02/07/2017 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites

Good morning, I'm Matt Tebbutt, and I've some outstanding dishes

to kick-start your Sunday morning.

So please sit back and enjoy today's line-up

of brilliant Saturday Kitchen Best Bites.

Welcome to the show.

Now, don't go anywhere, because I have a whole heap of fantastic chefs

cooking up brilliant food and some great guests who are eager to eat.

Coming up on the show today...

James Martin cooks rhubarb chutney with mackerel and watercress

for Dexter Fletcher.

Silvena Rowe cooks pork belly with a difference.

The pork belly is slow-roasted

and coated in a sticky blueberry and chilli glaze,

and it's served up with whipped feta, yoghurt and cumin salad.

The amazing Ashley Palmer-Watts is here with a stunning scallop dish.

He makes a vegetable stock and adds clams and samphire

and creates a broth.

He then pan-fries scallops and plates it all up with pickled dulse.

And they're celebrating James' 40th birthday in

the omelette challenge today,

and there's not two but three chefs battling it out,

so keep watching to see how it works out.

Then it's over to Paul Rankin, who's celebrating British rose veal.

Broad beans and Romaine lettuce are cooked in foaming butter

and are served with pan-fried veal chops and Jersey Royal potatoes.

And finally, Patsy Palmer faces her food heaven or her food hell.

Did she get her food heaven - strawberry mille-feuille

with strawberry sauce -

or her food hell - smoked salmon and spinach tart

with watercress pesto and salad?

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

But first, it's over to Oliver Rowe

who's doing his best to keep it local.

-Oliver.

-Hello.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, James.

So why do this?

Why don't you open it in Hampshire or somewhere like that,

where you can find stuff?

Because I'm from London, I'm a Londoner and very proud of it.

So, tell us what you're cooking.

Yeah, I'm going to do a pan-roast chicken -

the chicken's from Waltham Abbey -

with a creme fraiche spaetzle - German pasta type thing.

-And a cabbage, dill, lemon, garlic salad.

-Lovely.

-So, first things first...

-Can you get the chicken?

-That's the first thing.

-Start getting my...

Right, so tell us a little bit about the marinade to go on this chicken.

-The marinade is... I'm sneakily getting that in there.

-Right.

And the marinade for the chicken was lemon zest, lemon thyme,

garlic and some white wine.

-White wine in there as well?

-White wine in there, yeah.

-And just leave it, what, overnight?

-Yeah, if you can.

At least an hour or so. I'm going to season that.

Now, the chicken, before you put that in the pan,

that's quite an unusual cut because it's all one piece.

You take the two sides of the chicken off

and take out the leg bone.

It's a little tricky the first time,

but once you've done it a few times, it's not too hard.

You can get your butcher to do that?

-Yeah, you can get the butcher to do it.

-OK, lovely.

So that's fine. So, really nice hot pan.

I suppose the advantage of that is white and dark meat all in together.

Exactly. I like... I like both.

And as John was mentioning when he was cooking the fish,

-chicken doesn't take nearly as long as you think.

-Yeah.

So, I'm just getting the colour on the skin there.

That'll take a few minutes.

In the meantime, I'm going to make my spaetzle, which is flour, eggs,

celery seed, and I'll whizz them up in here.

Tell us where this originates from.

Spaetzle's from the deep south, deep German south.

It's a kind of real traditional dish, and I love it.

Oopsie, flicking my flour...

And it's the equivalent to the Italian pasta, really, I suppose?

-You can help me get the eggs in, if you want.

-Yeah.

-How many do we want?

-All of them.

-All of them?!

-There's seven, yeah.

It's basically, flour and egg,

a pinch of salt and those seeds in there.

Right. And we've used plain flour in there, have we?

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

-Exactly. We get our flour from...

It's grown in Dartford and Barnet, milled in Ponders End.

Now, this interests me.

All these ingredients from all these places - what's been

the most interesting ingredient you've found on your travels?

-I like the flour. I think the flour's pretty good.

-Yeah?

-But the fish was pretty exciting, going on the Thames.

-Lovely.

-So you're making this...

-You don't want to whizz it too long.

-Just blend it.

-Because the gluten...

-Yeah.

-OK.

-It'll strengthen it and it'll be no good?

-Yeah.

As you can see, it's quite wet.

It's really a batter as opposed to a pasta, a paste.

OK. So, the chicken, you're just sealing that?

I'm just sealing it and getting some nice colour on that.

I mean, that's looking pretty nice, actually.

I'm going to pop that in a really hot oven.

That's 200? About 210, something like that? Yeah, about that.

-A bit more.

-Straight in there. Lovely.

-Right.

That's the spaetzle.

I actually made some earlier cos I didn't want to get myself all messy.

-Ah, right.

-This is just a piping bag.

-This is just a basic mixture in a piping bag.

-In a piping bag.

-Lovely.

And you'll see... Give that a little stir.

Now I can lose this.

So can I be doing something with this cabbage

while you're doing that?

Yeah, if you could just...

So, we've got, basically, dill, lemon, garlic, the cabbage.

Dress that with seasoning, some of this lovely rapeseed oil.

-Rapeseed oil?

-Yeah.

-Of course, this is...

Cos the ingredients, the bulk of your ingredients,

like chicken and veg and stuff like that, not a problem.

When you start talking about your oils and your salt.

Literally, you were on about everything.

Yeah, everything. Everything we can. Everything we can.

Obviously not olive oil.

-The salt is from Maldon, so it's a little way out.

-Essex, yeah?

-Essex.

But it's amazing salt. It's the best salt in the world, really.

Spices, we couldn't get.

I went to Kew Garden to try and get the spices,

-and that was a no-go.

-No chance!

Yeah, you have to have to have it certified for botanical research

to sort of get anything...

Explain to us what you're doing.

I'm just drizzling this straight into the water there.

Cos this conventionally would be done in a pan

-with, like, a colander and they would squeeze it in.

-Yeah, exactly.

And obviously, it drips through in small bits.

I'm just going to wash my hands.

So I'm just going to put raw cabbage, sliced up...

-Make sure you season it up really nicely.

-Sorry, yeah.

And plenty of oil.

-Plenty of oil?

-Dill.

-Dill!

-Lemon.

-All right.

-Crush the garlic. Go, go, go!

-All right, I'm going! I'm going!

-I'm going.

-Bit slow, isn't he?

-Yeah, I know.

I tell you what, he hangs around, doesn't he?

-Thank you very much!

-It's all right. Any time.

-There you go.

-So, have you ever cooked spaetzle, John?

-Me?

Yeah, as a sort of young kid training in Australia,

we had... Our tutors were Swiss,

and they taught us how to make proper spaetzle.

We had spaetzle pans,

which are like a flat colander thing with holes in it,

and you pour the batter into it,

and then you scrape it backwards and forwards.

It drops into the water like little teardrops.

Then you take them out and then you pan fry them in butter.

-Delicious.

-Lovely.

-Lovely.

-Looking forward to...

-Nicer than my kind of cheating piping bag.

-I like your idea.

-I think it's very clever.

-They're done. That's very quick.

-Literally only a couple of minutes!

-I'm draining them now.

Yeah, no messing around.

So, how long do you cook the chicken in there?

What, 10 minutes, something like that?

Yeah, if it's a really lovely hot oven.

But in sealing the skin, you've actually started

cooking it down a bit... cooking it off a bit already.

But I don't think we're going to quite have time to cook it properly,

so I've got one that I cooked earlier.

What are we doing with this? You would fry this off?

I would fry it off, but again, I haven't quite got time to do that,

so I'm just going to sploosh a bit of my sauce on it.

Explain to us what's in that sauce, because that...

What have you got in there?

First of all, we've got some shallots, diced them,

reduced them with white wine, and then I just...

threw in a whole load of creme fraiche.

-Often creme fraiche splits with me.

-Yeah, I know.

Well, I don't seem to be having that problem,

so either it's my creme fraiche...

We make our own creme fraiche.

Yeah, well, that's probably the reason why...

You can get... If you don't get really, really, really top,

it can...yeah, split.

Just make sure it's really top-quality creme fraiche,

-or make it yourself - there you go.

-There we go.

See, that's my fault - I've been buying the cheap stuff, you see.

Once a Yorkshireman, always a Yorkshireman, you see?

LAUGHTER

You've got to save money somehow, haven't you, really?

-Right.

-Right, so that's that. How's the cabbage salad...?

I'm doing it, I'm doing it, I'm doing it. I'm doing it.

-It's getting there.

-I want that to...

So I've just got a little bit of the oil in here, lemon juice,

the cabbage...

-That looks gorgeous.

-Seasoning!

-You can do that a little bit ahead.

-Right...

What's my garlic...?

-Yeah, I put some garlic in it.

-OK, fine.

-We're having a tiff.

-There you go.

-You can do that a little bit ahead.

Yeah, we'll do it ahead next time you're on, I think -

I'm not doing it!

-Right, so a little bit of lemon juice.

-Whingeing!

-OK.

-Lovely.

-There's a plate.

-I'm getting the plate, chef.

-I'm taking the plate.

-Could you keep me a little piece of dill aside?

-No, I haven't got dill. I'll get dill.

-There you go.

There we go. Right. That's that. That's that.

Right, now...

What's happening now? Look at that.

I want, on this plate, a little bit of the...

Do you know what?

Hands - use your hands.

There you are.

So, anyway, right, you've got it...

How are you going to carve this?

I'm going to carve a little bit of white meat,

a little bit of brown meat cos I like both,

and that's the whole joy of this cut of chicken.

If people were making this at home, this spaetzle, you could

keep it in the fridge, couldn't you, once it's cooked?

You can. You can either keep them...

Drain them, toss them in a little bit of oil

and then...keep them in the fridge.

Or you can actually keep them in water.

-Really, just sit it in the water in a tray?

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

Right, how are we going to serve this?

-See, this is a nice big fat...

-Yeah?

-..fat one.

-There's probably two people in there.

-Two portions?!

-Yeah.

Look at that. That is just...

You can tell you're down south now, can't you?

I tell you what, that'd be a starter where I come from!

LAUGHTER They'd be like, "What's this?"

That fits in your sandwich this afternoon.

-With your cereal!

-Exactly!

Right, and some of the sauce.

No herbs. Just literally shallot, a bit of white wine...

-That's your lot.

-Lovely.

-Sorry.

-It looks great.

A bit of extra sauce on there.

I would actually reduce that a little bit more in general.

-Look at that.

-And then... Can we put that on?

Then you can put that on. Go on, then.

-Have I got time?

-There you go.

And look at that, all that within the M25.

Remind us what that is again.

That is pan-roast chicken with creme fraiche spaetzle

and cabbage, dill and lemon salad.

Lovely.

Right. Well, I know you guys are chatting away over here cos...

You'd be a mess at cooking this - is that what you said?

-I would be a mess.

-There you go. Have a seat. Now, dive in!

-You've all been wanting to taste this, all chatting away.

-OK.

-OK, I'm going to try this.

-Can I try some?

That's the part that everyone wants!

Didn't get a taste of the halibut.

-How's that cabbage?

-The spaetzle's great.

Cabbage is just the best part of it!

Have you tasted that cabbage?

The cabbage? I made it! It's perfect, isn't it?

-LAUGHTER

-It's funny how people sort of go...

ALL SPEAK OVER EACH OTHER

-Without the...

-It's fantastic.

But I prefer it just with a lemon dressing. Do you know what I mean?

I think it's lighter, More summer-y.

So fast, everything!

It's not French, but would the wife approve?

-I'm sure, yeah.

-Delicious.

Those Austrian noodles look really good and they're really

simple to make, so why not give them a go this weekend?

Now, coming up, James makes rhubarb chutney

with mackerel and watercress for Dexter Fletcher,

but first, it's over to Rick Stein who's creeping around in

a dark shed in the Yorkshire Dales.

Well, I've come here to the Yorkshire Dales

cos there's something here that really interests me.

I love ewe's milk cheese - Roquefort in particular.

But I believe I'm right in saying that North Yorkshire

is the only place where the indigenous cheese was ewe's milk.

The reason for that's quite simple,

that when William the Conqueror conquered England in 1066

and gradually moved north,

the soldiers that came up here were, well, to put it quite mildly,

appalled by the cuisine.

And they moaned to William the Conqueror

and said, "We've got to have something decent to eat."

So he sent one of his abbots over here with a lot of monks,

and they started making the local cheese from back in Normandy,

which was ewe's milk.

But what's so interesting is that the local cheesemakers

are now making ewe's milk cheese again -

people like Mrs Bell with her blue cheese.

One of the most important things to small local producers

is knowing how to market your product.

There are no flies on Mrs Bell -

or her cheeses, for that matter!

Because when I arrived, they were busy starting a campaign

to tell the world about her soft, creamy ewe's milk cheese.

I get a lot of cheeses sent to me, but once in a while,

one really grabs you, and this one did.

When I saw the wrapper, it said "Mrs Bell's Blue" on it.

Well, that was intriguing for a start.

And then I tasted the cheese and, you know,

I suppose you get the old tingle on the back of the neck,

you just think this is just fantastic,

and I had to come up here.

I had this sort of image like Mrs Kirkham, Mrs Bell

and the little sort of nice cottage industry.

And I got here and, well, it's not like that at all!

-And there should be a scene... How about that?

-That's nice.

So what does cheese-making mean to you?

Why does it matter to you so much? It obviously does.

I'm just very passionate about the fact that in Britain

we've got so many wonderful cheeses.

And in the last ten years, the artisan cheese-making in Britain

-is really outstripping the French.

-Great!

-We can compete.

We have some friends that live in the Haute-Savoie,

and they take our cheeses over,

and all of their friends in the valleys say,

"Too good to be made in Britain! Too good to be made in Britain!"

I'm in Yorkshire, near Wakefield.

You know, I'm fascinated by signs

that sing the praises of a particular community.

In this case, rhubarb, because the village of Carlton lies at

the very centre of the country's rhubarb production.

The word rhubarb sounds so comical.

It's like something from The Goon Show.

But the Oldroyd family take this fruit - or is it a vegetable? -

very seriously indeed.

This particular variety of rhubarb is called Timperley Early,

and like the name rhubarb, it's got such a British feel to it.

And I just love rhubarb.

I just think my favourite pudding of all time is rhubarb crumble,

so I just had to come here to see where it's grown.

-Now the secret world.

-Oh, wow!

God, it looks really weird.

It's like a sort of ghostly host of rhubarb. They're so pale.

So, Janet, why did this forcing of rhubarb happen

sort of only here, in this part of Yorkshire?

It came to Yorkshire, 1877,

and it became known as the rhubarb triangle, the centre of the world.

-Like the opium triangle!

-THEY CHUCKLE

And you get lost here as you get absorbed into the sheds.

But it was immensely important, it was a major industry at its time.

Links, everything fit together perfectly.

You've got the soil that's perfect for rhubarb production,

the links with the coal industry

obviously gave us the power to heat the sheds,

and the shoddy, which is a by-product of the woollen industry,

the carding and combing process.

You get woollen debris being taken out,

and as the wool decays, it releases high amounts of nitrogen.

The rhubarb loves nitrogen,

and it maintains this energy store within the root.

I mean, you just speak so wonderfully,

passionately about rhubarb.

Why does it mean so much to you?

It's been immensely important to our family, obviously.

I've grown up with the rhubarb

and it's something, I think, that gets in your blood.

Is it true you can hear it growing?

Yes, when they're triggered into growth

and the first leaf bursts out of that bud for the first time,

it then can grow an inch a day,

so you hear the creaking of the sticks as they grow.

So put that in a dark, candle-lit environment,

and it's an eerie secret world of what's happening here.

Rhubarb crumble - it's about as British as you can get, actually.

Call me old-fashioned, call me what you like,

but I like rhubarb crumble in the winter

with a beef or a roast duck,

and I like gooseberry fool in the summer

after the poached salmon and the mayonnaise.

But actually, I find something like rhubarb crumble is

a real test of a good cook,

because we all know what rhubarb crumble should taste like,

and therefore the little nuances of what you do

with your rhubarb crumble are so important.

If you're making, like, a sort of Thai stir-fry,

nobody knows what to judge it by.

But they certainly do with rhubarb crumble.

So I really take care when I'm making mine.

First of all, you need to add some sugar -

just enough so it's moreishly, but not cloyingly tart.

Then a tablespoon or so of flour.

This makes the liquid a little bit viscous, which is very pleasing.

The crumble topping - you start by making shortcrust pastry,

but there's a lot more butter in it,

so it always ends a little bit more lumpy

than the granular texture of shortcrust.

Then sugar - it needs to be quite sweet.

Into the pie dish goes the rhubarb, flour and sugar,

and then the topping.

I find the easiest way to distribute the topping is with your fingers,

then just give it a little shake like that

and into a hot oven for about 45 minutes.

What I really like about a good crumble is

the way that as it crisps up at the top,

it sort of splits and you can see the sort of rhubarb

welling up from underneath,

and you've got that lovely smell of butter and cooked flour

and the slightly sour smell of the rhubarb.

It's the stuff of Sunday lunches, really.

This is one of my desert-island dishes -

particularly with clotted cream,

which melts into the hot crumble so lusciously.

I've heard this story about Albert Roux.

When he interviews a chef for a job, he'll say,

"Right, just fry me an egg."

And... Because you can tell so much from how a chef fries an egg.

As far as I'm concerned, I think I'd say,

"Make me a rhubarb crumble."

So one person I've got to ask is Tom, cos you used to work for Rick.

Did he ever ask you to make a rhubarb crumble?

I did on the desserts section, but I had...

My best time with Rick, I spent a month just filleting fish -

I didn't do any cooking.

-I did all the fish prep for the restaurant.

-And that was it?

You can have a go at this, if you want!

Like you said, Rick said rhubarb is such a great ingredient

and it's bang in season at the minute.

And it's not just great in classic desserts, like crumbles

and stuff like that, but it's great for savoury dishes - fish, duck -

it can go with a variety of different things.

I'm going to show you a dish now which is like

an Indian-inspired rhubarb chutney,

and it's going to go with a simple grilled mackerel.

The first thing I'll do is run through the ingredients.

We've got some chilli here, curry leaves,

a little bit of mustard seed - they're going to get fried off.

I've got some palm sugar, cumin and coriander ground,

a little bit of lime, some mint and some rhubarb.

A little bit of watercress to go with it.

And then we've got our mackerel like that.

So first thing I'm going to do is

chop our chilli and our curry leaves,

and these are going to get fried up.

-You're looking a little bit nervous there.

-No, no!

It's just if you asked me to name all them ingredients again,

I'd... You know, I'd fail.

-These are fresh curry leaves.

-Fresh curry leaves - good.

That's what I was curious about - I'd never seen them before.

You've never...seen fresh curry leaves? Don't eat them.

-Don't eat them, no? Will they blow my head off?

-Eat them later.

-You can sniff them.

-OK, I'll sniff it.

Yeah, it's curry leaves, isn't it?

Yeah, great, you learn something new every day.

You learn something new every day.

This is a whole big learning curve for me.

Well, I'm pretty hopeless at acting as well,

but you weren't at the age of ten.

No, it's true. I was in my prime, some would say.

-Yeah, I mean, Bugsy Malone! I mean...

-Yeah.

-..with Jodie Foster.

-Jodie Foster, yeah.

-How did you get that part, anyway?

Just ten years old!

Well, you know, with my older brothers,

I went to a drama club in Islington

that my dear old nan Grace sent us to,

with my mum, took us there. It was a drama club after school.

And Alan Parker turned up there with a very early video camera,

I remember. Which was like a huge great thing

and he was making this film, Bugsy Malone,

and I was one of the kids who were lucky enough to get a part

and be in it.

It's a part that's stood out ever since.

It's been getting me work 25 years later.

It certainly has been getting you work.

I'll talk about this in a minute. I'm just going to fry this off.

Going to chop the rhubarb and throw that in, as well.

Just dice this up and throw that in also.

Like you said, getting you the work ever since.

Because, recently, you've been working with Robert De Niro.

Yes, I have. Yeah, yeah.

I did a film called Stardust with Robert De Niro.

I just had to stand around next to Robert De Niro

which, actually, was really quite a relief because I knew nobody

would really be looking at me.

You know, when you're on screen with Robert De Niro,

it's like the attention...

-Has he got the same presence on set that he has on...?

-Yeah. Very much.

He's a very powerful presence.

People tend to go very quiet when he's around. I don't know why.

I think he just thinks everywhere he goes it's just really quiet.

-Really silent. Yeah.

-People just stop talking.

He walks on set, everyone's quiet. You know?

So, no, but he's a lovely man.

But from that you were, literally, while that was going on,

I was asking you what you were doing while we were watching Rick.

You said, "I've just done something with Nicolas Cage."

I just got crushed in a car by Nicolas Cage.

The same director as Stardust.

The same director does this new film called Kick Ass,

which is like the animal, not like the part of the anatomy.

And his name is Matt Vaughan and he produced a film

called Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels many years ago.

-Which you were in as well.

-Which, of course, I was in, as well.

And, so, he's just done this film with Nick Cage.

So, he put me in that as well. He also directed Layer Cake.

Which was with Daniel Craig.

Did you know when you were filming Lock, Stock

that it was going to be as big as what it was?

I don't suppose... This cult movie.

I mean, it'd be really cool to say, "Yeah, we knew it would be great."

"It was the greatest script we'd ever read."

It was a great script. There's no two ways about that.

But, with one of those small British movies, which there are a lot of,

it's one of those things that either really hits its moment

and becomes a great, classic film,

or they kind of disappear and you try again.

But that was just one of those great films.

I mean, Guy Ritchie is a good film-maker. So it stands up.

It was fantastic. So, just running through.

We've got all the gradients into our chutney now. In we go with the lime.

This has got the palm sugar and everything else in there.

We're just going to throw that in.

Lime juice gives it a bit of moisture.

There we go. Keep frying that off. It will cook in real-time, as well.

Same time, we're going to fillet our fresh mackerel.

It must be absolutely fresh as a daisy for this. We fillet it.

Just lift the knife underneath.

Pull that open, like that.

Try and buy a whole fish if you can do.

They are much better because you can see its eyes.

The eyes are the best way to tell, really,

on whether it's absolutely as fresh as a daisy

but it's very, very simple to fillet.

You just fillet that underneath, like that.

-Well, you make it look easy.

-Sorry? I made it look easy!

I've got a feeling it wouldn't be like that if I did it.

A little bit of oil on there. Oil on the fish.

Touch of salt.

Bit of black pepper. And we're going to pop our fish under the grill.

That's just going to go straight under there.

Really hot grill, if you can get it.

Nice and hot, right at the top,

that wants to go on there for about a couple of minutes.

Now, of course, from film to TV.

Because, from Friday, the fourth series of Hotel Babylon.

The fourth series of Hotel Babylon's back. It's very good.

Why did that part jump out at you? It's a great part, by the way.

You play a bit of a jack of all trades, don't you, really?

Well, that's what, in the first series, particularly,

as well, you had this guy who was seemingly very respectable

on the outside and keeping everything running smoothly.

-But a bit dodgy in the middle.

-Yeah, really, he's a bit dodgy.

He's got his finger in a lot of pies

and he keeps everything ticking over.

And I like that idea of this kind of man,

seemingly not at the forefront of things actually, kind of,

running and helping keeping everything moving.

And it's also that kind of graduation from Babyface, isn't it?

You've got a similar kind of character.

You know...

-Everything happens because of him.

-I suppose so.

I mean, I suppose Babyface was instrumental in his own way

-in the story of Bugsy Malone.

-Yeah.

And as it's Tony, I mean, you're right.

He kind of keeps the whole wheels oiled.

He's one of those kind of guys who keeps it all running

as smoothly as possible.

Because things go wrong. It's the nature of the show.

The fourth series, is there anything new in it?

New in the respect that Nigel Harman comes in and buys the hotel

-in the first episode. You know.

-Fairly new.

-That's fairly new.

The first episode opens,

it looks like the hotel is actually going to close down,

so, of course, we're all fairly down in the mouth about that.

And then Nigel, this kind of international playboy, turns up...

and, on a whim, buys the hotel,

which is great because it completely undermines

any serious nature of the show

and then you've got this guy flashing around with lots of money,

kind of, thinks he knows what he's doing, running this hotel

and he doesn't really.

He's got good intentions and he's a bit of a playboy and stuff.

It's kind of an interesting dynamic that's added to the whole...

And in between all the action one thing that fascinates me

is what you're up to.

Because you're going to Borneo, aren't you?

I'd love to see... I'd absolutely love to see this.

You're going to... Well, tell us.

Well, my wife is Lithuanian.

There's a Lithuanian woman called Birute Galdkias

and she has a sanctuary for orangutans out in Borneo.

Because their natural habitat is being destroyed

and there's lots of them are orphans

so she has this place where she re-habituates them, basically.

And she met my wife out in Lithuania and they got on very well

and she invited us out to Borneo to go to the sanctuary

-to do some volunteer work for a month or so.

-Fantastic.

So, we're going to get on a plane and get out there and get upriver

and, I don't know what we're going to be doing exactly.

There's orangutans involved - I know that much -

but my wife tells me it's going to be great.

Are you getting down and dirty with the orangutans?

Changing nappies and that sort of thing. Do they wear nappies?

That's what we're going to find out.

I think, the nature of it is, you know, you can go out there

and do something completely unique and interesting and amazing

and in a part of the world that's relatively untouched.

I think that's the big tragedy of it,

-that it's slowly being destroyed.

-It's getting touched quite a lot.

More and more. Yeah.

-Incredible experience to go out there and see it.

-Absolutely.

I get to good spend a good amount of time with my wife, as well,

which is always good because she works abroad a lot and so...

I don't know whether you get rhubarb in Borneo but, if you do...

I'll bring you back some.

Bring me back some and you can have a go at this. We've got our...fish,

which is under the grill.

Which is ready.

Really doesn't take long at all to cook some mackerel like that.

Straight out.

And, then, we lift off our... The thing about mackerel -

just cook it nice and simply. Fresh mackerel, you can't beat it.

A little bit of that on there.

Over there. Fresh mackerel. Rhubarb.

Inspired Indian chutney to go with it. Little bit of water.

-You reckon there's going to be some left?

-It'll be very hot.

-So, dive in. That chutney's quite hot and spicy. So...

-OK.

The fish is cooked.

There might be a little bit of bone in there, as well.

I don't mind that. OK.

It'll be hot. It'll be hot. Be hot. Let me get rid of that.

That is the hot bit. That's the chilli.

I love it when the chef takes out

what you're about to put in your mouth!

It's very hot.

In every sense.

Water there. Just nod.

-No. It's hot. It's warm hot.

-Yeah.

But the lime's really coming through, as well.

-Nice flavour?

-Well, I'm going...hurggh!

No, it's really good. It's very good.

-Rhubarb and mackerel, a great combination.

-It is.

It's a fantastic combination. Never had it before and I love it.

The way James was acting,

I thought the chutney was going to blow Dexter's head off.

Now, today, we're taking a look back

at some of the tastiest recipes from the archives

and we've still got some corkers for you.

Up next is Silvena Rowe with a tasty

Eastern Mediterranean pork-belly dish.

-Good to have you back on the show, Silvena.

-Great to be here.

-And you've been busy for the last couple of months.

-Very busy.

Actually, I've joined the rest of the cheffing world out there.

18 hours a day working and all that.

I mean, if I fall asleep here, slap me one, will you, please?

-I can't do that.

-With pleasure.

-Right, what are we cooking here?

Really, this is a fairly youngish pork belly.

You know, like a young animal. I want it to be fairly lean.

So this is quite good and lean.

So, basically, what I'm going to do with it

is just simply plonk it in my tray.

Here, I have some spices.

You want me to do these ones?

We've got some cardamom, some cumin seeds, and some fennel seeds.

So, while you actually crush the cardamom,

I'm going to rub my seeds on the top.

Because, you know, my restaurant is Eastern Mediterranean.

Kind of the forgotten Mediterranean.

That of Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan.

1,001 culinary nights kind of thing.

You know? So, a little bit of salt goes in here.

There's particular spices over that way. Cardamom being one.

And that kind of stuff. It's very sweet a lot of their... Sugary.

-That kind of stuff.

-That's why I like to put, like...

You know, in this country, we love pork with apple.

So, instead of apple, I decided to go for a bit of blueberry.

At the restaurant, we have three major blueberry molasses.

Like, well, blueberry molasses, one, then pomegranate molasses,

and mulberry molasses.

And we use them in dressings, we use them in marinades and glazes, etc.

So, having done that, we have some chicken stock here.

Which I'm going to pour right over it.

And, basically, we're going to leave it now

for about three or four hours in a fairly low oven.

Once we've covered it, of course.

So, basically, braising it.

To be honest with you, I leave it for as long as I can

because I like the meat to be flaking off.

To be, kind of, be able to pull it.

-Sounds good to me.

-So, can you put it in the oven for me, please?

I'll put that in.

The other one, I think, yeah. Thank you so much.

So, what temperature is that, then?

Well, this is going to be about,

I don't know, 150, something like that.

Because, you know, I want it fairly slowly cooked.

Gas four, something like that.

-Let's see what's happening here, then.

-Yeah.

Oh. Very nice. So, this is looking fairly good.

Make sure that when you work with it, there's a little bit of colour.

-You need to wash your hands.

-Yeah.

There you go. Now, the salad with this.

You got, in here, some...

-Yeah. Before the salad, shall we do our...

-Why not?

-Let's do that.

-You do know who is the chef patron here, don't you?

-Imagine you're in Quince.

-I was never in doubt.

Right. Blueberry. Don't even go for the fresh ones

because the cheaper ones are those.

They are just as delicious, frozen ones.

-In here? In there.

-And you are wearing very appropriate colours.

Thank you very much for your consideration today.

It covered my white shirt this morning.

-Because it's spraying, we are fine. Water, please, as well.

-All that?

Yes, please. All of that.

And then you will pass it here because once you start a messy job,

you finish a messy job, basically.

-Can you pass it through this sieve?

-I will pass it, yeah.

-Once you pass it, please add the sugar.

-Yeah. I'll do that.

-And a little bit of lemon. In there.

-OK.

-Just a touch.

Now, congratulations. You got your first review today.

Yes, so, now, apparently, we're "sultry and glamorous", my dear.

-So, you know.

-Sultry and glamorous?

Yes. That's what has been said and, you know,

I couldn't disagree with it, really. Could I, now? You know...

-Are they on about you, or your restaurant?

-Exactly.

The restaurant is fabulous.

It's just exactly the epitome of sultry and glamorous.

-Did I say that again?

-I think that's a real compliment.

-So, this is going in there.

-"Sultry."

We're sieving it through.

We want, like, a very jammy puree.

And I'm afraid

this is not sold in the shop so you have to make it yourself.

Gives you a sense of accomplishment. It's quite delicious.

Right. So, the sugar goes in here, as well.

A little bit of lemon.

And, basically, on a very low heat,

leave it until it becomes quite jammy, type of thing. So...

Put this here for me, please. Doing everything for me now.

-Do what you're told, James.

-Quick! Quick!

I will have to remove that skin.

-You know your place on this game, I tell you.

-OK.

So we're removing the skin. This skin is beautiful.

-We're not going to use it on this occasion.

-Huh?

Take it home with you, if you want.

You know, because this is fabulous to actually do

-a crackling but not in this dish.

-OK.

You know, what is the best way to do crackling, James?

Can you say at this stage?

I, particularly with pork belly, you cook it for long,

slow cooking but you wouldn't cover it with tinfoil like that.

Otherwise, it sweats. You don't get it nice and crackly.

About the same amount of time.

Long and slow cooking and then crank up the heat before you need it.

OK. So, what we're going to do now is actually arrange

-our belly of pork on our tray.

-Where's the chilli going?

-The chilli's going in here, please.

-Yeah? In here?

-In here.

-In there?

-It's chilli and blueberry, yeah.

Put it in there, please. Yeah, please. Didn't I say that?

-Just checking first.

-You're too soft. People are so afraid of me.

All my chefs are afraid of me. I really don't know why.

I'll tell you one day.

-Over the phone!

-So, we're glazing it.

Now, at this stage, I love to put it in a very hot oven to finish it off

to give it a good crisp.

If you really want and you have the time to watch it,

you can finish it under the salamander if you have a restaurant,

-or a very hot grill if you're at home.

-Right.

Give it really a good whoosh of that.

Is that a portion size that you get?

Yeah, this is a portion size.

Basically, I cut it in four

and this is one of the bestselling dishes already.

I bet it is, if that's the size of a portion.

Well, this is fabulous. People love it.

People absolutely love it. Even people who don't love pork love it.

-You know.

-These are your leaves.

-You've done the leaves.

-All prepared.

-Can you finish them off?

-Put it in here, please.

-Absolutely. Why not?

-Thank you very much.

-Explain what we've got in here.

So, basically, we've got some yoghurt.

We've got some feta cheese and, actually, we're really,

-kind of, whooshing it together with a bit of cumin and, then...

-Lemon?

If you want. Why not? You know, why not? A little bit is OK.

No need of salt and, really, no need of pepper either.

Because the seasoning is perfect.

The lettuce leaves goes in there. Coat them nicely.

And then I've got some sesame, and some cumin seeds,

which I'm going to sprinkle on the top because I love the crunch.

The creaminess of the dressing with the crunch works beautifully.

So, tell us about the restaurant, Quince.

Quince is Eastern Mediterranean in the heart of London.

Iconic Mayfair. Fabulous food.

It's a touch of Lebanese, a touch of Ottoman, but, really,

very much British fare. This is the best of British pork.

The best of chicken, the best of British beef, etc.

The cote de boef is to die for. It's 45 days aged

and it's the best you'll eat in London.

So, come and try it because, I swear to you, it is unbelievable.

It is phenomenal. The salad is incredible.

All of the salads are fat-free.

You know, I don't use any dressings in my salad.

-So the food is very light and very delectable.

-Very light?

You've got two kilos of pork belly going on here.

This is the only pork dish.

Everybody is saying to me, "My God, you're doing Ottoman food,

"why are you putting pork?" We are in Britain.

We're not a native restaurant. And I love pork. You know?

British pork is phenomenal, so why not?

Where does your ideas come from, then?

My ideas - well, my heritage, my dear.

Everything is to do with my heritage.

I'm Ottoman, Turkish, Bulgarian.

And, basically, have gone back to my roots.

Right.

And it's a little bit of a play on flavours, that kind of thing.

You know? So, right.

That looks good to me.

It's delicious, yeah.

-This is fabulous, yes.

-Right.

You want it to be caramelised.

Remember that blueberry molasses will do exactly that.

-It will caramelise gorgeously.

-Tell me what I'm sprinkling on here.

Black sesame seeds and cumin seeds.

Gives it a wonderful crunch and a wonderful flavour. To finish.

-There you go. There's your little salad.

-Yeah.

And, here, our baby squares.

And this is phenomenal.

This is so delicious.

-You know...

-So, basically, goes back in at a really high temperature.

Yeah. Absolutely.

I mean, oven is easy because then you don't have to

really watch it so much. But, grill, you must watch it.

A little bit of seasoning on the top and this is your dish finished.

Here.

Looks good to me. Remind us, what's that dish again?

This is belly of pork,

twice cooked with blueberry and chilli molasses

and a salad with feta, whipped yoghurt,

and a little bit of touch of cumin.

Looks good to me.

-And I know it smells good.

-Does it taste good?

-I'm so excited.

Have a seat over here. There you go. Dive into that.

-Tell us what you think of that.

-Wow!

-Right.

-Go on.

-There you go.

I suppose pork is the only thing you could really do that with.

Beef brisket, you could probably do that with, slow-cooking.

But it's not going to get the same flavour with the blueberries.

No. Kind of, don't play with it.

I think pork lends it itself very well to this fruitiness.

-Smells amazing.

-It just works gorgeously together.

Even people who don't like pork love that dish.

Chicken thighs, I reckon.

Yeah, I have a chilli,

like a caramel chilli and harissa marinated chicken thighs.

Sounds good.

-Happy with that?

-That's really good.

-Thank you very much.

-You can still taste the blueberries through it.

-Fresh and...

-Yeah.

-Really good.

-Ever cooked pork and blueberries, Will?

No, but, like you said, you know, you always have something

fruity and sweet with pork to cut the fattiness.

So, why not use blueberries? You know? I think it's really good.

And still over there with Turkish,

-you still have that fruit and pork mix.

-The chilli's there. Absolutely.

Well, the molasses is very Turkish. So, they usually use pomegranate

but, in my restaurant, use pomegranate with lamb.

I think it works better with lamb.

The blueberries, particularly fabulous with the pork.

And mulberry molasses I use for my dressings.

All my dressings are based on fruit. Nothing is actually with oil.

-Not a single dressing with oil. So it's fabulous.

-Sounds good to me.

They're all diving in. I'm not going to get any of this.

Pork and blueberries. Whoever knew?

Right, now time for more Floyd In Spain

and this week he is getting into the party mood in Majorca.

Dearest Hector,

there is nothing like a mini cruise to get the taste buds going.

After a particularly agreeable plate of grilled sardines

and a real salad, for once,

it's time to set foot on the island of Mallorca.

Now, I know you've been here before and you love it but, to me,

it's always been synonymous with gold medallions and Gucci shoes.

However, in my new guise as a culinary detective,

I intend to discover the real roots of Mallorcan cuisine

and, anyway, I'll keep you posted.

So, Palma. People from the East came here.

The Greeks, the Moors from the African coast,

the Phoenicians, the Romans.

They've all, in some way, left their mark.

But to Senor Floyd, ace gastronomic detective with a licence to cook,

the way to understand the history of a country is through its food.

My search began when I was invited to a party.

I don't care for parties, as a rule.

For some strange reason, they make me want to panic

and rush for the nearest bar.

However, in my quest to find the authentic taste of Mallorca,

I was kindly invited to this one.

I'm sure they said you'll find the true flavour of Mallorca here.

Hmm. I'm sure.

I'm a figment of yours and my imagination.

Absolutely. Welcome.

MUSIC: Little Arrows by Leapy Lee

With Leapy Lee playing in the background,

this, I've been repeatedly told,

is a classless society where the only real membership requirement

is a few bob in the bank and an appetite for enjoying oneself,

a liking of the odd glass or three

and the political persuasion is a healthy shade of blue.

The only thing Mallorcan about the evening was the warm, scented air.

Nobody here seems deeply into food and, I must say,

the prospect of finding a truly Mallorcan plate of food here

is as remote as listening to authentic Balearic folk music.

While the buffet looked attractive,

there were lots of healthy salads, coleslaw, and smoked salmon -

the usual things you'd expect to find

in Golders Green or San Francisco

but nothing stood out as truly Mallorcan.

So, I ask Chef Donal what the true Mallorcan cuisine was all about.

Lots of their dishes are all done on bread.

Ham and cheese and garlic and onions on a baguette, as a first course

of some sort.

If you went to a Mallorquin home,

they'd give you some sort of pa amb oli,

either with cheese and olives and onions and garlic and then

it would be followed by either a suckling pig,

or a piece of pork wrapped up in cabbage...

..or the shellfish again,

which has a lot of influence.

Chin-chin, Keith. Have a good time. We know how to have a good time.

-That is the essence...

-Of life!

-That is the essence of life! Isn't it?

Alan Wicker said that to me constantly.

And now Keith Floyd is following.

They were a brilliantly friendly bunch

but my gastronomic quest was going nowhere.

I declined the offer of another plateful of ham and pineapple

and cold roast beef with horseradish sauce

and turned in early in readiness for tomorrow's search.

Before I can paint a culinary picture of a place,

I need to wander around using my nose

to smell the delicate aromas and robust smells

from Mallorca's kitchens.

Using my eyes to find those little telltale signs that say,

we cook Mallorquin cuisine and we're proud of it.

Ah, what's this?

Perros calientes. Perro means dog and caliente means hot.

A dog hot. Interesting.

No, it's not a paella.

No, it's not a jambalaya.

It is an arroz brut. It is the signature, classic dish of Mallorca.

It is a broth of rice, of rabbit, of chicken, vegetables, and offal.

It is a fabulously exquisite, authentic,

traditional dish which, after two hours of padding round,

like shoestring around the derelict, desolate streets of Palma,

we have actually found a real restaurant

that serves real Mallorcan food.

I've eaten. Clive's eaten. The gang have all eaten.

I had a roast leg of lamb, all the rest of it,

I'm so excited about this place that I'm going to try

to do my next cooking sketch in their kitchen.

They don't know this yet but I am going to go and ask them

because I reckon that we've spent enough money

that they might let us in.

And I've also had a few glasses of wine, which is most unusual for me.

But we have had lunch.

Back on there. I'm going to go and chat up the management.

-Hello!

-Hello! How are you?

-Very good.

-Very good.

-Excellent.

Can I speak to the head chef?

That lady there?

Senora. Senora.

Now, I've never actually done this before.

I've always wanted to but I've always been a bit shy.

Sometimes, I get dragged into kitchens

that don't remotely interest me.

But these kind people, who were bit bemused at first,

and then welcomed me with open arms.

Even though I don't speak the language,

but food and its appreciation opens any door.

This is one of David, the director, telling a little white lie

-on how long we're taking over their kitchen.

-Cook... Shhh!

Notice the fluent Spanish, by the way.

We've cracked it!

We've actually got into a real Mallorcan kitchen

where they serve splendid food.

I don't speak Spanish, I don't know how to cook the stuff.

But we're going to do it. We have actually won!

Come on, Clive. Back to our drinks!

This is the sort of place

where I can really spend the whole afternoon

in my new guise as a culinary detective,

watching for those telltale signs

that distinguish the genuine from the bogus.

No further ado, Clive. A quick spin round the ingredients.

Starting from here.

We have four different kinds of meat.

We've got rabbit, we've got quail, we've got pork,

and we've got chicken.

Then we have green peppers,

we have a mixture of fresh vegetables -

in this case, peas, beans, butter beans, red peppers,

and mushrooms, but you can use any kind of vegetable that you like.

We have the ever-present tomato and onion.

We have snails and we have rice. OK. Right.

Whack into one of these lovely little earthenware pots

and the very first thing we do is put our meat in....

Like so.

When these are browned, it only takes two or three minutes,

then I add the onions and tomatoes with a little seasoning.

Muy brilliente!

OK. Now. That sizzles away for a little bit. Isn't this fun?

This is really good fun, you know.

Right, in with the green peppers. Finely chopped.

Incidentally, one of the interesting things

about all the food we're eating here is its absolute freshness.

I think he just waved at me to push my hair out of the way.

But the green peppers here taste sweet because they haven't

come from under cloches of plastic in some northern country -

they've been growing in rich, fertile earth under the hot sun,

which makes them taste so delicious.

Right, next stage, then.

-Is the verduras.

-Verduras.

-OK. The verduras goes on next.

And verduras is vegetables. OK.

Just to remind you, we've got peas, beans, red peppers.

And wild mushrooms. Right.

Then you'll appreciate that we're doing this at a speed

to end up with a dish,

so that we can get onto the beach and have the afternoon off. OK?

So I'm not letting every stage cook right the way through because

you will see, through the clever way of editing,

the actual finished dish anyway.

Right, in go the snails.

Los caracoles.

OK.

Once all the ingredients are in the pot you need to add

a couple of ladles of chicken stock or rabbit stock.

Just let the whole thing bubble up

because you've got to put the rice in in a minute, don't forget.

-Mas, mas, mas.

-Mas, mas, mas. OK.

OK. And then, finally the arroz,

which, as we know, in any language, is rice.

Use carefully washed rice so it doesn't make the sauce starchy,

and boil for about 20 minutes.

Right, Clive, come back, please, cos there's one thing I've forgot -

something very important to Spanish cooking, the last moment of

flavouring, and this is garlic and parsley finely chopped,

which, at the last minute, you sprinkle

a little bit into your dish to give it that fine flavour. OK, now...

To Isabella's recipe but cooked by me.

-Senora.

-Gracias.

-De nada.

Bueno.

THEY CONVERSE IN SPANISH

Good colour?

Muy bueno, Senor Floyd.

I woke early in the morning - with a slight head, I might add -

in order to catch the little train that goes from the capital,

Palma, to the little town of Soller in the mountains.

There's nothing like a train journey to give one

a true appreciation for the flavour of the land,

through almond trees and vineyards and olive groves.

And the little train said,

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

Clive was really happy filming the countryside but as an ardent

train spotter he was doubly chuffed.

You should see his anorak - it's covered in badges.

This must have been one of the happiest little trains in the

whole of Spain.

The engine's name is Julio and he's been huffing and puffing up

and down this narrow-gauge track for nearly 150 years,

man and boy. Or as they say here, hombre y muchacho.

By the time the little train arrived, I was famished and it was

still early and time to enjoy a true Mallorcan breakfast.

Great journey, great station, great train.

And a typically great Mallorcan breakfast.

I got on the portable dog and bone while I was chugging up the

mountainside, said, "Could you lay on a little snack for me?"

Well, they took me at my word - what did they give me?

They gave me the Mallorcan elevenses.

The Spaniards who start work very early in the morning don't have

time for breakfast, so around about 11 - and it is actually 10.55 -

they stop for this. Have a spin round, Clive.

They have some things called cocas,

which is a kind of Mallorcan pizza, though it's not a pizza at

all cos it's not a dough pastry - it's an ordinary shortcrust pastry,

covered in this case with chard and tomato,

olive oil and baked in the oven.

Then they have a bit of bread with some sobrassada,

which is a very important local sausage of pork and paprika.

In the winter that would be served hot - toasted if you like.

Then they have a few chillies or peppers,

spiced green peppers and olives.

Another kind of coca - this one's got red peppers, tomatoes, onions,

parsley and garlic in it.

Then they'd also probably have either mountain ham or cooked ham

with tomato. The bread underneath has been covered in olive oil -

very important thing - and munched down with the odd green pepper.

And, of course, they might have a glass of lemon juice or

orange juice cos this region produces stacks of it.

But myself, I prefer a little rosado.

Gastronomic sleuthing is fun,

and working on my policy of having high friends in low places,

I spent the previous evening researching in bars.

So after I'd had one or two - it was a great bar and the barman

seemed to know a great deal about things and he said,

"Go and find the city of the lost Incas."

I thought, "My name's not Conan Doyle, it's Floyd."

Anyway, I got the maps out and I found not the city of the lost

Incas but Inca, a little town slap bang in the middle of

Robert Graves' preferred island.

Where, they said - he said, anyway - you will find a genuinely

authentic Mallorcan restaurant where they serve the business.

So this is what I think I'm finding.

In fact, the trail led to a dusty,

sleepy town where the recommended restaurant, Celler Can Amer,

was built in an old wine cellar where Senora Antonio practised her

time-honoured craft, the preparation of traditional Mallorcan dishes -

one of the classics being sopas de Mallorca.

It's made by adding celery, onions, peppers, cabbage, leeks,

parsley - in fact, a cornucopia of fresh vegetables stewed in

olive oil that's been flavoured with garlic and pimentos.

Originally, it was a peasant dish, and to make it more bulky and go

further they would half-fill the serving bowls with the stew,

then add stale bread, sprinkle that with olive oil,

then add more vegetable stew and pop it back in the oven for

another ten minutes or so.

So when's a soup not a soup? When it's a sopas de Mallorca.

Quite delicious! I could tuck into a pot of that right now.

And so the plot thickens.

We've been travelling over mountains, by tram, by train,

by car, down the valleys,

along the beaches and now by punting into the salt marshes.

Everyone has told me that this shallow lake in the north of

the island is important to Mallorcan cuisine,

not because it makes me look a bit like Humphrey Bogart in

The African Queen, but because here the locals trap eels and

keep them alive in these special baskets.

And here the eel is regarded as a great delicacy.

They tell me that you never find them in any restaurants but

they celebrate them like nobody's business.

Right, it's very important with these wood stoves to get the right

mark. They're flaming away there so you need it at wood mark two,

lift that to one side.

In my travels around Mallorca I have met a lot of people who've said,

"This is a very typical dish, this is a very typical dish."

I don't always believe them.

And when they told me that here eels were the business, I thought,

"Is that really true?"

Because you know how sort of interested parties sometimes

try to steer you towards a particular thing for their

own benefit, so I was a bit suspicious.

But in fact eels here - caught from here - are the most

phenomenally popular dish in the region.

In fact, in January each year they have

a week-long eel festival they like them so much.

Anyway, that's enough history and information,

suspicions and things like that.

Clive, have a little look round my ingredients here.

First of all, of course, we have the eels.

Just chopped into bite-size pieces.

OK, they're fried with a sauce made of green peppers, onions,

leeks and tomatoes.

There's some more refined bits that go into it but I can more

easily show you that in the pot.

So, first of all, I need to crush a little bit of garlic.

Just very roughly with your hands.

There's nothing fine about this...nothing refined about

this kind of cooking.

And you need a dried chilli but not too much of it cos otherwise

it'll burn the roof of your mouth off.

And a bit of fresh green chilli, OK? Clove of garlic.

And the very first thing we do, to flavour the oil,

is pop all of that...into the pot.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

Right, now, this is a difficult one to shoot because of the wind,

because of the fire.

I have got my table of ingredients at a safe distance away from

both your legs, Clive, and my rather expensive trousers.

So, next thing, we flour the eels.

Like so.

Nicely floured.

And we pop them into the oil.

Bay leaf.

And a quick stir round.

Is it worth giving one of your best ones on that, Clive?

They look absolutely splendid sizzling in the very hot,

brilliant olive oil.

Thank you. Stay there for a second, please. Just a second.

Right, now they come out.

And are put to one side for a moment or two.

It's very important that all this garlic and the bay leaves and

the chillies are in here cos the eels have taken all the flavour

from those spices and herbs and from the olive oil.

So they'll have a very distinct flavour even though they're

going into a sauce. Right.

Put them to one side.

Now there's a slightly boring bit - it's very boring -

you can either watch this or not, as you wish,

but you in fact have to throw this oil away,

and you do that very ecologically by walking behind the camera,

while you gaze at the mountains.

And you replace that there.

And using a highly typical Mallorcan oil pourer...

..you put in a load more oil.

While the oil heats up in my earthenware pot,

back at the eel hunter's secret headquarters

the senor is preparing a lovely fresh Mallorcan salad called trampo,

while her husband's busily peeling the beans.

Trampo is made with freshly cooked tuna - you could use tinned -

finely chopped peppers, red and green,

onions and tomatoes and wine vinegar and salt and pepper seasoning.

It's fantastic for a light lunch on a hot day.

Anyway, the eel hunters spend every Saturday afternoon here and

enjoy light, healthy lunches. Ho, ho, ho.

Now, my sauce is virtually ready.

Let me just recap on that because it is the essence to Spanish

cooking to sweat your onions and leeks,

the basic things you use to make sauces,

so all the liquid has gone out of them and the flavour remains.

So, first of all, olive oil, finely chopped onions,

finely chopped green peppers, finely chopped leeks.

Simmer away in olive oil,

lots of fresh finely chopped tomato and a little bit of red chilli,

salt and pepper and cook for...

That's been about 50 minutes, actually,

and you have this unctuous, rich sauce full of flavour.

It really is good.

You remember the fried eels which we had.

They were quickly fried in olive oil flavoured with

a bay leaf and garlic.

They just go into there and simmer away for just a few minutes

so that they now get the extra flavour of the tomato sauce.

Anyway, I reckon it's a pretty good dish.

Seems OK to me.

That is what I think is, for this part of Mallorca, on a plate.

These men enjoy their own company. They love fishing and hunting but

there's no point at all doing these things if you don't like eating.

I was supposed to have served lunch at 2.00. Now it's going on for 4.00

and everyone's getting a little relaxed -

or, as they say here, tranquilo.

I'm probably going to poison you.

Put it there?

Let's see. I've no idea whether this is any good or not -

I've never cooked it before in my life.

HE SPEAKS SPANISH

HE REPLIES IN SPANISH

Thank you!

He's mesmerizingly good, isn't he?

Now, as ever on Best Bites we're looking back at some of the

finest Saturday Kitchen recipes.

Still to come on today's show, Alain Roux,

Nathan Outlaw and Marcus Wareing

go head-to-head-to-head at the omelette-challenge hobs,

to celebrate James' 40th birthday.

Paul Rankin is here extolling the virtues of British rose veal.

Pan-fried veal chops are then served with broad beans, peas and romaine

lettuce, cooked in butter and served with Jersey Royal potatoes.