All language subtitles for Jamie Cooks the Mediterranean 2023 S01E04 720p WEB-DL x264 BONE

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 gonna be hard.
Oh, he makes it look so easy.

I wanna 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.

So, very excited cos we're going to
Marseille

to learn about loads of beautiful
food

and get inspired and see new things.

It's gonna be amazing.

I've always thought the food in
France is some of

the best on the planet,

and the south of France combines all
that know-how with

the sun-baked ingredients of
the Mediterranean.

Smack bang in the middle,
hugging the coast,

is Marseille, and I've never been,

which makes it a perfect place
to head for some research,

and I can't wait to start getting
inspired by their stunning seafood

and flavour powerhouses like garlic,

olives and anchovies,

and whatever else Marseille has
to offer.

And I'm diving straight in.

Best place to come is always
the market.

See what they're selling,

see what they're cooking and see what
I can learn.

The white asparagus, look at this.

Wow!

Beautiful, different coloured
courgettes...

Incredible strawberries.

Merci beaucoup, monsieur.

Merci, monsieur.

Being a port city,

Marseille has a long history
with the Mediterranean Sea,

resulting in a constant movement
of people.

And when you get an exchange of
people,

you get an exchange of flavours, too.

Flavours I'm confident will get my
mind buzzing.

Bonjour, bonjour. Ravioli?

Oui. What's inside?

Oh, inside, c'est un fromage frais.

So how are you cooking these?
A la friteuse.

Interesting. Look at that!

You see, when you fry these little
raviolis, they kind of pouf up.

What I love is, you know,

ravioli's normally soft and silky,
but by frying it,

it's just crispy and, oh, OK.

Pistou. Pistou? Pistou.

Le pistou, c'est ail, huile
d'olive, basilic.

And is it very typical, pistou,
yeah? Oui.

The minute that he put it into there,

with the hot ravioli,

the garlic and the cheese on
the inside, it's delicious.

Oh!

Glass of white wine? A little rose?

Wonderful. Merci.

At one point in history,

there was a huge population
of Italians in Marseille

and they clearly left their mark.

I won't forget that pistou sauce,

or that cooked, souffle-like cheese.

Look at this bus, man.

Ribs of pork.

Aioli Provencal. That's something I
wanna try.

The aioli I know is a garlic
mayonnaise.

I bet this version is out of this
world.

Here you are.

OK. Look at that.

And is this fresh cod or salt cod?

It's salt, which is in the water for
days and after,

there is no more salt.

You put it just with fresh
vegetables.

Potatoes, green beans, carrots...

Just dip in the aioli sauce.

..and the garlic mayonnaise,

Aioli has become very famous around
the world.

It, it's really typical and in
summer,

it is served, cold,

and in winter you can have
everything hot,

I mean, for centuries,

Provence people has been
doing this.

I love it.

So, is it the mayonnaise that's
called the aioli, or the whole dish?

No, it's the whole dish.

Really? Yes.

We always talk about the aioli,
aioli is the mayonnaise,

but it's very delicious.

And it's so hot now,

and this is fridge cold.

It's perfect. It's perfect.

What a lovely lunch!

Simple veggies and beautiful fish,

dipped in garlicky mayo. What's not
to love?

Since I've been going round
the market,

they've had a big old paint fight
to celebrate the fish,

the seas.

There's mermaids everywhere,
it's great.

No, I'd love to.

I've got no idea what that's got to
do with the sea

but I love it.

My first morning in Marseille

and a croissant is high on my list
of priorities.

Obviously, the French nail this
better than anyone,

and according to TikTok,

this bakery is the best place
to get a croissant

and pain au chocolat in
the whole of France.

My kids are gonna be so jealous.

Look at that wall. It's a wall of
beautiful bread.

We have a lot of bread, yeah.

Here's a big one. Look at that!

Do you want to cut this? I'd love
to, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, wow!

Wow. Delicious. Do you like it?

Yeah, I love it.

That, with cheese and ham, amazing.

Bouillabaisse... Yeah, exactly. ..you
know, amazing.

You know, using it as a crouton,
amazing!

So, you have to start the day with
a croissant.

HE LAUGHS

See, look, I mean it's this, that
lamination is just...

So the main idea of this bakery is
to offer to everyone

nice product... Yeah. ..fancy
product. Yeah.

Normally, in Paris, a bakery
like us, is like, fancy stuff,

fancy this, decoration and
high price. Yeah.

We wanted to have, like, a
democratic... Yeah. ..bakery...

Yeah. ..for everyone in the
district... Yeah.

I love that.

Right behind you, we have the oven,
the oven.

Well, can, can I have a look out
the back? Sure, yeah.

Croissants are totally synonymous
with France,

so I'm pretty excited that
I'm gonna get a chance

to make them with a local star baker.

So this was the pain au chocolat
that made him famous...

Yeah. ..on TikTok. It looks pretty
good, I have to say.

He's working on the thickness of
the dough.

And sitting on top of the dough

is one enormous slab of butter.

The secret to flaky pastry is layers,

or laminations, of dough and butter.

Fifty five, to be precise.

After manually folding the dough,

this machine acts like an enormous
rolling pin,

pushing down the layers.

So every time it goes through,

he turns it again

so you get those lamination of dough
and butter.

Now it's my turn.

This, er... This one?

Yes. No, yes.

Nice.

When do I stop?

Well, I'm a bit frightened it'll end
up on the floor.

HE LAUGHS

Right, time to get things rolling.

Yes.

This OK? Yes.

And just et aupres, comme ca, avec
er...

Yes.

Just roll.

Yeah.

Is that OK? OK.

That's very, very satisfying.

It's the way he touches it.
It looks easy, but it's not.

Listen, man, this is the best thing
in the world.

You can't come to France and not try

and enjoy a good croissant,

but I never thought I'd get
to actually make them.

This is fantastic.

It's very, very satisfying.

Not as perfect as yours,
though, Nathan, but.

It's OK.

Comme ci, comme ca.

Perfect. Yeah?

Yes. It's perfect.

I'll take that, from a TikTok baking
sensation.

Right, time to get going

so I can eat this famous pain
au chocolat.

Au revoir, monsieur. Have a good day.
Bye-bye, thank you.

Take care.

I'm starting to see different uses
of flavour

and it's getting my mind whirling.

It's getting me very excited
to go back

and start creating some new ideas
because ultimately,

that's what it's all about.

So, I just need a nice little private
moment now to enjoy this.

So good.

That's got to be the lightest,

airiest pastry I've ever eaten.

I need to get flaky pastry into
a recipe somehow.

I am loving what I'm learning about
how people eat in Marseille.

I'm here to write recipes,

and I've had an idea based around
the pistou,

that herby sauce that I ate at
the market stall,

which I think will be totally
possible to make at home.

It's really early days,

but my job to come out here is really

to soak up all of that, kind of,
Mediterranean inspiration,

the simplicity, the food,
the flavours.

Those little flavour bombs that make

a little difference in dishes,

and what I wanna do now is cook
a really simple dish,

bringing a little bit of sunshine

and a little bit of something fresh
to the story.

I'm cooking my version of
a French classic,

with a Marseille twist.

I've used these beautiful red
skin potatoes.

They've been cooking for like,
15 minutes on a medium heat

with salt and pepper, a little splash
of olive oil, just to get 'em going.

So that is nearly cooked.

Nice, rustic chunks of potato.

Look at this lovely steak.
A fantastic entrecote.

That's a ribeye steak on the bone.

Can you see how there's a little
excess fat around here?

Just use a knife to nick a bit.

You could always use a smaller
sirloin or rump,

or even a cheaper cut like
a skirt steak,

and it'll taste absolutely delicious.

Then what I can do now is just put
some little nuggets

of this amazing steak fat in with the
potatoes

and that flavour from the beef will
start cooking into

those chunky chips.

OK, so lots of black pepper on this
gorgeous steak,

and salt,

and this'll serve two to four people,
once it's sliced.

Now, pistou is a condiment
from Provence.

It's really simple, it's basil,
garlic and oil,

pounded up to a beautiful
little paste.

It is absolutely the cousin of pesto,

so buy a pesto at home.

Both work incredibly well with
the tomatoes,

the beef and the potatoes.

And if you remember our chef friend,

fried the little ravioli with the
goat's cheese,

gave me the tomato sauce and put a
little pistou over the top.

It's delicious, it's pungent and it's
full of the flavour

of the Mediterranean.

So, take some of that pistou,

just a couple of teaspoons,

and we're gonna rub that all over.
Look at the colour.

It's just beautiful.

And of course it normally
finishes things,

so you get a very fragrant side
to it.

But when it cooks in the pan,

you get a savoury kind of note from
the basil and the garlic,

so I love the fact that I'm not just
gonna get one set of flavours,

we're gonna get two.

Let me just wash my hands a second

in my little bowl of soapy water.

So this is very exciting.

We have got golden, crispy, beefy
bits, potatoes.

They're looking fantastic.

So I'm gonna take the potatoes off.

I'll re-heat those a little bit
later.

Pan back on, turn it up.

Now the fun starts.

So, the beef has had a quick little
marinade.

Let's put it on its fat side
like this, first.

Just hold it there like that,
get that fat rendering.

Wobbly fat is not really
appealing, right?

We want crispy fat.

You only have to hold it there
for like,

one minute

and you can see how that dancing fat
has rendered.

So now, we lay this in its own fat.

I wanna cook this medium rare, OK,

so probably about three minutes on
each side.

Dancing fat, crispiness, texture.

I'm very happy with this steak.

I'm gonna now put my potatoes back
in here

and let my steak rest.

So that can just chill out for
a little sec.

I've cooked the pistou into
the steak,

now I'm gonna smother it on it once
it's cooked.

And they will rest together,
and of course,

the juices come out and that'll mix
with the oil

and the basil and the garlic.

It's gonna be an absolute sensation.

So, potato and steak, done.

Let's do a delightful tomato salad.

Look at that.

I like to cut the tomatoes
quite chunky,

and it is much easier

to get these coloured tomatoes
these days,

which is a fantastic thing.

Season that with

a little sea salt and a little
pepper.

Take the leftover of this
pistou, right,

and turn this condiment into
a dressing by adding

a little red wine vinegar.
It's a clever little hack.

Using ingredients in a couple of
different ways is

an easy way to maximise flavour.

Right, last but not least,

pistachios.

When we went scouting around
the markets,

there was loads of nuts,
loads of fruits.

So it's a little nod to that,
but also texture. Soft and crunchy.

And then, I just wanna slice into
that steak

nice, big chunks.

Ohh, yeah.

Blushing away.

And then last but not least,
our sizzling chips.

Bringing in the pistachios,
the pistou,

that just lifts the whole thing,

makes it juicy and delicious,
and without question,

brings a little bit of the spirit of
the Mediterranean

to that Friday night dinner.

A bit of everything.

That is a mighty fork.

Let's get it in there.

Mm.

Beautiful.

It's juicy

and that pistou,

both savoury and really perfumed,

and with the juicy tomato and the
crispy, fluffy potato...

That is a delicious mouthful

and a great way to get a little bit
of the Mediterranean on your plate.

I've been travelling around
the sun-soaked Mediterranean

and I'm heading to Vieux Port in
Marseille,

one of the oldest ports in France.

Whenever I'm travelling on the coast,

I make a point of finding

the fish market cos it fills me up

with loads and loads of inspiration.

Bonjour. Ca va?

I'm searching for the seafood used in
local dishes,

like moules mariniere and
bouillabaisse.

Not just the taste of Marseille,

but perhaps the most famous fish
soup in France.

Absolutely buzzing.

It's like a chef's paradise.

You can't get fresher than that.

I've gotta keep a reminder of this
for when I get cooking back home.

It's nice to see the fish alive.

Yeah, fresh, very fresh. Yeah.

Fresh from the boat.

What do you call this fish here?
Er, dragon fish. C'est la rastas.

Dragon, yeah.

Is it cos of the flavour in the head,
or...?

So are you both chefs?

I'm a winemaker, he's owner a
restaurant

but we love cooking as well.

Good combination. Yes.

And the fish. And today is a day off.

This is the day off in Marseille.

So we're preparing dinner
for tonight, on boat.

For fun? For fun. For yourself? For
ourself.

OK. So what are you cooking tonight?

When you're picking fish for
say, the, the soup

er, what are you looking for?

Is there a specific size, or, or...?

Yeah. Yeah.

The poor people's...

What you doing, tonight?

Er, nothing. Wanna come with us, on
the boat?

Yeah, of course I, yeah, yeah.

OK, let's go. 4.30 we're on the boat

on that side, and we're going...

Are you being serious?

Yeah, so definitely.

What shall I bring? Yourself.
Yourself.

OK. Bless you. Well,
thank you very much.

This is exactly what I wanted,

to get to cook some of

the most traditional flavours
of Marseille, in Marseille.

Fish markets never fail to produce
big characters.

I'm very excited, and I've got a
feeling it's this boat here.

Look at that.

I can't wait to get cooking.

Bonjour.

Hey! Hello! Jamie! Jamie!
Welcome aboard.

This is incredible.

Shoes off.

Boys, thank you very much.
How's it going?

This is so exciting.
So what's the plan, boys?

So the plan tonight is like we're
going to sail into

the island of Frioul.

We are going to cook some
beautiful dishes,

drink some wine and see the sunset
going down.

Ah, finally, finally. Here we are.
Now we're talking.

Cheers, welcome on board.
Welcome to Marseille.

We're heading to
the Frioul Archipelago,

four kilometres off the coast.

So far, I've been travelling around
the Med for research,

so it's about time I travelled on it.

Let's cook now. I'm starving.

We get to cook here?

Yeah, it's gonna be our
kitchen today.

Wow. I think this is my favourite
kitchen ever.

I am your commis chef. Yeah.

What, what, what do you want me to
do?

We're gonna to start the fish soup,
so...

bouillabaisse.

So we're gonna to use obviously,

beautiful dragon fish.

We're gonna to cook with
the whole fish inside

with just olive oil... Yeah.

..some garlic, some fennel,
some tomato.

Bouillabaisse is one of the most
traditional dishes of the region,

so who better to give me a
masterclass in making it

the Marseille way than these fine
local chefs?

So we have elephant garlic from
Jean Baptiste.

In Marseille, we always are using
garlic in every dish.

Wild fennel? Yeah, yeah, lots.

How much? A good bunch.

This is the kind of cooking that I
love,

cos it's kind of like family cooking.

You know, it's like a,
not top chef cuisine,

it's like, grandmother cuisines.

And now we're going to put the,
like the fire,

a little bit strong, put some pastis
that's it.

So you got that aniseed
flavour again.

Yeah. We put some tomato paste.
You have that in England, no?

Yes. That's a whole tube, right, OK.

We need some white wine.

Yeah.

Hoop-la.

So you've caramelised everything on
the bottom,

and now the wine is scraping
that off. Exactly.

It's gonna give you flavour
and colour, right?

Exactly. We need to, to put some
water at the top... Yeah.

..and let the bouillabaisse making
this work, like bouille and baisse.

When you say 'baisse', what does that
mean?

Like, reduce? Reduce down?

Yeah, reduce. Boil and reduce.

And reduce. That's it.

Bouillabaisse, boil and reduce. Yeah.
The technique makes complete sense.

So far, there's fish, garlic, onion
and fennel,

tomato puree and pastis in there,

and it's smelling amazing.

So let me just take this little
memory.

Look at this.

In there. Whoarr.

Now, very important,

we have to add two things to
the bouillabaisse,

is some saffron... Yeah. ..and some
spices.

We have to add some hot sauce
from Marseille.

OK. Can I try that?

Yeah. You like strong?

Yeah, of course.

Really strong? No, yeah, it's really
strong.

Ooh, I like it. With vinegar.

It's vinegar also.

It's ba, basically the,
the sauce of...

Look at my eyes. Yeah.

I like it. Yeah.

And some saffron at the end, because
if you do at the beginning

when it's, the fire's very hot,

you will cook all the flavour of
the saffron.

So because it's perfumed,
we go towards the end.

At the end. Yeah, exactly.

All the, the ingredients from the
bouillabaisse,

they come from everywhere... Yeah.
..like people in Marseille. Yeah.

So I think the bouillabaisse from
the beginning change

with the influence of the people
arriving.

Yeah. Travel, boats, trade...
Exactly.

You selling them the olive oil,
them selling you,

you know, new plants and vines and
tomatoes.

It's a blend of culture.

So we now turn it down to a simmer.

Normally, how long would you cook
that for?

One hour, two hours.

So while the soup boils and reduces,

the other guys are cracking on

with what looks like some
incredible sides.

These are beautiful, aren't they?

They're kind of purple asparagus
here.

You know what, fresh from the
place, with some olive oil and,...

No. Oh, you got some of that?

Yeah, poutargue, speciality from,
south of France.

So this is the mullet roe? Exactly.
Yeah? Exactly. Yeah,

and it's been salted and then dipped
in wax. Exactly.

Wow, look at that colour!

It's like, in the same thought
process as prosciutto.

You, you're taking a product,

you salt it, and then you age it.

I mean...

the taste is so much like
the, the sea, the fish.

It's extraordinary. It's, it's sweet
and it's bitter.

We are lucky because we've got,

easily all of these product,

it's easy to get this product
and we,

we eat that for years and years
and we are still amazed with it.

Yeah.

Try that, Jamie.

We're gonna to put inside a
zucchini flower.

So it's like a, a Marseille style
ricotta.

And then you put it inside the flower
like you... Yeah. ..you pipe it in?

Exactly.

Do people in Marseille eat
very seasonally?

Of course, because it's the cheapest

and that give us incredible
flavour.

You'll never get bored

because you're always changing
the veggies with

the right season, you know.

Yeah, Let's go. Come on.

Listen, I'm very excited.

Look, we're being fed by loads
of chefs. This is the best.

So, I've got an incredible
bouillabaisse and

you put some fresh peas in there.

Wow. That flavour of the sea and the
sweet peas.

Wow.

I love it.

These are all brilliant,
simple dishes

that hero the rich flavours of the
area.

Chef, this is.

Ah, la. Ah.

This is what chefs do for each other.

Being out here on the water,

sharing this beautiful bounty from
the sea,

it makes me realise how vital
the Mediterranean is for

the people who live here
and rely on its produce.

I need to create recipes that
really do

the produce from this magical
place justice.

Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you very
much.

Thank you. Thank you, Jamie.

This is, honestly, this is one of the
happiest days of the year.

Salut.

Here's to Marseille.

Marseille. Thank you. Marseille.

Vive Marseille.

I'm soaking up inspiration around
the Med

to create some different dishes
at home,

and since arriving in Marseille,

I'm loving cooking,

and eating, the classic tastes of
the region.

In this area of Marseille and
Provence,

they have these kind of pungent
flavour centres.

The things like the aioli, the
tapenades, the anchois, you know,

these salty, creamy,

kind of big umami flavours,
and of course,

what I'm thinking about is, OK,

what else can I learn from
those flavours?

How can I take a little bit
of Marseille

and put it into a bit of my style
cooking?

France is full of traiteurs, or
delis,

selling homemade dishes packed

with those regional flavours,

so this is incredible research

and there's one thing in particular
that I'd really like to try.

Pissaladiere,

a famous pizza-like tart
from Provence,

has so many regional flavours that
it's almost

the taste of the south of France.

Bonjour. Bonjour.

Is this your shop? This is my shop.

You've done some beautiful work here
with the onion tartlet.

Pissaladiere is a traditional dish
in France.

It's usually made with pizza
pastry,

but I make it with puff pastry
because it's even more delicious.

Wow!

It's amazing. It's anchovies,
the onion sauce,

slowly cooked in olive oil with,
a little bit of thyme and...

Is this for me? Yes.

I am the luckiest boy in
the world, OK.

Oh, my God!

Oh, my lord, that is so delicious.

Like, the onions are so sweet
and jammy.

The crumbly pastry, I think is
fantastic,

it's more delicate and interesting
than the pizza dough.

Thank you so much.

Erm, but the anchovy is utterly
essential, isn't it?

Yeah, it brings the sweetness all
together.

OK, so I would recommend you
the anchoiade.

Right.

So, the anchoiade is made
with anchovies.

A little bit of capers, olives,
black olives... Yeah.

..olive oil, and we add a little
bit of cream to,

to soften it up, you know?

Oh, wow. That is so silky...

Thank you. ..and rich and delicious.

And so in the tapenade,

we also put a little bit of
anchovies.

Anchovies are very important... Yeah
and capers.

..to Mediterranean cooking in
general, anyway.

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

In my head, I'm thinking it would be
good with fish,

or it would be good, like,

on crostinis or even on top
of flatbreads, pizza...

So, the normal kind of attitude of
a deli or a traiteur,

is it to help people make easy meals?

We have complete meals
but we also have,

little portions,

little things so that they can
create their own meals,

so, for example, with the
artichokes,

I recommend to make a little
risotto,

or with the ratatouille, they can,
they can buy the meat,

it's a little bit of everything.

Right, now I've got to buy some
stuff.

I've eaten half of the place.

This is exactly what I wanted.

I'm learning so much about typical,

regional flavours and dishes from
Marseilles.

That bouillabaisse yesterday was
very traditional,

yet it's evolved with influences from
different cultures

who have arrived in the city.

I'm in Noailles, and I'm told it's
the multicultural heart of Marseille.

I'm excited. This has to be the place
to come and see

how other French classic flavours are
evolving.

I haven't tried any food yet, but
what a feast for the eyes.

This is the belly of Marseille,
right behind the port,

and that means that for hundreds
and hundreds of years,

it's had wave after wave
of immigration.

You know, new faces, new religions,
new languages.

And through those cultures and
religions and languages,

you also get the food.

Look here, massive batch pans here.

The tagines, and the tangiers, so
that is telling me,

like, North African, Algerian, like,
different cooking methods.

Down here, what are they doing with
this?

These little skillets.

What do they make? You know, I need
to learn this stuff.

Is that a hat? Is it to stop flies
going on your fruit?

I don't know, but this is what travel
is all about.

Oh, the smells in here are amazing.

All these different colours
of harissa.

So these must be with different
blends of spice.

You got a tapenade here with
the figs.

I never would have thought of that.

And then all these spices.
Look at this.

It's a whole world of spice.

You wouldn't wanna sneeze here,
would you? It'd go everywhere.

I mean, look at these tomatoes.
They're absolutely amazing.

Look at those colours. Ho, ho, ho.

Very beautiful tomatoes.

Yeah. Welcome. Is this your stall?

Yeah. Top man. These are beautiful.

Yams.

So is a yam from the African
influence?

From Ghana, this one.

So who are your customers here?
A big mixture of customers?

From China, from Africa...

Everyone comes here. Everyone come
here.

But this is incredible choice. And
then what's this here?

This vegetable from India. Really?

They cook it like, er, spinachi...
Right. ..but it's hot. You can eat.

It's spicy, can I try? You can try
it, yeah.

Oh! Ooh! Very hot, yeah.

It's like Szechuan pepper. It's like
pepper, yes.

My lord, that's like, erm, an
electric shock.

My whole mouth is fizzing.

Very hot, yeah?

And juicy, but it's making me
salivate,

which is telling my brain if you put

a little bit of that in a dish,
you salivate more,

you taste more, you enjoy more.

Don't stop for three hours.

For three hours!

I guess this area has always had wave
after wave of immigration

for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Have you seen it change a lot?

A lot of change, every year, we have
a lot of new people.

The last of them come from Nigeria.

So you see your customers changing
constantly.

All times.

And then your fruit and vegetables
will change

because your customer changes?

Every week, we have new people who
come in from, Uganda, from

Senegal, from Congo, they, show me a
picture from a product...

Really? ..and tell me, "You can have
this product for us?" and I do

all I can... No way! ..to come to
have this product.

That's, that's amazing.

When they show you the picture, "Can
you get that, can you get that?"...

I can. ..you're like, you're the
dealer? Si, si, I do it.

All of the customers become
my friend.

Yeah, I bet they do.

It's my family.

The power of food is extraordinary,
and, of course, I know that,

but to think about being someone
that's arrived on

the shores here, now or a thousand
years ago,

you're vulnerable, and one way

to make yourself feel comfortable is
through food.

You know, I've been all over France,

and there's something going on here
that is just

so vibrant. It's so blended.

One of the most recent waves
of immigrants into

the city is from Syria, so I'm having
lunch at Ashourya,

a family run Syrian restaurant

I've heard exceptionally good things
about.

And I've ordered mezze where I get
to try a little bit

of a lot of dishes.

I've never had Syrian food ever in
my life,

and lots of people have told me
to come here.

This courgette dip smells amazing.

Whoa. That's possibly one of
the nicest courgettes...

..I've had.

Really intense and sweet.

Full of flavour.

That's amazing.

Honestly, if everyone could try
courgettes that good,

we'd be sold out all across
the country.

Mm.

Oh. Smoky, creamy aubergine.

Sour sumac.

Wow!

Look at that.

I love it's kind of like pick
and mix,

All the colours.

Wow. Let's have a look in here.

So that's bulgur wheat, stuffed with
lamb.

Hot, crispy,

soft in the middle...

Mmm.

Yum.

Every mouthful is a joy.

When I was coming to France,
to Marseille,

I guess my presumption was that it
would be like,

just very classic French cooking,

but I'm starting to learn that
Marseille has always been

a melting pot

and Syria is just really
representative of,

you know, the latest waves of
immigration.

Syrian food is delicious,
full of colour,

full of veggies, full of spices.

How's it going, sir?

It's utterly delicious.

These courgettes here... Yeah.

..are probably the best I've ever
had.

Ah, thanks.

Erm, I'd love to meet the person that
made it.

Yes, sure, the, she's my mother.
She is preparing everything here.

Really? Yeah.

The dip is like a love letter to
courgettes.

How are they being cooked?

This is need-to-know information.

I would love to make some of your
flavours. D'accord.

Can you teach me?

Vous voulez m'aider a faire caviar
de courgettes? Yeah.

Vous faites, er, vous coupez en des?

Yeah.

Moi, je vais deplucher.

Peeling courgettes is something
I never do,

but the way she's doing it means

they'll absorb so much more flavour.

They're actually lovely courgettes.

Merci, monsieur.

OK, so one onion, finely chopped.

So, garlic. Bigger or smaller?

Er, oui, tres small.

OK. So your mum's giving me
a lesson here.

How's it going?

So far, so good, I think. She hasn't
fired me yet.

D'abord, on met un peu d'huile,
d'olive, huile d'olive, avec...

Olive oil. ...l'oignon.

Olive oil, that's important to Syrian
cooking? Yeah.

Sweetening off the onions until it's
really nice and soft,

then in with the garlic.

A la, ajoutez des courgettes.

On met un peu de sel, avec.

Pour que ca ne colle pas,

il faut, la faire remuer, de temps
en temps.

The family came to France as refugees
nine years ago.

Where did you stay?

A Noailles.

It was a tough situation because we
don't know anybody here.

But now you're settled, right?

You have your restaurant's
thriving and...

It took a time but, finally, we now
have a new beginning.

Yeah?

Driven by an amazing woman, right?

What would we do without our mothers?

Ah, maybe nothing.

No.

Is that oregano, or...?

Dried mint. Dried mint?

And it tastes so different,
doesn't it?

In fact, there are three spices,

it's important for the zucchini.

It's the mint and garlic and,
olive oil.

Et vous allez gouter.

This is finished now? Oui.

It's the intensity of flavour, it's
so sweet and delicious,

and the fact that she used

the dried mint made all the
difference... Yeah.

..which is very frustrating for me,

cos I've always used fresh.

And that's better.

What's really struck me about that
courgette dish is how much flavour

there was from just four ingredients.

You could use them in so many ways.

There's always things to pick up
and learn,

so that'll go up there.

I don't know what I'll do with it
yet,

but I'll definitely do something
with it.

Marseille's tradition of welcoming
immigrants means

the flavours of the city are so
vibrant and so blended.

I'll have to make sure that comes
across in the recipes I create too.

I've been thoroughly immersing
myself in the food

and recipes of Marseille,

soaking up all of that lovely
inspiration,

because I'm here to write recipes.

I've had an idea based on that
onion tart I ate yesterday,

with a clever hack

to make it super easy to create at
home.

Come on.

Look at this!

Amazing.

The Basilica de Notre Dame up there.

You've got the mountains,

the Mediterranean Sea.

This area has inspired so many people

for hundreds of years,

and in that spirit,

I wanna cook a minty courgette tart.

My version of the great Provencal
pissaladiere,

but with a Noailles-inspired twist,
swapping the onions for courgettes.

Traditionally, it's made with a pizza
dough,

then the caramelised onions,

the anchovies and the olives.

Now, when we went to that traiteur

and met that lovely young lady,

she did her expression
with puff pastry,

and that was a great idea.

You can just buy it from
the supermarket.

So I'm gonna swap out the onions
for the courgettes,

inspired by that lovely Syrian lady.

Best courgettes I ever had.

So think about it, crispy puff
pastry,

a little tart, beautiful courgettes,

goat's cheese.

We're gonna have a little bit of
tapenade on there.

I want you to get a little bit of the
Mediterranean home with you.

So let's get cooking.

Pan's on.

Medium high heat.

I've got about a kilo, kilo and a
half of courgettes.

What you wanna do is exactly what
our lovely Syrian chef friend did.

We're gonna peel the courgette.

What it does is it opens up this
flesh

to take on flavour

and change texture in the most kind
of sumptuous way.

Look at these.

This is one of the beautiful things
about either

growing your own or getting down
the farmers' markets.

Just click off the flower,

cos that's totally edible.

Just put them in cold water to keep
them really beautiful,

cos if you don't, they start to wilt.

If you can't find them, don't worry.

This dish'll still be great
without them.

Let's go in with some olive oil,

and inspired by that lovely
Syrian chef,

I wanna put a little mint in at
the beginning,

a nice pinch.

First up, I'll take these little
courgettes here

and I'll just cut them into like,
one centimetre chunks.

When it comes to the bigger ones,

what you can do is run the knife down
the length of

the courgette and then into quarters,

and then I'll just cut this up into
one centimetre chunks.

Rough and ready.

Nothing stressy.

People from this area absolutely
love courgettes

and they are amazing.

I mean, they're brilliant grilled,

barbecued and dressed in lovely
citrus and olive oil.

You can roast them.

Erm, fantastic as a puree.

You know, the ratatouille, of course,
is fantastic.

We can turn the heat up now

and have a nice pinch

of French sea salt, pepper and a
little shake.

Look at that.

Now, secret ingredient now?

Time.

We wanna cook it for about half
an hour,

on a medium high heat,

giving it a little stir, every now
and again,

so it really brings out the natural
sweetness

and texture,

and then I'm gonna put this
tart together

and it's gonna be extraordinary.

What a day!

Right.

So, the courgettes have had half
an hour.

I've taken them off the heat, let
them cool down,

and then here I've got some
puff pastry,

from the supermarket. It's already
rolled out,

you can get it everywhere, right?

The difference in France is theirs
are round,

and in the UK, they're rectangular.

Get your pastry

and it'll just roll out beautifully.

Now, I'm using courgettes but think
about it.

You can make this your own.

Squash in the autumn,

in the spring, summer, you got peas,

asparagus, broad beans, right?

So I'm just gonna push this courgette
to the edge.

Look how some of the courgettes have
kept their shape.

Some of it's, kind of, cooked down.

And then all I need to do is take
this little edge,

and just literally fold it like this.

It's the simplest thing ever.

Every two inches,

pull it over.

I can feel the pastry getting warm.
I've got to go quick.

Get yourself a tray, pull it onto the
tray like that.

Now, we can embellish.

What I wanna do is use these
beautiful flowers,

cut them in half like that.

A little bit of olive oil,

and let's lay these beautiful
flowers on top of our tart.

A little bit of olive oil around the

edge of the pastry to make it go
golden and delicious.

CHURCH BELLS RINGING

Listen to those bells.

It's charming, isn't it?

So look at that! What a picture!

So, in the oven it goes,

right at the bottom,

to get a crispy base,

and I'll cook it for around about
half an hour

until golden and crisp and delicious,

at 180 degrees Celsius, which is 350
Fahrenheit,

and then I'm gonna add even more
Mediterranean flavour.

Just three fabulous ingredients,
perfectly simple.

We got the courgette, the mint and
the pastry,

baking away in the oven,

and then I'm gonna elevate it

with two other ingredients that are
very Mediterranean, goat's cheese

and then tapenade.

Olives, capers, anchovies, garlic,

pounded or chopped up to that lovely
paste.

Er, you can buy it. It's a very good
little hack.

Or, I'd love to show you how

to make your own using standard
marinated olives.

It's very, very simple. So, get your
olives,

make sure there's no stones inside
them.

Nice little handful, you don't need
much,

and I'll run my knife through it,
using the cross-chopping method.

If you've got bits of lemon zest in
there,

or capers or herbs, we'll take all of
that.

It's all flavour, and it just sings
freshness,

homemade, and just a tiny bit more
love.

Add lemon juice or vinegar,
or olive oil,

and that helps you to get that
lovely, loose texture.

Beautiful, homemade tapenade,
in no time at all.

Right, let me go and get the tart

and I'll show you how to finish it.

Here we are.

Beautiful, look at that.

What I wanna do is do little bombs
of flavour.

A nice hit of the tapenade.

And then we go onto refreshing,
sort of, zesty goat's cheese.

From my inspiration point of view,

that little tip with

the puff pastry from that lovely
little deli,

the courgettes from the Syrian lady,

the tapenade in the beautiful
markets,

it's just such a lovely little, you
know, nod,

a little kind of memory of Marseille.

But enough talking.

Let's get in there.

Be bold.

Have a little look at that.

Five ingredients,

making the most delicious, little
tart.

Is it a tart? Is it a pie? I don't
know, I don't care.

There's one ingredient missing.

What is it? Er, ah!

Oh, yeah.

Marseille, baby.

That's what it's all about.

Completely delicious,

satisfying, sweet.

I hope you have a go at that.

For me, I can take all those memories
and I can go home

and I can dream up new things,

always with a little bit

of Marseille in the back of my mind.

Joy.

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