What you got going on here? Ham, egg and chips?
Great British food.
As a chef, food is my life.
Lovely.
Don't try that at home!
But as far as my mate Len goes, we're on a different planet.
My rules are this -
never eat anything you can't spell
and never eat anything you wouldn't want to step in.
This is the chicken's feet.
- Chicken's feet? - That's right.
No.
I've travelled the world
but never had the courage to experience new cuisines,
and always stuck with what I know.
- Look, what's your favourites there? - Chips. - Chips!
- But after using a pancake once to wipe my face... - What is he like?
- ..my family decided enough was enough. - Yes!
And that my taste buds needed to be brought into the 21st century.
Hot.
There's a lot more to this culinary world of ours than pickled walnuts.
It's time for me to show Len a whole new culinary world...
- I'm going to do it. - ..that will make his palate purr.
You're not talking food adventure?
Food adventure indeed.
What's that I see? Is it a tandoori chicken?
THEY LAUGH
I liked it.
And that's all I need to know.
For the last decade I've been a judge on Strictly Come Dancing.
London born and bred 71 years ago,
my taste buds have been influenced by my nan's cooking.
I've never eaten spaghetti, had a curry, and even pizza,
well, it looks a bit exotic.
I was also born and brought up in London,
but as a chef, my palate has experienced and travelled
to every part of the globe.
Over the last 20 years, there's been a food explosion across Britain
and now, no matter what you desire, every cuisine is catered for.
For me, I have ten favourites that are never far away
from the table at home.
And my perfect dinner?
Well, prawn cocktail to start,
full English breakfast,
oh, and a jam roly-poly.
Oh, it's food heaven!
My mission during our time together is to educate his taste buds
and see if I can replace anything on the Ten from Len board
and show him that there is more to life
than a prawn cocktail from 1976.
Today, the kitchen hasn't had to travel too far
as our food tour has pitched up in the heart of England's capital city.
It's London, and on today's menu...
I get my tongue around a treat from the East.
- It looks like it's going to be crunchy. - It shocks you.
You think, "I'm going to crunch on this," but you can't.
Ainsley cooks up one of my favourite things.
- What's your favourites there? - Chips. - Chips!
I'll dish up dinner for the London locals.
Lenny boy, you're in for a bit of a treat.
Like a little baby boat.
And I'll get to shake my thing and there's not a twerk in sight.
Wahey!
- Oh, Len, Central London. - Can't beat it, eh? - I'll tell you what.
So what was it like when you used to come up here?
- Because, originally, you were born in Bethnal Green. - East London. - Yeah.
- Yeah, did you ever get up to the West End? - Up West?
Oh, yeah. Do you know what was funny? My parents and my grandparents never.
- Oh, going up the West End. It never happened. - Was it too posh?
It was too posh.
And that's what's amazing about how society has changed, you know?
People are coming to the West End and going to restaurants
and going to the posh hotels for dinner.
- Sure. - It never would've happened back in those days.
Of course. And there's a vibrancy about it.
We know about the sort of cultural mix,
everywhere you look there is people from every nationality here.
I've been around,
not as much as you, but it's the best city I've ever been in.
And in Len's favourite city, we're starting today's menu
on one of Britain's oldest roads
and with a cuisine that I'm sure he's never tried
but one this country has loved for years.
It's Middle Eastern.
Edgware Road dates back to Roman times and stretches from here
in Marble Arch to the London Borough of Barnet
in the north of the capital.
Arabic communities began settling here in the 19th century
due to the trade links between the British and Ottoman empires.
But it was in the 1970s that a large influx began,
influenced by the Gulf oil boom
and civil unrest in countries such as Iran, Algeria and Lebanon.
According to the last census,
there are now over 11,000 Lebanese-born people living in London,
so it's time Len had a taste of what this community has to offer.
Central London, Edgware Road. Any memories of going down there, Len?
Of course. I've walked the length of it.
- What's great with London is there's little communities. - Totally.
And along the Edgware Road, it's all the Lebanese, Middle Eastern.
And you see all the old boys out with the big hubble bubble things, you know?
- Lovely. Lovely. - Puffing away. Yeah.
- You probably think you're not in Central London? - Well, you would.
Naturally, I've never been in one of the restaurants, obviously.
- I'm about to change that, Len. - Oh, no.
To be honest, this one does scare me a bit.
It's part of the food world I really have absolutely no idea about.
Knowing Len's conservative taste buds,
I'm not surprised he's never been through the doors
of one of these authentic Middle Eastern restaurants,
but it's about time he had a go.
- Hello. - Hello, sir, how are you?
This traditional Lebanese restaurant was founded by the Eid family.
- Nice to see you. Nice to meet you. - Very good indeed.
Well, Len's with manager Sema to start his Lebanese food education,
so I'm heading into the kitchen to see what kind of dishes
the team can cook up for him.
The first dish on offer looks like a win-win situation here.
A Lebanese version of one of Len's favourites - roast chicken.
And what goes into it?
There is carrots, leek, onion and celery and cinnamon sticks.
And it just looks so good, doesn't it, chef?
There is so much going on here.
Is this from one particular region of Lebanon or everywhere?
- Everywhere in Lebanon. - Yeah? - Yes. - Just a classic dish.
- It's traditional. It's classic. - OK. Let's get this in the oven.
OK.
Sema, I've been coming along the Edgware Road for 50 or 60 years,
and I always remember that there's always been quite
a Middle Eastern influence along here.
- How long have you been here? - We opened in 1995.
- 20 years now and there is big competition. - Of course.
Next, the chefs are upping the ante
with a classic Lebanese lamb and rice dish.
- I've fried the onion. - Yeah.
Chopped onion. We fry it all together.
I'm going to put in spices.
- Cinnamon. - Yeah. - Cinnamon.
- A little bit seven spices. - Ah, let me smell.
- There is seven spices? - Yes, seven spices.
And coriander. And there is pepper.
Yeah. OK, that's cooked down.
And how long will you cook this for,
the mince, chef, before you put the rice in?
Before we put the rice, about ten minutes.
I've never had Lebanese cuisine.
So, what are the traditional dishes that you can expect to get?
We have a big selection.
We have like a starter, we have the main course, we have the soup,
we have the salads, we have the meat grilled,
the chicken grilled. It's more healthy, healthy food.
Now I've got to ask you something else.
You have here, it's a big piece of meat on a big skewer
and it goes round?
- This is a shawarma. - This is a shawarma? - Shawarma.
- And they carve it off? - We have the lamb and we have the chicken.
- Really? - Yeah. We have the lamb by itself and the chicken.
Sometimes the customer likes to have, to taste both of them.
- We can mix. - Yeah. - Lamb and chicken in a same sandwich.
I suppose you'd call that a Licken? SHE LAUGHS
What's he like?
To go with the shawarma and other meat dishes,
the restaurant serves up Lebanese specialities such as hummus,
flatbread and side salads like pickled vegetables and tabbouleh -
a traditional salad made with bulgur wheat, tomatoes, lemon juice
and plenty of parsley.
Look how much parsley he is chopping up over here!
I've never seen so much parsley.
If I showed that to Len, he'll think I've been cutting the grass.
Chef is also preparing a vegetable side dish,
which I think is an acquired taste.
What's going on in this pot here, chef?
Yeah, I've put olive oil, put chopped onions. I will fry it.
When I fry it, I will put garlic.
To this he is going to add okra,
a green vegetable commonly found in Middle Eastern, Asian and African cooking.
It has a delicate flavour so it's often cooked with herbs
and spices to give it a bit of a kick.
- What happens next, chef? - We add coriander.
You put the coriander in there, fresh coriander?
Yes, fresh coriander.
Ah, look. Coriander in there now
and, of course, some vibrant colour in there already.
I don't think he's ever tried ladies' fingers or okra before.
Nah, definitely not.
I'm a little nervous with this one and how he might react,
but he's here to be challenged, so this could go either way.
All right, chef, I can't take too many.
I'm not a full-time waiter, you know?
Oh!
Wow, I never expected such a spread of colour, wonderful smells,
and what a selection!
What I'm going to do, I'm not messing about. I'm going to try this.
- Look at that. - Oh, beautiful. OK, and that mince.
This rice has got the lamb mince cooked down in it,
which I just absolutely adore.
- Minced meat? Yeah. Lamb mince. - Now, look, that's tender.
Now, wait.
- Nice? - Nice. I like this dish.
The chicken is delicious.
It's moist, you know? It's moist.
- Slow-cooked. - And it's flavoursome.
You should see how many spices went in there.
How many, about 15 different spices, chef?
I'm not a big punter for rice, but I must say, this is nice.
OK, Len, so we're off to a good start,
but the next dish is the one that gives me the okra wobbles.
Yeah, what exactly is okra?
Okra is a type of vegetable you grow up in a plant.
And this is cooked down in tomato sauce.
Slightly unusual texture.
Here goes.
Become a little bit sort of slimy, really,
if it's cooked down, a little bit sticky,
but it's got its own unique character.
- Not too bad, is it? - No.
It looks like it's going to be crunchy.
It shocks you. You think, "I'm going to crunch on this," but you can't.
- OK. Not your favourite. I can see that. - No... I didn't...
I've seen that facial expression before.
- That is very traditional for Lebanon? - Yes. Yes.
- So, I thought it was going to be like a gherkin. - Yeah, yeah.
And it's not.
Well, I gave it a go, Ains, but that one's not for me, I'm afraid.
The strange combination of the taste and texture,
well, it just didn't sit right.
Thank you very much indeed.
Len, well done, you.
Well, you can't like everything.
A new experience.
A Lebanese experience that you'll never forget.
All the best.
- Saha. - Saha.
Oh, yes! This is definitely more up my street
and a great way to round off a traditional meal.
A bit of classic Lebanese entertainment.
Oh, look out!
- Ainsley, you can do that. - I'm going to have a go.
Get up there!
It doesn't take much to get the big man up.
And I tell you, he's good at baking
and he's pretty good at shaking as well.
- And when you're ready. - Go on.
Do you know, I reckon he's trying to audition for something.
Seriously, Ains, don't give up your day job!
I thought we were friends!
Well, OK, you get a 7!
From dear old Len.
Oh, thanks, Len.
Audition over, but I've got to say, I think I enjoyed the food
a bit more than your dancing.
Harsh but probably true.
Hey, what an experience that was.
- That girl had wonderful coordination. - Yeah, absolutely.
And isolation. She could isolate her hips from her shoulders and so on.
I was actually looking at the chicken and rice
and the beautiful tabbouleh and, of course, the ladies' fingers,
or the okra, with the tomato sauce myself.
Yes, now the okra, it was too pulpy, you know?
It's a very acquired taste. People either like it or dislike it.
Sometimes you can cook it very quick and keep it quite crispy and crunchy.
- I prefer it like that. - Chicken's chicken and I like chicken,
- so I liked the chicken. - OK.
What about all the spices that went with it?
- Was that delicate enough for you? - Yes, it was quite nice.
Yeah, it wasn't overpowering. It wasn't burning.
- It was very, very nice. - OK. - So, the salad was very nice.
It had a nice little sort of parsley flavour going through it a bit, I think?
Well, there was a tonne of parsley in it, so I'm not surprised, Len.
- Well, there you are! I liked it. - And that's all I need to know.
Come on, let's go.
So, a great start for London and for Lebanese food.
The next stop on our Central London food tour
is something a bit closer to Len's heart.
A couple of miles north up the Edgware Road is what
looks like a classic British pub, but not all is as it seems.
- Do you know what, Len? - What?
This place just might bring back one or two childhood memories.
Whoa-ho!
Parlour, run by chef-owner Jesse Dunford Wood,
offers the punters traditional pub grub
alongside their take on quirky nostalgic favourites.
But they're getting a reputation for some very unusual desserts.
- What about your sweet tooth, Len? Do you have a...? - Oh, yes.
- Yeah? - Yes, I do.
- I like the traditional stodgy English puds, really. - OK.
Spotted dick, jam roly-poly, rice pudding.
These are my foods.
These are what I like.
Well, to help keep Len sweet,
owner Jesse has prepared his signature Arctic rolls
and I'm hoping the unusual flavours will knock Len's socks off.
This one is classic flavour -
vanilla ice cream, raspberry jam and sponge.
- Beautiful. - But we got bored of doing that,
so we did my wife's favourite, cherry bakewell,
my son's favourite bedtime drink, which is Horlicks,
and my father's favourite, summer pudding.
And if that's not enough, there's a couple of other nostalgic treats.
These are salted caramel rolos
with 100% chocolate on the outside.
And this one is a marshmallow wagon wheel,
that in some countries they call a s'more,
because they just like eating s'more and s'more and s'more.
- What we do with this one... - Hello. - ..is blowtorch it.
You're not going to weld it to the table?
No, we're going to weld it to the other side.
So we've got toasted marshmallows, chocolate and biscuits.
And squash the bottom on the top or the top on the bottom,
depending on how you get on.
- Thank you very much. - You've certainly set up. Jesse, this is amazing.
Come on, Len. Shake that napkin, let's get eating.
I don't need to be told twice.
Oh, this is more like it!
- So, Len, shall we start off with the Arctic roll? - I think we ought.
What Len doesn't know is that this popular childhood dessert
is anything but British.
I know you know, Len, here's me taking you down memory lane,
a couple of British classics, but, in fact,
the Arctic roll is not British at all.
- It was invented by a Czechoslovakian. - Never!
I'm telling you. So, you go on about wanting something
classically British - it's not necessarily classically British.
So long as it tastes good,
I don't mind where in the world it comes from.
Well, you've got ice cream, haven't you, here? Nice and cold.
And then, of course, wrapped around it
you've got different little...
You've got that sponge.
- That's lovely. - Colourful. - Oh, yeah.
Oh, that's lovely.
Shall we have a go at this?
You'd better cut that.
Wagon Wheels have been a British lunchbox favourite for years
but were, in fact, invented by the Australians.
And serving as a s'more with toasted marshmallows
is distinctly American.
You're going to hate me, Ainsley,
but I wasn't a big fan of the Wagon Wheel for some reason.
- I can understand that. - Now, what have we got here?
Salted caramel.
Oh, yeah, what a treat.
So, out of these, the classic, the...
- Horlicks. - Horlicks.
And the... We got the summer pudding, didn't we?
Summer pudding. And the cherry bakewell.
What's your favourite?
Erm, I think I'm going to go for the Horlicks, actually.
- Cherry bakewell for me. - Cherry bakewell for you? - Yeah.
- Well, cheers, mate. - Cheers.
From one cherry bakewell to a Horlicks.
There you are.
- Nice. I love a pudding. - Lovely.
I feel like a little kid now, don't you?
Feel it coming in there.
Like this pub, this area of London is full of innovative people
producing food that is surprising and unexpected.
Just six miles away at Cobble Lane Cured,
butcher Matt Hill and his team have turned smoking and curing
free-range British meat into something of a speciality.
The methods of curing meat originated from preserving meats
and getting them to last much longer
from times when refrigeration wasn't available.
And now it's something which is used as a way to really develop flavours
and really make unique-flavoured products.
The team make traditional smoked and air-dried meats,
which are more commonly produced in places like Italy and Spain.
Unlike mine, the British palate has become more sophisticated
and there's a high demand for this type of stuff.
When they first started, Matt and the team wanted to take
production skills and techniques that aren't commonly linked
with Britain, so they began by making salamis,
Polish sausages and German frankfurters.
- Oh, I love a hot dog, Ains. - Yeah, where's the mustard, Len?
Anyway, as the business developed, the guys here moved into making
beautiful products like pancetta, bresaola
and coppa meats, which take slightly more time to prepare.
We wanted to take British meat.
We wanted to turn it into something really special,
something really unique and something really value added
from using the amazing produce we have available to us in England.
If you start with a really good meat,
you're going to have a much better finished product.
We make four, five different salamis. We also make a pepperoni.
We make it with 50% beef hearts and 50% pork bellies and pork jowls.
Then, we also smoke that over oak-wood chip,
so it makes an amazing pizza topping.
Without using any chemicals to artificially speed up the process,
the team prides itself on producing small batch meats
to maintain the highest quality.
This is our lomo.
This has been in cure in salt just for two weeks now.
So at this stage, the salt, the herbs
and everything sort of penetrated,
changed the texture of the meat to produce a cured cut.
Similar to bacon or gammon or ham or something like that.
And it's really formed now, it's not quite like raw meat.
What's going on there, then, Ainsley?
So, the net is to hold the muscle all in shape, really.
It's going to support it whilst it's hanging up maturing.
The meats go through a two-stage maturation process
before they are ready for the hungry British public.
So, over here is our main maturation room.
All the products will go in here until they are shelf stable,
ready to eat. We have salamis, coppa, bresaola, pancetta, 'nduja.
We have amazing coppas hanging all around the ceiling.
Basically, everything we make will go through here
and it will be in here from between four weeks
to, sort of, three months, really.
It's a brilliant way for farmers and small production,
sort of, meat process, to really make
a higher value product from their meat.
And I think that's sort of what is really pushing this growth
of British charcuterie, which is absolutely brilliant.
Over 100 different languages are spoken in London
and this is reflected in its multicultural food scene.
One of the latest success stories
and one I can't wait for Len to try is Peruvian food.
Here we are in the middle of Central London, in Soho,
and I'm talking to you about Peruvian food.
- What does it mean to you? - Nothing.
- Nothing at all? - Nothing at all.
- Peruvian food, I would not have a clue what it involves at all. - Yeah.
I know llamas come from there.
- I hope we're not having a llama shank or something? - No, no, no, no.
I wouldn't put you through that, but have you ever been there?
Never been to South America. Always wanted to. Never got round to it.
I know where it is though, Peru. It's down that west coast.
- Absolutely. - So I'm imagining it's right by the sea.
There might be some nice fish?
That's the excitement of being with me, isn't it?
It is exciting and I'm hoping it's going to be a joyful experience.
So do I, Len.
- Looking forward to it. - Come on, then, mate.
Ceviche restaurant is in the heart of Soho.
You can't beat that. Here we are.
- Is this it? - Like its location, it's busy and vibrant,
serving up Peruvian specialties that I'm hoping Len will love.
- Hey. - How are you? Welcome. Bienvenidos.
- Martin, how are you? - Pleasure. - Thank you.
- I'm off to your kitchen. Look after him. - We will, yes.
Apparently, owner Martin Morales used to be a DJ,
but gave it all up to go back to his Peruvian roots,
opening his restaurant in 2012.
And as Ainsley heads to the kitchen,
I'm keen to learn a bit more about this grub.
I've never been in a Peruvian restaurant.
Is there many of them in London or throughout Great Britain?
So Peruvian cuisine is going through a bit of an explosion, you know.
It's the beginning of people discovering our cuisine,
which is really exciting.
So, we're on the west coast of South America.
We're a large country, four times the size of France.
- Oh, really? - And we have the coast.
We have the Andes and we have the Amazon.
Two thirds of our country is Amazon rainforest.
So we have so much variety in ingredients
and so many different flavours,
which is what makes Peruvian food so special.
In the kitchen, chef Daniel Ribero
is knocking up a classic Peruvian dish -
lomo saltado.
Tell me what goes into it, chef?
So we're going to use some fillet steak, like 3-4cm size.
And would you always have to use this steak, chef?
- Always fillet steak? - No, you can use sirloin steak.
You can use rump steak but it always needs to be a soft meat.
It cannot be, like, really tough,
because we cook really, really quick on the wok.
- OK. Let's have a look. - Then we add some of the soya sauce. - Yeah.
- Beautiful. - And red wine vinegar.
Just a splash.
- And then we go for the Worcester sauce. - OK, yeah.
Really, really, just a little, tiny, just to make more flavour.
OK, and you put spices...?
Some of the ground cumin. Don't need to put...
Just a little pinch, and dried oregano.
Wow. Lots of lovely flavours.
We're going to add a little bit of garlic.
- OK, shall I chop that up for you, chef? - Yes, please.
The steak needs to marinate for about four hours.
I'm going to prepare to you Peru's national dish.
It's called a ceviche.
- It's a 7,000-year-old dish. - Oh, blimey.
It comes from real deep tradition of our ancestors
that were fisherman, and they cured fish by the seaside to preserve it.
And nowadays, we make it in a second. So it's really, really fresh.
What does ceviche mean?
Ceviche comes from the word "siwichi,"
which is Quechua,
a very ancient indigenous word
meaning pickling and marinating fish.
You can use any fish you want.
- Right. - And also vegetables.
It can be a vegetarian ceviche as well.
Ah, right, well, that sounds interesting.
Back in the kitchen and this Peruvian speciality
is going to be cooked with onions, chillies and tomatoes. Oh!
Add some oil in the wok.
It's already smoking so it's really hot,
and we are going to saute the meat.
And then we go with the pisco.
Just to flambe the meat.
Pisco is the national drink of Peru and it is made from grapes.
- And then we are going to add some onions. - OK.
- And the marination. - I can smell all those lovely flavours.
I can smell, especially the cumin.
It adds a real pungency, doesn't it?
It just comes out of the pan straight away.
Now we're going to add the tomato.
And the chilli.
Three, four minutes and it's ready.
We can switch off and let the meat rest a little bit in the sauce.
For once, it's not just Ainsley who's doing the cooking, I'm cooking too!
Well, sort of.
So you've just filleted that, have you?
- Yeah, I've just taken out the... - Backbone or whatever.
..the spine there and I'm just cutting this into chunks.
This is sea bass.
- It's sea bass? - Oh, yeah, this is the best.
Oh, yum-yum, pig's bum. I never knew it was sea bass.
I thought, "Hello!" Oh, good.
- That's right. - What you going to do with that?
This is a magic little sauce. This is called tiger's milk.
Oh!
- There's no tigers. - No. - And there's no milk. - No milk.
But there is lime juice, freshly squeezed lime juice.
There is Amarillo chilli and we make a paste out of that.
Amarillo chilli is a native Peruvian chilli.
The minute that hits the fish, it's going to start cooking.
Martin then adds salt, red onions and sweet potato.
And then, this is a little cheeky one.
This is Limo chilli.
Limo chilli is a spicy, again native ingredient from Peru,
but it adds a little bit of colour.
As the dish is finished off, it may look beautiful,
but I'm still a bit unsure about raw fish.
So, basically, though, this is a raw sea bass?
Yeah, kind of, but then, it is also quite cooked,
because the sea bass is being cooked by the lime juice
and the chilli and the salt.
Oh-ho!
Ainsley! I tell you what, he can't half talk.
- Wow, chef, that's ready to go now? - Now it's ready.
It's rested a little bit so the meat should be fine.
- And we are going to serve with some chips. - Chips?!
You know how to win him over, don't you?
Daniel, muchas gracias.
- Chef. - Len is going to be so happy.
- Thank you, Daniel. - Adios.
Well, steak and chips is definitely one of Len's favourites,
but will it cut the mustard Peru-style?
Ah, look out, here he comes.
- Thank heavens. - Here you are. Lomo saltado.
- That's it! - I really have got a treat for you there, mate.
- Look, what's your favourites there? - Chips. - Chips!
- Oh, that is tender. That is... - That is beautiful.
This is going... This is good.
- I hope so. - No, Martin, you've done well.
It's nice because it's not just plain fillet steak.
It's got some stuff going on.
It's got its own identity going on, innit, Len?
Yes, it has. You know, when I thought it was Peruvian,
I was thinking, because Paddington Bear comes from Peru, you know?
I thought, "Uh-oh, we're going to have teddy bear now."
- This is lovely though, I must say. - Isn't it lovely?
- And the jollop. - Yeah. The jollop is the sauce. - Oh, right.
Yeah, I love that.
See, I'd never order medium rare.
- But what a taste! - But you get the flavour. - That's right.
- Absolutely. - Yeah.
See, every experience that we go through, Len,
is going to reward you in some way and that's what I want to do.
I don't only want to teach you about different cuisines,
it's about cooking methods and appreciation of it
- and you loving it. - This is lovely jubbly.
That's one Peruvian mountain climbed but what about the ceviche?
This is the real test.
- It's nice. - I told you. - It is nice.
- I told you. - But I must say, this is very, very tasty.
It's got a nice sort of sharpness to it,
a little afterburn going on there.
It doesn't feel that you are eating anything raw at all?
No, it doesn't taste raw.
You know, if this was on a table and there's this and that,
I wouldn't turn my nose up at that.
- In fact, I'll have one more little go at it if you like. - There you go.
- This is great. I think we're getting somewhere. - I'm telling you.
I think we're getting somewhere.
This is what the whole experience here is about.
- Cheers. - Muchas gracias.
- Salud. - Salud.
Wasn't that good?
I've got to say, Len, we just walked out of that restaurant
and there was a little bit of a spring in your step?
Well, I never expected steak and chips.
I know it was posh but it was steak and chips.
- What a beautiful meat though, eh? - Beautiful meat. Delicious.
- The other thing, the raw fish. - The ceviche.
- I had a couple of goes at it, didn't I? - You certainly did.
I didn't just ignore it. It was all right.
It had quite a nice sort of taste to it. Yeah, I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the experience far better, you know.
When you said it's Peruvian, I thought, "Uh-oh, here we go."
- But far better than I thought. - And I'm so glad that you did.
Onwards and upwards.
I'll take that as a surprise success.
Who would have thought I'd get Len Goodman eating raw cured fish?
I'm thrilled that he's enjoyed the eclectic world cuisine
that Central London has to offer, but I've got one last treat
for his taste buds and this time I'm in the kitchen.
I want to remind Len of that awesome belly dancing from earlier today,
so I'm sticking with the Middle Eastern theme
and the restaurant classic, chicken shawarma.
I'm thinking, can I do that at home? Can we do it at home?
You bet you can. That's exactly what I'm going to do now for you.
Now, I'm going to be starting off with my lovely spices here.
Some of them are quite warm, some of them are a little bit peppery,
if you like. So we've got allspice there, we've got hot paprika,
we've got white pepper.
Little bit of cinnamon going on for a touch of sweetness
and to really capture that flavour of the Middle East.
We've got the salt and, of course, we've got the cumin.
All of this goes into our glass bowl.
Then, the couple of cloves of garlic straight in there. All chopped up.
In with our lemon juice.
The spicy mixture is going to be a rub for the chicken.
That's it, lovely.
All I need now is olive oil to finish.
Just blend those flavours together.
Combine all those flavours.
Lovely. In you go.
I'm using tender chicken thighs and breast.
Lovely.
And just mix that around.
Other spices like cardamom work really well.
Going to pop them into my ovenproof dish. There they go.
Keep them nice and plump.
And we're just going to pop that into our oven.
Yeah, set your oven at about 180 degrees.
That will be fine.
All right, let's leave that cooking for about 12 or 15 minutes.
Now I'm going to prepare a delicious crunchy salad
and, of course, some pitta bread to go with our chicken.
First, it's colourful, crunchy red cabbage.
Literally, all you've got to do is slice it up fine
so it fits inside your pitta bread.
Onion. Slice up your onion nice and thin.
Lovely.
Finally, mix in the lettuce and parsley.
That's what you're looking for. Can you see that?
Nothing really overpowers those little flecks of red cabbage
interspersed between the lettuce, the parsley
and, of course, the white onion.
Now, let's get that succulent chicken out of the oven, shall we?
Lovely. OK.
Ah, that's gorgeous. Just want that to cool down now.
You can still see it's really lovely and succulent and soft
and I can shred that up afterwards.
Now, I've got some sesame seed paste, or tahini,
which I'm going to turn into a lovely dressing.
And I'm going to put a little bit of garlic in there.
I'm just going to chop this up quite fine.
All right, once again, if you wanted to use a bit of garlic paste
or something like that, you can quite easily do that.
Into the tahini.
Just add a little bit of lemon juice to that.
Not too much.
One of the reasons I say this, of course, is because
when you put the lemon juice into the tahini, it actually thickens it.
That's a really good reaction, so a little bit of oil going in there.
Don't be frightened of that.
Bring that down a little bit.
And that's lovely.
We're going to drizzle that over our lovely salad
and more importantly our succulent shawarma chicken.
Take the cooled chicken and chop it into medium-sized chunks,
because it's going to be fried off in our pan.
All right, then.
First of all, start off with a little bit of oil into your pan.
OK, and then, in with our meat.
Right, and we're just going to saute that off now,
giving it a little bit of crispiness, because that's what
you want to taste when you bite into your pitta bread.
That's all coming together now.
Wonderfully succulent. Beautiful.
Pop that on there. And don't forget, guys,
some of those lovely juices we've got here, all right?
We're going to pour some of those into there.
That lovely hot pan.
Just going to warm that pitta bread through a little bit.
You can use a frying pan, you can put it in the oven,
you can put it in your toaster - you can do what you want.
Just to warm it through a little bit.
And that is it. Can you see that?
I've got a little bit of crispy crunchiness going on there now.
Look at those lovely little bits. Oh, that's hot.
But really you can see what I'm getting at there.
Come on then, let's make this sandwich.
Starting with the salad.
Pile that in.
Oh, all those lovely crispy pieces of shawarma chicken.
Oh, drizzle that dressing on top. Oh, tahini!
All right. You can open that up a little bit more.
Just maybe a little bit more salad on the top there.
All right. I'm just going to chop that in half,
because I think that Len needs to see what he's eating.
Look at that. Absolutely lovely.
Gorgeous.
Lenny boy.
You're in for a bit of a treat.
Well, I can't resist it!
One chicken shawarma for Len Goodman!
Chicken shawarma?
You love that name, don't you? Chicken shawarma.
- Look at that, Len. - What's going on?
Well, we've got some beautiful chicken there,
and what I've done is I've spiced it and I've sort of oven-baked it first
and I've taken it, we've got bits of chicken breast
and we've also got chicken thighs, fillet chicken thighs.
Then, I've taken it out the oven, shredded it up,
put it into a pan and sauteed it again,
so you get that lovely shawarma effect, which you get
in Lebanese restaurants.
Very simple salad. That's it.
Now you can have a little bit of peppery sauce, if you like?
- No, let me have one go au natural. - OK.
- And I'll give you a... Yeah. - Yeah.
- Very, very pleasant. - Yeah?
- Do you like that? - I do. It's pleasant.
Give us a bit of that pepper sauce, then. No, don't go bonkers!
I won't go bonkers, Len. Look, it's going to come out very, very gentle.
Look at this. There you go. Look. There you go. That's the idea.
- You just have a little bit. - OK, don't go mad. - OK. - Ready?
Yeah. Yeah.
- Oh, yeah, it's nice. Peppery. - Is that nice?
It's peppery, right?
It's peppery and you put it in your mouth and liked it!
And you know what that means, Len? That means a little bit of dancing.
- Oh, yes! - Little bit of dancing!
Oh, dear.
Ainsley, I'll tell you what, you get in this little contraption
and you cook up some wonderful food.
Ah, lovely. I'm glad you like it, Len.
As a chef, you mustn't get your hands dirty, so well...
Well done!
You've been hanging around in South London too long, you have.
All right, roll up, roll up, roll up, Londoners.
You've got an absolute fabulous treat.
Come and get your chicken shawarma courtesy of Len Goodman and Co.
- You ready for this, Len? - Yeah, sure. - Let's get going.
Watch out, Len's about.
Chicken shawarma. Now, come forward, madam.
- Take one of those little boatloads. - Thank you.
- And have a go at that. - I hope they're going to like it.
- Senor. Please. - Cheers, Len. - You're welcome.
- You're going to have a go? - Yes.
- Thank you. - Now, hold on, let me just ask this lady.
What do you think? Is it too hot and spicy or...?
- No, it's just how I like it. - It's just how you like it.
- And this man knows a thing or two. Here you are. - Thank you.
- What do you reckon? - Delicious. I like the cilantro effect on it.
- The what? - The cilantro. What do you call it?
- Coriander. - Coriander. Yeah.
- Where you from? - Puerto Rico.
- Yes. - What do you reckon?
Gorgeous. Again and again.
Yeah? Where you from?
I'm from Italy.
- And the Italians know a thing or two about food. - Yeah, yeah.
Ladies.
Yey.
All right, girls?
I think it's delicious. Absolutely beautiful.
Nice little sort of... Nicely packaged, isn't it?
- It's very nice. - Not too hot and spicy for you?
- I like hot and spicy. - Right.
- What's it like? - It's really nice.
- Is it really? - Yeah.
Do you like the different textures that are going on in there?
Yeah, it's not too spicy. Yeah, it's really fresh.
It's just been prepared.
Does it remind you of anything or anywhere or...?
What food would you think that is? Where does it come from?
- Chicken shawarma? - Like the Middle East or Turkey?
Yes! Give this girl a clap.
Middle East. Last two.
Thank you very much.
- Not overpowering. - I like the presentation.
Isn't it lovely, all in its own little package?
- Like a little baby boat. - It is a baby boat of joyfulness.
Go on.
I'll give it a 7!
There you are. My first 7.
Now I want a 7 from Len now. What do you think?
10. 10?
Ainsley, you've got a 10 for Len.
A 10? Are you joking?
The most I've ever had from you was a 9.5. 10!
- Well? - I'll tell you what, London has got so much to offer, hasn't it?
- It's incredible. Have you enjoyed it, Len? - It's all been great.
Yeah.
We've had a taste of the world today from the comfort of the capital.
From getting hot under the collar with Lebanese delights...
Here it goes.
- Not too bad, is it? - No.
- It looks like it's going to be crunchy. - It shocks you.
You think, "I'm going to crunch on this," but you can't.
..to cool Peruvian specialities.
- It's nice. - I told you.
Will any of today's dishes make it into Len's Top Ten?
While I'm proud of myself for trying raw fish,
it wasn't my favourite dish of the day.
- This is lovely though, I must say. - Isn't it lovely?
- And the jollop. - Yeah.
The delicious flavours of that steak means that I'm going
to stick my neck on the line today
and Peruvian steak and chips replaces the good old British version.
You know, what I love is the expectation.
You go into a totally different environment,
food that I've never tried before, and there's that anticipation.
- Will I like it? Will it be... You know? - Yeah. - It's great. - Yeah.
Surprise, surprise. I'm proud of you too, Len.
I'll make a foodie of you yet.