Whenever I can, I like to go traveling 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 favorite 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 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. To come up with new recipes and flavors full of color, 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 exciting. We're going to Marseilles to learn about loads of beautiful food and get inspired and see new things. It's going to 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 Marseilles. 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 flavor powerhouses like garlic, olives, and anchovies and whatever else Marseilles 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 colors. Corette's incredible strawberries. Being a port city, Marseilles 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 flavors, too. Flavors I'm confident will get my mind buzzing.
Ravioli. What's inside? Oh, inside. So, how are you cooking these? Interesting. Look at that. You see, when you fry these little raviolis, they kind of puff up. What I love is, you know, ravioli is normally soft and silky, but by frying it, it's just crispy and okay.
And is it very typical? Yeah. The minute that he put it into there with the hot ravioli, the garlic and the cheese on the inside is delicious. Glass of white wine, a little rosé. Wonderful. Yes.
At one point in history, there was a huge population of Italians in Marseilles 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 want to try. The aioli I know is a garlic mayonnaise. I bet this version is out of this world.
Okay. Look at that. And is this fresh cod or salt cod?
It's salt which is in a water for days and after there is no more salt. Do you put it just with fresh vegetables?
Potatoes, green beans, carrots, just dipped in the aioli sauce.
The garlic mayonnaise. Aioli has become very famous.
It's really typical. And in summer it is served cold and in winter you can have everything hot. I mean for centuries Provençal 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? 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. What a lovely lunch. Simple veggies and beautiful fish dipped in garlicky mayo. What's not to love?
Since I've been going around the market, they've had a big old paint fight to celebrate the fish, the seas. There's mermaids everywhere. It's great.
I've got no idea what that's got to do with the sea, but I love it.
My first morning in Marseilles and a croissant is high on my list of priorities. Obviously, the French nailed this better than anyone. And according to Tik Tok, this bakery is the best place to get a pain au chocolat in the whole of France. My kids are going to be so jealous. Look at that wall. It's a wall of beautiful bread. Yeah.
The big one. Look at that. You want to cut it?
I'd love to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
You can find lemon fougasse. Chestnut flour and wheat flour. You can have it with the seafood.
Yeah. I love it. That with cheese and ham. Amazing. Buy. Yeah. Exactly.
You know, amazing. You know, using it as a crouton. Amazing.
So you have to start the day with a croissant. See, look. I mean, it's just that lamination is just...
So the main idea of this bakery is to offer to everyone nice product, healthy product. Yeah. Normally in Paris, bakery like us is like a fancy stuff, fancy decoration and high price.
We wanted to have like a democratic bakery for everyone in the district.
So, we can afford a one pound croissant.
Right behind you, we have the oven. The oven.
Well, can I have a look at the back?
Yeah. So this was the pain au chocolat that made him famous. On Tik Tok. It looks pretty good, I have to say.
He's working on the thickness of the dough. So every time it goes through, he turns it again. So you get those lamination of dough and butter. Right. Time to get things rolling.
This okay.
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.
I'll take that from a Tik Tok baking sensation. Right. Time to get going so I can eat this famous pain au chocolat. Bye-bye. Thank you. Take care.
I'm starting to see different uses of flavor 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 Marseilles. 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 store, which I think would 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 flavors, those little flavor bombs that make a little difference in dishes. And what I want to 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 Marseilles twist, herby steak and crispy potatoes. 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 them going. So, that is nearly cooked. Nice rustic chunks of potato. Look at this lovely steak. A fantastic entrecôte. 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 will 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 flavor from the beef will start cooking into those chunky chips.
Okay. So, lots of black pepper on this gorgeous steak and salt. And this will 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. Pound it up to a beautiful little paste. It is absolutely the cousin of pesto. So, take some of that pistou, just a couple of teaspoons, and we're going to rub that all over. Look at the color. 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 savory kind of note from the basil and the garlic. So, I love the fact that I'm not just going to get one set of flavors. We're going to 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 going to take the potatoes off. I'll reheat those a little bit later.
Pan back on. Turn it up. 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. So, you only have to hold it there for like 1 minute. And you can see how that dancing fat has rendered. So now we lay this in its own fat. I want to cook this medium rare. Okay. So probably about 3 minutes on each side. Dancing fat, crispiness, texture.
I'm very happy with this steak. I'm going to 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 going to smother it on it once it's cooked and they will rest together. And of course the juices come out and that will mix with the oil and the basil and the garlic. It's going to 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 colored 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 maximize flavor. 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 want to slice into that steak. Nice big chunks. Oh yeah. Blushing away. And then last but not least, our sizzling chips. Bringing in the pistou, a piece 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. Beautiful. It's juicy. And that pistou both savory 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 traveling around the sun-soaked Mediterranean and I'm heading to Vieux-Port in Marseilles, one of the oldest ports in France. Whenever I'm traveling on the coast, I make a point of finding the fish market because it fills me up with loads and loads of inspiration. I'm searching for the seafood used in local dishes like bouillabaisse and bourride. Not just the taste of Marseilles, 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 got to keep a reminder of this for when I get cooking back home. It's nice to see the fish alive.
Yeah. Fresh. Very fresh. Straight from the boat.
What do you call this fish here? Dragon fish. That is the best one for fish soup. Is it because the flavor in the head or?
Yeah, we have very concentrate flavor. So you both chefs? I'm wine maker. He's own a restaurant, but we love cooking as well. Good combination. Yes. And the fish. Today is a day off. This is the day off in Marseilles. So we're preparing dinner for tonight on boats.
For fun? For yourself? For ourselves. Okay. So, what are you cooking tonight?
Fish soup. We have bouillabaisse.
When you're picking fish for say the soup or what are you looking for? Or is there a specific size or?
Yeah, this is the story of the soup because the soup come from the poor fisherman. You sell the big fish and at the end only the small one left. Yeah. And they keep it and what they can do with it. It's a soup. So it used to be the poor people. Poor people. But now time after time everybody wants the soup because they discover the flavor of it.
What you doing tonight? Uh nothing. You want to come with us? Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, let's go.
4:30. We're on the boat on the side and we're going. Are you being serious? Yeah, definitely. What should I bring?
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. Hey, Jimmy. 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 sailing to the island of Frioul. We going to cook some beautiful dishes, drink some wine, and see the sunset going down.
Finally, finally, here we are. Now, we're talking. Cheers. Welcome on board. Welcome to Marseilles.
We're heading to the Frioul archipelago, 4 km off the coast.
Let's cook. No, I'm starving.
We get to cook here. Yeah. It's going to be our kitchen today. Wow. Yeah. I think this is my favorite kitchen ever. I am your chef. Yeah.
What do you want me to do?
We're going to start the fish soup. So, buy. So, we're going to use obviously beautiful dragon fish. We're going to cook 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 Marseilles way than these fine local chefs.
So we have elephant garlic from Le Rove in Marseilles. We always using garlic in every dishes.
A good bunch. This is the kind of cooking that I love because it's kind of like family cooking, you know? It's like not Top Chef cuisine. It's like a 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 flavor again.
Yeah. We put some tomato paste. You have that in England now.
