0:00:03 > 0:00:06I'm halfway through my scamper around Spain
0:00:06 > 0:00:09and, I must say, it gets better every day.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12The friendliness of the people, the great food
0:00:12 > 0:00:14and the sense of happiness.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Spain is a very easy country to like.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21There's a great joy in picking things up quickly.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25I mean, I think a lot of eating and drinking
0:00:25 > 0:00:28makes you instantly very familiar
0:00:28 > 0:00:32with the customs and culture of a country.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35So, you start off apprehensive - even nervous -
0:00:35 > 0:00:37about the money and what it costs
0:00:37 > 0:00:40and whether somebody's going to rip you off,
0:00:40 > 0:00:42and then quite soon you start ordering,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46you know, ordering tapas, ordering churros, ordering beers,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50ordering sherries and you feel, yeah, I like this place,
0:00:50 > 0:00:51I LIKE this place.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28I started my journey through Spain on the Costa De La Muerte,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30the coast of death in Galicia.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33I'm using my friend's rather tired camper van.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35I was looking for a saucepan - haven't found it -
0:01:35 > 0:01:38cos I thought I'd do a bit of cooking on the journey.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43But what I did find is that my friend's left all these tins,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45presumably when he goes camping, it's what he eats.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Sorry if I'm a bit snobbish but... Obviously, there's baked beans
0:01:49 > 0:01:55and, er, baked beans, corned beef, premium steak and kidney.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57I don't know about this,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59I would just sooner buy locally in the market.
0:01:59 > 0:02:07Baked beans, evaporated milk, Irish stew, chilli con carne...
0:02:07 > 0:02:10I travelled eastwards through the Picos mountains
0:02:10 > 0:02:14and along the north coast, a part known as Green Spain.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17A place where it rains a lot.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23I remember crossing Rioja and longing for the sun.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27But more than that, I didn't realise how important the sea is to me.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31In Catalonia, I saw my first glimpse of it and it was like,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34"Yes! This is more like it. This is the Spain I fell in love with.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36"This is the stuff of good memories."
0:02:41 > 0:02:44So, after driving for the best part of three weeks,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48I'm here in Catalonia, just north of Barcelona.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54This is part of the Costas that has escaped the Benidorm treatment.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56OK, the fishing villages have gone
0:02:56 > 0:02:58and the buildings are relatively new
0:02:58 > 0:03:02and they don't make their money catching fish any more,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04it's holiday makers, instead.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07But I remember coming here to Caldetes in the early '60s
0:03:07 > 0:03:09when I was 18 or so.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Here, I discovered the unbridled joys - or so I thought at the time -
0:03:13 > 0:03:16of drinking cava, jugs of sangria
0:03:16 > 0:03:19and tucking into chicken roasting on a spit.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25This is a really interesting story about how restaurants really start.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27About 50 years ago, this was a garage.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31I was just looking for any signs of the petrol pumps.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35And the guy that was running the garage had a lorry driver come in one night
0:03:35 > 0:03:37and he couldn't find anywhere to eat -
0:03:37 > 0:03:39I understand that about round here.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42And he said, "Is there any chance you could give me something to eat?"
0:03:42 > 0:03:46And the guy said, "Well, I could cook you some rice and calamari,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48"that's what I'm having."
0:03:48 > 0:03:53And he did it and the lorry driver loved it so much that he told all his friends,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56told everybody. People kept coming back and saying,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00"Can we have some of that rice and calamari?" and he thought,
0:04:00 > 0:04:05"Well, if it's so good, I might as well open a restaurant." So he did.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08And, 50 years later, it's enormous, it's famous,
0:04:08 > 0:04:12it specialises in local Catalonian cooking
0:04:12 > 0:04:16and it's actually known all over the world.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20This is probably the most famous dish - it's called suquet.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24It's really Catalan and the fish is rascasse, or scorpion fish.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Lalita, one of the owners, is basting the sauce
0:04:27 > 0:04:30made with amongst other things, almonds, pine nuts,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33fried fish liver, potatoes and sea cucumber.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38Yeah, sea cucumber - it's very popular here.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42I came here this morning to film Kita - one of the two sisters,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44they're called Pekita and Lalita - cooking for us
0:04:44 > 0:04:47but they absolutely insisted we sat down
0:04:47 > 0:04:48and had a Catalan breakfast, first.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51We couldn't say no. But not only have we got all this food,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54we've got bacalhau, we've got fried potatoes,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56we've got lentils with local chorizo.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59I think they make the chorizo themselves.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02We've got some beautiful beans that are so soft,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05and they're called judias blancas del ganxet.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08I think that's the right pronunciation and...
0:05:09 > 0:05:11..we got this local red wine.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14I mean, I wouldn't dream of drinking red wine for breakfast
0:05:14 > 0:05:18but these guys over here are knocking it back, so...
0:05:18 > 0:05:21when in Catalonia.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Just a water, just to...water it down a bit.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28This is the dish that turned a garage into a restaurant.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32It's squid and rice and I think there's meat in it too.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35It's popular here to mix fish and meat together.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38They call it mar y muntanya - the sea and the mountains.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41I asked the two sisters, Lalita and Pekita,
0:05:41 > 0:05:46how important it was to keep these relatively old Catalan recipes alive.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:05:50 > 0:05:53They told me how crucial it was
0:05:53 > 0:05:55for them to carry on their mother's inheritance.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58"It's traditional food that we cook," she said,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01"but the most important thing is to keep our identity alive
0:06:01 > 0:06:04"and food is our identity."
0:06:04 > 0:06:09Pekita said, "It's also a good thing to find the very best ingredients.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11"The pea season ended today
0:06:11 > 0:06:15"but now it's the very first day of the local tomato crop."
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Oh, this is a very important moment
0:06:17 > 0:06:20cos these are the first Montserrat tomatoes of the season
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and they're doing ever so well here because...
0:06:23 > 0:06:27this is the most popular dish in the whole restaurant menu -
0:06:27 > 0:06:28a salad made with these tomatoes.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Now, I was just looking at them, looking how misshapen they are
0:06:32 > 0:06:35and just thinking, would you see those in our supermarkets?
0:06:35 > 0:06:37I don't think so!
0:06:37 > 0:06:40Well, I might be wrong. Maybe when this is shown
0:06:40 > 0:06:44there'll be supermarket shelves groaning with Montserrat tomatoes.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46But they do make a wonderful salad.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49So cut up the tomatoes like so, add salt
0:06:49 > 0:06:53and slice a white salad onion. And then, for a touch of sharpness,
0:06:53 > 0:06:57a floret or two of pickled cauliflower.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Next for a bit of heat, pickled green chillies.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04You can get these in jars at your local supermarket.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09And then a splashing of red wine vinegar and some chopped tomato.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13The whole lot is drizzled with olive oil
0:07:13 > 0:07:16and that along with the scorpion fish
0:07:16 > 0:07:19are the choice dishes on the menu today.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- Mmm.- Very good.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27Oh!
0:07:27 > 0:07:31That's like the tomatoes one always dreams about in the Mediterranean.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36He just said he thinks it needs more salt.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39I was just watching all that salt going on and thinking,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42OK, salt police, it's not my fault this time!
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Just to let you know, when the king comes to Catalonia,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51he comes here for Lalita's famous suquet.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55I like this part of the Costa Brava.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00Here at Roses, everything is still very much on a human scale,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04although it was one of the first in a succession of fishing villages
0:08:04 > 0:08:08to go helter-skelter into the world of mass tourism.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Norman Lewis - a writer I really admire,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14mainly because of his love and understanding of food -
0:08:14 > 0:08:17wrote about Spain in his book, Voices Of The Old Sea,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19about the time in the '50s
0:08:19 > 0:08:23when the first whiff of tourism started floating over the Costas.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28"The local property developer goes from strength to strength
0:08:28 > 0:08:31"with his plans for the coming of tourists,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35"determined to create for them a Spanish dreamland,
0:08:35 > 0:08:41"a setting in which the realities of poverty and work
0:08:41 > 0:08:45"were tolerated so long as they remained picturesque."
0:08:45 > 0:08:49At the time, Norman Lewis asked a fisherman what he thought about
0:08:49 > 0:08:52the coming changes and the arrival of tourism
0:08:52 > 0:08:57and he says, "How can anyone say? One thing is certain,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01"here we have always been and here, whatever happens,
0:09:01 > 0:09:06"we shall remain listening to the voices of the old sea."
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Further along the coast, is the fishing port of Palamos.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16I know about this place because it's in my seafood hall of fame.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20This is the eau Medoc of prawn fishing.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23They say it's down to the quality of the water,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27a cocktail of melted snow from the Pyrenees that runs into the salty Med,
0:09:27 > 0:09:32which creates the perfect environment for these sweet prawns
0:09:32 > 0:09:36that look as if they've been cooked already.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40I know no better way of cooking them
0:09:40 > 0:09:44than putting them onto hot sea salt for a couple of minutes.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49It keeps them sweet and moist. They fetch a fair old price here,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52unlike these tellines, a shellfish caught throughout the Med
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and one I'm particularly fond of.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Like all good fresh seafood,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00the simplest way of cooking them is the best.
0:10:00 > 0:10:06A minute or so on an oiled plancha and wait until they open.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08And that's more or less it.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11An extra drizzle of oil and a few chopped chives
0:10:11 > 0:10:15and that, to me, is perfect holiday food.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20I've just watched Montse - short for Montserrat -
0:10:20 > 0:10:24cooking these tellines, or called telarinas in Spanish.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28And I was just thinking, cooking on a plancha, on a griddle,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32is such an easy way of cooking seafood and it is so delicious.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Cos really as these tellines open,
0:10:35 > 0:10:40the juices are just cooked so quickly that they then coat the meat
0:10:40 > 0:10:42so you get this lovely seafood taste.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45It's really the best.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52In the resort of Blanes, I've come to meet Antonio Mia.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56He was a household name in Spain in the '60s and '70s
0:10:56 > 0:11:00because he was the Ringo Starr of a band that used to copy the Beatles.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02This is me.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07They were called Los Mustangs and they came from Barcelona.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10Now he's packed his drum kit away, his passion is food
0:11:10 > 0:11:16and he insisted on cooking me lunch, the real food of Catalonia.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Can you get this sort of food in restaurants around here, really?
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Hmm...
0:11:22 > 0:11:24In restaurant's here, they are special.
0:11:24 > 0:11:30If they know you, they say, "Come, come, look, I have this for you."
0:11:30 > 0:11:34Something from the sea that they bring in for me.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37If you are, say you are like a tourist, they say...
0:11:38 > 0:11:44..plato comedero - take some bacon and chips.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47So, they have to know you.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50It's because they are always keep things in the kitchen.
0:11:50 > 0:11:51In the back, you know?
0:11:51 > 0:11:53So you have to have friends everywhere.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55You love your food, Antonio.
0:11:55 > 0:12:02You're making me very hungry. Can we go and cook something at your house?
0:12:02 > 0:12:03It was only a minute or so
0:12:03 > 0:12:08before a lady shopper recognised him from the old days.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11What's she saying?
0:12:11 > 0:12:13ANTONIO SINGS
0:12:21 > 0:12:24People know me but I don't know the people.
0:12:24 > 0:12:25I know, it's a problem.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28They watch TV and then they say, "Hola!"
0:12:28 > 0:12:31And I say, "Hola!" And, "Why? I don't know you!"
0:12:31 > 0:12:35- Is she talking about the Mustangs? - The Mustangs, si, si.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38It's been a very long time
0:12:38 > 0:12:41but he still has a bit of the pop star about him.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46- What was that?- I look pretty.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51- Are you going to pay her?- Er...
0:12:56 > 0:13:00At their house, his partner Rosa prepares something very Catalan.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03It's what everybody eats in this part of Spain.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08The basic version is toasted bread with tomatoes, salt and olive oil.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12But she's using roasted vegetables - sweet red peppers,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16onions and aubergines - all softened and skinned.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Then she puts in a couple of anchovies and more olive oil,
0:13:19 > 0:13:23and that with a glass of dry sherry makes a very agreeable elevenses.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Antonio though is making something much more substantial for lunch.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35A dish from his childhood.
0:13:35 > 0:13:36So what's it called, Antonio?
0:13:36 > 0:13:43This is called faves a la Catalana - broad beans in Catalan style.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48So this is a typical Catalan country recipe, I guess.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Absolutely typical. Typical mainly in the country
0:13:52 > 0:13:58because this is product of the farms, you know? Fresh. Even the onion.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01You know, we are using fresh onions
0:14:01 > 0:14:07because if they're fresh, the flavour is aromatic.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13- So you used to be a rock 'n' roll drummer. Why you...- I used to.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15You used to.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Ah...because I don't know, it's a mystery. Passion.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23I mean, cooking is an artistic thing.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27I cannot paint a nice picture but I can do something here
0:14:27 > 0:14:34full of colour. But not only colour - smell, taste, everything.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Everybody must do that, why not?
0:14:39 > 0:14:42He bought the new season's garlic from the market that morning
0:14:42 > 0:14:46and he uses the green stem as well as the bulb.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51- Now, this is the ham bone.- OK.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54When you finish it in the Iberican ham, we put this.
0:14:54 > 0:15:00This to me is very important because this reforms the flavour
0:15:00 > 0:15:05and gives you the old fashioned flavour, like granny used to do.
0:15:05 > 0:15:11I remember when I was child, I give this special taste, put a ham bone.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Now, fresh broad beans, this is the centre piece of his dish.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18At the start of the season they're highly revered
0:15:18 > 0:15:23and quite rightly, I just love them and they go so well with ham
0:15:23 > 0:15:26and fatty bacon and some fresh mint.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31- So what's that, is that going in now?- The secret, the secret.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33- And what is it? - Er, this is Aniseed.- Oh, yeah.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38That's a new one on me. And now chicken stock.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42- How long are you going to cook it for then?- Er, 25, 30 minutes.- OK.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47- I need to put pieces of paper on top. - Uh-huh.
0:15:47 > 0:15:53And this and leave it on minimum, minimum fire - chup, chup, chup -
0:15:53 > 0:15:59for 25 minutes. 10 minutes before, we put the sausage, then finished.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00Great.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02Chup, chup, chup.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Antonio, while we weren't looking,
0:16:04 > 0:16:06puts in a couple of thin slices of belly pork
0:16:06 > 0:16:08and now the black pudding - the morcilla -
0:16:08 > 0:16:11and he cooks it for a further 10 minutes.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Finally it's time, thank goodness, for lunch.
0:16:15 > 0:16:21- Do you miss the band, the Mustangs? - Sincerely, not very much.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23- Because being 40 years.- Yeah.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28I had enough. We over-did it a little bit.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34So, no chance of a revival, going back on the road with the boys?
0:16:34 > 0:16:40Er, no, not really and also we are too old. And if we come back,
0:16:40 > 0:16:47I'm sure they will make us travel around Spain to play.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Everybody want to hear the old songs, you know.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56And also, which kind of fans we have now? 60-year-old like this,
0:16:56 > 0:17:02"Oh, I remember when I was young! I meet my husband with your songs."
0:17:03 > 0:17:06- And...- You won't get any younger ones?
0:17:06 > 0:17:08The Rolling Stones still get younger ones.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13- Si, si, I know, I know, but... - Oh, that looks good.
0:17:20 > 0:17:21Now let's see.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24- And if you eat it with a little piece of this black thing.- Oh, I will.
0:17:24 > 0:17:31Oh, that's so good! Superb, Antonio, absolutely superb.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33< Are you just saying that?
0:17:33 > 0:17:36No, I'm not just saying that. It's really good.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Nice, tasty and natural.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43Very natural. I mean, this is a star dish. Love it.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46MUSIC: "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" by The Beatles
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Well, as the song says, life goes on
0:17:49 > 0:17:52and Antonio can invite me for lunch anytime he wants.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54He's such good news.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59One of the many delights of this trip,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03was cooking here in a converted farmhouse in Andalucia,
0:18:03 > 0:18:09surrounded by olive groves with the plumpest olives I've ever seen.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12And here, I'll be cooking dishes I've discovered on my travels
0:18:12 > 0:18:15in various restaurants and bars along the way.
0:18:15 > 0:18:16This is a great Catalan dish.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21Meatballs in a rich sauce with cuttlefish and prawns.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25I'm making the meatballs, mixing in onion, garlic, parsley,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29a touch of nutmeg, and seasoning it with salt and pepper.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33To bind it, I'm going to use some bread soaked in milk.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37So this is one of the dishes that the Catalonians call mar y muntanya,
0:18:37 > 0:18:41which just means sea and mountains, and it's just a mixture of meat -
0:18:41 > 0:18:44in this case, veal and pork meatballs -
0:18:44 > 0:18:46and cuttlefish and prawns.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50I sometimes wonder if that, to me rather coarse, term
0:18:50 > 0:18:54surf and turf originated in something like this.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58I remember the rather satisfying business of making meatballs
0:18:58 > 0:19:00even before I became a chef because in the '60s
0:19:00 > 0:19:03they used to be the obvious thing to have
0:19:03 > 0:19:05with spaghetti and tomato sauce.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08And this is quite an important process in this dish
0:19:08 > 0:19:10because I'm colouring them. They'll look better.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13I could just drop them into the sauce nearer the end
0:19:13 > 0:19:15but giving them a bit of a caramelisation
0:19:15 > 0:19:20makes the dish look much better and also I like tossing the meatballs.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26As I'm in Spain, I'm finishing this off in a cazuela,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29an earthenware dish to be found, I would guess,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31in every Spanish kitchen.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34I think earthenware imparts a certain something
0:19:34 > 0:19:37to the final flavour. Now the prawns and cuttlefish.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40I've chopped the cuttlefish into rough chunks
0:19:40 > 0:19:44and they just need to be tossed very quickly in hot oil.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48You don't want to cook them through. Season them like so.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50I think this type of dish must have originated
0:19:50 > 0:19:53simply by what people happen to have on that day.
0:19:53 > 0:19:59A little bit of fish, some meat and hey presto, put it all in one pot.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02I never thought the day would come but, actually, this is, er...
0:20:02 > 0:20:04this is a bought-in tomato sauce.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08It's actually made with just simply olive oil, garlic and onions.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Normally, I like to make everything but it's quite a complicated dish
0:20:12 > 0:20:15and sometimes I think it's probably worth doing something like that
0:20:15 > 0:20:17just so that you will make the dish.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19If you've got to make everything from scratch
0:20:19 > 0:20:22you just say, "Oh, I don't think so."
0:20:22 > 0:20:24Now, a sprinkling of peas.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29It would be really good to say it's the first day of the new season
0:20:29 > 0:20:33but, alas, these are frozen. Nothing wrong with frozen, though.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Stir that around.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Next, chicken stock. Let that simmer while I make this.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41It's something that will thicken the sauce
0:20:41 > 0:20:43and give it a real Catalan flavour.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47So in a mortar - again extremely common in a Spanish kitchen -
0:20:47 > 0:20:49I start with a handful of toasted almonds.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Toasted because they give out more flavour.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56And then garlic and oil to turn it into a paste.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00Croutons come next, crisp and golden with olive oil.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04What I'm making here is called a picada
0:21:04 > 0:21:08and you add it at the end of a lot of savoury dishes
0:21:08 > 0:21:10and, basically, it thickens up the sauce.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12But it just gives it a real explosion of flavour
0:21:12 > 0:21:15because we've got in here almonds, garlic,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19parsley, lots of olive oil, which just goes in at the last minute,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22as I said, thickens it and just tastes really good.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24So, now a fist full of parsley.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29I've noticed over here they often grate a tomato right at the end.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33I think this is a good idea because you get this fresh acidity,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36whereas tinned tomatoes tend to be a bit sweet.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Also, while I'm at it, I think the mortar and pestle
0:21:39 > 0:21:42gets you much closer to the basics of cooking.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47By the very process, you really feel you've achieved something special.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51So all you need to do now is to stir that in with the meatballs,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54cuttlefish and prawns, and cook for another 10 minutes or so
0:21:54 > 0:21:58until the sauce is thick and the meatballs are cooked through.
0:21:58 > 0:21:59Then serve.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Over here, it's a dish offered in a tapas bar, a transport cafe
0:22:03 > 0:22:06or, indeed, a very posh restaurant.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10And that's Spain in a cazuela.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16I heard in that the market in Mataro was well worth a visit,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19especially if you like fish.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23These places are really cool inside, keeping everything fresh
0:22:23 > 0:22:25and the displays, like this fish counter,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28kick-start any cook's imagination.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30What I could do with those hake steaks.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32But I'm really looking for things...
0:22:32 > 0:22:36I want to cook in my little camper van, I just want something...
0:22:36 > 0:22:40I want to do a la plancha cooking, where you get a really hot griddle.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43But I'm thinking of getting a really hot frying pan
0:22:43 > 0:22:46and just throwing something onto it, tossing it over,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48a bit of olive oil, some herbs maybe
0:22:48 > 0:22:51and that's all because that's all the Spanish do.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54The thing that, I suppose, really interests me here
0:22:54 > 0:22:56are the gambas and the langoustine.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Oh, gosh, I don't know, look, there's some weever fish there.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04They've cut out the spines cos they're really, really poisonous.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08Red bream, tiny little shrimps there.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12I think I'm going to go for these little langoustines.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14They're landed as small as this in the UK
0:23:14 > 0:23:17but they just turn them into breaded scampi.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21Teresa, how would you cook these little langostinos?
0:23:23 > 0:23:26SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:23:31 > 0:23:36So, the simple way is just in a la plancha with salt and pepper
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and just turn them over and dress them with a bit of olive oil.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41But she also likes to cook them exactly the same way
0:23:41 > 0:23:43but with a bit of Cognac as well.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48Personally, I'll leave the Cognac out because I know these are going to be so sweet,
0:23:48 > 0:23:50I don't want them tasting of anything else.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54And a kilo...por favor.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58I see they come from the mar Mediterranean
0:23:58 > 0:24:02so, they're local. She says they're really sweet.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05- Er, cuanto?- Diecinueve.
0:24:06 > 0:24:07Gracias.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13So, now it's time to cook.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17A perfect evening for cooking outside.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22I must say campie's really come into her own, this evening.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Her own? His own? I'm not quite sure.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Bit like an oyster, really, campie - sometimes he, sometimes she.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32I think she's a she tonight, cooking these langoustines,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35because when I went into the market today and saw them
0:24:35 > 0:24:38I just thought, "Yes! Now I can cook things."
0:24:38 > 0:24:43Cos I do stay in hotels. I'm not staying in campie, no way!
0:24:43 > 0:24:47But I like to cook things and I just got a frying pan
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and made a plancha with it. I've got the pan really hot,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54poured a tiny bit of oil in, not a lot,
0:24:54 > 0:24:58and then threw in the langoustines, stirred them around a bit.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Just cook them enough to just cook them
0:25:00 > 0:25:05and just sprinkle them with a bit of sea salt, some black pepper.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12Took them out. Sprinkle of chopped parsley
0:25:12 > 0:25:15which Teresa gave me in the market this morning.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18A little bit of oil and here we go.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20I can tell you just by the smell of them,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23I wouldn't say they're the best langoustines I've ever eaten
0:25:23 > 0:25:26cos, of course, they'd be in my restaurant but...
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Oh! I wish you were here.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35If you've been in Spain for some time
0:25:35 > 0:25:40you're bound to have seen the festival of the Moors and the Christians.
0:25:40 > 0:25:41This is in Lleida.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50I think this sums up what the Spanish are about.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53They love being in big groups with all their friends and neighbours.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57They love celebration and they love showing off.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11These costumes are not old curtains sewn up by your mum
0:26:11 > 0:26:16but proper tailored jobs that cost a fortune.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19The whole event is based on the re-conquest of Spain from the Moors.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Even though that happened 700 years ago,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25it's just a mere blip in the minds of the Spanish.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29There's a word I've heard over and over again while I've been here
0:26:29 > 0:26:34and that is casticismo. It means the essence of being Spanish.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42I love those lavish medieval processions, which is just as well,
0:26:42 > 0:26:47as I'm going to the region of Valencia, the country of El Cid.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50And, unlike Don Quixote, he really did exist.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59Every castle has a story to tell, including this one in Morella.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06I was on my way to a paella festival further south
0:27:06 > 0:27:08but I couldn't resist stopping off.
0:27:09 > 0:27:14But actually it's a bit of schoolboy escape, I suppose,
0:27:14 > 0:27:19because, in the 1960s, there was this fabulous film called El Cid
0:27:19 > 0:27:21and having just seen Ben-Hur,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Charlton Heston was the star in my firmament,
0:27:25 > 0:27:26and El Cid was the next one.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29They don't make films like El Cid anymore.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32The epics, we used to call them. So, I had to come here to Morella
0:27:32 > 0:27:36because El Cid sacked this castle up here.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41He's seen as the Christian knight who began the process
0:27:41 > 0:27:43which kicked the Moors out of Spain.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Nothing could be further from the truth, of course.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51Most of his time he was a mercenary, a knight errant, I suppose,
0:27:51 > 0:27:52looking back on it,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55and he spent a lot of his time working for the Moors
0:27:55 > 0:27:57and, in fact, I think when he sacked Morella, here,
0:27:57 > 0:28:01he was working for the Moors. He then went on and took Valencia.
0:28:01 > 0:28:02Open the gates!
0:28:30 > 0:28:32They don't make them like that any more.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34And to me, this beach near Valencia -
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Peniscola - could never be an ordinary beach.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41In my mind, it will always ring to the thunder of hooves
0:28:41 > 0:28:44and the swoosh of arrows in glorious Technicolor.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50But getting back to food, the point of my journey,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53while I was here, I came across this simple refreshing salad
0:28:53 > 0:28:56made with the famous Valencia oranges.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00Something the Moors made great use of.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04This is a combination of oranges and salt cod.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09I'm making the dressing using fresh orange juice, sherry vinegar,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Always like to taste my dressings and what I'm looking for here,
0:29:17 > 0:29:21is it sweet enough with all that orange juice?
0:29:21 > 0:29:23Can do with a tiny bit of sugar in there
0:29:23 > 0:29:27just to reinforce the sweetness of those Valencia oranges.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30It's a very popular salad from Valencia
0:29:30 > 0:29:32but also popular in Andalucia.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35What I like about it is the contrast of the orange segments
0:29:35 > 0:29:40and the salt cod and the bitterness of the black olives.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44Salt cod has a certain sweetness.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47It's funny how something that was designed
0:29:47 > 0:29:50purely as a way of preserving fish, centuries ago,
0:29:50 > 0:29:54has imparted a flavour the Spanish can't live without.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57Now it's red onions, black, slightly bitter olives,
0:29:57 > 0:30:00parsley and segments of boiled egg.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Finally, the all important citrus dressing.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09This is summer food and, although it's simple,
0:30:09 > 0:30:14it's so sophisticated and, to my mind, is a real taste of Valencia.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25And here's another one much more famous.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29And the origins of it - of course, I'm talking about paella -
0:30:29 > 0:30:32start in the rice fields surrounding Valencia.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34They were another legacy of the Moors.
0:30:34 > 0:30:39This is the first time I've ever stood in a field of rice ready for harvesting.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41In fact, I've never tasted rice on the ear before
0:30:41 > 0:30:45but I'm just noticing how fecund everything is. Looking around here,
0:30:45 > 0:30:50there's crayfish, there's little tiny fish fry,
0:30:50 > 0:30:51there's crabs over there.
0:30:51 > 0:30:56You sort of begin to instantly understand what paella is all about.
0:30:56 > 0:30:57It was poor people's food
0:30:57 > 0:31:01and they added to the rice anything they could get hold of.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06Judias beans, green beans, anything they can get out of the rice fields,
0:31:06 > 0:31:09rabbits, chickens, that sort of thing.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11It instantly becomes poor people's food
0:31:11 > 0:31:13and all the more romantic for it, I think.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16Up till the beginning of the last century
0:31:16 > 0:31:18the rich people didn't eat rice,
0:31:18 > 0:31:22because all these rice fields were associated with malaria, of course.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25They were all swamp areas. So it was sort of looked down on
0:31:25 > 0:31:29as poor people's... Not the sort of thing you ate.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33They had bean stews like fabada from northern Spain.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37But now, of course, to the people of Valencia, rice is everything.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Indeed, they say it's a way of understanding life.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43And paella, well, it's not only the most famous dish around here
0:31:43 > 0:31:50and in all of Spain but also it's the way the rest of the world identifies Spanish cooking.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57This is the town of Sueca, not far from Valencia.
0:31:57 > 0:32:02It's a centre of rice in the region, and all this dancing is the overture
0:32:02 > 0:32:05for its annual paella competition -
0:32:05 > 0:32:08something taken very seriously indeed.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10I thought I knew what to expect.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13I thought they'd be cooking lots of different paellas,
0:32:13 > 0:32:17some with fish and seafood, some with sausage,
0:32:17 > 0:32:19maybe some with game. But not a bit of it.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23- Chicken, rabbit...- Rabbit.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26- ..and vegetables from Valencia. - Uh-huh.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:32:31 > 0:32:34So, what they're saying is that
0:32:34 > 0:32:37they're all cooking with the same ingredients,
0:32:37 > 0:32:39all 40 of the chefs here.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43It has to be this way because it is, after all, a competition
0:32:43 > 0:32:46and all have to cook over orange wood.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50We think that Valencian paella is the most internationalised Spanish dish.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53The products are produced in Valencia, mainly -
0:32:53 > 0:32:56rice, vegetables, chicken meat, rabbit meat -
0:32:56 > 0:32:58so it's part of our culture, part of us.
0:32:58 > 0:33:03What I didn't realise was the point of cooking over wood fire,
0:33:03 > 0:33:07not only because of the gentle uniform heat,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10but also because the flavour of the wood gets into the paella.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13I mean, that, to me, says it all.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17So, when they're all cooked to utter perfection,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20they go off to the judging tent.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24What they do there is beyond me. 40 paellas all the same?
0:33:24 > 0:33:28How do they arrive at a decision? But arrive they do.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30The secret of what they're looking for, I'm told,
0:33:30 > 0:33:35lies mostly in the flavour and, indeed, the colour of the rice.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39But also the caramelized crust at the bottom of the pan.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42This should be slightly crunchy and full of flavour.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45I think that one might be on its way to a rosette.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49And now for the moment of truth. This is big news here.
0:33:49 > 0:33:54This is amazingly exciting, like the Oscars for paella.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58I don't know anything like it back in the UK just for one dish.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00Pasties? Cornish pasties? Nah!
0:34:02 > 0:34:05It's time for the number one prize, the ultimato.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13And it goes to a very popular duo - local boys from Sueca.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17I bet their profit margin goes through the roof for the next few months.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21But it all goes to show that pride in local food is a good thing
0:34:21 > 0:34:25and it just makes me want to cook one.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Do you know, it's ages since I've cooked outdoors,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31The last time I can remember was summer in Cornwall
0:34:31 > 0:34:35on a windy promontory somewhere, where everything blew off the table.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39I think that was the last day. We just thought "never again".
0:34:39 > 0:34:42But, obviously, this is a bit different and paellas
0:34:42 > 0:34:45or rice dishes like paella are designed to be cooked outdoors.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49And this one - very simple, rice dish, resembling a paella
0:34:49 > 0:34:50but my take on it.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54Just with monkfish, a bit of saffron and some red peppers.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57First of all, I'm going to cook the monkfish to colour it up.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00I'm not using orange wood
0:35:00 > 0:35:04because, knowing me, I'd probably set fire to the whole valley.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08But the Spanish use these special portable paella cookers
0:35:08 > 0:35:09and they work a treat.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15Monkfish is great for this dish,
0:35:15 > 0:35:20because, as the Spanish say, it's duro - hard or firm.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23I've sprinkled them with pimenton -
0:35:23 > 0:35:25great for colour, even better for flavour.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29I'm just going to sear them on both sides and in just a minute or so
0:35:29 > 0:35:32they turn a saffron-y gold. Very appetising.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35That's the moment I take them out
0:35:35 > 0:35:39and start to cook the real point of this dish and that's rice.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42But first chopped shallots and garlic.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46I was going to make a paella
0:35:46 > 0:35:51but after seeing all those experts making the true paella of Valencia,
0:35:51 > 0:35:52I thought of this.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55I add some more pimenton
0:35:55 > 0:35:58and also some chilli flakes for just a bit of heat.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00Now tomato.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03I'm taking my time over doing this little phase
0:36:03 > 0:36:06because I'm trying to get a bit of a crust on the bottom.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09It's called socarrat and it's a sign of a good paella.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14This isn't a paella, it's a sort of paella without the fancy bits.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18But what I really like in a paella is the rice and the pimenton
0:36:18 > 0:36:21and the saffron so it's really all about that
0:36:21 > 0:36:25with a little bit of monkfish and a few roasted red peppers.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28I've poured in some fish stock there.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31I made it with the bones and the head of the monkfish.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35Now for the rice and this is the most popular one.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37It goes by the name of bomba.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40The grains swell up and really hold the flavour of the stock
0:36:40 > 0:36:45without going creamy and breaking up like a risotto rice.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47I've just added saffron powder there.
0:36:47 > 0:36:54I think saffron powder's a mixture of saffron and natural food colour
0:36:54 > 0:36:58and I've picked up this tip that you don't use complete saffron
0:36:58 > 0:37:01because it's too strong. You don't want to use all saffron
0:37:01 > 0:37:04because it gets medicinal in its flavour.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07So a bit of yellow colour is fine.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10Now slices of roasted and skinned red peppers.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14They're really sweet and you can get them in tins.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18It's funny but everything I seem to cook over here
0:37:18 > 0:37:20is the colours of the Spanish flag.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22You've got yellow everywhere in saffron,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26you've got red of pimenton and you've got red of peppers,
0:37:26 > 0:37:29you've got red of tomatoes. Yellow and red everywhere.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31But it seems to match, don't you think?
0:37:33 > 0:37:37This is the moment the rice starts to work its magic and swell up.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39A Spanish lady once said to me
0:37:39 > 0:37:43that when the rice has had a good drink he needs to sleep in the oven
0:37:43 > 0:37:47and only then should he come out to the table.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49Well, this rice is nearly ready
0:37:49 > 0:37:52and it's time for the fish to go back in
0:37:52 > 0:37:54while there's still a bit more of the stock left
0:37:54 > 0:37:57for the rice to drink.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Interestingly, and I think this is really important,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03the Spanish say you never eat paella at night.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06And, for me, it's not an evening dish. It's too filling.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09It's something you really look forward to at lunch time
0:38:09 > 0:38:12with maybe a glass of COLD red wine.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15So, it's just about there now.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19I'm just going to turn the heat off and cover it for about five minutes,
0:38:19 > 0:38:22just to make sure that rice is really nice and dry.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26So there we are, the moment of truth.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30I know it's going to be good
0:38:30 > 0:38:32because I can hear the sticky sound of the rice
0:38:32 > 0:38:35coming from the bottom of the pan.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40I've never cooked it before but I'll definitely be cooking it again.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44I add a bit of creamy and very garlicky aioli
0:38:44 > 0:38:48which goes so well with the rice. Yeah! This will be in my top ten.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59I'm still in the region of Valencia near Morella
0:38:59 > 0:39:02and I've been invited to go partridge shooting.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06Well, not exactly. They didn't offer me a gun!
0:39:06 > 0:39:09Actually, I'm not a bad shot but I don't blame them.
0:39:09 > 0:39:14Partridge, above any other game, is incredibly popular over here
0:39:14 > 0:39:16and it's a food eaten, it seems, by everyone.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18GUNFIRE
0:39:18 > 0:39:21I've even seen it on the menu at truck stops.
0:39:23 > 0:39:28This is my host, Jose Luis, who lives for shooting.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32So these are red-legged partridges, we have grey in the UK.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34These are bigger but great flavour.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38They'll taste wonderful with all the mountain herbs.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40I wish we could get more of them back home.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45How important are partridges to the area, Jose Luis?
0:39:45 > 0:39:52It's very important because it's their, er, economic...
0:39:52 > 0:39:55economic for the lands, for hunting.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57He says it's very important for the area
0:39:57 > 0:40:00cos they have all these fincas, these little farms.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02I guess that's what they were originally.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06Like hunting lodges. So, it's a really important industry here.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10But the great thing is that they're wild, they haven't been planted
0:40:10 > 0:40:13like happens a lot in the UK.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17So, they will taste fantastic and they're so beautiful, I mean...
0:40:17 > 0:40:21You may disapprove of hunting but these are wild birds
0:40:21 > 0:40:23and they're shot for the table.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26I mean, I can't see anything wrong with that at all.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29GUNFIRE
0:40:29 > 0:40:34This is really exciting cos they're coming really fast and low
0:40:34 > 0:40:37and they're shooting into the sun too. He's a crack shot.
0:40:37 > 0:40:38He's really good.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50Right in the sun. Very, very good. Wow! Fantastic.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53And another.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:41:00 > 0:41:02With beans?
0:41:08 > 0:41:12I can understand this. He likes cooking them with beans
0:41:12 > 0:41:16but also he likes them on escabeche, which is with olive oil
0:41:16 > 0:41:21and vinegar and that sounds really good. And so do the beans.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:41:30 > 0:41:35The thing about escabeche is it's a way of preserving the partridges,
0:41:35 > 0:41:36because of the vinegar.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40And they'll keep for up to a year just on escabeche.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42It's an old fashioned way of preserving.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45We had salting and smoking, they used olive oil and vinegar.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51We've got lunch, that's good!
0:41:52 > 0:41:55So, looking forward to it, I must say.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59They got 56 today. Shot 56. The first day of the season.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02- It's a bit...- Ssshh!- No, it's all right, they can carry on.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06He's a bit apologetic but it seems an awful lot to me.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08He says the wind was in the wrong direction
0:42:08 > 0:42:12and, again being a bit apologetic, saying the dogs are a bit frisky.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15In four or five days, they'll have settled down
0:42:15 > 0:42:18and be just going straight for those thickets
0:42:18 > 0:42:20where all the partridges are.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22This is what Jose was talking about.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25This is how they preserve the partridge.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29And that's probably the reason why I've seen it on so many menus in Spain.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33They're all, I wouldn't mind betting, coming out of a jar.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36So they're put in jars with bay leaves, a couple of garlic cloves,
0:42:36 > 0:42:39a few whole black peppercorns,
0:42:39 > 0:42:42then a small wine glass of vinegar
0:42:42 > 0:42:45and then topped up with good olive oil.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48Finally, they're sealed and boiled for around an hour.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52This means you can have partridge anytime you want.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56Christina is going to cook lunch for the shooting party.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00Well, this part of the dish is called judias con perdiz.
0:43:00 > 0:43:01I just found that out.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05And that means butter beans, those lovely tasty beans, with partridge.
0:43:05 > 0:43:11And Christina's first of all made the escabeche and then cooked it
0:43:11 > 0:43:15and about two or three days later she takes them and flakes the meat.
0:43:15 > 0:43:20And then takes some olive oil and fries off some onions, red peppers
0:43:20 > 0:43:24and green peppers and seasons that a little bit.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27And then she's going to add tomatoes which she's skinned
0:43:27 > 0:43:31but not deseeded. Whizzed up, so it's like a sort of passata.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35And cooked that together for about five minutes
0:43:35 > 0:43:37and then adds the partridge.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39Ah, I've forgotten one important ingredient.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44Some of the oil from making the escabeche - about 60ml, I suppose -
0:43:44 > 0:43:47she's going to add that, put in the beans,
0:43:47 > 0:43:52cook it for about 10 minutes and done. And then we can have lunch.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55I'd rather hoped we were going to have roast partridge but, no,
0:43:55 > 0:43:59the escabeche and beans is what they do here.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02There's something very convivial about the Spanish.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05I'm tempted to say it appears completely classless,
0:44:05 > 0:44:09especially when you get clusters of men like this.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11They made me really welcome.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15Thank you for the morning's shooting, which was fabulous,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18and have a great season. Salut!
0:44:30 > 0:44:35It's time to drive into the very centre of Spain.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39I'm here in La Mancha and most of the people I know that know Spain well
0:44:39 > 0:44:42just said to me, "Keep going when you get to La Mancha."
0:44:42 > 0:44:47It's just somewhere, unless you have to stop, just keep going.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51But I rather like it because it's just these vast plains
0:44:51 > 0:44:55and I think there's something rather magisterial
0:44:55 > 0:44:56about being in open spaces.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00And also, I think it's something that one has to experience
0:45:00 > 0:45:03if one's really to take on board the real Spain.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05Mainly because of Don Quixote,
0:45:05 > 0:45:10because, of course, this is where the book was written about.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14And what I like is, everywhere you go in La Mancha,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17there's reference to Don Quixote as if he was a real character.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19But to me it makes it live
0:45:19 > 0:45:24because I've read the book and it is an essential part of Spain to me.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28But, also, I'm quite impressed. I've only been here a day or so
0:45:28 > 0:45:31but I've tried the wines and they're really good.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33And when I arrived in La Mancha,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36I kept seeing what look like giant water bottles lying everywhere
0:45:36 > 0:45:39and I just thought that they were, you know, for irrigating the land.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43But then I discovered that they were the old way of making wine.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45Big, concrete vessels.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47And it was always cooked
0:45:47 > 0:45:51but now they've learnt to make the wines using refrigeration.
0:45:51 > 0:45:52They're really good.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58For years, La Mancha produced largely cooked wines
0:45:58 > 0:46:02in those stone vats that overheated in the sun.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04So, it tasted almost stewed.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07Virtually all the grapes were tempranillo for red
0:46:07 > 0:46:09and airen for white.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12But now they're growing other varieties like cabernet sauvignon
0:46:12 > 0:46:15which goes really well with tempranillo.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19We're not talking about high-priced wines here
0:46:19 > 0:46:23but good wines, worthy of anyone's consideration.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28I've come to meet up at the Campo De Criptana vineyards
0:46:28 > 0:46:32with someone who knows about these wines, Hymie,
0:46:32 > 0:46:34who's a wine writer from Madrid.
0:46:34 > 0:46:39Right now, being the largest vineyard in the world as it is,
0:46:39 > 0:46:46it was about time that some curious people or people with passion,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48say, "No, I'm going to make good wine here."
0:46:48 > 0:46:51And here they have something that is unique.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53We have all the sun that you can get.
0:46:53 > 0:46:58You can achieve that and this has been like this for 400 years,
0:46:58 > 0:47:00the main producer in Spain
0:47:00 > 0:47:03It's the core of Castilla, the core of Spain
0:47:03 > 0:47:05and the core of the Spanish wine.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08You speak really passionately about La Mancha
0:47:08 > 0:47:11and you obviously not only care about your wine-making
0:47:11 > 0:47:16but also this country where you live. What does it mean to you?
0:47:16 > 0:47:17La Mancha is dry, it's flat.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21La Mancha's a place that is very far from the mountains,
0:47:21 > 0:47:22very far from the sea
0:47:22 > 0:47:26but very close to the sky. And you see we have the sky all over.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29That's...our...main weapon.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33We have the sky and the sun and this flatness
0:47:33 > 0:47:35and with that possibility,
0:47:35 > 0:47:38the only thing you have to do here as a winemaker
0:47:38 > 0:47:43is to tame the sun and this has been like this for 400 years.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46Hymie talks about taming the sun.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49By that he means the pickers start at five in the morning
0:47:49 > 0:47:52and finish before the sun reaches its height.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56Then they'll start again when the grapes are cooler.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59So, if you're going into a supermarket back at home
0:47:59 > 0:48:00and you want a good deal,
0:48:00 > 0:48:05you want something that's really good value - La Mancha every time.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07La Mancha and Castilla.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15One of the main problems is the drive back to the winery,
0:48:15 > 0:48:18hoping the grapes joggling about in the trailer
0:48:18 > 0:48:21don't start fermenting on the way.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26Next to wine, the most important thing here is garlic.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30This is Las Pedroneras, the centre of the garlic trade.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34I love this statue of the little boy watching his mother plaiting the garlic,
0:48:34 > 0:48:38an art that's dying out now, except for the Ramirez family,
0:48:38 > 0:48:42who've been doing this for generations.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44Agustina, their daughter,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47is carrying on with the family tradition.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51You need really strong hands to wrap the bulbs
0:48:51 > 0:48:54into the tough reeds that form the plait.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59Agustina's just been saying...
0:48:59 > 0:49:02We asked her whether she thought
0:49:02 > 0:49:06this sort of quite manual activity would last,
0:49:06 > 0:49:10because you can see evidence of such things dying out everywhere, really.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13She said she didn't know. She does it herself
0:49:13 > 0:49:17because she so admires her father who's worked so hard
0:49:17 > 0:49:19for so many years doing it.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22It's almost she feels a sense of duty as a daughter to carry on.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25But she said, "I don't know whether my son will."
0:49:25 > 0:49:29But it's a shame, really, because actually, as I was looking at these
0:49:29 > 0:49:33I was just thinking I've got to buy a string of that and take it home.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38They reap the garlic in July and sew it in September.
0:49:38 > 0:49:43This garlic is special. They call it ajo morado - purple garlic.
0:49:43 > 0:49:48There's a bit in Don Quixote when he says to his servant, Sancho Panza,
0:49:48 > 0:49:50"Eat neither garlic nor onion
0:49:50 > 0:49:54"for thy smell will display the peasant in you."
0:49:54 > 0:49:56And people have long had this idea
0:49:56 > 0:50:00of the Spanish being, you know, massive garlic eaters.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04Indeed, they do eat about 1.5kg of garlic a year.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06But...we all love garlic these days
0:50:06 > 0:50:09and we all love big cloves of garlic.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12When I'm cooking or when my chefs are cooking,
0:50:12 > 0:50:15if you get those tiny little cloves of garlic you just think,
0:50:15 > 0:50:17"Oh, I can't be bothered with these."
0:50:17 > 0:50:22And apparently, China is exporting ever more garlic.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24But this is the sort of garlic we want.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27This lovely sort of blush pink garlic,
0:50:27 > 0:50:30produced by people like Jesus here.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33It's Spanish garlic and it smells right
0:50:33 > 0:50:36and it's got big cloves and I love it to bits.
0:50:37 > 0:50:42So, Jesus, what does garlic mean to this part of La Mancha?
0:50:42 > 0:50:44HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:50:49 > 0:50:52'Well, he's saying garlic is everything round here
0:50:52 > 0:50:55'and it's been that way always.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58'I don't think you really need me to translate this bit,
0:50:58 > 0:51:02'he's so passionate, he transcends words.'
0:51:08 > 0:51:12I didn't quite get all that but, I have to say, the way he was speaking
0:51:12 > 0:51:16with such passion and picking up the ground, it means everything to him.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20Do you know, on the way to see the garlic fields near Las Pedroneras,
0:51:20 > 0:51:24I saw this roadside restaurant, Los Angeles.
0:51:24 > 0:51:29I thought, "I bet they make fabulous garlic soup there."
0:51:29 > 0:51:32And, lo and behold, that turned out to be the very place
0:51:32 > 0:51:35that Jesus suggested we had lunch.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38Angela is the owner and cook here
0:51:38 > 0:51:41and sure enough her reputation for garlic soup in the region
0:51:41 > 0:51:43is second to none.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46She takes virtually a whole bulb of garlic
0:51:46 > 0:51:50and roughly slices the cloves and starts to fry them in olive oil.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54It's only a few seconds before she adds pimenton dulce,
0:51:54 > 0:51:58the sweet one, for that tiny bit of fire and smokiness.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01She also puts in pimenton picante for extra heat.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04Many people in La Mancha look upon this soup
0:52:04 > 0:52:07as an elixir for a healthy, long life.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11I saw a documentary on it on Spanish TV in the hotel,
0:52:11 > 0:52:15with lots of very fit-looking octogenarians
0:52:15 > 0:52:19swearing it's the garlic soup that keeps them young and fit.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22She ladles in water and chicken stock, 50/50,
0:52:22 > 0:52:26and then drops in a couple of bay leaves that've been soaked in water.
0:52:26 > 0:52:31Next, bread, once again using up stale bread
0:52:31 > 0:52:34which slowly goes soft and silky in the soup.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38And finally, she cracks in an egg, breaks it up and stirs that around,
0:52:38 > 0:52:42so you get those lovely trails of poached egg in the soup,
0:52:42 > 0:52:44rather like the Chinese do.
0:52:45 > 0:52:47And to finish off,
0:52:47 > 0:52:52a clove of ajo morado just to remind you you're in La Mancha.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54A sprig of rosemary. Perfecto.
0:52:58 > 0:52:59And as I thought
0:52:59 > 0:53:02there is nothing more that needs to be said about that.
0:53:11 > 0:53:16Another symbol of La Mancha, these fabulous fields of croci.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19A sight for sore eyes.
0:53:19 > 0:53:24I often wonder about the ingenuity of mankind when it comes to food.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30Who'd of thought that the stamens of this little flower
0:53:30 > 0:53:33could enrich the dishes of the world.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37They call it the red gold of La Mancha
0:53:37 > 0:53:40and the harvest takes place in October.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43Usually, it's carved up by family groups.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46Sometimes there'll be three generations
0:53:46 > 0:53:51and each family would hope to get something like eight pounds of pure saffron a season.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55That's worth its weight in gold. More, in fact.
0:53:55 > 0:54:00The stamens are dried very gently over an ordinary domestic heater
0:54:00 > 0:54:05and then they're ready to use in such classic dishes as fabada.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08And where would paella be without saffron?
0:54:11 > 0:54:14Another culinary icon of La Mancha
0:54:14 > 0:54:18is manchego cheese, made from ewe's milk.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27Traditionally, the cheese was eaten by the shepherds to sustain them.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31The thing about manchego, is that it's amazingly tasty
0:54:31 > 0:54:33and keeps for a long time.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39Anyone from La Mancha distains elaborate accompaniments
0:54:39 > 0:54:41with their prize cheese.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45Only membrillo, a jelly made with quince.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50I couldn't resist asking the chef about growing up in La Mancha
0:54:50 > 0:54:53and what he ate as a child.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:54:59 > 0:55:01Basically, he said in the morning
0:55:01 > 0:55:06they'd have slices of potatoes fried in olive oil.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10Then, at night, it would be beans cooked with chorizo and bacon.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13This would be on the stove gently cooking all day
0:55:13 > 0:55:16while they were out with the sheep.
0:55:16 > 0:55:17Oh, and wine.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23So, to those friends who told me to give La Mancha a miss
0:55:23 > 0:55:27and head straight down to the coast, I say unto thee,
0:55:27 > 0:55:29I think you've got it wrong.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32This place is utterly magical
0:55:32 > 0:55:35and it fits the Spanish love of myths and legends.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39With half-closed eyes, you can see why the courageous
0:55:39 > 0:55:43but slightly mad Don Quixote thought these were giants.
0:55:43 > 0:55:48Of course they're giants! What do you think they are? Windmills?
0:55:51 > 0:55:56I can't think of a fictional character more important to a nation,
0:55:56 > 0:56:00so loved and cherished and understood by all,
0:56:00 > 0:56:02that at the very mention of his name over here,
0:56:02 > 0:56:05a knowing, almost loving, smile appears on the face
0:56:05 > 0:56:08of whoever you may be talking to at the time.
0:56:10 > 0:56:11I like this.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14This is what first greets you when you come into the inn.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16"The sun began to usher in the morn,
0:56:16 > 0:56:19"when Don Quixote sallied out of the inn,
0:56:19 > 0:56:25"so well pleased, so gay and so overjoyed to find himself knighted,
0:56:25 > 0:56:28"that he enthused the same satisfaction into his horse
0:56:28 > 0:56:31"who seemed ready to burst his girths for joy."
0:56:38 > 0:56:41In the book, it was the landlord of this tavern
0:56:41 > 0:56:45who knighted Don Quixote while he was very, very drunk.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49But the famous novel is peppered with culinary anecdotes
0:56:49 > 0:56:53because food played an important part in the conversations
0:56:53 > 0:56:56between the knight and his fat squire.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59Quixote said, "while I'm eating, I know nothing,
0:56:59 > 0:57:04"but when I've finished eating, I begin to understand."
0:57:04 > 0:57:07One of the most famous dishes mentioned in the book
0:57:07 > 0:57:11is pisto manchego, a dish of fried vegetables in a sauce
0:57:11 > 0:57:15topped with a couple of fried eggs.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18I really don't think La Mancha would be La Mancha without Don Quixote,
0:57:18 > 0:57:22without Cervantes' enormous imagination.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26I mean, I feel we all feel very personal about Spain.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29I was just watching these Japanese tourists going through here.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32Do they know that it was a work of fiction?
0:57:32 > 0:57:36Do they know that this inn was only a fictional idea
0:57:36 > 0:57:41of where Don Quixote received his knighthood?
0:57:41 > 0:57:44They probably don't. I don't know. Does it matter?
0:57:44 > 0:57:49Because, I think Spain to me - my Spain -
0:57:49 > 0:57:53is the same sort of place as Don Quixote's Spain.
0:57:53 > 0:57:58It's a sort of lost world of idealistic people, of innocence.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02I mean, Don Quixote himself was gentle, was idealistic,
0:58:02 > 0:58:04was altruistic and he was lost.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07I mean he was mad and he was deluded
0:58:07 > 0:58:10but somehow that has enormous strength to us all, really.
0:58:10 > 0:58:16I think we yearn for a world where those values existed
0:58:16 > 0:58:21and sadly it's vanishing from Spain today.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27Next time, I follow the sun to Extremadura
0:58:27 > 0:58:31and into the golden light of Andalucia.
0:58:35 > 0:58:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:38 > 0:58:42E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk