All language subtitles for Jamie.Cooks.the.Mediterranean.S01E03.1080p.HDTV.H264-DARKFLiX

Whenever I can,
I like to go travelling

to get inspiration for new recipes.

Look at that.

And one of the areas I love exploring
the most is the Mediterranean.

I think this is
my favourite kitchen ever.

This is like paradise for me.

So I'm heading off to corners
that I've never explored before

to research the fascinating dishes
people are making...

Mediterranean food,
but not as you know it.

...the surprising ways they build
and celebrate flavour...

That one thing is a Michelin star
dish. My whole mouth is fizzing.

...and the brilliant techniques
that I can learn from them.

Oh, my, this is going to be hard.
Oh, he makes it look so easy.

I want to meet the people
who are the very best

at making traditional dishes...

That's properly like this!

...and those inventing new ones...

Wow. Delicious.

...to come up with new recipes
and flavours...

Full of colour, full of joy.
This is heavenly.

...that can bring us all
a bit of holiday back home.

That's the joy of travel and the joy
of cooking. Cheers to that.

This time, I'm in Spain,

home to some of the most
famous food of the Mediterranean.

Incredible tapas,
flavour-packed paellas

and spectacular seafood,

making it an ideal place
to get tasting.

And I'm heading straight up
the coast from Barcelona

to a place called Cadaques,

a picturesque seaside town

known for the way
they cleverly combine seafood

and produce from
the surrounding mountains.

Tourists in my way.

Says the tourist!
HE LAUGHS

I've never been to this part of Spain
before, which is really exciting.

I wanted to have
a little adventure around here

because they're really famous
for seafood.

I just want to try things,
learn things, see things.

I'm here to meet local chef
and fisherman Rafael,

who knows loads about
the food of this region.

You want me to help?
Sure. Thank you. You're welcome.

Lovely. Any luck?
Three scorpion fishes.

Scorpion fish? Yeah, look at that.
Yeah.

It's quite a frightening-looking
fish, though, isn't it?

It's a poisonous fish, but it's
very, very tasty. It's so nice.

Where's it poisonous?
On...on the dorsal fin?

In all the... Little spines.
..you know, the parts that... Yeah.

So when you fillet that, do you
have to put gloves on or something?

No, no, if you take care,
you don't need it. Just be careful.

I have a few restaurants here in
the village. It's a family business,

so we just grow up here
working and fishing also.

Wow. That's amazing.

We own the vineyards up on the hills
so, when it's harvest time,

we always go to work there.

As you can see, on the
mountains, we see the terraces.

It comes from when the Romans,
they came here

and they just plant, you know, vines

and...and olives also
2,000 years ago. Oh, really?

You're spoilt here, aren't you? You got all
these incredible ingredients around you.

We are going to cook
up in the...in the vineyard.

You can join me if you want.
Thank you very much. That's a deal.

I'd better help you get in, then.

I'm in. What better way
to learn local Catalan flavours

than by cooking up a mountain
by the sea...

Well, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you. Yeah, thank you.

...with a chef born
and bred in Cadaques?

So I'm off up to the vineyard

and Rafael is already set up
to show me the ropes.

Good evening. How are you?
Hi. How are you?

Nice to see you.

This is pretty special, my God.

Lovely to see you. Hello, how are you? Nice to
meet you. My wife, Marine. Good to meet you.

We are just in the middle
of prepare a suquet,

that is a typical Catalan plate
from the coast

and it's an older recipe
from the fishermens.

They used the cheapest products
that they had -

tomato, the potatoes
and the scorpion fish.

We say that there is no real suquet
without scorpion fish. Right.

Suquet is a famous Catalan fish soup
or stew,

which I've never eaten before,
so I can't wait to get cooking.

We are going to start with
the garlic... Shall I chop on here?

Er, no, no, no, we are going to put
the whole garlic inside,

just a few of them, OK. A few
of them? That's about, what, 20?

It's OK. No, that's good.
Why do you use whole garlic?

Because after,
they...they become really soft

because it takes almost
20 minutes, 25 minutes,

so after this time, they are
super, super soft... Yeah. Creamy.

...and just after this,

we are going to add
a little bit of parsley. Yeah.

You just put it, the whole,
like this. Oh, really?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I love that.
This is definitely my style of dish.

Now we are going to put
a little bit of the sofrito.

The sofrito I know is
the celery, carrot and onion base

used for most sauces
in Italian cuisine.

But this is totally different. It's
mainly onions, peppers and garlic,

cooked in oil until
they're intensely caramelised

and full of incredible flavour.

How much? Yeah, like this.
It's perfect.

OK, then... I can already smell it.
It's the sweet onions.

That's it.
That's very, very concentrated.

It's almost ten hours of cook-tion,
so it's...it takes a lot of time

to get this kind of colour.

Cooking the onion sofrito this long

draws out the sweetness
and the taste,

making it the building block
of Catalan cooking.

This is the base of...
Everything. ..heaven.

So this is the base
of the Catalan cuisine.

What is important
in...in the sofrito,

it's that it gives all the colour
to the rest of the recipe.

So now we can start with
the potatoes and we do it like this.

And you break it. Oh, I love that.
We always do it like this.

I already love this dish and
I haven't even had it. Break in...

You have to think that the
fishermens, they used to cook this

on the rocks or on the boats. Right.

They didn't have a big table
to cook,

so that's the real suquet. Like
real cooking, you know what I mean?

Look how happy your dogs are. They
know something good's happening.

Now we can start
with...with the scorpion fish

and the most important thing is
to put the head as soon as possible.

OK, the head... Oh, really?
..It adds a lot of gelatine.

So head in first? Yeah.

And also with the fins, there's
a lot, a lot of gelatine here.

What I love is you're using every
single part of the fish. Yeah, sure.

The gelatine in this soup will
give you a silky, rich texture

and lip-smacking flavour.

Next, Rafael covers all those lovely
ingredients with a fish stock.

Look at that. I mean, come on!

This is so exciting. Ha ha!
Look at this!

So what do you want me to do
with this fish now?

Well, with this fish, we can let
the whole fillet like this

because it's very, very nice. Yeah.

The delicate scorpion-fish fillets
will go in towards the end.

So what...what do you call this?
The picada.

It's a mix that you make
with garlic, parsley...

Mm-hm. ..and then you add
a little bit of almond

and a little bit of hazelnuts.
I love that blend of the two nuts.

So this goes in just at the end?
Sure.

Kind of like a final seasoning.

We can put already the fish.
Just lay it in?

Yeah. Just two, three minutes,
er, to the end.

But that's not all
we're eating tonight.

Rafael has something else
he wants to share.

By the way, we have
a mar I muntanya dish prepared

that we are going to enjoy tonight and
it's one that we make with the chicken

and with the langoustines with
a sauce made with just seafood

and just on the top,
we put a little bit of picada

and it's an amazing dish.
Wow. Double trouble tonight.

So can you explain
mar I muntanya to me? Sure.

It's a way of cooking, uh, products
from the sea and the mountain

and it's, it's very typical
in Cataluna

because here we are lucky
that we have beautiful products

from the...from the sea

and beautiful products from...from
the ground, from the mountain.

I love that idea,
that you've kind of got,

you know, mountains meeting the sea,

but you've got the cuisine
doing exactly the same.

I'm so excited, I can't tell you.

What a great lesson
in Catalan flavours.

And their guests have arrived,

so Rafael's got the first dish -
the suquet.

Suquet, ready.
JAMIE CHEERS

Good. Come on, brother!

This is so beautiful. Look at that.

Wow.

Cheers, guys. Cheers.

And I'm very grateful. Can I start?

I'm so excited. I'm so excited!

Sure, you go. You go for it.
It's very, very good.

It's very nice.
You did a great job.

Delicious. Thank you so much.
That is something else.

You've got that depth of flavour
and that texture

from the fish, of course,
and...and the broth.

The potatoes are so good
at sucking up that flavour as well.

Are you not going to sit down?
I'm just eating something quick

and...and then I'm going to prepare
the other things.

Too busy cooking, always.

Being married to chefs is very hard,
isn't it? Yeah, it is.

But it'll be worth it,
as Rafael still has

his beautiful chicken and
langoustine dish for us to share.

Thank you.

It's a sauce made just with seafood

that we put
a little bit of langoustines,

uh, the red shrimps from here...
Wow.

...and a little bit of crab also
and then we add water

and we reduce almost till the end.

It's an amazing dish.

Wow. I love the stuffing as well.

Thank you so much.

What a... What a gift.
I need that spoon back, don't 1?

Because this sauce is amazing.

It's got such incredible flavour.
That is a joyful thing.

The depth of flavour
and, you know, combinations

and how things work together
when you don't expect them.

Can I just say cheers? Salud!

ALL: Salud!

It's really important to sort of think
about geography when you're cooking.

I mean, the mountains
and the sea just there

and to eat it through that food
was amazing.

Whole, like, throws of herbs,
whole garlic,

like, breaking, like, kind of busting
potatoes instead of cutting them.

Then that dish with the chicken
and the beautiful langoustines -

the way that kind of
the surf and the turf

or the...the meat and the fish,
those, you know,

flavours coming together
was just genius

and it made complete sense.

Wow.

I've been researching
the food of the Mediterranean

and I'm now in Spain to discover

some of the amazing ingredients
and dishes here.

I want to learn everything I can

in order to create
simple and delicious recipes

inspired by what I see.

In beautiful Barcelona,
I'm getting inspiration

from everywhere I go, even
some of the most surprising places.

Short back and sides?
OK, no problem. Yeah? Good man.

What's your favourite tapas
in the area?

Have you tried... Let me...
My friend has text me.

Let me give you this.
Er, Quimet, Quimet.

Yeah? Yes, it's number one.

I'm excited. See,
you get all the gossip from this.

They know what's going on
in the neighbourhood, you see,

because they talk to everyone.

Perfect. OK.

HE LAUGHS

Ohh... Rick Astley?!

# Never going to give you up,
never going to let you down

# Never going to...
HE LAUGHS

Oh, mate, you're a comedian.
I love it.

Bye-bye. Adios! Rick Ashley!
Rick Ashley... Rick Ashley!

Right. Thank you. Right.

He did say
that this little tapas joint,

Quimet, Quimet, is the one to go to,

so I'm going to get directions
for that

and it's just down here if I'm lucky.

OK, right, where are we on the map?
Look, it's here.

There it is. Quimet, Quimet.

Oh, it's already got a queue.
Oh, my lord.

Look at this. That is beautiful.

I have to visit this place
as I'm told

it's famous for something
called conservas.

Table for one person, please.
For one. Same rules, mister.

I haven't got a clue what it is
and it looks like standing room only.

Look at this place. Got wines, cava,

vermouth, gins, whisky.

Good lord, this is like my heaven.

I can see everything that's going on,

but they've got all their prep
down here

and then the menu's just
loads of beautiful combinations.

Broad beans with codfish.
You got loquats and anchovies.

Hi, mister. How are you? Nice
to see you. Nice to meet you too.

Can you help me choose?
I would love to do the loquat.

Try that one. Yeah?
Yeah, it's like apricot or kumquat.

It's a Mediterranean fruit.
I'd love that.

And we do it with anchovies,
cheese, vinegar,

that's the perfect balance, I think.
Perfect. Thank you very much. You're welcome.

This is really interesting for me

because his kind of library of food
here is tinned shellfish,

seafood -
but of the most premium quality.

Picked and graded,
put into little tins, flavoured.

So this is really, really exciting.

Try the loquat. Wow.

And one bite. One bite?

So I think what we've got here
is a loquat, peeled, poached.

Look at that. Come on.
So that's going to be sweet, salty.

There's cheese, herbs, anchovy.

Wow. That was so good.

The anchovy's got that
kind of seaside saltiness, umami,

and then the sweet,
delicious fruit and the herbs.

Cor. That one mouthful
is like a memory.

Wow. This is a bit of me, this is.

Restaurant, off the street.

A library of booze.

Preserved food. I never thought
it could taste so good.

For the next dish, cockles on toast

with yoghurt and whipped egg yolk.

Some cockles. Ooh, cockles.
Cockles with yoghurt.

Beautiful.
Right, let's have a little go.

Oh, my lord.

Gordon Bennett.

Wowzers.

So I was born in a part of the world

where we have the best cockles ever -

Southend-on-Sea.

But that is outrageous. I've never,
ever tasted cockles like that.

And, like, for me, this is like
a...a little Willy Wonka moment.

There's no cooking happening here.
No steaming, no grilling, nothing.

It's a really epic, you know,
Spanish masterclass in flavours.

I'm never going to look at a tin
the same again.

Can I get the bill, please?
And that was an amazing meal.

Thank you so much. Cheers, my friend.

Like, it was pretty special,
but more than that, like,

how many times have you been
to a first-class restaurant

and everything's come
from a tin or a jar?

Like, I don't know about you,
but me, never.

That's a first. That's a first. So,

very inspirational.

With my mind buzzing,
I'm going to make a dish

taking a little bit of everything
that I've been tasting -

the sauces, the soups,
the simple ingredients,

but, mostly, the genius
combinations of flavours

and hero-ing
those brilliant conservas.

I'm going to do a pork dish because
there's pork everywhere around this city

and you get it in all these different
formats - sausages, cured meats.

So good. So this dish
is a celebration of pork.

The pork chop.
You know, an amazing cut,

but I want to do it
really, really well.

I want to big up some
of those conservas vegetables.

Over the last few days in Barcelona,
we've seen jarring,

pickling, combinations,
like, all this surprise.

And that's what I'm picking up at
the moment. Really, really exciting.

I want to share this juicy, dark
and gnarly pork chop

to showcase those beautiful
jarred veggies.

Crispy, fragrant artichokes
with peppery, vivid, red chickpeas.

We're going to do chickpeas.
I love the idea,

you know, with the conservas, that
these chickpeas are just so good.

I've got artichokes here,
jarred artichokes.

You can get them
in all the supermarkets.

I'm going to blacken and char
some beautiful garlic and peppers

on the barbecue, but you can do it
easily under a grill at home.

We want to put the love
into these peppers

just like so much love went into
those jarred veggies, right?

And to accompany those grilled
peppers and delicious conservas...

Let's talk about pork chops.
How do you cook a delicious,

golden, tender, juicy pork chop?

Go to a butcher's and have
a conversation about welfare,

free-range, and if it's a bit
further up the pork loin,

some bits have this lovely
kind of cap meat here.

Slightly different colour.
That is incredible -

succulent, juicy, gorgeous
nutty flavour, right? I love that.

Before I crack on with the pork chop,

it's all about those lovely
jarred artichokes.

A lot of people still, back home,

don't know what to do with
artichokes, but if you look in here,

look how gorgeous they are.
They've been put in that jar -

herbs, love, care, attention.

Right? So just cut it in half
and we're going to fry that up

and it will go crispy and delicious.

So I'L halve some

and I'll quarter some others.
So. look, that is the artichoke.

And with those prepped,
I want to show you a tip

for the easiest marinade.

A marinade is going to make
this pork chop juicier

and tastier and more tender.

So what I'll do is I'll just
put a little vinegar here.

I'm not going to waste
any of this oil.

The people that make
these incredible conservas, right,

they've put so much love,
care and attention into it.

We don't want to waste any of this
flavour - the oil, herbs - none of that.

That's a marinade, right?
We'll take a little bit of salt

and a little bit of pepper

and we'll rub this over
the pork chop. This will be amazing.

So, pork chops marinated.

Just wash my hands.

Peppers. Got peppers blackening, OK?

And, obviously,
I'm doing this on the barbecue

because you get that lovely flavour,
but you could do it under a grill,

you could do it in a really hot oven.

So now these are blackened
and softened,

I want to let them rest a little bit,
so just take these off

and look at this.

Ho ho ho! Beautiful.

So cover it and just let it steam
a little bit.

Let's get the pan on
at a medium-high heat.

You can serve one big pork chop
for two people.

I'm just going to cook one. I'll save
the other marinated one for later.

SIZZLING
Hear that?

Sear.

And at the same time, I'll go in
with some of those artichokes.

And I'll use a little bit
of that marinating oil from the jar.

The really nice thing about reheating
the artichokes in the pan like this

is, like, it's soft already,
but now we're getting it crisp

and you're bringing
all the flavours back to life.

So from the jar
to something really special.

Come and have a look at this pork.
Absolutely gorgeous.

Just sizzling and gnarly.

That's exactly what we want,
and then back in the oil.

And if you think the artichokes
are getting a little bit too golden,

put the artichokes
on top of the pork.

And I reckon, for the pork, about
three and a half minutes on each side

on a medium-high heat.

And just angle the pan.
Basting it with oil like this

really helps you get
the juiciest possible pork chop.

So we'll let that carry on cooking.

And whilst it cooks,
I can peel my peppers

to make a tapas-style salad
and sauce.

So I'm going to marinate
these peppers and, to do that,

I want to take the skin off
and lose all the little seeds, right,

just by rubbing the skins.

We've gone from peppers
that are quite fresh and crunchy

and now it's sweet,
it's smoky and that, for me,

feels like the flavours of the food
of this region.

That kind of Catalan flavour, for me,

feels earthy and deep and surprising.

So, look, that's all your burnt bits
and pips.

You'll see some natural juices
gather there.

I know it's only a tablespoon,
but you have to trust me.

It's gold. That's where
the amazing flavour is.

And then just a little olive oil

and a little bit of vinegar.

So now we're into marination mode.

A little bit of pepper,
and then we can take these peppers

and just turn them into
lovely little strips.

But now, so those everyday veggies,
just gone to another level.

So this preparation with the peppers
is really good in pastas,

in salads, on frittatas,
on pizzas, on crostini,

in lovely little salads with
mozzarellas and things like that -

gorgeous, gorgeous.

And I'm going to use those two ways
with the pork later.

But first, I'm lowering the heat
under the pork

and I'm going to rattle out my
version of a local classic - alioli.

So the last thing I've got
is some garlic here,

I put in there as soon as
I lit the barbecue,

so half an hour, 40 minutes.

I'm vibing off those slow-cooked
garlic cloves

Rafael used in the vineyard
for his suquet soup.

If I just take a little clove
and I squeeze it,

can you see what's going to happen?
Look. Ohh...

So this is no longer kind of, like,
pungent garlic.

No, no, no, no. It's mild garlic.

Squeeze it out of the skins
and I mush this up,

just a little thimble of vinegar.

Then we'll mix that up

and then, instead
of using lovely olive oil,

what we're going to use is
the leftover oil from our artichokes.

Why waste it? So, very slowly,
add a little bit of oil

and create that emulsion.

So every last bit of that oil
has now gone.

Let's have a little try.

A little bit of seasoning

and there we have, I think,
a really clever by-product

from something that might have
gone to waste.

A little kind of version
of an alioli.

It's definitely not classic,
but I like it.

The pork chop is done.

So let the pork chop rest now.

You can get rid of this excess fat,

but what you have in this pan
is sticky bits from the pork -

the best home for chickpeas.
SIZZLING

So we're not just using
all the flavour in the jars,

we're using all the flavour,
you know,

from what might be washed up
in a pan.

But that is essentially
your kind of gravy.

Pork-gravy chickpeas.

But then,
just while this pork chop rests,

I want to take some of
the red peppers

and I'm going to smash them up
to make a basic sauce.

So just keep mashing that up.
A little olive oil

and then take those lovely chickpeas
and you bring them to life

with this amazing,
sweet, sweet, gorgeous pepper.

Look at that,
it's going to be deep and dark.

Smells amazing.
Turn the gas off, let's plate up.

Look. Just glorious.

It smells so sweet.

we'll take some
of these beautiful peppers.

What a celebration of colour.

And then artichokes,
telling the story

of those beautiful jarred vegetables.

And then get your knife,
just give it a little kind of carve.

Ohh, look at that.

This little bit
of cheat's alioli, right?

The beautiful oil
from the jarred artichokes.

You've got that garlic in there.

When that mixes with the peppers,

it's going to be a thing of joy.

Right, obviously,
this is a plate to share,

but I'm going to have a little try.

A lovely bit of pork.

Steal a little bit
of that beautiful red pepper.

Come on.

Mm-mm.

Wow.

The pork chop is so tender.

The artichoke is crispy
on the outside, soft on the inside.

Really fragrant.
And with the pork and chickpeas,

it really is a joy.

So, for me,

this is all about celebrating
those jarred products,

really bringing them to life.
Absolutely delicious.

And the perfect way to get
a little bit of the Mediterranean

on your plate.

I'm tasting my way
around the Mediterranean

as I research the foods, flavours
and techniques of the region

and Barcelona has given me
so much inspiration

to create dishes
we can all try at home.

What a city. Known for its beautiful
jamons, paellas and pinchos,

but there are more gems
for me to discover.

What I really love about these
busy port cities in the Mediterranean

is for ever they've dealt with
wave after wave of immigration.

And, of course,
with that immigration,

you get the coming together
of cultures and food

and that's the bit
that I really, really love.

And I've had a tip
to go to a restaurant

that deals with this exchange
of culture and food

in the most spectacular way.
I've just got to find it.

Hola. Jamie. How are you, my friend?

Welcome to Mescladis.
Good to see you.

Tell me about this place.
What's... What's the name...

Mescladis means that
you can mix it up.

We work mainly with migrants,
with refugees.

We have a cooking school. Even
though it looks like a reqular restaurant,

we are social project... So this is
a social business, basically. Yeah.

What we do is to promote
social inclusion.

You've seen the hospitality sector,
because the people are being trained here.

Actually, what we do, Jamie, is to
help people to help themselves.

Yep. Er... Just give them some tools.
Yeah.

We work with people
that some of them,

they have put their life at risk
to...to get here,

to improve their living conditions,
and I think the value for democracy

can be measured in the way
we treat minorities.

OK, I'm in love with this place
already.

I've only been here
a couple of minutes.

Not only is this restaurant
a social business,

it's also a cookery school
and I reckon the blend of cultures

will mean some incredible food.

Here we have our school.

Wow. Look at all this. Quite busy.

Where are you from? Costa Rica?

Argentina.

Algeria. I mean, you guys
are teaching these guys,

but they must be teaching you
as well. Exactly, exactly.

Mostly, that's what happens.

Using food to bring migrants together

and encourage incredible people
from all over the world to be chefs -

what vital work they do here.

Really nice to meet you. When did you
arrive here in Barcelona?

HE SPEAKS HIS OWN LANGUAGE

Student chef Brahim
is making salmorejo,

which is a cold Andalucian soup
a little bit like gazpacho.

What's the ingredients in this soup?

Yeah. Yeah.

Olive oil, and that's it?

That's it? Really? So this is cool.

Brahim, are you here on your own?
Si.

When you first arrived in Spain,
how did it feel?

It's very different.
Have you eaten this before?

Yes, I like so much, yeah.
Shall I try? Yes.

An amazing texture. Look at that.

OK.

It's delicious. I mean,
it's kind of like gazpacho,

but nothing like gazpacho.

It's refreshing. It's really tasty.
Good seasoning.

Si. It's very luxurious.

Very, very good.

Damn, that's good, chef. Thank you.

Really, really good. Yum!

This is incredible. On a human level,
this is so important.

Yeah, this place
really touched my heart.

I mean, food can be so many things,

but the power of food
to empower people,

to give them the tools
to help themselves,

that is the superpower of food,
and what did he say?

"The power of democracy
can be measured

"by how it treats its minorities."
Ooh!

Now I'm on the road again,

heading to the coast
to the port of Palamos,

famous for its world-renowned
red prawns,

possibly the taste
of the Catalan region.

I'm meeting a fisherman called Chavi,

who catches
these incredible red prawns,

and I've got to be there
at 4.30 sharp.

I made it in time, but I don't really
know what to expect now.

Chavi? Where's Chavi?

Hi, Jamie. Ah, Chavi. Jamie!

Hello, mate. Good afternoon, welcome.

How are you? Hey, senor.
Come into my boat.

Do you want to help me?
Yeah, of course, I'd love that.

I don't need to be asked twice.

I am so excited
to see these red prawns,

or gambas, as they're known here.

Boxes of gamba. Oh!
You can help me, no?

This is the big one. Oh, my lord.

This is so exciting for me.
What a gift.

The colour... Good colour.
Why are they this colour?

Where do they get the red from?
Is it their diet?

The bottom where lives the gamba

is full of mud and sediments,
organic material. Yeah.

So they're eating kind of algae
or...or seaweed and...

Micro crustaceos.

So it's those crustaceans that give
them the colour and the flavour?

Yeah, good flavour.
Wow. And they're such a delicacy.

It's considerated
the best in the world.

Come on.

Let's go to sell. OK.

I've got a chance to witness
the auction with Chavi...

Oh, my lord.

...where his red prawns can sell
for up to 40 euros a kilo.

Faster, please, faster, please. OK.

The buyer expect us.

OK, that's all? Let's go.

And off we go to the auction.

Look at this. Monkfish.

Look at that squid.
Look at these prawns!

Look at the size
of that beautiful monkfish.

Look at the head. My God.

Look at that.
Got a little langoustine in there.

I mean, for a chef,
this is quite a special moment.

I love it. How do you catch them?

Ah, they get through.
Si. Get free. Yep.

Ahh. Yeah.

And if you over fish
or damage the homes,

then, tomorrow there's no fish. No.

We're like the security people
in the airport.

Run, run, run.
Get your plastic bags out.

Any creams?

Jamie? Yes. Are you ready?
I'm more than ready. Ahh.

The buyers can bid on the price
that they want to pay,

using a hand-held device.

Ah, come on, man.
Oh. I want a button.

I'd buy that for ten. Oh, come on.
He don't want.

I'm getting all flustered
and I'm not even selling anything.

Watch my fish. It's selling now.

Chavi's catch is up for auction.

121. So that's good, right?
You happy?

Ah, it's good, it's good. Brilliant.

My work is expensive. So the beers
are on you? You going to buy me a beer?

But if I was to put some lemons
and parsley in the box,

could we get more price? Yeah.

Although I must say,
watching so many prawns being sold

doesn't half work up an appetite.

Do you want to go with me
to cook in the...the vessel?

Do you have some prawns? Yeah. You
saved some for yourself? I saved, yeah.

I have gambas. Yes, please.
The best.

Yeah, right now. Now we run! Come.

I'm excited, I'm beyond excited.
I'm trying to...

I'm trying to contain myself.

Where do we go? Come with me.

Come in. Wey! This is cosy.

This is my kitchen. Hola.

This is Tony. Jamie, Tony.
Hi, Jamie. Nice to meet you.

Is Tony the chef on board?
Yeah. He's my cooker.

Wow. So how we going to cook them?

Rice with prawns.
Er, arroz a la cazuela.

OK, so rice in a casserole pan.

Jamie, you can see the secret...
Ooh! ..of this rice. Dark.

Like sweet caramel.
Sweet caramel, yes.

That's the secret? This is
the secret of our rice. Amazing.

Catalan sofrito, we meet again.

This is the onion that takes
ten hours of slow cooking

to produce its signature
dark, caramelised flavour.

So what I love about this is
the onion is the most important part.

The most important is the onion
and now we put another ingredient.

Yeah, so you have peppers, right?
Green and red peppers. Peppers.

Red and green peppers. OK.

This is can an a. This is...
So this is, like, a squid?

Si. The can an as. So the can an as
goes in. Now the can an as. OK.

Then the rice.

In the last two minutes...
Wow. ..put the...

So, very delicate. ..gambas.
Very delicate.

And while all those gorgeous flavours
cook into the rice,

Chavi invites me above deck
to have a cheeky taste

of this unique local ingredient,
which is even delicious raw.

Wow. Look at this. Look at this.

Just the colour.

How do you eat it?
Er, first step - separate the head.

OK. Yeah. Yeah?

Er, put out the intestines. Yeah.

OK. To the water.

And first, the head.

Suck the head, slowly,
with the teeth.

Oh, my God.
Have the taste of the seawater.

Oh...

How do you feel?

It's the most delicious...

And people are going to think
it's gross, right?

That is the most delicious
essence of the sea... Yeah, seawater.

...but it's creamy, it's savoury,

gentle, it's delicate.

And the meat? Yeah, OK.

I'm going to be honest,
that's probably

one of the most extraordinary
things I've eaten in my life.

It's like one ingredient.
One ingredient.

Perfection. Yeah.
And the flavour of this geography,

this is a moment about what these
kind of research trips are for.

For me, this is like,
you know, simplicity.

There's a flavour in there
that I can't quite get my finger on.

It's a vegetable flavour.
It's on the tip of my tongue, man.

What... What is it? Um, ahh...

Do you want to eat the rice?

Yes, I do. Now? Yeah. Tony!

Is finished, the rice?

I'm hungry, I'm hungry. Yeah.

Oh, wow, look at that.

Wow.

That smells incredible.

Time to taste the arroz a la cazuela.

For you. Tony, thank you.
That's sofrito.

Gracias. The passions
with the onion is, uh, secret.

It's very important.

Oh.

Ohh.

It's a...

...deep, robust, thumping flavour.

That is extraordinary.

It's just been
the most amazing experience.

Today you live like a fisherman

and you eat like a fisherman.

It's good eat. It's delicious.
CHAVI CHUCKLES

Well, thank you. Gracias.

I'm very happy. I'm really happy.
A pleasure.

I'm going to text my mum now
and say, "Mum, I'm really happy,

“I'm really healthy and I've just had the
most incredible gambas." Phone your mum!

Oh, my lord.

I won't forget the taste of
those prawns as long as I live.

Now I need to create
a super-delicious recipe

that does this incredible region
justice.

I'm soaking up inspiration in Spain

so I can take a little bit
of that Spanish Catalan soul

back home to Essex
and scatter it into my cooking.

I'm also here to write recipes

and I've had an idea
inspired by the Spanish tradition

of pairing delicious produce
from both the land and the sea.

Spain has been jam-packed
with inspiration.

I feel like I'm beginning to
get to know those Catalan flavours.

Boy, are they good.

I wanted to try and express
in a dish with just five ingredients

something that's really easy to do,

but could bring a little bit
of the Mediterranean to your home

wherever you are in the world.

I'm going to cook gorgeous
sea and mountain skewers

on creamy, smoky leeks and beans.

Succulent prawns, beautiful ham
and savoury mushrooms,

where even the skewers
are super-charged with flavour.

The idea of a skewer
is to make something beautiful

that has combinations of things,
just like the tapas we saw.

So there's the combination, right -
the harmony

of the mountains, the sea
and the woods.

Now, I'm going to use
little rosemary skewers here.

You could use metal
or wooden skewers, whatever you like.

So, four little skewers, and what
you can do is treat it like an arrow.

Sharpen it. Use the tip of the knife

if you're using this with a rosemary
skewer or a bay skewer.

Scrape that off. Of course,
when you cook with herbs,

you do get flavour as well.
The thing is, we have to make sure

these all cook
at exactly the same time.

So who's the boss here?
The prawns, because it's so delicate.

So our job here

is to take a frumpy old mushroom
and make it delicate.

Like that.

Then the oyster mushrooms I'm just
going to tear really delicately.

So these are just
some local mushrooms,

some wild, some farmed,

but you can use any mushrooms
you like, OK,

that you can get from the supermarket

and any ham you want, right?
Pancetta, smoky bacon.

I'll take a slice of this jam on.

So this lovely ham here,

I'll just take it into a little strip
like that.

So look, we've got
these incredible prawns.

Remember when we were talking
to Chavi the fisherman?

We want to use every single part
of this.

Waste nothing.

So I want to take the heads off
like that.

Remove the little vein.

And then I'm going to peel the prawn.

We're even going to use the shell.

Pinch off the shell.
It's very, very easy.

When I was back with Chavi

and I was eating the prawns' heads,

I was going, like,
"It tastes of the sea",

and there was this extra flavour
that I couldn't name.

It was on the tip of my tongue
and I was like, "Is it cabbage?"

"Is it broccoli?" It was mushroom.

It came to me when I was
in my sleep. It was like, "Mushroom."

So that's why this combination
is going to work so beautifully.

I'm going to run my knife
down the back of this prawn

just to let it butterfly
and to allow it to cook

in a really lovely, even way.

So, look,
here's my little kit of parts.

Prawns butterflied, shell, heads,

mushrooms and the beautiful ham

and I've got my skewers ready
and raring to go.

So for me,
the point of having a kebab

is to celebrate combination.

I'm going to just skewer
the mushroom, thinly cut,

with the ham, right?
So, best friends.

Put the prawn on now, like that.

And then I'm going to fold the ham
back up like this.

So can you see how
that's wrapping around the prawn,

taking care of it, right?
So that's going to get crispy,

like, savouriness, sweetness,
funk from the mushroom,

it's going to be amazing.
So, back to the mushroom again.

So all I'm going to do
on each of these is two prawns.

Just fan it out a little bit.

Like this, and we'll do a few more.

Love weaving that ham
in and around the mushrooms

and around the prawn. Ha-haa!

It's really good fun doing this.

And the last one. Look at that.

So we have our prawn kebabs here.

A little olive oil,
a little seasoning.

So that can just sit there.

So what are we going to do
with the heads and the shell?

Well, I'll tell you what
we're going to do, is waste nothing

and extract as much as possible.

So, the shells will go into this pan
with some oil,

so the shells are going to flavour
the oil and, in a little dish,

just squeeze
all of that gorgeous juice out.

If you think it's kind of a bit "ugh”
and a bit gross, that's cooking.

That's what it's about.
That's the truth.

And then the empty head
goes into that oil.

Put that to the side.
we'll have a little wipe down.

This now can go on the heat

just to kind of infuse
and fry the shells, right,

and so much flavour
will come out of the shells.

And then you can use that oil
to finish dishes

and it'll be like the seaside
in a little drizzle.

So now, we're going to do

a two-ingredient creamy leek dish,
right? It's going to be delicious.

They have a very famous vegetable
here called calcots,

which is part of the allium family.

They go crazy for it
and they blacken them.

I couldn't get the calcots,
so I'm going leeks, right?

I've burnt it on a barbecue,

but you could do it
in a really hot oven

and just literally throw them in dry,
right?

Let them burn. When they're burnt,
they're going to be good.

Now, look. You pull back
that burnt outer casing

and the inside

is sweet, softened,

gorgeous leek. Look at that.

This will be the base of my beans.

Now, let's kind of go back
to the conservas, right?

All those amazing beans
and pulses in jars and tins.

So, when you're out shopping,

you know, keep your eyes peeled
for those different variations.

I'm going to chop this up
so it's delicate

and there's a harmony
between the beans and the leeks.

Make a little well
in the middle, right,

and then that beautiful prawn head.

Think of it as a stock cube, right?

It might not be pretty,
but it will be incredibly tasty.

Some oil. Now we're talking.

So now, we just simply go in
to the pan...

...and all we have to do
is bring these beans to the boil.

And it's going to be amazing.
SIZZLING

And then I give it
just a little thimble of vinegar

and it just lifts it up, so as soon
as that comes to the boil,

we'll have a little season
with some salt

and then reduce it down
to a lovely, oozy texture.

Look at that. A lovely, sweet,
smoky bean and leek stew.

The oil is done. That can cool down.

Now it's time to cook our prawns.

I'm cooking mine on a barbecue, but,
of course, you can also grill them.

These will only take like,
three, four minutes to cook.

You don't want to overcook
the prawns at all.

Look.

Lay it on the other side.
They don't need much cooking.

Look at that.

Right, time to plate up.
I'm very excited.

Can you see? Texture.

I'm just going to do it for one.

Right, look at that.

Just beautiful.

So there we have the beans
and the mushrooms.

That lovely, flavoured oil.

So there you go. My little homage,

my little pinchos of
the mountains and the sea

with those beautiful beans.

Just take it off like that.
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Let's have a little go.

The beans are outrageous.
And then that lovely, sweet leeks.

Gorgeous. Ham,

creamy beans,

prawns, mushroom...

...in one very beautiful,
grateful fork.

Mm. I think Chavi would like that.
He'd be very proud.

That's what we've learnt
from Catalan cooking -

extract the flavour, all of it.
Really treasure it.

I love it. When you cook at home,
it doesn't have to be boring.

It doesn't have to be the same. Even though
that's what most of us do all the time,

it can be exciting. Get inspired.

Take some of the flavours
from this region

and get it in your own kitchen.
What are you waiting for? Come on.

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