Episode 4 Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes

TANNOY: 'May I have your attention, please? Passengers with destination Corfu...'

I've just been reading in Lawrence Durrell's really good book about the Greek islands,

in which he jokingly blames Homer for talking about the rosy fingered dawn coming into Corfu.

He said it was actually rosy fingered.

He arrived on the same ferry about the same time in the morning,

but it's not particularly rosy fingered for me.

But, what he also says is that special feeling of arriving at a Greek island

and Corfu is an excellent first island to arrive.

It's the first island I ever came to.

It just has the feel, the land feel about it,

the easy way you slip into a port in any of the islands in the early morning.

It's something quite special for me.

Memories of the early '70s, travelling overland in a Land Rover,

arriving here in Corfu and then going on to lots of other islands

on very, very antiquated ferries,

one indeed, shortly after we went on it, sank.

If memory serves me well, this place hasn't changed at all since the last time I came,

albeit with much longer hair and a burning desire to find the best beaches

with the coldest beers on the island.

I know its too early, and these tavernas are shut,

but I'm looking forward to souvlaki - kebabs made with lamb - salads, stuffed vegetables, mousaka,

the whole business of travelling makes me so hungry!

I've always thought Corfu a magical place.

It's this pink, early-morning light that gets me.

It has a very calming effect.

Lawrence Durrell wrote about Corfu and said, "The sedative quality, its bewitched disengagement

"from all concern is something you will not be long in feeling here.

"The air around you becomes slowly more and more anaesthetic,

"more blissful, more impregnated with holy sleep.

"You will realise this is exactly what happened to the conquerors who landed here - they fell asleep.

"And this island slipped from their nerveless fingers

"into the freedom it has always desired - freedom to dream."

The famous Durrell family lived here in the White House.

Lawrence referred to it as like a dice sat upon a rock.

It's now a restaurant, and as I got closer to it, I realised it was closed, of course.

How I could have tucked into some local octopus or grilled sea bass.

But I'm off to have lunch with an old Corfiot family who are friends of our researcher over here.

But they don't live right by the sea.

In true Mediterranean tradition, they live amongst the olive groves inland.

I've noticed these nets stretched between the trees,

set there to catch the ripe, black olives when they drop.

I know the green ones are picked by hand and pressed for the best olive oil

and the difference between black and green olives is that one's ripe and one isn't!

You'd be surprised, even amongst the seasoned film crew,

who've been making programmes with me for years,

how much of a revelation that was!

But anyway, the Tsoukalas family have lived here on this small farm

for at least eight generations, where, like all the old Corfiot families, they grow their own food.

Eleni's making skordalia,

which is very common all over Greece,

but the Corfiot skordalia is the best recipe.

Sometimes it's made with bread, but more commonly with potato,

olive oil, garlic and lemon juice.

After crushing about a dozen fat cloves of garlic to make a paste

she then does the same with boiled potatoes and makes a creamy mash,

and then, straightaway she adds the garlic paste.

This is for people who like to live on the edge, where food's concerned!

Anyway, she blends that together and adds olive oil

and this comes from the ripe black olives from their farm.

After that she adds lemon juice and that's it.

This is a really good example of a local dish.

It's all from their garden - lemons, potatoes, garlic and the oil.

I can't tell you how important it is for me

to taste a famous dish where it comes from.

I've been watching her make this and with growing sense of appetite,

because I love things like this. I'll just taste it.

Wow!

That is so hot with garlic.

Unbelievably hot.

Absolutely pungent with lemon and oil, it's really, really...

Very good!

HE SPEAKS IN GREEK

Papa Spiros, who is 82, has just retired as a local priest.

He puts his obvious sprightliness down to clean living -

not much meat, lots of fish and vegetables plus red wine and garlic.

I'll just give a run down on some of these dishes.

This is, of course, a Greek salad - tomatoes, olives, cucumber, peppers

and traditionally they help themselves to feta.

And these are famous in Corfu - spinach pies, spanakopita - baked in filo pastry.

Then a bit of luxury, for my benefit I suspect, freshly boiled crayfish.

And these are just potatoes roasted in olive oil with onions and a bit of rosemary.

Naturally, there are stuffed courgettes with rice, tomato sauce,

dill and parsley, and garlic.

And then octopus sauted with onion, garlic,

red wine, tomatoes and macaroni which soaks up all the juices.

Well, as usual, on this trip I felt at a bit of a loss because I couldn't speak the language,

but Papa Spiros's son, Perry, used to run a pub in England.

-Perry, you had a pub in Oswestry for 5½ years?

-We did, yes.

What did you miss most about Corfu all that time?

This - the weather, the food.

All right, we used to do our own food, this sort of food,

we did it ourselves.

But it's different, in this atmosphere to be with my mum and dad.

To my way of thinking, your dad is a walking example

of why Mediterranean food's wonderfully good for you.

-How old is he now?

-82.

82? He looks as fit as a fiddle.

Still climbing up the trees.

-Every day he's doing something on the little farm we've got.

-Really?

Ploughing potatoes or vegetables and stuff like that.

If you wanted to encapsulate why Mediterranean food is so special,

-just show a picture of your father.

-That's right.

I'd like to propose a toast to Greek hospitality,

very much in evidence today.

Yamas.

I love Greek food and I love how enthusiastic the Greeks are about their cooking too.

A lot of people misunderstand it

because it is frugal and simple,

and it's born out of two things in my view -

the landscape and Greek temperament itself, which is very laid back.

And there's one dish that's the first thing I tend to think of when stepping ashore in Greece,

and I imagine everyone orders it when they first arrive, and that's the Greek salad.

And I'm sure they say "Why don't we eat this all the time, it's so healthy!"

And it's so simple - just tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, black olives,

dill, crumbled feta, though sometimes they do it in chunks,

olive oil, and finish with a sprinkle of dried oregano.

So good under a hot Corfiot sun with a glass of cold retsina.

But it won't taste quite the same in the driving rain of a cold English summer.

Such is life!

Everywhere we go in the Mediterranean,

you pick up the history of wherever it is, and it's been overrun by loads of different people.

There's been famines, wars, people have moved from the coast

up to the mountains because of pirates and mosquitoes.

It's just a continual flux of things going on here.

Indeed, our civilisation, Western civilisation, goes right back to the Mediterranean.

I think that's why we all have such an affinity to the Mediterranean

because we understand that much of our language and most of our culture comes from here.

But when you come down to the food of the Mediterranean,

it's about poverty and the people that almost used to live here.

Almost used to be what it was all about.

Now, everybody wants a view of the sea.

But food is about spareness, about small numbers of ingredients

and about making do.

There's some essential dignity about the cooking here,

it's not flamboyant, it doesn't use ingredients from all over the place.

I was talking to a chef in old Corfu Town the other day

and he used to cook in New York.

He said, "In New York, any one dish, there'd be 10 or 15 ingredients just in the one dish.

"Here, two or three will make that dish and make five or six other dishes as well."

And it is that respect, I think, respect for ingredients

that I really, really like about the Mediterranean.

What we have on today, artichokes with peas and carrots.

That's the daily special.

It needs 30 minutes.

-That is pork in lemon sauce

-...

This is Nick Argyros who was born in Corfu, studied cooking in New York,

got fed up with fancy cheffing and came home!

I made a wine sauce also.

A wine sauce.

We have chick pea soup

on the menu every Wednesday,

and lamb fricassee.

Slowly simmers and it'll be ready for the egg lemon sauce in a bit.

I like meeting chefs like Nick and watch them at work and find out what works for them.

Whatever is simple - simple is good.

If you have good ingredients, if you place one or two in a kettle

and cook them right, it will come out great.

Simplicity of flavours.

That's it. Five good items, you can make 10 different dishes.

That's what we do here, and we use tomatoes, peppers,

aubergines,

what else?

Beef, and we make, on a regular basis on the menu, 50 to 20 items.

With the same ingredients combined.

And every item is unique.

That's it, I guess.

Well, today Nick is making this, a really rich rabbit stew - stifado.

Nick, what is the spice in with the rabbit?

I use the light paste of sweet red pepper,

white pepper, black pepper and a little bit of cumin.

-What next then?

-We will brown it from one side because it's very small.

If we use both sides it's going to tear.

We are going to use some clarified butter and a little bit of olive oil.

We used half and half because olive oil is extra-virgin

and it'll give more flavour than we actually need.

Just place it here.

This stove is searingly hot, but it's perfect for browning

and giving the intensity of colour to the rabbit.

It literally takes a few seconds to give them the right colour.

The next step - we used more oil than we needed,

that is because we will add in the same pan, the onions.

We will let them sit there,

let them brown, burn on one side

and we add some sugar in order for the onions to caramelise.

That is home-style vinegar

from good red wine.

A little bit of dry white wine.

For the glaze, we're going to use...

all the juices from this pan.

All right.

What's next is adding the garlic,

some cumin, some nutmeg,

a couple of bay leaves, crushed peppercorns and dried rosemary.

Then we add some tomato product, that's only for colour.

Some sea salt...

..and some black pepper.

-And cook for how long?

-Oh, an hour, an hour and a half.

It depends on how intense the fire is. But around an hour and a half.

It must be a real change from busy New York life, back to old Corfu?

How does it feel, what's it like living here?

Well, Corfu, my roots, my parents are from here.

I grew up here for some years, I went to school and then it was a big change coming back.

But it's my life.

Next...what happens next is here.

I can't predict what's going to happen later than that, but right now I'm here, Corfu is my life here.

What happens next for me is that I get to try this incredibly rich stifado.

I had some in a restaurant last night and it wasn't the same dish,

this is intense and sweetly caramelised.

I'm a bit of a connoisseur of rabbit and this is probably the best rabbit dish I've ever tasted.

It's tender, young rabbit and the stifado is excellent, a real depth of flavour.

There is just a bit of cumin and chilli in there giving an Eastern flavour to it.

I'm just thinking, this restaurant would never have a Michelin star,

but in terms of enjoyment and fun it beats Michelin places hands down,

because everything comes from the market.

Cooking shouldn't be too difficult.

You just cook what's there, as Nick was saying earlier,

and you just cook it simply and rely on the raw materials,

the ingredients, to say it all, and this place does it in spades.

It's the sort of place... with chick pea soup on the menu, it must be Wednesday.

It's that sort of a place.

The thing I particularly like about Corfu - I love all Greek islands -

but this one is quite sophisticated and I think that's largely

to do with all the different nations that have lived here.

Particularly the Normans in early times, and the Venetians that were here for about 500 years.

And that's no more apparent than in the food, in dishes like pastitsio,

a lovely mix of sort of Italian and Greek, pasta in it of course.

But also, the British were here, the French,

look at this boulevard, modelled on a Parisian boulevard, the Liston.

And the British...yeah, the British brought ginger beer and cricket.

I've actually seen them play cricket on that green over there. A little bit rough, but jolly good fun.

And latterly of course, we brought things like fish and chips,

roast beef with real gravy

and to quote Monty Python, "Watney's Red Barrel."

But I mentioned earlier a dish called pastitsio, and it's a great favourite of mine.

To start with, you need to make a meat sauce.

It's similar to Bolognese sauce actually.

This is garlic, onion and finely chopped celery

softened in olive oil

and then some minced beef which has to brown a bit

before you add a glass of red wine and a tin of chopped tomatoes.

And then a couple of dessert spoonfuls of tomato puree,

or as Nick would say, "Tomayto product"!

I really like this pastitsio, it's got the unique flavours

for a typical pasta and mince dish

of cinnamon Kefalotiri cheese.

I just think Greek cooking is sort of very underrated.

This is lovely, hearty food, it's like a Greek version

of a shepherd's pie, or actually a cottage pie,

because it's beef, not lamb.

But it's just those little subtle flavours

and I think we do the Greeks a big disservice going on holiday there

and just having tepid vegetable dishes,

because this is pretty stylish stuff.

Stylish enough to add a cinnamon stick and a little bit of ground cloves.

I forgot to mention oregano in addition to the cinnamon.

Very characteristic flavouring in lots of Greek cooking.

Sometimes they sprinkle it on Greek salad and often you get it on souvlakis as well.

And when you're walking through the Greek countryside, maybe on an island somewhere, you can smell it.

I just thought I'd conjure up an image of the smell of oregano,

maybe some bells tinkling on the goats walking by.

That curiously eerie sound you get at dusk.

I've been a bit nerdy and went on the internet and found out it's called a scops owl.

It's a little tiny owl which nobody can ever see!

Needless to say the crew thought it was a car alarm going off!

Anyway, while the pasta's cooking - and this is penne - make up a standard white sauce

with butter, flour and milk.

It's not difficult providing you stir until the flour's cooked out.

Tips on white sauce making - some people feel you should put hot milk into a cool sauce.

I feel you should put cool milk into a hot sauce.

Whichever way you do it, you need to add it in about three phases,

otherwise there's a danger of it splitting.

Once it's there, and with a consistency like fairly thick cream,

grate some fresh nutmeg into it and then season it too.

Now take the cooked pasta and mix it into a third of your white sauce,

making sure you get most of it in the bowl and not on the kitchen floor, just enough to coat it.

Then in with the grated cheese.

That lovely Kefalotiri cheese

which will have such a distinctive flavour in the finished dish.

Mix well and pop in a couple of beaten eggs for extra richness.

Now layer it in a buttered baking dish.

It's really like making a lasagne as you alternate the pasta with the meat sauce.

Finish with pasta on the top and pour over the rest of the white sauce.

What I like about this dish, you can serve it up for ten people or so

who want to seriously chat over a meal, including you,

so that you don't have to keep getting up and down cos it's all done beforehand.

You can all help yourself and maybe just a salad to go with it and some red wine.

Lastly, sprinkle with that salty, tangy kefalotiri, which incidentally

is a hard sheep's-milk cheese, and bake in a hot oven for 40 minutes

until it gets a lovely golden top.

Pastitsio is the Greek version of the Italian pasticcio,

which means a hotchpotch, grabbing a bit here and a bit there.

And you can see it is like a lasagne, layers of pasta, meat sauce

and bechamel, but it's something the Greeks have made all their own.

BIRDS SING

I'll always associate the sound of swifts with old Corfu Town.

It's a constant, hurried twitter and, like me, their main interest

is in eating - hoovering up as many gnats as they can!

I really like Corfu Town

and I remember coming here 30 years ago when money was a bit tight,

absolutely starving and ending up having a kebab,

one of the most delicious things you could eat on a budget.

Could I have a kebab, please?

That's not kebab, that's pitta with giros. Pitta...

-..is that, the bread.

-Yeah.

-And giros is the meat.

We call it pitta giros because it's not from lamb.

Lamb they call it in Turkey because the Turkish,

they eat lamb because it's not smelling like the pork.

So we have pitta giros from pork and chicken.

And we put tsatsiki, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and chips.

-Pork?

-Pork. You like one?

-Absolutely!

-All right.

I'm told this is the best place in Corfu

-for giros.

-Giros, yes, pitta with giros.

Not kebab, never say that.

Do you ever do kebabs?

-No.

-OK.

Fair enough. What's in that?

-That's the spices.

-OK.

-Pepper and curry.

-Right.

-And in the sauce?

-Our spicy sauce from tomato and many, many spices.

-All right, OK.

-Thank you very much.

-Bon appetit!

-Cheers.

'In filming-land, someone else picks up the tab!

'I think it's a really good idea here not to mention anything that might well be Turkish in origin.

'I remember once asking for a Turkish coffee here - big mistake!'

That's very good. Not quite as I recall them last time I was here,

about 30 years ago. It's got everything in it, including chips!

I know they're not the best of friends, the Turks and the Greeks,

and when you start to look at the history here and the invasions and subsequent sieges

by the Ottoman Empire, you start to realise that history does leave an indelible stain behind.

Although the Turks had tried several times to capture Corfu Town and completely ravished the countryside,

they were never able to capture this place, so near and yet so far.

So, as a general rule, it's not a good idea to ask for a Turkish coffee!

The next morning, as per, I found myself drawn to the market.

This was in a state of transition.

I'm told they're building a new one, but even so, as a cook

it's always good to see what's fresh and seasonal.

I love fresh peas!

'I came upon this stall, run by Effie Mihala, selling wild greens she collects herself.'

So just run through a few of these herbs for me, then.

There's two different types.

On this particular lot, they're for boiling, like for boiling salad.

From this lot here, you can make vegetable pie or tsigareli,

which is a special cooking that Greeks do with oil and salsa and sauce.

So, that's why I've got them separate.

When I was a child I used to go and pick these. I loved it, you know.

My grandparents showed me, but my children, they're not interested.

They're doing other things.

-So they won't know.

-It's a shame.

-But they do eat them when I cook them.

-They like them?

Yes, they like them, but they wouldn't know how to pick them.

'So, well you know what happened the next morning - she gave away her grandma's secrets.'

-What's that?

-Tsakoulia. It's one of the main wild vegetables.

-It's the top one.

-I'm sorry I'll have to keep calling these weeds,

cos that's what people will think, but why do you like these wild greens so much?

It's a pity to say this is a weed!

It is so good for you.

This is so healthy.

Why is it a weed? A weed is something bad. This is good.

I'm just trying to wind you up.

That's OK. You won't wind me up with this because I've grown up with this.

You lived a long time in Melbourne, didn't you?

Yes, definitely. And I really missed the vegetables in Melbourne.

-You did?

-You couldn't find this.

I mean, a lot of people, they deal with herbs,

and there are also very good herbs, but these are also very good because you can actually eat them.

Herbs you only drink them or you put them in cooking

to smell nice, but these you actually fill up your stomach with.

So that's why they're better. This particular one is a fantastic vegetable,

the king of the white vegetables.

You can make a raw salad with it and it's perfect in raw salad.

It's better than lettuce. Or, you can mix it up with lettuce and rocket and all these things.

Perfect salad. You should try that.

If I was to start eating all these regularly, would I be changed?

-Definitely!

-Yeah?

-Definitely.

First of all, your colour would change. Yes, you'd look healthier.

-Look healthy.

-More energetic.

-They are so good for you.

-Wow!

Well, back at her farm, Effie and her mum gave the greens a bit of a wash, preparing them for boiling.

She said they only need to cook until they soften

because she believes any more than that reduces the healthy properties of the greens.

OK, now we're making a fresh salad with this particular vegetable

which is perfect for salad also.

You can also cook it but it's better raw.

I really like this, bumping into Effie in the market the other day,

cos this sort of salad you'd never find in a restaurant round here.

It's just what the locals eat and I'm really looking forward to trying it.

Yes, in a restaurant you won't find it because they won't bother.

Who's going to bother to pick wild vegetables and clean them up and do this?

Easier to just buy lettuce. But they don't know what they're missing.

Same with chefs all over the world, I have to say.

Put a little bit of salt.

A little bit of vinegar now.

Like you do with the lettuce, we add the oil to it now.

So we'll put a bit of salt, vinegar and oil.

Now the salad is ready to eat.

The vegetables are cooked now.

Yes, steaming hot.

Put them on a plate.

'If you like spinach just wilted, you're going to love this.

'It's been cooked very quickly in a small amount of water.

'She very often puts greens into pies which I'm told is a very Corfiot thing to do.

'But this is on its own with good local olive oil and lemon juice

'to give those bitter greens an extra zing.'

-It's your vegetables cooked nice and fresh.

-They look very fresh.

-Yes.

'In a funny sort of way, I can understand why her children don't like this.

'It's seriously grown-up food.'

-Lovely!

-You like it?

-Oh...

-I'm sure you would.

-I love it.

It's just occurred to me out of everything I've eaten,

the greens, the lemon, the oil, the wine, the vinegar...

The only thing that Effie's paid money for over the counter is the salt.

'Actually, that lunch with Effie and her family gave me an idea to cook a wild green omelette.'

The base of it is thinly sliced leeks

which I fry until they're soft and then this lot...

a range of green leaf vegetables,

mostly salads, which I managed to get back in Padstow.

I think turnip greens or cavalo nero would be good in this too.

This is something I've never tried before but that's what these trips are all about and I know it'll work.

Lots of fresh greens, free-range eggs and good Greek cheese.

I went for a walk last weekend, sadly without the dog,

and I went past some rough hedgerows

and I could see all the same sort of vegetables and wild greens

that Effie had shown me over in Corfu.

But I was thinking, "I just don't know what to pick.

"There's probably not ten people in this country that would be able to show me what to pick."

Which is a pity because it makes going for a walk so much more fun.

But I have bought in what I really think would make this wild horta omelette work,

that you can buy in supermarkets or greengrocers.

I did actually gather some dandelions and some wild garlic.

I know about those. But I've got some rocket, sorrel, spinach,

watercress... I think that's about it.

This is going to make a substantial omelette, so don't be stingy with the eggs.

I'm using about eight here, so that would be OK for about six people.

I've always liked the idea of a Spanish omelette, a thick omelette

that's actually generally baked in the oven,

and I love horta, the Greek wild greens,

so I've put the two together and added some kefalotiri cheese

and feta and some dill and mint, to give it a Greek flavour.

I think it works really well.

Chop the dill and mint together, but keep it quite coarse.

Don't do it like mint sauce.

Put them in with the rest of the ingredients and then season the whole thing as much as you like.

Turn it into one of those non-stick and quite deep baking dishes -

because, of course, the eggs will rise in the oven.

Then bake it until the eggs set, say about 45 minutes in a medium oven.

These types of omelettes were primarily designed to be taken out to the fields,

where people would be at work, so it's food that holds together and it's best eaten when it's cold.

I like it with tomato and onion and a chilled glass of white wine.

So, this is perfect for people planting rows of garlic and artichokes

AND for ladies who lunch.

I'm going inland to the hilly interior of Corfu, to the village of Perithia.

Once upon a time, in the 14th century, the village was here, around this lake near the coast.

But piracy, mosquitos and malaria forced them to find a new place to live.

So they moved up into a healthier climate, high in the hills, and they lived here for centuries.

Then another invasion came to Corfu, and this time it was tourism.

The British, Germans, French and Italians came in droves to the coast.

And so the villagers moved to open up bars and restaurants

and all the other trappings essential to the holiday business.

And they left Perithia one by one, never to return.

Now, it's got an eerie, ghostly quality.

You can practically smell the pies in the baker's shop.

It would have done great business in its heyday

when the village was full of life and 1,500 people lived here.

It is a modern Mediterranean Greek tragedy,

one of pirates, malaria, tourism - something which is repeated time and time again on my journey.

Funnily enough, it's food coupled with tourism

which is bringing the village back to life.

Tomas and Vasa Siriotis decided to cook authentic food here.

And word amongst, well, mainly German tourists has spread.

And now people are coming back here to taste traditional Corfiot food, like this briam.

This is a Corfiot ratatouille, really, and it's made with potatoes,

courgettes, aubergines and green peppers

and a good, strong, purpley onion, tomatoes and fennel.

I've watched lots of Greek cooks

and they all seem to cut vegetables this way. I wouldn't want to do this with my knives back home.

I came here a few months ago and tried this dish

and wasn't really expecting much, but I was genuinely taken by the intensity of flavour.

It was better than ratatouille, and I had to watch Vasa make it.

Since then, I've cooked it with great success at home.

In a nutshell, it's baked summer vegetables,

and you don't have to do all that pre-frying malarkey that is so labour-intensive in a ratatouille.

Everything is assembled in a roasting tin.

Vasa pours on some oil - sunflower oil in this case, but it didn't seem to affect the flavour -

and then she loosens up some tomato puree and pours that over.

And then a bit of water and it's ready for the oven.

About an hour on a medium setting, but if you can slow-cook it, I think it becomes even more intense.

Well, that's the finished thing and one thing I've discovered

on this Mediterranean trip is that, yes,

I could nearly - NEARLY - be a vegetarian!

This looks absolutely lovely, Tomas.

Watching Vasa make that dish, I just think,

"I could do that, cos she's just chopping a few things in here, putting a bit of oil, some dill..."

And when you taste it, you think, "How could that be, how could it be such a wonderfully intense flavour?"

You know if you have a recipe about the briam,

and you have so many grams courgettes, so many grams potatoes,

and you make it and I make it,

it will be never the same.

It depends on your hands,

-how you do it.

-I agree, I agree.

Tomas, with food this good, you're bringing people here,

I think you've almost saved this village, because people are coming now because of the food

and actually thinking about maybe buying somewhere here.

Yes, we have the customers, they're coming up here because of the food.

A lot of them live in Corfu and they come two years ago, one year ago,

and they think like that.

They like to buy something here, to live here.

But, you know, these people,

they love it so it is now. If the village change,

it will look more new or, I don't know...

they won't like it any more.

I don't know what's going to happen in 10 years or 20 years, but if anything happens like that,

I will take all my chairs and tables and go away.

I will not stay here when the village is different.

I love this place.

I am in love with this.

I love to come here and stay here.

This part of Corfu, the south-east coast, is one of those places

which form the very crux of the Mediterranean dream.

Those little piers set on that silky, calm sea,

a land of small tavernas serving fresh fish from the grill.

It's all a bit quiet now and the busy time starts in a few weeks.

As far as I'm concerned, late spring/early summer is the most magical time in Corfu.

But I remember coming here and finding Spiros - they're all called Spiros in these parts -

a restaurant owner like myself, working away on the beach,

preparing some anchovies just for himself.

I came here last year and I watched Spiros doing these anchovies,

filleting them and curing them with a bit of salt and some lemon juice, and I just thought

they were dead fresh and he served them up with some oregano.

I have to confess, I actually borrowed the idea,

cos I had this rather prestigious banquet to cook

at the Japanese Embassy a few months ago.

I was racking my brains to think what would go down well with the Japanese, who love raw fish.

I just remembered Spiros's dish, and I did it with some Cornish sardines, and it was lovely.

More importantly, the Japanese guests really liked it.

Funnily enough - and I like this, because this is how recipes evolve -

one day, an Italian pilot was having lunch here and told Spiros

about the way the Japanese cure fish with lemon juice and salt.

Well, Spiros tried it, and from then on it's always on the menu,

except HE adds wild oregano and olive oil.

So, from very small fish to one of the largest that swims around here,

the grouper, and this is one of the most famous dishes on the island, cooked by Spiros's wife, Maria.

It's called bianco.

Maybe that's left over from when the Venetians lived here, because it just means "white" in Italian.

And the dish IS white - whitened with the flesh of the fish,

garlic and potatoes, as Mrs Karidis told me in no uncertain terms.

SHE SPEAKS GREEK

Well, I didn't understand all of that, but basically

what I'm getting from here is so typical of so much Greek cooking.

There's not a lot to it.

But I've tasted this bianco before

and I can tell you it is utterly wonderful,

and all she's saying is, I think,

is it's got olive oil, garlic, the fish, of course, the grouper,

some water, some nero, yeah?

-Patates.

-Potatoes.

SHE SPEAKS GREEK

Salt and pepper and lemon.

-That's it.

-OK.

When you taste it, you think, "There must be more to this! It's so good!"

-Is good.

-Yeah, very good.

I may have said there's not a lot of ingredients in there, but there's a lot of what IS in there -

loads of garlic, I couldn't believe the amount of black pepper that's gone in there. But that's what makes

Greek cooking so vivid, there's much seasoning in it, and it just makes it different.

We just wouldn't dream of putting in that much pepper back home,

but you need to if you want that flavour.

And the all-important potatoes, but not too many.

I thought of putting this on the menu in my restaurant cos I really liked it,

but the only way the customers in Britain would like it would be chunks of fish off the bone

cooked in this garlicky, lemon and peppery sauce, and I thought, "Nah, I'm not doing that",

because you need the bones of the fish to give the liquid its gelatinous quality.

Without that, it wouldn't be the same.

And someone would be bound to sue me for getting a bone in their throat, anyway.

Thank you very much. That looks lovely.

His mother cooked this, you know.

Looking and smelling delicious.

This is really lovely, so pungent with olive oil and so much garlic,

and with the thickening from the potatoes, it reminds me a bit of a bareed.

I wouldn't mind guessing it's a fisherman's dish in origin,

and I'm thinking that because of the simplicity of it and the few ingredients,

all ingredients that local fishermen could get hold of easily,

like potatoes, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper,

and water, possibly even sea water.

I love that about this dish.

I think you can see...

trace the history of a dish very simply in this bianco.

It's early in the season in Sidari and they're gearing up for the onslaught to come.

I may be wrong, but I don't think there'll be queues of holidaymakers asking for plates of bianco here.

We just passed a McDonald's, and I see we've got John Smith's Extra Smooth on draught there,

and some Caffrey's and some Guinness.

There's an English pub just here, where presumably

you can watch English football matches on widescreen telly.

It's quite nice, cos they're all getting ready for the season.

There's quite a lot of anticipation here.

Also quite nice that Sidari and Kavos Beach are relatively small

enclaves of mass tourism in an otherwise beautiful island.

But I have to say, with extreme snobbery, why on earth

would you come somewhere like Greece to drink English beer and watch English football on television?

What's wrong with Greek food?

If you want all that sort of stuff, there's plenty of places in England to indulge yourself.

I'm at Leftkimi because, a few months ago, I had a really good meal here of artichokes and peas.

Leftkimi is the sort of place that doesn't get too much attention from holidaymakers.

It's the place you'd come to after being sunburnt on the beach and you really want to try

just a smidgen of authentic Greek hospitality before you go home.

But I've come to meet the Pandis family at their little restaurant.

Loula makes fine use of her home-grown vegetables and she wouldn't stop talking about them.

Unfortunately, I couldn't understand a word!

SHE SPEAKS GREEK

Let's have a look. I've just had...

Aaargh! It's very prickly!

I've just had translated what Loula was saying and, basically,

they're thistles, artichokes, cultivated thistles.

But these are almost wild and she says they have a much better flavour.

She uses them in all kinds of dishes - stews, casseroles.

She actually mentioned a dish of cuttlefish and artichokes, which I'm very interested in.

In the Mediterranean, old cars never die. They become greenhouses!

Again, it's part of the frugal tradition of "waste not, want not".

Loula's getting some early broad beans for the dish

and, at this size, you don't need to pod them.

You eat the whole lot.

Funny, the things that slip into your mind.

I was just thinking of a line in a Kingsley Amis novel called The Green Man.

It says, "A man could starve in a room full of artichokes."

SHE SPEAKS GREEK

There, yeah.

OK.

Obviously, I don't speak Greek, but I was thinking as she was telling me how to prepare the artichoke

that the language of cooking is sort of universal, really.

I mean, I couldn't be doing anything more enjoyable

than sitting with Loula preparing the artichokes,

because I suddenly feel perfectly at home.

I was just thinking, one of the most enjoyable things about this whole tour of the Mediterranean

is actually watching fairly ordinary local cooks go about their business of cooking.

You know, I'm just so used to cooking in a sort of busy restaurant kitchen.

Actually, you learn so much from just talking and watching local ladies like Loula doing the job.

While we were busy doing the artichokes, I couldn't help noticing

the ladies busy tilling the soil next door

when they looked as if they should be taking life a little easier!

I thought this would be a good time for me to ask what was their secret for a long life.

THEY SPEAK GREEK

'They said we're only 36 - no, I'm joking! They're in their late 70s.

'And they just said if you want to eat, you get to work.

'It's as simple as that. It's the work that keeps you going.'

Like lots of Greek cooks, Loula assembles all the ingredients in the pan before putting it on the heat.

With the artichokes, she's also got some leeks from her garden.

I suspect it's a dish where she uses everything she has that's in season.

Then she adds fronds of dill.

Oregano and dill - they're the herbs of Greece to me.

Then flat-leaf parsley

and those baby broad beans, just topped and tailed.

She chops up mint - the local Greek stuff is quite spiky -

and then olive oil. And that's it.

I don't mean to be looking for vegetarian cooking because it's not actually vegetarian cooking -

it's dishes that don't happen to contain any meat or fish.

But I do think one of the very distinctive things about the cooking of the Mediterranean

is a whole load of vegetable dishes.

It's a bit early for Loula's peas, so she's using frozen ones and nothing wrong with that.

I think the frozen pea is a great culinary success story.

When I told my friend I was coming to the Med, all he could talk about

was grilled crayfish, boiled lobsters with mayonnaise and sea bass, barbecued with fennel.

I'm sure you find that in Club Med, but in the villages of Puglia, Corsica and Sicily,

the locals strangely have a more prosaic diet, which I relayed to him by mobile phone.

I suppose if you went to all the expensive places, it would be wall to wall lobsters and red mullet.

Loula's thickening the dish

with a mixture of lemon juice and corn flour, and that's all there is to it.

The artichokes have become al dente and the lemon juice gives it a bit of sharpness.

Loula's son, Yanni, works as a barman in the nearby holiday resort of Kavos,

and he joined us for lunch, mainly because he's the only one who can understand what I'm saying!

So is this a typical dish that you'd eat at home, I guess?

-Yeah, it's original Greek...

-It is?

-Yes.

-Would you serve dishes like this in the restaurant?

This is the only dishes we serve in the restaurant, traditional Greek kitchen, yeah.

And it's nice to have them fresh from the garden.

It's lovely! Do you get tourists to the restaurant?

Not many, a few, a few. But...

Why not many?

They don't like...er...this kind of food. They're used to the fast food,

sandwiches and things like this.

They don't like it?

-They're mad!

-They did know what is it.

-Really?!

Yeah! They look in the catalogue, in the list, and they order pizza, it's crazy.

Do you not think that if you put that in front of a British tourist

and said, "Eat it", would they not be delighted?

I don't think so.

From my experience, no, I don't think so.

It makes me very sad.

Me too.

Would you tell your mother this is absolutely delicious,

and it's these simple vegetable dishes I'm finding in Greece that give me the most pleasure,

and I'd like to, erm... Cheers.

-Yamas.

-Yamas.

Yamas.

We're here at Agios Spiridon and I'm rather enjoying it, because it's

where Gerald Durrell and his family, and maybe one or two other animals, came for picnics when he was young.

One of the things - I've actually been here before - that I find strange

is looking across at Albania over there, it looks sort of naked,

and the reason is that there's no olive groves over there,

and the reason for that is that Corfu was governed by the Venetians for nearly 500 years,

and the price for being governed, if you like,

was to supply oil to Venice -

not for eating but for lighting the city.

On the other hand, Albania, governed by the Turks,

not interested in olives - no olive trees,

except what's grown for the local families.

There's something else I find different, and that is that there's not one hotel over there.

But I imagine in the next 10 or 20 years, all that will change

and we'll all be looking to buy apartments in Albania!

BLEEPING

Ah! This is interesting!

"Welcome to AMC, call the free customer careline for further information and support...

"We wish you a pleasant stay in Albania."

See what I mean?

So that was the end of my trip to Corfu.

But in a way, it reminded me very much of Mallorca,

in the sense that both islands have been known to the tourism industry

for the best part of 50 years or more,

and yet both, away from the obvious holiday hotspots, have great beauty,

wonderful food and a soul crying out to be discovered.

I came here not by ferry or sailing boat but by plane after a short visit home,

and the Land Rover came the long way round with all the gear.

I first came to Palma when I was 18, I think I must have been pretty industrious even then

because I had two jobs.

The first one was working in a nightclub.

I think it had an Egyptian theme because I had to wear a fez.

The other job was in Cala Major.

I was cooking fried eggs and patatas fritas, I remember,

and doing the washing in quite the dirtiest dish water I'd ever seen.

But the purpose of all this was to buy a leather jacket,

because Palma was famous for its leather - it still is.

And I eventually did buy this jacket, it was blue.

But I just remember that that blue leather jacket

was probably the most precious thing I've ever owned.

The beautiful cathedral of Palma dominates, as it was intended to,

the smaller ornate Emir's Palace.

The Arabs ruled here in peace for several hundred years.

Christians, Jews, Arabs, they all lived peacefully and Palma was prosperous.

Then along came the crusaders, under James I of Spain, and it was all a different story.

I remember going around the Emir's Palace here and the guide saying, in 1229 the Moors,

who'd been here for 400 years, left and the Christians took over.

And I remember thinking, "That's not what happened!"

And I went up to him and I said at the end of the tour, "It wasn't like that!

"I've been told that the streets were running with blood

"for four days, that every Moor man, woman, child and their dogs

"were slaughtered in a massive massacre."

And he said, "Yeah, it's true, but we don't like to tell the tourists that."

I've been coming to Palma since I was a boy

and I've always been enchanted by the tall buildings and narrow streets.

You really feel you're in medieval Spain

and its influence is primarily Catalan,

and that can be seen with this Gaudi-style architecture,

so prominent in Barcelona.

Centuries ago, the Catalans ruled all the islands

in this part of the Med, including Sardinia and Sicily.

But its 12 o'clock and time for lunch - well, for me!

The Spanish tend to eat later.

They don't start to have dinner until 10:30 at night!

I just couldn't do that, and that's why tapas is such a great thing to have.

I'm told that tapas was originally named after the pieces of bread that sherry drinkers in Andalucia

used to cover their glasses with, to prevent fruit flies falling in.

'But then, it grew into snacks - lots and lots of little snacks.

'This is why tapas is so popular - lots of little courses.

'It's how people like to eat these days - '

sort of grazing, I suppose. You have a few in one bar then move on to another.

Here we have some prawns, sizzling hot,

with some local chilli peppers to add spice.

This is perfection, this is Iberico ham, it's hand-carved.

Padron peppers from Galicia.

Every now and then you have a really hot one, which makes you jump a bit.

Here we have dates just wrapped in bacon and grilled.

Perhaps the most famous dish in Mallorca here, pan boli, that's bread with tomatoes.

Tomatoes, sort of, grated over them and some local olives,

very bitter little olives, those, but I love them.

Here we've got a stew of tuna -

it's actually bonito, which is a type of tuna - with vegetables,

peppers, tomatoes, garlic and onions, like a ratatouille.

And finally, this is love it or you hate it food... I first had this

when I was five years old, I feel very proud about that!

..sepia, that's cuttlefish cooked in its own ink.

Did you like it when you were five years old?

When I was five, I recall the taste of the ink

with not a great deal of affection, but I did try it.

I'm going to explore as much as I can of Mallorca.

That includes going inland.

Although I've been many times here, it's never really crossed my mind to go to the interior.

After all, the whole ethos of a holiday here was always to do with the sea and all it brings.

But as you'll find out, there's superb food here, including the best lamb I've ever tasted,

cooked in an oven which has got to be a couple of hundred years old.

And that was way up in the mountains,

where only intrepid German cyclists go.

And this is probably the most famous dish here,

traditionally eaten at Easter-time.

It's called frito Mallorcan and it's made with offal, liver and heart mostly, and vegetables.

I know it doesn't sound very nice to a lot of people, but it's lovely.

And I really hope it's dishes like these that will increase in popularity,

as holiday-makers discover they want more

than just the sea and cold beers.

I'm really enthusiastic about the island's cooking

but one must also remember that Mallorca is about mass tourism,

and it doesn't get much bigger than here at Magaluf.

So I thought it'd be a good idea to go around on the beach

and in the streets behind the beach, and ask people what they like to eat when they're here.

Erm... Well, I didn't really come here for the cuisine, so...

Fast food, KFC, burgers and pizza, pretty much.

Made in Italy, chips, cheese and gravy.

I'm looking to have some paella before I leave, like, because that's a Spanish dish as well.

Tonight we are going Chinese.

-Nobody's told you there's a really, really nice local food here?

-No.

'Well, that comes as no big surprise, but now I'm told

'you can get these factory-produced paellas,

'and they come in an authentic plastic paella dish,

'handy for the microwave.

'But, of course, it's the usual suspects on the menu.

'The ones that have always been here since I first came as a teenager, way back in the '60s.'

It's not like main Spain, like paella or nothing like that.

-It's just spaghetti and...

-< Pastas.

That'll do! As long as I've got brown sauce!

Well, I have to say, having just been to Magaluf,

that asking all those young people about what local specialities

they were looking forward to eating,

that it was not, let me say, the first thing that came to their minds -

nor the second, nor indeed the third.

Drink - beer in particular - yes, but not food.

I suppose one has to say, as with animals, so it is with humans -

at certain times in life, food does not matter.

So, next time in Mallorca, great seafood and rice.

And in Spain, a novel way of fishing

and a bull-friendly festival with great food.

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