunty Henyetta

are busy baking away some of tonight's treats.

Cozonac is a sweet bread very similar to the Italian panettone.

It's a rich dough made with eggs and butter.

But the fillings vary from one region and occasion to the next.

And Turkish Delight is a Romanian favourite.

But baking's only part of this feast,

the boys are barbecuing the meat.

And we're getting all fired up for a goulash.

Ilya? We've brought this from a village

in Tokaj in Hungary.

And honestly it's some of the best wine we've ever tasted.

-Danke.

-No, thank YOU!

-One, two... Bravo!

-Cheers!

THEY TOAST IN ROMANIAN

And if we're giving Ilya wine, he's giving us palinka.

It's a traditional homemade brandy made from fruit.

This is my first pear palinka.

That is fantastic.

It's lovely, isn't it? It's so smooth.

Palinka is to the Romanians what whisky is to the Scots,

but its delights have spread over much of eastern Europe.

Now this is a big honour, I get to cut the bread.

You can't beat a great homemade loaf.

Cooked in a wood fired and you can still smell the smoke.

Ilya's wood fired oven's been going full tilt all day.

Oh, look at that. That meat will be cooked to sizzling perfection.

And there's an endless parade of baking appearing under our noses.

I can't believe the fantastic smells coming from this table.

It's drawing all the family together like a giant magnet.

Cheers! Yes!

-Where's your sausage, Myers?

-Oh God.

-Pardon? Do you want me in on this?

Lil's family have laid on an amazing spread.

The table's literally groaning under the weight of this fantastic food.

And it's hard to know where to start.

This is the best food, the best baking ever.

-But do you know what?

-What?

We haven't done our contribution. The curly pies!

-Pass them round, dude.

-Come on. Pass them on.

-Curly pies!

-Curly pies.

-Curly pies.

Now they are all different flavours.

Curly pies.

-Curly pies.

-My sweet.

Thank you very much, my hubby.

-Do you know what, Si?

-What's that, mate?

I think curly pies rock.

It's not the only thing that's rocked on this trip, mate.

We've taken a king-sized slice out of Eastern Europe.

Bratislava's baking was buzzing with new ideas.

But with that Zemlovka,

it's also got some pretty tasty old ones as well.

And Budapest what a city!

Yes! Augusta's kremes, the cake Communism couldn't kill.

And I was so glad we got off the motorways in Hungary.

I think I've only just worked off that langos.

And if you don't try those crackling scones at home, you're mad.

Which is where we went next, dude.

Sumptuous wine and sumptuous surroundings.

And things have just got better and better since we've been in Romania.

And do you know what? I feel quite emotional.

Well, and so you should. It's amazing, dude.

It's a spirit of love and food, and family.

And after all, isn't that what life is all about?

Our bake-ation takes us next into the heart of Europe, to Austria.

We start in Vienna, before criss-crossing the country.

Finishing as high as tarmac will take us up in the Alps.

En route, we plan to enjoy a diet consisting almost entirely of cake!

So join us for the next leg of our phenomenal...

Bake-ation!

Our pronunciation skills may need a bit of work.

But if you've been inspired to master your pogaca...

Or your zemlovka, then go to...

..and follow the links to the Open University.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd