11/12/2016 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites

Good morning, I'm Matt Tebbutt, and I've got a mouthwatering menu of fabulous food for you over

the next 90 minutes, so please sit back and enjoy today's line-up of brilliant Best Bites.

Welcome to the show.

It's time for another serving of fantastic chefs,

inspired food, with a spoonful of celebrities to shake things up.

What more could you want? Coming up today,

James Martin whips up some delicious fishcakes for the lovely Lisa Faulkner.

Yummy Brummie Glynn Purnell serves up one of my favourite cuts,

a roast loin of venison.

He keeps it seasonal with curly kale, juniper berries and pear,

rounding it all off with some tasty sweet-and-sour parsnips.

Plus the Italian stallion himself, Gennaro Contaldo, shows us how to make

a lasagne with a twist.

There's not an ounce of bechamel in sight, as he layers it

up with ricotta, mozzarella, boiled eggs and meatballs.

Turns out I've been making it wrong all this time.

There's a mighty battle between Michel Roux and Brian Turner

in today's omelette challenge.

Then it's over to James Tanner, who's serving up a tasty fish.

He's cooking salt-crusted whole sea bass with orange and fennel

salad and a garlic mash. I'll look forward to that one.

And finally, the hilarious Micky Flanagan faces his

food heaven or food hell.

Did he get his food heaven, spiced roasted shoulder of lamb with

red lentil dhal? Or did he end up facing his food hell,

beetroot mozzarella salad with beetroot meringues?

You can find out what he got at the end of the show.

First up, it's time to get all Christmassy with Theo Randall,

as he serves up a roasted pheasant with pomegranate and chestnuts.

Let's get cooking. To start us off is the brilliant Mr Theo Randall.

And we've got pheasant on the menu, very,

very seasonal at this time of year. But not really a salad.

It's a sort of warm salad. Pheasant is one of those things that people just...

They are really cheap to buy.

-Yeah.

-And it's just a kind of Christmassy starter.

If you're not doing, say, turkey,

this is a perfect sort of Christmas starter.

Sounds pretty good to me. And we're going to do this with chestnuts.

-You want me to get these...

-I want some fresh chestnuts, yes. So if you just cut them in half.

Which is not the easiest thing in the world to do.

You need a very sharp knife to do those. OK.

-And then just whack it a bit.

-So, first of all, I've got my pheasant.

I'm just going to give it a bit of seasoning. Put some oil in the pan.

And I've got some pancetta here.

And we're going to stuff the pheasant with some thyme, fresh thyme.

And we're going to wrap it in the pancetta.

It almost slightly steams this, it's not really like

roasting it, because there's so much natural fat on a pheasant.

We're just going to pop this pancetta on top.

And pancetta is obviously a cured product,

so it's going to season it really nicely.

And just make sure it's really moulded on top.

You don't really have to tie it up.

-Yeah.

-And then we're just going to pop that into a hot pan.

And just seal that around so it goes nice and hot.

And then I'll pop that in the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour,

-at about 160 degrees. Cook it quite slowly.

-Right.

Because you want all that fat to render down.

And I'm going to add a little bit of Marsala to this,

just to give it a kind of sweetness as it roasts.

So all that lovely juice...

So you don't have to sear it on the bacon, just leave it like that?

No, because the bacon... The oven is warm enough to sort of melt

the fat, and it will just start to cook it off nicely.

So, that's going to go in the oven.

So, how long would you cook that for? Because that takes...

-I would say an hour at about 160.

-So, longer than normal?

Because for pheasant, you normally cook it for a lot less.

The thing is, I want to cook it slowly so you've got that lovely... The leg cooks through.

And the breast stays nice and juicy because you've got that pancetta on top.

OK, so we've got our pheasant here. Going to take the bit off.

Got some pancetta. Take the pancetta off. We're going to take it off the bone.

In this pan is the kind of roasting juices from the pheasant, and

some Marsala. And then we're just going to take this off.

What's nice, it's been cooking slowly. So the leg is really juicy.

-OK.

-And all that fat has rendered down,

you've got these beautiful sort of tender legs.

The problem with pheasant, people roast them too fast, so you

end up with a perfectly cooked breast and a completely raw leg.

-Yeah. So that's the idea of turning the oven down...

-Exactly.

-Yes, slower for longer.

-Slower for longer.

-What about pheasant?

-Have you ever tried cooking it at home, or not?

-No, never.

-Never?

-Never, no.

-Just frightened you off a bit?

-Oh, yeah.

The key to it is, literally, like you say,

it will just fall off all the way through. Or you cook it quite quickly,

that's the other secret to it as well.

Yes, you would take the legs off and cook the legs separately,

that's another way of doing it. OK, so you've got the two breasts there. We will take the skin off.

-And can you do a pomegranate for me?

-Well...

I can do, but I think the best person to give it to is Yotam

over there. Because I messed it up big time in rehearsal.

-I think you need me, right?

-Well, yeah, you can do it, because I messed it up in rehearsal.

I normally do it where I whack it and get the seeds out.

-I'll whack it.

-No, no, you were breaking it apart,

-weren't you?

-Do it the other way.

-I will do it the other way. OK.

So this is slightly less dangerous, although previously...

Not on your lime-coloured shirt, it's not.

-I ruined mine this morning.

-So you just want it basically...

If you want to keep all the juice inside your seeds,

-you just kind of break it gently, like that.

-Right, I'm on it.

-You're on it?

-Yeah, I'm on it now. Thank you very much.

-I'll leave you on your own.

Yeah, there's a cloth for you. Thank you very much.

Right, so what else have we got, then?

So, chop the pheasant up so it's nice and juicy.

-Yeah.

-And then I'm just going to sort of throw it into the roasting

-juices with the Marsala.

-Yeah.

-And the roasting juices from the pheasant.

And I'm going to do the legs as well.

So just use the thigh, basically.

So what would be classed as a traditional

Italian Christmas, then? What would you normally serve?

Well, traditionally they have things like bollito misto,

where they boil lots of different... like capon and they do tongue and beef.

But, you know, they will have a big sort of pasta,

-baked pasta would be a sort of starter.

-Yeah.

But this kind of thing...

I actually had this dish in... a similar dish to this,

in Piedmont.

And it's got a lovely kind of... I think it was a partridge,

and they used all these different bitter leaves.

And they covered it in white truffle, which was very delicious.

-Can't afford that on this show.

-I know.

-That's for sure. What is it now?

-£3,500 a kilo, something like that?

-Something crazy like that.

It's cheaper this year, it's been a very good year for truffles.

-We're voting for truffle.

-You're voting for truffle?

-OK, so I've got my pheasant off.

-You could use all those carcasses as well, of course, for stock.

You can make a stock with this carcass.

-A nice soup with it as well.

-Would make a delicious risotto.

Make a lovely stock. OK, we've got our pancetta in the bowl.

-Yeah.

-We've got our pheasant,

which has got a nice amount of juice in there from the seasoning.

A little bit of olive oil. And a little bit of balsamic vinegar and some seasoning.

It's a good way of doing this. Normally when you

whack them, all the juice comes out, it keeps all the juice in there.

The house gets covered in bits of pomegranate juice.

-And your shirts.

-And your shirts. OK, so that's our sort of hot salad dressing.

And then we've got our salad leaves. So now we've got these beautiful things.

This is called Treviso tardivo, which is a type of radicchio.

-Treviso tardivo.

-Tardivo.

-Where can you buy that from?

-Well, you can buy it...

Funnily enough, you can get it from some supermarkets now.

And you can get it online from various places.

But it's a delicious ingredient.

Is the key to this to use bitter leaves, is that what you're looking for?

The thing is, you've got the sweetness from the chestnut, the sweetness from the pomegranate.

Something bitter will give it a lovely kind of contrast of flavours.

If it was all sweet, it wouldn't taste nice.

-And what have you got in there, then?

-This is dandelion,

Treviso tardivo, and I've got this thing here called castelfranco. And I hear you...

Now, I tried to grow this in my garden and - disaster.

-What happened?

-Well, it was just a disaster.

I think the dog ate the tops of it, and the slugs ate the rest of it.

It just never seemed to grow, to me.

It's got to be pure sunshine that it needs more than anything else.

It's like an escarole, but it's got this lovely sort of little...

It's like someone throw some red paint all over it.

-It is fantastic, great flavour as well.

-Chop up a bit of mint for me.

-Chop a bit of mint, I can do that.

-Thank you.

Now, tell us about the balsamic vinegar you've got in here.

I was wandering around the shops the other day, I saw some balsamic vinegar in there.

You wouldn't believe it. Well, you probably would.

-I probably would believe it.

-But it was £2,500 for a bottle.

And it was this big.

Yeah, that must be like a 100-year-old balsamic vinegar. It reduces.

And the thing about balsamic vinegar, the more expensive

it is, the stronger the flavour, so the less you need.

But that's ridiculous. I mean, you would never want to use it, would you?

That with the truffle would be a seriously expensive meal, right?

-It would be pretty serious, yeah.

-OK, so we've got everything we need, really.

We've got our pheasant, we've got the pancetta in there.

We've got the roasting juices from the pheasant,

a bit of balsamic vinegar. We've got our salad. Get your sieve.

-Do you want these chestnuts or not?

-Yes, please.

-I'm all prepared in advance.

Well, we've got some here, we could use these ones.

So, you're just boiling these until they're nice and soft in the centre?

They don't take as long as people think.

Chestnuts actually boil really nice.

I think a lot of people get obsessed about roasting chestnuts,

but actually, boiling them and then throwing them into a pan

-to roast is a nicer way of doing it.

-And that's what we've got there, that's what you want

me to do. So you just cut them in half and then boil them.

-Just taste it, just taste it, taste it, it's delicious.

-Yeah, they're lovely.

Well, often you get them in vacuum-packed bags now, chestnuts.

Which are really good. But if you're buying the puree,

particularly at this time of year, you've got to watch out

because there are two types of puree in the tins in the shop,

-one of which is sweet, one of which is savoury.

-Yes, of course.

-So make sure you buy the right one.

-With your stuffing, it's not really good with the sweet one.

-We've got our lovely salad leaves.

Really colourful, crisp salad leaves, with that mint in there.

-Yeah.

-And then we've got our delicious pheasant, which is really nicely

seasoned, with all that pancetta and the roasting juices and that Marsala.

-These chestnuts are delicious.

-They're good, aren't they?

-Lovely.

-And that's just boiling. Just water, no salt, nothing?

-Just cut them in half,

we can just scoop them out with a teaspoon, like you're doing now. It's the easiest way of doing it.

Takes about ten minutes, that's enough.

Especially if somebody else is doing it.

-HE LAUGHS

-Yeah, come on, move on.

-It's really nice.

-We need more of those.

-Are you going to get me again to come...?

-No, you're all right.

We're fine, we're fine. So then a few of the lovely pomegranates.

-Yeah.

-Which are so pretty, and very Christmassy.

-So the idea is to serve this warm, is it?

-Serve it warm.

Have the pheasant in the pan.

Serve it warm, because it just tastes so much nicer.

Because you've got these quite sort of robust leaves.

If they're warm, then it sort of stays nice and crispy.

-I'll let you finish that off.

-And then chestnuts all on top.

Plenty of them.

And then just finish off with a little bit of mint.

While you sprinkle the mint over, give us the name of this dish, then.

This dish is called My Roasted Pheasant Salad, wrapped in

pancetta, with Italian winter leaves, fresh chestnuts,

pomegranate, and a little bit of mint.

Smells delicious.

Dish number one. That comes over.

You've got enough, do you think, Ronnie?

-THEO LAUGHS

-That will do for now.

-It's for shares.

-YOTAM:

-Oh, my God, look at that one.

-It is great with this, you just mix it all together.

-It is so simple.

Dive in, yeah, absolutely, dive in.

So that's... The pheasant is just slowly cooked.

The Marsala, really, is the key to that.

The Marsala's there because it gives it a sort of caramelise in the pan,

and that juice of the pheasant with the pancetta.

So it's that kind of typical thing of sweet and hearty meat that

works so well together with the Marsala and the balsamic vinegar.

-And the bitter leaves, you need the bitter leaves.

-Fan of Italian food?

-What do you reckon?

-Beautiful.

-It's lovely.

-It's gorgeous. Nice.

Well, that would make a great starter for Christmas dinner,

a real seasonal showstopper. Thanks, Theo.

Coming up, James treats Lisa Faulkner to his

Arbroath smokie fishcakes with a chive sauce.

But before that, it's over to Rick Stein, who's in Sri Lanka to

learn a thing or two about cinnamon.

I had been told that some of the fishing scenes in Sri Lanka

would be some of the most visual I was likely to see anywhere,

but I must say, it's exceeded all my expectations.

I mean, it's like central casting fishing-wise.

I mean, when I first saw it, I just thought of Newlyn,

of those Newlyn School of painters, people like Stanhope Forbes,

from the last century, from Victorian times,

because all those boats are still powered only by sail.

These ones here, which are motorised,

just bring the fish into the shore from the bigger boats.

But to me, it's just like I can hardly believe I'm here.

This teardrop-shaped island was all about fish and coconut...

and cinnamon.

This was a first for me.

It's a spice so associated with Christmas and one I've used

all the time I've been cooking,

but I've never seen it in its raw state before.

Today, Sri Lanka is still the leading source of this fragrant bark.

I imagine that's incredibly difficult to do, I could never master it.

He's trying to get them off in one long roll. This is wonderful.

I mean, as a cook, I've been using cinnamon for about 40

years, I suppose, just taking it out of a jar and snipping a bit off.

I never realised there was so much skill going into packing

these lengths of cinnamon,

apparently 3.5ft long, as tightly as possible.

The other really important product from this island was the coconut,

and particularly the oil that was extracted from it.

Once they'd been smashed open,

they were dried over husks of other coconuts that had gone before them.

It's this process of drying the flesh of the nut, I suspect,

that will make you either love coconut oil or hate it.

All this machinery would have been here when Ceylon was painted pink

on the world atlas. That's if you're of a certain age.

Here they were squeezing the flesh to extract that essential oil.

It was by far the most common cooking medium on the island,

that smoky coconut taste and aroma that was all-pervading in

most dishes, and in the air.

I visited an old friend called Geoffrey Dobbs, who owns

a very nice house on the island of Taprobane.

Well, I think it's the first time I've had to wade to somebody's house.

GEOFFREY LAUGHS

-Most fabulous.

-This house was built in the 1920s by

a person called Count de Mauny. He came here with Sir Thomas Lipton,

sort of built this rather fantastical house here.

Unbelievable.

-And what does it feel like to have your own island?

-Well,

sometimes I can't really believe it. Sometimes I pinch myself.

But when I wake up every morning and I look out to the South Pole...

-Nothing in between.

-There's nothing between here and the South Pole.

I was intrigued to know how he survived on that Boxing Day in 2004

when the tragedy happened.

I was swimming in the sea just on the other side of the island

and I experienced a very strong current,

then I looked at the island and I was about 18 foot higher,

so I thought, "Well, there's something very wrong at the moment,"

and then I was taken across the island and I landed up over there

between a palm tree and the top of that house.

I was lucky to be left alive.

Well, all I can say is, I admire your British understatement,

saying you were lucky, you know!

That particular Christmas time certainly changed a few lives there,

and nothing was ever going to be the same again,

especially for a bunch of kids further inland.

This hostel at Savan Sarana

is run by Carla Browne to help disadvantaged children.

On the day we visited, there was to be a feast and a blessing

by the local Buddhist monks

for a new, long-sought-after dormitory.

They're very good indeed. Very nice.

Um...

He's just frying outside, which seems like a good idea to me,

so you don't get all that oily smell in the house,

not that it matters too much.

But he's frying some river prawns with flour, egg, salt,

a little bit of coriander leaf and some turmeric.

And they're jolly good.

It was the tsunami and the desperate need of these children

that made Sri Lanka Carla's home.

-They're the forgotten children.

-Yeah.

-And in Sri Lanka, it's a stigma.

-Yeah.

And the families are very, very poor, so here...

Probably their lives here are better than at home.

I mean, but they're lovely kids.

You'll see them, they're beautiful kids, and lost.

So, it's that building at the back that is being officially blessed?

It is today.

An almsgiving is when the monks come and chant

and we prepare the food.

We give them food. The children will have a wonderful meal today.

-Not every day do the children have food.

-Really?

Because there's not much funding for this hostel,

so sometimes they think that food is going to be given by the people,

and it doesn't turn up.

HE CHANTS

So the monks were there to bless this new building.

Alms, in this case food, were given to them.

From what I could see,

there were about ten different curries on the table,

from fish to cashew nut, all served with the local red rice.

It was considered a privilege to serve the monks,

and I was happy to join in and be included in the ceremony.

Also, I was interested to notice

that they ranged from older, more experienced ones

right down to youngsters.

As I understood it, the boys had their horoscopes looked at

by their local village wise man

and he decided if they should continue to be monks or not.

Apparently, it doesn't suit them all.

This dish stood out that day. The cashew nuts were so satisfying.

It's made with lemon grass, garlic and chilli,

fried onions, turmeric,

the essential Sri Lankan roasted curry powder, pandanus leaves

and, of course, a generous dollop of coconut milk.

And then a handful of fresh curry leaves

and some green beans for that bit of crunch.

Now cashews.

I couldn't get fresh ones, so I bought salted ones

and let them soak in water - they were lovely.

To finish off, add some lime juice.

A bowl of this curry is amazingly tasty and satisfying.

I'd really love this during the Christmas break.

The best day I think I had on my trip to the Far East was this.

I was privileged to go out with some local fishermen

in one of their oruwas, a traditional Sri Lankan outrigger,

and what great fun it turned out to be.

So, the reason they keep jumping into the sea

is to scare the fish into the back of the net.

This is the open end of the net.

So they're making as much splash

and as much movement with their hands

so the fish will all swim down that end.

Must be a great job, that.

I feel like jumping in, myself, actually.

Go on, then.

HE YELLS

But the catch was good,

and they took a couple of those handsome paraawaa fish

back to cook the local way in a fish stew.

One of the fishermen's wives

made a sort of ratatouille of vegetables.

There was tomato, chilli, garlic and onion,

curry leaves and ginger.

Then the fish stew and vegetables were put in layers

onto a single plate.

It was delicious.

Catching the fish and eating it.

I'll never forget that wonderful day.

What a delicious-looking curry, and as Rick said,

it would be a tasty alternative to the rich Christmas food

that we're having over the next couple of weeks.

I've got something a little bit different for Christmas.

I'd be having a lot of these, to be honest, cos I think these...

If this was one of my food heavens, this would be it.

Arbroath smokies. I absolutely love them,

whether they're in pate or whatever they are.

Arbroath smokies are... In actual fact, they're not herring.

That's different, all right? They're kippers.

This is actual haddock, and what they do is cure it

and then they hot-smoke it.

What we are going to do is do a little...

fishcake using the Arbroath smokies.

They have to come from Arbroath up in Scotland.

They are brilliant, and the flesh is absolutely incredible.

If you're ever up in Arbroath and you're at one of these markets,

they do an amazing sort of thing at the markets

where you can actually taste the hot ones that come out of the smokery

and just have them in newspaper with lashings of butter.

And when I was up there last time, this poor old lady was complaining

cos she'd set up her underwear stall

right next to the smokehouse, and the wind changed!

-She wasn't very happy, really.

-No.

What we're going to do is, we've just got some potatoes in there,

and flake them into the potatoes.

Bit of lemon, bit of chives. That's kind of it, really, in here.

But you've just got to pick through and mind the bones.

But you'll be quite good at this,

doing what you've been doing recently,

-cooking in all these Michelin-star restaurants.

-Yeah.

-You've had practice doing all this sort of stuff.

-Yeah.

But firstly, I mean, you got spotted as a model first, didn't you?

I did. When I was about... I think I was 16,

and I was on a Tube station, and I got asked if I wanted to be a model.

-And I said, "No."

-Right.

-And then...

-But, yeah,

then ended up giving the modelling agency lady my number,

because it was all in the time of just home phones, no mobiles,

and she just kept phoning,

and in the end, I said, "All right, might as well give it a go."

-In the end, you gave it a go.

-I did.

Was it that that opened the door to the acting sort of thing?

Well, what I thought...

I saw it as a way of getting money to put myself through drama school,

that's what I thought, it would be a great way to earn some cash, really.

But is that what you wanted to do as a kid, drama?

-That's what you wanted to do?

-Yeah. Yeah, wanted to be an actress. So...

And it, you know, worked out

that I didn't actually have to go to drama school till later.

I went later. But I got a film and started from there, really.

You got a film. Wasn't that with that French director...

-Yeah, Jean-Jacques Annaud.

-..that spotted you?

-Yeah.

It was film that really started it?

A lot of people go from, obviously, television the other way.

Yeah, and it was film, and we went over...

It was a film called The Lover,

which sounds much more dodgy than it was.

And it was a great film set in Paris and Vietnam.

We went over to Vietnam to film it. But I was told...

They had beautiful French caterers on this show

and gorgeous cakes and amazing food,

and they told me I wasn't allowed to eat it,

and I had to have Vietnamese green beans

cos they didn't want me to put on any weight!

Then, of course, from doing, obviously, that film,

Dangerfield was the one that really...

Would you say that kind of launched you to the British public?

Yeah, I think... You know, it was...

It was a massive drama over here, and it was great fun to film.

And I met my friend Amanda Redman,

-who I then went and studied feature and drama with, actually.

-Yeah.

So it opened a lot of doors and it was fantastic.

-It went on to be a huge success, Dangerfield.

-Yeah, yeah.

And then, of course, there, the soap...

-Brookside.

-Brookside, yeah.

-And then from there...

You've done all kinds of manner of stuff since then.

-I have.

-All connected with food, I have to say. Holby City...

Knives were involved. Didn't you get stabbed or something?

There we go, food connections - stabbed with a knife.

I like the best one, Spooks, where you got deep-fried, didn't you?

Yeah, I can see one over there. Slightly bigger than that.

I mean, that was quite controversial at the time.

Although we didn't see it, it was very controversial.

Yes. It got the most complaints ever, I think.

Which was strange.

Very nice that people were so upset about my death. Some people.

-Just the way that it was.

-Yeah.

-And then, of course, obviously we can talk about MasterChef.

-Yes.

I mean, a hugely popular programme now, incredibly popular.

Did you realise when you were going to be doing that you'd stand a chance?

No. No, I love the show.

I mean, you know, I just wanted to go on.

When they asked me, I thought, "I'll go, I'll have a nice day's cooking

"and that will be it,"

and I had no idea I'd stay... you know, stay the course, really.

I just had no idea. And it was brilliant

and the most amazing thing I've done, really.

It is kind of thrown in the deep end, though, really,

cos they take people who don't...

It's fair you've cooked at home,

but it's very, very different to be cooking at home

-and cooking in a restaurant.

-Absolutely.

Yeah, and they throw you in,

and they literally don't say, "Right, you can do this,

-"and once the cameras have stopped, then we'll carry on for you."

-Yeah.

You know, you do everything, and I learned very fast, you know.

But I loved every minute of it,

and I think it was such a great opportunity.

And now I just want to do loads more cooking.

You should have said that. You could have had a go with this.

These are the little fishcake-y sort of things.

You just roll them up into little balls, really.

That's the lemon and everything else,

and we're going to deep-fat-fry that.

And I kind of put... I think the secret of fishcakes,

and I don't know whether Nathan's over there, the king of fish,

but I put more fish than I do potato,

cos I think a lot of fishcakes, there's not enough fish in there,

-and it can be quite... almost like hunting for it.

-Yeah.

You almost put two-thirds fish to one-third potato.

And how long do they take in the fryer?

They're going to take about two minutes.

I'm a bit scared of the fryers.

-I'm not surprised, really, yeah! Not surprised.

-Well, yeah.

But, you know, I always think...

How do you know when it's cooked in there?

-Apart from it just turns a different colour.

-Yeah, that's it.

-And then it's done?

-Yeah, there's no rocket science behind it.

-When it's changed colour, it's ready.

-OK.

So, I'm just going to put a little bit of white wine in there.

We're going to do a nice little lime beurre blanc.

White wine, some chicken stock.

Although this is fish, we do it with a bit of chicken stock.

I'm going to saute off a little bit of spinach in there as well.

And we reduce that down with some double cream.

Quite quick, this sauce.

And then I'm going to add some lime juice and some butter.

-Oh, lovely.

-So, MasterChef, are we going to see you do

a cookbook or anything with that?

-I'd love to.

-Didn't Matt Dawson do one as well?

I think he might have done. I'd love to.

You know, we'll see what happens, really. I'm so...

I just feel like I've just started on this big road of food,

and I just want to learn so much more

and maybe get back into some restaurants

and do a bit of cooking there as well.

-Really like to.

-Free staff, Nath.

You're more than welcome to come down.

-Are you looking to learn about sashimi?

-I'd love to.

-I thought girls couldn't...

-You creep!

-No, but I thought...

Is it true that girls can't be sushi chefs?

Traditionally, yes, cos the hands are too warm.

-Oh, really?

-Traditionally, yes.

-Oh, my hands are freezing. I'd be great.

-Perfect.

You warm the rice up too much and you warm the fish up.

Oh, I see. I thought it was... I thought it was some sort of...

It's cos your hands are warm, there you go.

Now, tell us about the new thing that you're doing at the moment.

-Murdoch Mysteries?

-Yes.

-Tell us about that.

I've got a new drama coming out called Murdoch Mysteries,

which is a Canadian TV detective drama, set in Victorian times.

-Has this already been out in Canada?

-Yes, been out in Canada.

-It's the second series now... over here...

-Right.

..that I've done. I think there's about four series.

It's done really, really well, and it's a great detective show.

-So I got to go out to Toronto for the summer...

-Right.

-..and shoot out there.

-What's it about, then?

Well, he's a...

Yannick Bisson is in it, he's a detective

and always solving all these things that go wrong,

and my character's come back.

I went and did it last year, and I've come back this year,

and she's come back because she's lost her fiance,

and he has to find him.

-Da-da-daa!

-Da-da-daa!

Right, just quickly run through...

Ooh, that's good. Fishcakes are in.

I've just wilted a bit of watercress. Lime juice.

To get more juice out of a lime, you whack it in a microwave...

-Really?

-..for eight seconds.

18 seconds, you'll end up with a walnut.

But eight seconds, you'll end up...

That's great. Little bit of that.

And then what we do with that is we just take this

and we just spoon this...

-This is the watercress. And instead of using spinach...

-Yeah!

..just wilt some watercress down.

-I love the idea of the watercress.

-It's just very different.

And then you've got your little fishcakes, which are great.

You can prepare these in advance. These come out, look...

-Mm!

-And then you take your little fishcake,

sit that on there, and you've got lime butter.

-Can I...?

-Don't eat anything else with it. Really simple.

-I want to come and just eat all the food every week.

-You can do.

In fact, I've just noticed,

you can come and decorate our Christmas tree, cos look.

This is what I love. The BBC have got cutbacks, but look at this.

-Oh!

-It's only half-finished. Look at it.

I love it. It's brilliant.

What do you reckon?

-Mm!

-Those Arbroath smokies are amazing.

-The smokies are fantastic.

-They're brilliant, aren't they?

-Mm.

I love an Arbroath smokie, and that's a great way of using them.

I think Lisa would agree, too. Thanks, James.

Today, we're taking a look back at some of the tastiest recipes

from the Saturday Kitchen archives.

There's still so much more to come, so don't go anywhere.

Up next, Glynn Purnell is cooking a roast loin of venison

with some really interesting flavours, and bang in season.

Over to you, Glynn.

Right, cooking first is a man

who's helped put Birmingham on the culinary map.

His food has won him countless awards,

including a fantastic, well-deserved,

coveted Michelin star.

Making his welcome return to the Saturday Kitchen hobs,

it's none other than Mr Glynn Purnell.

-Hello, James. How are you?

-Welcome to the show again.

-What are we cooking, Glynn?

-Before we start...

Because, obviously, as you know, it's Christmas,

I've got my Christmas jumper on, so what I've done is

I've brought you a gift here. Sorry.

I didn't know about this.

-No, this is for you.

-Right.

-And, basically, it's tradition that,

obviously, if someone buys you a gift,

it's upsetting if they don't wear it, or whatever,

Christmas morning, down the pub... Stick it on, Chef.

And look at that.

Look at that.

-Glynn...

-Does it...?

It's just what I always wanted.

Look, it's got snowflakes on.

-Turn it. Look, snowflakes on...

-You can unzip it as well.

You can use it as a cardigan, you can have it over the shoulder,

-you can wear it open.

-It is a bit big.

-The thing is...

XXXL?!

-No...

-Go on, then.

Basically, I thought it was a bit rude last week,

what Matt Dawson said about you.

I just thought maybe it will either shrink in the wash

or you could grow into it, Chef.

-That's all I thought.

-Thank you very much.

-What did you think about that?

-I feel like a young Val Doonican.

I know you're a man of great fashion. What do you reckon to that?

It's massive, look at it!

You'll grow into it, Chef, or you can wear a couple of layers.

Look at the size of this!

-Right, what are we cooking?

-Anyway, we'll get on with it.

We are going to do venison, which is going to be rolled in

a bit of black pepper and some juniper berries.

-We're going to slow-cook it at 65 degrees...

-Yes.

..in clingfilm, in water, and then we're going to caramelise it

with a little bit of butter,

and I'll serve that with sweet-and-sour parsnips,

which you're going to crack on with for now, which are

going to be cooked in vinegar, equal quantities of vinegar and sugar.

Right, OK.

-Right, so if you peel them for me...

-OK. Peel these, OK.

-I'll put some juniper berries in here.

-There you go.

We're going to serve it with curly kale,

but we're going to cook the kale in chicken stock and butter.

I'm not being funny,

but it does really bring the colour out in your eyes.

LAUGHTER

You can't hit me now, because we're on national television.

This is your first and last time, Glynn.

-Cheers.

-There you go. Right, fire away.

OK, right, if we peel them now and shred them on the mandolin for me.

-OK.

-I'm going to put the vinegar into the pan.

So, we're going to make like a...

SIZZLING

You're going to make a quick reduction.

Maybe not as hot as that! And we'll put the sugar in.

It should slow down.

It's not flammable, this thing, by any chance?

-What is that you're making?

-This is a gastrique, Rick.

In the old days, you used to put it in tomato soup.

I'm saying old days...

You know that very famous brand of tomato soup,

which I can't mention, because I'm on the BBC,

but I reckon that gastrique is the heart of that soup.

-It makes the soup, doesn't it?

-Yeah. I reckon.

Explain to us what a gastrique is, then.

You take equal quantities of...

I'm using malt vinegar, and sugar, like a sweet and sour.

You cook the parsnips in it to bring out the sweetness of the parsnips,

but also to cut it, because of the richness of the game.

Have you had a gastrique before, Len?

No, I haven't, I don't think, no. I don't think I want one, either.

Don't worry, Len. Trust me.

I heard you didn't like root vegetables as well.

Hardcore, my grandad used to call them.

James, can you turn that pan up for me?

-Which one is it? Is it this one?

-It's that one.

The French hate parsnips, actually.

They probably think they're like bits of wood, don't they?

-They just give them to the pigs.

-Yeah.

Do you like your jumper, then, or not?

-I think it's amazing.

-Thank you.

If I went in the shop, it's just what I would buy...

-That's what I thought.

-..my grandad.

Go on, then.

Right, OK, so basically, I'm rolling the venison in a bit of clingfilm.

That's a loin of venison. It's all been trimmed.

The fat's trimmed off it.

Obviously, this time of year, it's in season. Game's in season.

So it's an alternative to beef, and I think it's better for you than...

-It's pretty lean. There's no fat on this whatsoever.

-No.

So, we're going to poach it... or part-poach it.

We call it sous-vide cooking, so about 65 degrees.

Tell us this way of cooking, because this is relatively new,

but people can have a go at it at home.

Normally, we use things like a vac-pack machine,

and we'll have water baths all running at different temperatures.

Normally I cook between 58 and about 65.

This one, I've just upped the temperature a little bit, to 65,

so for people at home who haven't got a thermometer,

the best thing to do is to boil the kettle, pour it in,

half-fill the kettle with cold water, pour it in.

Hold your finger there, count to about six, seven,

and then you take it out, and that's around about 65 degrees.

Yeah.

It's probably better to use a thermometer. I think so, yeah.

I think so.

"Sous-vide" meaning "under vacuum".

Yes. It's vacuum-packed, it's in the bag.

Basically it's slow-cooking, part poaching.

-I will wash my hands.

-OK.

-How are you getting on with the parsnips?

It's good if you are in a busy kitchen with not a lot of chefs,

cos you can do it all beforehand

and then you just finish it off.

If you do leave it in the water a couple of minutes over,

it's not going to really overcook it,

so if you're a busy kitchen and haven't got the staff to man

all the stoves,

it's a convenient way so, now, if you had a dinner party,

you could drop the venison in, you can do your bits and pieces

and not have to worry that the meat is going to shrink and overcook

-in the oven.

-And great for slow cook... Lesser cuts. Tougher cuts.

It works well with meat, though, doesn't it? Not with fish.

No, it's terrible with fish.

Fish cooks really quickly.

I wouldn't say terrible, but it loses that fresh immediacy.

Fish is nice in a hot pan - tssch! - and caramelise it up.

-So in go the parsnips.

-We need them to tick over.

Right, and they've gone into the gastrique there.

Can I lift this one out for you?

You want to seal that one.

Yeah, we're going to seal that one.

So, literally, you cook it with the clingfilm on?

Yeah.

And what we'll do is...

Yeah, we don't cook it with the clingfilm on, Valerie.

THEY LAUGH

-I know a song about you!

-There you go.

-What about giblets...?

THEY LAUGH

-So, we'll dry that off.

-That goes...

I'll cool this pan down a bit.

This goes in a hot pan.

The secret of this is, I mean, great for dinner parties,

but what you do need to do, whether it's venison or beef,

you need to seal it, don't you?

You want to seal the outside to make sure there's no...

all the bacteria and stuff that meat has.

So, basically, the parsnips are on there. We're going to do the kale.

-A bit of oil.

-Yeah. Do you want me to cook the kale?

Yeah, if you want to.

We're going to cook the kale in just pure chicken stock and butter.

Yeah.

I like to cook vegetables in either fruit juices, stocks or sugars,

so you get the best of the vegetable.

I think water just sort of dilutes it, and people tend to overcook it.

A great way of cooking cabbage this Christmas. No need to boil it.

-Season it up for me.

-So, we've got some butter in here.

Just a little bit of butter(!) There we go. Plenty of butter.

Season it up. Because you can cook this in just...

We've cooked it before on the show with water and butter,

but it's that emulsification of liquid and butter and stock.

It glazes it all.

If you're a vegetarian you can use vegetable stock,

but then you wouldn't be cooking venison, so...

-No, probably not.

-OK.

I say... People say about vegetarians...

I mean, at the end of the day, the venison doesn't eat meat,

so, to me, it's a vegetarian.

It's as simple as that.

So, our parsnips are cooking down.

A little bit of red wine sauce or a little bit of game stock.

-I'll warm that up for you. OK.

-I'll dry the meat off.

Realistically, we'd have had a bit more time to rest the meat,

so it relaxes and the juices stay in,

so it doesn't sort of bleed.

Len said he didn't like blood on the plate,

but mainly it's because it's not been rested, really.

I forgot how long that went in there for.

-About 15 minutes?

-15, 20 minutes.

-If it goes over a couple of minutes, it's not a big deal.

-OK.

As long as it stays under 20 minutes, about 65 degrees,

-it should be fine.

-OK.

-There's your kale. It's as easy as that.

-Seasoned up, James?

-I've seasoned it.

-Parsnips?

So they've become like a translucent...

If you cook them for a little bit longer...

They normally take about five to ten minutes.

-If you just keep stirring them... You can smell the...

-I'll do that.

I'll slice the venison.

I think this might change your mind, Len, about root veg,

cos this does taste fantastic. There you go.

And the secret of cooking it like this, it keeps it nice and pink.

And also, it doesn't shrink.

You don't look convinced, Len.

Well, I'm... I'm...

-I'm willing to try anything, but not a large portion.

-All right.

THEY LAUGH

-What would you like?

-Right, then, we'll start dressing it.

-Do you want to slice some pear for me, James?

-I can do that.

We're just going to serve some pear.

This could do with resting, really, a little bit longer.

-VALERIE:

-How long would you rest that for?

About the same amount of time that you've cooked it for.

If you cook a joint and you take it out of the oven,

you need a good 20 minutes, half an hour.

With a small piece like this,

you're talking a good ten minutes just left on the side, really.

-LEN:

-Doesn't it go cold, though?

It does, but what you normally do, once you've dressed it,

if you put it back in the oven for a couple of minutes

to come back up to temperature and then it won't bleed.

Cover it in a bit of foil, or something,

-warm place.

-Right. OK.

-Just slice them thinly.

-There you go. There's your pear.

Venison on there.

-VALERIE:

-I always leave it resting.

-A few bits of that, so that you can sit that on there.

-Thank you.

And then parsnips on there.

I like the way you haven't cooked anything with water, though.

It's quite...

People always pay attention to the main event.

Obviously, you're the main event today, Rick, alongside Len.

I'm just filling the gaps here.

-Aw...

-I think the jumper's slowly taking over, mate,

-as the main event.

-Don't get me offended. You know I box.

Don't start offending me, James.

And you won your last two fights, didn't you?

-Yeah. The last fight was really good. It was like a game of chess, with gloves on.

-A game of chess?!

We had to find the movement, and the kid I boxed

was a really good boxer, so credit to him as well.

I only just nicked it.

-Did you knock each other out?

-No, we don't...

Well, we do try, but...

I save that for the kitchen.

-So, anyway, we've got...

-The kale on there.

-Yeah.

We've got the pear on.

There we go. Little piles.

Piles there.

Serve this with a nice big bowl of potatoes

or some slow-cooked lentils.

The sauce is ready.

Remind us what this is again.

So, this is slow-cooked venison

with juniper berries,

sweet-and-sour parsnips, kale and pear.

And a jumper for Christmas. Just what I always wanted(!)

There you go. Right, over here...

It looks fantastic. Now, dive into that.

-Len, tell us what you think of that.

-It does look nice, I must say.

No blood oozing out.

-It's the first time I have had any of these ingredients.

-Really?

Oh, yeah.

Venison is like a stag, isn't it?

-Is it...?

-Not really, no.

-What is it, then?

-It's a deer.

-It's a little deer.

-Bambi.

-Bambi.

I'm eating Bambi.

It's a bit bigger.

-The actual meat is gorgeous.

-Do you like that?

-Yeah, I do.

-Now this.

-What about the parsnips, Len?

-This is it now.

Sorry, I won't rush you.

-Taste a bit of that bit. Taste that.

-It's such...

Other veg you could do that... You could do carrots like that.

Carrots, swede, any sort of root vegetable, really. Give it a go.

-Turnips would be great.

-It's all right, yeah.

-It's all right?!

Well done, Glynn, and I love the Christmas jumper, James.

Fits you perfectly.

Now, it's the time of the show I really look forward to,

so sit back and relax and enjoy some vintage Floyd.

Dear Hector, there is a saying in these parts that those who

walk upon the seabed and push heavy nets

to catch the humble prawn

shall find a sense of wellbeing and accomplishment when

the sun begins to warm their backs, and their fish buckets become full.

Actually, I'd go along with that.

If I were designing the flag for south-west Malaysia,

then the prawn would be my symbol, and my favourite dish

uniting sea and land would be prawn and pineapple. Quite delicious.

THEY SING

This is a Malaysian wedding,

and over here they take their weddings very seriously indeed.

But I'm not an anthropologist, I'm just a cook, and, for me,

this is a wonderful opportunity to dig behind the scenes.

Now, all the uncles, aunts,

brothers and sisters come here to prepare the wedding feast,

with dishes like these brilliant sambals made with fresh pineapple,

oranges, chillies, shallots, garlic,

peanuts and sugar - a wonderful accompaniment to any curry.

And these are for the top table only - fresh swimmer crabs.

Carnation milk, a leftover from the Brits,

is used to thicken a tomato sauce.

And these things, fermented rice wrapped in leaves.

Now, I know Muslims as a rule do not drink alcohol,

but I must admit, after a couple of these, I felt distinctly woozy.

I must make sure I get the recipe for those.

Anyway, the cooking goes on all day.

Here, these ladies are making a sort of Turkish delight,

whilst around the smoking cauldrons,

whole families are united with their allotted tasks.

This man is putting the finishing touches to

a cauldron of fragrant rice, with just a hint of fag ash.

Actually, this trip is mind expanding for a cook.

From now on, whilst I'm in Malaysia,

it's fruit juice all the way for me.

A clear head is needed to come to grips with the cuisine that I

realised I knew very little about,

food which has been formed by the tides of conquest, commerce

and religion over the past 600 years, and very tasty it is, too.

Anyway, what better way to come to terms with the new way of

cooking than to go to the countryside, where the food is grown

in the lush pastures surrounding the ancient town of Malacca?

Here, they're cooking rice in bamboo tubes set over a wood fire.

What a delightful setting for a cooking sketch.

This is the compound of the kampong.

This is the village square,

"kampong" being Malaysian for "village".

It's where they set fires up, it's where they cook muli,

where they have festivals, small ones, admittedly,

where they talk, play cards together and all the things that they do

on rest days and feast days.

Anyway, you can't see what I'm doing over there from over there,

so, Paul, come up and let's have a look at the ingredients, please.

Thank you.

Very simply down here, then, Paul, some splendid fresh prawns,

cut down the back and the vein taken out

so they butterfly out when they're fried.

Behind that, we've got some chopped shallots and chopped garlic.

Over here, to your right, we've got some bean sprouts,

some shredded cabbage and some bitter Chinese leaves.

Back up for me, just for a second.

They could be turnip tops or spinach, broccoli tops,

just the leaves, not the floret bits, anything that's bitter,

full of iron, very good for the blood.

Then, over here, we have some first class egg yellow noodles,

freshly made.

Some fried bean curd. By the way, to your right,

that's what the bean curd looks like in its raw state.

Some chopped-up tomato, and then later, for the sauce,

finely sliced shallots, very, very hot chillies and soy sauce, OK?

Put the wok on there. It'll take two seconds for it to warm through.

SIZZLING

There we are, onions go in first of all.

Sweat those down a little bit.

Once they've taken some of the oil, pop the garlic in.

None of this must get burnt, by the way.

It must just get to a nice golden colour.

Then next, in go the prawns.

A couple at a time so that they don't take all the heat away

from the cold prawns going in.

I think six prawns will be quite enough.

Two seconds on there.

I mean every word I say.

I mean, the great joy of being in this country, Muslim that it is,

alcohol is so difficult to find, you don't drink it, you don't miss it,

you have all these invigorating health drinks.

Look at me - a picture of health that you've never seen...

Well, you have seen occasionally, but not very often.

Anyway, into the prawns we add some water.

Now, I've heated this water to give me a bit of a flying start

on the whole thing.

SIZZLING

That will take a couple of minutes to warm through.

It must be on the boil.

Let's see how the rice in the bamboo tubes is getting on.

In fact, rice and coconut cream cooked in bamboo tubes

lined with a banana leaf, which not only imparts

a fruity flavour but stops the rice from sticking to the wood.

After baking for a couple of hours,

the rice has absorbed all of the fresh coconut cream

and has become sticky, glutinous and sweet -

a perfect accompaniment to a dish

that takes hours to prepare and cook,

which during the cooking process, gossip passes from house to house,

kampong to kampong.

A beef rendang, a sort of a hot, spicy curry,

in my book, one of the most flavoursome dishes

in the whole world.

Now that's beautifully boiling,

so I'll take the prawns out at this stage so they don't get overcooked.

I'll reintroduce them a little bit later.

Right, next thing into the boiling water are a few bean sprouts.

I think that'll probably be enough.

Just a second to regather its temperature again.

We'll drop in some cabbage leaves, finely sliced.

Then the dark green leaves.

I think at this stage we should pause for a little bit of pepper.

And a pinch of salt.

Right, so bean sprouts, cabbage, dark green leaves, water,

onions, garlic, all there beautifully.

Then the next thing, in with our noodles.

This is the base of the dish, of course - noodle soup,

mee soup, "mee" being Malaysian for noodles.

They go in like so.

Bean curd goes in, the fried bean curd.

For a bit of colour and a bit of sweetness, some tomatoes.

Pop the prawns back in now.

There, except for the sauce, you have it - a mee soup.

OK, lovely big, fat close-up on that.

So there a perfectly simple soup - no heavy spices, no heavy herbs,

just noodles, fresh vegetables, water, onions and garlic,

all things that are really good for you. It looks good.

Ah. My goodness, it tastes good.

I'll tell you what There's no more curried eggs for me, I tell you.

As you've probably gathered by now,

I hate these bits when the director insists I serve my food up

to some hapless villagers,

but joy of joys, my soup made a wonderful appetiser

to their beef rendang and sticky rice.

They really loved it and devoured the whole lot.

This little boy had three helpings. He really did.

I think I'm beginning to get the hang of this Malaysian cuisine.

Now, Malacca really is a complicated place.

To do it justice, it needs a little explaining,

because the key to understanding the food and recipes

is to take notice of history.

One of my passions, as you know, is architecture,

a subject intertwined with food.

This, I think, is Portuguese.

They came in here in 1511 with Alfonso Albuquerque,

not because they wanted to spread Christianity around the world

so much but because rich pickings were there to be had.

It's funny, really, that most of history is written by clerics,

who really did believe that any conquest that was on the side of God

and righteousness was for the good, conveniently forgetting, of course,

that the state would become amazingly rich,

taking over the very heart of the spice trade.

Ships from Portugal came here to trade with the rest of the world,

and it wasn't just spices.

Malacca was famous for its silks and gold,

and it wasn't long before the world looked on enviously.

God, it ain't half hot, Mum.

This is another classic piece of Portuguese architecture,

which I'm pleased to say houses a restaurant

that specialises in dishes the sailors introduced to the region

nearly 500 years ago.

This Portuguese chicken stew looks very European

with potatoes and carrots, but it's hot and spicy.

In fact, the whole thing has a wonderfully pungent aroma

of star anise and ginger.

This is possibly the most famous dish from Portugal in these parts,

devilled chicken - fiendishly spicy -

which found its way here from Southern India.

Basically, it's a vindaloo, and quite fabulous.

JAUNTY TUNE PLAYS

It's easy to understand this place if you think of it

as an old junk shop, having bits and pieces of different cultures,

and because I really love the past,

here's a short Floyd history lesson, OK?

Because they were brilliant navigators,

the buccaneering Portuguese came here

and knocked the living daylights out of the local sultan.

Then the stolid and commercially minded Dutch came,

who, no doubt, made a few guilders.

Then, after a trade war,

Malacca was handed over to the Brits in 1818,

and it was only when we preferred Singapore

that the city's fortunes started to fade.

Actually, it was a thriving place before any European set foot here,

and because of its proximity, the food of Southern India

has always been popular, and the cheapest in town.

For a few pence, you can buy a wonderful doughy thosai,

a sort of a pancake, to soak up a spicy vegetable curry

made with okra, beans, potatoes, garlic and coriander.

Incidentally, I didn't see any rice here,

and the dough for the thosai is put on a hot griddle

for less than a minute.

Provided you don't mind sharing a table

and eating with your right hand -

very important, that, otherwise you get some pretty filthy looks -

you can eat like a lord for a few pence.

Curiously enough, it reminded me of the Cafe du Commerce in Provence,

where the mayor, lawyers and dustbin men eat together at lunchtime,

and banana leaves save on the washing-up.

Because the commercial opportunities here were terrific,

the Chinese came in their thousands to find work.

Many of them married local women,

and they gave birth to a new race, Nyonya and Baba,

Straits-born Chinese, and a new style of cooking, Peranakan,

using the spices and ingredients of Malaysia

with the many cooking styles of China. It's well worth trying.

It's sort of Indian-Chinese cooking.

Anyway, here endeth the history lesson.

Keith just gets better and better every time you watch him.

As ever on Best Bites, we're looking back

at some of the most memorable recipes

from the Saturday Kitchen archives.

Still to come on today's show, culinary kings Michel Roux

and Brian Turner go head-to-head in the omelette challenge,

but who will come out on top?

James Tanner makes a fresh and tasty fish dish.

He makes a salt-crusted,

whole-roasted sea bass with fennel and rocket salad with garlic mash.

It sounds great.

The very witty Micky Flanagan faces his food heaven or food hell.

Did he get his food heaven,

spice-roasted shoulder of lamb with red lentil dhal?

Or did he end up with his food hell,

beetroot with a mozzarella salad and beetroot meringues?

You can find out what he got at the end of the show.

Now time for the legend that is Gennaro Contaldo.

He's making a well-known Italian staple, but not as we know it.

He's cooking la gran lasagne with ricotta, mozzarella,

boiled eggs and meatballs.

According to Gennaro, it's the perfect dish for

a special occasion like Christmas, so listen up.

-Good to have you on the show.

-Thank you very much.

Good to have you on the show. Explain to us what we're doing.

Right, what we're going to do, we're going to do a dish

which is called a lasagne,

but the way I cook, it'll be a festive lasagne.

A lasagne which is only for a special occasion. Christmas.

-Christmas.

-Why not?! Have a turkey? Away.

The other one, away, just cook a lasagne.

Cook a lasagne your way. This is... Meatballs in it?

You have to speak proper English with me.

Because of your strong northern accent, I don't understand a word.

-Yeah, you're quite right.

-That's right.

-Can't get a word.

James, I think you speak very well.

"BU-tter", not "buh-tter".

OK, what have we got here?

Minced pork - perfect. Minced beef - perfect.

We have garlic, egg, parsley, onions, flour, olive oil,

beautiful tomato, mozzarella, Parmesan cheese,

ricotta, some eggs, and...

Oh, yes, don't forget. What's it called? This is...

-We have beautiful lasagne.

-Yeah. There you go.

Now, what I want you to do - you have to listen to me...

-How do you...? Lasagne sheets, yeah?

-Yeah, course. It is lasagne.

What do you say, lasagne?

OK, sheet.

-I'll tell you, lasagne sheet.

-There you go, right. Moving on.

I want you to... Can you do me a favour?

-Can you put this inside a bowl here and mix it.

-You did it anyway. OK.

-Mix it.

-You want me to make the meatballs, yeah?

-Make meatballs. Can you chop very fine, the garlic?

-Garlic.

And parsley while I make a lovely tomato sauce.

I'll do that. No problem.

No trouble at all.

-Is this traditional around Italy at this time of year?

-It is indeed.

Oh, my God. Can you imagine Italy without the lasagne?

-No, I can't.

-No, he can't, he can't.

But this is no bechamel sauce as well...

It is not indeed.

Bechamel sauce in lasagne? So heavy! Ooh.

At the end of the day, you put the milk, you put onions, you put...

-No, it's so simple.

-It's too heavy.

-It's too heavy.

What you do, you have some nice olive oil...

You're making the sauce.

Yes, I'm going to make the sauce, you're going to make the filling.

See? I feel at home already. My spirit is lifting.

-This is real heaven.

-Ah-ha-ha!

Go, Gennaro! Go, Gennaro!

-Thank you, thank you.

-Yay!

The Italians are taking over the world, aren't they?

You see, there is nothing better. Look, all fresh, look at this.

-Oh, it's fantastic.

-My Yorkshire pork was fresh.

Well, no, you prepared it earlier.

-You had half of London doing it, you know?

-My mussels were fresh.

-Yeah, but it's not quite the same.

-Not quite the same.

-I fully agree with you.

-No garlic.

-No garlic.

-What did he do?

Olive oil, garlic - straightaway, we're at home.

We are in the race, Gennaro.

I know. Listen, I love you for that. You have no chance to win anything.

-No, have you done the garlic inside there?

-I did the garlic, yeah.

OK, mix in salt and pepper, mix properly.

In the same time, I sweated an onion, you can see.

Sweat it in small pieces.

Then I am going to have some tomato sauce inside. A simple dish.

You can see everything. It's crystal clear. Do you know what?

I'm going to put in three tins, four tins of tomato.

Then don't do anything. Look, basil - don't have to chop it.

Just goes inside here.

-Look at that!

-Just a little bit more olive oil, just on top.

-Now, last night...

-Yeah?

-You were made a grandad.

Yes, it's the right word.

Dominic! Bless you. Yes.

-What time last night?

-It was about 2.30 in the afternoon.

LAUGHTER

You forgot to put your clock back.

She had a lovely baby boy. I'm so pleased. Bless you.

Daddy loves you very much. Aw, sweet.

Yeah, I don't want to forget to say hello to Chloe and Olivia,

-cos they're watching as well.

-You've said hello to everybody.

How many tomatoes have you got in there?

14oz of tomato, then you cook them slowly, slowly,

slowly until you make a beautiful sauce. Bless that lovely sauce.

Like this one.

The secret is that you cook it for a long time, don't you?

Yeah, cook for a long time.

Most people think you make tomato sauce and it's quick.

You need to cook it for a long period of time, don't you?

Usually to cook tomato sauce, I usually take about...

Half an hour to do a quick one, which it's not.

About three quarters of an hour to nearly two hours to make

a fantastic tomato sauce.

Really, really good.

In here, I've got garlic, I've got the minced pork,

the minced beef, the onion - sorry, the parsley.

Salt and pepper and an egg yolk.

An egg yolk, which you mix and you sweat nicely,

if I can get this gas going. Fantastic.

Now, in the same time, I have this beautiful lasagne dish,

which I will put the sauce on top here, then...

Look at the way I'm running after you. Just put them inside.

-Don't worry, Chef, I'm going as quick as I can.

-OK.

Then I will put some sauce under it, crystal clear,

everybody can see what I'm doing. Then I will put some pasta...

-What do you call them?

-Lasagne.

Lasagne, just inside. Fantastic.

-Like that.

-Yeah.

Then I put, again, a little bit more sauce on top.

Nice grating of Parmesan.

Gennaro, you don't pre-scald the lasagne, you put them in dry?

-Do you know what?

-My grandmother used to put them in the...

You know, just put them in the water first before...

It is indeed.

But I find if you put enough sauce inside your dish, it will cook,