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tv   The Travel Show  BBCNEWS  March 30, 2024 4:30am-5:01am GMT

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coming up on this week's show... it looks like a flotation device. it does! you could probably get into that. here we go. bon appetit. skibbereen! thank you so much. so, i can taste the kind of familiarity, and then i'm waiting for the alcohol, but it hasn't arrived. it's like wine light.
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now, one thing that gets most of us excited when planning a trip is the chance to tuck into tasty, authentic dishes from other parts of the globe, from traditional delicacies to spicy street food, and even maybe michelin—starred menus from some of the most celebrated chefs on the planet. well, this week we've got a feast for your eyes, with a menu full of some of our favourite travel show foodie adventures. for starters, let's look back at that time i headed to glasgow, in scotland, on a culinary quest to find the story behind britain's most popular dish — and it's not what you maybe think it is. glasgow is often voted the world's friendliest city, and locals pride themselves on their good cheer, good humour and chattiness. it's one reason that generations of immigrants from all over the world have decided to call glasgow home. and it's here where britain's most popular dish was born — and it is not fish and chips.
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this is chicken tikka masala. it's boneless chunks of chicken marinated in a sauce of tomato and cream, and it has this fantastic orange colour because of the spice mix. mm. you can get the dish all over the city. but according to local legend, the original chicken tikka masala was created here at the shish mahal restaurant in the 19705. every day the chef marinates 30kg of chicken, and roasts up to 400 skewers in his tandoor. this is our secret sauce. you can taste it. all right, here we go. mm. that's got some kick to it. have you ever told anyone outside of the restaurant what's inside? no. well, he's staying tight lipped. so i head over to the dining room to meet with ali asif. this is my dad with...
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asif�*s father, sadly, passed away in december, but his legacy lives on through the family restaurant, where in the early 19705 he's reputed to have created the world's first tikka masala. it all started when a grumpy bus driver complained that his chicken was too dry. asif�*s dad needed a quick fix, so he grabbed a can of tomato soup that he'd already opened. dad put the tomato soup into the curry, heated it up and served it, and the customer loved it. the customer asked, "what is this called?" "tikka masala. " because it's the most generic name he could think. so, these days you can get tikka masala as a pizza topping, frozen at the grocery store, as a takeaway. what do you make of everyone copying your dad's recipe? he said people enjoying food is more important than where it came from or who invented it. he used to say he was born in pakistan, but he was made in glasgow. like any legendary dish, the origins of the chicken tikka masala are disputed —
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but asif�*s dad remains a local hero anyway. he was part of a wave of people from pakistan, india, and current—day bangladesh who came to scotland in the 19505 when the uk faced a labour shortage. but rather than returning to their home country after five years, as was so often the plan, many families decided to stay. and today, more than 60,000 people of south asian descent live here and in the surrounding area. we're off to meet the comedian, sanjeev kohli, at one of his favourite spots in the city. sanjeev, i hope you don't mind. i took the liberty of getting a little snack — the paper dosa. 0k...! not so little. i feel like i should wear this. it looks like a flotation device. it does...! you could probably get into that. scotland in the winter, it's a bit like finland. you need your comfort food. it's freezing. it's been dark for seven hours. sushi ain't going to cut it. it's got to be comfort food.
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and the thing about indian food, it is comforting, like a big fluffy naan bread, like a pillow, you know what i mean? 0r pakora. it's just all there. all the salt, all the fat, all the stuff. indian food is the most popular food in scotland. anywhere you see fish and chips, you can see curry. that's how integrated, certainly, the cuisine is. and i've always thought that the cuisine, the story of the cuisine reflects the story of the people, if you know what i mean? glasgow is curry, and curry in glasgow. a mouthwatering memory from scotland. and i don't need to be asked twice, if there are any more trips like that one. next up, we're crossing the sea to ireland — a country that in recent years has undergone a bit of a gastronomic renaissance. kate hardie—buckley returned to her home county, now the country's top foodie destination to tuck in. welcome to west cork. this is the mizen peninsula, the most south—westerly tip of the island of ireland. i've been coming to this part of the world since i was eight years old.
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people are drawn here by the dramatic scenery, the arts and the great craic — and now they're flocking here for the local cuisine. west cork was recently voted ireland's food capital. the history of the area is as rich and diverse as its food. along the coast, you'll find caves where pirates smuggled their treasures. it's where marconi sent the first transatlantic radio transmission to america. and it was here the first famine death was recorded, the first of over a million across ireland, with a further two million people emigrating.
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so, this is the skibbereen saturday market. at the height of summer, i think maybe the best market anywhere in the country. this is the freshest mozzarella available in ireland right now. it's like lactic poetry. april makes the most astonishing potions. slainte. when we think of vinegars, we think of something that's harsh and aggressive — and that's gentle. obviously, i can taste the apple... mm—hm. ..but there's like a berry taste to it, or something like that? maybe even the whiskey. you'll taste the whiskey. the whiskey! they laugh bit early for the whiskey. yeah. the skibbereen market continues to slowly but organically grow and get better. people, i think, are really realising more and more that the essence of a real experience is when it's grounded in local foods. and that's what you want, whether you're in bangkok, or tuscany, or in west cork. here we go. bon appetit.
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skibbereen! thank you so much. wow. it's a real west cork burger. i've come to meet the fergusons, who run gubbeen — one of the original irish cheese farm houses here — and they play a huge role on the west cork food scene. giana and herfamily have been making their award—winning cheese for the last a0 years. and is this sort of where you begin creating the flavours and the texture? in a way. although i think the real start of this story is the soil. and of course, the big flavour is once the cheeses are made and they start to ferment. this is heavier than you'd think. oh, my goodness. this smells incredible! there you are, the finished products. i think if you're in new york, or if you're in paris, or wherever we export to, and you come across this, what you're going to feel, or smell, is west cork. that's what i love about this.
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giana's children are the latest generation working the land. fingal makes the charcuteries with over 100 different products. the fergusons, and other west cork food makers, account for 75% of artisan producers across the country. in west cork, not only do you get to taste great food, but you also get the chance to find and explore new ingredients. it's beautiful down here. here we go. jim and maria kennedy run sea kayaking trips all along the coast, where you get to forage for your own food. out on the atlantic... ..looking for dinner. and we don't have to look far. when you start to investigate, they become like friends.
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youjust see, "oh, there, look, there's the oarweed coming up "and over here, the sea spaghetti." it's absolutely amazing. for ireland's coastal communities, seaweed has long been a staple food. it has everything you need — it has minerals, it has vitamins. all the b vitamins that we spend, you know, 20, 30 euros buying across the shelf, it's all in here. there's a seal over there also looking for his dinner. hello, buddy. so, what is on my seaweed board? we have some dillisk, or dulse. carrageenan, another traditional favourite. we have seagrass, beautiful green, also known as spirulina. i recognise that one. mm—hm. and then for something completely different, the queen of all seaweeds — or maybe the king — pepper dulse. the truffle of the sea. that's extraordinary.
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mm. peppery... such a bite to it, such a kick. what's most striking is the diversity under the kayak. different shapes, forms, textures, colours. it's quite extraordinary. even in the famine, people ate seaweed. but i think then, it became associated with poverty and hunger. and now people are beginning to rediscover the amazing properties of seaweed. well, next on the menu, we're heading over to vancouver, in canada, a city that's frequently named as one of the best food destinations in the world. but it's not all michelin—starred restaurants and high—end dining. the culinary scene has been broadening out to reflect some, up until now, less well known and diverse dishes. we sent eva to try one of them.
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eva: you might have heard about poutine. it's canada's unofficial national dish, kind of like what pierogies are to poland or what the burger is to the united states. this comforting, salty dish is made up of chips, cheese, curds and gravy. but this is not a piece about poutine. in fact, it can be quite hard to find authentic poutine out here on the west coast. it comes from quebec in the east. here in vancouver, there is another dish that you should know about. hi! hello. hi. my name is paul natrall. i'm mr bannock.
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paul — or mr bannock — is a member of the squamish nation. he lives on one of the three first nation territories here in vancouver city. he owns the only indigenous food truck in vancouver, and his specialty, bannock — a staple in first nation cuisine. 0h, awesome! that's a mr bannock apron, isn't it? yes, ma'am. wonderful. let me put this on. bannock is pretty simple. it's sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and water. not too dissimilar from an english scone. the word �*bannock�* itself is scottish, so there's always a huge debate if bannock is indigenous. every community and every nation has a type of flatbread, and as stuff evolves and indigenous food evolves we have baking powder, salt, sugar, and now we have these huge fluffy bannocks. for me, its huge to be able to have my kids watch and learn what i do, just because our food culture has been missing for so long, you know, through all the trauma that we have.
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i'm keen to sample paul's modern take. well, thesejust look so delicious. golden, fluffy... should i? should i do it? yeah, do it. mmm. and then the fluffiness. so delicious. mm—hm. they�* re fluffy. they're, like, the perfect combination of fluffy and crispy. nice. mm—hm. hopefully, soon there will be more places to try indigenous food in vancouver. but, for now, bannock doesn't seem like a bad place to start. eva zu beck in canada, getting stuck into a first nations feast. and from canada let's hop over to the us, where new york has long been dubbed �*the city that never sleeps�*. a place where you can get anything, from a burger to beluga, at any time, day or night.
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but, post—pandemic, is the city's food scene still open all hours? we sent kim davis to one of the city's most famous diners to see if they're still cooking right around the clock. jazz music as a native new yorker, i know a thing or two about nightlife in this city. now, any good night out starts with food, and where better to fill up than at one of manhattan's most iconic delis? it is so busy here. i have to figure out what i want really quick because if you don't know what you want you're going to get shoved out of the way and people are going tojump in right ahead of you. the first thing i'd recommend is... they give you a ticket and the ticket gets you in. where is your ticket? i don't have one. i walked in without getting one. hello. you can use it to pay and to walk out.
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to pay and to walk out? hi there. can i please get a pastrami sandwich? delis and diners are part of the fabric of the city, catering to hunger pangs at all hours. hi, here's your pastrami. oh, my gosh. thank you. enjoy. this is gigantic! this is nothing. i love that. "it's nothin�*." he laughs �*nothin'!’ listen, food and nightlife go hand in hand, right. right? we struggled a little bit during the pandemic, as did everyone in the world, literally. and we got lucky. customers still supported us. 0ur regulars took care of us. and that's what it means to be in business for 135 years and five generations. but not all have been lucky. many have closed their doors permanently. the numbers employed in the restaurant scene have shrunk by 35,000 since the pandemic. and for those that survived, it's been a challenge. there was a lot of trial
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and error and bars in the neighbourhood were going through similar sets of questions. and so we didn't start 24 hours right away because they also weren't staying open till 4am like they used to. but kind of hand—in—hand, lockstep, the bar scene, the nightlife scene, food scene, all coming back with a real vengeance. what do you think? it's good, right? wow. she laughs. kim davis there taking a bite out of the big apple. and after all that food, what could be better than a glass of wine to round things off? so we'll leave you with ade in paris, where there's been something of a revolution with the country's favourite tipple, meaning that those dreaded hangovers could maybe become a thing of the past. we'll see you all again next week. but in the meantime here's ade to tell you more. cheers! whether you're mad for merlot or salivate over a sauvignon blanc, the city of love swoons
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for a glass of wine. as other countries have music orfashion, in france you'll see a glass of wine on each table in any bistro or michelin—star restaurant. i mean, there are paintings about wine. they fought wars about wine. so it's worth 25 billion euros a year to the french economy, and then there were 5.5 billion bottles produced in france last year. but as bars and restaurants all over the world shut their doors, the pandemic forced loads of us to reassess our relationship with booze and explore more non—alcoholic alternatives. international sales of non—alcoholic drinks have shot up by a quarter. but in france the growth has been slower — reportedly, just 4% in the same period. so how do parisians feel about alcohol—free wine? i've never tried it. i like wine, regular wine.
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i'm used to that. i think we're losing something. you want to feel... he clicks his tongue ..the taste. it's not as fun either. one man hoping to transform french attitudes is augustin. hello, ade. last year, he set out what he says is paris's first shop entirely devoted to non—alcoholic drinks. do you get any snobbery? do you get people who come in and when they hear there's no alcohol, they're like, "what? what is this? !" yeah. at the beginning, some people were kind of making fun orjust laughing when they entered. but then for us it's not against alcohol because most of our customers, they are what we call flexi—drinkers. so they keep drinking alcohol, but they also, from time to time, want to have a break. of course, you have all the pregnant women, the muslim people who never drink alcohol. actually, it came from my own story because i quit drinking during the pandemic. i don't like soda, i don't like very sweet beverages, so i was looking
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for other options. he's far from the first person to ride this trend. a few rounds of alcohol—free bars have opened up over the past few years all across the world, from 0% tokyo to sans bar in texas, to the virgin mary in dublin. along with spirits and beers, augustin stocks two kinds of alcohol—free wine. the first is de—alcoholised. it's fermented like a traditional wine before the alcohol is then removed. you'll see the smell is close, but then the length in the mouth is different. you know what? that's so interesting. so i can taste the kind of familiarity, and then i'm waiting for the alcohol. but it hasn't arrived. it's like wine—lite. the second kind doesn't involve fermentation, and it's more like a poshjuice.
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and this one is very good if you eat it with your meat or pasta. we've picked a particularly potent one made from... ..beetroot. it's busy. i don't think i'm ready for this one yet. but this is exactly what we see with our customers. so now they are more looking into substitutes, so beer or de—alcoholised wine. and we know in some years they may look more for new recipes and new techniques and everything. but are parisians ready to embrace this new gastronomic experience? there's only one way for me to find out. excusez—moi, excusez—moi. s'il vous plait? would you like to try some non—alcoholic wine? it's good, actually. i like it. i don't like it. idon't think it i tastes like wine. no, it's sweeter, i think. 0h. it's actually good.
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you like it? yes. wow. that's the de—alcoholised wine. now for the beetroot... not in my case. oh, it's more... more acidic? ..acid... yes. more acidic. it's, um... this one is a better one than that. and whether they like the wines or not, most of the parisians we spoke to were at least open to alcohol—free alternatives. yes, because i'm not fond of alcohol. i prefer the taste. so for you, it's just finding something that has the right taste? yes. and then it'll be a winner? yeah.
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hello there. the easter weekend will settle down a little — perhaps music to your ears, in comparison to the last few days. yes, there will be more sunshine around and fewer showers — and as a result, it will be a little warmer. but there's more rain to come for some of us by easter monday. more on that in just a moment — for the moment, though, the low pressure is drifting its way westwards, the isobars are opening out. so saturday will be a quieter, less windy day for all of us. maybe a little more cloud across east anglia and that kent coast, and a few isolated showers out to the west — most frequent showers perhaps to northern ireland and scotland — but even so, few and far between in comparison to recent days. 11—15 celsius, with a little more sunshine coming through — that should feel quite pleasant. now, with those clear skies by day continuing through the night, though, temperatures are likely to fall away for some — the exception down to
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the southwest, where we could continue to see some showers pushing up through the channel isles and across cornwall. but low single figures, a touch of frost is likely through scotland and north—east england, and even some patchy fog. it's worth bearing in mind, as well, that we are springing into british summertime on sunday. yes, we all lose an hour, but the clocks go forward and the daytimes get a little longer. so, sunday morning, then, the fog will lift quite readily away. a lot of dry settled weather for most of us on sunday. that rain down towards the southwest could still be a bit of a nuisance here, and temperatures generally between 10—14 celsius once again. now, as we move out of sunday into monday is when we start to see the potential for another spell of wet weather, as the low drifts its way eastwards once again and bring some rain for england and wales. not looking too bad — the best of the sunshine, perhaps through northern ireland and western scotland. more cloud coming in off the north sea, and the rain will be quite showery from time to time across england and wales.
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but, as a result of the change of wind direction, here a little cooler on those exposed east coast — 9—10 celsius, perhaps highest values of 12 celsius. and then, as we move out of monday into tuesday, low pressure is set to dominate the weather story — you can see the next system waiting in the wings. and so, as we go through the week ahead, we'll see some showers or longer spells of rain from time to time.
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live from london, this is bbc news. sirjeffrey donaldson, leader of northern ireland's democratic unionist party resigns. he has been charged with rape
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and other historical sexual offences. he will strenuously contest the charges. counter—terrorism police in london investigate the stabbing of pouria zeraati, a presenterfor a london—based persian—language television news channel critical of the iranian authorities. and pop star 0lly alexander, who will represent the uk at this year's eurovision song contest, has rejected calls to boycott the competition in protest against israel's inclusion. hello. i'm rich preston. welcome to the programme. it's good to have your company. politics in northern ireland have been thrown into turmoil following the news that the leader of the democratic unionist party, sirjeffrey donaldson, has resigned after being charged with rape and other historical sexual
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offences.

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