Episode 46 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites

There's an appetizing array of fantastic food coming up

in today's Best Bites.

Welcome to the show.

We've got these brilliant dishes from the Saturday Kitchen

back catalogue for you to enjoy.

This fillet steak with a classic Chateaubriand sauce, that I cooked

for Torchwood actress, Eve Myles.

Silvena Rowe never fails

to make a big impression,

and these chicken, haloumi and green chili spring rolls

with carrot and raisin salad

were as good to look at as they were good to eat.

Cyrus Todiwala is one of the country's best Indian chefs.

This Parsi-style fish, cooked in a banana leaf,

will just show you how good he really is.

Pop star, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, faced her Food Heaven or Food Hell.

There were griddled tuna steaks

with lemon and parsley, ready for Food Heaven,

and chocolate profiteroles with hot chocolate sauce

waiting for Food Hell.

Find out what she gets at the end of the show.

But before we tuck into any of those recipes,

here's Jersey-based chef, Shaun Rankin,

and he's cooking a selection of the island's finest produce.

Good to have you on the show, Shaun.

-Thanks very much.

-Great dish last time you were on.

What are you cooking today?

We've got these new season Jersey Royals.

They're baby ones. These are the good ones, aren't they?

Absolutely! I can't wait for the start of Jersey Royal season.

So first class seat again, straight over.

JAMES LAUGHS

I started them cooking, cos they take 12-14 minutes.

So basically, cold water, Jersey Royals, mint, salt, in there.

-OK, right. So, what's next?

-If you could...

..what I tend to do, is we've got some onions, we're going to cut them

and roast them in tinfoil with some garlic, thyme, and some olive oil.

-OK.

-I'm going to put the pancetta in the oven

and bake that for about six minutes.

-And you've got the squid.

-And the squid here.

So I'll do the onions.

You want to keep these in quite decent sized chunks?

Yeah, into quarters would be fine.

-I'll put these in the oven.

-OK.

So, pancetta. You could use bacon,

but if you're going to use bacon,

-go for a dry, cured one.

-Yeah, something like that.

Dry cure, absolutely.

Maple syrup and bacon, as you know,

is an absolutely fantastic combination,

and with Jersey Royals, that chestnutty flavour...

great combination. So in the oven for about 6 minutes.

That's fine.

I keep talking all the time about great British produce.

But, I mean, Jersey Royals, like new season asparagus,

all that kind of stuff, the good thing about it is

you can look forward to these seasons, can't you?

Particularly Jersey Royals. What is so special about them?

-Because the season's not long.

-No, it starts about April.

It finishes round about the end of July.

There is a couple of slots further in the year

that people tend to do a few more harvests on,

but that's particularly the open season for the Jersey Royal.

But, literally,

everywhere in Jersey is just covered with potatoes!

Any scrap of land is covered with Jersey Royals!

-Your garden, that's dug up!

-Jersey Royals are in there, yeah!

You've got no choice in the matter!

What is it about them? Is it the climate, is it the soil?

It's about everything.

It's the Jersey Royal itself. The potato.

the way it's stood up in crates

and hand-picked.

And that's done in August, all the way through.

And then it's planted by hand in January.

Then harvested about April.

So it's labour-intensive work, hence the price.

-They're not cheap, Jersey Royals.

-But they're fantastic.

-They are, absolutely.

-Anyway, we're cooking the onions.

Just getting a little bit of colour on.

Yeah, if you could crush them into there, that would be brilliant.

Just a little bit of garlic. OK.

And some olive oil.

Some thyme, salt, pepper, in there.

There we go.

So these, basically, we oven bake.

-It's a salad, isn't it?

-Yeah, it's a Jersey Royals salad.

Rather than just buttered Jersey Royals, I thought I'd bring

something different to the show.

This would go with lamb or roast pork.

Calamari and roast pork is fantastic.

So you could do a nice family service, or if you wanted to,

a great dish for a barbecue or something like that.

I'm going to start to prep the calamari. It's already been cleaned.

Most people can get fish, particularly squid like this,

-they'll buy them already clean.

-Yeah, absolutely.

No tentacles used in this one?

-I suppose you could, if you had them?

-Yeah, you can.

You can use all of it, really.

I'm just going to clean that off the back.

And then score it slightly.

So why are we scoring it, then?

-Is it to speed up the cooking?

-It's to help with the cooking, yeah.

You cook calamari either fast or slow. I personally think, anyway.

If you're going to cook it fast, you want to get the oil and butter

which I'm cooking it in to really get to that calamari quickly and cook it.

Otherwise, it ends up it tends to be quite tough.

So we're just colouring the onions up here first of all.

-Just get a little bit of caramelisation.

-Fantastic.

So talking of Jersey,

you're about to do this TV series on Jersey as well?

-Yeah, correct.

-Is that just the island, or...?

It's the Channel Islands, yeah. So I've got some fantastic suppliers,

and some food heroes over there that grow, catch...

they really are so passionate about their produce.

I thought it would be a nice idea

to showcase them, really, on all the islands.

Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, Alderney, Herm. And really base it...

it's in eight episodes,

and it's basically showcase the superstars.

About what they do in their produce.

What other things could people look for from that area?

I mean, obviously, the fish is unbelievable.

-I mean, seabass...

-HE LAUGHS

-..is huge at the moment.

-Yeah, great fishing.

But, because, like you say, the land's full of potatoes,

do you...lamb, beef, you don't get any of that?

You have to import most of it?

Yeah, unfortunately we do.

Sark's got a great...got some great Salt Lamb on Sark.

But Jersey, mostly dairy cattle, so we tend to import our meats.

But we've got a great pig farmer over there.

-He's a local pig farmer.

-Do you want me to season these?

Yes, please. Salt and black pepper, please.

A little bit of black pepper.

A touch of salt.

I think these are going to be ready soon.

-You could do this, Mark!

-It looks easy!

The cream's good over there, Shaun, isn't it? The cream?

Oh, the cream's fantastic. Absolutely. Just can't beat it.

So this calamari...

So this you would put in the oven for how long?

About 20 minutes, I think. 20 minutes is fine.

Shaun, do they still grow the Jersey Royals in seaweed?

Isn't that one of the things..?

-They put vraic over the top of the actual soil.

-Vraic?

Yeah, it's called vraic.

And they put that at the end of the season

to get nourishment back into the soil.

That's the old way of doing it, the traditional method.

Now, once they harvest the potatoes,

they've got somebody going round at the back

basically hand-feeding barley seed into it.

So then that'll grow, and they'll push that back through the soil.

Don't tell him too much, cos

he's growing Jersey Royal potatoes in his back garden!

-In Lancashire!

-You can't call them Jersey Royals!

-You ARE growing Jersey Royals?

-I'm growing Jersey Royals,

but Shaun tells me I can't call them Jersey Royals.

But they are Jersey Royals, but they're not grown in Jersey.

The probably taste better than yours, actually, Shaun!

THEY LAUGH

-Right, so the Jersey Royals are cooked.

-It's all right.

We'll get him back throughout the show.

-Don't worry. He's outnumbered.

-He is!

There you go. So we've basically roasted that off.

-The garlic I've taken out of the skin.

-Brilliant.

Super. These Jersey Royals are coming out now.

-Oh, they're just delicious.

-They're lovely, aren't they?

Right, so you're talking of quick-cooking squid.

Absolutely. So what we'll do now is put some in there

and get the Jersey Royals on the go.

I'm going to cook this in foaming butter.

Excuse me for dropping butter everywhere!

This is why we keep inviting him back.

-Look at the butter in there!

-Get it in there!

-THEY LAUGH Put those in there.

-Spuds in?

-Spuds in.

-There you go.

-Brilliant.

-There's your maple syrup.

Some fresh picked thyme in there.

More salt. Cracked pepper.

-A spoon...

-And the idea is to just caramelise them a little bit?

Yeah, once the butter starts to foam,

-it releases a really nice chestnut flavour.

-I'll do those

-while you get your squid on.

-OK, no worries.

There you go.

-That's your bacon.

-Brilliant.

I'm just going to finish glazing these Jersey Royals with maple syrup.

-We're not too far away. A couple of minutes.

-You've got 60 seconds.

OK. 60 seconds, then. JAMES LAUGHS

They're all nice and glazed.

If you can start putting them into the...

I'll do those. That's that one.

They're lovely, those.

I tell you what, that smells fantastic, that does.

So do you serve the butter and the maple syrup in there as well?

-Or do just drain it off?

-You put a little bit on there, yeah.

Calamari into the pan, hot pan.

A little bit more olive oil.

I have to say, it's a new one on me.

Maple syrup and Jersey Royals, Gillian.

Yes.

Just a little spoonful of this maple syrup as well.

Like you say, squid should be quickly cooked or slowly cooked.

-Absolutely.

-Not in the middle.

No, not in the middle.

You're calling these little petals, aren't you? These things?

Little petals, yeah.

Little petals of red onion. Sweet red onion.

Calamari, sauteed off.

Finished with some butter.

And molten salt.

You just break off the shards of onions.

These would be great for a barbecue.

Yeah, it really is a great salad.

A bit of garlic on there as well.

There you go.

-That's that one.

-Sauteed calamari.

That's fantastic.

Just pop these over.

-This squid goes really well with the bacon as well.

-Yeah, it really is.

You've got that Spanish influence.

Put your bits of pancetta on top.

-And some fresh thyme.

-There you go.

Looks, I have to say, fantastic.

So remind us what that is again.

New season Jersey Royal potatoes,

roasted and with maple syrup, roast calamari and pancetta.

Get your potatoes now. They're in the shops.

Absolutely delicious. Look at that. There you go. Easy as that.

-HE LAUGHS

-Look at your face!

Never seen anything so quick!

-Can I try it?

-Yeah, it's yours!

-Superb!

-It's yours!

A lot of people, obviously, they like the Jersey Royals,

-but are little bit iffy with squid. Could they use anything else?

-Erm...

-Chicken, that would be...

-Chicken would be nice, yeah.

Chicken would be really nice. Lots of different fish.

-Mackerel, that kind of stuff.

-Yeah.

-That is beautiful!

-Yeah?

-That maple syrup, just kind of...

-Helps it along a little bit?

-Maple syrup is fantastic,

and Jersey Royals, I have to say, well worth waiting for as well.

Coming up, I'll be cooking a classic fillet steak

with a Chateaubriand sauce for actress, Eve Myles.

But first, here's Rick Stein.

Well, I always come to the market in any city first of all,

and this is a really good one.

I love all the voices! VENDOR SHOUTS IN ITALIAN

You couldn't be anywhere else but Italy!

VENDORS SHOUT IN ITALIAN

I just picked up this bit of information,

that the Sicilian word for the Mafia is actually "cosca,"

and that's the name of an artichoke. And the reason is that you've got

all these tightly-knit leaves, gathered round the centre.

I love these. They've been gathered from the hillsides around the city.

I think eating and really enjoying snails

sorts out those who think they're a bit of a gourmet

and those who really are. I call it the snail test.

This is a bit of a find.

These are tiny little snails from around Palermo.

And they feed on wild fennel.

You can almost taste it. That's all they eat.

They gather them off the fennel fronds.

In fact, I've seen them in Cornwall. Maybe I've got an idea going here.

But they're delicious.

Just done with olive oil, garlic, and parsley.

And the thing I think anybody that was unsure about snails

would like about these, is they're very small.

They're a bit like winkles.

And they don't have that long, brown bit at the bottom

which people don't really like. So I think these are an absolute must

for the first-time snail eater.

Which I suspect he isn't.

I think when you cease to be excited

about the colour of fresh vegetables,

or the sheen of freshly caught fish,

then it's really time to pack in cooking for a living.

Places like this give me inspiration for recipes.

In fact, it's the essential first step of cookery,

Lovely food first, using a knife second.

Look at those peppers!

I was just reading a bit in this book by Norman Lewis

about the market here.

Norman Lewis wrote a very famous book about the Mafia

called The Honoured Society,

and he's had a lifelong love of Sicily.

He was just saying about the market,

"There can be no more splendid a market in the world than this.

"For the vendors of foodstuffs of every kind are infatuated

"with extremes of size and artistic presentation.

"Zucchini are a yard long.

"But 50 snails can be held in a cupped hand.

"The tastefully arranged collops of meat

"are brilliantly and continuously smeared with fresh vermillion blood.

"And the chickens feet neatly trimmed of their claws."

I just think markets are just such a good indicator of stuff.

And I'm afraid I've said this before, but, you know,

just go to a British supermarket

and see what cultural influences you can get from that.

Not a lot, I fear. But here, it's everywhere.

I've arranged to meet someone

who really knows her stuff about Sicilian food.

She's an olive oil producer, Natalia Ravida.

It really fascinated me, when I came back from London.

It was a strong contrast.

This feeling of the Middle East, of the Arabic influences,

of the French influences.

Because you have to know, that in Sicilian,

-lots of food names are a distortion of French words.

-Amazing!

So it's amazing. And it's all there,

it's mixed, and in fact, it has the strange combination

which makes Sicilian food very complex, but also very interesting.

Because with all the invasions

Sicily has had throughout the centuries,

it has taken in a bit of everything,

and mixed it in to their traditions

and especially food.

What are these?

These are zucchini lunga.

-It's a bit like summer squash.

-Really?

-It's the same consistency.

So it's not like a zucchini as we know it, like a courgette?

Not really. It's very clear inside.

It's white and transparent and it's delicious.

We have plenty of it in the summer. Simply boil it with our white onions

which are very mild, summer onions.

And then with very little water, we season them with olive oil,

a bit of oregano or a bit of mint and a sprinkling of Caciocavallo

which is a Sicilian cheese that we use instead of Parmesan.

-So it's like a salad then? Or a warm salad?

-No, it's a bit like a soup.

-It becomes like a soup?

-Just a mild soup. But very tasty.

-You'd be surprised.

-Sounds good. And what that these then?

-These are the leaves from this plant.

-Really?

And these also make one of the most popular summer pastas.

It's a cold pasta made with chopped spaghetti,

probably to use up all the old reserves of spaghetti.

And again, we take the milder leaves, the smaller ones.

They're boiled and then chopped

and mixed with some chopped tomatoes sauteed with a bit of garlic.

And then mixed with the pasta.

And we cook the pasta in the vegetable water

because that adds flavour to the pasta.

I really like Palermo. I know it has its dark side, but it's glorious.

It reminds me of Paris or Madrid and there's nothing provincial about it.

When I told some Italian friends of mine that I was coming here,

they said there's one place I have to visit,

even if it's just for a coffee.

This restaurant is called Spinnato

and it's the most famous restaurant in Palermo.

And it's where all the great and the good and the powerful

come to eat and talk and see and be seen.

There's lots of people here with very, very sharp expensive suits on,

if you catch my drift.

This I love. Do you know what?

I think Sicily is a vegetarian's paradise.

This is spaghetti with little tiny capers from the island of Pantelleria

right down on the southern side of Sicily,

just with some mint and tomato

and a bit of parmigiano.

It is superb.

It is just the sort of thing I love to cook and I'm going to cook it.

I couldn't wait to try this when I got home.

I'm using vine tomatoes from a supermarket and they're good.

I'm getting rid of the pips and the excess liquid

because you don't want them in the finished dish.

Then I chop them up pretty roughly for the sauce.

I love Palermo and I often feel when you tell people about Palermo,

if they haven't been there, they think there's going to be

Mafia on every street corner and it's dangerous.

So it makes you show off a little bit in a slightly subtle sort of way.

And Spinnato's, there are all those people kissing,

really suited and embracing, kissing on either cheek.

And of course, you think they're Mafia.

But they're probably just, you know, clerks to the council

or estate agents.

But I suppose the thing about Palermo is everybody lives up to that.

Everybody has a sort of sense of style.

I love doing that.

The trip to the Mediterranean has just changed my life.

On goes the spaghetti and then chop up the mint.

The smell of freshly-picked mint, the smell of English summer,

which is odd cos it's an Italian dish.

Bash three cloves of garlic and put them in the oil.

You don't want to fry them too hard.

You really just want to flavour the oil and then take them out.

Pour in the tomatoes and add a few chilli flakes.

You don't need to cook the tomatoes right down

and you can't use tinned tomatoes here

cos you want a really dry sauce.

Dry seems a bit silly, but you know what I mean.

Then some capers and finally some roughly chopped parsley.

Some black pepper and season moderately well with salt.

And stir.

You see what I mean here by a dry sauce?

There's not much liquid there, but it clings to the pasta very nicely.

And that's just about it.

When I saw this dish, I just thought, that's for me, that's for our cafe.

It's a perfect vegetarian dish.

The chefs can knock it up from scratch in about five minutes flat.

It's just the sort of thing that vegetarians and me love completely.

This is a perfect summer lunch when the mint's at its best in June.

Top with grated Parmesan and as they say in Sicily, ecco pronto.

When I think of capers, my next thought is anchovies

and the port at Sciacca on Sicily's southern coast.

It's famous for processing these silver beauties

from the days when the harbour was full of Roman galleys.

Well, I suppose you could say this is dreams come true.

I mean, when I'm thinking about Elizabeth David

and Mediterranean recipes and times in the sun by the Mediterranean,

I'm thinking about anchovy boats bringing in the catch

as fresh as that. They're absolutely stiff fresh.

This is one of the canneries here and everything's done by hand

really quickly, mainly by women working like metronomes

to their own rhythm as they take off the heads and remove the guts

with the flick of a finger and sprinkle on sea salt,

the oldest way of preserving fish.

I asked why there wasn't a machine to do this but the boss here

Agostino Recca said in a resigned New York Sicilian way,

"There's no machine because a machine can't tell a good anchovy

"from a bad one. These women can."

So what makes this town Sciacca synonymous with anchovies?

The climate is the best here in Sciacca

because it's humid and sometimes it's hot.

That's what it needs for the anchovies.

-And the fact that they're caught and preserved in one day...

-Yes.

The only thing we put on is a little salt and that's it.

The rest is all natural.

We only put a little salt and that's it.

And we get the best product.

-You spent a lot of time in the States, in New York?

-Yes, 15 years.

15 years. How does it compare with life here in Sciacca?

Different. Altogether different.

-I tell you the truth, I like it very much there.

-Really? Why?

-Yes.

They formed me. They taught me the importance of work.

Work for them is the main thing.

When they see you, they don't ask you, how are you?

They tell you, are you working?

If you're working, that means that you stay well.

And then they say, how are you?

That's the whole American ethos, isn't it?

That's the American life, yes.

One of the great things about going on a tour like this

is you're tasting the real food.

They've just given us a load of anchovies to taste

and some bread to go with it, but also some caponata.

Now, I always thought a caponata was a bit like ratatouille

with too much vinegar in it. But now I've tasted the real thing.

And that's what's so good about coming on this tour is that

you could not write a correct recipe unless you've tasted something,

I have to say that. This is lovely and sweet and aromatic.

Basically, it's just aubergine, onion, tomato, caper,

and very important, celery, a little vinegar, sugar and salt.

Cooked very, very slowly until it's almost like a chutney. Delish!

The soil around Etna is extremely rich

and the lemons grown around here are world-famous.

And so is the granita,

a real Sicilian delicacy made by Aurelio Licata

in the town of Sciacca.

He says his machines may look a bit old,

but they treat the lemons very gently and don't break the skins.

He only wants the juice and not the mashed up pith.

Then the lemon juice is mixed with sugar and a little water

and poured into this wonderful machine.

I think the creation of machinery like this is a real testimony

to man's ingenuity to create something really refreshing.

Sicily is home of ices in the Western world, but they say it was the Arabs

who gave them the inspiration

with their ice cold sharbats or sherbets.

Granita is much grainier, which is what granita means, than a sorbet.

I just love watching this as the icy shavings turn to slurry

which gets thicker and creamier until it's time to serve.

I think a lemon granita is an Italian icon,

up there with Mario Lanza,

caponata and the motor scooter.

Well, I'm in Portopalo which is just outside Menfi and with Vitorrio.

I'm really looking forward to eating this though which is

porcini, ceps, wild mushrooms,

with tomato, olive oil, a bit of white wine.

He's going to do that with some vongole. It should be perfecto.

He puts in some chopped tomatoes, oil, olive oil of course,

garlic, the vongole,

-basil...

-Basilico.

Basilico, of course.

Chilli flakes.

And then he chops up a fresh, green chilli.

Giorgio Locatelli told me about Vittorio in London

and that's why I'm here.

He rates him as probably the best seafood chef in Sicily.

He puts in some parsley and a good dollop of white wine.

And then he gets the pasta going.

I've only just met Vittorio, but there's a thing about cooks,

I know I like him. The reason I like him is he wants to please me

and that's what good cooks are all about,

thinking about who they're cooking for and pleasing them.

He's just given me that clam cos he knows I'll like it.

I've tried the sauce already and it's absolutely delicious.

He's a star.

'And then he puts in the porcini which literally means

'little pigs in Italian.

'And he gets on to make the pasta.'

The thing that keeps cropping up with me

with Italian cooking is generosity.

It's all about families. It's all about big portions.

It's all about steaming bowls of lovely food.

Who could fail to have their appetite excited about something like this?

-A tavola!

-Pronto.

A tavola.

Well, this is the best bit of the whole job for me.

I always managed to splatter my shirt at moments like this,

but I don't care. I love being in Sicily.

Mmmm. Delicious.

Lovely al dente-ness about the pasta.

Excuse me.

In the hotel last night, there were some Americans

who said they'd met up with a strange Englishman

who was writing a book about Sicilian food

while exploring the island on a scooter.

Well, we all knew who they were talking about.

Matthew Fort, the Guardian's food writer and a friend of mine.

Have you had any decent meals yet?

I just had a slice, a big slice, of swordfish,

just grilled with a little bit of oregano,

lemon... Lemon seasons it

and lemon becomes almost salty when it's used in that way.

Just a perfect... God knows, it couldn't be simpler.

Why can't we do that? Why can't I do that?

-It's humbling, to be perfectly honest.

-I totally agree.

I think that's what makes this place so fantastic.

'What a great way to taste the food of Sicily.

'Matthew mentioned such a good dish, simply grilled swordfish...

'Don't wave, Matthew!

'..with a Sicilian classic sauce, salmoriglio.'

I like doing these sort of simple dishes with chargrilled food,

with barbecued food, outdoors.

It's the sort of thing where you can have a couple of friends

sitting by and have a bit of a chat, a glass of wine.

I always think it's quite nice when you're cooking to have people around.

But you don't really want them too close

when you're in a busy kitchen doing something rather overcomplicated.

But this salmoriglio is just very straightforward.

This is olive oil, water and lemon juice.

And I'm adding oregano, flat leaf parsley and celery tops.

Then I put in garlic, freshly-ground black pepper and salt.

This salmoriglio is probably the most popular sauce

in the whole of Sicily and it's really good with roasted meat.

Now to grill those lovely swordfish steaks.

All they need is a few flakes of dried chilli and a bit of seasoning.

Swordfish are best in late spring to early summer.

I was told that the Sicilian fishermen say something in Greek

before they start fishing. Now, this is to trick the fish

into thinking it's Greek fisherman

who are not very good at fishing, rather than Italian who are.

Well, that's what the Sicilians say. Well, they would, wouldn't they?

I've cooked the swordfish for four minutes on each side.

That's really important, so that it's nice and moist in the middle.

Basically, this is a classic, isn't it?

If you think of the perfect fish for a barbecue, it's swordfish.

And the salmoriglio goes so well with it.

And just a green salad and some chips, nothing fancy.

That's perfect for me.

I suppose Matthew is still on his scooter buzzing around Sicily.

It would be so good to have had lunch with him

and yak about fish, cheeses, tomatoes, great sauces, breads.

Well, until the wine ran out.

Rick made that salmoriglio when he came on Saturday Kitchen last year

and it does taste fantastic.

Now, it's always useful to build up a good repertoire of sauce recipes.

Rick's sauce is a classic one for fish.

But now I'm going to show you a real classic one to go with steak.

It was invented in 1820.

It's a steak with Chateaubriand sauce and some straw fries.

Very, very simple.

Absolute classic, lovely little dish. First thing,

I've got some fillet steak here which I'm going to

season with salt and pepper.

I'm going to get that on because the whole lot is cooked in real-time.

So I've got to move a bit first off.

So we've got the steak in with the butter

and the olive oil into a hot pan.

That's just going to sit in there nicely.

Now I'm going to get on our little Chateaubriand sauce

which in essence is really straightforward.

We've got some shallots, a touch of garlic, a little bit of tarragon,

some mushrooms, a bit of white wine, some heavily reduced chicken stock.

No beef stock for this, chicken stock.

That's the old, classic way of doing it.

But first, I'm going to chop these up and get them into our sauce.

-Like that. Now, we know you from television mostly.

-Yes.

But it all started really on stage for you, I suppose, did it?

-Yes.

-The Royal Shakespeare Company.

Yes, I did about 15 months at the Royal Shakespeare Company

and then at the National Theatre which was lovely.

But then halfway through the National Theatre,

I found out that I was going to be doing Torchwood so that took me

straight back home to Cardiff and there we were.

-We started the phenomenon that is Torchwood.

-Exactly. Torchwood.

It was a spin off from Doctor Who, started on BBC Three.

It did. We started on BBC Three and then it went onto BBC Two

and now this year it's going straight onto BBC One.

-It's going the right way though, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

Tell us a little bit about it, those people who haven't seen it.

How does it relate to Doctor Who?

Your part in it was specifically written for you, wasn't it, really?

Yes, it was, by the wonderful Russell T Davies

who's just fantastic. People ask me all the time,

how does it feel to have a part written for you by Russell T Davies

and I never know what to say cos it's completely overwhelming.

-But how does it link into Doctor Who?

-Well... First of all,

it didn't really except for one of the characters,

which John Barrowman plays, which is Captain Jack Harkness,

but gradually...

We all went into Doctor Who on the last series as well,

so it kind of interlinks with the characters

helping the Doctor and things.

It's starting to become one big kind of family.

-And a stand-alone show of its own as well.

-It certainly is.

Yes, I think even more so this time around.

We've got five hours coming out. I'm not sure when.

It will be mid next year. An hour an episode.

Yes, it's going to be extraordinary.

-Fantastic. And of course, Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who.

-Yes.

-You've been doing your homework!

-Absolutely.

-Not really. It's all in my ear.

-Right.

-Only joking.

This is the classic, classic sauce. I know you love cooking.

There is nothing better in my mind than classic sauces.

-I know, Jase, you're a big fan of stuff like this.

-A big fan.

Having our grill restaurant where we do steaks and that type of stuff,

so we have a lot of the classic sauces.

The Dianes, the peppercorns, all that type of stuff. The bearnaises.

And the most popular?

-Peppercorn.

-Peppercorn, really?

I think Tarragon is often put with chicken quite a lot.

I think once people try this, it is fantastic.

This is a real classic sauce. I cannot tell you how classic it is.

It's one of the three sauces. You've got tomato...

I'm going to go back to college now. Tomato, bechamel,

-espagnole and veloute.

-Yes.

-That's your four. There you go.

They're the four classic sauces that you learn at college.

This is kind of loosely based on the veloute

but without the roux of course.

You've got the stalks of the tarragon going in there. White wine.

That goes in. Deglaze that as well.

And then we've got some chicken stock. This is really

heavily reduced chicken stock. You can see how dark the colour goes.

Literally, you get a litre and almost reduce it down to 150ml.

It's really heavily reduced.

Ticking away nicely.

Lift that over and cook it on the other side.

That will just quite happily cook now.

As well as Torchwood which is out next year, the new series.

-Yes, it is.

-Little Dorrit, tell us about that as well.

Yes, Little Dorrit is currently

on Wednesday and Thursday at eight o'clock and repeated on a Sunday.

It's Charles Dickens and I play a character called Maggie

who's follically challenged.

-She had a brain fever when she was ten...

-Right.

..which resulted in her losing a lot of her hair

and remaining a ten-year-old in a body of a 28-year-old.

Is that quite difficult to play?

Yeah, it was, you know,

because you've got to be very careful playing that kind of role

because you can go too far with it

and you've got to really rein it in

and try and be truthful with what you're doing,

so I just tried to gather the energy and naivete of ten-year-old

and the joy a ten-year-old has

and also the impatience that a child has,

so it was something that I absolutely adored doing

and I'm very proud of the production.

Fantastic.

Right, straw fries. Look at these.

Oh, they look wonderful.

These are basically just chips, nice and thin,

because I've got to cook this all in six minutes -

including the sauce - so in we go with the fries.

No need to double cook these, of course.

They go straight into a hot fryer.

They're going nicely.

-Why double cook chips? I don't know...

-Why do you?

-Yeah.

Well, you have to blanch them first of all

to cook them right the way through and then you turn the fat up

and then...

-Don't put too many chips in the fryer.

-EVE LAUGHS

Nearly went all over the place.

But the idea is - I'm keeping my eye on that one -

you cook the potatoes right the way through

-and then you turn heat right up to colour them.

-Right.

-Brilliant. There you go.

-That's scaring me a bit.

-Right.

That'll cook nicely. We've got our steak,

we're going to leave that off to one side.

Now our sauce, just to finish that off, we then take plenty of this

and chop up loads and loads of tarragon,

but apart from all this sort of stuff you were in Merlin as well.

-That's been hugely popular as well.

-Yes, Merlin's been fantastic. Yes...

Didn't end well for you.

A chandelier dropped on your head or something like that?

Yeah, chandelier knocked me on the head

but yeah, that was another big part for prosthetics as well.

It was six hours for the old lady prosthetics.

I did offer them a late night the night before

and I would just come in with no make-up on

and look my usual self would have done the job, I think,

but six hours of prosthetics every day and two hours to take it off,

but it was great because I'd go on to set and some of the crew didn't realise it was me

because I was playing two characters and they'd offer me a seat.

A bit like these boys when they turn up at five o'clock this morning.

You wouldn't recognise them. All that make-up.

Just to finish with the sauce, now...

I know there's a theme throughout all my cooking,

I'm aware of that by the website,

but you do put butter in this because you have to.

We call this monte au beurre,

it's just to finish it off with some butter

and you reduce the stock down with the wine

and then you finish it off with some butter.

All right? Like that.

Season it with some black pepper and a little bit of salt.

There you go.

The chips are nearly there - just give these a quick shake -

and then we can serve this with our steak.

Which is lovely. Now, if my lecturer was watching this

hopefully I've got this right

because it is a while since I've done this,

but you've got a nice, rare bit of steak,

the sauce reducing down, which is lovely.

Very, very classic, this.

Chateaubriand sauce.

You get the instant hit of the tarragon over the top.

And then, of course, you've got your fries.

Oh, I'm so going to try and make this.

-Wow.

-I'll be opening a drive-through next week. Look at that.

They're lovely, James. They look lovely.

-Then we can lift these off and place them on there.

-Ooh.

And as Rick Stein once told me in a restaurant one day,

-"What is wrong with steak and chips?

-Absolutely nothing.

Dive into that, tell me what you think.

-Oh, thank you very much.

-Chateaubriand sauce.

-OK.

You would normally put tarragon with chicken,

-but I think it goes really well with this.

-OK.

Well, hopefully you do.

Oh, it's beautiful. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Now, next up today is the unforgettable Silvena Rowe

with one of her stunning Eastern Mediterranean recipes.

-Good to have you on the show.

-Hey, good to be back.

-You want to get those in the oven first of all.

They're going in at five to seven minutes' cooking.

They go in a fairly hot oven and those are pies, Paul, by the way.

-Right, pies.

-Is Paul listening?

-Yeah, I'm listening.

-We all are.

What's the name of this dish, then?

This is burek, another word for pie, but it's actually a Turkish pie

and this is a famous street food in Turkey.

-I love Turkish food.

-Goodie, then you half love me already.

And basically it is delicious

because we put very healthy chicken in there, you know, delicious,

I take the skin off.

-Halloumi, and halloumi is a fairly...

-Hellim.

-Hellim?

-Where is this coming from?

-That's the Turkish word for it, isn't it?

-Hellim?

-Oh, it is, actually. You are very well versed.

I didn't know he was fluent in Turkish. You didn't tell me that.

-Turkish girlfriend.

-Oh, say no more. Say no more.

If I get it wrong I'm in trouble, aren't I?

Right, chicken is in.

What am going to add to it is some cumin and some dry mint

and a bay leaf and those are, kind of, quite unique,

typical spices for this type of Eastern Mediterranean cuisine.

-OK.

-I'm going to move this away from here.

-So, there you just got the thigh and leg.

-Yes.

Is there any reason why you're using the dark meat?

I kind of like it, you know? And also it's quite juicy

and with the burek, cos you have another five, six minutes of cooking,

you don't want it to dry, so it's quite delicious.

This is going in. Salt. Er...

-Salt? don't worry, I'll get it.

-OK.

So tell us about your new kitchen then,

because you've got a fancy kitchen in your place, haven't you?

It's going to be an amazing space.

It's going to be an open-plan kitchen, a theatre kitchen,

so people can see us cooking, and we can see people eating.

It's actually a rather large kitchen - about 8m is my pass -

and it's going to have beautiful grills and griddles.

I'm going to have a rabata grill, I'm going to have a chargrill,

I'm going to have a vertical grill as well

so I'm going to grill everything and anything, and a lot of fish, Paul.

Can I ask you a question? I go fishing, right,

and I like to get the top gear and all that,

but I turn up sometimes and people say, "All the gear, no idea."

You know? So you've got all this stuff, but...

I've been around for a bit. I've been around for a bit.

You're a brave man, I tell you that.

I wouldn't say that and I'm stood here.

You are going to be eating my pie in a minute, so watch that space.

Chicken stock going in. So, what we're going to do next is...

What did you put in there? The chicken stock?

Chicken stock. Just a little bit, I'm going to reduce the heat,

so I'll give it 25 to 30 minutes

in here or pop it in an oven if you want to finish it off.

Now, what we are doing now with our halloumi... Now, let's see...

-Oh, yeah.

-What are you doing?

-If it squeaks, it's a good halloumi.

-If it squeaks?

-That's a very...

-Is that squik or squeak?

-Squeak.

I didn't say that! That was Kitchin!

-I didn't know you're a comedian as well as a chef.

-I'm learning.

It's squeaking, it's squeaking. It's fairly squeaking.

You can hear it, listen.

Can you hear it? It squeaking.

I don't know if that's your earwax...

Oh, my God. He so unkind to me. You know, James, you know...

-Chopping it up nice and fine, yeah?

-Yeah, nice and fine or grated.

-Cos normally this halloumi's chargrilled, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

It is normally chargrilled,

but this is quite good and it's fairly low in fat.

So it goes here with your green chilli

and while I'm cooking my chicken I've got some already cooked, prepared.

I'm going to start taking it off the bottom.

And how long would that take to cook with the lid on?

Well, about 25 to 30 minutes.

-Right, OK.

-So take the skin off.

All of the skin, because really that's not good. Not nice.

-Chicken needs it, but, you know.

-It would be nice on your grill though.

We all need a bit of skin on us at the end of the day,

but it can't be very nice, you know.

Actually, when you roast chicken it's delicious,

but I think it's not good in this particular preparation

because it's not crispy and, really, remove it.

It's just not healthy. In the restaurant we make this dish,

at Quince we're going to be making this dish with duck and foie gras,

which is a little bit more restaurant,

but this is a perfect version for home

and what you're doing there is sauteing those carrots

and by sauteing them for a few minutes without browning them,

you're getting a little bit of sugar extract

because they are very, very high in natural sugars.

You want a bit of garlic in there, do you?

Yes, a little bit of garlic, a little bit of cumin. A touch of mayonnaise.

I usually use a home-made mayonnaise, but you don't have to do it -

if you're calorie conscious, which I don't think Paul is,

-you don't need to be, do you?

-No.

-Not much of you.

-More. More.

-Good, good. We've got lovely pies for you.

-Great.

You're stripping that literally all of?

Yes, stripping it off, chopping it.

This must be a good way to use leftover pieces of chicken

-from a Sunday roast or something.

-Perfect.

You can make it with pork, with lamb,

you can make it with anything. Crab as well.

You know, I haven't tried it with any fish,

but to be honest with you I wouldn't.

I kind of like the meat preparation better.

Maybe with the halloumi and stuff like that?

Yeah, so this is going in here. Yeah, a little bit...

Do you know what? I'm going to put a little bit of my juices in here.

Just for a little bit of wetness. Get rid of that for me, please.

Why do you always come here?

Otherwise, unless I tell James what to... Oh, hold on.

I need to wipe my board because we're going to have the fun part now.

We are going to roll our little pies.

-There you go.

-And this isn't that simple.

And there is some magic about the chilli, the halloumi and the chicken.

You've got those beautiful spices in there as well.

-And you are using filo pastry, yeah?

-Yeah, filo pastry.

It's what I use where I come from. It's a very, very light.

It's made of flour and water only so it's extremely fat-free.

We are going to brush with a little bit of butter today,

but before you say anything to me,

use egg if you are again calorie conscious.

-James isn't, is he?

-Trust me.

Do you think he should be? Just throw that question out.

Thanks very much.

You're a fine one to talk there.

Good. Right. So, nice and easy.

A little bit of brush here on the side.

So, basically, when you come to Quince

you have little baby parcels, beautiful, with gorgeous little...

Quince is going to be a lot about street food.

A lot about delicious, home-made cooking with great flavours.

Beautiful home blends, beautiful,

amazing mixtures like pomegranate and molasses, etc.

Oh, those are getting very fat.

You don't want any colour on these carrots, do you?

No, not any colour.

Can we get a table already or is it already booked up?

Oh, for you, not a problem.

We are very busy, we are very popular there, you know?

Very much in demand, you know?

-Now, these are raisins you got in there, yeah?

-Yes.

These are raisins but you can use sultanas, you can use dried cherries.

-And the spice?

-The spice is cumin. Cumin is my religion.

I love cumin in everything.

It just lifts things up, gives such a wonderful kick.

Basically, Quince is going to be British, best of British,

with a wonderful Eastern Mediterranean tale.

So you got a bit of butter on there to hold them all together.

Yeah, and to be honest with you I'm not even using the butter.

What I'm going to do now is actually put the butter on the top

cos I'm going to use seeds. At the restaurant we're using hemp seeds.

-Don't worry...

-Using what seeds?

-Hemp.

-Hemp?

Yeah, good for your body, good for your tummy.

-Yeah, it's good for you, hemp.

-Very good, you see.

-We are speaking the same language.

-Yeah, I know this stuff.

You've got mayonnaise there and what's this?

This is actually strained yoghurt called labneh.

Basically it's yoghurt without the moisture, so it's the best of it.

And you know what? You can obtain it from the supermarket fat-free again,

should you decide to do that.

A bit of sesame seeds goes on the top here.

Sesame seeds are great, sold everywhere.

You can use black sesame seeds or you can use poppy seeds -

seeds are great, really.

Fabulous. Fabulous for your diet. OK, I'll put this in the fridge.

And I'll bring the ones from the oven. They should be ready by now.

And the beauty of it is that you can prepare it in the morning,

glaze them with butter or egg wash

and actually have them ready for when you want to cook them,

or you can freeze them.

Would you serve this coleslaw warm like I've done here?

Ideally we should cool it down, but it doesn't do any harm

because you're putting the cold yoghurt

so it's absolutely fabulous now.

And you tell me if you do not like that because this is very special.

I have to say.

-I wouldn't dare tell her if I don't like it.

-How are we doing with time?

-What? Yes? We're doing fine.

-Is it delicious?

-Yes.

-Do what me do put this on the plate?

-Yes, please. You can serve for me.

-How do you want it on the plate?

-Any way you like, James.

-Any way you like.

-No, because I'll get told off if I'd do it wrong!

You do it beautifully. Just do it in your sweet James baby manner.

-Come on. Oh, no - for goodness sake, do not play with me!

-Like that?

OK, this will do.

Nobody will accuse you of being anything other than just wonderful.

This is gorgeous. Thank you. OK, I'm coming with my chunky pies, Paul.

OK, lovely. Yeah. I'm just enjoying the banter here, though.

-Seeing Martin humiliated.

-Oh, please! Don't say that.

It's the stuff, isn't it?

You know the reason he's not getting married

-is cos he's waiting for me.

-Just get it on the plate.

It's a marriage made in heaven and hell, isn't it?

-See what I did there?

-Oh, my God.

-You're funnier in real life than normal.

-Exactly.

-Go on.

-And this is it. Get yourself into that.

This is absolutely stunning.

-Do you want some sprinkles?

-Oh, yes, please.

-Remind us what that is again.

-This is burek, or spring rolls,

with chicken, halloumi and green chilli

with delicious Eastern Mediterranean coleslaw.

And who am I to argue?

-There you go, right. Over here.

-Fantastic.

-There you go, Paul.

-Where do you want me?

-Dive into that.

-Can I?

-It's a bit hot, Paul. Be careful.

-Dive in.

-It looks fantastic, by the way. It really does.

-Thank you very much.

-So, I can go and then...?

-Yeah, the idea is... There you go.

There you are, ladies. I feel a bit rude going in before the ladies.

Actually, I don't care.

-I suppose lamb would work very well.

-Lamb is very good,

but you're right about the leftovers of Sunday dinner.

-Beef, lamb, pork - fabulous.

-And the spices that went in there?

Cumin, dry mint and a bay leaf,

and we remove the bay leaf or it stays with the sauce

and add a bit of the cooking juices to the mixture as well.

-How is that?

-9.99999 recurring out of 10.

-Urgh!

-Urgh!

And don't forget - you can download that recipe

along with all the other Saturday kitchen ones on our website.

Go to bbc.co.uk/recipes.

Now, here's Valentine Warner

with a load of great summer cooking inspiration.

Summer pudding is a wonderful summer fruit medley,

but if you crave a pure blackcurrant hit,

try my simple blackcurrant cream.

Gently cook blackcurrants with sugar and a little water until soft.

Press through a sieve to make a smooth puree.

Stir in a few tablespoons of blackcurrant liqueur

and put to one side.

Heat cream and milk in a saucepan until it's just about to simmer

then remove from the heat.

Melt several sheets of gelatine in the cream

then add to the blackcurrant puree.

Pour into a mould then chill in the fridge for around seven hours.

Dip the mould into hot water for a couple of seconds

to release the dessert, then turn out on to a plate

and decorate with fresh blackcurrants.

Mm.

Velvety,

smooth, sweet,

tart, zingy blackcurrants are the best.

If soaring summer temperatures have you craving something sweet,

follow my top tips for ice-cool treats

using the very best of summer's fruity bounty.

First up, my cucumber and lime granita.

Granita's like a sorbet, but not quite as refined.

It's basically put in a freezer, stirred every now and again.

It's quite grainy like a grown-up slushy.

Start by peeling a couple of cucumbers,

blend to a pulp then push through a sieve

and collect the luscious green juice in a bowl.

Cucumber water - amazingly refreshing.

Glass of that on its own, cold, would be fantastic.

But I'm going to make it even tastier

by adding fragrant elderflower cordial and lime juice.

Fantastic combination.

Pop the mixture in the freezer and stir regularly

until you end up with a crushed-snow texture.

That is amazing. Oof.

For another easy-peasy summer fruit recipe,

why not try my adult version of an old kid's classic?

Freeze pineapple juice and grenadine to create two-tone lollies.

Fantastic. Rocket fruit lolly.

Wake yourself from a drowsy summer stupor

with fridge-chilled watermelon the Mexican way.

First time I had this was in Mexico City and it completely blew me away.

Juicy, fat lime everywhere.

And then to the interesting bit.

crushed salt with a good pinch of crunchy chilli powder.

Sprinkle over watermelon and tuck in.

It's fantastic. It's really unusual.

There's a little burn on the back of the throat.

Twangy from the lime.

That salty relief that you also want when you're very hot.

And that lovely watermelon taste.

Why not try a great summer classic?

Blend strawberries, lime juice and icing sugar

with a shot of white rum and a handful of ice cubes

to make a cool strawberry daiquiri cocktail.

Oh, yeah. Strawberrity.

Strawberrity? I meant strawberry and sherbety.

That's really, really delicious.

Mm-mm.

Finally, the ultimate summer sweet to keep you cool

is my raspberry ripple ice cream.

Heat cream, milk and fresh vanilla in a pan.

As soon as it starts to boil, remove from heat.

Whisk together egg yolks and caster sugar.

Add your cream and milk mixture and then return to a low heat.

Stir the mixture constantly for around 20 minutes until thickened.

Leave to cool. Now for the raspberry ripple.

Add raspberries, sugar and water and simmer vigorously

until the fruit has totally collapsed.

Then a sieve into a pan and return the juice to the heat and reduce.

Pour your cool, creamy mixture into an ice-cream machine

and churn until very thick and smooth.

If you don't have a machine, put the mixture in the freezer

and thoroughly mash with a fork every couple of hours

until almost solid.

Scoop out the ice cream, add the raspberry sauce

and swirl to get the ripple effect then freeze until solid.

Ice cream IS summer. Yum.

Now, we're not cooking live in the studio today.

Instead, we're showing you some of the highlights from the Saturday Kitchen recipe archives.

So, still to come on today's Best Bites...

You can see if having three coveted Michelin stars

makes all the difference

to your egg-beating technique as top female chef Clare Smith

takes on James Tanner in the Saturday Kitchen Omelette Challenge.

Cyrus Todiwala is a master at mixing his Indian spices.

This Parsee-style fish, cooked in a banana leaf, is simply stunning.

Pop star Sophie Ellis Baxter faced her food heaven or food hell.

Did she get the seared tuna steaks with parsley and lemon

that were lined up for food heaven?

Or a chocolate profiterole with hot chocolate sauce, for food hell?

You can find out at the end of today's show.

Here's Paul Hollywood, with a great baking suggestion for you.

I'm going to be making a tiered bread using like a focaccia dough,

an olive oil-based dough.

I'm going to be using Cypriot ingredients for this particular one.

Run through those first.

The ingredients for the dough, you need a good base dough,

so I've got strong, white flour, water,

olive oil, salt and fresh yeast.

You can get it from a supermarket, can't you?

You can get those dried ones.

Put them in the bin, you don't need them. Use instant or use fresh.

Right.

For the filling, over here I've got halloumi, dried mint,

coriander and Lunza, which is a smoked pork loin.

It's indigenous to the villages in Cyprus.

They use it a lot - it's highly salted, along with the halloumi.

This is like lomo, no? Looks like Italian lomo.

It's heavily smoked. You've got black olives, as well.

All I'm going to do is build up a dough, layer, dough, layer...

In between each one, I have cheese, meat, olives...

and build it all up with the herbs.

The alternate one is Italian - you've got mozzarella,

basil, green olives and Parma ham.

So you can mix and match if you want...

It's the Cypriot one we're doing today... Fire away.

You need to build your dough base. I've got strong, white flour,

into which I'm adding some olive oil,

-some salt...

-Yep.

..and then fresh yeast. Crumble it.

Put it away from the salt. Why do I do that, James?

-Because it'll die.

-Yes. What happens?

Er, the salt reacts with the yeast and kills it.

Yes, it's like putting salt on a slug.

I was a strange child!

How is a slug got anything remotely to do with yeast?

-Go on!

-If you put salt on a yeast, it'll start breaking it down.

-OK.

You want to keep it apart, just gently mix in the salt.

Then add your water. Now, what would you normally use to make dough?

-This is cold water, isn't it?

-Yes, I know. "Yeah, I know!"

What's gone in there is cold water.

If you use warm water, it speeds up the process and therefore,

you lose the flavour.

The longer you can grow a bread, or ferment a bread,

knock it back a maximum of three times, the better the bread will be.

-Rachel is pretty surprised about the cold water.

-Yes, I am.

The baking industry itself

never uses warm water.

It's an old wives' tale which is what it came from originally.

The old thing of...

The Good Housekeeping Guide for the '60s - "Ladies, know your men!"

They used to say use warm water, but it's nonsense.

You could stick that in the fridge and it'll still grow.

-So it's all a bit of myths and legends.

-You've been told.

Anyway, cold water...

Cold water, I'm just crushing the dough at this stage,

to see how much flour that water will pick up.

People at home, a bit sceptical about making breads,

but the popularity of bread machines is bigger and bigger.

-How would you feel about making bread in a bread machine?

-It's fine.

You can use it to mix the dough, cos if you've got arthritic hands,

for instance, if you're old, then it's fine. If you're young,

no excuse, just take all your aggression out on your dough.

Crunch it, like this.

All the flour's now gone, see?

Now, get some flour...

Throw it onto the table and then throw your dough

-on top of the flour.

-This texture is really quite important

when you're making bread, cos a lot of people make bread dry

and then it dries out in the oven.

You want it to be very moist.

The moister, the better.

As you start working it, now,

by pushing the dough from the outside into the middle, you start

building up the gluten, or the glue in the bread, the stretchy bit.

Work that for about four, five minutes, it gets smoother. Work through the really sticky period.

Pop it back in the bowl, leave it for an hour.

You end up with something looking like this. Now, smell that.

Smells like beer. I tell you who'd like...

Get your hands...

I tell you who'll like this! Smell that!

Oh, yes!

Like driving by Guinness's brewery, or something like that.

We need to crack on with this.

You get the dough, tip it out onto a table,

which has been lightly floured, again.

If you're going to do two of these, you divide it into eight,

and I'll explain why in a minute.

We only need four pieces today. I'm going to cut off...

-Sorry about your tabletop.

-That's all right.

-Cut it into four.... Like so.

It's only about five weeks old!

And all I'm going to do is shape it into a ball.

You do that by making a cage

and then just quickly turning it on the table, like that.

You're filling this with halloumi cheese.

Yes, halloumi is made from sheep and goats milk.

It's a blend of both.

It's quite salty

and what they often do is fold dried mint into it as well,

up in the villages.

So this stuff is halloumi. Quite rubbery.

-When you bake it, it's fantastic.

-Softens up.

And you griddle it as well.

I'm using coriander, which is in pretty much everything over there.

-Then you've got dried mint, Lunza and black olives.

-OK, what's next?

You need to start flattening out your dough using a rolling pin...

..and preparing your tin.

I'm going to roll out this dough to roughly the size of the tin.

I mentioned the Cypriot bread.

There is a distinct flavour in Cypriot bread...

Does it come in the way of the salt, or something like that?

It's called mastika, or mechlebe. It's that aniseed flavour.

Everyone complains about it when they go abroad and go,

"Oh, I don't like that. I'll have egg and chips!"

So the mastika or mechlebe

has been involved with their bread for many, many, many years.

I've got a theory, because I tried to make a sourdough over there

with just flour and water and it didn't taste very good at all.

I think, years ago, some bakers understood that and started to

use mastika in it to mask the flavour, because it wasn't very good.

Once you've got your base, just put some halloumi on it.

Spread it over the bottom.

So this is like, not like a pizza, but you're creating a cake.

It's like a gateau.

-You're familiar with gateaux, aren't you?!

-I am.

I'm used to using a golden rolling pin! Remember them?

You want this on the top?

-You want this on?

-Yes, straight over the top of the halloumi.

-OK.

-Then you want to roll...

-What else?

The next thing to do is put the Lunza on. Get some Lunza.

OK, I'll chop this up for you.

-Coriander's really popular, as well, isn't it?

-Oh, yes.

And it's such a delicate flavour. It's grown everywhere.

People are wondering what the connection is

between you and Cyprus. Just explain the connection.

I lived there for six years

and I'd just set up a cooking school with our friend Ross Burden.

-Right.

-Basically, it's all about the island's food

and the whole cooking generation out there.

But you get a holiday and I'm very fond of the island anyway.

-This one on top?

-Straight on the top.

Now I want you to just break up that coriander,

throw that on top of it as well.

Again, this is your third layer now.

And then get some olives...

-Crush that with your hand.

-Do you want some of this mint on, as well?

-Yes.

-Sprinkled over the top. This is just dried mint, yes?

-Where you get the flavour from.

-Exactly.

It's a beautiful flavour, dried mint. Very, very sweet.

-Sweeter than you'd normally think, you know.

-OK...

-Olives on top.

Then on top of that, you've got your last one,

which you then push down, get your olive oil...

All over the top.

Then you get a blade and just score it across the top.

Just the weight of the knife.

This will help the steam to evaporate, stop it going soggy.

As the olives cook, they let off steam and it starts to bubble.

That needs to prove up for at least an hour

and then you bake it off for about 30 minutes.

-That's quite a high oven, with bread?

-Yes.

Because you've got a lot of oil in there,

it will find it difficult to take on board colour.

It's baked, it's cooked, it's so thin. And you end up with that.

I'll chop this one up, so people can see it.

-But you serve this warm or cold, or...?

-Either. Warm, it's fantastic.

That is actually still quite warm.

It's more like what they call in Cyprus "olive pie".

Eliopita, which is a fantastic flavour.

Looks amazing. Fantastic, look at that.

Doesn't it look fantastic?

When you cut open that one, which is the green one,

you've got the mozzarella in there, so it's like a pizza...

-Full-on pizza.

-Try this one.

Again, you could mix and match the different flavours.

-Course you could.

-But the bread recipe stays exactly the same?

Yes. If you want to change it, use a brioche.

Put things like apricots in, a little bit of creme pate,

put fruit in there, make a fruit one, a sweet one.

-Remind us what we've got there again?