Episode 2 Hairy Bikers' Mediterranean Adventure

Oh, mate, it's good to be on the road again.

Wee-hee!

New places...

Now, that's a view, Dave.

New people...

-Al bacio.

-Al bacio.

And new 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.

And we'll end up in Andalusia for one of the biggest

festivals in the Med, the Festival of San Juan,

but it won't be all sun, sea and sangria, Kingy.

Oui, oui, oui, oui!

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 the full menu of culinary loveliness on offer.

Oh, wow. It's so simple.

It's fantastic.

We get to eat the tiger cow. Whoo! Grr!

And, of course, we want to cook with the locals.

-ALL:

-Salute!

And hear their stories.

We started in southern Italy, which was incredible.

Now we're island hopping.

Sardinia...

-This, when you eat it, makes you happy.

-It does.

..then Corsica.

That is incredible.

This is our take on a magical part of the world.

Corsica!

..right on our doorstep.

Ole!

Hold on to your helmets...

Ah!

..it's going to be immense.

We're in Sardinia...

..starting our island adventure in the capital, Cagliari.

Dude, you can definitely say we've landed on our feet here,

cos all the flamin' roads are shut.

-Buongiorno!

-Buongiorno, buongiorno!

Turns out it's just the biggest day of the year...

The Festival of Saint Efisio.

All the smiley faces and the people. It's just fantastic.

This festival honours a Roman invader, Efisio,

who came to conquer but became so loved by Sardinians

that they embraced him as a saint.

There's loads of 'em coming up, Si.

Oh, wow!

And it's a chance to celebrate being Sardinian!

Here, dude, I wonder what the significance of the hats are.

Dunno, but I'd love one.

These carts have travelled from all over the island.

Each one is different,

reflecting the traditions of every town or village.

You know what, Dave? I think Sardinia is going to be

a very, very, very big surprise.

Sardinia is a sort of island roundabout slap bang

in the middle of the western Mediterranean.

Which means that, over the centuries,

it's been invaded by most of its neighbors,

who brought with them their culture and their cooking.

It's colour, life, food and adventure -

that's right up our street.

We're starting with a glimpse of the Roman legacy

here in Cagliari.

Then we head west to San Pietro

in search of tuna.

In the north of the island,

we'll savour the finest Catalan food...

..then climb the mountains to Orgosolo,

the wild heart of Sardinia.

And finally, we have a royal appointment in the tiny

kingdom of Tavolara.

In short, we're aiming to sample everything

this magnificent Mediterranean island has to offer.

I think you and I are in a promising Sardinia.

Heyyy!

For our first taste of Sardinia, we're leaving the parade

and hitting Cagliari's backstreets.

We've had a tip-off that there's a lady baking

some incredible sweet treats

especially for the Feast of Saint Efisio.

-Yeah. Brilliant.

-Ohhh! I smell almonds and lovely things.

-Buongiorno.

-Buongiorno. Simon.

-Buongiorno.

-Wow!

-Look at all these!

Signora, what's the significance of all of these biscuits?

This is all Sardinian cakes.

We make only Sardinian cakes.

Each village have four, five cakes.

Right! What is this?

Allora, this is almond and orange flower water...

-Uh-huh.

-..and sugar.

-That's it?

-Is soft.

Ooh, look at that!

Trust you to pick the squidgy one.

Do you know, Kingy, these are superb.

It's not a biscuit, it's not a cake. It's not sweet.

It's subtle, isn't it?

My mother would've loved these.

And there's good news, Dave.

These little almond treats are easy to make,

and it starts with a jug of water.

One litre.

Basically, she's making a sugar syrup,

and plenty of it,

because half her village are coming to eat these beauties.

So, I think it's safe to say that the Sardinians have

-a sweet tooth.

-Yeah!

-Now, this for 30 minutes.

-Yes.

Oh, well, I'm going for a cup of coffee, if that's the case!

Maria Antonietta, which is your village?

-My village is Bitti.

-Bitti?

-Bitti.

Ooh, and I'll be blowed,

Maria Antonietta has a home-town hat handy.

OK, this is typical from Bitti. For a man.

-A Bitti hat.

-Yeah.

-I've got a big head.

-OK?

-Oh, it's brill!

-Ecco...

The cake's better with this cap.

-The cakes taste better.

-Crumbs!

What have you done to me mate, Antonietta?

Looks good, though.

Your turn, Kingy!

Right, what do you do now?

The perfect colour for you.

What?

Yeah, it's good.

Next up, Maria Antonietta adds the ground almonds to bind

the mix and give it its special flavour.

-Right.

-Right.

Ohhh! I feel like...

Final additions, orange flower water and lemon zest.

MARIA LAUGHS

No. Piano, piano.

-Piano?

-Piano, piano.

-Slowly.

-Yes.

-Piano.

-Piano.

SI PRETENDS TO SNORE

That's it!

Once the mixture is cooled, it's time to roll.

What a team!

The cakes are finished with a coating of sugar.

And just in time, here comes the village.

-Flippin' heck!

-We're getting there, aren't we?

We are. It's just as well, cos they've all arrived.

-Keep rolling!

-There's loads of them.

-I know!

Just look at the colours,

a joyous celebration of village pride.

For the people of Bitti, bitti biscuits!

Va bene, o no?

-Va bene?

-Grazie!

What an adventure, and we've only just started.

-I know! It's great, isn't it?

-I know! Watch your sugar.

And it seems in Sardinia,

the folk traditions are very much alivve.

THEY SING TRADITIONAL MUSIC

We'd love to stay, but we've got a ferry to catch.

Time to hit the highway.

Ahhh!

ENGINE FAILS TO START

There's the battery, that's good news.

-Yes.

-They're all solid.

The bikes refuse to start.

It's like a keyless ignition thing.

I've had it before on another bike.

Kingy, the thing is, it's not as if we can wait here.

You're going to have to go on the back of mine, aren't you?

The only thing you could do is to try and jump it from the van.

Are you on, Kingy?

-We're on.

-Right. It's looking livelier.

This is a good old-fashioned way,

try and jump-start it using the cameraman's van.

This is a last-ditch attempt.

If not, you're on the back of my bike.

I mean, as much as I love you, and I do love you...

Just press the button.

-ENGINE ROARS INTO LIFE

-Yes!

-Wahey! Baby's on the road again!

-Come on!

Saint Efisio, thank you.

Just in the nick of time, Kingy.

That ferry won't wait for us, and it's the last one today.

We're heading west, towards the island of San Pietro,

for a date with some tuna fishermen.

Phew! Made it. With both bikes.

And it looks like we're not the only ones taking this trip.

I did wonder if we were being followed.

You left your lights on, didn't you?

-I did not.

-You did.

-I didn't.

-You did.

-I didn't.

-You did.

You always get like this, all tetchy, when you're hungry.

How about we get some food?

I thought you'd never ask!

-Fish!

-Fish!

-We're on an island.

Frutti di mare!

We're doing frutti di mare with saffron fregola.

Beautiful.

Fregola is a traditional Sardinian pasta.

It's kind of like toasted couscous.

It is. There's definitely that kind of Arab influence, isn't there?

Look at that. It is like couscous.

First things first. The fregola goes into salted water.

We're going to boil that for about ten minutes,

until it's al dente.

And while that's boiling, I'll make the stock.

I've peeled a dozen prawns,

and I'm cooking the heads and shells in a little oil,

crushing them with a spoon to get all that flavour out.

After a few minutes, add some fish stock

and reduce the heat.

Perfect. Now it's time to strain me fregola.

At home, you could use your pasta of choice.

Something short and chunky would be ideal.

I wouldn't do this as a risotto, really,

because you're going to break the seafood up.

But you can buy fregola online or in most good kinds of

Continental supermarkets.

I think we're there. I'm going to strain this off.

We're going to take this beautiful fish stock.

-Ooh, that is rich, isn't it?

-It is, it's beautiful.

And all that flavour will end up...in this.

Next, soften a finely chopped onion and two cloves of garlic.

When it's nicely golden, add a teaspoon of oregano,

some finely chopped chilli and a sprig of thyme.

And lastly, some saffron, cos after all,

it is a saffron fregola.

Keith Floyd used to say, "How much saffron should we use?

-"As much as you can afford."

-Yeah.

Mr King here thinks a pinch is well enough.

-Yes.

-And saffron is another fantastic Sardinian product.

Beautiful.

Now a nice, big glass of Sardinian white wine.

Next up, some peeled and deseeded tomatoes.

Now it's time to prepare the seafood.

Get a griddle as hot as you can...

..then de-vein the prawns.

Which means to cut out basically the poop tube down the back.

You see that? We don't want to eat that.

There's a certain amount of care shown, isn't there?

Yeah, and also, they're going to butterfly

when they cook on the griddle.

-I'll put them there, Mr K.

-Thank you, dude.

Toss the prawns and a dozen scallops in a little olive oil.

And...to the ethereal broth...

Mr King's crustacean stock.

Oh, look at that.

And just bring that to temperature.

A bit of salt and pepper.

That shellfish stock you've made,

it's got that kind of aroma.

You know when you walk past a really good seafood restaurant

when you're on your holidays and you go, "Ooh"?

That's why!

Oh, man!

Phwoar!

-Oh, that is epic, dude.

-Yeah.

But you've got your body in the meal with the toasted fregola

and you've got your treats on the top.

This is a party on a plate, Sardinian style.

Oh, man, that's good.

Isn't it?

-Yeah, look at that.

-It's toasted lovely.

Now remember, it was only cooked al dente.

There's a little bit more cooking time.

That's something that we've learnt, isn't it,

that they finish the pasta off in the dish?

Finish it in the sauce on some occasions.

Oh, yeah, but what a sauce this is.

Now we need to work quite quickly.

Add your mussels and clams to the fregola.

Pop a lid on and turn off the heat.

They'll steam and open in no time.

Now the scallops.

Get them on the griddle and cook on each side for

a couple of minutes.

It's key to have the griddle blistering hot

to stop them sticking.

Once they've cooked, do the same with the prawns.

If you're a lover of seafood, by this point you'll probably be

reaching out of your armchair, trying to lick the telly.

I do love a good lick of me telly!

Y'know, Kingy, being an island in the central point of

the Mediterranean with so much coastline,

it makes you vulnerable to invasion,

but, by crikey, you get some great seafood!

-You do!

-Swings and roundabouts.

Yes, invaders, seafood. Invaders, seafood.

Look at me mussels and clams!

-Oh, look at those!

-I'll just give them a knock.

-Oh, wow.

-Come on, lads, shaky shaky, wakey wakey.

When the prawns are ready and the clams and mussels

have opened, you can dish up.

This is the sort of dish that deserves a stage.

Right, now all I'm going to do

is distribute the scallops and the prawns.

-Sliced lemons, parsley and basil on the top.

-Perfect.

A feast of the eyes as well as the tummy.

Don't go too mad, Dave, it's a dinner, not a garden.

Frutti di mare with saffron fregola.

And people often ask us what is our favourite food.

This is.

Our ferry is travelling from the mainland to the island of

San Pietro, where we're hoping to find seafood

on a whole different scale.

There it is, Kingy, the legendary tuna island of San Pietro.

Now, the whole heritage of San Pietro and Carloforte and

the whole cuisine is about the tuna.

They call it the pig of the sea. And you know what?

They eat every single bit of it.

SHIP'S HORN HOOTS

We'd better get an early night, Dave.

Tomorrow we'll be off fishing for the mighty tuna.

I can't wait, Kingy.

Carloforte is the main town on the island of San Pietro.

Here, the population are descended from Ligurian settlers

who came here from northern Italy via North Africa

in the 18th century.

Those settlers perfected one essential skill -

catching tuna.

And we're going to meet them.

Oh, man, look at this road! This is the best part of our job.

At the heart of it, we're two blokes that are going fishing,

but we're fishing for tuna in the Mediterranean!

That's not a bad day out, is it?

No, it's not.

Some of the best tuna in the world is here in these waters.

And remember, Kingy, we never blank.

-No, we haven't, actually.

-No.

This fishery, called the tonnara, is all about tuna,

and the tradition here comes

thanks to hundreds of years of Mediterranean melding.

The fishing methods come from the Arabs in the south,

the manpower from Liguria in the north and the actual fish

from the coast of Spain, to the west.

Oh, mate, I am so excited about this.

-I'm always excited when we go fishing.

-I know, it's great, man.

-This isn't any old fishing.

-No, it's tuna fishing!

-Buongiorno!

-Buongiorno! David.

-Buongiorno.

-Nice to meet you.

-David. Pleased to meet you.

-We are ready?

-Yes!

Let's go to catch tuna!

-Yes!

-Let's go.

Oh, this is the life, eh, Kingy?

But, you know, there's no hooks, there's no rods.

We've got divers.

Now, the guy that you see at the back is the rais.

It's an Arab word that means "chief".

That's Luigi.

-That's Luigi, at the back.

-He's the boss.

He's the dude.

15 minutes from shore,

we reach the business end of the tonnara.

Beneath us is a system of nets designed to funnel

migrating tuna into a special chamber.

Fish reaching this chamber will be taken away and sold

on the international market.

But fish that get stuck en route to the chamber, well,

they belong to these fishermen and will be sold locally.

Whilst tuna stocks in the Mediterranean are still

under pressure, this ancient technique is certified as

eco-friendly and ethical.

These days, scuba divers are used to search for fish

which have got stuck in the net.

Any they discover will be sent up to the surface with

the help of a float for the fishermen to collect.

Don't worry. Remember, we never blank.

We never come home empty-handed.

-Are we going to catch tuna?

-We got.

-Did we find tuna?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe one.

Whoa! Wow.

Good grief!

-Oh, that is a beautiful...

-It is a beautiful fish.

This spectacular bluefin tuna will fetch a good price

back in Carloforte.

-Are you happy, Luigi?

-Molto!

-Molto!

-Very happy.

-Very happy!

-Good! Good, Luigi, good!

So you should be, it's beautiful. A beautiful fish.

-A swordfish.

-A swordfish!

And it's a big'un, an' all.

-I don't think we'd get it in that boat.

-No.

Luigi, Luigi, Luigi!

Wow!

Whoo!

Wow.

-Yesterday, I come here, I don't fish nothing.

-Today...

-With you on board...

-Ah!

-..we just found two!

Two, and different kinds.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is a big fish.

I've never seen a swordfish up close before,

just pulled out of the water.

Nor have I seen a tuna, and it's just the most wonderful,

wonderful sight.

-Another!

-No?!

-You are so lucky!

-A bigger fish.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe 80.

That tuna is too big. It's impossible to carry home.

It's 80kg, this fish.

-Maybe 100 or so.

-Maybe 100 or so.

So can you imagine trying to haul that onto this deck?

It's not going to be possible.

Amazing fish. Amazing.

To get the monster tuna to the local market,

it's going to have to be towed.

Luigi's happy. Time to head home.

Cos when the rais says you're done, you're done.

You know you've had a good catch when you need

a JCB to get it off the boat!

Well, dude, as you said, we never blank.

Get in!

Do you think it's tuna for lunch?

Tuna it is, Dave. And luckily, the fishermen know just the man.

So, back in Carloforte, we're meeting a chef who apparently

works magic with every bit of the tuna, Andrea Rosso.

Now, Andrea's family has been here on the island of San Pietro

for generations, and his father worked at the tonnara,

which is where we caught and landed the fish today, so...

Er, Andrea. Mang...

Ah!

Eating tuna like this is a rare treat, Si.

Andrea's making a simple pasta dish with black olives,

capers and some cooked tuna.

Simple tagliatelle, boiled in salty water.

-Ah, now...

-So it's all done in a bowl, this one.

-Yeah!

This really is something you could do at home, isn't it?

-Oh, yeah, definitely.

-Oil in a bowl.

Oil...

Cheese...

-Is it Parmigiano?

-Parmigiano-Reggiano.

-Parmigiano-Reggiano.

-OK.

It's pasta, cheese, fish.

Olive...

Olives. Oil. Capers.

Tonno. Questo tonno... Schienale.

-Uh-huh.

-The back of the tuna.

-Yes.

Crumbled.

Parsley.

E limone.

Zest.

Wow.

OK, fusilli d'Andrea.

-Fusilli d'Andrea.

-Perfetto!

-OK.

-Buon appetito.

-Grazie!

-Grazie mille, signore.

That is so simple, but it tastes unbelievably good.

And it's about the quality of the ingredients.

That is so beautiful.

Looks like we're getting another tuna treat, Kingy.

This is Andrea's signature dish, isn't it?

-Calafortina.

-Calafortina!

-Olive oil.

-Yep.

-Some garlic.

-Yeah.

-Some bay leaves.

-Yeah.

-Cook that. A little bit of tomato juice.

-Yep.

And some white wine.

Near the end of the cooking, Dave,

I think he finishes off with a little bit of vinegar.

Ahhh!

-It's amazing.

-Pronto. Finito.

Finito? OK.

Pronto da mangiare.

Bravo!

Perfetto, Andrea, perfetto.

-Thanks, Andrea.

-Andrea!

-Buon appetito!

-Grazie, signore, grazie.

Ahhh!

Mm!

The balance of flavours is perfect.

The fattiness of the tuna, it's rich and it's soft.

The acidity with a little bit of vinegar on the end.

The wine, the garlic. But the vinegar just finishes it off.

-It's a top note.

-It is.

-So beautiful.

-Oh, it's bloomin' lovely.

-Oh, grazie, Andrea.

-Ma non e finita.

-Not finished?

-C'e una bella sorpresa.

-We've got a surprise?

-Si, si, surprise.

-Surprise, yes.

-Sorpresa?

-Yes. Si.

-Ahhh!

-This, when you eat it, makes you happy.

-It does.

It fills you full of sunshine and laughter and light.

-It's beautiful.

-Can't wait to see what's...

Ooh! Oh!

Lattume di tonno.

Ooh! That is the first time I've seen some testicles from a tuna.

Everything Andrea touches turns to gold.

Absolutely, Dave.

Well, they do eat every part of the fish here.

Yeah, and where else are you going to get

a chance to try this part?

Hm...

-Absolutely lovely.

-It's exquisite.

-Ohhh!

-Sapore antico.

-Very, very old.

-Antico.

Oh, that's so gorgeous. That is...

Tastes a little bit like kidney.

It does. It does.

The texture of it, yeah. Yeah.

Andrea, grazie mille.

Grazie mille.

Arrivederci, Carloforte

and the beautiful island of San Pietro. Amazing!

Back on the mainland, we're heading north,

to the coastal town of Alghero.

It's going to be a long journey, Dave,

but just look at this road.

Well, they say it's one of the best rides anywhere, Si.

We're still a couple of hours away. Come on, mucker, time for a break.

I'm that dry, I've got a mouth like Pavarotti's hiking boots.

-Buongiorno, signora.

-Buongiorno.

-Ciao.

Signora, uno, due, tre, quattro...

IN ITALIAN:

Grazie.

-Tre euro.

-Tre euro. Grazie.

-Oh, look...

-Yeah.

Look at that! This thing, it's a...it's a juice bomb.

Oh, look.

That is that, synthesised into fruit.

That is gorgeous, that.

It is, man. Like eating sunshine. Look, even looks like the sun. Aaah.

Look at the state you've got me panier in!

Come on. Let's crack on or we'll never get there.

At last.

I think Alghero and the Catalan connection is on the horizon.

I tell you what, you can see the Catalan influence straight away.

You can hear it in the dialect,

and they say the food owes more to Barcelona than Bologna.

This is a city shaped by invasion.

Phoenicians, Pisans and Genoans have all left their mark here,

but none more so than the Catalans,

who took over more than 700 years ago and have never really left.

And we're here to have dinner with Benito,

a chef so rooted in Catalan cuisine

he's cooked for the King of Spain himself.

Benito's first course is lobster.

-Oh, Si!

-I can't wait.

This truly is a crock of gold at the end of our motorcycling rainbow.

We've been from kind of Rome,

the Arabic methods of fishing

with northern Italian fishermen,

and now we're in, like, Catalonia.

But in Sardinia!

And Benito is not messing about.

The lobster is boiled, sliced and served with tomatoes,

onions and a sauce made from its dark meat.

It's interesting, isn't it?

Catalan style.

Lobster, Catalan style. Wow, Benito.

And this is no gastronomical...

Is no very special.

-Well, it is for us!

-Yeah!

It is for us!

It is a food for Catalan...marines.

-Catalan sailors.

-It's very easy to prepare.

-It's like Italian food.

-A good kitchen is easy.

That's true. We're fast finding that out.

When is too complication, is...

THEY LAUGH

This is a joy. Thank you.

It is a joy!

Ohhh! Oh, Mr King!

Well...

Mm!

Wow.

Mm! He's right.

-It's really simple, but the flavours are fantastic.

-Yeah.

The sauce is slightly heavier than we're used to on the Italian end.

I suppose, Kingy, if you couldn't get lobsters,

you could use prawns or langoustines.

Or you could use crab.

I appear to have found out. Look at that.

I gave you that. I served you that.

No, you didn't. I helped meself to that.

-Did you?

-Yeah.

You gave me the head.

Dessert looks like creme brulee but with a Catalan twist.

It's finished with a spoonful of burning orange liqueur

to caramelize the sugars.

-Oh, fantastic!

-Oh, nice!

-That'll keep you warm in the winter.

-It will.

It'll do wonders for your nasal hair, as well.

So, this is the Mediterranean pearl.

Every people bring you culture.

It's the ultimate Mediterranean cocktail, Sardinia.

Mm. It is.

The good kitchen is not the flour and the table,

is later.

When you sleep good, you have a good dinner.

We're going to sleep good tonight.

-Oh, aye, absolutely.

-Thanks to Benito. Thank you.

-A good sleep!

-A good sleep.

Grazie mille, signore.

Good food, good company and good weather.

Perfect. Perfetto. Grazie.

Inspired by Benito, how about our own homage to Catalonia?

Fine. And long as it's...

..cake! Ohhh!

And it's called a torta menjar...

No, no, no, it's Catalan. It'll be...with the J, isn't it?

So it's menhhha blanc.

Torta menhhha blanc.

Like cerveza or...paella.

Anyway, it starts with milk.

It's something you'll want to cook.

Infuse the milk with cinnamon, a nice, fat vanilla pod

and some strips of luscious lemon peel.

And we've got a trick, as you think, "Lemon and milk, ooh,

"that's dangerous."

But we use cornflour in it, and it stops it splitting.

And we're just going to bring it up to temperature

and let it infuse.

And when the infused milk has cooled down,

we will make the custard.

But first, we need to make the pastry.

And it's a sweet pastry with lemon zest.

Like many things that are baked, we start with flour.

This is ordinary plain flour.

This is a sweet pastry. That's icing sugar, and, yes,

it all goes in.

Add the zest of a lemon, some salt...

Just a pinch.

..and chilled, cubed butter.

And we'll work that in until we get breadcrumbs.

In a moment, you're going to get to do that sexy shot

where I rub like this,

and in slow motion the crumbs descend into

the bowl, and they'll play

some Italian opera over it, do you know what I mean?

OPERATIC ARIA

Ohhh! Now it's time for a couple of eggs.

Pop them into a bowl and beat them.

Now, this is the only liquid in the pastry,

but it is so short - that means it's so full of sugar and butter -

that it should stick together.

Look at that. And just bring it together gently.

And as you can see, it is coming together to form pastry.

Could you get me a little sheet of clingfilm, my friend?

I can!

"Wrap-a doble."

Now...

If I was to try and roll this out now, well, it would be

like trying to knit a hamburger back into a cow - impossible.

So therefore I'm going to pop this into a fridge,

half an hour, to chill.

Right, while Dave's chilling, let's get on with the custard.

Cream six egg yolks together with sugar.

Let me get some volume in it and some air in it.

Once it's nice and fluffy, add cornflour.

Beautiful.

-And just hoof it through?

-Yeah, man.

Here we go. Right.

-Straight in.

-Straight in.

Pour the warm milk into the eggs,

whisking continuously.

And try not to cover everything in milk.

-You were saying?

-Whisk!

From a height now, dude, go on, go on.

Look, it's going to splatter.

-There we go, my friend.

-Beautiful.

This goes back into here, and we cook it for

a further five minutes or until the custard is thickened.

Thank you, mucker.

It's very lovely. Very frothy.

Yes.

While the custard is cooking, we can roll out the pastry -

two-thirds for the base,

one-third for the top.

It's not a flan or a tart.

It's a pie!

Do that old chestnut.

THEY LAUGH

Right. Do the trick. Izzy, bizzy, let's get busy.

Pop that on there.

Look at that, eh?

Look at that! Beautiful.

I love pastry work.

Press and pull.

Look at that. It's really quite perfect, isn't it?

It is, it's lovely. Proud to bits with that.

I am, too. To the fiery furnace?

Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius,

leave to cool and then chill.

And the end result? A thing of true Catalan beauty.

-Well, mate...

-That's perfect.

-Now, would a Catalan granny be happy with this?

-Oh, eh.

"Did you get it from that little Italian place down the corner?

"No, I made it myself."

Hmmm.

Mm.

Where to next, Kingy?

Let's go to somewhere that's neither been conquered or colonised.

The interior.

So it's time to head for the hills?

-Let's do that, dude.

-Can we finish our cake first?

Might as well, seeing as we're here.

And then we'll "Catalan" out of here.

I saw what you did there.

So far, we've been exploring the coast,

with its mashup of cultures.

Now we're heading inland, into the heart of Sardinia,

and the landscape is awesome.

The bikes are working harder now, Si.

You can really feel we're going up a mountain.

You certainly can. These twists and turns are fantastic.

Yeah. I tell you what, man,

you can also feel like you're getting away from the coastline.

-I mean, this is the Sardinia that not even the Romans conquered.

-No.

But also, this is one of those places on the planet where

people seem to live longer than everywhere else.

-There's got to be some magic.

-Oh, for sure.

And what more magical start could there be than

to stay in our own little huts?

-Have we got one each?

-I dunno!

I'm not bothered, really, cos I want to man up and love it here.

No, well, that's all right, but it's your snoring.

-My snoring?

-Yeah.

-You're like a pig on a spit.

SI LAUGHS

THEY IMITATE NOISY SNORING

-What number are you?

-I dunno.

-I'm number 3.

-I'm number 2.

-Are you?

-Here we are.

-Oh, we're next door!

Wow!

Kingy!

What?

Oh, wow.

Now, that's a view! Oh, fab.

We're hoping to meet a bunch of shepherds

whose families have been working this rugged land for centuries.

They're even further off the beaten track, but our

friendly B&B owner, Gino, knows exactly where they hang out.

And hopefully we can discover the secret to the local longevity.

If we live that long!

-Italians even drive like this in a Land Rover!

-I know!

-Here we are! Here's the lads!

-Is that the lads?

-Yeah.

Oh, brilliant.

They're in their seventies, those lads.

That's longevity for you.

Get lost, they're not in their seventies!

-Ah! Buongiorno!

-Buongiorno!

-Frank.

-Nice to meet you, Frank.

-Shall we get in?

-Si, si.

We've arrived at milking time, and Franco is in charge.

-He's quick at that, isn't he?

-He is, isn't he?

-I've done goats before, Si.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

-Let's have a go.

-Prego.

Grazie.

-Go on, dude, go on.

-I am.

It's not happening.

OK!

Oh, gerroff!

You have a go, Si.

Oh, that's a whopper.

-You'll never get a tune out of that.

-I don't know...

Sorry.

He says we're not likely to get a job any time soon.

But at least we are going to get lunch,

a traditional Sardinian shepherd's lunch.

I don't think it's going to be shepherd's pie...

Bravo, eh?

-Hey, he's good!

-David, David, David...

The big one?

Crumbs!

It's balls!

THEY LAUGH

Si, I think we've just found the wild interior.

I think we have!

-Hey... Buongiorno, Chef.

-Buongiorno.

-Buongiorno.

Buongiorno, Chef Toni.

Chef Toni has made a mixture of local herbs

with crumbled crispbread and sheep's cheese.

OK.

This is a sheep's stomach, and it's full of the sheep's blood.

If you're squeamish, you might want to look away now.

We're going to mix the dry ingredients with the sheep's

blood, and then we put it back into the sheep's stomach.

So we are making a black pudding.

Yeah! That's what it is, I guess.

-You know, like Irish black pudding with oatmeal in it.

-Yeah, yeah.

But we've got our own oatmeal with the pecorino, the herbs.

This may look a bit whoa, but the reality is

this is a time-honored tradition.

-Mm-hm.

-This is what they have done for centuries upon centuries,

so you're not just looking at some blood being poured

into a bowl with some cheese,

you're looking at the unfolding of history.

And this is how you make black pudding, fundamentally,

Sardinian style.

Fresh and natural food, Si, a tough but healthy life.

Maybe this is why the people here live so long!

Yeah, I wonder how old Toni is.

How old are you, sir?

So, quanti anni ha?

-Cinquanta?

-Ah!

He's cinquanta!

-Cinquanta. Si.

-Look, look.

Bianco. Nero.

Softened caul fat is added, and the mixture is put back

in the bag, then the whole caboodle is boiled.

The mix will cook for an hour or so,

giving us time to watch the sheep get a haircut.

Dude, maybe that's something you should think about.

-Pronto, eh?

-Si!

Oh, wow.

This is the freshest black pudding I've ever had.

Well, it's the only fresh black pudding I've ever had.

Yeah, same.

-Buon appetito.

-Buon appetito!

Grazie, Toni, grazie!

CHATTER

It's absolutely fantastic.

It's very delicate.

You taste the thyme, you taste the mint.

It's rich because of the fat in it. It's absolutely delicious.

-Buono?

-Muy...buono.

-Salute!

-ALL:

-Salute!

-Cin-cin!

-Cin-cin.

-Cin-cin.

Black pudding's great, Dave, but these free-range sheep,

you know, have got me thinking about our next dish.

Something infused with the essence of the Mediterranean.

Something like a lamb and fennel stew...

..with an orange and fennel salad on the side.

We bikers have a little lamb

We're going to make it into a stew

It's something we will love to eat

And you will love it, too.

As is usually the case, I'm on the meat.

And I'm mixing together fennel seeds and a generous clump of saffron.

Don't tell them I'm putting so much in. But it's going to work.

Grind with salt to make a seasoned flour.

And that's going to coat the lamb.

Now pop your snorker in that.

Oh, wow! Oh, now, that works, dude.

-Doesn't it?

-Yeah! Wow!

It's funny - quite often, we've found,

as we've travelled the world, especially in Sardinia,

that food that kind of grows together,

like the lamb and the fennel, it eats well together.

The cuisine of any one given place is defined by its people

and its environment, and this is no exception,

because this is food of the interior of Sardinia,

-very, very different to that of the coast.

-Yeah.

I'm frying the meat until it's a lovely brown colour,

making sure not to crowd the pan.

I may need to do this in two batches.

-Happy with that colour, mate?

-Over the moon.

Now I'm going to make a bouquet garni, but Mediterranean style.

This isn't a withered bunch of herbs that's been in

the cupboard for about 57 years.

Take a shard of leek.

I've got some parsley, bay leaves, rosemary.

Now put it in the leek, like so.

Fold the ends over.

And then tie it up with string.

And that's a parcel of flavour. You all right, Kingy?

Yeah, they're ready to come out, dude.

Mm!

Once your meat is nice and brown, set it aside,

and in the tasty juices soften up a finely chopped onion,

garlic, as many chilli flakes as you like and

a couple of strips of orange peel.

Now, the orange peel is just for flavour,

and we'll pull them out later.

The wine. And this is going to deglaze the pan, and all those

wonderful bits of caramelization from the meat are going...

Ah, about half a bottle.

Right, just let it come to a bubble and just boil off

a bit of the alcohol and a bit of the sharpness of the wine.

Add four skinned and deseeded tomatoes, diced.

A beautiful thing.

-Let's slam in the lamb.

-That's it. Let's.

Ooh, look.

It's fantastic resting juices, as well.

Look at that!

And now about 500ml of lamb stock.

You could use any old stock, really.

I mean, we're lucky, we've got proper lamb stock.

Vegetable stock, make it vege...

No, it'll never be vegetarian, really, will it? It's lamb.

No, fair dos. Now the bouquet garni.

"Hello, I am Tom Daley!"

Just pop the lid on and let that simmer for about an hour

whilst we prepare...the fennel!

-BOTH:

-# Da-da-da-da-daaaa! #

And because we've left that joint at the bottom,

it should stay together in the wedges.

We want two whole fennel bulbs.

Now fry it off to give it some colour.

Then...

Mr King, you're a whizz with a flame.

..bung it in the pot!

It does seem to be a lot of fennel.

It is a fennel and lamb stew.

Give it about 20 minutes with the lid off.

Do you know what, mate? I think that's reduced enough.

-Uh-huh?

-I want to put the lid back on.

Yeah, cos we want to cook the fennel through.

Yeah. Let's do that.

Job's a good'un. Which gives us time to make...

..the salad!

THUD Ooh!

CREW LAUGH

So, let's make the salad.

Finely slice the red onion.

Don't worry if it's slightly bruised...

Carefully peel and slice an orange,

one from a roadside stall in Sardinia, if at all possible.

Add the thinly sliced fennel with olive oil...

red wine vinegar...

..a touch of salt...

and Roberto is your uncle.

And there you have it,

a fresh fennel and orange salad...

..and our magnificent lamb and fennel stew.

Just down the mountain from our campsite

is the village of Orgosolo.

Orgosolo is famed for its political murals, testament to

the untamed spirit of these mountain people.

Right, dude, weren't you going to get your untamed whiskers sorted?

Yep, I'm being shepherded there now...

by a shepherd!

While I'm off to discover the secret to a long life.

The thing is, Kingy's told me

that my face looks like a badger's backside

and I need to sort myself out.

Well, my new best mate, Egidio,

is taking me to the barber.

HE SPEAKS ITALIAN

-Italian style.

-Tutto vero.

It'll look good, eh?

SHOUTS IN ITALIAN

Getting his car fixed, I suppose.

Signore. David.

-Barbiere.

-The barbiere...

-A little bit.

Mi...mia...barba...

Lungo...

It's a garage and a barber's.

THEY LAUGH

I've heard about diversification.

-That's bella.

-Bella.

Oof.

Che Guevara.

Che Guevara. Si.

-Hero.

-Bello!

Nice.

Do you prefer cutting hair or fixing cars?

-I prefer barbiere.

-Ah!

Yeah, it's cool.

Grazie. Mille grazie, signore.

May your business live long and prosper forever.

Now, our shephard friends have given me the address of

Zia Michela - the oldest person in the village.

I am here to find out the secret of her long life.

And is there anything David and I can eat

that will extend the wonderful existences that we have?

So, follow me and we'll see what happens.

One of our crew, Dario, is Italian.

He's going to help translate.

Do I look good?

OK, thank you.

THEY LAUGH

THEY SPEAK ITALIAN

Dario, can you ask Michela how long she's lived here?

IN ITALIAN:

Can you ask Michela for me, please, Dario,

what do you think is the one food that gives her the energy

and the life she has?

I think I've just found it - the secret to everlasting life.

Well, at least a long one.

It's minestrone soup.

Minestrone.

Who'd have thunk it?

Michela, buon anniversario a te.

Grazie.

Fantastic. What a beautiful, beautiful lady.

Grazie mille, signora.

Grazie mille. Grazie.

Well, back at base, it's time to try that magic soup.

Hello, mate.

-Hey, dude.

-Did you discover the secret to eternal life?

-Minestrone.

-What?

-Your beard looks nice.

-Thanks.

And it couldn't be simpler.

Just lard,

beans and potatoes.

It's not the minestrone we would normally make,

but this is real Mediterannean mountain food.

The lard's disolved in boiling water,

veggies added,

then it's simmered for about 30 minutes.

Then guess what? That's it.

It's basic, but it's kept Zia Michela going strong.

There must be something in it.

Oops, I nearly forgot,

there is something else in it.

Sardinian sheeps cheese.

The cheese is giving it a creamy quality.

-Yeah.

-So it kind of looks like soup.

This is the elixer of life, dude.

It's all right.

-I think it's real working cuisine.

-Aye, I think so too.

It's frugal, but it's not an unpleasant way

to get the calories into you

to do a hard day's work in the hills.

-Exactly.

-Oh, Kingy, I can feel the years dropping off me already.

Keep eating. You're older than me.

Is it working?

With your helmet on, I can't tell.

Stop messing about!

We've got an important appointment.

We're saying goodbye to the mountains and heading for

the north-east coast of Sardinia...

..towards... Oh, hang on.

Where were we? Oh, yes.

..towards a tiny island just off the coast.

It's called Tavolara,

and it's not your everyday Mediterranean island.

Tavolara claims to be the world's smallest kingdom

and has its own resident monarch.

We've arranged an audience with Tonino Bertoleoni,

the man who calls himself king.

-POSH VOICE:

-And waiting for us is his royal yacht!

-Buona sera, signore.

-Sera.

-Signore, grazie.

-Antonio.

Antonio. Simone.

Buona sera, Antonio. David.

Antonio.

The story of Tavolara is another story of invasion.

It goes something like this.

In 1807, one Giuseppe Bertoleoni arrived here from northern Italy,

claimed the island and soon declared himself king.

Naturally, the King of Sardinia was not impressed,

but on condition he could have a bunch of the island's goats...

..which, incidentally, had gold teeth...

..he gave this upstart king a scroll to seal his royal status.

However, no evidence of this scroll exists.

Well, this could be a shaggy dog story, then, couldn't it?

Nowadays, the royal family run a restaurant.

That's the prince, I think, doing the cooking.

But as yet, the king is unavailable.

So while we're waiting, let's see if we can

separate fact from fiction.

Maybe we'll come across one of those goats.

Maybe, mate, maybe.

Wow! It seems to be that around in Sardinia,

the family's important even in death.

-Absolutely.

-Do you know what I mean?

Absolutely. Oh, look, Dave, there's a crown.

There's another one there as well.

But look at that, Si. That's the clue.

"The fourth king of Tavolara. Paolo II Bertoleoni."

Maybe there's something in this King of Tavolara business, Si.

Let's go and meet the man himself.

His Royal Highness Tonino Bertoleoni.

-Buongiorno!

-Buongiorno!

Buona sera. Buona sera. Tonino.

IN ITALIAN:

Si. Oh, grazie.

Bene, bene, bene.

Right, Tonino, I mean,

is there any evidence of this?

Because we can't see the scroll

and we haven't seen any of the goats.

-Si, si.

-Si!

-Oh, wow!

-Ecco.

Wow! TONINO LAUGHS

Carlo Bertoleoni!

Ah, OK.

And that's the king.

Si. Lui. Mio nonno.

He's a very, very fine-looking man.

-It's a fine-looking family!

-A fine-looking family, yes.

Bravo! Bravo!

Perfetto! Perfetto.

So, what do you make of it all, Si?

Well, if it's good enough for Queen Victoria,

it's good enough for me, mate. I tell you what, though,

we never saw any of those goats with gold teeth.

DING

Still, we've got time for one last Sardinian seafood supper.

Locally caught seafood and shellfish in a tomato sauce.

Oh, yum!

Cor, this is a proper depiction of the Mediterranean Sea on

-a plate, isn't it?

-It's absolutely spectacular.

And what a perfect setting to have it,

right next to the Mediterranean.

You always said that the Mediterranean's like

this superhighway of culture, of history and food.

You've got the Catalans on the coast.

-Yeah.

-I mean, just fantastic.

-The Ligurians.

-Yeah.

-The Romans.

-Yeah.

-It's this big melting pot, isn't it?

-Yeah.

And then, in the heart of...

In the mountains of Sardinia, the true spirit, I thought,

of Sardinia. Do you know? That was there, wasn't it?

Absolutely. I think I'm beginning to discover what it is

-to be Mediterranean.

-Yeah.

Get in.

..one of the Med's wildest places.

THEY MIME GUNFIRE

We'll find some of the best produce in the world...

It's wonderful.

..cook some of the meanest recipes...

..and make more new friends.

For the next leg of our Mediterannean adventure...

..we're island-hopping to Corsica.

-I'm done. We've got to go.

-Aye.

Amazing.

Look at that, eh?

There you are, young fella.

SI GROANS

Tell you what, I've had a lovely time.

Whoa!

DAVE LAUGHS

Whoa! Oh!

That is...

You g...