The Hairy Bikers go off the beaten track in search of authentic flavours of Italy, from simple, local ingredients to spicy n'duja pate and some of the best gelato to be found.
The bikers begin their Sardinian adventure in the small town of Cagliari, where everyone is in high spirits for the feast of St Efisio. The locals are dressed in traditional garb to parade through the town on decorated bullock carts. The bikers join in the fun by cooking a local speciality - almond and orange cakes. Leaving the festivities behind, they head west to meet the tuna fishermen of Carloforte. Here, tuna is known as the "pig of the sea" and nose-to-tail eating is the norm. After seeing the locals' unique form of fishing, the bikers meet a chef who serves up platters of tuna treated the Carloforte way. Featured recipes include frutti di mare with saffron fregola (seafood with fregola pasta and saffron), torta menjar blanc (lemon cream tart) and lamb and fennel stew with fennel salad.
The bikers' Corsican adventure begins in Bonifacio in the south of the island. They head straight for one of the best delis in town to scope out the local cuisine, including the legendary sausage figatelli. Tony, the owner, tells them that there is a holy trinity of ingredients that makes up the basics of Corsican food - meat, cheese and chestnuts. He suggests that the best way for the bikers to understand what makes Corsicans tick is to meet the producers. This gives them a clear mission for their trip across the island, starting with a world-class meat producer. Jacques Abbatucci raises a unique breed of cattle, the vache tigre or tiger-cow, a breed recognisable by its distinctive stripes. His free-range and organic approach results in some of the best meat that the bikers have ever eaten. Their next foray into the island's interior takes them to the high plateau where another producer is raising rare-breed pigs. Again, the animals roam freely, grazing on chestnuts in the autumn. Here the charcuterie leaves them in awe. As they lunch with the producer, they also taste a cake made with chestnut flour, another part of the trinity of Corsican flavours. As they travel, they pass through vast forests of chestnut trees and begin to understand the importance of chestnut flour in local cuisine.
The bikers continue their journey. This time, they are in mainland France, in Provence, and they begin their journey in Marseille, one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean, where the population is as diverse as the Mediterranean itself. They meet Moroccan-born Fatima, who runs a welcome centre where recent immigrants can cook and eat together. The quality of the light in this part of France is such that it has always attracted artists to the region. Dave is a keen artist and, wanting to follow in the footsteps of the impressionists, they visit L'Estaque, a charming waterside community where the seaside snacks are legend. As they travel westwards, it becomes clear that one of the biggest influences here is that of the Romans. They explore the ancient aqueduct of the Pont du Gard, and in the city of Nimes they meet a local food historian and enthusiast for Roman cuisine to find out what constituted Roman-style gastronomy.
The bikers are visiting two of the Balearic Islands - Minorca and Majorca. They begin their journey in Mahon, Minorca. After a quick trip to the market to sample some tasty snacks, the bikers buy cuttlefish and squid for their first cook - cuttlefish stew and squid salad with mayonnaise. Upon landing in Majorca, they cook up their next Balearic-inspired dish - roasted pork with tumbet (a sort of ratatouille with a potato topping).
The bikers are in southern Spain, travelling from Valencia to Torremolinos in the footsteps of the Moors - eating their way through the spicy delights of southern Spanish cuisine.
