[fun music] Bienvenue, en France.

That's welcome to France to you and me.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): I'm traveling throughout this beautiful country to explore the very best in French cuisine.

Bon appetit.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): It's a personal journey.

It's where I learned to cook.

Magical times.

Magical times.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): And it was the home and inspiration for one of my biggest food heroes-- Keith Floyd.

And what's more, I bought his motor.

This was Keith Floyd's very own car for 16 years, and it's now mine.

Gives me goosebumps.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): So join me as I rediscover the food destination that has it all.

This is really, really delicious.

Mm, mm, mm.

[theme music] ♪ ♪ [pleasant music] ♪ ♪ Today I'm in the center of a city, so I've had to park the car outside and make the rest of the way on foot.

[fun music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): The city is Arles, famous for its wealth of Roman architecture and for being home and the inspiration to Vincent van Gogh.

But you know what-- the food is pretty special too.

[thoughtful music] Arles sits in the Provence region of the south of France, between Montpellier and Marseille.

The ancient city straddles the mighty Rhone River, just 20 miles or so from the point where it meets the Mediterranean Sea.

[pleasant music] To call this place historic is an understatement.

The area was first inhabited by the Greek Phoenicians way back in the sixth century BC.

Sucked into the Roman Empire five centuries later, it became a prosperous commercial port, and under Julius Caesar in the first century AD, the capital of Roman Provence.

The empire collapsed, but the remains live on.

JAMES: Now this is Arles Amphitheater.

It was built in 90 AD and housed 20,000 people.

Nowadays it's the home of French bull running.

[vibrant music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): Here, between April and October every year, young daredevils take part in this ancient sport-- where the aim is to remove rosettes from the bull's horns.

[exclamations] And it's been going on for centuries.

JAMES: And just imagine 20,000 people in here all watching chariot racing.

Now it's home to a bit of ribbon, 12 kids, and a bull.

[mooing] Not a happy bull.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): Oh, and look, one of the Roux family.

What a talented bunch they are.

In and out of the kitchen.

JAMES: I would need a very stiff drink if I was about to go in there with a bull.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): Just so you know, this is a far cry from bullfighting.

These bulls are raised and looked after on lush, green pastures in Provence and are certainly getting plenty of exercise.

But as fascinating as this is, it's not really my scene.

[applause] [vibrant music] This, on the other hand, definitely is.

Arles isn't just famous for bull running.

It's also host to the biggest market in the whole of Provence, stretching over a mile along Boulevard des Lices and supplying the town with every kind of ingredient or piece of homeware you could want-- or not want.

But I'm here for inspiration for my first dish.

You can really tell you're close to the sea here because their amazing selection of fish for sale.

But this is where it gets really interesting.

You see stuff here that you never see in the UK-- baby, little slip soles, tiny, little rouge, little, red mullet.

These are amazing deep fried, and then this caught my eye as well-- foie de lotte.

Basically monkfish liver.

This is highly prized.

It's fantastic just pan fried.

Looks a bit weird, but pan fried in salads, this is amazing.

[fun music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): But something else has really caught my eye.

JAMES: [speaking french] So this is a beautiful piece of fish.

This is named after the patron saint of fishermen.

In the UK, we.

call this John Dory.

It's just fantastic.

I've got to take one of these, yeah.

WOMAN: [speaking french] Can I have a look?

This one?

And then just to show you this, this is what they call over here lotte or monkfish.

You don't often see this whole.

You always see it just with a tail.

It's 60% waste on a monkfish.

So they just basically eat this part, and when they get larger, they eat the cheeks.

But you can see, if you lift it up, to catch its prey, like a little fishing rod.

Amazing fish.

Beautiful.

I'm going to take this one.

This is a very, very special place, and that is a special fish.

♪ ♪ [speaking french] [laughs] He's just given me it for free.

[laughs] You get nothing free in life nowadays apart from a parking ticket, and that cost you.

[speaking french] I think I've got myself a bargain.

♪ ♪ Now, here's something interesting-- tellines, these are local to the area.

Tiny, little clams.

[speaking french] You buy them by the liter.

[speaking french] JAMES (VOICEOVER): Well, that's the seafood sorted.

Next, veg.

Now, I went to a restaurant last night, just local to the hotel, and I had a simple tomato and mozzarella salad.

I've never tasted tomatoes like it in my life.

They were that good, and I'm a massive fan of tomatoes.

I grow them at home, loads of them in my veg garden.

But I'm pretty sure these are the ones that I've tried.

And they've got a vast selection, obviously, the ones that I'm familiar with, the beefsteak tomatoes.

But there's some unusual ones that I've never seen before.

For this, I think I'm just going to get just a nice selection.

♪ ♪ This is such a great stall.

I've also spotted fresh herbs.

Just parsley even looks just great, doesn't it really?

And then I've also got my eye on these-- shallots, classic French shallots.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): So I've got my ingredients, and the crew reckon they've found me the perfect place to cook.

And they say I don't have to walk very far.

I'm going to cook this amazing fish, this San Pierre, really the king, I think, of all fish around here.

Just beautiful.

But first, I'm going to do kind of like a ratatouille, but without the aubergine.

I'm going to use courgettes.

I've got some lovely tomatoes, and very simply, this is just a baked fish with a lid on it.

You can do this at home, but I'm just going to cook the entire lot on the stove.

So the first thing we're going to do is take our courgettes and just make sure with the courgettes that they're all the same thickness.

That's the key to this because we want to cook it all together.

So take these wonderful tomatoes.

[background chatter] And then we're going to take our courgettes and basically layer these all the way around.

So your courgettes then your tomatoes.

Now this is actually quite interesting when you're walking around here because 20 years ago when I came here as a young sort of 18-year-old-- giving my age away now-- chef, if you said you were a British chef, you weren't really held in high esteem.

Times have changed, trust me.

And for that guy to give me a whole monkfish, he wouldn't have done that 20 years ago.

But what we're going to do is just basically make this nice and simple.

These are these beautiful, fresh tomatoes.

And I'm pretty sure probably even this morning or yesterday, these were still on the vine.

This is outdoors.

This is real food.

But these tomatoes are just off the scale.

They're fresh, full of flavor, but actually quite sweet.

You only get that sort of flavor generally with little piccolo, the little baby tomatoes, but these are wonderful.

But I'm going to use these as a sort of a base.

This is fantastic, this dish, for a dinner party because you can prepare it in advance.

And all you've got to do really is just stick it in the oven.

Alternatively, what I'm going to do is cook it on the stove really, keep it nice and simple.

Looks pretty good to me.

And then I couldn't help but get these amazing shallots.

Just trim these off and just cut these into, again, similar size pieces really, so they all cook together.

And just randomly put these in.

So a bit of salt and pepper-- [grinding] Over the top.

But really, the king of all this is this, San Pierre or John Dory.

It's said that San Pierre, the patron saint, lifted out the fish out of the water and left fingerprints either side.

That's where it's supposed to originate from.

However, when you're using a fish like this, particularly San Pierre, trim off the fins.

These are quite sharp.

OK, you've got your beautiful fish now.

And then what we're going to do is take the whole fish, like that.

Good drizzle of olive oil.

A little glug of white wine.

The white wine is quite crucial, really, because we want moisture in there, so it actually steams at the same time.

So a decent amount of white wine, and then a few bits of herbage.

You can put basil.

You can put-- I've got a little bit of parsley here, a bit of fresh thyme-- a bit of dry thyme at home.

Just sprinkle that over the top.

I was always taught, if food looks good, it's going to taste good.

Rob, look at that.

Just get in there.

You know it's going to be good, John Dory floating in white wine, don't you?

Now what we do is just stick it on the stove, stick the lid on, fire it up.

This is going to take about 10, 15 minutes.

After about 15 minutes, I'm going to throw in these lovely clams just to finish it off.

Meanwhile, I need a pair of shorts.

[fun music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): Now I know where I am with food shopping, but as for clothes shopping-- ♪ ♪ This is looking pretty good so far.

It's partly steaming and baking at the same time, and then finally, what we're going to do is pop in some of these amazing clams, these telline.

Just pop these all the way around.

[fun music] Put the lid back on.

♪ ♪ Cook this for about another five minutes, and I reckon that's lunch sorted.

♪ ♪ A little bit of Yorkshire.

See, my gran had one of these.

It was called Tuppence.

♪ ♪ Rob, look.

Ohhh.

Check that out.

[inhales loudly] Smells amazing.

And then finally, what we're going to do is just get a few bits of herbs-- a bit of parsley, a bit of basil.

[pleasant music] ♪ ♪ And then some olive oil.

And just a little bit more fleur de sel, [grinding] Black pepper.

And that is going to be one of the nicest pieces of fish I've cooked in a long while, together with these amazing clams.

They're small, but they're packed full of flavor.

That's a good starter.

I think I'll have chicken for main course.

I wonder if there's 99 and a flake round here?

Perfect meal.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): A magnificent John Dory with fresh seafood and veg, steamed through with white wine.

What more could you want?

♪ ♪ [fun music] My culinary tour has lured me from the bustling markets of Arles and further northeast to the epicenter of Provence's wine region.

Here you'll find a landscape crowned by hills, with a variety of soils from limestone to volcanic bathed in almost 3,000 hours of sunlight a year.

And if you're a grapevine, apparently that's heaven.

I've come here to visit this place-- Chateau Romanin.

Winemaking here is based on biodynamics, an ancient method of focusing not just on the soil composition, but on the mystical effects of the lunar cycle.

Good job Laurence Chape, the tasting cellar manager, is here to explain all then.

Wow, Laurence.

Yes, James.

It's spectacular.

Yes, wonderful vineyard.

So what are we seeing?

Chateauneuf-du-Pape must be down there somewhere.

On the center, Chateauneuf-du--Pape.

On the right, you have the Mont Ventoux.

And on the left, you can see perhaps the Avignon, the Palais des Papes.

JAMES: Oh, the wall there.

LAURENCE: The [french].

JAMES: Got it.

Yes.

So you can see all the vines all around here.

We have 58 hectares of vines.

So you produce red wine?

Yes, red wine.

JAMES: White wine?

White wine and rose, of course, because we are in Provence.

Now.

I've heard about rose and your rose in particular.

Yes, we are very proud of rose because, for example, last year we received a world gold medal.

So they tested 3,000 rose, and we arrived on the top 50.

Now, what makes this area special for rose wine in particular?

This place gives to the wine a special taste-- mineral taste, fruity taste, very dry taste, and so a well-balanced rose.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): OK, well, I've never been a great fan of rose, but I'm happy to be convinced otherwise, especially if that involves a tasting session in the chateau's Aladdin's cave of a wine cellar.

[intriguing music] ♪ ♪ Laurence, this is spectacular.

Yes, it's amazing aging room named la Cathedrale, the cathedral, because it was built as a cathedral.

But this is relatively new.

Yes.

So new.

It was built in 1992, and it took only nine months.

And the question is, why?

Because most people just have a cellar.

This is incredible.

The first owner was inspired by the castle outside from the 13th century.

It was the Templars period.

So they built as the castle outside.

It's incredible, absolutely incredible.

And wood in the ceiling.

LAURENCE: Yes, wooden, because we must breathe.

There's no window.

The only window is this part.

So this is to allow the wine to breathe through the wood.

LAURENCE: Yes.

Well, it's definitely selling it.

But these are the three main wines that you produce here?

Yes, the white, the rose, and the red.

So we are going to taste the white first.

[intriguing music] ♪ ♪ It is a little dry, but the taste lingers in your palate.

Yes, it's an elegant, and it's long on the mouth.

It's very important for us to make like this because it must follow a meal.

Now, tell me about this rose.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): As I've said, roses aren't normally my thing, but if it's as good as they say it is, I'll give it a go.

You can smell strawberry.

You can smell also flowers, and it stay on your mouth also.

You will appreciate from the appetizer to the dessert.

I've taken two mouthfuls.

I don't know what it is about rose.

It's the sulfur, I think, probably that puts me off, but this one hasn't got the strength that a normal rose have.

Its light, lingers on the palate.

And so fresh.

JAMES: Mm.

We work with the acidity.

We give the freshness of the wine.

So it's very important for that here.

It's very hot, so you have to obtain a very fresh wine.

But it's very different to a Bordeaux or burgundy which is rich and earthy.

This is quite fruity.

LAURENCE: The grapes, it's Grenache, Syrah, mourvedre, and little Cabernet Sauvignon.

So it's a blend of four grapes?

Yes, four grapes.

It's very nice.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): Well, cosmic winemaking is a new one on me, but they're definitely doing something right here.

And I may have found a rose I actually like.

I even bought a case-- well, two-- actually, three.

[fun music] ♪ ♪ You certainly work up a hunger lugging cases into your boot, so here's something to cook while the wine's chilling.

Now, if you think I'm cooking with this, you're having a laugh, but it did convince me that some roses-- I said, some roses-- taste really good, and can think of a dish that's an amazing accompaniment with some rose wine.

And that's salmon, and I'm going to create, like, a French equivalent to a salmon pasty.

I'm not really selling it, but it is a beautiful dish with a classic parsley and mustard sauce.

So first of all, it's all about preparing the salmon, and we've got a whole piece-- look at that-- a beautiful piece of salmon.

Now what we're going to do is we're going to prepare this by removing the belly.

The belly's a nice part of the salmon, but it's quite fatty.

And what we need to do is just remove that, because what we're looking for is something that's an even sort of size and shape.

You can trim this up as well, just on the other side, so just lose the belly part of the salmon.

And then what we need to do is skin this.

Now, the easiest way to do this is practice, or get your fishmonger to do it, because if you make a mess of it, it's ruined.

So what you need to do is you basically just hold the skin at one end.

The knife is staying exactly where it is.

The bit that's wiggling is me.

You can see all of a sudden the skin starts to come off.

The knife stays exactly where it is all the way down like that.

Stick that in there.

So you take your salmon like that.

It's all been prepared, and then we can cut it about in the center like that.

So you end up with two nice pieces of salmon.

Now, we then take a little bit of flour, just a touch, and we can prepare our pasty.

So grab some puff pastry.

You need a decent amount of puff pastry because you want the puff pastry to be larger than the piece of salmon that you're wrapping, particularly the top bit, but it all starts with the bottom part first.

Now, you don't have to be too precise with the shape at this moment in time, because I'm going to basically fill it anyway.

So you've got one piece there.

We can then take our other bit of pastry, but this bit needs to be slightly bigger.

So you can imagine the top bit goes over the top of the salmon.

This looks pretty good to me.

So next we can grab our tray and then pop your pastry on the tray.

And then really just take your first bit of salmon and use the thick end first.

Some black pepper.

[grinding] Some salt.

And then this is where the filling can vary for this, but I'm going to use spinach for this one.

And one thing you have to do with this spinach is blanch it first in boiling water or a little bit of butter, but then rinse out all the liquid.

Otherwise, it's going to make the pastry go soggy.

Look, and you get your nice bit of salmon now, and we can place this on the top.

Bit of black pepper.

[grinding] Bit of salt, seasoning as well.

So what you've done really is create, like, a fish burger if that makes sense.

It's just nice and simple, but then this next bit, we'll grab a fork and just brush the egg wash.

So brush this all the way around the edge-- [fun, pleasant music] --like that, right the way around.

♪ ♪ And then take the top part of the pastry and just lift that over.

Now it's important with puff pastry that you don't overwork it.

What I mean by that is you don't stretch it too much.

If you stretch the pastry, it's just going to shrink back again, so just almost put it on loose like that.

Trim this off like that all the way around.

I'm going to crimp this to seal it.

I suppose you could say it's like the fish equivalent to a beef Wellington.

And then egg wash over the top.

So the egg wash is going to give it a lovely, brown glaze, and then finally what we can do is get one of these-- little Parisienne scoop or melon baller-- and you can do this.

Scales, you see?

This is going to go in the oven for about 25 minutes.

While that's happening, we can make our sauce and potatoes.

First of all, you make a roux, and that's a combination of butter and flour.

You start off, first of all, with a little bit of butter in the pan.

All you're doing is just melting it for the moment.

[whisking] Once it's melted, we add a bit of flour.

Really, the key is not to add too much flour.

You don't want it thick.

You don't want it heavy.

What you need to do is cook out the flour, first of all, and now we can add our milk.

So slowly add our milk, all the while keeping it on the heat, and it'll start to thicken up straightaway.

You see that?

Using a whisk as well, this will help you prevent the lumps forming.

Bit of grain mustard-- [pleasant music] --like that-- nice dollop-- and some chopped parsley.

Right, in goes the parsley, a little bit of lemon juice, just a touch.

♪ ♪ So there you have it, a classic parsley sauce to go with your salmon.

I'm going to serve it with some buttered boiled potatoes-- in there.

And now we can serve it.

♪ ♪ That's one bit.

♪ ♪ A few potatoes and a little bit-- of your parsley sauce.

It's not really a pasty, is it?

It's still good, though, innit?

[fun music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): I'm on a foodie ramble around Arles in Provence, a city deeply entrenched in its history and traditions, where the creative juices really do flow.

This place inspired some of van Gogh's most celebrated paintings, and there's a genuine passion for all things artisan.

Now, this area is famous, of course, for its food and its art, but it's also famous for another thing, and that's pottery.

And from the last thing I've made at school, when I was about 12 years old, was a Frank Bruno statue.

I thought I need to improve my skills, and I've heard that this is the best place.

[fun music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): This is pottery studio La Main Qui Pense, and roughly translated, that means, the thinking hand.

It's run by the supremely talented CÉCILE Cayrol, who I'm hoping can teach me to craft a little crockery for my cooking.

I'm not quite sure I can match that, but I'm a chef.

And I'm good with my hands.

Cécile, look at that.

[laughs] That's amazing, beautiful.

[speaking french] Have I got to make this?

Similar?

- OK.

[speaking french] She says I've got to make a similar pot, apparently.

Let's go.

She's just done this in about sort of 60 seconds, mind you, but right.

Is this seat going to hold me?

Yeah.

JAMES: Right.

How do I do this?

[speaking french] - So you put the clay-- - Yes.

One?

Yes, just one.

JAMES: In there?

CÉCILE: Mm-hmm.

OK.

[speaking french] JAMES: Accelerator pedal.

Right.

Faster?

Yes.

Maximum.

Maximum?

CÉCILE: Yes.

[laughs] Cécile, I've never done this before.

Right?

[laughs] Right, what do I do?

Hands in the water.

[speaking french] All of it.

OK.

Now what?

[speaking french] So put your hands together and hold this.

Mm-hmm.

[pleasant music] OK.

[speaking french] So you want a mountain?

Mm-hmm.

Right.

This is hardly Patrick Swayze, is it?

[music stops abruptly] [laughs] [quirky music] Why is it wiggling around?

Hey, something's happening.

Cécile, something's happening.

[playful music] I've got an ashtray.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): Well, I was hoping for a nice bowl, but let's keep going.

JAMES: Pinch.

Mm-hmm.

[speaking french] And then it-- oh, damn it.

♪ ♪ OK.

JAMES: What is it?

[french]?

I don't know.

[laughter] OK.

[speaking french] OK?

Whoa.

You've got to cut the top off?

Yes.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): Now come the real pressure.

[intriguing music] Rapido?

CÉCILE: No.

JAMES: Not rapido.

Ugh.

♪ ♪ See?

Cécile, you've just ruined my pot.

Look.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): A little help from Cécile smoothing off the top, and that's done-- whatever it is.

[speaking french] Basically she said dog biscuits or a dog bowl.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): All right, then, there you have it, my delicately handcrafted rustic bowl with a flat, carved rim and a wonky bottom.

Perfect for keeping your dog biscuits in.

But it'll do.

I'm quite proud of that for first time.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): Hmm, maybe, but let's get back to what I do best, and that's getting creative with sugar and letting my mixer do the hard work.

[fun music] ♪ ♪ JAMES: Now I have to say I'm much more into glassblowing myself.

This took me about five minutes to make this glass.

About two minutes to drink it all, but it's lovely.

But one thing that I am good at is patisserie, and I'm going to show you an amazing recipe.

I'm just going to do a simple chocolate and hazelnut meringue.

But first of all, it all starts off with the eggs.

Now, we need to separate the egg whites, so you want egg whites into the bowl.

And egg yolks we can keep as well, so separate them all out.

Never, ever put eggs in the fridge-- ever put eggs in the fridge.

These fellas are porous.

The egg shell absorbs all the flavor from whatever you've got in the fridge, so always keep eggs out of the fridge.

When you buy them in the store, are they in the fridge?

No, they're not, so why do you go home and put them in the fridge?

First thing you should do when you get a fridge is throw that ridiculous egg tray out.

Throw it in the bin-- recycle bin, but throw it in the bin.

Then-- [whirring] Fire up the machine.

Now, this is a classic way of making meringue, so as the egg whites starts to firm up we gradually and carefully fold in the sugar.

[tapping] Throw it in.

Now add the corn flour.

[tapping] Carefully fold it in.

Look, you can hear the machine drop down a gear as it starts to firm up.

What I love about the older cookbooks is telling you to fold in the remaining third by hand.

Just get it in the machine.

Stop messing around.

And then finally we're going to shape our meringue, and for that, we need some hot water.

Spoon.

So you start with hot water, and you pop the spoon into the meringue.

That's it.

And scoop it out.

[pleasant music] The shape is the key to it.

And you get that just by using a large spoon.

You'll never get this shot of shape by piping it, really.

And then before they go in the oven, I'm just going to grab some hazelnuts.

All around France, you'll have such a variety of different types, different flavors of meringue.

That's one of the things that I love about these.

It's so tempting to eat them as well.

Sprinkle these with a few hazelnuts over the top.

♪ ♪ Then to cook them, it's quite simple.

Set the oven about 100, 120-- depends how good your oven is, to be honest with you at home.

Quite a low oven, and cook these for a couple of hours.

Now what you end up with are these fellas here, this classic sort of shape that you find all over patisserie shops in around France.

Now this is a small one.

Trust me, they go to be huge, big, massive meringues I've seen like that-- massive, great things which are fabulous.

Grab a little bit of dark chocolate.

Now, I'm using about a 70% dark chocolate here, 70% cocoa solids, so we're just going to melt this down.

[uplifting music] ♪ ♪ And I've seen these meringues finished off in different ways, either in chocolate like this or hot caramel even, but also, don't want to be too precise with it.

You know what I mean?

Still got to make it look homemade, so try not to be too exact with them.

You want to enjoy the chocolate with it as well, so it's not like a perfect line.

It's just-- chocolate-- with fingerprints.

And then before you serve them, of course, you need to set the chocolate.

To do that, just pop them in the fridge for a couple of minutes.

♪ ♪ Now, you don't want to keep these meringues in the fridge.

Otherwise, they're going to soften.

All you're doing is just basically setting the chocolate.

And I thought I'd serve these as the French serve them-- piled up on a platter.

Like that?

That was lesson three at the pottery class.

Two minutes that took me to make.

Now they do it for one reason and one reason only-- to tempt you in, to draw you in-- and it works, because how good do they look?

♪ ♪ Pottery.

Hah.

Walk in the park.

[fun music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): I'm nearing the end of my exploration of all things edible in Arles and its surrounding area.

Now, there's a particular restaurant here that's been attracting stars from around the world for decades, so why not a visit from a food-loving Yorkshireman in a 2CV?

This is the place, L'Oustau de Baumaniere.

It's a five-star luxury hotel 15 miles northeast of Arles, but it's the two Michelin stars of its famous restaurant that I'm interested in.

[fun music] The place has been dishing up gastronomic delights for over 70 years under the creative eye of the founder's grandson, Jean-Andre Charial.

Over the years, it's evolved from traditional fare to a more refined, subtler style.

Head chef Glenn Viel is cooking me a lovely-looking lobster dish.

And wait a minute, I recognize those dishes.

Look, there's my pottery teacher, Cécile, delivering her handmade crockery to the restaurant.

It's all coming together nicely.

Voila.

JAMES: Fantastic.

So, Jean-Andre, tell me about the restaurant, then, because you've had it-- well, your grandfather had it.

JEAN-ANDRE: Yes, my grandfather started here in 1945, just after the war.

The building is from the 16th century.

We get the first star in Michelin Guide in '49, second in '52, and the third one in '54-- rather quick.

- Very quick.

- Yes.

No.

But you've cooked for some very famous people as well.

Didn't the queen stay here?

Yes, the queen stayed here in '72 with Prince Philip and Charles.

It was her official visit in France.

And as a chef, this place is really known in the UK, but it's also led to the inspiration for so many other chefs.

A particular chef in the UK, Heston Blumenthal, didn't he-- he ate here when he was a young kid.

Yes, his parents used to come every year.

Heston Blumenthal, I always said that he decided to be a chef, I think he was 12 or 13 years old, after a lunch at Baumaniere.

Glenn, the sauce is fantastic, huh?

It's good, huh?

It's very good.

How do you make this sauce?

[speaking french] Tarragon and lemon and the lobster and the mayonnaise.

JEAN-ANDRE: Yes, and the liver of the red mullet.

Yeah.

Just a little one.

So I love red mullet liver, but yeah.

That's rather strong, so people don't use it so much in France.

JAMES: Yeah.

It's delicious.

Thank you.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): That's me fed, but what about the crew?

They didn't get a sniff of that, but I've heard there are olive groves around these parts, which sounds like the perfect place to cook something rather special for them.

Now, I've got to be honest.

I've cooked in worse places.

It's pretty impressive up here, isn't it really?

Just a little bit of information on this place.

This is the red wine they produced.

They do white wine.

They do rose.

And they do some amazing olive oil.

I'm going to show you where it comes from in a second.

But first thing, I thought I'd cook an amazing, little dish using everything that's local, really.

We've got some great lamb.

I've got some lovely artichokes that I got from the market.

But the first thing I'm going to do is then get our lamb on.

Now, for that, I'm going to use just a drizzle of olive oil to start this.

A little bit of salt and pepper.

[grinding] And get these frying.

[sizzling] Now as beautiful this place is, it's a bit windy, so we've got to stop the wind by putting a cloth around it.

So it'll probably set on fire, but don't worry about that thing.

Next, take these artichokes.

Artichokes are amazing.

These are little, baby artichokes, but first you need to prepare them.

And this is why I often think, back home, you sort of look at these fellas and think, what am I supposed to do with that?

But it's so easy to prepare, so all you do is trim off the base like that, leaving about an inch or so, something like that.

Now, the outer leaves tend to be a little bit tougher, so we just remove the outer leave.

About sort of two or three layers is all you need.

And then all we do is just trim off and cut them in half and half again.

Now, you can see inside here, you have the artichoke which is that bit there, the choke bit, and then underneath, you have the heart.

That, my friend, is a simple artichoke.

Now, what you have to do with this is use a little bit of lemon juice to stop them from going brown, so just a touch of lemon juice over the top and just rub them all over the top like that.

I do find it fascinating that you try these sort of things when you're out and about on holiday.

And then when you see them in the supermarket, you don't really buy them.

But they are fantastic.

Just peel the outside bit of the stalk.

Now, you can actually eat this part of the stalk if you just quickly peel it.

Rob, look.

This is the farm dog-- who's clearly not a vegetarian.

He's mainly after that in the pan, aren't you?

Hey?

[french] I'll just flip these over.

[sizzling] Out here, with this wind, it's slowly frying, if there is such a thing.

Braising, we call it, but they're all right.

Another couple of minutes, they'll be done.

A handful of loveliness.

Look at that.

So what I'm going to do is take our lamb chops out-- and then in the juices of the pan, throw in our artichokes.

And then I couldn't help but find at the local market, these lovely, little fellas.

These are little, baby aubergines.

Just a different type of aubergine.

There's nothing fancy about these, just a different color.

Again, little, baby aubergines like that.

Throw those in.

I've got these lovely spring onions.

We throw those in as well.

Now, to cook our artichokes, it's very different to cook in its larger cousin, which are done in what they call a blanc, which is a mixture of flour, water, and basically boiled up with a little bit of lemon juice in there.

But these, [grinding] Bit of black pepper, bit of salt, some olive oil, and this is where we get a good glug of olive oil.

And this, in essence, is where the sauce comes from as well.

Lots of lemon juice.

A good squeeze of lemon juice.

Don't worry about the pips.

[sizzling] That goes in.

A few herbs.

And then, of course, these wonderful green olives.

Look at these.

Fresh green olives, all in.

Touch of anchovy.

Anchovy and lamb, a great combination, but you need to get fresh anchovies like these.

And then rather than just add oil all the time, just add a little bit of water.

You can use a little bit of stock, but a nice, little bit of water to keep it nice and fresh.

Otherwise, it becomes a bit greasy.

Lid on.

They need a new tea towel.

And then we need to cook this for about 10 minutes.

Just let it simmer away gently.

This gives me enough time to open a bit of their local wine.

Now they produce three different types of wine here using a variety of different grapes, particularly for this red one.

This is four different varieties of different grapes all blended together to produce this stuff.

Now, while that's cooking, I'm going to give you a little tour to show you how local this stuff is.

Down here, we have white grapes for white wine.

We have red grapes for red wine.

Over there, we have olive groves for olives and olive oil.

Just to show you how fresh it is, I'm bringing some back.

Oh.

[grunts] Look.

I've lost one.

One's a bit squashed, but look at these.

Here, Rob, look, get in here.

I know what you're thinking.

Was it worth the effort?

[pleasant music] ♪ ♪ Now, to finish this off, grab a bunch of parsley.

♪ ♪ [chopping] ♪ ♪ Stir this around.

And the lemon juice and the water kind of emulsifies it into sort of a sauce.

Throw in plenty of chopped parsley.

Another good squeeze of lemon juice.

Stir this around.

Mm, mm, mmm, look at that.

Now we've got a pot that I'm serving it in that I did earlier when the camera wasn't there.

I had another two goes at it, and this is what I made.

It's amazing with practice, isn't it?

And then decorate it with a few pieces of lamb.

That looks a pretty good meal to me.

Sorry, I forgot the tablecloth because our director likes things proper.

♪ ♪ Happy now?

JAMES (VOICEOVER): Well, who wouldn't be, with these beautiful, pan fried lamb chops perfectly complemented by artichokes, baby aubergines, spring onions, and olives, fresh from the tree?

Well, I'm afraid it's time to leave Arles and its surrounds, but what a place, with an amazing market full of ingredients equal to any in France.

This is a very, very special place, and that is a special fish.

[vibrant music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): A creative passion that runs through every aspect of its culture, from true works of art-- Cécile, something's happening.

I've got an ashtray.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): --to Michelin-star cooking.

It's delicious.

Thank you.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): And as for these olive groves, they've inspired me to put pencil to paper.

Move over, van Gogh.

I know what you're thinking.

Wrong shoes.

[closing music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [pleasant music] ♪ ♪ JAMES (VOICEOVER): Coming up on my food odyssey around Arles, I find a winemaker so good, they might even change my mind on the merits of rose.

It's light, lingers on the palate.

JAMES (VOICEOVER): And I share my secret to salmon en croute back home.

[pleasant music] [fun music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): culinary tour has-- [pleasant music] Still good though, innit?

[pleasant music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): Coming up on my French adventure in Arles, I show off my creative skills outside the kitchen-- [laughs] Why is it wiggling around?

JAMES (VOICEOVER): --and create these sugary beauties back home.

[pleasant music] [pleasant music] [fun music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): on a foodie ramble around-- Pottery.

Hah.

Walk in the park.

[pleasant music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): Still to come on my gastronomical gallop around Arles, I get to eat at a two-star Michelin restaurant that's a magnet for the rich and famous.

Wait, didn't the queen stay here?

JAMES (VOICEOVER): And I'll be cooking up my final dish amongst beautiful olive groves and vineyards.

A handful of loveliness.

Look at that.

[pleasant music] [pleasant music] [fun music] JAMES (VOICEOVER): I'm nearing the end of my exploration--