Balearics Hairy Bikers' Mediterranean Adventure

Oh, mate, what a trip!

Wee-hee!

New places...

Now, that's a view, Dave.

New people...

Look at your muscles!

And incredible food.

Oh, that's good.

We're doing almost 3,000 miles around

the Mediterranean in search of the authentic flavours of

Italy and Sardinia, Corsica and France,

and the Balearics and Spain.

Ending up in Andalusia for one of the biggest

parties in the Med - the Festival of San Juan.

But it's not all sun, sea, sand and...

Cut that out, you!

They're all looking at us now.

Too right. We're tracking down the real Mediterranean...

You'll never get a tune out of that.

..little out-of-the-way places,

and all the culinary loveliness on offer.

-Oh, wow.

-It's fantastic.

It's so simple.

-We get to eat the tiger cow.

-Woo!

We're going to cook with the locals.

ALL: Salute!

And hear their stories.

We've island-hopped our way from Italy to France...

Fantastic, Chef.

Next, it's the beautiful Balearic Islands and Spain.

Look at those!

This is our take on a magical part of the world

right on our doorstep.

-Ole!

-Island life...

DAVE LAUGHS

You...

I cannot wait.

Spain at last, Kingy. Well, the Balearics.

Minorca, second-biggest to Majorca,

where we're also going.

Wey-hey! It's bloomin' lovely.

There's so much brilliant food on these two islands.

Let's start in Mahon, Minorca's capital,

where there is an amazing market...

Selling fish and tapas. Perfect.

Mahon's most famous export is a condiment.

And here's a clue.

You can have it with chips or with a salad.

It'll pep up a sandwich, too.

And I love it. Follow me, Mr King.

Look at this.

Look at those.

It is like a pick 'n' mix store of fantastic food,

-isn't it?

-Yes.

Over here, Kingy. This is what I was talking about.

Mayonnaise.

What's going on here?

We make Mahonesa from Minorca.

The mayonnaise is from Minorca.

Legend has it that when France seized control of Mahon

from the British in 1756, they held a banquet,

but the chef struggled

to find cream for his cream-and-egg sauce,

so he mixed oil with eggs instead,

and called the result Mahonesa, after Mahon.

British defeat, culinary victory.

Garlic, one egg yolk? Now the drizzle.

And you need to beat very slowly.

Slowly?

Very, very, very slowly.

BOTH: S...l...o...w...l...y.

That is perfect mayonnaise. The texture, everything.

This was the original ground-zero recipe, dude.

Look at your muscles.

-Yes.

-I normally get that job.

Oh, look.

Oh! That is fabulous.

-A winner?

-Fantastic.

All this wonderful food -

what do you think is best with mayonnaise?

Cod fritter and aioli.

Look at that.

Fishy, mayonnaise-y, garlicky, what's not to love?

Mayonnaise - it's a global phenomenon.

-It is.

-It started here, in Mahon.

-Shall we get some of those?

-Some of those, yeah.

I like the look of them.

-Escarola.

-And a squid burger.

So far on this trip,

we've met Italians, Corsicans and French.

But here in the Balearics, it's all about us...

..because these islands

have a deep relationship with Britain.

Starting in Mahon,

we'll ride west to discover the historical connections...

And after sailing to Majorca,

we'll cross that island, too,

meeting Brits living there today.

We'll end up in every gourmet's dream destination, Palma.

It's a story about the past and the present. I mean, we've got gin here

in Minorca because of us.

Gin?! We've got to get involved in that, haven't we?

And then we're sailing off to Majorca.

And to top it off we're meeting Marc Fosh, the only Brit in Majorca

with a Michelin star.

This is genius. So we've got a load

of British influence we can be proud of.

And we've got Balearic bites. Bring it on!

First, let's eat this then go look at some fish.

-What are you having first?

-Ooh, fritter-me-tata.

-Oh, that's good, isn't it?

-It's great.

When you live right in the middle of the Mediterranean,

fish is bound to be an important part of your diet,

and Minorcans embrace it in all its varied forms.

This is pescatarian heaven, Kingy.

There's a lot of variety here.

Hello, handsome!

-They're beautiful.

-They are beautiful, aren't they?

So we have... Sepia is cuttlefish.

Yes.

-Calamari, squid.

-Squid, yeah.

Do you know how to tell the difference, Kingy?

You see, the thing is, squid will have ten legs,

two of which are strictly tentacles,

and it has the cartilage inside, which is like the skeleton.

Yes.

The cuttlefish will also have ten legs,

although, strictly speaking, two are tentacles,

but has far shorter leg-to-body proportions.

Oh.

Now, cooking cuttlefish or squid

might feel a step too far,

but it's much easier than you may think.

And this produce is so fresh you don't want to

mess about with it, so simple is best for our first dish.

A cuttlefish stew with a squid salad...

..and mayo!

BOTH: Ole!

I'm feeling rather Balearic!

-Are you?

-Yes.

I could be a Balearic dancer, with my foot on the table,

-but I won't.

-No, don't.

-No, no.

But we're going to start off with two recipes.

So we're going to do cuttlefish and squid.

Indeed.

Our seafood comes from the local fish market,

and is sustainable,

but if you want to check out the sustainability of any fish,

you can do it online or simply ask your fishmonger.

We're going to start with a cuttlefish stew.

That is a cuttlefish that has been cleaned.

Look at that beauty.

Cuttlefish - it's like squid with a beer belly.

It is!

Even though this has been prepped,

it's still got this membrane that needs to come off.

Bits... It's kind of there...

And just cut this into fairly sizable chunks.

As I said, it's a stew.

Look at the beak. So, even if they've been dressed, check,

cos you don't want that stuck in your throat, do you?

That oil now is at a perfect temperature.

-Thank you. Look at that. There's a lot of meat there.

-Lovely.

That's all meat. So we just pop this into some heated olive oil.

We want a little bit of colour on it. We don't want it seared.

-Right, mate.

-That's perfect. Just a bit of colour.

And now the onion goes in.

Now, this needs to sweat for about seven or eight minutes.

Take three cloves of garlic and chop

in a rustic Minorcan fishwife's fashion.

It was amazing, that fish market, wasn't it?

What I loved about it,

it was part and parcel of everyday culture.

So the garlic needs to go in,

just sweat for a couple of minutes.

Now the next step is to peel the tomatoes,

but we want to do this kind of Minorcan-style,

which is just basically with a grater.

We've seen people do this in restaurants and homes.

Right, take your tomato, take a grater,

and just sort of grate it, like so.

So, there you are.

Skinnos...binnos.

So, now we want about half a bottle of wine,

and it's going to deglaze nicely,

and we're going to boil off the alcohol.

I think, with the cuttlefish,

fresh tomatoes in this dish

are a little bit lighter than tinned.

You could use tinned, but it's not going to be as good.

So, we pop the tomatoes in with the stew.

Not a tin-opener required.

Now the herbs.

Two bay leaves, a sprig of thyme, and this is a nice bit,

about a teaspoonful of fennel seeds.

-It just gives it an aniseed flavour.

-Beautiful.

It kind of works, doesn't it, the pastis sort of vibe?

Absolutely.

With the fish, beautiful.

So, you, my friend,

you have to simmer for an hour and a half,

and that cuttlefish will bathe

in the lovely tomato, herby loveliness.

It certainly will.

Shall we have a look, Kingy?

Yeah.

Perfect.

So, we'll set this aside. We don't want to overcook the meat.

Again, really simple ingredients put together in

a really simple way just makes the dish.

It's so good.

So, I'll turn the heat up on that a little bit

and reduce it by half.

We really can boil this pretty furiously.

Look at that.

It's reducing like a fat bloke's box of chocolates.

Right.

We can put you back in your little warm

bath of gorgeousness, Mr Cuttlefish.

Now that is the dish finished, so what we're going to do is,

we're going to set this aside now...

..and we'll continue with our orgy of tentacles.

To go with our cuttlefish stew,

we're making a lovely marinated squid salad.

I got my squid tubes,

cut them quite finely into the familiar rings that we love.

Look at that. At the minute,

it looks like you've been worming the Labrador.

To cook our squid,

I've brought a pan of water to a vigorous boil.

The squid goes in for 40 seconds, then straight out

and into iced water.

And we'll make the marinade.

The marinade starts with olive oil,

the zest and the juice of a lemon...

Sherry vinegar - vinagre de Jerez.

Pimenton de La Vera - sweet paprika.

It's going to give the squid the wonderful, wonderful colour.

And the lemon juice is going to help tenderise the squid too.

And that's because of the citric acid,

which is the acidity in the lemon.

Half a teaspoonful of pimenton picante,

which is hot paprika, and a clove of garlic.

-There you are, buddy.

-There we go.

And then look at all those colours.

That says Mediterranean, doesn't it?

Oh, aye.

Then the squid goes back in.

This is such a tasty, clever little recipe,

and it works great with frozen squid from the supermarket.

In an ideal world, you'd leave that overnight,

or at least an hour, before going on to the next stage.

But we're kind of hungry, so shall we bash on?

Yeah.

A couple of sprigs of thyme,

chopped parsley and some mint.

A couple of oranges in segments...

And some finely-sliced onions.

A quick mix and it's ready.

One tasty and healthy squid salad.

And now to finish the stew.

And the basil's not just there for decoration.

Stir that through the stew and it wilts just in the heat.

It's lovely.

But, you know, tomatoes and basil,

they are made to be together, just like me and you.

Like salt and pepper.

Like nuts and bolts.

A little drizzle of olive oil...

..for a little sheen on the top.

And of course it wouldn't be a Mahon-inspired seafood spectacular

of cuttlefish stew and a squid salad

without mayonnaise.

Where to, Dave?

I thought we'd start by checking out

the British connections here, like this -

Kane's Road.

Yay!

Oh, wow.

In the 18th century, Minorca was ruled in turns

by the Spanish, the French and the British,

but in 1712, Richard Kane

became the first British governor and built this road.

He's got a monument, too.

TYRES SCREECH

It says here, as well,

he reduced the influence of the Church by...

Yeah, he abolished the Inquisition.

-Fair enough.

-Fair point.

And we, the Brits,

were responsible for mapping the whole area.

Yes, Britain really has had an impact on

this beautiful little island.

Oh, some nice boats, aren't there?

Yeah.

Roads are great and all, but shall I tell you

my own favourite legacy of the British?

What's that?

First, let's park up the bikes and find a drink.

Oh, I'm not arguing, dude.

That's what we're after, Kingy, over there, a bar.

-Oh, look at that, lovely.

-Oh, I can smell the gin from here.

Let's go. Come on.

Next to this little bar is a gin distillery,

the last of many distilleries here on Minorca.

And it's another connection with Blighty,

because when British soldiers arrived here in the 1750s,

they wanted to recreate the gin they drank at home,

and a whole industry sprung up.

And to think gin's originally Dutch!

Gin is now part of Minorcan culture,

though I've heard it's a bit different

because they don't make it the conventional way.

We'd better taste some to be sure!

Could we have two of your finest gin and tonics?

Of course.

-You've done this before, haven't you?

-Yeah, I think.

I am using gin from Mahon.

It's a really different type of gin.

The difference with the gin from England is the alcohol base,

because we don't have a lot of grain,

and we started the alcohol base from the grapes.

When you smell it, the gin and tonic,

it's possible you smell this difference.

I can feel my mouth going now, Si.

OK. Enjoy.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

-Cheers, mate.

-Cheers.

-Good health.

Ooh!

It's a really aromatic gin.

That's one of the best gin and tonics I've ever had.

Oh, crumbs, that is good.

You're not wrong, Dave,

but let's not get too carried away, dude,

because we've got a big day tomorrow.

We're off to Majorca!

Don't worry, Kingy - with my nautical connections,

I've sorted out our crossing,

but I will be a bit sad to leave.

Minorca - it's been a complete gem, hasn't it?

Oh, it's absolutely a gem of the Mediterranean.

It's wonderful. I'm amazed how the British influenced here.

-Well...

-Hallelujah!

What? What's the matter?

-Hallelujah.

-What?

That's our boat. Goodbye, Minorca...

SI SIGHS

-Hey, Captain.

-Morning, Skipper.

Very nice to meet you. I'm Si.

Si? Geoff. This is David.

-Hi, David.

-He's crew.

Right, Skipper, let's get started.

What, are we crewing?!

OK, guys, once your ropes are done,

if you could help get the fenders in.

Yeah. I think I've knotted myself a plant basket here.

Just drop it down here.

We'll sort it out when we're out at sea.

Today, we're sailing from Ciutadella in Minorca

to Port de Pollenca on the northern coast of Majorca.

50 miles of open sea, Kingy,

but don't worry, I've got me day licence.

Oddly, I don't find that very reassuring, dude.

-Geoff?

-Yeah?

Is he not heading straight at us?

He's under sail,

so does he have right of way if he's under sail?

He does, yeah.

Hey, hey. I remembered that.

Yeah, with a little help from me, Myers.

That way.

Oh, I wondered what had happened then. I thought I was possessed.

He's got the other wheel!

That's a heading of 165 degrees.

Right, keep it on 165 degrees...

-Yes-o, sir.

-Mr Helmsman.

This is all very nice, but I'm starting to think

we'd be more use in the galley, dude.

As we've travelled around the Mediterranean,

it's become clear that food and flavours

migrate between countries, just like people,

so we're going to cook a dish that arrived in England

with migrants from the Iberian peninsula

and became a British classic...

Fried fish!

..for our English captain on Spanish waters.

It's fish and chips with a twist.

-And the twist is...

-It's a gin-and-tonic batter.

It's not as daft as it sounds.

And, you know, tempura batter, you use sparkling mineral water,

so we're using tonic water.

It's just our batter.

It's like Mahon meets Middlesborough.

All you need is gin, tonic, flour, and baking powder

to give the batter some extra oomph.

-You take the bowl.

-Take the bowl?

You haven't got much to do. Crack on.

It'll be all right. I'll watch.

First off, I want 200g of flour,

but he's forgot the scales,

so I'll do four big spoonfuls of flour.

Two...three...

That's about 200g.

Baking powder, cos we want the batter to be light and fluffy.

Now, the secret with this is,

when you put the liquid in,

don't stir it too much.

Lumps are a good thing,

cos lumps will go in puffy bits in your batter.

Now the tonic.

Now the gin.

About 25ml of gin.

We mix this in to the dry goods,

but at this point, only half of it.

The other half of the liquid we put back into the fridge

to chill down, cos when it's cold,

the bubbles stay intact and we get a lighter batter.

You, make yourself useful.

Put that gin and tonic in the fridge.

Please don't drink it.

Whilst the batter is resting,

we're going to prepare the fish and the chips.

Oh, look at that. He's a nice fat fellow.

We're using a sole,

and a top tip for skinning this fish is to scuff up the skin,

use a cloth to get a good grip and rip it off,

then fillet the fish into goujons.

Now, I know, in the UK, we are a nation of chip-eaters,

but I have noticed a common mistake that many of you

are making.

It is imperative that you keep your chips the same size,

because if you don't, they don't all cook at the same time,

you see.

Now, that is a French fry.

Let's make dinner.

You can tell how much the boat's swaying

by the stove on the gimbal,

the gimbal being the swingy thing,

so it's not just me being pathetic on my feet

-and elderly.

-That'll be it!

Now, just a note - deep-frying or shallow-frying

on a vessel at sea is to be taken very, very carefully,

under supervision of two professionals like ourselves,

and a skipper who's promised that he'll throw

a fire blanket and us into the sea if anything goes wrong.

For perfect chips, dry them thoroughly,

then drop them into hot oil for around ten minutes.

You see, what's happened is,

he's put the chips on blue tissue paper

to dry, and of course he's ended up with blue chips.

There's nothing wrong with blue chips!

Everybody loves blue chips.

We're at sea - everything's blue.

Now, normally, we'd double- or even triple-fry these.

But these chips are nice and thin

so they'll be fine on a single fry.

Si, could you get me gin and tonic water,

the one that's been chilling?

It's not in there - that's the freezer.

You put it in the freezer!

It's cold. It wasn't cold in the...

Can you pass me the batter?

Now, we finish off making the batter...

Let's see how we're doing.

Don't worry about the lumps.

-No.

-Keep the air in it.

-Perfect.

-That's nice.

It is quite a thin batter, and that's what you want,

like a tempura. It's going to be thin and crispy

and lovely. I'm happy with that.

So I'm prepared, Mr King, for the fishy on the dishy

when your chips come out.

The chips are ready,

so they'll go in the oven to keep warm,

and now onto the goujons,

using the same oil as the chips,

well, cos it's still hot.

We dip them in the flour and this makes the batter stick.

Look at that - the batter's puffing up a treat.

We love Dover and lemon sole,

but for this, most white fish will do

and you can check out online which fish is most sustainable.

And the good thing about goujons is that it makes fish

go a long way.

-Here you go.

-Lovely. Thank you.

Can one of you go on the helm, please,

while we tuck in?

-We've got one each.

-Yeah!

What do you think?

You can really taste the gin and tonic

actually in the batter.

-It's good, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Very yummy. One of the best fish and chips I tried.

-I really like.

-Really?

The best. Really the best.

Ah, you know what, Kingy?

I think we've invented a Minorcan classic -

fish and chips with gin-and-tonic batter.

He didn't give us any chips.

-He didn't give us any fish, either.

-No, I know!

This is beautiful. It's really quite romantic out here.

I really like you.

Get away!

Nearly 50 miles sailed without any mishaps, eh?

It's been amazing, mate.

Who knows what tomorrow may bring?

Majorca, mostly.

We've arrived in the biggest of the Balearic Islands.

One of Britain's favourite holiday destinations.

I'm still peckish from the boat, you know.

No dinner, no breakfast. I could eat a horse.

Well, could I tempt you with some pork?

Yes, you surely can, mate.

I want to explore this beautiful island

top to bottom, but you can't do that on an empty stomach,

so let's cook something properly Majorcan.

We're going to roast a beautiful piece of pork

with crackling, and to go with it, tumbet...

A traditional Majorcan vegetable dish.

A sort of ratatouille with potatoes on top.

First thing we're going to do is, I'm going to score

this beautiful, beautiful shoulder of pork.

We don't want to go through to the flesh,

we just want to go through the layer of skin and fat.

You can get your butcher to do this when you buy it at home.

And you need a sharp knife,

or you can do it with a Stanley knife.

Stanley knives are good cos you can set the blade

at just that much, so you don't go through to the meat.

But this isn't plain roast pork.

We're making a rub for extra flavour,

starting with grated garlic,

chopped chilli, with the seeds in for more of a kick,

ground fennel seeds and peppercorns.

Right, as Dave's just crushing those and putting it all

together and getting those flavours going,

all I've done is, I've just cut some butcher's string

and just laid it across the chopping board,

and then, skin-side down,

put it on top so it's really easy to roll.

Right, that goes into the bowl.

I've got about half a teaspoon of ground cloves.

Cloves are a bit of a devil to grind, actually,

so that's why I'm using pre-ground cloves.

Cinnamon. This is going to give us a sweet note.

Now, I'm using dried oregano and dried thyme here.

Dried herbs are more powerful,

so when you cook them into the dish,

you kind of get more bangs for your buck.

Now, just to give the chilli a bit of help,

hot paprika. You could use smoked paprika if you wanted,

like a bit of a barbecue flavour.

Olive oil.

Voila.

Red wine vinegar.

Very lovely.

Now we mix this up.

A few little track marks,

just so we can push it right into that meat.

Beautiful.

This is really kind of powerful flavouring.

We're going to roll it... like so.

Put a quick knot in it.

Cut the excess off.

Perfect.

And then the same again.

-It's easier if I help, I think.

-Perfect.

Everybody knows a bow, and you can absolutely do that,

so it's just like tying shoelaces.

Perfect.

Very thick slices of onion act as a trivet,

to keep the pork from the bottom of the dish.

And it's going to help the flavour of the resting juices,

which are going to be glorious on the tumbet.

Before he puts the meat on there,

I'm just going to put about 250ml of water

in the bottom of the roasting tin

so it can steam a little bit.

This'll keep the meat moist.

Now we take the rest of Dave's rub

and the best way to do this is just get your hands in it.

And you want it right deep down into those scores that

you've made.

Just drizzle over some olive oil.

So, again, a process of massage.

Oh, look, man.

Come on, you can't say that's not wonderfully gorgeous!

If that had a wedding dress, I'd marry it.

And you know that we are talking crackling here,

so lemon...

The meat will roast for 40 minutes a kilo,

so we've got a couple of hours till it's done -

plenty of time to make our classic Majorcan tumbet.

That's the pork going nicely.

It is. I can hear it going, "Oh-ho-ho-ho!" from here, David.

So, as they would say in Newcastle,

time to make tumbet, pet.

You'd have a tumbet, not a trumpet.

Trumpet's really interesting, actually...

Tumbet! It's not trumpet!

SI LAUGHS

Now, it's a really good stand-alone vegetarian dish,

but it's equally super delicious served with pork.

I'm cutting these wonderful aubergines into...

It's about 1.5cm - there's a reason for that,

because we want them to maintain their integrity

a little bit as they cook through the dish, you see?

And I'm going to fry off for a few minutes

four fat cloves of garlic.

Now, there are recipes for tumpet...

It's called tumbet!

-I know, that's what I'm saying!

-Not tippet or trumpet!

THEY LAUGH

Anyway, when you're making tumpet,

there are recipes for it

whereby you fry the aubergines. But don't,

because they absorb so much oil, it's nuts.

And then what I'm going to do is just very quickly

paint them with olive oil, season them off with some salt,

and then we're going to stick them in our wood-fired oven

for about 25 minutes.

So that's that. First stage done.

While Dave's infusing his oil,

all I'm doing is cutting the courgette into slices.

I'm going to prepare my tomatoes.

I'm going to core them. I don't want the pips in this,

so I'll take that out, chuck it away,

and cut the flesh away from the skin.

This way you get lots of tomato that's not soggy.

I'm going to put some oil into the pan and then just

colour off the courgette.

Beautiful.

Right, those tomatoes there with the garlic and the olive oil.

Thyme goes in, about a teaspoon, pinch of sugar...

..and a big pinch of salt.

Now, the potatoes, we're going to leave them with the skin on.

I want about 3mm slices,

like the thickness of the sole of your shoe.

Thicker than a beer mat but thinner than Elvis Presley.

That kind of thing.

Take the courgettes out,

start on Dave's potatoes

and set the aubergines to one side.

And prep your peppers.

Now, these peppers, they've been roasted in an oven

for about 40 minutes,

just put on a tray, rubbed with olive oil,

and then, when they're hot, you put them into a bowl,

cover the bowl with clingfilm,

and, as you can see, they've gone all wrinkly.

So, as they cool, they steam,

and they steam their own skins off.

We want to get rid of that.

It just makes it really easy to peel that skin off,

because what I want is that lovely roasted-pepper flesh.

I want to cut these in strips.

Right, Kingy. Right-oh. Now it's time to layer the...

Tumbet!

THEY CHEER

First in, tomato sauce,

then basil leaves,

oregano leaves,

a layer of aubergine,

more tomato

and more herbs.

A layer of courgettes

and more tomato sauce,

basil and fresh oregano.

Then the roasted pepper strips,

the last of the tomatoes and a bit more herbage

and, finally, the potatoes.

Salt, and then I'm going to drizzle olive oil.

Oh, beautiful.

And that goes into a hot oven...

CAR HORN BEEPS

-Be ready in a minute!

-Not be long!

Oh, it's them from next door.

As I was saying,

this'll bake in a hot oven for around half an hour,

until the potatoes are browned and the vegetables are tender.

Simon!

Only joking, Dave.

Oh, my good gracious. That's beautiful.

The tumbet, Si.

-That tumbet is fantastic.

-The pork is fantastic.

And I know what you're all waiting for at home -

what's the crackling like?

CRUNCHING

Naughty, but nice.

Around two million British tourists come to Majorca

every year, but we want to know what it's like to live here full time.

Over 10,000 Brits now call this place home.

And there's even an English-language newspaper

called Talk of the North.

The editor Joanna is going to tell us about life here.

Fortunately, it's over brunch.

-We've got some friends over.

-Great.

-This is Kim.

-I've got wet hands, sorry.

-Dave, pleased to meet you.

Nice to meet you, how are you doing?

Very good. I'm washing tomatoes.

-Estaimadas.

-Estaimadas.

-Ensaimadas.

-Ensaimadas.

-Ensaimadas.

Well, we haven't learned the language,

which is essential if you're going to live abroad.

Look, there's the two... I'll go and introduce myself.

Hi, girls. Hello, how are you, ladies?

That's it, we've lost him. So what's on the menu, Joanna?

We were thinking coca mallorquina.

It's basically kind of a pizza which comes with lots of different

toppings but probably the most common and most authentic

mallorquina is trampo.

Trampo is a salad of onion, peppers and tomatoes finely diced.

-And it's proper Majorcan.

-It's proper.

Quite dense, these tomatoes, quite good big ones.

-So they're trampo tomatoes?

-Kind of.

-Fantastic.

-So I'll make the pastry.

-Righto.

-What's in there?

-That's just water with yeast.

The base is like a lot of things here, like the ensaimada.

"Sai", S-A-I, means lard.

Anything with "sai" in the title, you know is going to be a bit lardy.

-The thing is, lard makes great pastry.

-That's right.

Then in goes olive oil and flour.

-And you don't have to use lard either.

-No, but it's nice.

I know. You can always use vegetable shortening if you can't find lard

-or you're a vegetarian.

-Exactly.

-We've covered that one.

..Spanish and English.

So you have 30 years of experience between you

living in a different country. What food do you really miss?

Years ago you wouldn't be able to get Marmite or Jaffa Cakes.

-Rhubarb, you can't get rhubarb.

-You can now.

-But it's very expensive.

-Right.

It's spices and things - originally you couldn't get curry and

turmeric and all those things you normally cook with at home.

-So herbs and spices...

-The last thing I definitely miss

were things like hot cross buns.

Do you think of yourselves as being British or Spanish?

-Oh, I'm British.

-I see myself...

My children, I don't know what they would say.

Because they don't know any different.

I suppose they're European. What we've found as well is that

there's a definite identity while we've being doing this programme

that is Mediterranean.

It would be quite a nice way to describe yourself.

"Where are you from?" "I'm Mediterranean."

-But the kids are going to grow up so well-rounded.

-Yeah.

-How's your pastry?

-Looking all right.

You've released your gluten, it's got a bit of bounce.

It's getting a bit of bounce, isn't it?

This is the sort of food I like. You look into that bowl, it's all

-the colours. It's healthy just looking at it.

-Yeah.

What was your biggest challenge? What was the real biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge is you think, "Oh, live in a different country,

"go for a year." But a year's nothing

when the community has been evolving over hundreds of years.

I think you need to be realistic about how long it takes to have

a sense of belonging.

And I think it takes five, six, ten years...

The locals will embrace you a little bit more.

They'll understand you're not here just as a tourist,

that you're here to stay and that you are part of the community,

the children go to school here, and they accept you a little bit more.

-Sure.

-Europe is an incredible area, and to be able to shift and move

and enjoy all these different cultures as we have been doing

is incredible, and we don't want that to change.

-You need to put quite a bit of oil.

-Right, say when. Hello!

Do you want to do this?

-It's nearly finished.

-I think that's enough, then.

-Do you want to put the salt in?

-Like this?

Quite a lot of salt, I think.

Because it's quite fatty, it spreads quite well.

You've obviously seen me on a sun lounger.

-Finished!

-Well done.

Mix it all up with your hands.

-That's it.

-Yeah.

-Brilliant.

-I like helping.

-You're a very good help.

You're better than my friend who normally helps - you're less messy.

-I'm waiting ages.

-You have been waiting ages, you're very patient.

Are you waiting for your lunch?

-Cake! Right, we better get this in, then.

-Get it in the oven quick.

Once the trampo is evenly spread it goes into the oven for 45 minutes.

-I love the base with the lard, it's lovely.

-It's great.

It's all those flavours, it's fresh, it's tasty.

-It's a really easy one to do at home, actually.

-Yeah.

It's nice as well because it's got a nice crisp... The lard makes it

-crispy on the outside.

-Yeah.

It's brilliant.

So I have to say, there seems to be quite a lot of almonds.

-Or derivatives thereof.

-Almonds are really popular here.

-Sure.

In fact, if you're travelling round

the island you should go and see Gemma.

She's a nutritionist and she's very big on almonds and recipes.

-Oh, that might be interesting.

-The health benefits of almonds.

The health benefits of an almond.

Being a health fanatic, Kingy,

I know you're keen to follow up on the benefits of almonds.

But we can't miss one of the world's greatest motorcycling roads.

-Sa Calobra.

-The Cobra!

SI IMPERSONATES WHIPPING

Oh, that is incredible.

Wow!

This is the most beautiful road I've ever been on.

Right, almonds!

Gemma is a top nutritionist.

She must be - tennis legend "Raffle" Nadal goes to her for advice,

and she's told us to meet her at her friend's farm. He's called Pep.

And apparently his almonds are world-class.

-What a view.

-Yeah.

Absolutely stunning.

Now, this is the sort of gardening you'd like, innit?

-Very much so.

-Yeah.

Hi, guys! Hello!

-Wow!

-Hi, how are you?

-Oh, nice to see you.

-Are you working hard?

Very busy with almonds.

-They're the almonds?

-Yeah.

Look at these beauties. Aren't they gorgeous?

-Yeah. They've still got their fur coats on.

-Yeah.

But these definitely have knickers.

Yes!

THEY LAUGH

Pep tells us that he's spent the last 40 years

restoring this almond grove in his free time.

Almond trees were first planted in Majorca

in the 1800s, when vineyards,

which had been there since Roman times,

were decimated by the phylloxera virus.

Though many vineyards recovered,

almonds positively flourished in this balmy climate.

Pep doesn't irrigate his trees

so they don't produce a huge crop

but the almonds that they do produce contain

up to 60% more oil than many commercially produced nuts.

And they're good oils, too.

Yeah, healthy ones.

-They're so big.

-Yeah.

He picks one by one, so they are beautiful, amazing.

So every almond is picked by hand.

Yes. He does it in the old, traditional ways,

the way it should be,

and nobody has time to do this nowadays,

so he's a very special man.

Fantastic.

I love almonds, and they have plenty of properties.

-They are good to reduce the cholesterol.

-Uh-huh.

Good to prevent the heart disease,

also diabetes, type 2. Almonds have calcium.

You just take the amount of almonds that can fit in

-your hand.

-Yeah.

That's the amount you should eat every day.

That's it. Simple. Not more, not less.

Pep, could you tell me, how do you get your beautiful almonds

out of their gorgeous green-velvet jacket?

-Let me show you.

-OK.

Oh, right!

Well, this looks simple, Pep. How do we do?

I take one, yes?

And the almond you put here...

First of all, take the green off.

And after, you can open this almond...

Oh, wow.

See?

Then you need to open also.

And then you dry them?

Yes, of course, in the sun.

So, three layers. As we'd say in the kitchen,

that's a lot of hand movements for a nut.

PEP CHUCKLES

So what about salted almonds that we buy in packets?

Does the salting destroy the goodness in the almonds?

-What kind of salt they use, that's the problem.

-Chemical.

Chemicals, but if you use the sea salt, it has all the minerals also.

So it's a good combination, especially if you practise sport,

because the first electrolyte you lose is sodium.

-Yes.

-So salt has the sodium, and mixed with magnesium, potassium,

it's a good combination, not a bad combination.

One of your clients is Rafa Nadal, and a friend.

Do you include almonds in his diet?

Yes, because they give you good energy.

Also, almonds have magnesium, which is very good to avoid cramps.

-Have you got any tips for me?

-For you, almonds have an anti-aging

properties because they have plenty of vitamin E.

Vitamin E is very important to keep younger.

Maximum almonds.

Maximum almonds with your hand, you keep it in your hand.

I'll tell Kingy. I better go get the salad.

Pep's 280 almond trees

produce around 300 kilos of nuts per year,

and they're in high demand,

despite costing 30 euros a kilo.

This passion project is a huge achievement,

and I for one am dead envious of Pep's lifestyle.

-So here we are, sat at the table at your beautiful home.

-Yeah.

With the beautiful almond trees.

-It's your life's work.

-Mm-hmm.

Many, many days, I think...

..I am a lucky man, yes.

Because I am 70 years old and see the produce finished.

I am very happy, really.

-40 years of work, and it's hard work.

-Exactly.

It looks to me like you've got another 40 years.

As fit as a butcher's whippet, isn't he?

-It's the almonds!

-Yes.

-Yes.

Well, dude, if it's going to keep us as healthy and young,

let's make something with...

BOTH: ..almonds!

-As our homage to Pep...

-Oh, yes.

..the best, most wonderful almond-grower in the world,

we're going to fill our ensaimadas...

With a frangipane - lots of beautiful almonds.

These ensaimadas are absolutely pure Majorca.

Hey, ho, start your dough, dude.

Well, the dough, dude, starts with 500g of plain flour.

Now 150g of caster sugar.

7g of dried yeast.

Softened butter and some sugar into the bowl.

And this is the beginning of our frangipane.

And I'm going to put that together

until it's light and fluffy.

-Just like himself.

-Exactly.

Now warm the milk through - 200ml -

so that it's the temperature which enables the yeast to

come into life.

I'm going to crack two eggs and whip them.

And now I put the eggs into the milk.

Which is, yeah, just tepid. Ooh-la-la.

Hold that, mate, hold that,

and then I'm just going to put the almond in...

There we go.

And I'm going to add the eggs and the milk

to my flour, yeast and sugar.

A couple of drops of almond extract.

Now we turn this out onto a board

and start making a dough.

This is an enriched dough.

It's a dough that's enriched with eggs and milk,

and it's sweet.

Whilst Dave's kneading that, I'm going to put

a couple of drops of orange blossom water in.

It's optional, so if you don't like it don't put it in,

but here, we've had it and it's so lovely,

and it just tastes of the Mediterranean. It's fab.

And we just mix that in.

Ensaimadas, you find them at every cake shop in Majorca.

They're almost like their national dish.

We've had savoury ones, as well.

But ours are filled with the frangipane,

the almond paste.

That's your bowl, mate.

That, we need to set aside in a draught-free place,

preferably warm,

for about an hour or two, to rise.

In this heat, it's going to be blowing the roof off

in about 20 minutes, I think,

but I did one before.

-Let's cut to that one, eh?

-Should we?

-Whoosh!

And this... Oh, look at that.

It's icky, it's sticky, it's kind of fabulous.

This makes 16...balls.

In bakeries all over Majorca at three o'clock in the morning,

there are teams of people doing precisely what we're doing now.

Roll them out to the size of a side plate.

Oh, it's springy dough, Dave.

Oh, aye, yeah.

How's that?

Oh, that's super.

Then you take your almond paste and spread it out...

Leaving about a centimetre or so around the edge.

You should see this man tile a bathroom.

You've seen nothing like it.

-Nothing like it.

-Nothing.

Right, pass it over. Thank you.

So what I do now is,

I rolls it up tightly.

If you think, it's like a Swiss roll with frangipane.

Nip it in the middle, like that,

and think Catherine wheel.

Like that.

And tuck it under.

You end up with what we affectionately call

"the poodle poo".

Place on a tray and leave to raise.

The thing is, as you bite through this wonderful,

freshly made, rich dough,

you hit the frangipane and it's like almond flavour

and orange blossom water just fills your mouth.

Great dish for breakfast. Look at these little beauties.

Some little Mr Yeasties going, "I'm in the sun now

"and I'm raising!"

HE PUFFS

He's so full of air he's going to pop

but then we put him in the oven so his bubbles are set forever

and he's light and fluffy.

In about 20 minutes, half an hour,

they will have doubled in size and then we can bake them.

While Kingy gets the oven ready,

I'll just give them a quick eggy wash for

a bit of shine and colour.

Yay! Look at those.

Don't they look beautiful?

Thanks, mate.

How's the oven?

It's absolutely bang on, dude. Absolutely bang on.

15 minutes, I reckon.

That'll do us.

And the finishing flourish?

Shower with sugar.

Right...

Oh, look at that.

We'd best wait till they cool, but I can't wait.

We need tea.

After all, with all the British traditions in Majorca,

it's not unreasonable to want a cup of tea with your ensaimadas.

Last stop coming up, mate - Majorca's capital, Palma.

What a stunning city.

It's here that our tale of Britain's benevolent

Balearic invasion comes to a climax.

Steady, but I see where you were going.

This little island is a mecca for foodies,

with a bunch of Michelin-starred restaurants,

but only one comes courtesy of a Brit -

Marc Fosh.

So duty requires that we meet Mr Fosh

and see what he's bringing to the table.

You always find the lifeblood of a country in its markets, Si.

Look at it - it's absolutely beautiful, isn't it?

-Where is...?

-There he is!

-That's the man.

-Hello, Marc.

-Hey. Nice to see you.

-How are you going?

Good, good.

You've got the world at your fingertips, haven't you,

with food here? The produce is fantastic.

Well, I've been here for 23 years,

so I can't help but be inspired by the Mediterranean

and all the stuff we have around us.

The truth is, we're really,

really lucky to have this on our doorstep here,

next to the restaurant. It's fantastic.

-Right, we're in your hands.

-Let's have a look around.

We're in your hands.

What are we going to be cooking with you, Marc?

Well, I think we're going to go and check out the fish market.

There's a guy that I trust.

He's always got the freshest fish in the market,

and we'll do something which is called

pescado a la Mallorquina,

which is a traditional Mallorquin style of cooking fish.

Of course, here in the Mediterranean,

the water's really salty,

and it adds more flavour to the fish.

-Oh, right.

-Of course, I guess.

The fish look fat and healthy.

Well, that...

-Now, that...

-Look at that.

This sea bass - now that, that is incredible.

No, no, this one.

THEY SPEAK SPANISH

74?

74, yeah.

We'll buy it, you cook it.

OK. Done.

Here you are, fella.

If you want something that is full-on flavour,

it's difficult to beat a good sea bass, no?

I mean, that's what you want to see, isn't it?

You want to see that beautiful shiny flesh,

and you don't get that with farmed fish, obviously.

-Nope.

-No.

So you really need to spend a little extra.

You're the only British chef with a Michelin star in Majorca.

Are your staff Majorcan?

No, no. I'm the only Brit.

A lot of the guys who've come through my kitchen,

the nicest thing is that they're now opening restaurants

and really raising the bar here.

You're creating jobs within the community, as well.

You're an asset to the country.

As long as you do integrate,

-and I think the language is the key.

-Yes.

So you run a Spanish-speaking kitchen?

Oh, yeah. Definitely. Yeah.

So, what's next, Marc?

OK, so we're going to make a little Parmentier of

potatoes and saffron.

It's a very light potato puree.

So we're going to cook the potatoes in this fish stock,

keep it really natural.

In Majorca now, we have saffron.

Saffron grows here in the middle of the island,

but that's the thing about Majorca these days.

We always had these ingredients,

we just never realised that they were that important.

I was classically trained in a friend's kitchen

and loads of butter in the sauces and stuff,

to finish them off, and cream,

and my philosophy on food totally changed

when I moved to Spain,

and now it is about looking for natural flavours.

OK. We're going to make a simple vinaigrette.

Here I've got just diced tomatoes.

These sultanas I've actually brought to the boil in

sherry vinegar, and what that does,

they plump up and so they have

a really nice sweet-and-sour quality.

Marc adds toasted pine nuts, a little olive oil

and some chopped parsley - all local.

And a little salt - also local, of course.

It's still hand-harvested

and it's dried in the sun, so there's no processing,

and because it's so pure, it has more flavour,

so we can use a little less salt in the cooking,

so it's a little healthier, in that respect.

It's worth sometimes paying a little bit extra for good salt.

As the potatoes are cooking in the fish stock,

Majorcan saffron adds flavour and colour.

-So, to cook the fish...

-Yes.

..obviously, we want a crisp skin.

That caramelisation on the skin is really going to add

a lot of flavour to it, and you want a nice hot pan.

I like to add a little bit of sea salt -

for two reasons, really.

It kinds of draws out any excess moisture that might be

lying in the pan,

and it creates a little crust between the fish and the pan,

so it stops it sticking.

Could you do that with meat, as well?

Yeah. Definitely. Yeah.

Sometimes, with fish, people start playing with it

when it's in the pan.

It's much better just to leave it alone

and let it do its thing.

So, I can smell now that caramelisation.

Turn over the fish

and just let it finish cooking on the other side.

Next, the potatoes, fish stock and saffron

are emulsified with olive oil.

I know it sounds daft, but it looks Mediterranean, as well!

Yeah. Sunshine food.

What I'm going to do is just soften spinach in the olive oil

from the fish, because that fish has also released a little bit

of gelatine into the olive oil.

Add a little bit of fleur de sel.

Just glaze the fish in some fresh olive oil.

OK. So that's it, really. So we're ready to plate up.

It couldn't be more simple.

This mixture of the spinach with the pine nuts and tomatoes...

..is quite traditional, as well,

and hopefully couldn't be more delicious!

-It's joyous, innit?

-It is.

It's great.

So, Manola's fish, he did us proud.

That sea bass, that's got to be

one of the nicest pieces of sea bass I've ever had.

-That is so good.

-Thank you.

-Oh, man!

-Beautiful.

You're going to kick us out soon, cos service starts,

-doesn't it?

-Yeah, I'm afraid so.

Afraid so. Got a busy night coming up, Si.

Thank you so very much. Good to see you.

-Oh, come here.

-Good to see you.

It's brilliant. Thank you.

-Thanks, dude.

-Thanks.

-Well done.

-Thanks, man.

Brilliant. Right, dude, let's split.

-Yeah.

-Before we get kicked out.

Good lad. Good idea.

Wow! Fosh's fish - what a treat!

He's a real British success story,

totally at home right here in Palma.

But our Balearic bites are coming to an end,

cos we've got to get to Spain, Kingy.

Well, we'd better head back to the harbour, dude,

and work out how we're going to get there.

Oh, look at this, Kingy - the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

One of these babies, get your V12 started,

be in Spain in an hour and a half.

-I have to confess, dude...

-Yeah.

..I would really, really like a look into one of those

to see what the lifestyles of the rich and famous actually are.

Oh, I've got contacts, Kingy, you know that,

-in the nautical world.

-Have you?

-Yeah! Yeah, chocks away!

What do you mean? What have you done now?

Well, I've done it again.

With my knowledge of nautical contacts,

I've got us on a boat to Spain.

Oh, you've done that.

-There's been a lot of boats on this trip, Kingy.

-Yeah.

Of all the influences that other countries have had on the Med,

it's nice to see the positive influences

that good old Blighty's had.

That's what we found in both islands - Minorca and Majorca.

You know, I love them both.

I mean, what a fantastic set of top Balearics.

They are. They are, indeed.

Mind, I've got to tell you, though, dude.

-I mean, I know you've been great with boats.

-Aye.

But, dude, this is a massive...

SHIP'S HORN BLARES

Your timing could not have been better.

It's a flamin' ferry!

It's cheap.

Yeah. No, it would be cheap.

Next time, mainland Spain.

-We've made it.

-We'll be going off the beaten track.

-Oh,

-BLEEP.

-I've dropped me octopus.

-Oh, flippin' Nora.

To discover new recipes... BOTH: Fantastic.

There'll be dancing... Ole!

And partying at one of the Mediterranean's biggest festivals.

I can't wait!