The Best of The Mountains of Morocco | Part One | Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted

i'm in morocco north africa to discover

the hidden colony secrets of this

incredible country

i've always loved moroccan food because

every bite is steeped in history over

the centuries the arabs spanish ottomans

and french have all left their mark on

the cuisine of the indigenous berber

people

my journey of discovery begins in fez

northwest morocco

the country's culinary capital located

on the edge of the middle atlas

mountains

the medina affairs is one of the oldest

ward cities in the world

it feels like i've been transported back

in time

incredible and beautiful and confusing

all the same freaking time

man so

this place is like a labyrinth

this is crazy there's over 9 000

alleyways and i think i've been down

every one the most confusing maze ever

i'm supposed to be meeting one of

morocco's finest chefs

najib canaan

i am lost but finding our rendezvous

points is proving trickier than i

expected

okay i'm pretty sure this is the spot

oh my god how are you

is one of a small band of pioneering

female chefs changing the face of

moroccan cuisine

after earning her stripes had a string

of michigan-style establishments across

europe and america

her own restaurant in the heart of the

medina is already gaining quite a

reputation the first thing i thought

about what would it be like to have a

restaurant here with all this product on

your doorstep look at all these faces

it's local this is what people eat do

you ever get lost down here eh you get

lost even if you live in here you get

lost it is it is chinese it is

i get lost and i used to walk in this

medina barefoot so imagine a bathroom

barefoot uh it's so nice to meet you

thank you now i'm dying to get really

underneath this incredible oasis thank

you very much can you lead the way cause

i'm useless okay straight up my god

thank you

this place is crazy

tells me this has been a food market

since the 9th century

[Music]

this is the flavors of morocco wow like

here just the colors the colors try this

one thank you

you know

cheerless

are you too whitey for hotness i

understand

i'm too white for hotness did you just

say that to me yes because i just gave

you a chili that is very hot oh you know

yeah

let's focus on this yeah

delicious

pretty good thank you amazing

look look at this man

you like to sweet french way and what is

that this is the they are

our butter i need you to smell

bloody hell

this woman oh you know the french people

think that i invented pillow yes i've

made filo but that's not feeling that i

know there's no philo this is worker

okay right okay it looks like my

grandma's curtains

uh so is it flour and water you're

hilarious this is water and flour

that is beautiful

i think you should go inside and try try

that yes

and

i'm going to correct you because i i'm

allowed to do that today

would you tell her i'm a cook in english

because you look at me like i'm an idiot

manga

you have to stretch it without brushing

bravo she says

it's so wonderful to see you do this

yes when najib finally stops laughing at

me i managed to finish my pastry

yeah may i stretch it and bring it in

here yeah

let's go

wow

mr gordon mate

so now hello now you have to be careful

when it cooks you gotta bring it up

take it

up a little bit

thank you so much so easy please i won't

say easy

book

man it's a lot harder than it looks let

me tell you i'm not very good at being

crap at doing something so i felt a

little bit awkward that was difficult

well not difficult it's all about

practice chef nadjet is a little

firecracker that's how feisty she is

look at this view come on

it doesn't get any better than that

the jazz arranged for her mushroom

hunters to meet me

she said that these guys are secretive

so secretive that they've got special

ways to get you to locations of these

mushrooms

the jet's been a bit coy about what

she's set up but she's told me to expect

quite an adventure

the air conditions working here

just checking the brakes are working

bonjour

my first surprise comes when my guide

starts looking to harness me up but

where are the mushrooms

the mushrooms are where from here

[Music]

hola

you are kidding me

crazy

there must be an easier way to get to

these mushrooms

the name is gordon james yeah pat james

bond

i just want to pick mushrooms but

apparently this is the jats idea of a

good time listen i love mushrooms this

is insane

all this for mushroom

it better be delicious

look at that

holy

oh man

seriously

i'm a big adventurer i love mushrooms

but that's the scariest descent i've

ever done for a mushroom but i loved it

as soon as i got down to the bottom i

wanted to go back up to the top and come

back down

bonjour

okay where are the mushrooms i will show

you where the mushrooms are let me come

back

okay

[Music]

these mushrooms better taste delicious

yeah good good

yeah

how are you i'm the king of the

mushrooms you're the king of the

mushrooms where are the bloody mushrooms

let's go right now let's go

i doubt anyone's following us

abdullah is chef najet's main mushroom

supplier he and his men have spent the

last few days foraging this remote

forest

and today they're willing to share with

me the pick of their bounty

every chef in britain would love to get

their hands on that basket oh my lord

thank you

chantrell

somewhere else what do you think all the

same back garden

from a chess point of view it's a

magical basket can you imagine what they

taste like cooked

[Music]

have you heard about uh

before it's like

yes

my newfound friend brahim gives me a

master class on how the berbers cook

pizza in the mountains spoiler alert

it's a bit different from

you use the most expensive mushrooms in

the world i don't know

magic the top of quality this is a dream

for me abdullah

i love you

we'll put the porcini in first

[Music]

some onions

and garlic

[Music]

is a mix of spices widely used in

moroccan cuisine

ah perfect red

i saw this on my visit in the medina

nice and flat

now i'm starting to understand what

najet was explaining

get

closer

to the berbers understand what the

village is doing

mushrooms in

look at those

now go cheese well this is getting

better and better and better

so ghost cheese is going to give it the

saltiness right

nice it's a very nice combination it's a

beautiful combination

now for the lid

that goes on top

back on the berbers

they're like making this most of them

are nomads they live in the mountains

yeah and the mushrooms are everywhere

you know what a tree that's some

olive branches right it says cooking

from the bottom at the top and the top

yeah yes amazing and warming us up i

keep them as warm yeah

i've repelled for them i've swam for

them

and now it's finally time to eat these

precious mushrooms abdullah

look at that

very peaceful

look

i mean it looks delicious right

this is the reason to come back many

times with the force

wow

that is absolutely delicious

that was one of the best pizzas i've

ever eaten putting a slice of that on my

menu back home in london

you'd have to charge in excess of 100

pounds it's delicious

the shop for me

is it for the boys it's a staple they

eat that every day that's that's the big

surprise

the luxuriousness

of those mushrooms sandwiched between

two slices of dough

brilliant

now

i want to be a berber

i'm so thrilled that carder one of

abdullah's mushroom hunters has invited

me to lunch in the village where he and

his family live amazing so this is it

yes

fatima it's a beautiful name and how old

is uh fatima

it's nine years

after you thank you

carter and his daughter fatima want to

show me every element of berber life

including the barn that houses their

four-legged friend wow huge donkey

is that your taxi to school no it's taxi

that can be terrorism russia my

daughter's getting an uber you get a

donkey i'd love to try and ride that

thing cool dude

you show me

naked

[Laughter]

okay

you sure it's going to take my weight

yeah 100 are you sure fatima

oh

oh sugar

i'm too old to ride a donkey

you want to make a move you say

yes

please

okay good right it's good

oh man

okay

um

thank you

thank you

amazing amazing amazing

i've never been shown how to ride one so

thank you fatima well done

now for the bit of berber culture i'm

most intrigued by

lunch

wow

of course yeah so this is the dining

room come on thank you

amazing

this is lovely here

some local foods this is what the people

eat they lull lentils lentils this is a

clarified butter right this is olive oil

and this is olive from this they make

this one wow the bed is right

it's baked here as well yeah people here

they make their own food they don't buy

bread from your shop now this food looks

incredible uh before we eat we always

say bismillah bismillah bismillah

thank

you they're delicious

it's so good

i'm so excited to be here this weekend

is your

berber new year celebration very very

new year is a very big day here in the

atlas mountains everyone in the village

celebrate you know it's all about the

food and the celebration about the food

yes wow

the pressure's on me even more now not

just for the standard you produce but

the news

celebration

boy

is better to be ready uh yeah i better

be ready

it is delicious do you know any british

food

yes

that's good that's very good

thank you

this local olive oil tastes amazing so

i'm keen to discover how the berbers

make it

they'll be making olive oil in this

region since before the roman times

and i'm dying to get my hands on some to

use in my new year feast

and these have just been picked right

yes okay

okay

let's try the first thing i've got to do

is crush down the olives using the

ancient grinder but it's bloody hard

work

the mule yes okay there

this white it's all okay

that's perfect

now come on you stubborn mule please

go to the toilet just as i think i've

mastered the medieval olive press

the mule gets about of stage fright

come on please

i'm getting beat by a mule here

after crushing them down i've now got to

bag them up before we press the oil out

scoop it in yeah

what an amazing process the smell

is incredible right it smells nice huh

isn't it i mean talk about fresh pressed

unfortunately the mule can't do this

[Music]

oh look look at that

tell me that yeah it's definitely coming

out i'm gonna steal there

you can taste it you need red in your

pocket

oh my lord that's beautiful

now i've heard of extra virgin but this

is gonna be extra extra virgin

look at that shine i've never tasted

olive oil straight from the press

that is amazing

and it's another lesson i can take into

my bourbon new year feast to produce

something really special for these

hospitable people

thank you

i want to get back i want to show them

what i can do

and try to make this day a day to

remember

you