A Cook Abroad

E1 Episode 1: Dave Myers: Egypt

• Now playing
• Jan 26, 2015

Hairy Biker Dave Myers travels to Egypt, home to some of the oldest recipes known to man. From the fantastic street food of one of the world's greatest cities, Cairo, to a family feast 500 miles south in ancient Aswan, Dave voyages up the Nile to find the origins of some of our favourite dishes. On this epic adventure, Dave fulfils a boyhood dream to visit the pyramids of Giza and learns that they were built by labour fed on no more than the humble loaf. He goes off the beaten track to the lush oasis of Al Fayoum in search of a dish with mythical properties and, on the banks of the River Nile, discovers a place where ancient man first turned to farming. Venturing further into the land of the pharaohs, Dave finds what he's been searching for - the origins of baking and the living proof of a food that changed the eating habits of the planet. To mark the end of his journey, Dave is invited by a family of Nubians for a feast to celebrate the end of Eid al-Adha. He helps prepare a traditional meal that has become legendary across the entire Arab world and receives hospitality he'll never forget.

E2 Episode 2: Tony Singh's India

Scottish chef Tony Singh travels to India, the country of his ancestors, to trace his family roots and discover whether his mum's Punjabi cooking is the real deal. He begins his journey in Amritsar, which is draped in lights for the festival of Diwali, before braving the treacherous Grand Trunk Road to Delhi, a place Tony has only ever visited twice. Along the way, he fulfils a boyhood dream to meet the Nihang, nomadic Sikh warriors whose cooking techniques are legendary. He receives an exclusive invite to eat and cook with a Maharaja and, as his waistline tightens thanks to the rich Punjabi diet, he burns off the calories at Bollysweat, the fitness phenomenon taking Delhi by storm. As Tony gets under the skin of Punjabi ways, he discovers how the Sikh religion and the region's troubled past have created a food and culture like no other. He ends his epic adventure at the ancestral home in Delhi, where his 93-year-old uncle Ameer opens a window on his family history he will never forget.

E3 Episode 3: John Torode's Argentina

MasterChef judge and meat connoisseur John Torode fulfils a lifelong ambition to go to Argentina, where eating beef is a national obsession. After savouring the street food from the barbecues, or 'asados', in Buenos Aires, John embarks on an epic road trip that takes him across the vast pastures of the pampas to Mendoza in the foothills of the Andes. His mission - to find the best piece of steak in the world and the best way to cook it. Along the way, John discovers that modern industrial farming has changed the landscape of the legendary pampas and threatened a way of life unchanged for centuries. In order to learn the traditional ways of rearing cattle, he goes native with the gauchos on a working estancia and experiences one of the most authentic barbecues he's ever had. Back on the road, when John stops at a truckers' cafe to have lunch, he has an epiphany. He grasps the secret of cooking with fire. His final destination is a fabled restaurant in Mendoza, where cooking beef has become an art form. It's here, among the restaurant's seven fires, that John learns his final lesson.

E4 Episode 4: Monica Galetti's France

MasterChef judge Monica Galetti steps outside her comfort zone as she swaps her chef's whites for wellies and heads for the Jura Mountains in eastern France to get hands-on with the produce she uses every day in the London restaurant where she works. Monica embarks on a road trip through one of the most beautiful yet least known regions in France, where, for the first time in her cooking career, she spends time with producers. She sees for herself how their passion translates into world-class ingredients. Immersing herself in a traditional way of life, she joins a boar hunt and faces up to the responsibility of eating meat. From beauty contests for cows to cutting down trees, she unlocks the secret to making some of our favourite French cheeses and discovers an ancient profession she never knew existed. Finally, on the slopes of Mont d'Or, Monica cooks up a rustic feast using ingredients she's gathered herself, fulfilling a personal ambition to live off the land.

E5 Episode 5: Rick Stein's Australia

Rick Stein is in Australia, a country he fell in love with on his first visit at the age of 19. On a journey in search of the ingredients revolutionising Australian cooking, Rick sets off from his new home in Mollymook, New South Wales, up to Sydney before flying to Tasmania. In Sydney, Rick revisits some of his old haunts and reminisces over his misspent youth, a time when he was fleeing a personal tragedy back home. In the fish market, where his love affair with Australian fish culture began, Rick learns that a staggering 70 per cent of fish eaten in the country is imported. Now, after years of looking to other countries for its ingredients, Australia is beginning to look to its own produce, and the most modern move on the culinary circuit is to go ancient. Rick travels out to Botany Bay - the site of James Cook's first landing. There, he gets back to basics, does some foraging and learns the art of cooking the aboriginal way. But when it comes to cooking with native foods, the sleepy backwater of Tasmania is leading the way. Tasmania is not only an emerging foodie destination but, as Rick discovers, an eco-paradise. He goes hunting for wallaby (the latest wild meat taking Sydney by storm), samples the best single-malt whisky in the world and tastes sustainably farmed salmon that has become a national obsession. With small-scale producers making a splash on the international food scene, this wild outpost has also become a great business model for a new - sustainable - kind of industry.

E6 Episode 6: Rachel Khoo's Malaysia

• Mar 9, 2015

Cook and food writer Rachel Khoo heads to Malaysia, home of her extended family, to explore one of the world's most exciting cuisines. From the tropical shores of a remote fishing village to a foraged feast deep in the jungle, Rachel travels across this multicultural country to find out whether good food can unite a nation. On this journey of discovery Rachel delves deep into her own family heritage. Starting in the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur, she gets her first insights into Malaysian food and culture from family members she hasn't seen since childhood. In her dad's old school she meets cooks and students and begins to find out why Malaysian food is so complex. Finally, in Penang, the undisputed food capital of the country and where her family story began, Rachel discovers why Malaysia is a great place to be young, female and Muslim. As she unpacks the multicultural culinary history of Malaysia, Rachel reveals layers of her own family history and gains a more profound understanding of what it means to be Malaysian.