After the phenomenal success of the ‘Taste of Britain’ mini series the This Morning team asked me to find out more about great European dishes, so come with me on my journey of what Europe has to offer. Meet the fantastic people who are passionate about their products and see how they create them. It’s a wonderful insight, I personally learnt a lot, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting each and everyone.
Over the years I have been very lucky to have visited Norway a few times and also cooked and filmed there. On one occasion we even stayed at the Ambassadors residence as we were over there to showcase great British food and regional suppliers.
For a few years now I have really enjoyed visiting St Tropez market. Its a bustling market held on a Tuesday and Saturday in the town’s square. The square is lined by coffee shops and restaurants, and is normally the hangout to petanque players, but twice a week it changes completely.
Roquefort was one of the first cheeses in France to be given the Appellation d'Origine contrôlée in 1925. The unique caves where the cheese is produced attract some 200,000 tourists annually.
I was brought up on the over sweet, pink tinged jelly that your grandma scoffed on Boxing Day. I actually quite like that sort of lokum (its what the Turks called Turkish delight) its very satisfying, but it's a far cry from the sweet I help make in Turkey.
Having never been to this Portugal before I didn't really know what to expect, but what a trip we had.
Funnily enough a lot of restaurants serve the best paprika on the tables in restaurants not to eat, but to 'feast' your eyes on.
I never thought there was so much to keeping bees and making honey. Philip Macabe took me through the whole process from start to finish.
With a fashionable rash of tapas bars springing up across the UK, it seemed timely to head for tapas’ ancestral home of Spain.
It’s been a while since I have cooked in foreign parts for ITV’s This Morning show. So, when they asked me to go to Austria and Switzerland to cover Christmas food I jumped at the chance. My boss wanted Christmas food and snow, so off we went in search of both.
Just think about this, an Englishman, specialising in British food in Italy, cooking risotto for Positano’s mayor? Doesn’t really fit does it, but hey ho, I’m always up for a challenge.
have never seen buffalo before, and what a sight they were. From the nursery, first year olds up to the fully-grown beasts all very carefully looked after.
Bruges is the Belgium centre of chocolate, a beautiful small and very clean city with a fabulous reputation for homemade chocolates and pralines.
They stick to the basic Marinara and Margherita pizzas and the occasional Calzone with salami, and use only ingredients local to Naples. Tomatoes from Vesuvius, local Mozzarella, basil and olive oil all from the Campagnia region.
Imagine this, me stood in the huge fields of basil filming various pieces to camera, dressed in a black t-shirt, long trousers almost fainting.
Miguel explained that the pigs roam free and need to be feed on natural grasses, wild herbs, seeds and acorns. The sheer scale of the Iberico pig-producing region is breathtaking.
Maille mustard has been around for a very long time, founded by Antoine Maille in 1747 Mustard was not only eaten in the early days, its was rubbed onto the skin to prevent catching the plaque, it was also used for cosmetics, skin and even hair care, so it was really good for you inside and out!
I am the first to admit the Canary islands off the coast of Africa were pretty much off my radar until my Producer at ITV suggested we go and make a film about the seven islands’ attractions and of course, their food.
My latest trip abroad has taken me to places I have never been to before and one that I haven’t visited for some 25 years.