0:00:04 > 0:00:07Laurie Lee's As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning
0:00:07 > 0:00:11is the sort of book that makes you want to leave immediately for Spain.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18He says, "Between cities, take a bus to the cut-off country -
0:00:18 > 0:00:21"there will only be small inns to stay at,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24"but you will be rewarded by a landscape pure as the sea,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27"ancient and wind-ravaged and bare,
0:00:27 > 0:00:33"where storks and vultures circle majestic skies above herds of black fighting bulls.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39"Show that you're in no hurry, that you're ready to let things happen,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43"and the human encounter which is Spain will follow."
0:01:16 > 0:01:22I'm continuing my journey from the rocky coast of Galicia towards Cantabria in the Basque country.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29I'm getting quite fond of this old camper van, actually. It's sort of, erm,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33it goes along at quite a steady pace, it's not exactly speedy, but
0:01:33 > 0:01:39you can sort of think about things on these long motorways in Spain.
0:01:41 > 0:01:47And on the subject of motorways, it seems there's a dual carriageway linking every shepherd's hut,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50no matter how remote - there's so much of it.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54But I'm hoping to glimpse the Spain I knew as a child on holiday
0:01:54 > 0:01:58by the Bay of Biscay nearly half a century ago.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06I'm a bit puzzled. I first came here when I was eight years old, to Laredo, and I've got really strong
0:02:06 > 0:02:11memories of the hotel we stayed at, called the Hotel Carlos V.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14And I'm told it's around here somewhere, but I've been asking people
0:02:14 > 0:02:19and they said, no, no it's been demolished, it's just a campsite round here.
0:02:19 > 0:02:25But it means a lot to me, because it's probably my earliest sort of gourmet memories -
0:02:25 > 0:02:33I was eight at the time, and we drove over from England in my dad's blue Jaguar Mark VII.
0:02:33 > 0:02:40And I can distinctly remember really liking squid cooked in its own ink with garlic and tomato.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44I liked it and I remember Coke, having it for the first time
0:02:44 > 0:02:49in green bottles - me and my sister just loved those heavy green bottles
0:02:49 > 0:02:51that it came in in those days.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56I suppose for me, it's a bit like my A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59The director won't like this, but what it means is looking,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03going back to your childhood, to those really nostalgic memories.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11My parents brought me here to the Port of Colindres.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16This coast, stretching right up into the Basque country, is world famous for anchovies.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20They're supposed to be the best in the world, because the cold water
0:03:20 > 0:03:27of the Cantabrian sea produces firm-fleshed fish, and that's the secret of good anchovies.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31They need to keep that firmness before they enter the canning factories.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36Look at these silver darlings, they're salted minutes from landing,
0:03:36 > 0:03:42left for five to six hours, washed and packed into barrels to cure for about a year.
0:03:42 > 0:03:49And it's only after that that they're washed again, filleted and put into those lovely ornate tins.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53I've often found the difference between a sardine and an anchovy
0:03:53 > 0:03:57really hard to tell, but when they're as fresh as this, it's easy.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01If you look at the sardine, it's got a sort of greeny, yellowy tinge to it,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04looks sort of more like a mackerel, I suppose.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07But then when you look at an anchovy, it's beautiful.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12It's got this lovely deep blue tinge to it and it's really, really sleek.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Interestingly, they were telling me, when you get lots of sardines in
0:04:16 > 0:04:21with the anchovies, the price goes right down, because it's the anchovy that's the prized fish.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29I must confess, I rather naively thought that little tins of anchovies were filled by a machine.
0:04:29 > 0:04:35You know, a long conveyor belt and a great vat of olive oil going bloop, bloop, bloop at the end.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38No idea they were done by hand!
0:04:38 > 0:04:41But when you look at how wonderfully laid out all the anchovies are,
0:04:41 > 0:04:49look at all the skill here. Just the way they're snipping and cutting and layering it, it's fabulous.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53And of course, I was just talking to somebody the other day about anchovies,
0:04:53 > 0:04:58a Spanish guy, and he was saying that anchovies are like the ham of the sea, like an Iberico ham,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01and they're that order of quality, really.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06I mean, he was suggesting that anchovies like this are on a par
0:05:06 > 0:05:13with things like Iberico ham, truffles, caviar, that sort of thing, and I totally agree with him.
0:05:13 > 0:05:19Now they're covered with olive oil - a mild one, because you want to taste the fish.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24These are far too good for pizzas, best in a salade Nicoise or a tapas with olives and peppers,
0:05:24 > 0:05:30or best of all, eaten just as they are with bread and a cold glass of wine.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35So here's to anchovies, and the ladies who pack them so beautifully.
0:05:39 > 0:05:45This remote villa in the olive groves of Andalucia is where I cook all my dishes on this journey.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And here I'm going to prepare a lovely, simple anchovy salad.
0:05:48 > 0:05:54And for that, I need to start with freshly made croutons and a very good olive oil.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00The sort of little things I notice when I'm travelling through another country,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03their croutons are a bit bigger than ours.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08This dish I really dreamt up myself using, obviously, a lot of local ingredients.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Garlic, of course, olive oil, of course,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14nice croutons - but it's all about the anchovies.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19And actually, what I really like is just getting a tin and taking one out, because they're so sweet.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23They've got this lovely sort of residual sweetness when they're as good as that.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28But I think this salad really does show them off at their very, very best.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32I can't think of anything better than this in the summer -
0:06:32 > 0:06:39eaten outside on a warm sunny day, no fuss. The dressing's important and it's as easy as can be.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43Two egg yolks, whisked, and then garlic.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46I chop it up pretty coarsely at first and then
0:06:46 > 0:06:50crush it ever so slightly with a sea salt to bring out the oils.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54The flavour of garlic is the taste of Spain as far as I'm concerned.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56It was once considered to be only for the poor.
0:06:56 > 0:07:03I still remember my parents saying Spanish food was too greasy, and there was far too much garlic.
0:07:03 > 0:07:09Now mustard - half a teaspoon of Dijon - and a tad more salt, and the juice from half a lemon.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11Then you're ready for the olive oil.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16This dressing stands out with the best of them - it's a mayonnaise really,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18but the lemon and garlic makes it even better.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23Before I got to that factory in Laredo in Cantabria, I was just thinking, well,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26it's bound to be done by a machine, all that filleting of the anchovies,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29so it came as a tremendous, good surprise
0:07:29 > 0:07:34to see all those ladies sitting on their high stools filleting anchovies by hand,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37and sort of popping them to bed in a tin of olive oil.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40And they were so much enjoying what they were doing.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45Do you know, I think it adds to a tin of anchovies when you know that it's done by hand.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50This would probably be my favourite salad of all time - well, certainly today, anyway!
0:07:50 > 0:07:57I'm making this for four, but could easily eat the lot myself. It's just a nice balance here.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02You have the soft creaminess of the eggs, the sweet saltiness of the anchovies,
0:08:02 > 0:08:07the crispness of the lettuce, the warm crunch of the croutons and that luxury touch,
0:08:07 > 0:08:13that sauce or mayonnaise that transports you into a restaurant lapping the shores of the Med.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15And then, of course, there's the wine.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19What better than a cold, very cold Albarino?
0:08:23 > 0:08:28Just as I anticipated - sweet, beautiful.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34Do you know, I make friends with people that share enthusiasms for food with me,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38and I make best friends with people that like chorizo sausages,
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Iberico ham and Cantabrian anchovies.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50Well, that might have been a summer treat, but when Professor Higgins said the rain in Spain
0:08:50 > 0:08:53falls mainly on the plain, he was telling a bit of a fib.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56It rains a lot in the Basque country, too.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01It's a bit like Catalunya - you've got the sea on one side and the mountains on the other.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03It's very lush, as you can see.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Unfortunately, it's also very rainy, which is rather a shame,
0:09:07 > 0:09:12because the Basque country, particularly up here just going up into the mountains,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14it's incredibly attractive.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19Got lovely limestone peaks and they're really jagged.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22So I'm really disappointed that you can't see them in the mist.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26But I'm on my way to a restaurant which was recommended
0:09:26 > 0:09:31to me by a very well known Australian chef called Neil Perry.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34The thing I like about it, the sound of it, is that everything
0:09:34 > 0:09:41that the chef there, Victor, cooks is cooked over homemade charcoal.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46And apparently it's all to do with his background in the region, in the mountains here.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51He's just very familiar with cooking in this way right back to his childhood.
0:09:51 > 0:09:58So as a bit of a fan of barbecue cooking anyway, I'm utterly looking forward to it.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02Victor - that's him in the black T-shirt - and his chef Lennox
0:10:02 > 0:10:06run what's been described as the world's best barbecue joint.
0:10:06 > 0:10:11Victor designed and built these grills that can be lifted or lowered
0:10:11 > 0:10:17to control the cooking speed - and anyone who has a barbecue will know what a bonus that would be.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21Lennox, would you ask Victor why he cooks in this way?
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Sure.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:10:29 > 0:10:33He's saying, "Opening this restaurant was a very emotional journey.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37"As a child brought up in a house without gas or electricity,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40"all the cooking was done over a fire, a wood fire."
0:10:40 > 0:10:44So his earliest memories of food were always influenced by the flavours
0:10:44 > 0:10:49of smoke from the charcoal - and the food never tasted better.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54And now, 40 years on, he works to recapture those flavours from his youth.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Even as a young adult, he worked as a forester in the hillside
0:10:57 > 0:11:03and would cook just like his grandmother did, out on an open fire in the woods.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06He said it's the most natural and the best way to cook.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:11:10 > 0:11:14- So basically, it is an emotional journey for him.- Very much so.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17That's really interesting, because I'm a cook, too,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21and the funny thing is that I do feel, from listening to that,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25I suddenly realised all I try to do is go back to my childhood
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and re-create those flavours of when I was little.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32That's all I do, and so I'm totally sympatico with what he's saying.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36These prawns are special. I mean, look at that.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38- So these are the gambas de Palamos... - Could I?- By all means.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40I feel diffident about...
0:11:40 > 0:11:44I'm just going to be very Spanish and just...
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Oh, my god! Oh, my gosh!
0:11:49 > 0:11:51They are just...
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Oh, I'm sorry.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Ask any chef in Spain where the tastiest prawns come from,
0:12:00 > 0:12:05and they'll say Palamos, a fishing port on the Mediterranean in Catalonia - they're quite amazing.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09Just gently warm, just warm the mouth with the succulent flavours of...
0:12:09 > 0:12:16I'm sorry, I'm having a difficult moment, I can't talk any more. It's just so, so wonderful.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18I know this steak is going to be great, too.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23Victor said it actually came from a dairy cow about 12 years old,
0:12:23 > 0:12:25not a young prime three-year-old steer.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29Again he said when he was growing up, this was what they used to eat
0:12:29 > 0:12:32for a special treat, and he doesn't want to change that.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Well, I can't wait to try this, having watched Victor cook it.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40This is just central to any meat lover's love.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52Just as the quayside in Padstow is the inspiration for my cooking,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Victor's came from these mountains and wooded valleys.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59It's pretty rare these days to re-create
0:12:59 > 0:13:02the cooking and flavours from your youth and get people
0:13:02 > 0:13:06banging at your door from all over the world wanting to try it.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11And while on the subject of youth, one of the most popular desserts by far
0:13:11 > 0:13:16here in the Basque country is the famous Mamia - a junket made from sheep's milk.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21It's sold everywhere and it's truly loved by the Basques.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26Amelia, the farmer's wife, has made it all her life,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29just like most people who live in this mountainous region.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33All it is is warm milk set by a rennet, which also comes from the sheep.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Well, I've just watched Amelia make the junket - it's so rural.
0:13:39 > 0:13:45Everybody used to make junket when I was little, but I can't actually remember what it tastes like.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51It's lovely. I was thinking, actually, one of those things
0:13:51 > 0:13:56when I was at school, the three things that were always a bit of a problem for us -
0:13:56 > 0:14:02this was when I was very tiny - was sago, tapioca and junket. But I can't see why.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07SHE SPEAKS BASQUE
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Nourishing stuff, junket.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13The Spanish use of milk in sweets or puddings isn't so very far removed
0:14:13 > 0:14:18from our own, and it isn't only sheep's milk, either.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Well, this is called leche frita, which literally means fried milk.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25I remember before I got to the Basque country thinking, how do you fry milk?
0:14:25 > 0:14:30Do you drop it into a fryer, does it come out in some sort of like long shreds or something?
0:14:30 > 0:14:35No. What it actually means is, they make a sort of batter, and chill it, and then cut
0:14:35 > 0:14:39the batter up into various shapes and then deep fry it in bread crumbs.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44The warm milk flavoured with lemon zest and vanilla
0:14:44 > 0:14:51is poured onto egg yolks, sugar and flour and whisked together and returned to the heat to cook out.
0:14:51 > 0:14:58Eventually, with a degree of patience and gentle stirring, it forms a very thick custard.
0:14:58 > 0:15:04I don't do enough puds. There's something really comforting about making puds.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08In Spain, the three you'll normally find in restaurants is crema Catalana -
0:15:08 > 0:15:14of course that's a sort of creme brulee Catalan-style - rice pudding and flan.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21When it's nearly solid, spread it into a dish lined with clingfilm,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24so that it forms a wobbly cake, and cool it.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29So that's been in the fridge for about two or three hours and it
0:15:29 > 0:15:35comes out in this rather satisfying slab of, well, cold custard, really.
0:15:35 > 0:15:42To make the fritters, cut them up into bite-sized triangles and coat them in flour and then
0:15:42 > 0:15:48dip them in beaten eggs so that the chunky bread crumbs will form a very satisfying, crunchy coating.
0:15:48 > 0:15:56When the people over here talk about leche frita, fried milk, you can almost hear a lump in their throats,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59for indeed it's the stuff of Spanish childhood memories.
0:15:59 > 0:16:07The hard, sweet, crunchy outside and the cool, creamy interior is just a great combination.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15I'm hungry for the sun.
0:16:15 > 0:16:21I've been travelling for nearly two weeks and it has rained virtually every day.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29But I'm driving ever eastwards, almost feeling the magnetic pull of the Med.
0:16:31 > 0:16:38This is Rioja - a name I find comforting because I've drunk quite a lot of it in my time.
0:16:38 > 0:16:46My first stop is Santo Domingo de la Calzada, a place that has a unique story to tell.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50It's not far from the border with France, and it's an important
0:16:50 > 0:16:55stopping place for the pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela,
0:16:55 > 0:17:00a mere 400-mile slog to where they can earn a peaceful and guilt-free afterlife.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Many of the pilgrims would have called in to see the famous Santo Domingo,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11who also happens to be the patron saint of road menders.
0:17:14 > 0:17:21He's connected to rather a strange story which manifests itself into almost a scene from Monty Python.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23COCK CROWS
0:17:23 > 0:17:25See what I mean?
0:17:25 > 0:17:29Well, the story that I like is this, that three pilgrims - a father and a mother
0:17:29 > 0:17:34travelling with their son - are put up for a night in a local taverna.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38The father and mother had gone off to Vespers but the son was feeling
0:17:38 > 0:17:41a bit ill, so he decided to have an early night.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45Well, the landlady of this taverna took a real like to him
0:17:45 > 0:17:49and tried to seduce him, but he was having none of it.
0:17:49 > 0:17:55She was so cross that she ran out into the road screaming, "Rape, rape, theft, theft!"
0:17:55 > 0:18:02And the poor boy was taken before the local mayor and there and then found guilty and strung up.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Well, what happened then is extraordinary.
0:18:06 > 0:18:13Before departing on their pilgrimage to Santiago, the distraught parents went to see their son
0:18:13 > 0:18:17hanging on the gallows for one last time - he was still alive!
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Santo Domingo had saved him, had lifted his body up
0:18:20 > 0:18:24and prevented the rope from doing its terrible work.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26They rushed to the mayor,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29who was just sitting down to eat a roast cock and a roast hen,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32and they told him that their son was still alive.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36He said, "If that's true, the cock will get up and crow
0:18:36 > 0:18:39"and the hen will cluck", which, of course, they did.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42COCK CROWS
0:18:42 > 0:18:45And then they flew out of the window.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49In celebration of that, for the last 600 years, they've kept a cock
0:18:49 > 0:18:54and a hen in the most beautifully gilded cage on Earth,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57except in the winter, when it's too cold.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01COCK CROWS
0:19:05 > 0:19:10I suppose if I had a neat and tidy mind, I should be cooking a Riojan chicken dish,
0:19:10 > 0:19:15but one of the most popular flavours in Northern Spain is salt cod.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Maybe it's a religious influence. Most probably.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21But this is one of the best Spanish dishes I know.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31So, as you can see, this is what bacalao salt cod looks like
0:19:31 > 0:19:33when it's been soaked for about 24 hours,
0:19:33 > 0:19:37and this what bacalao looks like when it's salted
0:19:37 > 0:19:40and relatively dry. This is very good quality bacalao.
0:19:40 > 0:19:46You can always judge by the thickness of it. It comes from a really thick cod.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49And in fact, I would go as far as to say that the Spanish actually
0:19:49 > 0:19:53prefer salt cod to fresh cod. Not to fresh hake, of course.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56And I'd also go as far to say that I doubt there's a restaurant
0:19:56 > 0:20:00in the whole of Spain that doesn't serve bacalao in some form.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03In this case, it's going to be mixed with some mashed potato
0:20:03 > 0:20:05and stuffed into some piquillo peppers.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07So first of all to poach the cod.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14I'm going to leave that simmering there for about 15 minutes, I guess.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18The reason for putting it in with the potatoes is part economy -
0:20:18 > 0:20:22saving on gas - but mostly because I want the flavour of the salt cod
0:20:22 > 0:20:26to go into the potato water, cos I'm going to use some of it in my puree.
0:20:26 > 0:20:32The piquillo peppers - sorry, piquillo peppers - conveniently come in tins, thank goodness,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36otherwise I'd have to roast and skin them, which would take ages.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39The Spanish, I've found, use loads of tinned food.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44I take the skin off and check these lovely silky flakes for bones,
0:20:44 > 0:20:46and then simply break them up
0:20:46 > 0:20:49before mixing them in with the mashed potatoes.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Again, another dish that stemmed from the New World.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55The cod was originally caught by the Basques off Newfoundland,
0:20:55 > 0:21:00and the potatoes and peppers were brought back to Spain from South America.'
0:21:00 > 0:21:03This is very satisfying doing this
0:21:03 > 0:21:06and it's already looking very delicious,
0:21:06 > 0:21:11but the thought of adding garlic and olive oil to it as well is very nice to me.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17'I've roughly smashed up about four or five cloves of garlic
0:21:17 > 0:21:21'and then that with the olive oil makes this quite wonderful filling
0:21:21 > 0:21:22'for those soft sweet peppers.'
0:21:25 > 0:21:29I must say, this is not easy, and I'm blowed if I'm going to put
0:21:29 > 0:21:32everything in a piping bag. I'm not going to be a cheffy little chef
0:21:32 > 0:21:35and do that. No, I'm going to use a teaspoon and my fingers.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41I love this way of cooking, this sort of rugged way.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44I mean, just look at that, that's the colours of Spain,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48the Cazuela, the earthenware dish, and those deep red peppers
0:21:48 > 0:21:51and the salt cod and potato - that is appetising.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58'Now I grate some manchego, Spain's most famous cheese from La Mancha,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02'and for that extra heat and smokiness, a sprinkling of pimenton.'
0:22:04 > 0:22:07That goes in a hot oven for about 15 minutes.
0:22:10 > 0:22:16Look at that view - fantastic. Makes me want to cook.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20'It makes me want to eat as well.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23'If I had to choose my top five dishes of Spain,
0:22:23 > 0:22:27'this would definitely be one of them, and it's on the menus
0:22:27 > 0:22:32'of any self respecting tapas bar in the whole of the county.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34'Muy bueno.'
0:22:42 > 0:22:45'I wish I was driving through Rioja at harvest time,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49'seeing the deep purple tempranillo grapes being picked.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52'The wine has a massive cache for me,
0:22:52 > 0:22:57'because Rioja was the first truly great Spanish wine I tasted.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01'This is the winery of Miguel Merino. He's a relative newcomer
0:23:01 > 0:23:03'to the wine business here,
0:23:03 > 0:23:08'but the Washington Post said that his wine is "eminently drinkable",
0:23:08 > 0:23:13'so much so that they gave it a top prize in a blind tasting.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16'Miguel insisted that I try Chuletillas -
0:23:16 > 0:23:19'lamb cutlets cooked over vine trimmings.'
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Like many wine makers that I've spoken to,
0:23:23 > 0:23:29you seem to very relaxed, humorous, full of pleasure, really.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33Is it cos you like the wine, or is it because of the lifestyle?
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Yes, well, I think that we are talking about
0:23:36 > 0:23:39the epicentre of happiness.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42If some people want to celebrate something, what a better way
0:23:42 > 0:23:45than to have a good meal and a good glass of wine?
0:23:45 > 0:23:48And in a way, I felt jealous when I was a student.
0:23:48 > 0:23:55I wanted for a while to be a doctor, to help people be healthy and happy,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58and I feel now I'm making some people feel happy as well,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02and healthy, and this is a healthy... This is very healthy as well.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06Who does more for mankind, wine makers or doctors?
0:24:06 > 0:24:08I think wine makers, personally.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11- We better watch the... Do you mind holding it?- No, no, not at all.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16I'd better turn round the lamb chops otherwise... Yes.
0:24:16 > 0:24:22And we are going to put them now so that these ones cook better.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24- A bit hotter.- Yeah. - Oh, yeah, yeah.
0:24:24 > 0:24:30So I normally put, like, some well done and some less.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33- For personal taste? - So people can choose.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37'The Chuletillas were cooked for less than ten minutes.
0:24:37 > 0:24:43'They come from milk-fed lambs. I was ravenous because, in filming land, you film lots of
0:24:43 > 0:24:49'food-related things but most of the day is filled up with travelling.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52'Eating, you'll be surprised to learn, is a rarity.'
0:24:52 > 0:24:55- Yes.- Get some bread.- Yeah.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Miguel, I love this sort of TV - eating lovely lamb chops, drinking lovely wine,
0:24:59 > 0:25:05talking with a very intelligent, articulate Spaniard who speaks perfect English.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08- Thank you very much. - It makes the job just a joy.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12- It's pity, I will... I like to see your face when you receive the bill.- Oh!
0:25:12 > 0:25:16No, not really, not really. We are hospitable people here.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21Just tell me, because there's such a sort of synergy between the wine and the sheep,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23I mean, do they...
0:25:23 > 0:25:26- Presumably they live in the same part?- They live most of the time here.- Yeah.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31- Normally, the hurdles go into the hills.- Flocks, flocks.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35- Hurdles are what you'd pen them up in...with.- So flocks.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39- Flocks. Flocks of sheep.- Mm-hm. - That's a collection.- Mm-hm.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42Well, they stay here most of the time,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45but in winter, there is no pasture here
0:25:45 > 0:25:50so they will migrate in big flocks to the south west of Spain,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53- a place called Extremadura.- Really?
0:25:53 > 0:26:01But it takes a long while to go, and it is such a long tradition that,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05in Madrid, it may be sometimes that the traffic has to stop
0:26:05 > 0:26:11and let a flock of sheep come through because they have much priority.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16It is a much older tradition than automobiles.
0:26:16 > 0:26:22- What a wonderful country, where sheep have priority over traffic! - Yes, and my last name is Merino,
0:26:22 > 0:26:27- so I'm very proud of this priority in a way. Cheers.- Cheers.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35'Rioja is the smallest region in Spain, but I wouldn't mind betting
0:26:35 > 0:26:37'it's the richest, too.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41'For the very first time on this journey, as I travel eastwards,
0:26:41 > 0:26:46'I'm feeling a real touch of the Mediterranean.'
0:26:46 > 0:26:49It's been a journey of discovery, of course, for me...
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Excuse me. These gears on this campy are not totally to my liking.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57It's been a real journey of discovery because I really do think
0:26:57 > 0:27:01that people have a sort of impression of Spanish food as being
0:27:01 > 0:27:05'all sort of olive oil and, you know, paella and those sort of dishes
0:27:05 > 0:27:11'that we all know, but the real sort of country cooking is much more
0:27:11 > 0:27:14'sort of wedded to the land, really.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19'Also what they really love, and I love this about the Spanish, is their bread.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24'I mean, these days people back home have sort of forgotten about bread.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28'Maybe it's cos we went through a period of having such dull bread.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32'Now, thank goodness, we're getting some good bakers back.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35'But the Spanish never lost that connection with bread,
0:27:35 > 0:27:37'which is really the stuff of life.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40'And the way the bread in itself and the way they grill it
0:27:40 > 0:27:43'and they rub it with things
0:27:43 > 0:27:46'like alioli or tomatoes,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50'and also the way they make so many dishes out of stale bread.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54'I love that connection with the realities that bread's all about.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57'It's sort of not a particularly well-off country.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01'We get this impression, with these beautiful roads
0:28:01 > 0:28:05'and these windmills everywhere, that everything's charging ahead,
0:28:05 > 0:28:10'it's a modern, successful economy, but the real Spain isn't like that.'
0:28:10 > 0:28:14It's much poorer and much more used to making do with what's available.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18And what's available is what I like, cos it's things like
0:28:18 > 0:28:24good tomatoes, good olive oil, good wild mushrooms, good garlic.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27- 'And good gears.' - And good gears.
0:28:27 > 0:28:28HE LAUGHS
0:28:29 > 0:28:32'I couldn't pass up this opportunity.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36'This is Ester Solanas, maker of one of Spain's most iconic products.
0:28:36 > 0:28:42'There's no question that this is the most famous sausage in Spain.'
0:28:42 > 0:28:46I know my pronunciation's often a bit way off key,
0:28:46 > 0:28:50but it's not "choritzo", it's "choritho".
0:28:50 > 0:28:54'I notice with approval that the meat has quite a lot of fat in it,
0:28:54 > 0:28:55'perfect for sausages.
0:28:55 > 0:29:00'She showed me on the little piggy where it comes from.
0:29:00 > 0:29:01The shoulder.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03- Si. El hombro.- El hombro.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05La parte trasera.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08- La pierna.- The ham, the rump. Yeah, yeah.- Si.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13- Just those two? - Si, si. Es la parte mejor.
0:29:13 > 0:29:14The best bits.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17No tiene hueso, la parte mas rica.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21La pancetta se queda para comer loncheado.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25- Oh, the belly pork doesn't go in. That's done separately.- Si.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28Jolly good, thank you very much. I like your pig.
0:29:28 > 0:29:34'Esther adds dried garlic, rock salt,
0:29:34 > 0:29:38'and the most Spanish of spices - pimenton.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42'And then she pours in half a litre of water
0:29:42 > 0:29:46'and starts to mix it up - by hand, I notice.'
0:29:48 > 0:29:51I've just tasted some of the pimenton in there
0:29:51 > 0:29:54and it's lovely. It's got that really deep, smoky flavour.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57In fact, I used to think that chorizos were actually put in
0:29:57 > 0:30:01the smoke, hung up in smoke, but it's not - it's that pimenton.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05I just love the deep red colour of pimenton.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09And I read somewhere, if you think about the Spanish flag, it's just the deep red,
0:30:09 > 0:30:13which is the red of pimenton, and deep yellow of saffron,
0:30:13 > 0:30:17and no self respecting kitchen would be without either ingredient -
0:30:17 > 0:30:21by far the most important flavours in Spanish cooking.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25'Actually, I subsequently found out that some chorizos are smoked.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29'Anyway, Alexandre Dumas once said that each household makes
0:30:29 > 0:30:35'a chorizo for every day, and an extra 50 for when guests arrive.'
0:30:35 > 0:30:40I asked Ester how important chorizo was to the people of Rioja
0:30:40 > 0:30:42and she said, to all the Spanish people, it is the sausage.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45It's not just to be eaten on its own and in cooking,
0:30:45 > 0:30:47but in tapas as well.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51She said it's as important as the ham is, Iberico ham,
0:30:51 > 0:30:55and as important to the Spanish as something like salami is
0:30:55 > 0:30:56to the Italians.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05So that's how they do the little links - they stitch up the ends.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Just asked her how long they hang the chorizo for,
0:31:08 > 0:31:11and she said that, in the winter, it's weather depending,
0:31:11 > 0:31:16but in the winter for about four weeks, and in the summer, for three.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19'I think the people in Ezcaray are lucky to have
0:31:19 > 0:31:21'Ester in the high street.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24'I really felt I'd learnt something that afternoon, and more or less
0:31:24 > 0:31:28'then and there began thinking about what I could cook with chorizos.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30'Well, I thought I'd cook a dish with partridge
0:31:30 > 0:31:32'because they're really plentiful here.
0:31:32 > 0:31:38'And white beans, of course. It's got to be chorizo and white beans.'
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Well, I came up with the idea of this dish and, in fact,
0:31:41 > 0:31:44it's my take on the food of Rioja when I was watching Ester
0:31:44 > 0:31:46make those chorizos.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49I've always thought they were rather complicated
0:31:49 > 0:31:54but it's just pork, salt, pimenton and garlic, and that's all.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58And they're so famous. I mean, they are, to me, the most famous sausage
0:31:58 > 0:32:02in Spain, and they really flavour so many different dishes.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06And I thought, "What would go well with chorizo in a main course?"
0:32:06 > 0:32:09And I was thinking of those big open spaces in Rioja
0:32:09 > 0:32:13and loads of partridges. Cabbage - well, that's sort of a bit of a British thing,
0:32:13 > 0:32:16but the Spanish eat a lot of cabbage, particularly around Easter.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20Red wine. Of course, Rioja had to go in there. Chorizo,
0:32:20 > 0:32:21a bit of Serrano ham,
0:32:21 > 0:32:23garlic, of course - makes a great dish.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27And finally, some white beans cooked with pork bones.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31'The beans have been soaked.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35'You'd be surprised how much flavour you get from these pork bones.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39'Next, I fry off the chorizo and almost instantly out comes
0:32:39 > 0:32:42'the fat and the colour from the pimenton.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46'And now for the partridge. This bird is really popular in Spain.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48'I suppose the birds thrive in the terrain.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52'And of course, there are so many shooting estates in the country.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54'It's big business.'
0:32:54 > 0:32:57Of course, when you start cooking with chorizo, you've got that
0:32:57 > 0:32:59lovely deep orangey brown colour
0:32:59 > 0:33:02which makes everything look appetising,
0:33:02 > 0:33:04and the wonderful smell of the pimenton as well.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07You just know it's going to bring out the lovely gamey
0:33:07 > 0:33:10flavour of the partridges.
0:33:12 > 0:33:18'Now these beauties are ready for roasting. I'll put some sea salt and pepper on them
0:33:18 > 0:33:21'and put them in a hot oven for around 25 minutes.'
0:33:25 > 0:33:28'Game and cabbage go so well together.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32'I think if I was back home, I'd use Savoy, it's a bit sweeter.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35'This is the sort of cabbage you'd make coleslaw with.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40'I got this in the local supermarket down the valley in Casarabonela.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44'Now, Serrano ham - a chunk of it so you can cut it into lardons.'
0:33:44 > 0:33:47I just think the Spanish are terribly lucky in having such
0:33:47 > 0:33:53positive flavours as things like Serrano ham, chorizo, pimenton,
0:33:53 > 0:33:58an unabashed excess of garlic and lots and lots of very deep red wine.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00Just makes the food so lively.
0:34:01 > 0:34:07'The partridge, especially the red legged one, has been adored in Spain since the Middle Ages.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11'Poets and painters have immortalised it, and it's been set
0:34:11 > 0:34:14'before kings and princes for centuries.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16'But that's enough history.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20'Now, into the chorizo I add onions, garlic and the Serrano,
0:34:20 > 0:34:25'and the all-important Rioja. It's not a time to be stingy.
0:34:25 > 0:34:31'Reduce that down until it thickens a bit. Next, add sprigs of thyme,
0:34:31 > 0:34:35'poetically what the partridge has been eating, and then the cabbage.
0:34:35 > 0:34:40'Give that a good stir round so that it's coated with the chorizo,
0:34:40 > 0:34:44'garlic and onions, add chicken stock and butter, melt that in,
0:34:44 > 0:34:47'cook for a few minutes and it's done.'
0:34:47 > 0:34:49'Serve up with the beans.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52'I think Spanish white beans are the best in the world.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54'Then out comes the cabbage and chorizo.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56'Get set for a real treat.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58'I'm rather pleased with this,
0:34:58 > 0:35:03'and the idea started off in Ester's butcher's shop in Ezcaray.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07'Enjoy it with what's left of your Rioja.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09'This dish will not disappoint.'
0:35:15 > 0:35:17'Pamplona is in neighbouring Navarra.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20'It's much loved by the Americans and the British,
0:35:20 > 0:35:24'mainly because of the famous running of the bulls at the height of the summer.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27'In the main square is the famous Cafe Iruna, looking exactly
0:35:27 > 0:35:32'as it's always looked for a hundred years or more.'
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Loads of famous people came here - it's a magnet for them.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39Everybody from the Kennedys, Charlton Heston,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42probably while he was filming El Cid, Orson Wells,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44loads of matadors.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48I bet Ava Gardener came here when she was making The Sun Also Rises,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51because she took up with one of the matadors,
0:35:51 > 0:35:53much to Frank Sinatra's consternation.
0:35:53 > 0:36:00But the person that really, really interests me, of course, is Don Ernesto - Ernest Hemingway.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03I mean, I was such a fan of his when I was young.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05He was the macho man.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10I love his sort of really, really short prose style.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13And, I mean, coming here - just look at this.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16I mean, he wouldn't have had to do much more in Pamplona than sit here
0:36:16 > 0:36:18and watch the world going by.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20I mean, it's still full of atmosphere
0:36:20 > 0:36:24and my gosh, it would've been like that in the '40s and '50s.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30'I'm told Hemmingway used to drink vast quantities of rose wine,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33'a speciality of Navarra, and he would have found it
0:36:33 > 0:36:37'so easy to capture the spirit of the fiesta -
0:36:37 > 0:36:41'a heady mixture of life and death, the endless drinking
0:36:41 > 0:36:43'and the incessant banging of drums,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46'the harsh singing that never stopped, and the dancing.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49'And then at eight in the morning, it would all kick off again
0:36:49 > 0:36:52'with the running of the bulls, on their way to the ring,
0:36:52 > 0:36:58'their last taste of freedom before a bloody death in the afternoon.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01'So here's to you, Don Ernesto. I'm glad it's not the bull running
0:37:01 > 0:37:06'season at the moment. I can just imagine what the director would have me doing.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09'But I did come across Mark Eveleigh, a journalist
0:37:09 > 0:37:12'who's a bit of a veteran where bull running is concerned.'
0:37:12 > 0:37:15'It was pretty much Hemingway, reading about Hemingway,
0:37:15 > 0:37:17'that brought me here as well, originally.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20'I came here, I think, the first time in '94 and fell in love
0:37:20 > 0:37:25with the fiesta and I came back. I think there was ten years that I didn't miss
0:37:25 > 0:37:29any fiestas at all. And now I've been living in Pamplona
0:37:29 > 0:37:33for the last seven-odd years, and I still like it. I still love it.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36So how many bull runs have you done, then?
0:37:36 > 0:37:41I did 49 bull runs and then I finally did the 50th
0:37:41 > 0:37:45- and, erm, got hammered on the last bull run.- Oh, my gosh!
0:37:45 > 0:37:49- What...what happened? - Well, everybody always runs...
0:37:49 > 0:37:53they run their traditional section. You run your own section of the run,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56cos it's impossible to run the whole strip.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58And I was running the run that I always ran
0:37:58 > 0:38:02and it normally is pretty smooth, but I let the first set of bulls go past.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05They were split into two herds, and I knew that there were more to come,
0:38:05 > 0:38:10so I waited on the edge, got back in the street and, as I stepped out
0:38:10 > 0:38:13the bull just picked me up on his head, came straight through.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17He carried me about ten metres, dropped me on the cobbles and then fell over the top of me.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20When you say it picked you up on your head, did you get...
0:38:20 > 0:38:25On its head, between the horns. Luckily I was hit between the horns.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29If I remember, that bull had gored eight people in the street
0:38:29 > 0:38:31further back down before it got to me.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34It was one of the worst bulls ever.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Obviously, I didn't know that at the time it hit me, you know?
0:38:37 > 0:38:41- But that was it? You weren't going to do any more? - That's enough, I've retired.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44- But it...- And now I have a six-year-old daughter as well
0:38:44 > 0:38:47and she's made me promise that I won't do any more bull runs.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51'Next to the Cafe Iruna is the equally famous Hotel La Perla.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55'The head chef is Alex Mugica, who's reintroduced a menu
0:38:55 > 0:38:59'from a famous former Pamplona restaurant of the '50s and '60s
0:38:59 > 0:39:03'run by nine bourgeois sisters who regularly
0:39:03 > 0:39:07'played host to people like Hemingway, Sinatra and even Franco.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11'Their most popular dish was this.'
0:39:11 > 0:39:13So this is called Rabo Estofado?
0:39:13 > 0:39:15Yes. It's a typical dish here in Pamplona.
0:39:15 > 0:39:21Every year in San Fermin holy days all the people come here to eat this.
0:39:21 > 0:39:22- Really?- Yeah. Yes.
0:39:22 > 0:39:27'What Alex does is to dust the individual pieces of oxtail in flour
0:39:27 > 0:39:30'before frying them off in olive oil. At the height
0:39:30 > 0:39:35'of the San Fermin they'd be using the tails of the bulls killed in the ring.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38'I can quite imagine Hemingway eating this.'
0:39:38 > 0:39:42OK, Rick. Do you like to prepare this one?
0:39:42 > 0:39:46Do you know, I've never cooked oxtail. I have to admit, never.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50- Yeah.- I like eating it though.- OK. So I am going to turn...
0:39:50 > 0:39:55'It doesn't take long for the oxtails to get a nice golden colour.
0:39:55 > 0:40:00'He then takes them out and in another pan he fries loads of garlic.
0:40:00 > 0:40:05'I suppose it must have been about six or seven cloves, roughly sliced.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09'And then he adds onions, carrots and leeks.'
0:40:09 > 0:40:13Alex, you obviously like cooking. Why do you like cooking?
0:40:13 > 0:40:17Yeah. Because, er, it makes me very happy, is one.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21And I am cooking since I was a child, OK?
0:40:21 > 0:40:26Because my parents have a, er, small hotel restaurant
0:40:26 > 0:40:31and I always, I have been in the kitchen, yeah.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36'He softens the garlic, onions carrots and leeks
0:40:36 > 0:40:40'until they caramelise, and now he puts in brandy.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42'That's quite a lot, at least a double.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46'Now some wine, Navarra wine of course,
0:40:46 > 0:40:48'and then he gives it a stir for a couple of minutes.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52'This is important because he has to cook out the raw alcohol.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56'And once that's done he returns the oxtails to the saucepan
0:40:56 > 0:40:59'and then he puts in a really well-reduced beef stock.'
0:40:59 > 0:41:04- Now we have to cook this one very slowly.- Yeah, OK.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08- Very slow.- And, Alex, could you imagine Ernest Hemingway
0:41:08 > 0:41:11- sitting down to a plate of this? - Yes, of course.
0:41:11 > 0:41:17Because I know that Hemingway, er, he eat, ate a lot,
0:41:17 > 0:41:21so I think, or I know that the Rabo de Toro,
0:41:21 > 0:41:27this plate, he love a lot, yeah.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31'Halfway through simmering the oxtails he takes them out
0:41:31 > 0:41:38'and blitzes those vegetables and all that lovely stock into a thick silky gravy.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42'This is the secret of the dish, of course - it's the enriched sauce
0:41:42 > 0:41:44'made richer with the juices from the meat,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47'that wonderful stock and the wine and the brandy.'
0:41:49 > 0:41:52'It's now simmered for practically another hour
0:41:52 > 0:41:54'and the colour gets darker and darker
0:41:54 > 0:41:58'until it almost looks like chocolate, and then it's served.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02'As dishes go, this is as butch as it gets.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06'You can easily see Hemingway tucking into this.'
0:42:07 > 0:42:11Well...this is excellent!
0:42:11 > 0:42:14And er, excuse me, so's the wine.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19- Where's it from, the wine? - The wine is from Navarra.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22From Navarra, too? Goes with this really well.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26Thank you very much. I invite all the people to come to Pamplona to eat Rabo de toro.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29I'm sure they will. I'm sure when the programme comes out,
0:42:29 > 0:42:34you must get in touch with me and just say, "So many British people!"
0:42:34 > 0:42:37- OK, this is full. Thank you. - Cheers, Alex.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44Ever eastwards. The sun is three times as hot now
0:42:44 > 0:42:50as it was in damp rainy Galicia where I started my journey over a fortnight ago.
0:42:50 > 0:42:54Navarra is blessed with an extremely fertile landscape.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57It has the damp west wind from where I've just come from,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00the protection of the Pyrenees to the north
0:43:00 > 0:43:04and the warmth of the Mediterranean breezes coming from the east,
0:43:04 > 0:43:08and to top it all, you've got the water from the mighty river Ebro.
0:43:08 > 0:43:13And that's why the region is known as the vegetable capital of Spain.'
0:43:14 > 0:43:17The flat land of rich alluvial soil
0:43:17 > 0:43:21has been chopped into small plots called huertas.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Here, it seems anything will grow.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28The town of Tudela is the commercial centre of this garden of Spain.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32It was founded by the Romans and like virtually the whole of Spain,
0:43:32 > 0:43:37once Rome fell, it was governed for centuries by the Moors.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42It's a rare thing to see three distinctive styles of architecture nestling together,
0:43:42 > 0:43:48separated by hundreds of years - Roman, Moorish and Christian.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51In fact, it was the Romans who named this river the Ebro.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56'Today, I'm meeting Floren and his wife Mercedes -
0:43:56 > 0:44:01'vegetable growers who supply some of the top chefs in the restaurants in Spain.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04'Chefs who really put Spain on the culinary map.'
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Artichokes. What is it in Spanish?
0:44:06 > 0:44:11- Alcachofa.- Alcachofa.- Alcachofa. - This is beans.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13- Oh, broad beans. I love 'em.- Yes.
0:44:13 > 0:44:19I just discovered you supply Ferran Adria and Juan Mari Arzak
0:44:19 > 0:44:21- with their vegetables.- Si.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24So you, you're the vegetable king?
0:44:24 > 0:44:28He start 25 years ago, so when Juan Mari is not so famous,
0:44:28 > 0:44:31Ferran Adria is not so famous, they start too.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35So they, all of them start together, so they grow up together.
0:44:35 > 0:44:40- So you're all a formation of the nouvelle cucina?- Si.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43Floren and Mercedes had the perfect dish
0:44:43 > 0:44:47to show off their selection of vegetables - a minestra,
0:44:47 > 0:44:52which is like a thick soup made entirely from young vegetables.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56There are runner beans, which take about 30 seconds to blanch,
0:44:56 > 0:44:58and Floren chops up some borage stalks.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01That's a new one. I've only had it in Pimm's!
0:45:01 > 0:45:03He then blanches those, too.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08Next he shows me how he prepares the young, freshly picked artichokes.
0:45:08 > 0:45:13They're soft enough to be peeled and the flower part of the tip removed and then split in half.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17These artichokes, we cook yesterday.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21Good Lord! How come they're this sort of turquoise green?
0:45:21 > 0:45:25- Just water and salt. - Water and salt?!
0:45:25 > 0:45:28Water have to be 2000 magnesium...
0:45:28 > 0:45:31Is the word? And more.
0:45:31 > 0:45:36- HE SPEAKS SPANISH - And the water from here has this.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40I don't think I can do a recipe for it!
0:45:40 > 0:45:42It's a great colour.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46I've got to get that, I've got to take that back to my restaurants.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49I've never seen it.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51Now we're going to clean the asparagus.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54We're going to show you how we clean.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Like that.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58I love gadgets. Can I just have a look?
0:45:58 > 0:46:01- Si, of course. - Oh, I've got to have one of those.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05I'm surprised Floren hasn't got his name on it.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07No. This one, the other one.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11He's going to present to you his knife.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15- Oh, I'm very... Wow! - And go with you everywhere you go.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17FLOREN SPEAKS SPANISH
0:46:17 > 0:46:21You're going to remember us, Tudela and our vegetables.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23THEY LAUGH
0:46:23 > 0:46:24That's for you. Present to you.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29He going to be your partner in your trip, so...
0:46:32 > 0:46:35'The asparagus will take about five minutes to soften
0:46:35 > 0:46:39'and Floren is ready to start the final part of the process.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44'He's frying off onions, again picked a minute ago from his huerta,
0:46:44 > 0:46:46'along with some young tender garlic stalks,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49'and all at that stage straight out of the ground.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52'They're mild and subtle.
0:46:52 > 0:46:57'Now he adds flour because a minestra is quite thick.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00'That will absorb some of the oil while it cooks out.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03'And then for the stock.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06'He uses a cup full of water from the asparagus
0:47:06 > 0:47:10'and another from the electric soup.'
0:47:10 > 0:47:15I mean, that is great. It looks a bit like something out of science fiction,
0:47:15 > 0:47:19but I mean that will give the finished minestra
0:47:19 > 0:47:22such a lovely green spring-like colour.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24'Now he puts in the artichokes.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28'The thing about this dish is that you use whatever is in season,
0:47:28 > 0:47:31'when it's just at its tippy-top best.
0:47:31 > 0:47:36'And I think it's a great thing to cook in an allotment - that's if you get the weather.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39'I like these baby broad beans.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42'Sweet and tender, they'll take seconds to soften.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45'And now for the asparagus.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49'The Spanish love their fat white asparagus.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52'Look at that green now. Just the water?!
0:47:52 > 0:47:54'I just somehow can't believe it!'
0:47:56 > 0:48:00'Then more runner beans. One of my favourite vegetables, fresh and young.
0:48:00 > 0:48:05'and lastly tiny peas, which Floren calls the caviar of the land.'
0:48:05 > 0:48:08It's lovely watching this in this allotment,
0:48:08 > 0:48:10lovely cooking outdoors, you know,
0:48:10 > 0:48:14cos it seems right you can go and pick the artichokes or the broad beans.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17You know, the queen of the vegetable, right?
0:48:17 > 0:48:20King, king. Sorry!
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Well, he have long hair, so maybe...!
0:48:28 > 0:48:30Well, it's time for lunch,
0:48:30 > 0:48:34and that I'm pleased to say means a glass or possibly two of wine.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37Although not as famous as its neighbour Rioja,
0:48:37 > 0:48:40I think the wines here in Navarra are just as good.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44You see what I mean about this dish? It is just like a thick soup.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49- Salud.- Salud.- Salud.
0:48:49 > 0:48:55Cheers. I hope to see you next time you have your house here.
0:48:55 > 0:49:01'Well, mi casa su casa, that's if you're ever in Padstow.'
0:49:12 > 0:49:15So now Catalonia, and it's moments like this
0:49:15 > 0:49:19when I realise I can't live without seeing the sea.
0:49:19 > 0:49:24It's so important to me. I've been longing for this moment,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27ever since we left the mountains of the Basque country.
0:49:27 > 0:49:32This is home to the world-famous El Bulli restaurant, but I'm not going there.
0:49:32 > 0:49:38Instead I've been invited to join Rafa and his restaurateur friends
0:49:38 > 0:49:42a few hundred yards away in a quiet cove
0:49:42 > 0:49:46with a heady sense of warm olive oil and garlic.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51I must say this filming's an odd sort of thing sometimes.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54I mean for weeks now we've been in the rain
0:49:54 > 0:49:58and the cold of Northern Spain, trying to find a sunny day,
0:49:58 > 0:50:02and suddenly we find ourselves here, the north of Catalonia.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06I can remember coming through this part of Spain in the '60s
0:50:06 > 0:50:09and it was all like this really, as, in my memory, of course.
0:50:09 > 0:50:15But I mean, er, lovely day, nice people, lovely food, real food.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18I'm going to see how they make salsa romesco for the first time.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22Really looking forward to that. Happy as Larry!
0:50:22 > 0:50:27'All the magic of this famous sauce takes place in a mortar.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30'Crushed garlic, almonds and fried bread
0:50:30 > 0:50:32'cooked until crisp in olive oil.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35'And then fried livers, monkfish livers,
0:50:35 > 0:50:39'which is really important when you use the salsa in a fish stew.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43'That's all smashed up in the mortar.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46'Now they tear off fresh parsley and add the fried bread.
0:50:46 > 0:50:50'I think this is what cooking and creating flavour should be about.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54'When I arrived I saw tomatoes on the barbecue.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58'They're skinned and pulped most satisfyingly,
0:50:58 > 0:51:01'and then the flesh from the roasted romesco peppers.
0:51:01 > 0:51:06'That in all it's golden Catalan glory is a salsa romesco.
0:51:06 > 0:51:11'Rafa, my host, starts to make another iconic Catalan dish called a fideua.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15'Vermicelli-like pasta is toasted in a pan
0:51:15 > 0:51:20'with oil and cloves of garlic until they become golden.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23'Well, Catalonia has strong links to Italy.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26'In another corner of this fisherman's house a mate of Rafa's
0:51:26 > 0:51:30'barbecues the new season's green asparagus.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34'And now for the all-important fish stew.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38'Chunks of red gurnard and monkfish dusted in flour
0:51:38 > 0:51:39'are fried in olive oil.'
0:51:39 > 0:51:44What's really nice about this is they're all friends, they're all restaurateurs.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48Well, I think one's got a disco, but maybe he or she cooks at the disco.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51One of them cooks at El Bulli, which is just around the corner.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54But what I really like about it is they're all good cooks,
0:51:54 > 0:51:58so I'm picking up tons of stuff and I know that everything they cook
0:51:58 > 0:52:01will be the best possible dish, so I'm very excited.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05'Once the fish is fried and put to one side,
0:52:05 > 0:52:10'the pan is deglazed with fish stock and then in goes some romesco paste.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14'That's all mixed together and immediately sieved
0:52:14 > 0:52:16'to achieve a smoother sauce for the stew.'
0:52:19 > 0:52:21'Finally the fish goes back, and remember,
0:52:21 > 0:52:25'they've chosen fish which Rafa refers as "duro" -
0:52:25 > 0:52:28'that means it won't break up in the cooking.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31'While that simmers, Rafa finishes off the fideua
0:52:31 > 0:52:35'by ladling in fish caldo - fish stock.'
0:52:35 > 0:52:39I've just been talking to Rafa and he's saying that dishes
0:52:39 > 0:52:42like this, these fish dishes, originated from the fisherman.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45I mean basically, they would just be coming home from sea,
0:52:45 > 0:52:49got all of, sorted all their good fish for market
0:52:49 > 0:52:52and kept all the little ones for making a stew for themselves.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55And they'd just boil up, sometimes in sea water,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58with whatever was available - olive oil, garlic, tomato,
0:52:58 > 0:53:01sometimes a pinch of saffron, and that would be a dish.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05And now they fetch big money in top restaurants.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08OK. HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:53:08 > 0:53:10I think I'm right in what Rafa's just said.
0:53:10 > 0:53:15I wondered why he was putting this newspaper on top of this pan
0:53:15 > 0:53:18and he said it's just to scare the little vermicellis.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Yeah?
0:53:20 > 0:53:24To scare them and they all come up like this, so they're all pointing upwards.
0:53:24 > 0:53:29Maybe you put them in the dark and they're saying, "Where's the light, where's the light?"
0:53:29 > 0:53:30- Yah, yah.- That's right!
0:53:33 > 0:53:38'And sure enough, as the little pasta pieces soak up the stock,
0:53:38 > 0:53:40'they begin to point upwards,
0:53:40 > 0:53:44'like delicate little flowers searching for sunlight.
0:53:44 > 0:53:49'Finally it's time for lunch. Late, even by Spanish standards.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52'The fideua is traditionally served with alioli,
0:53:52 > 0:53:57'a fiercely garlicky mayonnaise, which works so well with the pasta
0:53:57 > 0:54:00'that has soaked up the good fish stock.'
0:54:00 > 0:54:02CHATTER IN SPANISH
0:54:06 > 0:54:08Excellent! Really good.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12Rafa's just said what's lovely about occasions like this, is not just the food,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16it's to be here with all his friends, who love his cooking as well.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18This is most important.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22'After eating the fideua, it was time for the fish stew,
0:54:22 > 0:54:26'which has been cooked with that fabulous romesco sauce,
0:54:26 > 0:54:28'and it didn't disappoint.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33'With great food like this, everyone got into the celebratory spirit.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36'It may be to do with all the wine they had while making lunch,
0:54:36 > 0:54:40'but in this part of the world, next to their love of food,
0:54:40 > 0:54:44'it's football and their beloved Barcelona.'
0:54:44 > 0:54:48ALL: Barca, Barca, Barca!
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Wherever there's sun, there's celebration.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Further south in Catalonia, in the town of Lleida,
0:54:57 > 0:55:01they hold the biggest snail festival I've ever seen.
0:55:01 > 0:55:07Thousands of people travel for miles to celebrate their passion for the humble caracoles.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13I'm very pleased that the Spanish's love of a good party
0:55:13 > 0:55:16extends to snails, cos I love snails!
0:55:16 > 0:55:19People either love them or absolutely hate them,
0:55:19 > 0:55:22really in the same way as people love or hate oysters.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25But, of course, on the sea, on the coast where I live
0:55:25 > 0:55:27there are endless oyster festivals,
0:55:27 > 0:55:31but great that here at Lleida there's a snail festival!
0:55:31 > 0:55:36And this weekend they get through 12 tonnes of snails.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40And that is so many snails, there's not enough of them in Spain
0:55:40 > 0:55:43so they have to get them from North Africa and South America.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47'Before I came here I'd only had snails the French way,
0:55:47 > 0:55:49'cooked in garlic, butter and parsley,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53'but I lost count of how many different ways they cook them over here.'
0:55:53 > 0:55:58I'm just trying to catch up in all things Catalan
0:55:58 > 0:56:01and doing a bit of reading and came across an author,
0:56:01 > 0:56:04which I must confess I knew nothing about him,
0:56:04 > 0:56:10but he's easily the most famous author certainly writing in Catalan in the 20th century,
0:56:10 > 0:56:14but probably in Spanish as well. Josep Pla.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18And I discovered he's really enthusiastic about food and drink.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21He's a real, really loved old whiskies,
0:56:21 > 0:56:25and he wrote this thing which I really like, which says,
0:56:25 > 0:56:29"Cooking is an art which transforms things
0:56:29 > 0:56:32"in an amiable and discreet manner"
0:56:32 > 0:56:36which I just think is really what I think about food.
0:56:36 > 0:56:42Also, he thought nothing of sitting down and eating 300 snails at one sitting.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09Well, I'm just beginning to get the hang of eating these snails
0:57:09 > 0:57:11cos you have to just twist them out of the shell
0:57:11 > 0:57:15and then just pinch the last bit off, which is,
0:57:15 > 0:57:19er, I mean it's not, it's not anything nasty,
0:57:19 > 0:57:23but it just isn't as nice-tasting as the rest of the main muscle.
0:57:23 > 0:57:30But Rafael was just saying there's going to be 12,000 people eating snails here today.
0:57:30 > 0:57:31I mean...
0:57:31 > 0:57:35I wonder how many you'd get in the UK? I'm not knocking the UK.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39I mean I don't mind that people don't like snails,
0:57:39 > 0:57:42but it just seems to me to be so wonderfully Spanish,
0:57:42 > 0:57:45that you can get 12,000 people coming here,
0:57:45 > 0:57:49drinking, enjoying themselves, eating snails.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51I mean, where else in the world?
0:57:51 > 0:57:55Isn't there something a bit special about a country
0:57:55 > 0:57:58that 12,000 people come to eat snails together?
0:57:58 > 0:58:00I think there is.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03'Now this is what I like about Spain.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06'They actually love being together in a crowd.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09'It seems the bigger the crowd, the happier they are.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12'Here, there are thousands of enthusiasts
0:58:12 > 0:58:15'who don't necessarily know each other,
0:58:15 > 0:58:19'but are united in their love for the humble snail.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21'Salud!'
0:58:22 > 0:58:27Next time, I meet up with a Spanish version of Ringo Starr
0:58:27 > 0:58:30and explore the fabulous land of El Cid.
0:58:42 > 0:58:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd