0:00:32 > 0:00:37After a couple of lovely months travelling through those leafy green tunnels of south-west France
0:00:37 > 0:00:44exploring great food along the way, I finally reached the Mediterranean on one of those silky pink mornings
0:00:44 > 0:00:46where the sky and the sea become one.
0:00:46 > 0:00:52I realised then that I wanted my journey to continue to explore the food of this great sea.
0:00:52 > 0:00:59So I exchanged one boat for another, not quite as intimate, and went from Marseille to Corsica.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02I took Paul Theroux's Pillars Of Hercules,
0:01:02 > 0:01:06his travels around the Med and I found it inspiring.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12Like him, I arrived in Bastia, the old capital and discovered great
0:01:12 > 0:01:16mountain dishes, good charcuterie and wonderful sheep's cheeses.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23And then I crossed that choppy little strait that separates Corsica and Sardinia.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31This is where Pecorino is king, suckling pig and fish and lots more fish.
0:01:31 > 0:01:38In fact, Sardinia's softer, and I think this view epitomises the very essence of the Mediterranean.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43From there I caught an overnight ferry to the largest island, Sicily,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46and now it was Italy, big time!
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Fabulous markets full of colour and inspiration and lovely pasta.
0:01:53 > 0:02:00And big, fragrant lemons which the writer DH Lawrence, a great observer on the Italian way of life, said,
0:02:00 > 0:02:05"Lemon trees, like Italians, seem to be happiest when they're touching each other!"
0:02:07 > 0:02:10This is Taormina on the north-east coast.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14It's a pretty big resort now but Lawrence loved it here in self-exile.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17It was a magnet for the English aristocracy
0:02:17 > 0:02:20wanting to live the Mediterranean dream
0:02:20 > 0:02:24and this is where he wrote Lady Chatterley and Sea And Sardinia.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28Lawrence lived here with that view.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32Well, you can't see Etna particularly well today cos it's rather hazy
0:02:32 > 0:02:36but I've been here before at night and you see the glow in the distance
0:02:36 > 0:02:39and it's quite threatening, quite ominous.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43I think anybody that lives from Taormina right down to Catania
0:02:43 > 0:02:47has the same feeling of living in the shadow of the volcano.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52It erupts quite frequently and indeed I'm told it's about to do so again.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56There's just a very good piece in the book which says as follows,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00"How many men, how many races, has Etna put to flight?
0:03:00 > 0:03:03"It was she who broke the quick of the Greek soul
0:03:03 > 0:03:09"and after the Greeks she gave the Romans, the Normans, the Arabs, the Spaniards, the French,
0:03:09 > 0:03:16"the Italians, even the English, she gave them all their inspired hour and broke their souls."
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Lawrence also noted that there was something that people who
0:03:32 > 0:03:36live under the shadow of volcanoes have in common and that is,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38"They never leave off being amorously friendly
0:03:38 > 0:03:40"with almost everybody,
0:03:40 > 0:03:46"emitting a relentless physical familiarity that is quite bewildering!"
0:03:46 > 0:03:51He also notes, presumably because of the fertile soil and the big crops
0:03:51 > 0:03:53it nourishes, that,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57"The men are quite fat, with great macaroni paunches!"
0:03:58 > 0:04:04The Mediterranean has got so much we could learn from, it makes me slightly sad really, because
0:04:04 > 0:04:10what I love about the Mediterranean is the fresh produce, in particular, the markets.
0:04:10 > 0:04:16I mean, I was in a market in Catania the other day and the director asked me to film yet again
0:04:16 > 0:04:20in a fish market and I was thinking, "What possibly could I say that
0:04:20 > 0:04:25"I haven't said 25 times before in all the fish programmes I've made?"
0:04:25 > 0:04:28He just said, wait till we get there and, of course, when we got there,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32it was just the whole Italian sense of theatre, sense of occasion.
0:04:32 > 0:04:39The way they lay everything out, the incredible artistry of everything they do.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43I just think these are the most wonderful colour.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47I remember my mother had a belt like that in the '50s.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49It looks like a sort of fashion belt.
0:04:49 > 0:04:55They're called spatola in Italian but we call them ribbonfish or scabbard fish.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57They're very good eating.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02There's an excellent dish they do around here with red onions done sweet and sour
0:05:02 > 0:05:06with a bit of vinegar, sugar and salt and capers
0:05:06 > 0:05:11and these are just rolled in flour and shallow fried in olive oil.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13It is yummy.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17There's some limpets over there.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20I've just got to ask them what do you do with limpets?
0:05:20 > 0:05:22I was thinking there's so much going on,
0:05:22 > 0:05:27there's so many interesting things, things I've never seen before. Well, I'm in heaven.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31You just use one shell
0:05:31 > 0:05:32to open another.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Well, they're going on our plateau de fruits de mer, I must say.
0:05:39 > 0:05:46They're chewy, of course, but they've got a lovely flavour. A slightly oyster-like flavour.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48I'll just...
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Well, sorry...I'm a bit busy eating them at the moment, but...
0:05:54 > 0:05:58Sensational, but I've got no problem with these.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01These are called ricci here or sea urchins.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Absolutely delicious, lovely on their own.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08Don't need to put lemon juice with them, they're perfect as they are.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12You eat these little orange bits. I know it's only a morsel, but seriously...
0:06:12 > 0:06:16It encapsulates all the fresh flavours of the sea.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21You can taste seaweed in there and ozone and just the smell of the sea.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25They are a real gourmet's delight, I must say.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28If you've never tried them, you must.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Don't go for the tinned ones though, waste of time.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37There's something I've been thinking all through my Mediterranean trip
0:06:37 > 0:06:41and it's reached it's culmination here in Catania market.
0:06:41 > 0:06:47I just think food is so important to us, it is the most important thing we do, why not enjoy it?
0:06:47 > 0:06:52When you compare, and I've said this so many times before, this is like a sort of opera,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56all the gesticulation, the singing, if you ever
0:06:56 > 0:07:01felt low and down, come to a market in somewhere like Catania.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05You'll be up again, you'll be happy. You'll be flying.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10When I think back home to those fluorescent-lit aisles of food -
0:07:10 > 0:07:12what's that all about?
0:07:12 > 0:07:13This is what it's all about.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16HE CALLS OUT IN ITALIAN
0:07:16 > 0:07:19HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN
0:07:21 > 0:07:23HUBBUB OF CONVERSATION
0:07:33 > 0:07:35I really like this. I mean, it's very artistic.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38It's a Jackson Pollock of a fish display.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41He's clearly got a real artistic talent.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46I love the way he's put lots of fresh seaweed over there and dotted it all with those red mullet.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48It just looks so attractive.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51And he's got lovely hand written labels for everything.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53I mean, he just loves his fish.
0:07:57 > 0:08:03Well, enjoyable as it was, there was only one blip on the horizon...
0:08:04 > 0:08:11..in that we failed to get the permission of, or seek the blessing of, the capo dei capi,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13or boss of bosses of the fish market.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22SPEECH DROWNED OUT BY MARKET NOISE
0:08:24 > 0:08:29Huge mistake because he was plainly not amused and we decided we'd better beat a hasty retreat!
0:08:29 > 0:08:32But it was time for lunch anyway.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Well, I hope that fishmonger that was gesticulating and throwing
0:08:37 > 0:08:40things around in the market doesn't come in here.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42I don't know what was the problem.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46I think it was probably we were on his patch and he didn't like the cameras but, erm...
0:08:46 > 0:08:51This is great. This is just the sort of food I love. It's got tellines there.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55I don't know what the Italian word is and some tiny little winkles. Look at those.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Very conveniently, the way they're cooked, you can pull them out like that.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01You don't need a winkle picker.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04And some pulpo - some octopus, it's so fresh.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09I mean, I've just got this maxim that in any city with a good market
0:09:09 > 0:09:13choose the restaurant nearest the market and everything will be fine. And it is.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Quite near to Palermo is the holiday town of Mondello.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26It was very fashionable for the Mafiosi to come here on their holidays.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30In fact, the famous bandit, Salvatore Giuliano,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34would come here surrounded by his armed bodyguards in the 40s.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39He would ride a white horse along the beach with guns stuck into his belt.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Well, it's that sort of place!
0:09:41 > 0:09:44I'm here because I've been given an opportunity to find out
0:09:44 > 0:09:49what the fishing is like in this part of the Med.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53Now, you would have thought that this kind and generally placid sea
0:09:53 > 0:09:56would afford small boats a daily living,
0:09:56 > 0:10:02and I remember, thinking back, a bit sadly, how there we were on a perfect morning,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06but there was something not quite right - very little fish.
0:10:06 > 0:10:12Toto, who owns this boat, has been fishing this bay for 40 years or so.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Although I'm only half way through my journey,
0:10:18 > 0:10:23I can gauge what the true story of the inshore fishing in the Mediterranean is like,
0:10:23 > 0:10:30and it makes me wonder where the myriad of fish restaurants that line its shores get their fish.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34In my inexpert way, I've been trying to ask Toto what the fishing's like,
0:10:34 > 0:10:42and I think he's said it's pretty awful and from what's coming up, I can see what he means.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44I mean, it's not good fishing.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49He's very enthusiastic as earlier on, he picked up a John Dory,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52San Pietro, which is that fish there.
0:10:52 > 0:10:58We have exactly the same fish at home, but otherwise, we don't have any of the rest.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Not a lot for a morning's work. The fishing's better in Padstow!
0:11:03 > 0:11:05So how does Toto see the future?
0:11:05 > 0:11:09HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Is this ironic or what?
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Basically, when he was young, he said there was plenty of fish
0:11:20 > 0:11:24but nobody around here had any money so they couldn't sell it to anybody!
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Now, everybody round here's got plenty of money -
0:11:27 > 0:11:31largely to do with drugs, I'm told - but there's no fish.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38I love the way Italians give this little smile and shrug when life deals them a bitter blow.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41It says, "So what? That's life, let's get on with it!"
0:11:42 > 0:11:45This is the harbour of Messina.
0:11:45 > 0:11:51And over there, those mountains are the Italian mainland and barely a mile away.
0:11:51 > 0:11:58But I've come here because it was a point of departure for one of my all-time food heroines.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01It must seem a bit weird because this is just a place on a harbour
0:12:01 > 0:12:06but it means a lot to me about a story about food.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09You've probably noticed that I've mentioned Elizabeth David
0:12:09 > 0:12:12a great deal through my journey through the Mediterranean,
0:12:12 > 0:12:17and this is important because the ferry has just left for Stromboli,
0:12:17 > 0:12:24and it was off Stromboli that Elizabeth David and her lover had almost a final meal of the old era.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27She had lobster and mayonnaise.
0:12:27 > 0:12:34And was then captured by the Italians, who'd just declared war, and escorted back to Messina,
0:12:34 > 0:12:36and thrown into jail, where, as she put it,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40she spent time with prostitutes and other ne'er-do-wells.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Eventually she was released and made it to Crete,
0:12:45 > 0:12:51but at the time, or she wrote about that time, the following, which I think is incredibly important,
0:12:51 > 0:12:56particularly as her first book was called Mediterranean Cooking.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00I think the sort of seeds of it happened about then -
0:13:00 > 0:13:03"We'll think often of the things we have done together,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07"of the canals and the wine and the red rocks of my beloved France.
0:13:07 > 0:13:14"Of the sea, white with nautilus off the coast of Corsica, of down in the Bay of Naples,
0:13:14 > 0:13:19"of a certain lobster mayonnaise we ate between one life and another."
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Well, she made it to Crete, as I said, and there she lived in,
0:13:23 > 0:13:28well, comparative poverty, but she ate tomatoes and peppers
0:13:28 > 0:13:35and she recalled the taste of the olives then "as old as the taste of water itself."
0:13:36 > 0:13:40What a great line. I wish I'd written that.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Elizabeth David casts a long shadow,
0:13:42 > 0:13:47because she's the first to come to mind when one thinks about the food of the Mediterranean.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52But, you know, there's someone else.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55And that's why I came to Puglia on the heel of Italy's boot,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59because over the years this woman has had an enormous influence on me
0:13:59 > 0:14:03and she's a relatively unsung hero.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06This is a bit of a pilgrimage in my journey through the Mediterranean.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10It's to visit the house where Patience Gray lived.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Patience Gray, for me, was up there with Elizabeth David
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and she wrote a book called Honey From A Weed
0:14:17 > 0:14:21which is, I suppose, a sort of thinking cook's cookbook.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25The basic concept was that this spare cooking of the Mediterranean,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28where weeds play a large part, produced honey.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32In the sense that everything about Pugliese cooking,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35and indeed Mediterranean cooking, is very frugal.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40The locals make the best of what they've got,
0:14:40 > 0:14:46and I think Patience Gray should be read by serious cooks, because it is, as she said,
0:14:46 > 0:14:52"that combination between parsimoniousness and having masses of everything."
0:14:52 > 0:14:58That balance between the two, which is where great cooking truly is.
0:14:58 > 0:15:05For 30 years she lived with a sculptor, Norman Mommens, near a number of marble quarries,
0:15:05 > 0:15:07which provided the raw materials for his work.
0:15:07 > 0:15:13They lived frugally and she despised newfangled kitchen appliances with a vengeance,
0:15:13 > 0:15:18preferring the harder rustic life and the food of the local peasantry.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21I must say, I find this quite humbling.
0:15:21 > 0:15:27Only in the sense that it's so simple and I think, do we really need all that equipment?
0:15:27 > 0:15:33I know that she hated fridges even, because she just wanted to buy things on a daily basis in
0:15:33 > 0:15:37the village, and make something out of them and come back the next day.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41When I look at that hearth and that's where she did most of her food,
0:15:41 > 0:15:47beside which she would have had an earthenware pot of chickpeas
0:15:47 > 0:15:50or fava beans cooking very gently.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54And that was her bed, just before beside the fire, on that hard stone!
0:15:54 > 0:15:58A very austere life, but a bit of a shrine to me.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Her son, Nick Gray, lives there now.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05She died a short while ago, aged 88.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08I notice from my copy of your mum's book
0:16:08 > 0:16:10that at the beginning, she says,
0:16:10 > 0:16:15"Poverty rather than wealth gives the good things of life their true significance."
0:16:15 > 0:16:20And she really liked Puglia because it was so close to
0:16:20 > 0:16:24the earth, people here are so close to the earth and still are, I think.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29When they arrived, which is 30-something years ago,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32this really was the end of the world,
0:16:32 > 0:16:36and modernity had not arrived in any form.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38You grew your food or you starved.
0:16:38 > 0:16:45And she and Norman...regarded the peasants around here
0:16:45 > 0:16:49as their professors and their teachers.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54People who taught them how to grow things and
0:16:54 > 0:16:59how to live with the seasons, with the crops that grew here,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02and...erm...
0:17:02 > 0:17:09there was no question of putting New Zealand kiwi slices on
0:17:09 > 0:17:13filet mignon from the Argentine - you ate what was here.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16The thing that I really loved about this book,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19just the one little thing in it, apart from the fact
0:17:19 > 0:17:22that the whole idea of this simple life is so attractive,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25is the honey from the weed idea,
0:17:25 > 0:17:32the idea that you can go out into hedgerows and out into the fields and gather weeds,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36and gather bitter weeds and take them home and make something of it.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40- It doesn't happen at home! - This was a tradition in England, too.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42- Long lost. - Dandelions and nettles.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47People did collect them both for medicine and for culinary purposes.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Here it's not lost.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55You can see people coming out with used plastic bags and filling the boots of their cars with
0:17:55 > 0:17:59the weeds, and they value the flavour.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Well, it's true - we've lost our interest in gathering wild greens.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09But I can't imagine any of us could have gone past this without
0:18:09 > 0:18:15buying a kilo or two of fresh peas, harvested straight from the fields.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Due kilo... Due, si.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23I'm very happy about this. I just noticed a load of these guys
0:18:23 > 0:18:26on the road as I was driving and I've got to have some.
0:18:26 > 0:18:32Last night, I was in a restaurant in Ostuni and we had a load of antipasti,
0:18:32 > 0:18:38and they brought out a big bowl of peas in the pod and I was thinking, "Imagine if I did that in England."
0:18:38 > 0:18:40People would think I'd gone bonkers!
0:18:40 > 0:18:45But it was such a perfect thing, it's what I really remember about the meal because they were so fresh.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47They're the first peas of the season.
0:18:50 > 0:18:51Grazie.
0:18:51 > 0:18:58I can remember lots of expeditions with my children to "pick your own", intending to stock the freezer
0:18:58 > 0:19:03with beans and peas or make jam with strawberries and raspberries.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06But none of it got further than the car!
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Childhood memories - it doesn't get any better than this.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16But back in Padstow, what to do with a bag full of new season's peas?
0:19:16 > 0:19:19It's such a pleasure to see the first peas and broad beans
0:19:19 > 0:19:23of the season, it's a bit like hearing a cuckoo for the first time.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27I was just reminded of a funny story that Keith Floyd once told me.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30He had a restaurant in the south of France and he said it was
0:19:30 > 0:19:35so exciting when the fresh flageolets arrived,
0:19:35 > 0:19:40and for the first two or three days, you were eating them with great enthusiasm.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44After about two weeks you'd say, "No, thanks. No, thanks."
0:19:47 > 0:19:50This is peas braised with onions and Parma ham.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55It's the sort of thing you only want to cook when the peas are at their tippy top.
0:19:55 > 0:20:01Start by searing the onions in some olive oil, very hot oil so they colour up quickly.
0:20:01 > 0:20:06Add a small amount of water and cover them so that they are left to stew and soften.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Cut the ham into small chunks - cubetti as they say in Italia.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18They'll end up looking like little jewels in a sea of green.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23This is really good bistro food, I think.
0:20:23 > 0:20:30With a glass or two of chilled white wine and some crusty bread it would make a memorable lunch.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34Then some roughly chopped garlic, two or three cloves is quite enough.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38And finally, at last, in with the peas.
0:20:38 > 0:20:43They won't take long to cook and you don't want mushy peas.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Just need to add a little bit of water because it's just a tad dry.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52Needs to stew down, that water will go down into the olive oil and make a nice little emulsion.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Now some seasoning. Just fill this dish, I'm on a bit of a roll.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58This is the sort of thing people love.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Similar dishes to this you can get in Spain,
0:21:01 > 0:21:06that's pea and Serrano ham, in France with Bayonne ham, in Italy with Parma ham.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09And, of course, not forgetting our own pea and ham soup.
0:21:09 > 0:21:10It's a great combination.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15And finally a little, not too much salt.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Not too much, otherwise the salt police will be on to me again.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24Serve them in a warm bowl with lots of flat-leaf parsley stirred in.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27There's an argument going on in Italy at the moment.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Some trendy chefs are refusing to put garlic in anything
0:21:31 > 0:21:35and the old brigade are outraged, as indeed am I.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38This wouldn't be half as good without it.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40They've got to be joking.
0:21:42 > 0:21:48I can't stop myself thinking that maybe Tolkien came to Puglia on his holidays and saw these traditional
0:21:48 > 0:21:55farmsteads, called trulli, and went back to Oxford to create The Shire, home to the hobbits.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00They're surreal. No cement, just local stone and gravity.
0:22:00 > 0:22:07I'm driving along probably the most famous road in history, the Via Appia or the Appian Way.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12It goes over 300 miles, more or less, in a straight line
0:22:12 > 0:22:16all the way from Brindisi to Rome, and it still works.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20I wouldn't mind betting that the food round here has remained pretty much the same
0:22:20 > 0:22:25as when the Roman legions marched down it 2,000 years ago.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28They'd have had wine, wheat, sheep and oxen.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31They were great cultivators of vegetables.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35The fishing, of course, would have been considerably better than it is now,
0:22:35 > 0:22:40but the olive tree ranked supreme in their culture, as it still does today.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Pugliese olive oil is considered one of the best in Europe.
0:22:53 > 0:22:59I'm going to an Easter feast in Ostuni where, no doubt, olive oil will play a large part of the meal.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04I think the jungle drums must have been working overtime because we got a fantastic invitation
0:23:04 > 0:23:12from Armando Balestrazzi to go to his masseria, that's a large farmhouse, called Il Frantoio.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16He heard we were filming Pugliese cuisine and said this
0:23:16 > 0:23:20Easter feast celebrates all the best food that Puglia has to offer.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24I love these naturally pink Mediterranean prawns dipped in a light batter
0:23:24 > 0:23:29made with cream and chopped basil and then fried for about a minute.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32They remind me of Japanese tempura.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37This is a first for me - wild asparagus gathered that morning
0:23:37 > 0:23:40from the hedgerows and lightly cooked in olive oil.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44And tomatoes and onions sweated down to be later mixed with wild greens
0:23:44 > 0:23:50from the nearby fields, things like poppies, dandelions and wild sorrel.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53But the star of the show was this.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57What Katerina's doing here is making agnello con patate in coccio.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02Coccio's that earthenware dish there which looks attractive in its own right.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06First of all she's put some olive oil and salt in the bottom of the coccio
0:24:06 > 0:24:11and then a layer of sliced potatoes, thinly sliced potatoes.
0:24:11 > 0:24:17Then she puts a layer of garlic, tomato, parsley, Parmesan, Pecorino,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20salt and pepper, a bit more olive oil, and then the lamb.
0:24:20 > 0:24:26I asked if it was new season's lamb and she said, "Not just new season's lamb, it's milk fed lamb."
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Very light in colour.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34Then another layer of tomato, garlic, salt and pepper and the two cheeses,
0:24:34 > 0:24:42and then finally the rest of the potato on top and another layer of tomato, garlic,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45two cheeses, salt and pepper and olive oil.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50Then it's in the oven for, I would guess, about 45-50 minutes, probably.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54At 200 degrees.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57I'm very, very much looking forward to trying it.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01It looked absolutely right up my street and, my gosh, the thought of
0:25:01 > 0:25:05that as an Easter special dish, well, fantastic.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09All the great and the good from the surrounding villages were there,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13and there's nothing like being in Italy on a feast day.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18We've only seen a fraction of what the ladies in the kitchen have prepared because Italian feasts
0:25:18 > 0:25:23go on in excess of 10 courses, and they're not little ones,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27so you need to starve yourself for at least two days before you arrive.
0:25:27 > 0:25:33I've been waiting to taste this ever since I saw it going into the oven and I'm not at all disappointed.
0:25:33 > 0:25:39It's wonderful. And I have to say there's quite a lot of things that I taste on my journey and have tasted
0:25:39 > 0:25:45which I think, "Well, that's nice in a time and place, but I wouldn't take it home."
0:25:45 > 0:25:47But this one I would.
0:25:47 > 0:25:53This one is so good and so simple, and it's got such a sort of Italian feel to it.
0:25:53 > 0:25:59There are many dishes like this all over the Mediterranean and, indeed, it's a bit like Lancashire hot pot,
0:25:59 > 0:26:05but it's that combination to me of the tomato, garlic, the olive oil and those two types of cheeses
0:26:05 > 0:26:12that go in that just makes it sensational and it says so much about Italian personality.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Really, really sort of forceful, and full of fun.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22The wild greens that were so prominent in the feast were
0:26:22 > 0:26:26collected by Abele Lomascolo, who's been doing this since he was a lad.
0:26:26 > 0:26:34And I know it sounds very much like a cliche, but he just does what his grandfather's shown him.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38All the ancient meadowland surrounding that hotel is free from
0:26:38 > 0:26:44pesticides and chemicals, so virtually everything you find is edible.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Oxalis must be like sorrel.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51Oh, it is! Sorrel's very, very lemony, very tart.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53So's this.
0:26:59 > 0:27:00My first wild asparagus.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05I was just thinking, who would have thought that this tiny, frond-y
0:27:05 > 0:27:11thing would be cultivated and come out as great thick spears like
0:27:11 > 0:27:13are grown in gardens everywhere?
0:27:13 > 0:27:19Actually, this wild asparagus has a beautifully fragrant taste.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24And makes wonderful pasta.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28I've always wanted to go out with somebody that knows about gathering things from the wild,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31because I've always had a great enthusiasm for it myself.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36I just love going for walks and gathering things, but I don't know enough.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41I can guarantee there's only a small percentage of people back home that do this.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45We just don't know about these wild greens in the spring.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50It's such a pleasurable thing to do and, as they're all saying, it's so good for you.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Armando, this food is lovely, but all the time in England
0:27:54 > 0:28:00we hear about how wonderful Tuscan food is but never anything about Puglian food.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02Why is that?
0:28:02 > 0:28:07There is a difference into the butter cooking and the extra virgin cooking,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10into the beer cooking and into the wine cooking,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13is the weather difference.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17In Puglia, for many centuries, no rain,
0:28:17 > 0:28:22no grass, no cows, no milk, no cheese, no steaks!
0:28:22 > 0:28:27It's terrible. But the grandmother, a Puglian grandmother,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31invent everything for the grandchildren.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35And all the flowers, all the wild herbs, all the legumes,
0:28:35 > 0:28:40in Puglia everything has too much taste, for the sun, for the herbs,
0:28:40 > 0:28:44and the cook don't use nothing for colour.
0:28:44 > 0:28:50They exalt the natural taste, the flower and colour of every food.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Well, we all know what Armando means, and that is if something
0:28:54 > 0:28:59grows well and naturally, then cooking should be kept to a minimum.
0:28:59 > 0:29:05I can't think of anything better to illustrate this than by going out and seeing fishing for ricci.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10A friend asked me the other day what was special about Puglian food and
0:29:10 > 0:29:14the first thing that came to mind was ricci, sea urchins.
0:29:14 > 0:29:21I remember about 30 years ago going to Greece and the thing I thought about sea urchins then
0:29:21 > 0:29:25was they are extremely painful because everybody stepped on one when they went swimming.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29It took ages to get those little black spines out of your foot.
0:29:29 > 0:29:35But these days, I yearn for them and when I think of Puglia I think of ricci, and I think of particularly,
0:29:35 > 0:29:39later on today, a lovely plate of pasta with ricci,
0:29:39 > 0:29:44because there's not a lot in a ricci, but when you combine it with some pasta and some garlic
0:29:44 > 0:29:50and some olive oil, maybe a bit of parsley, you get that real taste of the sea.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53They take about 18 months to grow to this size and
0:29:53 > 0:29:59around here they were so plentiful that conservation and over-fishing never crossed the fishermen's minds.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03But, because they are a tremendous delicacy, the numbers are getting fewer
0:30:03 > 0:30:06and for the first time the fishermen are thinking about what could be done
0:30:06 > 0:30:09to ensure the ricci remains plentiful.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13Most people who will come to eat these today will simply have them raw
0:30:13 > 0:30:16with a bit of bread and a glass of wine.
0:30:16 > 0:30:22As I said when I was in Catania market, you only eat the orange roes, but they're lovely!
0:30:22 > 0:30:25They say it's an acquired taste.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28I acquired mine nearly 30 years ago.
0:30:30 > 0:30:36This is one of my top five dishes from the Med and it's cooked here by Rosa Martellota.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39SPEAKS IN ITALIAN
0:30:39 > 0:30:41E molto, molto, molto buono!
0:30:41 > 0:30:44As you can gather, she likes it very much!
0:30:44 > 0:30:50So there's lots of olive oil, a humongous amount of garlic and lots of sea urchin roes.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53I'd say about 50 of them for one portion.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58Then a splash of wine and a handful of chopped parley
0:30:58 > 0:31:02and let it warm, it's cooked enough at this stage.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06Then in with the pasta, and in this part of the world it doesn't take too long.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11'Cinque minuti, five minutes.'
0:31:11 > 0:31:12- Tosto?- Tosto.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16'And she says it has to be "tosto".'
0:31:16 > 0:31:20- I'm not quite sure what she means by tosto... - Duro, duro, duro!
0:31:20 > 0:31:24'I think she means it has to be fairly hard.'
0:31:27 > 0:31:31Well, like all good Italian cooks, the pasta goes into the saute pan
0:31:31 > 0:31:38so that it gets completely covered in all those wonderful flavours of the sea, garlic and oil.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41OK, vai. Mangiare!
0:31:41 > 0:31:42Mangiare!
0:31:46 > 0:31:48E dura e dura!
0:31:49 > 0:31:54- It is!- Si!- When the Italians talk about al dente...
0:31:54 > 0:31:55Al dente, al dente!
0:31:55 > 0:31:57Spaghetto si mangia al dente.
0:31:57 > 0:32:03They really mean it. The pasta in here is almost hard and you couldn't serve it back home like that.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05People wouldn't go for it, but it's lovely.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07It's got this lovely taste.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10I mean, everything in it, I doubt if anything
0:32:10 > 0:32:14in here was grown more than two or three miles away from this spot.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17I think that's what's just so special about Italian food.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20It is so simple, it's just what's around, what's available.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23And, of course, it has a sort of,
0:32:23 > 0:32:30well, for want of a better word, a sort of truth about it, which just makes it so, so wonderful.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38You've got to arrive on the stroke of 12 to get a seat here.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42I was really surprised to see that most of the people eating these
0:32:42 > 0:32:47were young, probably students from the towns nearby.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51I expected grizzled old fishermen puffing fags and knocking back grappa.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55I think the popularity of seafood in Puglia, like this grilled octopus,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58with the young, is because they all grew up on it.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02They all seem to respect it for what it is.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09That's a typical Puglian scene on the coast.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12It's not exactly wonderfully attractive.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16I mean, you've got a stoneworks there and the town in the background,
0:33:16 > 0:33:22but one thing you can say about it, there's no big buildings, no hotels, no high-rise blocks.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24It looks a bit scruffy.
0:33:24 > 0:33:30But when we arrived a friend who hadn't been before said, "Is that it?"
0:33:30 > 0:33:32I said, "Yes, it is it, actually."
0:33:32 > 0:33:34I felt quite sort of defensive about Puglia.
0:33:34 > 0:33:40I think it's a bit like Spain used to be in the 60s, before tourism really took off there.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44The thing about here is there's only Italian tourists.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47I don't know, local tourists don't seem to make such a demand
0:33:47 > 0:33:52on the landscape as sort of us lot with our sort of fish and chips and,
0:33:52 > 0:33:58you know, British pubs and all that sort of thing and demands for ever more comfortable accommodation.
0:33:58 > 0:34:03I just really like this place and I just hope that they've learned
0:34:03 > 0:34:07the lessons of places like Spain and just keep it simple, keep it local.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10Because that's actually what everybody likes.
0:34:22 > 0:34:27I've been here to the village of Marittimo di Diso quite a few times.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30It's where I've been on my holidays for the last three years.
0:34:30 > 0:34:36The Convento di Santa Maria is an old 15th-century convent converted into a rather
0:34:36 > 0:34:42posh bed and breakfast, and the reason I came here is because I really like the food.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46It's uncompromising, really good Pugliese cuisine.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53And what I like too is that there aren't any menus, you eat what you're given.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55It's run by Lord and Lady McAlpine.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57- Ah, Rick!- Hello.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00He was the Treasurer of the Tory Party
0:35:00 > 0:35:01when Mrs Thatcher was in power.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03- Hello.- Very nice to see you.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06- How's things?- Very well, thank you.
0:35:06 > 0:35:12Their cook, Pierluigi, had been preparing a chicken diavola, devilled chicken.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16First, he spatchcocks the chicken by cutting through the breastbone
0:35:16 > 0:35:19and flattens it out and gives it a good bashing.
0:35:19 > 0:35:25And now for the marinade, which is made up of crushed black peppercorns, crushed dried chilli,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29olive oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic and sea salt.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32'That's it, and he leaves it for an hour.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36'Another reason I like coming here is because of Alistair McAlpine.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40'I mean, he was brought up in the Dorchester Hotel and when he was a little boy
0:35:40 > 0:35:44'he used to spend a lot of time watching the chefs at work in the vast kitchens.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49'It's really good to witter on with someone who really knows about food.'
0:35:49 > 0:35:55Now the chicken's very simply grilled over hot charcoal and left to cook for 40 minutes.
0:35:55 > 0:36:01Yes, it does take that long, because you don't want the fire too hot or it'll burn the chicken,
0:36:01 > 0:36:05and you baste it from time to time with the left-over marinade.
0:36:05 > 0:36:12That's the secret, and also turning it, to keep it juicy and moist. Just like that!
0:36:14 > 0:36:17This chicken is very, wonderfully fiery.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21It goes tremendously well with this wine. The pure Primitivo.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25It's hard to get pure Primitivo, but it's the oldest vine.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28It was here when the Romans came.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30It's the wine they drank.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32People are very hospitable here.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34They're very welcoming.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37But they're also very reserved and un-intrusive.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41And I think what people find when they come here is a very authentic way of life.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46So it's not a pastiche of Italian life - it really is Italian life.
0:36:46 > 0:36:52Most people who live in the villages here will have a small plot of land that they'll cultivate themselves.
0:36:52 > 0:36:57They'll be eating their very own pork, having slaughtered their very own pigs.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59They'll be pulling up lettuces from the ground.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04They'll be, at this time of year, looking for wild asparagus.
0:37:04 > 0:37:10So they're very immediate. They have a very immediate relationship with the land and with the sea.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14I've got this artist friend that lives in Tuscany and she thinks...
0:37:14 > 0:37:16She doesn't like Puglia.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18She doesn't get it. She thinks it's just...
0:37:18 > 0:37:21Well, she thinks it's a bit scruffy, really.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24Well, you have to say that when you live in Tuscany.
0:37:24 > 0:37:29It's the north of Italy, they rubbish Puglia. They always have done, always will do.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33But that's why foreigners come here and find it very exciting.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36Down here, people have a desire to serve you.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40It's a pleasure to serve you. They get joy out of it.
0:37:40 > 0:37:45I lived for ten years in Venice, where service was an inconvenience
0:37:45 > 0:37:48between cooking and collecting the cash.
0:37:48 > 0:37:55The British have come to this part of the world ever since Elgin pinched the Greeks' marbles.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58It's the weather, you see, the light.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01For the first time, we see paradise.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06You live in England, you get this grey light, this stern sort of outlook.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10You suddenly find yourself amongst people with colossal exuberance.
0:38:10 > 0:38:15No-one would put as much pepper on chicken in England as this.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18It's not possible. This has got life to it.
0:38:18 > 0:38:23You eat the chicken, it goes with the wine, goes with the climate, goes with the people.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25Wonderful place.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30Indeed, it is a wonderful place.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35Tuscany's been in the spotlight for some time now, since the 80s,
0:38:35 > 0:38:39and Umbria's still preening herself with the fame she found in the 90s.
0:38:39 > 0:38:45So maybe Puglia, with her really simple, uncluttered food is next.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49I think this dish fits well into the landscape of Puglia.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51It's fennel sausages with lemony potatoes.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56These are very slim sausages, as you can see,
0:38:56 > 0:38:59and I'm making them into tiny little chipolatas.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03The dish looks much better if you can use these little sausages.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06You should be able to get them from any good Italian deli.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08The thing about them which is so important
0:39:08 > 0:39:10is that they're not like British sausages -
0:39:10 > 0:39:13not that I've got anything against British sausages,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17but they've got no cereal in them, so they're very, very meaty.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21The whole point about them being very meaty is because you need
0:39:21 > 0:39:25sausages that have quite an intense amount of flavour in themselves.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27They need to be able to shine through
0:39:27 > 0:39:32and declare their existence without disappearing into the overall dish.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37I found this little dish at lunchtime in a restaurant in a place called Marittimo di Diso.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40What I liked about it, it came with a whole load of other
0:39:40 > 0:39:46vegetable dishes, cos the Pugliese are very famous for their vegetable dishes.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50They do lovely things with broad bean puree, for example, obviously
0:39:50 > 0:39:54lots of aubergine dishes, courgette fritters, things like this.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58But I really like this. I like the sausages and the potatoes,
0:39:58 > 0:40:02and the flavour, which was of lemon, not just the juice but the zest as well.
0:40:02 > 0:40:07In the same pan, just soften down some coarsely sliced onion.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10You don't need to cook them right out at this time.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13Just let them become a little transparent.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16Then add a couple of cloves of sliced garlic.
0:40:18 > 0:40:24Cut some potatoes into chunky pieces - preferably a waxy variety,
0:40:24 > 0:40:26because you want them to hold together.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29The floury ones will fall apart, of course.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34Put them in with the onion and garlic and turn them over to get
0:40:34 > 0:40:37them nicely coated in that flavoured oil.
0:40:39 > 0:40:44Now put those tasty little sausages back in again.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Add a bit of water for a bit of cooking liquor and season it well.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53You know what I think? I think this dish will be done by lots of people.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56I've been making these series for a long time now and I get to talk to people.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00What I discover is it's really the simple dishes that people do at home.
0:41:00 > 0:41:06- Actually, it'll be the simple dishes that- I- do at home as well. The thing about this is interesting.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09You've got sausages, potatoes and onions, all cooked together
0:41:09 > 0:41:12with olive oil and a bit of garlic and a hint of lemon zest.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15It sounds interesting and it sounds doable.
0:41:15 > 0:41:21But just remember this - use good sausages.
0:41:21 > 0:41:28Use a good, fresh lemon too, with unblemished skin, because it will be obvious in the finished dish.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33Squeeze the juice into the pan and put in half a dozen bay leaves.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36Now put the lid on and wait until the potatoes are done.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41Finish with chopped parsley and serve.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46We may not have the constant sunshine that they have in Puglia,
0:41:46 > 0:41:49but that doesn't mean we can't have the wonderful flavour.
0:41:49 > 0:41:54And what's more, we can have the Primitivo too!
0:41:54 > 0:41:59From now on, this dish will always remind me of the McAlpines
0:41:59 > 0:42:05in their bed and breakfast convento and their enthusiasm for Puglia.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08They told me there's an old Pugliese saying
0:42:08 > 0:42:13which runs, "Nessuno e piu felice di noi."
0:42:13 > 0:42:17"Nobody is happier than us."
0:42:17 > 0:42:19I'll drink to that.
0:42:22 > 0:42:28This is Ostuni, and the architecture reflects the closeness the culture has with North Africa.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31You see it in southern Spain and Sicily.
0:42:31 > 0:42:37Ostuni is often referred to as the White City, La Citta Bianca, and we based ourselves here for
0:42:37 > 0:42:43a couple of nights because there were so many things to film nearby.
0:42:43 > 0:42:50But then, in this paradise, we woke up one morning to find that things were not what they should be.
0:42:50 > 0:42:56It's like being in an early film noir, mainly because the camera was on the blink, as you can see.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03I feel a bit dazed. We've just had the Land Rover stolen.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06It was in a locked compound. Don't know how they got in.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09But that's all that's left, the door lock.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11I just don't know what we're gonna do next.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13I know it happens all over the world.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17You can get your Land Rover stolen in London or Plymouth.
0:43:17 > 0:43:22But it just feels a bit different here, so far from home, particularly because Puglia's so nice.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26We've had such lovely food and it's beautiful and all the people are so nice.
0:43:26 > 0:43:31Frankly, I don't know how we're gonna carry on, because that Land Rover was great!
0:43:31 > 0:43:33'Well, carry on we did.'
0:43:33 > 0:43:36This dish is probably Puglia's most famous.
0:43:36 > 0:43:43Fave e cicoria - mashed up dried broad beans with a sort of Italian dandelion.
0:43:43 > 0:43:48It's prepared by Maria, the cook in the hotel where we had the Land Rover nicked.
0:43:48 > 0:43:55I just noticed Maria's just using the outer leaves to go with the fava puree, because this cicoria, at this
0:43:55 > 0:44:01time of year, has these wonderful buds which are a bit like asparagus, almost, but they've got this lovely,
0:44:01 > 0:44:08subtle bitterness, and they make this salad with garlic, olive oil, vinegar, anchovies, salt and pepper.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10Delicious!
0:44:10 > 0:44:15I tell you, I can't resist the aroma of fava beans.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17Broad beans, they are.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20This puree under a rack of lamb - beautiful.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25Unfortunately, we didn't realise that Maria was having to go back
0:44:25 > 0:44:30to work in the restaurant just down the road, cos I wanted to see her cook it right from the start.
0:44:30 > 0:44:37But what she's done is take half a kilo of the dried broad beans and a couple of potatoes, barely covered
0:44:37 > 0:44:41them with water, a little bit of salt, and just cooked gently until
0:44:41 > 0:44:44the water's all taken up by the beans and potato,
0:44:44 > 0:44:50by which time they're so soft they don't need to be pureed, just stirred with a wooden spoon.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55SHE EXPLAINS IN ITALIAN
0:44:57 > 0:45:00I asked her why she cooks this and she said,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03"I do this dish because I've watched my mother doing it,
0:45:03 > 0:45:06"my grandmother doing it and I love making it.
0:45:06 > 0:45:11"It's a healthy, genuine meal
0:45:11 > 0:45:16"and we grow these legumes and we eat this almost every day.
0:45:16 > 0:45:21"My children are not very keen on it but I still cook it for them."
0:45:21 > 0:45:24'Well, that's kids for you!'
0:45:24 > 0:45:29I was thinking, if anything sums up the superb vegetarian cooking,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33it is this dish fave e cicoria.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37It is funny, but I was just thinking it is a bit like polenta.
0:45:37 > 0:45:43I sort of think that this could be as popular as polenta.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46She was saying earlier on that her children, her grandchildren,
0:45:46 > 0:45:51don't really like it because they think it is poor people's food.
0:45:51 > 0:45:56She has to put potato with it and say that it is potato puree, then they will eat it.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59But I have this suspicion that in a year or two,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03this will be fetching really big money in West End restaurants.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07But I doubt if it would change THEIR lives.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18To say we were depressed by the loss of the Land Rover was an understatement.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22Not only did that go, but half our gear as well.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26I just thought that it was on its way to Albania.
0:46:26 > 0:46:31Were it not for our Italian researcher, Anna,
0:46:31 > 0:46:35who was totally unstinting in her telephone calls to
0:46:35 > 0:46:39the Mayor, the Governor, the Chief of Police, Interpol
0:46:39 > 0:46:43and what I can only think was probably a local Mafia boss's wife -
0:46:43 > 0:46:45because we got it back!
0:46:47 > 0:46:50Remarkably, it was still full of our gear.
0:46:50 > 0:46:57Anna said it was a stain on the character of Puglia and she wanted to wipe it clean.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00Una truppa televisiva della Britannica BBC...
0:47:00 > 0:47:02NEWS REPORTS CONTINUE IN ITALIAN
0:47:14 > 0:47:17And single handedly, she succeeded!
0:47:18 > 0:47:21We did get it back, but this isn't it.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24The old Land Rover was a bit knocked about.
0:47:24 > 0:47:30I'm on my way to see Giuseppe Lolli and his dogs, Big and Frau, truffle hunters extraordinaire!
0:47:30 > 0:47:35There's not a strong tradition of hunting truffles this far south in Puglia.
0:47:35 > 0:47:42It's Piemonte in Italy's north-west that's famous for them, especially the luxurious white ones.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Giuseppe wasn't told by anyone that this part of
0:47:45 > 0:47:49the Pugliese countryside, the campagna, could yield truffles.
0:47:49 > 0:47:54He said he just had a sixth sense about it, especially in this ancient
0:47:54 > 0:47:59wood that was once inhabited by the Greeks and then later by the Romans.
0:47:59 > 0:48:05Maybe you're thinking this was all a set-up for the camera, but he didn't plant any.
0:48:05 > 0:48:10I'd been with him before and it's just remarkable that these dogs find the truffles so quickly.
0:48:10 > 0:48:14The truffles are really quite small but they still have that scent of
0:48:14 > 0:48:19luxury which I think is a mixture of honey and loamy earth.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23That is a...
0:48:29 > 0:48:32Just smelling them,
0:48:32 > 0:48:36nobody could fail to love that smell.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39It is sort of earthy and elemental and
0:48:39 > 0:48:41slightly...
0:48:41 > 0:48:44sexy, in a funny sort of way.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Maybe I shouldn't be saying that
0:48:47 > 0:48:48but that's the truth of it.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:48:59 > 0:49:02It's not the truffles, it's the dogs, he wanted to find a way
0:49:02 > 0:49:06so he could work with his dogs, be with his dogs all the time.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10It has given me a bit of a pang because as, you know,
0:49:10 > 0:49:15Chalky, my dog, died and I am so taken with the relationship
0:49:15 > 0:49:19between them and he loves those two dogs.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21Big and Frau.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27Giuseppe was saying that he was working in restaurants
0:49:27 > 0:49:34in northern Italy and he saw the amount of money that was paid out for truffles and he had this idea.
0:49:34 > 0:49:39Nobody told him, that you can also get truffles like this in the south of Italy.
0:49:39 > 0:49:45Nobody taught him how to train his dogs to find the truffles.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49He just thought, if you throw things for dogs, they will retrieve them.
0:49:49 > 0:49:54He started throwing truffle for them and they got the picture.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58These dogs must be worth a great deal of money and these,
0:49:58 > 0:50:00I always think the best thing to do
0:50:00 > 0:50:04with truffles - excuse me, I am more interested in the smell
0:50:04 > 0:50:07than talking to you - is just to have them
0:50:07 > 0:50:10very simply, maybe with some risotto, some pasta
0:50:10 > 0:50:15or simply grated on to some fried eggs, wonderful.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23- Nero.- Nero.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25The black truffle.
0:50:30 > 0:50:35This is the simplest way, I think, to enjoy them.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37'I'm so hungry!'
0:50:37 > 0:50:40They're simply shaved on eggs fried in olive oil.
0:50:40 > 0:50:46I have a friend who says, "To make a truffle omelette simply put the eggs unbroken
0:50:46 > 0:50:50"into a wooden box with a truffle and the powerful scent
0:50:50 > 0:50:53"will penetrate the shell and flavour the egg.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55"And you still have your truffle left."
0:51:00 > 0:51:05But look at this, lacy shavings of both white and black.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09God knows how much THAT would cost back at home in a restaurant!
0:51:09 > 0:51:11Buono?
0:51:11 > 0:51:13Buono. Oh!
0:51:13 > 0:51:15I feel like a fox in the hen house.
0:51:15 > 0:51:20Do you know what I mean? I've got black truffles, white truffles, I've got eggs and it is all I want.
0:51:20 > 0:51:27I think the thing about really truly, wonderful food like truffles or caviar, is you need lots of it!
0:51:33 > 0:51:35Thank you very much.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37Di niente. Alla salute!
0:51:39 > 0:51:42This is how Giuseppe prepares truffles in his kitchen.
0:51:42 > 0:51:48First, olive oil on to a plate and then grated parmesan over that
0:51:48 > 0:51:52and now grate a black truffle over the cheese.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56Then he mixes it all together and in true Italian style,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00he puts a generous helping of tagliatelle on to the plate
0:52:00 > 0:52:04and covers every bit of it with the oil, cheese and truffle.
0:52:04 > 0:52:10Next he puts more of these lovely things on top, shavings of black truffle.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14I think you can only do this dish if you're a truffle hunter!
0:52:14 > 0:52:18But from one extreme to another.
0:52:18 > 0:52:23This inexpensive dish goes back centuries and it's cooked here by Mino Maggi and his sister, Zia.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26They're champions of Pugliese cuisine.
0:52:28 > 0:52:34- This is a bit of a brother and sister act, making... - Orecchiette.- Orecchiette!
0:52:34 > 0:52:37- Con cime di rape. - Con cime di rape.
0:52:37 > 0:52:43Zia is making the orecchiette and the sauce, Mino is making.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46It's so practical the Italian language.
0:52:46 > 0:52:51Orecchiette, that just means "little ears" and that's what they look like.
0:52:51 > 0:52:57I love watching someone like Zia making something so effortlessly like this orecchiette.
0:52:57 > 0:53:02I just had a go a few minutes ago and it is incredibly difficult.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04When you look at it, you think, "Oh, I can do that!
0:53:04 > 0:53:09"A little cut, a little press and it's done!"
0:53:11 > 0:53:12What is going in to the sauce, then?
0:53:12 > 0:53:19I think this is the most simple sauce that you could make.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22When you talk about Puglia,
0:53:22 > 0:53:29olive oil is the main ingredient that we use in our kitchen
0:53:29 > 0:53:33and then, we have some garlic, chopped garlic,
0:53:33 > 0:53:36it gives always the traditional flavour, very strong,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39nice and strong flavour of the garlic.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43Then put some anchovies, not too many, but salted ones.
0:53:43 > 0:53:48Also, a very important ingredient is the tomatoes.
0:53:48 > 0:53:50Those tomatoes, look at them.
0:53:50 > 0:53:56They were picked last July and the name of them is pomodori al filo.
0:53:56 > 0:54:01- Pomodori al filo - on the string. - O pomodori eterni...- Everlasting.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03Everlasting. Eternal tomatoes.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07The flavour that they keep is all the flavour of the sun
0:54:07 > 0:54:12of the soil, of the summer of Puglia.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15Forgive me for saying this, but I get a bit perplexed
0:54:15 > 0:54:18because I am hearing all this wonderful chat about
0:54:18 > 0:54:21cima di rape and the quality of the tomatoes,
0:54:21 > 0:54:24but I keep hearing Wales, keep hearing the Welsh Valleys.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27- What's going on here? - HE LAUGHS
0:54:27 > 0:54:33I have been a lucky person in my life and I met a fantastic girl from Wales.
0:54:33 > 0:54:39After four months I was speaking English Welsh because I met my wife, Carol.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42- Do you think I have a Welsh accent? - Just a little bit.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45- You sound a bit like Tom Jones, actually.- I am proud of that.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49Sometimes, Mino has customers suggesting improvements.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53A lady said, "I really liked it but
0:54:53 > 0:54:57"what about adding some bacon to this sauce?"
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Bacon, but why?
0:54:59 > 0:55:02If you are just saying it was nice, it is good,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05why should we add bacon?
0:55:05 > 0:55:10This is part of the Mediterranean diet and we don't add bacon.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14When you are at home, you can do as you want but
0:55:14 > 0:55:19when I cook it, I will cook it like my mother did for years.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25This works really well at home using sprouting broccoli.
0:55:25 > 0:55:31I could spend a whole series in Puglia on really good vegetable dishes that have been created
0:55:31 > 0:55:36in times of poverty, but are still really popular in times of plenty.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39Wow, that looks good. I'm interested in the breadcrumbs.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42I thought you would have put Parmesan on it.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44No. Parmesan?
0:55:44 > 0:55:47In Puglia, Parmesan didn't exist.
0:55:47 > 0:55:52First of all, because it was too expensive and also because it is part of the culture of north Italy,
0:55:52 > 0:55:55although we use it also in the south now.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59This is the Parmesan of the poor people.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02Breadcrumbs fried.
0:56:02 > 0:56:07I think that is very apt and it works an absolute treat because it tastes really crunchy in there.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09This is quite delicious.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13What I like about it, is it is vibrant, there is so much flavour
0:56:13 > 0:56:17in there, it is so typical of the food of this area.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19It is really gutsy stuff.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24People write in when I'm doing these TV things and say,
0:56:24 > 0:56:29"You said you liked it, but we can tell you didn't."
0:56:29 > 0:56:34Well, the fact is, I've eaten most of it, it is absolutely delicious!
0:56:34 > 0:56:36Great, great!
0:56:36 > 0:56:38Cheers.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40All the best.
0:56:41 > 0:56:48So, I'm off to Greece, from Bari in Puglia, in a new Land Rover and I just think,
0:56:48 > 0:56:54I owe you an explanation, and that is, that when we came here originally,
0:56:54 > 0:56:59our Land Rover was indeed stolen and our camera was seriously playing up.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02So we came back and did it all again.
0:57:02 > 0:57:10As Robbie Burns once said, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men go oft awry." How true!
0:57:10 > 0:57:18I'm having an ouzo because I am on a Greek ferry and I am off here from Bari to Corfu in the morning.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22I've been thinking of some of those lovely dishes I've had in Italy.
0:57:22 > 0:57:27I was thinking about in Sardinia, that wild boar stew with potato,
0:57:27 > 0:57:30so simple and so honest and good.
0:57:30 > 0:57:31In Sicily,
0:57:31 > 0:57:38the porcini mushrooms with the clams and pasta down on the south coast, that was something special.
0:57:38 > 0:57:44In Puglia, that fava bean puree, the broad bean puree with a wild chicory.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46So simple and so perfect.
0:57:46 > 0:57:53Tomorrow, hopefully we will get a nice dawn off Corfu and I'll be thinking about some Greek food
0:57:53 > 0:57:55and those lovely stuffed vegetables.
0:57:55 > 0:58:00The peppers and tomatoes with a little flavour of the east in them.
0:58:00 > 0:58:05Above all, a great Greek salad.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08They say travelling is a mind-expanding experience,
0:58:08 > 0:58:14but I've never seen a group of girls dancing to the music from their mobile phones before.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16Where will it end, I wonder?!
0:58:22 > 0:58:27Next, I'm in Corfu, and trying some genuine Greek food.
0:58:27 > 0:58:31Hints on a healthy diet, and then it's over to Majorca for tapas.
0:58:41 > 0:58:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd