[upbeat music] Bienvenue a France.

That's welcome to France to you and me.

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

Bon appetit.

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

It's where I learned to cook.

Magical times.

Magical times.

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

And what's more, I've bought his motor.

This was Keith Floyd's very own car for 16 years.

And it's now mine.

Gives me goosebumps.

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

This is really, really delicious.

Mm, mm, mm, [theme music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): You may have guessed by now, I love France.

I love its diversity, the people, places, and the food.

The cities are amongst the most vibrant in the world and provide some of the best food available.

And the nation's capital is one of my favorite places on the planet.

Today, I'm in the Parisian gateway, otherwise known as Bois de Boulogne, a haven for wildlife, joggers, and cute pooches.

[gentle music] This park is massive, and it's hard to believe you're in a city when you drive around here.

I suppose in London, we've got the equivalent to Hyde Park.

And sure, there's other parks around it, but this really is a fantastic place to sort of come and gather your thoughts.

[upbeat music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Bois de Boulogne lies to the west of the city and was created in the 1850s during the reign of the Emperor Louis Napoleon, and is around 2 and 1/2 times larger than New York's Central Park.

And being the size it is, there's plenty going on if you're not up for a jog.

Now, back home in Yorkshire, the area of Malton, where I went to school, was famous for horse racing and certainly horse training.

And I'm looking forward to today because I'm about to go to a race meeting because I think the French have the same passion as the English when it comes to the GGs.

♪ ♪ JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Auteuil Hippodrome is where France's most famous steeplechase is taking place, the 48 hours of obstacles.

But don't worry, the horses don't actually race for two days solid.

They get adequate pampering at the stables between races.

And someone who can tell me more about the sport is this guy, professional jockey, James Reveley.

I overheard his dulcet Yorkshire tones while setting up for my cook, so I couldn't resist finding out more.

JAMES MARTIN: What's a Yorkshire lad doing over here then?

Good question.

Just good opportunities over here really.

Because you race-- is it just one stable you race for mainly?

Mainly, the champion jumps trainer out here, [inaudible].

Because your grandmother was a-- I mean, she's a pretty famous racehorse trainer, wasn't she?

Yeah.

Top lady trainer, so I've learned a lot from her and my dad.

And what do you love about France?

What was the reason why you came out here?

Is that because you wanted more rides, better rides?

What was the reason behind it?

Well, to start with just to learn really, learn a bit more of the trade and rides came about, and I managed to get on a bit better horses.

And I was just getting more opportunities over here than in England.

So I decided to move over full-time this year.

But you're in a country famous for food and look at you.

Yeah, I tell you what, when I finish riding, I'm going to-- I'm going to enjoy myself I think.

Yeah.

Well, I'll cook you dinner.

Don't worry.

- Yeah, that's great.

Good to see you anyway.

Good to see you.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And speaking of food, I better get cooking.

So while the first race finishes, I found myself a vantage point to keep an eye on the results as well as the hobs.

It's quite handy.

Basil won the first race.

I should have bet on that one.

So what I thought I'd do for this one really, in between races-- literally in between races-- I thought I'd create a dish that I kind of tasted on my travels, really, and I've always wanted to cook on this trip.

But it's a simple ratatouille.

But I'm going to do this with a lovely bit of lamb that I got from the market earlier.

So Rob, I want you to look at these ingredients here.

So first of all, we've got the aubergines.

We've got some lovely round courgettes, nice little bit of onions, mixed peppers, some garlic, a little bit of basil.

That's kind of it with ratatouille apart from the tomatoes, which gives it a nice sort of bit of moisture as well.

So the first thing I'm going to do is get everything prepared.

And particularly for this, make sure they're all diced the same sort of size.

That's the key to ratatouille.

It's not a case of just basically just throwing everything in together.

There's a process of how you cook it because each ingredient cooks at a different time.

What inspired me, really for this, is that we were sat in a little bistro once we finished filming, and I just had a little side order of ratatouille.

And I kind of forgot how good it was, to be honest with you.

So I've always wanted to cook it since then, so this is the perfect opportunity to do it.

Now, in the pan here, a little bit of butter.

Throw the onions in.

Now, the key to this, we're not trying to brown the onions or anything like that.

We're just trying to soften them before you cook everything else.

Ratatouille is not a case of just throwing everything in and sweating it down and stewing it.

So we basically just allow this to cook for a couple of minutes.

So while that's softening, we can grab a few tomatoes.

Now, surprisingly enough, we're now in November.

The weather's unbelievable.

And as such, the tomatoes are still available.

You can still get these in France.

They're just superb.

[sizzling] So these onions are nice and softened.

In we go with the peppers.

It's entirely up to you whether you use red, green, yellow, or even orange peppers now, but you can just throw these in.

Now, also, the peppers are going to take the same time to cook as the courgettes, so throw those in.

Now we can add our aubergine and then our tomatoes.

Now, I've actually left the garlic until last really because I like to add this in now and cook this down with the tomatoes.

We're going to cook this now for about five minutes.

I love this.

It's just so, so simple.

You just allow that just to gently simmer away.

Meanwhile, we can then crack on with our lamb.

Now, check this out.

This is a whole rack of lamb.

You don't really see this that often, to be honest.

Now, what I've done is I've got them to remove the chine.

The chine sits underneath here, which is basically-- imagine that on its back.

The chine is the spine, which runs along here.

And it's quite a solid bone.

You'll never get rid of that trying to do it at home.

They need to use a bandsaw with it, and that's why I got the guy in the butchers to do it for me.

So they basically cleaned it all up, which means that when you come back home, you can cut in between each one all the way through.

So a little bit of butter in our pan and start to cook these.

Make sure it's nice and hot, really, for this.

They're not going to cook for very long.

So pop the lamb in the pan.

[sizzling] MAN: James.

- Yo.

MAN: Would you do that on breast of lamb as well?

What's that?

I was on breast of lamb.

I was.

JAMES MARTIN: What are you doing here?

No, I live here.

You live here?

- Nice to meet you.

- All right.

Nice to meet you.

I was-- fall back on breast of lamb.

Will a lamb chop do?

A bit flabby.

Oh.

It's my problem, though, innit?

See?

[laughs] You can use breast of lamb if you want.

You know what I mean?

You know, that'll do.

But I much prefer lamb chops.

Look.

Now, season it all up.

Black pepper.

Nice pinch of salt.

And all the while, the little ratatouille is just cooking down nicely.

It's almost cooked.

It's really that simple.

Try not to overcook it.

And also, I know what you're thinking, it's not November, lamb.

What on Earth is he doing?

But lamb, I actually think in November-- November, December, January is the best time for lamb because you get this amazing quality.

This really earthiness to the lamb as well as the lamb ages really, gets older.

This is before it turns into hogget.

Hogget's about a year old when it's got its incisors.

And then of course, beyond that, you end up with mutton.

But this is where the lamb sort of develops flavor, really.

And you get that this time of year, which is perfect for it as well.

So you've got your nice little bit of ratatouille, which is about there.

Now, what we're going to do now is grab some black pepper, a nice pinch of salt, mix that together.

And then finally, into our ratatouille, just some basil.

Now, this was fresh when I got it.

It's been out in the heat a bit, but we're just going to chop that and add that to it.

Nice and simple.

Not overcooked.

All the nice colors of the veg are still there, and it tastes of each individual veg as well.

[bell ringing] Next race is on the way.

[sizzling] Flip that over.

For this one, rather than just serve the lamb chops as they are, I'm going to get a combination of ingredients.

Now, I couldn't resist getting these from the market, these pistachio nuts.

Look at these.

Beautiful.

And we get some almonds.

And all I'm going to do is chop these up, and I'm going to get a lovely crust to go with our lamb.

And you could use just almonds if you wanted to, but it's the color really that led me to buying these.

Few bits of herbs in there.

I've got some chives and mix these with the pistachio nuts and with the almonds.

Chop it through.

And then the lamb's almost done really, so we can switch the heat off.

And then grabbing your nice little bit of ratatouille, stick it on the plate.

And then with our lamb, get yourself some French mustard, Dijon mustard of course, a pastry brush, and grab the lamb, and brush it all over the side like that.

And then just basically just pop it into the crumb.

Now, this works amazing with lamb but also fabulous with chicken and fish.

Stuff like prawns are beautiful like this.

So there you have it-- simple ratatouille with lovely pan fried lamb with mustard, almonds, and pistachio nuts.

[upbeat music] I've got to go because I've got 5 euros on this one.

[announcement in french] Last.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Today, I'm in Bois de Boulogne, one of Paris's most beautiful parks, where France's most famous steeplechase is taking place.

I've also been taking in the natural wonder of this stunning find.

Now, the beauty of this area isn't just above ground, it's below it too.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And not too far away from here is a discreet corner where something rather special is happening.

Behind this unassuming entrance is the home of one of Paris's most important culinary residents.

No, not this guy.

That's Angel Maoli.

He's one of the few remaining artisan growers of Champignon de Paris, the famous white and brown button mushrooms that live here.

[classical music] Deep inside this old stone quarry is a myriad of dark tunnels leading to a rustic treasure trove of fungi.

Angel nurtures the mushrooms just like his father and grandfather before him.

He spends much of his time patrolling his underground lair.

And each chamber is home to mushrooms at different stages of development.

See that little white spot?

That's mushroom root.

And it needs a particular base in order to grow.

The sterilized compost is a mix of horse manure and straw with mushroom mycelium mixed into it, otherwise known as a bacterial colony.

And with the right balance of humidity, temperature, and light, the mushrooms emerge.

But it's not just about the Champignon de Paris.

Angel grows a variety of fungi, including pleurot, Pierre Bleu, and Shiitake mushrooms in these dark caverns.

[singing in french] There's a vast mushroom world growing quietly within these walls.

And do you know what?

I'd like to thank this underground Angel for continuing production of the most heavenly of ingredients, and it's given me an idea.

Something that's great with mushrooms is game, and I've got a meal perfect for when you've finished tending your fungi.

Now, I wanted to create an amazing dish using these red legged partridge, or French partridge they call it.

It's everything about autumn, winter really, exactly where mushrooms are in season.

You can use mushrooms for this, but I picked a selection of other ingredients that are available at this time of year.

So we've got some lovely kale, purple kale for this one, nice red cabbage, some blackberries, some beetroot, a little bit of hazelnuts.

And I'm going to make a lovely little sauce to go with it.

But it's all about, first of all, the red legged partridge, the classic French partridge, which is available generally from September all the way to the end of January.

Now, I've preheated the oven quite hot.

It's about 210, 220 degrees centigrade.

And what we need to do is season our partridge-- so a bit of salt, bit of pepper.

Make sure you get it in the cavity as well.

And then what we're going to do is just get a little bit of butter in our pan and then start to color-- [sizzling] --our partridges.

You can cook it quite quick because of the size of it, 10, 15 minutes in the oven max.

But you want a nice color on the breast first of all.

So while that's in the pan, we can grab some fresh thyme, throw that in.

And then just a few shallots, pop them in the pan as well.

Once you've colored that all the way around, just grab the entire lot and pop this in the oven.

We need to cook these for about 12 minutes.

Now, while that's happening, we can prepare our kale.

Now, this is lovely purple kale.

Partridges use this as cover in the field.

It's kind of like the new superfood, but this stuff's been around for years.

To cook it, you just get a pan of boiling water on the stove, a bit of salt, and just pop the kale in.

You want to cook this for about 30 seconds, really, just to let it wilt down.

And if we drain that off because that's ready now.

The great thing about this dish, I suppose, you can prepare it while the partridge is in the oven.

And also, you can prepare your cabbage, because so often, with red cabbage like this, you would have to cook it for about 45 minutes with redcurrant jelly.

It's delicious like that, slowly cooked, but it's also fantastic as well thinly sliced raw into salads.

But you can do a combination of the two.

And I love this, but what you have to do is slice it very, very thinly.

So take a knife, slice it nice and thin.

So you start off with a tiny bit of vinegar, and you've got to use red wine vinegar for this.

And all you do is grab your cabbage, just warm this through, about 2 or 3 minutes, that's all, just to soften it slightly.

A bit of salt, a bit of pepper, just warm it up.

So we'll just leave that to one side.

Meanwhile, we're nearly there.

We can turn our attention to our sauce.

So first of all, with a good glug of red wine.

The key to making a good sauce is by using a good quality red wine, obviously one that you can drink.

That is a nice quality red wine.

Whilst the wine is all gone and reduce down, and then we add some stock.

This is a little bit of chicken stock or beef stock.

We pour our stock in here, and this is how to make a proper sauce.

Bring this to the boil now and gently simmer this for about 5 to 6 minutes to allow that mixture to reduce down.

Meanwhile, we can have another drink.

So we've got our sauce reducing, our partridge is in the oven, a nice little bit of red cabbage is done.

Now, this is celeriac.

It's fantastic.

It's a wonderful ingredient this.

So often, the French would use this as their classic rémoulade, which is kind of like a French coleslaw but pureed, which I've got in this pan, it is fabulous with game.

So the puree itself is basically just the celeriac.

So all you do is you cook it in milk, drain it off, blitz it in a food processor, and just keep adding that little bit of milk until it turns into that, this nice puree.

It is fantastic.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ Now, your partridges are ready, so you can just lift these out.

It's important to leave them to rest, really important before you cut them up and start to serve them.

It's almost as important as not to overcook them, just tenderizes the meat even more.

In there, I can add some beetroot, a few little bits of beetroot.

This, of course, is cooked beetroot, so much easier for you to do.

Then we've got some blackberries, put them in as well, a little bit of hazelnuts to add some nice texture to it.

And then you've got this wonderful kale.

See, look at that.

It's like a picture for me of seasonal food just all put together.

It really is fabulous.

So we've got a nice little bit of garnish there.

So we can start to prepare a nice little bit of game.

So you can take your little partridge.

Now, to prepare it, you kind treat it like a small baby roast chicken I suppose.

You take the legs off, snip through the joint like that, and do the other side.

And then with the crown itself, unlike a roast chicken, you can cut straight through.

Cut this through and then use the carcass to flavor our sauce.

You've got your nice legs there, crown.

Now, as the sauce starts to reduce down, just pass this through a sieve.

You get this wonderful smell, this aroma from it.

And all the while as it reduces down, it's intensifying the flavor.

♪ ♪ That is delicious.

It really is delicious.

Salt, pepper, a little bit of butter, just a little bit.

Now, to plate this, we're going to turn it a little bit cheffy.

So excuse me a minute but just watch.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ A bit of the red cabbage, and then you can get the leg, the crown.

And then you've got the sauce.

And it is a sauce.

And we just-- there's no foam, no boil in the bag, no sous vide, none of that.

It's just a pretty plate of food.

That's what that is, a pretty plate of food.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I love driving this little beauty, and being behind the wheel is the perfect way to take in everything this country has to offer.

It's not until you drive around France like I've done, you get to see true France, true France in a way that not many people do.

It's what you see of real France, you understand what makes it tick.

No, no, not just in terms of its food but in terms of its people.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'm exploring the Bois de Boulogne on the edge of Paris, a place that city dwellers go when they want to unwind or exercise.

And today, my drive has brought me to the races, as this park plays host to a 48-hour steeplechase that I simply couldn't miss.

But I don't know if I can sit and watch it for two days solid, so I'm off to grab myself a spot of lunch while the racing continues.

Now, not only in the park is an amazing race course, it's home to one of the finest restaurants in France, and that's where I'm going now.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Le Pre Catalan is one of Paris's three star Michelin restaurants.

[funky music] And judging by the look of this place, it looks a bit more sophisticated than the ice cream vans you see dotted around the park.

And before you write in, there's nothing wrong with ice cream vans, but look at this place.

Yes, I know what you're thinking, it's a Napoleon III style restaurant with a Belle Poque style dining room.

Special, innit?

And the man behind the hobs here is Chef Frederick Anton.

You want to be careful what you're doing with those things, Chef.

Frederick has worked under the likes of Joel Robuchon no less.

He started at Le Pre Catalan in 1997 and since then has turned this restaurant from one star to three star Michelin.

And if you're a keen viewer of French telly, you might recognize him as a judge on their version of MasterChef.

And he's invited me into his kitchen.

I hear langoustine ravioli is the Dish Du Jour, and Chef is preparing a batch fresh for me.

Once three of these little beauties have been placed in expertly rolled pasta parcels, Frederick plunges them into boiling water.

I wonder for how long.

[speaking french] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Thanks, Chef.

While they're cooking, Frederick tells me that he's prepared duck jelly to place over the top of the ravioli and a Foie Gras sauce to envelop the whole dish.

He had me at langoustine, to be honest.

And as my mouth's watering, he brings the whole dish together, whilst I scoot to the table, ready to try this bad boy out.

Merci.

So this is the langoustine in ravioli with Foie Gras sauce, a duck jelly with gold leaf.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, here we go.

Dive in.

Now, what this is really is a langoustine ravioli.

But quite interestingly, there's no eggs in the pasta.

Langoustines are one of my favorite ingredients.

It's superb.

The sauce is delicious, but the clever bit is the top.

It's a jelly but it doesn't melt when it's hot.

Go figure that one out.

[french style music] Do you know what?

On this trip, I've eaten in a lot of places, and I've been privileged to eat in a lot of places.

But this is the best dish I've had in France.

End of.

It's fantastic.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): It's really hard to express in words just how good that dish was, which means the bar has been set pretty high.

And with that in mind, it's time to get cooking back home.

[upbeat music] But you don't have to get too fancy in the kitchen to impress your guests.

Sometimes the old recipes are the good ones.

That place is certainly a place that I'm going to go back to.

It was absolutely spectacular.

The food is incredible.

Trust me.

And talking about incredible food, this one has to be France's most famous desserts right up there with croquembouche.

That's a French style wedding cake.

This is the simple tarte tatin.

Now, classically, this would be done with apples.

I'm going to use pears.

Other than that, the recipe stays exactly the same.

Very classically.

So first of all, what we need to do is poach the pears.

So in the pan, we're going to add just a little bit of sugar just to sweeten this up, some vanilla.

Just split the vanilla pod.

And that's going to go in there as well.

Some lemon-- this is basically to stop the pears from growing brown.

Then all I'm going to do now is basically peel and core the pears.

Now, these are conference pears.

You can see they're quite firm.

We just need to poach them for about five minutes.

And you do need to ram it full of fruit, because while it's cooking, it kind of compacts in on itself.

Now, to speed up the cooking process of these pears as well, just cut them in half straight through the center.

And to remove the core, you're best off actually using one of these, little melon baller.

You can nick the top and the bottom just to get rid of the core.

Snip off the end bit.

Now, the key to poaching pears, and it is poaching pears, is to bring this to the boil and gently cook them.

What you don't want to be doing is rapidly boiling them, so it agitates the pears, because the pears at the top are quite delicate, and they can fall apart.

So bring it to the boil.

Now, depending on how firm the pears are-- these are half and half-- these will cook for about two or three minutes.

Any firmer pears than this, give them about six or eight minutes.

Allow them to cool down in the pan.

And then we've got these fellas over here.

Now, before you even think about it, do not use tinned pears.

I know it looks like a tin pear.

It doesn't taste like a tin pear.

It's very, very different.

So what we can now do is prepare our tarte tatin, our dish that we're going to cook them in.

So what you do is you get a pan about that sort of size, stick it on the hob, and caramelize some sugar in the base of the pan.

Just keep it on the hob, and very quickly, this will turn into a caramel.

[upbeat music] Now, when the sugar's ready, that's about there, you take about a tablespoon of the butter.

Now, the butter is quite crucial for this because the butter will prevent the caramel from sticking to the bottom of the pan when you take it out.

It really is important, so don't forget it.

And you just mix the butter in.

What you end up with is like a toffee.

And then we can add our rosemary.

You don't have to serve mint in every single dessert.

You can utilize all manner of different herbs, and rosemary in a dessert works fabulous.

It is important when you do this to drain the pears, because you're just going to add more and more moisture into your pan.

So lift the pears out, drain them off nicely.

So we're nearly there now.

We've just got to finish this off.

You've got to remember that this is tipped upside down.

So the pears go in in a particular way, so you're almost slightly fanning the pairs really, rather than just plonk them in.

Just an ever slight overlap.

And we can put one in the center.

And now for the puff pastry.

Rather than make it, which you could do, you get some really good bought in puff pastry nowadays.

What I'm going to do is just roll this out again.

Now, it wants to be about half an inch bigger than the pan, so just measure it roughly.

It's about that.

And then we can trim this into a rough circle or hexagon.

And then before you put it over the top, just dock it with a knife.

This will allow the steam that's inside from the pears and the sugar and everything else to evaporate.

Stop you having a soggy bottom.

And then what we do-- this is quite crucial-- is you basically tuck the pastry in between the pear and the pan.

And then all we need to do now is pop it in a hot oven and let it cook for about 20 minutes.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ Now, what you're looking for is a lovely golden brown crust to the pastry.

That's about perfect.

Now, what we can do is basically just warm it up slightly on the stove, just ever so slightly.

Put the pan on, and you can see it bubbling away there.

This is just going to loosen the sugar from around the bottom of the pan.

Now, I learnt this from a French chef.

Switch it off the heat and then psych yourself up.

What you're trying to do is flip it out.

So you get one shot at this.

Key to it is making sure none of this boiling hot sugar goes on your arm because it's going to hurt.

You hold the plate over the pan, and in one movement, you flip it out.

Just don't stop.

♪ ♪ Haven't lost it.

You see?

Look at that.

So there you have it, a wonderful pear and rosemary tarte tatin.

Not the classic that was invented by the Tatin sisters.

That was using apple.

But still good, though.

[upbeat music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Today, I'm having a French adventure in the stunning Bois de Boulogne, a park which is one of Paris's hidden gems.

Miles of lakes and woodland envelop exquisite dining in pursuits of an equine persuasion.

And it's not hard to get drawn in by the atmosphere, to be honest.

The crowds are excited, and there are jockeys and horses everywhere.

Blimey.

Either they're getting smaller, or I'm getting bigger.

No comment.

And there I am, just trying to set up my kitchen, when all of a sudden, I thought our budget had gone up, and we've got more cameras.

[speaking french] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): But oh, no.

French TV wanted a chat.

Just don't tell everyone I'm cooking.

I haven't got enough food.

One question.

Recommendation.

Oh, you want to bet.

Yeah.

I'll do the big race.

The big race.

[speaking french] Number 11, [french].

- Number 11.

- It's the best one.

OK.

I find you if you're wrong.

[laughter] [speaking french] It's been a nice time here.

Thank you.

It's a very great pleasure for us to receive you.

OK, we're going to-- going to taste.

Yes, yes.

Give me 15 minutes.

Yes.

- [speaking french] - Merci.

All right.

Number 11.

OK.

[french] There you go, Blue Dragon in the fifth race, the big race.

I know where he is if he's wrong.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): It turns out that number 11 is, in fact, James, who I met earlier.

So before I get cooking, I'm off to cheer him on.

["WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE" PLAYING] Fingers crossed.

There he is.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Luckily for me, he's wearing a red hat, so he should be pretty easy to spot.

See, everybody's betting on this race.

I'm hopeless at betting.

I'd just rather not bother.

You know what I mean?

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I think I'll leave it to these guys.

They look like they understand the form much better than me.

[bell ringing] That's it.

They're off.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): There he is, and he's off to a flying start.

One lap done, and he's already in the lead.

♪ ♪ But they're catching him up.

♪ ♪ With steeplechase, anything can happen.

James bolted off early, and now he's been caught by the rest of the guys as well.

Now, you see, the horse could be tiring, you see.

See, I thought cooking was stressful.

[cheering] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): They're on the final straight, and James is nowhere to be seen.

[cheering] He didn't even finish.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Ah, well, you can't win them all.

So I'll just stick to what I'm good at, and that's keeping people happy through the power of food.

It's quite a great day out, really, to be honest with you.

I've never really into horses as a kid.

We used to have a donkey called Bimbo that we used to basically look after over the winter.

It was a really cool donkey, but you wouldn't want to ride him, put it that way.

Now, for this, I'm going to keep it really classic, leeks vinaigrette, a very simple little French dressing made with tarragon.

But I'm going to serve it with a bit of salmon.

Normally, at these sort of events, I'm usually in the kitchen cooking for hundreds and hundreds of people.

So it's actually quite nice to be out here and have a crowd.

Look.

But anyway, look, we've got some lovely little baby leeks here.

Now, keep the root on first of all.

So take your leeks, cut them through.

And then what I'm going to do, I keep those left bits of leeks as well.

They're great for soups.

So plenty of salt in the water and chuck your leeks in.

Now, these little fellows are going to take about 5 minutes to cook.

While they're cooking, we're going to make a simple dressing.

And it is kind of like a classic French style dressing really.

What you start off with is a little bit of mustard, obviously Dijon mustard here.

So we just take a nice bit of Dijon and then white wine vinegar.

You can use cider vinegar if you want.

Got a nice little bit of chardonnay vinegar.

About one part vinegar to three parts oil.

Now, the oil is quite crucial with this.

I'm going to use veg oil.

Now, you can, if you want, use olive oil, if you want, but you wouldn't be making a classic French style dressing.

Now, I always add about a tablespoon of water.

That's all you want.

Nice little vinaigrette.

And all of a sudden, that water, it emulsifies and creates this wonderful little dressing.

Now, into here, we've got some chives.

And this is where you can flavor this with whatever you want.

You can put some fresh chives in.

Bit of tarragon.

This stuff is amazing.

You can use this in all manner of different dishes as well.

And it's not just with chicken.

You can use it with beef.

You can use it with pork.

Great as just a sort of a dish on its own like this.

This is a wonderful sort of dish, even just leeks and a lovely vinaigrette is all you need, really, for this one.

They should be just nicely cooked now.

Drain them off.

And this is where I always keep the root on.

It's a good little tip, really.

The tendency is if you trim the root off, they fall apart.

So what you do, line them all up and then trim off the root.

It's a little chefy tip, really.

Normally, what you would do is you would cut this off and then cook them.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): But wait, my newfound fame here means I've been recognized.

It's all right.

[laughs] It's quite funny.

[laughs] Now, next, we've got a nice piece of salmon, beautiful fillet of salmon here.

Now, what you need to do is remove the pin bones.

And the easiest way to do that is to speak to somebody that you know and ask them to borrow a pair of pliers or a-- what women do their eyebrows with, tweezers.

So I've gone to my director and I borrowed hers.

You should see it.

I know what I'm going to get her for Christmas.

So now, whenever you're pulling the bones out of the fish, pull it directly towards where the head used to be, the big end like that.

Because you don't want to rip the fish, so you pull it that way.

It just keeps the flesh nice and intact.

And then what you can do is trim up the fish like that.

And then slice it.

It's entirely up to you how you want to do it.

But the idea is it's basically just to leave the skin off.

Basically, just slice it like you're slicing smoked salmon, really, nice and thin like that.

This was sort of a variation on a classic dish that I cooked in France once, which is salmon with Sorrel, but the fish was cooked identically to how I'm going to do it now.

And then get everything ready.

So the leeks, we have here.

They can sit on our little board.

We've got our dressing, which is looking good as well.

You can pop our leeks in there.

A little bit of this stuff, this is frisee lettuce, and it is fantastic.

But what you need to use is the central part of it.

The outer parts of this are quite bitter.

So a bit of salt and pepper, tiny bit of shallot.

This is almost last minute, really, very, very simple.

Into the salad as well, and then finally, we start to cook our fish.

Now, the best advice I can do for this is get the pan nice and hot.

Bit Of Black pepper over the top, a bit of salt, tiny little bit of oil.

You almost want nothing in the pan really.

Tiny, tiny bit.

So in like that, flip over like that.

Cook the other side.

You want to cook this for literally no more than about sort of 30 seconds and get our plate ready.

You take your nice bit of salmon.

It's just a really simple way of cooking fish right at the last minute.

Now, the key to this is whichever side you put the salt and pepper on, that becomes the underside when you serve it.

And then, of course, we've got the leeks, which have been in the dressing.

And then you can just basically just put a nice pile of the leeks on here, as well.

So what I love about this is its simplicity.

You know?

You're not trying to be too complicated.

So often, you can just serve this with just the leeks and the dressing, but with the fish, it just makes a nice sort of meal.

Nice little bit of salad, and there you have it-- salmon with leeks, and a lovely French style vinaigrette made with tarragon.

It's the flavor of tarragon, but particularly, the dressing is perfect.

It doesn't overpower the leeks.

You get the flavor of the leeks, but it keeps it nice and moist.

Bon appetit.

Enjoy the races.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And as the crew polish off the food, I found out that, luckily, James did win one of his races.

And I was called up on the podium to share in his glory.

[speaking french] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): What a great day at the races, all right, but I'm not about to give up four wheels for four legs.

I think I'll stick to the horsepower I'm more familiar with.

It's been the best way to get around this great country.

But now, it's time for me to bid France a fond farewell.

A place where drinks come in sensible measures.

Now, this is my kind of guy.

We've got a pint of cognac.

Now, we're talking.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And the food does too.

Would you like?

I don't want 432.

No?

No.

[laughs] She tried to tell me 432 biscuits.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): In a land full of modest chefs-- So what's that?

--where I got a little starstruck-- I feel like a groupie.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): --France is a place where fashion is of paramount importance-- I feel like a giant tea bag.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): --and where haggling gets you what you really want.

Can I take the dog as well?

No, my dog is not for sale.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Well, most of the time.

It's been a chance to go to some great places.

It's just about the best place I've ever been to.

These caves are incredible.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And a chance to catch up with old friends.

Thank you very much Oh, may I?

Oh, it's lovely to see you.

You made my French trip even more special.

I never thought you were going to come.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I've even managed to cook some plates of food I'm quite pleased with.

Back of the net.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): All in all, I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

Viva la France!

[splash] Well, there you go, that's it, the end of my French road trip.

And the old girl made it.

I think Keith Floyd would be quite proud, to be honest.

And a message from me to you, next time you're in France, bon appetit.

[theme music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Last.

[upbeat music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Coming up on my French adventure here around the Bois de Boulogne, we visit a secret underground lair, where something exciting is growing under the cover of darkness.

And I cook this hearty beauty back in my home kitchen.

[theme music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Today, I'm in Bois de Boulogne, one of Paris's most beautiful-- A pretty plate of food.

[theme music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Coming up on my French adventure in Bois de Boulogne, I have a spot of lunch that I quite enjoy.

This is the best dish I've had in France.

End off.

And I go classic with this little number back in my cuisine.

[theme music] [upbeat music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I love driving this little beauty, and being behind the wheel is the perfect way to take-- But still good though.

[theme music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Still to come as I round off my French adventure in Bois de Boulogne, I get accosted by a French TV crew.

James Martin, [speaking french].

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And then the paparazzi.

[theme music] [upbeat music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Today, I'm having a French adventure.