0:00:27 > 0:00:33TANNOY: 'May I have your attention, please? Passengers with destination Corfu...'
0:00:33 > 0:00:39I've just been reading in Lawrence Durrell's really good book about the Greek islands,
0:00:39 > 0:00:46in which he jokingly blames Homer for talking about the rosy fingered dawn coming into Corfu.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49He said it was actually rosy fingered.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53He arrived on the same ferry about the same time in the morning,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56but it's not particularly rosy fingered for me.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00But, what he also says is that special feeling of arriving at a Greek island
0:01:00 > 0:01:04and Corfu is an excellent first island to arrive.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06It's the first island I ever came to.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09It just has the feel, the land feel about it,
0:01:09 > 0:01:15the easy way you slip into a port in any of the islands in the early morning.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17It's something quite special for me.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Memories of the early '70s, travelling overland in a Land Rover,
0:01:21 > 0:01:26arriving here in Corfu and then going on to lots of other islands
0:01:26 > 0:01:28on very, very antiquated ferries,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32one indeed, shortly after we went on it, sank.
0:01:45 > 0:01:50If memory serves me well, this place hasn't changed at all since the last time I came,
0:01:50 > 0:01:55albeit with much longer hair and a burning desire to find the best beaches
0:01:55 > 0:01:57with the coldest beers on the island.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12I know its too early, and these tavernas are shut,
0:02:12 > 0:02:18but I'm looking forward to souvlaki - kebabs made with lamb - salads, stuffed vegetables, mousaka,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21the whole business of travelling makes me so hungry!
0:02:27 > 0:02:30I've always thought Corfu a magical place.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33It's this pink, early-morning light that gets me.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35It has a very calming effect.
0:02:35 > 0:02:42Lawrence Durrell wrote about Corfu and said, "The sedative quality, its bewitched disengagement
0:02:42 > 0:02:46"from all concern is something you will not be long in feeling here.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49"The air around you becomes slowly more and more anaesthetic,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53"more blissful, more impregnated with holy sleep.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58"You will realise this is exactly what happened to the conquerors who landed here - they fell asleep.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02"And this island slipped from their nerveless fingers
0:03:02 > 0:03:06"into the freedom it has always desired - freedom to dream."
0:03:14 > 0:03:18The famous Durrell family lived here in the White House.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23Lawrence referred to it as like a dice sat upon a rock.
0:03:23 > 0:03:29It's now a restaurant, and as I got closer to it, I realised it was closed, of course.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34How I could have tucked into some local octopus or grilled sea bass.
0:03:38 > 0:03:44But I'm off to have lunch with an old Corfiot family who are friends of our researcher over here.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46But they don't live right by the sea.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50In true Mediterranean tradition, they live amongst the olive groves inland.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53I've noticed these nets stretched between the trees,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57set there to catch the ripe, black olives when they drop.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02I know the green ones are picked by hand and pressed for the best olive oil
0:04:02 > 0:04:07and the difference between black and green olives is that one's ripe and one isn't!
0:04:07 > 0:04:10You'd be surprised, even amongst the seasoned film crew,
0:04:10 > 0:04:14who've been making programmes with me for years,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16how much of a revelation that was!
0:04:16 > 0:04:20But anyway, the Tsoukalas family have lived here on this small farm
0:04:20 > 0:04:26for at least eight generations, where, like all the old Corfiot families, they grow their own food.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Eleni's making skordalia,
0:04:29 > 0:04:33which is very common all over Greece,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37but the Corfiot skordalia is the best recipe.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42Sometimes it's made with bread, but more commonly with potato,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44olive oil, garlic and lemon juice.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49After crushing about a dozen fat cloves of garlic to make a paste
0:04:49 > 0:04:53she then does the same with boiled potatoes and makes a creamy mash,
0:04:53 > 0:04:55and then, straightaway she adds the garlic paste.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00This is for people who like to live on the edge, where food's concerned!
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Anyway, she blends that together and adds olive oil
0:05:03 > 0:05:07and this comes from the ripe black olives from their farm.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09After that she adds lemon juice and that's it.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12This is a really good example of a local dish.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17It's all from their garden - lemons, potatoes, garlic and the oil.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21I can't tell you how important it is for me
0:05:21 > 0:05:25to taste a famous dish where it comes from.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29I've been watching her make this and with growing sense of appetite,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32because I love things like this. I'll just taste it.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Wow!
0:05:36 > 0:05:38That is so hot with garlic.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Unbelievably hot.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44Absolutely pungent with lemon and oil, it's really, really...
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Very good!
0:05:50 > 0:05:52HE SPEAKS IN GREEK
0:05:55 > 0:06:00Papa Spiros, who is 82, has just retired as a local priest.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03He puts his obvious sprightliness down to clean living -
0:06:03 > 0:06:08not much meat, lots of fish and vegetables plus red wine and garlic.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15I'll just give a run down on some of these dishes.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19This is, of course, a Greek salad - tomatoes, olives, cucumber, peppers
0:06:19 > 0:06:23and traditionally they help themselves to feta.
0:06:25 > 0:06:32And these are famous in Corfu - spinach pies, spanakopita - baked in filo pastry.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37Then a bit of luxury, for my benefit I suspect, freshly boiled crayfish.
0:06:37 > 0:06:43And these are just potatoes roasted in olive oil with onions and a bit of rosemary.
0:06:43 > 0:06:49Naturally, there are stuffed courgettes with rice, tomato sauce,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51dill and parsley, and garlic.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54And then octopus sauted with onion, garlic,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58red wine, tomatoes and macaroni which soaks up all the juices.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03Well, as usual, on this trip I felt at a bit of a loss because I couldn't speak the language,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07but Papa Spiros's son, Perry, used to run a pub in England.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11- Perry, you had a pub in Oswestry for 5½ years?- We did, yes.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15What did you miss most about Corfu all that time?
0:07:15 > 0:07:18This - the weather, the food.
0:07:18 > 0:07:24All right, we used to do our own food, this sort of food,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26we did it ourselves.
0:07:26 > 0:07:33But it's different, in this atmosphere to be with my mum and dad.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37To my way of thinking, your dad is a walking example
0:07:37 > 0:07:41of why Mediterranean food's wonderfully good for you.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43- How old is he now?- 82.
0:07:43 > 0:07:4682? He looks as fit as a fiddle.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Still climbing up the trees.
0:07:49 > 0:07:55- Every day he's doing something on the little farm we've got.- Really?
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Ploughing potatoes or vegetables and stuff like that.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04If you wanted to encapsulate why Mediterranean food is so special,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08- just show a picture of your father. - That's right.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12I'd like to propose a toast to Greek hospitality,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14very much in evidence today.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Yamas.
0:08:16 > 0:08:22I love Greek food and I love how enthusiastic the Greeks are about their cooking too.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25A lot of people misunderstand it
0:08:25 > 0:08:28because it is frugal and simple,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31and it's born out of two things in my view -
0:08:31 > 0:08:37the landscape and Greek temperament itself, which is very laid back.
0:08:37 > 0:08:43And there's one dish that's the first thing I tend to think of when stepping ashore in Greece,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47and I imagine everyone orders it when they first arrive, and that's the Greek salad.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53And I'm sure they say "Why don't we eat this all the time, it's so healthy!"
0:08:53 > 0:08:59And it's so simple - just tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, black olives,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02dill, crumbled feta, though sometimes they do it in chunks,
0:09:02 > 0:09:07olive oil, and finish with a sprinkle of dried oregano.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12So good under a hot Corfiot sun with a glass of cold retsina.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17But it won't taste quite the same in the driving rain of a cold English summer.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19Such is life!
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Everywhere we go in the Mediterranean,
0:09:26 > 0:09:32you pick up the history of wherever it is, and it's been overrun by loads of different people.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35There's been famines, wars, people have moved from the coast
0:09:35 > 0:09:38up to the mountains because of pirates and mosquitoes.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43It's just a continual flux of things going on here.
0:09:43 > 0:09:49Indeed, our civilisation, Western civilisation, goes right back to the Mediterranean.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53I think that's why we all have such an affinity to the Mediterranean
0:09:53 > 0:09:59because we understand that much of our language and most of our culture comes from here.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03But when you come down to the food of the Mediterranean,
0:10:03 > 0:10:08it's about poverty and the people that almost used to live here.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Almost used to be what it was all about.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Now, everybody wants a view of the sea.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19But food is about spareness, about small numbers of ingredients
0:10:19 > 0:10:22and about making do.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26There's some essential dignity about the cooking here,
0:10:26 > 0:10:32it's not flamboyant, it doesn't use ingredients from all over the place.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36I was talking to a chef in old Corfu Town the other day
0:10:36 > 0:10:38and he used to cook in New York.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43He said, "In New York, any one dish, there'd be 10 or 15 ingredients just in the one dish.
0:10:43 > 0:10:49"Here, two or three will make that dish and make five or six other dishes as well."
0:10:49 > 0:10:53And it is that respect, I think, respect for ingredients
0:10:53 > 0:10:56that I really, really like about the Mediterranean.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01What we have on today, artichokes with peas and carrots.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03That's the daily special.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07It needs 30 minutes.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09- That is pork in lemon sauce- ...
0:11:09 > 0:11:14This is Nick Argyros who was born in Corfu, studied cooking in New York,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17got fed up with fancy cheffing and came home!
0:11:17 > 0:11:20I made a wine sauce also.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23A wine sauce.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27We have chick pea soup
0:11:27 > 0:11:29on the menu every Wednesday,
0:11:29 > 0:11:31and lamb fricassee.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37Slowly simmers and it'll be ready for the egg lemon sauce in a bit.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43I like meeting chefs like Nick and watch them at work and find out what works for them.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Whatever is simple - simple is good.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49If you have good ingredients, if you place one or two in a kettle
0:11:49 > 0:11:52and cook them right, it will come out great.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Simplicity of flavours.
0:11:54 > 0:12:00That's it. Five good items, you can make 10 different dishes.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04That's what we do here, and we use tomatoes, peppers,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06aubergines,
0:12:06 > 0:12:07what else?
0:12:07 > 0:12:14Beef, and we make, on a regular basis on the menu, 50 to 20 items.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16With the same ingredients combined.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19And every item is unique.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21That's it, I guess.
0:12:21 > 0:12:27Well, today Nick is making this, a really rich rabbit stew - stifado.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Nick, what is the spice in with the rabbit?
0:12:30 > 0:12:34I use the light paste of sweet red pepper,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38white pepper, black pepper and a little bit of cumin.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43- What next then? - We will brown it from one side because it's very small.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45If we use both sides it's going to tear.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49We are going to use some clarified butter and a little bit of olive oil.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53We used half and half because olive oil is extra-virgin
0:12:53 > 0:12:56and it'll give more flavour than we actually need.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Just place it here.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04This stove is searingly hot, but it's perfect for browning
0:13:04 > 0:13:06and giving the intensity of colour to the rabbit.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10It literally takes a few seconds to give them the right colour.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19The next step - we used more oil than we needed,
0:13:19 > 0:13:24that is because we will add in the same pan, the onions.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33We will let them sit there,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37let them brown, burn on one side
0:13:37 > 0:13:43and we add some sugar in order for the onions to caramelise.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46That is home-style vinegar
0:13:46 > 0:13:48from good red wine.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51A little bit of dry white wine.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58For the glaze, we're going to use...
0:13:58 > 0:14:01all the juices from this pan.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04All right.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08What's next is adding the garlic,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10some cumin, some nutmeg,
0:14:10 > 0:14:16a couple of bay leaves, crushed peppercorns and dried rosemary.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Then we add some tomato product, that's only for colour.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Some sea salt...
0:14:23 > 0:14:24..and some black pepper.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30- And cook for how long? - Oh, an hour, an hour and a half.
0:14:30 > 0:14:36It depends on how intense the fire is. But around an hour and a half.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41It must be a real change from busy New York life, back to old Corfu?
0:14:41 > 0:14:44How does it feel, what's it like living here?
0:14:44 > 0:14:49Well, Corfu, my roots, my parents are from here.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54I grew up here for some years, I went to school and then it was a big change coming back.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56But it's my life.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Next...what happens next is here.
0:14:59 > 0:15:05I can't predict what's going to happen later than that, but right now I'm here, Corfu is my life here.
0:15:05 > 0:15:11What happens next for me is that I get to try this incredibly rich stifado.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15I had some in a restaurant last night and it wasn't the same dish,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18this is intense and sweetly caramelised.
0:15:20 > 0:15:26I'm a bit of a connoisseur of rabbit and this is probably the best rabbit dish I've ever tasted.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31It's tender, young rabbit and the stifado is excellent, a real depth of flavour.
0:15:31 > 0:15:37There is just a bit of cumin and chilli in there giving an Eastern flavour to it.
0:15:37 > 0:15:42I'm just thinking, this restaurant would never have a Michelin star,
0:15:42 > 0:15:47but in terms of enjoyment and fun it beats Michelin places hands down,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50because everything comes from the market.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Cooking shouldn't be too difficult.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55You just cook what's there, as Nick was saying earlier,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58and you just cook it simply and rely on the raw materials,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02the ingredients, to say it all, and this place does it in spades.
0:16:02 > 0:16:08It's the sort of place... with chick pea soup on the menu, it must be Wednesday.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10It's that sort of a place.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18The thing I particularly like about Corfu - I love all Greek islands -
0:16:18 > 0:16:22but this one is quite sophisticated and I think that's largely
0:16:22 > 0:16:26to do with all the different nations that have lived here.
0:16:26 > 0:16:32Particularly the Normans in early times, and the Venetians that were here for about 500 years.
0:16:32 > 0:16:37And that's no more apparent than in the food, in dishes like pastitsio,
0:16:37 > 0:16:42a lovely mix of sort of Italian and Greek, pasta in it of course.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46But also, the British were here, the French,
0:16:46 > 0:16:51look at this boulevard, modelled on a Parisian boulevard, the Liston.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56And the British...yeah, the British brought ginger beer and cricket.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01I've actually seen them play cricket on that green over there. A little bit rough, but jolly good fun.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06And latterly of course, we brought things like fish and chips,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08roast beef with real gravy
0:17:08 > 0:17:12and to quote Monty Python, "Watney's Red Barrel."
0:17:14 > 0:17:19But I mentioned earlier a dish called pastitsio, and it's a great favourite of mine.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22To start with, you need to make a meat sauce.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24It's similar to Bolognese sauce actually.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27This is garlic, onion and finely chopped celery
0:17:27 > 0:17:29softened in olive oil
0:17:29 > 0:17:34and then some minced beef which has to brown a bit
0:17:34 > 0:17:39before you add a glass of red wine and a tin of chopped tomatoes.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43And then a couple of dessert spoonfuls of tomato puree,
0:17:43 > 0:17:48or as Nick would say, "Tomayto product"!
0:17:48 > 0:17:52I really like this pastitsio, it's got the unique flavours
0:17:52 > 0:17:55for a typical pasta and mince dish
0:17:55 > 0:17:58of cinnamon Kefalotiri cheese.
0:17:58 > 0:18:03I just think Greek cooking is sort of very underrated.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07This is lovely, hearty food, it's like a Greek version
0:18:07 > 0:18:10of a shepherd's pie, or actually a cottage pie,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12because it's beef, not lamb.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15But it's just those little subtle flavours
0:18:15 > 0:18:20and I think we do the Greeks a big disservice going on holiday there
0:18:20 > 0:18:22and just having tepid vegetable dishes,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25because this is pretty stylish stuff.
0:18:25 > 0:18:31Stylish enough to add a cinnamon stick and a little bit of ground cloves.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34I forgot to mention oregano in addition to the cinnamon.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Very characteristic flavouring in lots of Greek cooking.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43Sometimes they sprinkle it on Greek salad and often you get it on souvlakis as well.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48And when you're walking through the Greek countryside, maybe on an island somewhere, you can smell it.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52I just thought I'd conjure up an image of the smell of oregano,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55maybe some bells tinkling on the goats walking by.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59That curiously eerie sound you get at dusk.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03I've been a bit nerdy and went on the internet and found out it's called a scops owl.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06It's a little tiny owl which nobody can ever see!
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Needless to say the crew thought it was a car alarm going off!
0:19:10 > 0:19:16Anyway, while the pasta's cooking - and this is penne - make up a standard white sauce
0:19:16 > 0:19:18with butter, flour and milk.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22It's not difficult providing you stir until the flour's cooked out.
0:19:24 > 0:19:31Tips on white sauce making - some people feel you should put hot milk into a cool sauce.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34I feel you should put cool milk into a hot sauce.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38Whichever way you do it, you need to add it in about three phases,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41otherwise there's a danger of it splitting.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Once it's there, and with a consistency like fairly thick cream,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51grate some fresh nutmeg into it and then season it too.
0:19:52 > 0:19:58Now take the cooked pasta and mix it into a third of your white sauce,
0:19:58 > 0:20:03making sure you get most of it in the bowl and not on the kitchen floor, just enough to coat it.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Then in with the grated cheese.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08That lovely Kefalotiri cheese
0:20:08 > 0:20:13which will have such a distinctive flavour in the finished dish.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Mix well and pop in a couple of beaten eggs for extra richness.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Now layer it in a buttered baking dish.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27It's really like making a lasagne as you alternate the pasta with the meat sauce.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34Finish with pasta on the top and pour over the rest of the white sauce.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37What I like about this dish, you can serve it up for ten people or so
0:20:37 > 0:20:41who want to seriously chat over a meal, including you,
0:20:41 > 0:20:46so that you don't have to keep getting up and down cos it's all done beforehand.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50You can all help yourself and maybe just a salad to go with it and some red wine.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Lastly, sprinkle with that salty, tangy kefalotiri, which incidentally
0:20:56 > 0:21:01is a hard sheep's-milk cheese, and bake in a hot oven for 40 minutes
0:21:01 > 0:21:04until it gets a lovely golden top.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09Pastitsio is the Greek version of the Italian pasticcio,
0:21:09 > 0:21:14which means a hotchpotch, grabbing a bit here and a bit there.
0:21:14 > 0:21:19And you can see it is like a lasagne, layers of pasta, meat sauce
0:21:19 > 0:21:23and bechamel, but it's something the Greeks have made all their own.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29BIRDS SING
0:21:31 > 0:21:35I'll always associate the sound of swifts with old Corfu Town.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39It's a constant, hurried twitter and, like me, their main interest
0:21:39 > 0:21:43is in eating - hoovering up as many gnats as they can!
0:21:45 > 0:21:47I really like Corfu Town
0:21:47 > 0:21:51and I remember coming here 30 years ago when money was a bit tight,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55absolutely starving and ending up having a kebab,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59one of the most delicious things you could eat on a budget.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Could I have a kebab, please?
0:22:01 > 0:22:05That's not kebab, that's pitta with giros. Pitta...
0:22:05 > 0:22:09- ..is that, the bread.- Yeah. - And giros is the meat.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12We call it pitta giros because it's not from lamb.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Lamb they call it in Turkey because the Turkish,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19they eat lamb because it's not smelling like the pork.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24So we have pitta giros from pork and chicken.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28And we put tsatsiki, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and chips.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31- Pork?- Pork. You like one?
0:22:31 > 0:22:33- Absolutely!- All right.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37I'm told this is the best place in Corfu
0:22:37 > 0:22:40- for giros. - Giros, yes, pitta with giros.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Not kebab, never say that.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Do you ever do kebabs?
0:22:44 > 0:22:46- No.- OK.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49Fair enough. What's in that?
0:22:49 > 0:22:51- That's the spices.- OK.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53- Pepper and curry.- Right.
0:22:53 > 0:22:59- And in the sauce?- Our spicy sauce from tomato and many, many spices. - All right, OK.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01- Thank you very much. - Bon appetit!- Cheers.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05'In filming-land, someone else picks up the tab!
0:23:05 > 0:23:11'I think it's a really good idea here not to mention anything that might well be Turkish in origin.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16'I remember once asking for a Turkish coffee here - big mistake!'
0:23:16 > 0:23:21That's very good. Not quite as I recall them last time I was here,
0:23:21 > 0:23:25about 30 years ago. It's got everything in it, including chips!
0:23:29 > 0:23:32I know they're not the best of friends, the Turks and the Greeks,
0:23:32 > 0:23:38and when you start to look at the history here and the invasions and subsequent sieges
0:23:38 > 0:23:44by the Ottoman Empire, you start to realise that history does leave an indelible stain behind.
0:23:44 > 0:23:51Although the Turks had tried several times to capture Corfu Town and completely ravished the countryside,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55they were never able to capture this place, so near and yet so far.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00So, as a general rule, it's not a good idea to ask for a Turkish coffee!
0:24:02 > 0:24:07The next morning, as per, I found myself drawn to the market.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09This was in a state of transition.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12I'm told they're building a new one, but even so, as a cook
0:24:12 > 0:24:15it's always good to see what's fresh and seasonal.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17I love fresh peas!
0:24:17 > 0:24:22'I came upon this stall, run by Effie Mihala, selling wild greens she collects herself.'
0:24:22 > 0:24:25So just run through a few of these herbs for me, then.
0:24:25 > 0:24:26There's two different types.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31On this particular lot, they're for boiling, like for boiling salad.
0:24:31 > 0:24:37From this lot here, you can make vegetable pie or tsigareli,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41which is a special cooking that Greeks do with oil and salsa and sauce.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43So, that's why I've got them separate.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47When I was a child I used to go and pick these. I loved it, you know.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51My grandparents showed me, but my children, they're not interested.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53They're doing other things.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55- So they won't know.- It's a shame.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58- But they do eat them when I cook them.- They like them?
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Yes, they like them, but they wouldn't know how to pick them.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06'So, well you know what happened the next morning - she gave away her grandma's secrets.'
0:25:06 > 0:25:12- What's that?- Tsakoulia. It's one of the main wild vegetables.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16- It's the top one.- I'm sorry I'll have to keep calling these weeds,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20cos that's what people will think, but why do you like these wild greens so much?
0:25:20 > 0:25:22It's a pity to say this is a weed!
0:25:22 > 0:25:24It is so good for you.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26This is so healthy.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30Why is it a weed? A weed is something bad. This is good.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32I'm just trying to wind you up.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36That's OK. You won't wind me up with this because I've grown up with this.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39You lived a long time in Melbourne, didn't you?
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Yes, definitely. And I really missed the vegetables in Melbourne.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45- You did?- You couldn't find this.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49I mean, a lot of people, they deal with herbs,
0:25:49 > 0:25:54and there are also very good herbs, but these are also very good because you can actually eat them.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58Herbs you only drink them or you put them in cooking
0:25:58 > 0:26:01to smell nice, but these you actually fill up your stomach with.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06So that's why they're better. This particular one is a fantastic vegetable,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08the king of the white vegetables.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12You can make a raw salad with it and it's perfect in raw salad.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17It's better than lettuce. Or, you can mix it up with lettuce and rocket and all these things.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Perfect salad. You should try that.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23If I was to start eating all these regularly, would I be changed?
0:26:23 > 0:26:25- Definitely!- Yeah?- Definitely.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29First of all, your colour would change. Yes, you'd look healthier.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31- Look healthy.- More energetic.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35- They are so good for you.- Wow!
0:26:38 > 0:26:45Well, back at her farm, Effie and her mum gave the greens a bit of a wash, preparing them for boiling.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47She said they only need to cook until they soften
0:26:47 > 0:26:52because she believes any more than that reduces the healthy properties of the greens.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59OK, now we're making a fresh salad with this particular vegetable
0:26:59 > 0:27:01which is perfect for salad also.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05You can also cook it but it's better raw.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10I really like this, bumping into Effie in the market the other day,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14cos this sort of salad you'd never find in a restaurant round here.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18It's just what the locals eat and I'm really looking forward to trying it.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Yes, in a restaurant you won't find it because they won't bother.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Who's going to bother to pick wild vegetables and clean them up and do this?
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Easier to just buy lettuce. But they don't know what they're missing.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Same with chefs all over the world, I have to say.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Put a little bit of salt.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40A little bit of vinegar now.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Like you do with the lettuce, we add the oil to it now.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46So we'll put a bit of salt, vinegar and oil.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Now the salad is ready to eat.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51The vegetables are cooked now.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Yes, steaming hot.
0:27:54 > 0:27:55Put them on a plate.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00'If you like spinach just wilted, you're going to love this.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03'It's been cooked very quickly in a small amount of water.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08'She very often puts greens into pies which I'm told is a very Corfiot thing to do.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13'But this is on its own with good local olive oil and lemon juice
0:28:13 > 0:28:15'to give those bitter greens an extra zing.'
0:28:20 > 0:28:24- It's your vegetables cooked nice and fresh.- They look very fresh.- Yes.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29'In a funny sort of way, I can understand why her children don't like this.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31'It's seriously grown-up food.'
0:28:34 > 0:28:36- Lovely!- You like it?- Oh...
0:28:36 > 0:28:37- I'm sure you would.- I love it.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40It's just occurred to me out of everything I've eaten,
0:28:40 > 0:28:44the greens, the lemon, the oil, the wine, the vinegar...
0:28:44 > 0:28:49The only thing that Effie's paid money for over the counter is the salt.
0:28:49 > 0:28:55'Actually, that lunch with Effie and her family gave me an idea to cook a wild green omelette.'
0:28:56 > 0:28:58The base of it is thinly sliced leeks
0:28:58 > 0:29:02which I fry until they're soft and then this lot...
0:29:02 > 0:29:03a range of green leaf vegetables,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06mostly salads, which I managed to get back in Padstow.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11I think turnip greens or cavalo nero would be good in this too.
0:29:11 > 0:29:17This is something I've never tried before but that's what these trips are all about and I know it'll work.
0:29:17 > 0:29:23Lots of fresh greens, free-range eggs and good Greek cheese.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28I went for a walk last weekend, sadly without the dog,
0:29:28 > 0:29:31and I went past some rough hedgerows
0:29:31 > 0:29:37and I could see all the same sort of vegetables and wild greens
0:29:37 > 0:29:40that Effie had shown me over in Corfu.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43But I was thinking, "I just don't know what to pick.
0:29:43 > 0:29:48"There's probably not ten people in this country that would be able to show me what to pick."
0:29:48 > 0:29:52Which is a pity because it makes going for a walk so much more fun.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57But I have bought in what I really think would make this wild horta omelette work,
0:29:57 > 0:30:00that you can buy in supermarkets or greengrocers.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05I did actually gather some dandelions and some wild garlic.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10I know about those. But I've got some rocket, sorrel, spinach,
0:30:10 > 0:30:14watercress... I think that's about it.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18This is going to make a substantial omelette, so don't be stingy with the eggs.
0:30:18 > 0:30:23I'm using about eight here, so that would be OK for about six people.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29I've always liked the idea of a Spanish omelette, a thick omelette
0:30:29 > 0:30:32that's actually generally baked in the oven,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35and I love horta, the Greek wild greens,
0:30:35 > 0:30:39so I've put the two together and added some kefalotiri cheese
0:30:39 > 0:30:42and feta and some dill and mint, to give it a Greek flavour.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45I think it works really well.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Chop the dill and mint together, but keep it quite coarse.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50Don't do it like mint sauce.
0:30:51 > 0:30:57Put them in with the rest of the ingredients and then season the whole thing as much as you like.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03Turn it into one of those non-stick and quite deep baking dishes -
0:31:03 > 0:31:07because, of course, the eggs will rise in the oven.
0:31:07 > 0:31:12Then bake it until the eggs set, say about 45 minutes in a medium oven.
0:31:12 > 0:31:17These types of omelettes were primarily designed to be taken out to the fields,
0:31:17 > 0:31:22where people would be at work, so it's food that holds together and it's best eaten when it's cold.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26I like it with tomato and onion and a chilled glass of white wine.
0:31:28 > 0:31:33So, this is perfect for people planting rows of garlic and artichokes
0:31:33 > 0:31:36AND for ladies who lunch.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45I'm going inland to the hilly interior of Corfu, to the village of Perithia.
0:31:45 > 0:31:52Once upon a time, in the 14th century, the village was here, around this lake near the coast.
0:31:52 > 0:31:58But piracy, mosquitos and malaria forced them to find a new place to live.
0:31:58 > 0:32:04So they moved up into a healthier climate, high in the hills, and they lived here for centuries.
0:32:04 > 0:32:09Then another invasion came to Corfu, and this time it was tourism.
0:32:09 > 0:32:14The British, Germans, French and Italians came in droves to the coast.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18And so the villagers moved to open up bars and restaurants
0:32:18 > 0:32:22and all the other trappings essential to the holiday business.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26And they left Perithia one by one, never to return.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29Now, it's got an eerie, ghostly quality.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32You can practically smell the pies in the baker's shop.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36It would have done great business in its heyday
0:32:36 > 0:32:40when the village was full of life and 1,500 people lived here.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44It is a modern Mediterranean Greek tragedy,
0:32:44 > 0:32:51one of pirates, malaria, tourism - something which is repeated time and time again on my journey.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56Funnily enough, it's food coupled with tourism
0:32:56 > 0:32:59which is bringing the village back to life.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05Tomas and Vasa Siriotis decided to cook authentic food here.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12And word amongst, well, mainly German tourists has spread.
0:33:12 > 0:33:18And now people are coming back here to taste traditional Corfiot food, like this briam.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24This is a Corfiot ratatouille, really, and it's made with potatoes,
0:33:24 > 0:33:28courgettes, aubergines and green peppers
0:33:28 > 0:33:32and a good, strong, purpley onion, tomatoes and fennel.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35I've watched lots of Greek cooks
0:33:35 > 0:33:41and they all seem to cut vegetables this way. I wouldn't want to do this with my knives back home.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44I came here a few months ago and tried this dish
0:33:44 > 0:33:48and wasn't really expecting much, but I was genuinely taken by the intensity of flavour.
0:33:48 > 0:33:54It was better than ratatouille, and I had to watch Vasa make it.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Since then, I've cooked it with great success at home.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00In a nutshell, it's baked summer vegetables,
0:34:00 > 0:34:06and you don't have to do all that pre-frying malarkey that is so labour-intensive in a ratatouille.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09Everything is assembled in a roasting tin.
0:34:09 > 0:34:14Vasa pours on some oil - sunflower oil in this case, but it didn't seem to affect the flavour -
0:34:14 > 0:34:19and then she loosens up some tomato puree and pours that over.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22And then a bit of water and it's ready for the oven.
0:34:22 > 0:34:28About an hour on a medium setting, but if you can slow-cook it, I think it becomes even more intense.
0:34:28 > 0:34:33Well, that's the finished thing and one thing I've discovered
0:34:33 > 0:34:36on this Mediterranean trip is that, yes,
0:34:36 > 0:34:40I could nearly - NEARLY - be a vegetarian!
0:34:40 > 0:34:43This looks absolutely lovely, Tomas.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45Watching Vasa make that dish, I just think,
0:34:45 > 0:34:51"I could do that, cos she's just chopping a few things in here, putting a bit of oil, some dill..."
0:34:51 > 0:34:58And when you taste it, you think, "How could that be, how could it be such a wonderfully intense flavour?"
0:34:58 > 0:35:02You know if you have a recipe about the briam,
0:35:02 > 0:35:08and you have so many grams courgettes, so many grams potatoes,
0:35:08 > 0:35:10and you make it and I make it,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12it will be never the same.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15It depends on your hands,
0:35:15 > 0:35:19- how you do it.- I agree, I agree.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22Tomas, with food this good, you're bringing people here,
0:35:22 > 0:35:27I think you've almost saved this village, because people are coming now because of the food
0:35:27 > 0:35:30and actually thinking about maybe buying somewhere here.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35Yes, we have the customers, they're coming up here because of the food.
0:35:35 > 0:35:41A lot of them live in Corfu and they come two years ago, one year ago,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43and they think like that.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47They like to buy something here, to live here.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49But, you know, these people,
0:35:49 > 0:35:54they love it so it is now. If the village change,
0:35:54 > 0:35:58it will look more new or, I don't know...
0:35:58 > 0:36:02they won't like it any more.
0:36:02 > 0:36:07I don't know what's going to happen in 10 years or 20 years, but if anything happens like that,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10I will take all my chairs and tables and go away.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14I will not stay here when the village is different.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16I love this place.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22I am in love with this.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24I love to come here and stay here.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34This part of Corfu, the south-east coast, is one of those places
0:36:34 > 0:36:38which form the very crux of the Mediterranean dream.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43Those little piers set on that silky, calm sea,
0:36:43 > 0:36:47a land of small tavernas serving fresh fish from the grill.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54It's all a bit quiet now and the busy time starts in a few weeks.
0:36:54 > 0:37:00As far as I'm concerned, late spring/early summer is the most magical time in Corfu.
0:37:01 > 0:37:07But I remember coming here and finding Spiros - they're all called Spiros in these parts -
0:37:07 > 0:37:10a restaurant owner like myself, working away on the beach,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13preparing some anchovies just for himself.
0:37:18 > 0:37:22I came here last year and I watched Spiros doing these anchovies,
0:37:22 > 0:37:27filleting them and curing them with a bit of salt and some lemon juice, and I just thought
0:37:27 > 0:37:31they were dead fresh and he served them up with some oregano.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34I have to confess, I actually borrowed the idea,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37cos I had this rather prestigious banquet to cook
0:37:37 > 0:37:40at the Japanese Embassy a few months ago.
0:37:40 > 0:37:46I was racking my brains to think what would go down well with the Japanese, who love raw fish.
0:37:46 > 0:37:52I just remembered Spiros's dish, and I did it with some Cornish sardines, and it was lovely.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56More importantly, the Japanese guests really liked it.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01Funnily enough - and I like this, because this is how recipes evolve -
0:38:01 > 0:38:06one day, an Italian pilot was having lunch here and told Spiros
0:38:06 > 0:38:10about the way the Japanese cure fish with lemon juice and salt.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14Well, Spiros tried it, and from then on it's always on the menu,
0:38:14 > 0:38:18except HE adds wild oregano and olive oil.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24So, from very small fish to one of the largest that swims around here,
0:38:24 > 0:38:30the grouper, and this is one of the most famous dishes on the island, cooked by Spiros's wife, Maria.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32It's called bianco.
0:38:32 > 0:38:38Maybe that's left over from when the Venetians lived here, because it just means "white" in Italian.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42And the dish IS white - whitened with the flesh of the fish,
0:38:42 > 0:38:46garlic and potatoes, as Mrs Karidis told me in no uncertain terms.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49SHE SPEAKS GREEK
0:38:53 > 0:38:56Well, I didn't understand all of that, but basically
0:38:56 > 0:39:00what I'm getting from here is so typical of so much Greek cooking.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02There's not a lot to it.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04But I've tasted this bianco before
0:39:04 > 0:39:08and I can tell you it is utterly wonderful,
0:39:08 > 0:39:10and all she's saying is, I think,
0:39:10 > 0:39:15is it's got olive oil, garlic, the fish, of course, the grouper,
0:39:15 > 0:39:20some water, some nero, yeah?
0:39:20 > 0:39:22- Patates.- Potatoes.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25SHE SPEAKS GREEK
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Salt and pepper and lemon.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29- That's it.- OK.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33When you taste it, you think, "There must be more to this! It's so good!"
0:39:33 > 0:39:36- Is good.- Yeah, very good.
0:39:37 > 0:39:43I may have said there's not a lot of ingredients in there, but there's a lot of what IS in there -
0:39:43 > 0:39:49loads of garlic, I couldn't believe the amount of black pepper that's gone in there. But that's what makes
0:39:49 > 0:39:55Greek cooking so vivid, there's much seasoning in it, and it just makes it different.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59We just wouldn't dream of putting in that much pepper back home,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02but you need to if you want that flavour.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05And the all-important potatoes, but not too many.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09I thought of putting this on the menu in my restaurant cos I really liked it,
0:40:09 > 0:40:14but the only way the customers in Britain would like it would be chunks of fish off the bone
0:40:14 > 0:40:19cooked in this garlicky, lemon and peppery sauce, and I thought, "Nah, I'm not doing that",
0:40:19 > 0:40:24because you need the bones of the fish to give the liquid its gelatinous quality.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26Without that, it wouldn't be the same.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30And someone would be bound to sue me for getting a bone in their throat, anyway.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36Thank you very much. That looks lovely.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38His mother cooked this, you know.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42Looking and smelling delicious.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50This is really lovely, so pungent with olive oil and so much garlic,
0:40:50 > 0:40:55and with the thickening from the potatoes, it reminds me a bit of a bareed.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00I wouldn't mind guessing it's a fisherman's dish in origin,
0:41:00 > 0:41:04and I'm thinking that because of the simplicity of it and the few ingredients,
0:41:04 > 0:41:08all ingredients that local fishermen could get hold of easily,
0:41:08 > 0:41:13like potatoes, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16and water, possibly even sea water.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18I love that about this dish.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20I think you can see...
0:41:20 > 0:41:26trace the history of a dish very simply in this bianco.
0:41:31 > 0:41:36It's early in the season in Sidari and they're gearing up for the onslaught to come.
0:41:36 > 0:41:42I may be wrong, but I don't think there'll be queues of holidaymakers asking for plates of bianco here.
0:41:44 > 0:41:49We just passed a McDonald's, and I see we've got John Smith's Extra Smooth on draught there,
0:41:49 > 0:41:51and some Caffrey's and some Guinness.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55There's an English pub just here, where presumably
0:41:55 > 0:41:58you can watch English football matches on widescreen telly.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02It's quite nice, cos they're all getting ready for the season.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04There's quite a lot of anticipation here.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08Also quite nice that Sidari and Kavos Beach are relatively small
0:42:08 > 0:42:13enclaves of mass tourism in an otherwise beautiful island.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17But I have to say, with extreme snobbery, why on earth
0:42:17 > 0:42:24would you come somewhere like Greece to drink English beer and watch English football on television?
0:42:24 > 0:42:26What's wrong with Greek food?
0:42:26 > 0:42:32If you want all that sort of stuff, there's plenty of places in England to indulge yourself.
0:42:32 > 0:42:39I'm at Leftkimi because, a few months ago, I had a really good meal here of artichokes and peas.
0:42:39 > 0:42:44Leftkimi is the sort of place that doesn't get too much attention from holidaymakers.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49It's the place you'd come to after being sunburnt on the beach and you really want to try
0:42:49 > 0:42:54just a smidgen of authentic Greek hospitality before you go home.
0:42:54 > 0:42:59But I've come to meet the Pandis family at their little restaurant.
0:42:59 > 0:43:04Loula makes fine use of her home-grown vegetables and she wouldn't stop talking about them.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08Unfortunately, I couldn't understand a word!
0:43:08 > 0:43:11SHE SPEAKS GREEK
0:43:13 > 0:43:15Let's have a look. I've just had...
0:43:15 > 0:43:17Aaargh! It's very prickly!
0:43:17 > 0:43:20I've just had translated what Loula was saying and, basically,
0:43:20 > 0:43:23they're thistles, artichokes, cultivated thistles.
0:43:23 > 0:43:28But these are almost wild and she says they have a much better flavour.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31She uses them in all kinds of dishes - stews, casseroles.
0:43:31 > 0:43:37She actually mentioned a dish of cuttlefish and artichokes, which I'm very interested in.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44In the Mediterranean, old cars never die. They become greenhouses!
0:43:44 > 0:43:49Again, it's part of the frugal tradition of "waste not, want not".
0:43:50 > 0:43:53Loula's getting some early broad beans for the dish
0:43:53 > 0:43:56and, at this size, you don't need to pod them.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58You eat the whole lot.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01Funny, the things that slip into your mind.
0:44:01 > 0:44:06I was just thinking of a line in a Kingsley Amis novel called The Green Man.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10It says, "A man could starve in a room full of artichokes."
0:44:10 > 0:44:12SHE SPEAKS GREEK
0:44:12 > 0:44:14There, yeah.
0:44:15 > 0:44:16OK.
0:44:16 > 0:44:22Obviously, I don't speak Greek, but I was thinking as she was telling me how to prepare the artichoke
0:44:22 > 0:44:26that the language of cooking is sort of universal, really.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30I mean, I couldn't be doing anything more enjoyable
0:44:30 > 0:44:33than sitting with Loula preparing the artichokes,
0:44:33 > 0:44:36because I suddenly feel perfectly at home.
0:44:36 > 0:44:43I was just thinking, one of the most enjoyable things about this whole tour of the Mediterranean
0:44:43 > 0:44:48is actually watching fairly ordinary local cooks go about their business of cooking.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53You know, I'm just so used to cooking in a sort of busy restaurant kitchen.
0:44:53 > 0:45:00Actually, you learn so much from just talking and watching local ladies like Loula doing the job.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04While we were busy doing the artichokes, I couldn't help noticing
0:45:04 > 0:45:07the ladies busy tilling the soil next door
0:45:07 > 0:45:11when they looked as if they should be taking life a little easier!
0:45:11 > 0:45:17I thought this would be a good time for me to ask what was their secret for a long life.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20THEY SPEAK GREEK
0:45:20 > 0:45:25'They said we're only 36 - no, I'm joking! They're in their late 70s.
0:45:25 > 0:45:30'And they just said if you want to eat, you get to work.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33'It's as simple as that. It's the work that keeps you going.'
0:45:46 > 0:45:52Like lots of Greek cooks, Loula assembles all the ingredients in the pan before putting it on the heat.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58With the artichokes, she's also got some leeks from her garden.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01I suspect it's a dish where she uses everything she has that's in season.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03Then she adds fronds of dill.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07Oregano and dill - they're the herbs of Greece to me.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Then flat-leaf parsley
0:46:12 > 0:46:15and those baby broad beans, just topped and tailed.
0:46:18 > 0:46:23She chops up mint - the local Greek stuff is quite spiky -
0:46:23 > 0:46:27and then olive oil. And that's it.
0:46:27 > 0:46:33I don't mean to be looking for vegetarian cooking because it's not actually vegetarian cooking -
0:46:33 > 0:46:37it's dishes that don't happen to contain any meat or fish.
0:46:37 > 0:46:42But I do think one of the very distinctive things about the cooking of the Mediterranean
0:46:42 > 0:46:45is a whole load of vegetable dishes.
0:46:45 > 0:46:50It's a bit early for Loula's peas, so she's using frozen ones and nothing wrong with that.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54I think the frozen pea is a great culinary success story.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58When I told my friend I was coming to the Med, all he could talk about
0:46:58 > 0:47:04was grilled crayfish, boiled lobsters with mayonnaise and sea bass, barbecued with fennel.
0:47:04 > 0:47:09I'm sure you find that in Club Med, but in the villages of Puglia, Corsica and Sicily,
0:47:09 > 0:47:15the locals strangely have a more prosaic diet, which I relayed to him by mobile phone.
0:47:15 > 0:47:22I suppose if you went to all the expensive places, it would be wall to wall lobsters and red mullet.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Loula's thickening the dish
0:47:26 > 0:47:31with a mixture of lemon juice and corn flour, and that's all there is to it.
0:47:31 > 0:47:36The artichokes have become al dente and the lemon juice gives it a bit of sharpness.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42Loula's son, Yanni, works as a barman in the nearby holiday resort of Kavos,
0:47:42 > 0:47:48and he joined us for lunch, mainly because he's the only one who can understand what I'm saying!
0:47:48 > 0:47:52So is this a typical dish that you'd eat at home, I guess?
0:47:52 > 0:47:57- Yeah, it's original Greek...- It is? - Yes.- Would you serve dishes like this in the restaurant?
0:47:57 > 0:48:02This is the only dishes we serve in the restaurant, traditional Greek kitchen, yeah.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04And it's nice to have them fresh from the garden.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08It's lovely! Do you get tourists to the restaurant?
0:48:08 > 0:48:11Not many, a few, a few. But...
0:48:11 > 0:48:12Why not many?
0:48:12 > 0:48:18They don't like...er...this kind of food. They're used to the fast food,
0:48:18 > 0:48:21sandwiches and things like this.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23They don't like it?
0:48:23 > 0:48:27- They're mad! - They did know what is it.- Really?!
0:48:27 > 0:48:33Yeah! They look in the catalogue, in the list, and they order pizza, it's crazy.
0:48:33 > 0:48:37Do you not think that if you put that in front of a British tourist
0:48:37 > 0:48:41and said, "Eat it", would they not be delighted?
0:48:41 > 0:48:43I don't think so.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45From my experience, no, I don't think so.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47It makes me very sad.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49Me too.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52Would you tell your mother this is absolutely delicious,
0:48:52 > 0:48:57and it's these simple vegetable dishes I'm finding in Greece that give me the most pleasure,
0:48:57 > 0:49:01and I'd like to, erm... Cheers.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04- Yamas.- Yamas.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06Yamas.
0:49:16 > 0:49:21We're here at Agios Spiridon and I'm rather enjoying it, because it's
0:49:21 > 0:49:26where Gerald Durrell and his family, and maybe one or two other animals, came for picnics when he was young.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30One of the things - I've actually been here before - that I find strange
0:49:30 > 0:49:34is looking across at Albania over there, it looks sort of naked,
0:49:34 > 0:49:39and the reason is that there's no olive groves over there,
0:49:39 > 0:49:45and the reason for that is that Corfu was governed by the Venetians for nearly 500 years,
0:49:45 > 0:49:48and the price for being governed, if you like,
0:49:48 > 0:49:50was to supply oil to Venice -
0:49:50 > 0:49:53not for eating but for lighting the city.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57On the other hand, Albania, governed by the Turks,
0:49:57 > 0:50:00not interested in olives - no olive trees,
0:50:00 > 0:50:03except what's grown for the local families.
0:50:03 > 0:50:08There's something else I find different, and that is that there's not one hotel over there.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12But I imagine in the next 10 or 20 years, all that will change
0:50:12 > 0:50:16and we'll all be looking to buy apartments in Albania!
0:50:16 > 0:50:18BLEEPING
0:50:18 > 0:50:21Ah! This is interesting!
0:50:21 > 0:50:26"Welcome to AMC, call the free customer careline for further information and support...
0:50:26 > 0:50:29"We wish you a pleasant stay in Albania."
0:50:29 > 0:50:31See what I mean?
0:50:45 > 0:50:48So that was the end of my trip to Corfu.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50But in a way, it reminded me very much of Mallorca,
0:50:50 > 0:50:55in the sense that both islands have been known to the tourism industry
0:50:55 > 0:50:57for the best part of 50 years or more,
0:50:57 > 0:51:02and yet both, away from the obvious holiday hotspots, have great beauty,
0:51:02 > 0:51:06wonderful food and a soul crying out to be discovered.
0:51:09 > 0:51:15I came here not by ferry or sailing boat but by plane after a short visit home,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18and the Land Rover came the long way round with all the gear.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24I first came to Palma when I was 18, I think I must have been pretty industrious even then
0:51:24 > 0:51:26because I had two jobs.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28The first one was working in a nightclub.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32I think it had an Egyptian theme because I had to wear a fez.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34The other job was in Cala Major.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38I was cooking fried eggs and patatas fritas, I remember,
0:51:38 > 0:51:43and doing the washing in quite the dirtiest dish water I'd ever seen.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46But the purpose of all this was to buy a leather jacket,
0:51:46 > 0:51:50because Palma was famous for its leather - it still is.
0:51:50 > 0:51:55And I eventually did buy this jacket, it was blue.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59But I just remember that that blue leather jacket
0:51:59 > 0:52:03was probably the most precious thing I've ever owned.
0:52:05 > 0:52:10The beautiful cathedral of Palma dominates, as it was intended to,
0:52:10 > 0:52:12the smaller ornate Emir's Palace.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15The Arabs ruled here in peace for several hundred years.
0:52:15 > 0:52:21Christians, Jews, Arabs, they all lived peacefully and Palma was prosperous.
0:52:24 > 0:52:30Then along came the crusaders, under James I of Spain, and it was all a different story.
0:52:32 > 0:52:38I remember going around the Emir's Palace here and the guide saying, in 1229 the Moors,
0:52:38 > 0:52:43who'd been here for 400 years, left and the Christians took over.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46And I remember thinking, "That's not what happened!"
0:52:46 > 0:52:51And I went up to him and I said at the end of the tour, "It wasn't like that!
0:52:51 > 0:52:55"I've been told that the streets were running with blood
0:52:55 > 0:53:00"for four days, that every Moor man, woman, child and their dogs
0:53:00 > 0:53:03"were slaughtered in a massive massacre."
0:53:03 > 0:53:09And he said, "Yeah, it's true, but we don't like to tell the tourists that."
0:53:11 > 0:53:13I've been coming to Palma since I was a boy
0:53:13 > 0:53:17and I've always been enchanted by the tall buildings and narrow streets.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20You really feel you're in medieval Spain
0:53:20 > 0:53:23and its influence is primarily Catalan,
0:53:23 > 0:53:27and that can be seen with this Gaudi-style architecture,
0:53:27 > 0:53:29so prominent in Barcelona.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33Centuries ago, the Catalans ruled all the islands
0:53:33 > 0:53:36in this part of the Med, including Sardinia and Sicily.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40But its 12 o'clock and time for lunch - well, for me!
0:53:40 > 0:53:42The Spanish tend to eat later.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45They don't start to have dinner until 10:30 at night!
0:53:45 > 0:53:50I just couldn't do that, and that's why tapas is such a great thing to have.
0:53:50 > 0:53:56I'm told that tapas was originally named after the pieces of bread that sherry drinkers in Andalucia
0:53:56 > 0:54:00used to cover their glasses with, to prevent fruit flies falling in.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04'But then, it grew into snacks - lots and lots of little snacks.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08'This is why tapas is so popular - lots of little courses.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10'It's how people like to eat these days - '
0:54:10 > 0:54:15sort of grazing, I suppose. You have a few in one bar then move on to another.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Here we have some prawns, sizzling hot,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21with some local chilli peppers to add spice.
0:54:21 > 0:54:26This is perfection, this is Iberico ham, it's hand-carved.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28Padron peppers from Galicia.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33Every now and then you have a really hot one, which makes you jump a bit.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36Here we have dates just wrapped in bacon and grilled.
0:54:36 > 0:54:42Perhaps the most famous dish in Mallorca here, pan boli, that's bread with tomatoes.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45Tomatoes, sort of, grated over them and some local olives,
0:54:45 > 0:54:49very bitter little olives, those, but I love them.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52Here we've got a stew of tuna -
0:54:52 > 0:54:55it's actually bonito, which is a type of tuna - with vegetables,
0:54:55 > 0:54:59peppers, tomatoes, garlic and onions, like a ratatouille.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03And finally, this is love it or you hate it food... I first had this
0:55:03 > 0:55:06when I was five years old, I feel very proud about that!
0:55:06 > 0:55:10..sepia, that's cuttlefish cooked in its own ink.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13Did you like it when you were five years old?
0:55:13 > 0:55:15When I was five, I recall the taste of the ink
0:55:15 > 0:55:20with not a great deal of affection, but I did try it.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24I'm going to explore as much as I can of Mallorca.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27That includes going inland.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32Although I've been many times here, it's never really crossed my mind to go to the interior.
0:55:32 > 0:55:37After all, the whole ethos of a holiday here was always to do with the sea and all it brings.
0:55:37 > 0:55:43But as you'll find out, there's superb food here, including the best lamb I've ever tasted,
0:55:43 > 0:55:47cooked in an oven which has got to be a couple of hundred years old.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50And that was way up in the mountains,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53where only intrepid German cyclists go.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56And this is probably the most famous dish here,
0:55:56 > 0:55:58traditionally eaten at Easter-time.
0:55:58 > 0:56:04It's called frito Mallorcan and it's made with offal, liver and heart mostly, and vegetables.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08I know it doesn't sound very nice to a lot of people, but it's lovely.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12And I really hope it's dishes like these that will increase in popularity,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15as holiday-makers discover they want more
0:56:15 > 0:56:18than just the sea and cold beers.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28I'm really enthusiastic about the island's cooking
0:56:28 > 0:56:32but one must also remember that Mallorca is about mass tourism,
0:56:32 > 0:56:36and it doesn't get much bigger than here at Magaluf.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39So I thought it'd be a good idea to go around on the beach
0:56:39 > 0:56:44and in the streets behind the beach, and ask people what they like to eat when they're here.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48Erm... Well, I didn't really come here for the cuisine, so...
0:56:48 > 0:56:52Fast food, KFC, burgers and pizza, pretty much.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54Made in Italy, chips, cheese and gravy.
0:56:54 > 0:57:00I'm looking to have some paella before I leave, like, because that's a Spanish dish as well.
0:57:00 > 0:57:02Tonight we are going Chinese.
0:57:02 > 0:57:07- Nobody's told you there's a really, really nice local food here?- No.
0:57:07 > 0:57:12'Well, that comes as no big surprise, but now I'm told
0:57:12 > 0:57:15'you can get these factory-produced paellas,
0:57:15 > 0:57:19'and they come in an authentic plastic paella dish,
0:57:19 > 0:57:21'handy for the microwave.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24'But, of course, it's the usual suspects on the menu.
0:57:24 > 0:57:29'The ones that have always been here since I first came as a teenager, way back in the '60s.'
0:57:29 > 0:57:33It's not like main Spain, like paella or nothing like that.
0:57:33 > 0:57:37- It's just spaghetti and... - < Pastas.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39That'll do! As long as I've got brown sauce!
0:57:45 > 0:57:48Well, I have to say, having just been to Magaluf,
0:57:48 > 0:57:53that asking all those young people about what local specialities
0:57:53 > 0:57:56they were looking forward to eating,
0:57:56 > 0:58:02that it was not, let me say, the first thing that came to their minds -
0:58:02 > 0:58:05nor the second, nor indeed the third.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08Drink - beer in particular - yes, but not food.
0:58:08 > 0:58:13I suppose one has to say, as with animals, so it is with humans -
0:58:13 > 0:58:17at certain times in life, food does not matter.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24So, next time in Mallorca, great seafood and rice.
0:58:24 > 0:58:26And in Spain, a novel way of fishing
0:58:26 > 0:58:29and a bull-friendly festival with great food.
0:58:42 > 0:58:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.
0:58:45 > 0:58:48E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk