The Best Recipes in the World



The Best Recipes in the World

With Mark Bittman of the New York Times

Episode Descriptions

#101 - Rice and Things

Bittman launches the first episode in the new series at 50 knots an hour as he pilots a speed boat in the waters of the Mediterranean off the coast of Valencia Spain, host to the America's Cup summer 2007. But Bitty isn't here for the fast boats; he's here for the slow food – specifically the paella.

Feature: 2007 America's Cup preview from Valencia, Spain

Feature: La Pepica, restaurant famous for seafood paellas

Feature: El Mercado Central – art nouveau market in Valencia

Feature: La Albufera, rice growing region of Spain

Feature: Paella recipe from Restaurant L'alter in Piccasant

Feature: Risotto recipe from Mario Batali, New York

Feature: Rice cake recipe with Gary Danko, St. Helena, Ca.

Feature: Rice and cheese recipe with Bittman, St. Helena, Ca.

#102 - Pure Porcine Pleasures

Mark is on a quest to find the perfect pig and this episode begins early in the morning at Smithfield Market in London where Bitty meets up with Fergus Henderson, king of "snout to tail" cookery.

Feature: Tour of London's recently restored meat market – Smithfield – and a whole lot of hanging meat

Feature: Bacon Pork Chop with chutney recipe from Fergus Henderson, chef and owner St. Johns Restaurant in London

Feature: visit to a country butcher to see how the Brits treat their pork – a very different story from back home in the States

Feature: Pig farm where the animals are raised the old fashioned way

Feature: Chef David Chang's Panko breaded pork chop with "Momofuku's Red Eye Gravy"

#103 - How Sweet It Is

Good old-fashioned, no-holds-barred desserts — the kind with enough butter, sugar and whipped cream to give a cardiologist a heart attack. That's the kind of desserts Mark fancies in this episode; he begins at a place in San Francisco's mission, Tartine, known for its scones, sticky buns and fruit tarts.

Feature: Bittman intro on sweets and bakeries of yesterday, SF, Ca.

Feature: Scone recipe from Tartine Bakery, SF, Ca.

Feature: Scones with clotted cream interview with Joan Nott, Agatha Christie expert, Totnes, England

Feature: Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe from the New Angel, Dartmouth England

Feature: Cherry and Red Wine Soup with Bittman, St. Helena, Ca.

#104 - Wide World of Wine

Bitty begins this episode in the beautiful vineyards of Brunello country in Tuscany, Italy where he notes that there are certain commonalities to all places that grow great wine. You need a certain kind of land with just the right climate and just the right exposure and dedicated people to make that great wine happen.

Feature; Brunello wine country set next to an 11th century castle

Feature: Bittman and Batali dine in a fancy Tuscan restaurant

Feature: Pork chops in Brunello from a family restaurant, Buccon

Di Vino run by a father and his two lovely daughters

Feature: Spain's growing wine reputation and the local dishes that are eaten with these wines

Feature: Sonoma valley and Napa Valley tours

Feature: Gary Danko's Lobster with a white wine butter sauce

#105 - The Old Man and the Sea

This episode is about the ones that didn't get away and the old man in this sea is none other than Bitty himself. From the frigid waters of the Atlantic off the Devonshire coast of England, our journalist teams up with John Burton Race, a Brit superstar who traded in his Michelin stars in London to live the country gentleman life in the guise of a chef.

Feature: Dartmouth, a seaside town ion the seacoast of Devon England

Feature: John Burton Race recipe for sea bass larded with seaweed wrapped scallops and topped with a red wine sauce and a ginger, white butter sauce

Feature: John Burton and Bitty go fishing in the cold and rough Devon waters (with limited results)

Feature: Bittman's mackerel poached with soy sauce, garlic and ginger

Feature: A look at the amazing fish and shellfish at La Boqueria with Barcelona's venerated I'sidre

Feature: Soquet – classic Catalan Fish stew

#106 - On the Hoof

This episode shows viewers exactly where the beef is – beginning on the edge of America in Bolinas, California where Bitty catches up with his old friend Bill Niman who is raising cattle the old fashioned way – grazing on pastures of natural feed. The show then takes a decidedly Italian air as Bitty does battle with Mario Batali over the famous beefsteak Florentine.

Feature: American beef raised the old fashioned way with Bill Niman of Niman Ranch out in Bolinas, California

Feature: Bittman and Batali meet up with the famous Chianina cattle in Tuscan cowboy country

Feature: Bittman and Batali visit a Tuscan butcher to purchase 5 pound t-bones

Feature: Steak a la Fiorentina duel – Batali's traditional vs. Bitty's updated version

Feature: From the Tuscan restaurant, Buccon di Vinno, recipe for Beef cheeks braised in red wine and spices

#107 - Fast Food, Good Food

This episode is a dizzying display of fast food that is also good food. Its pizza for breakfast in Rome with Mario Batali, tapas in Barcelona for a snack, the best steak sandwich in the world from a gastro pub in London, a burrito for dinner in Denver, and finally fast fruit for dessert in NYC. Sound like indigestion?

Feature: Pizza Bianca just out of the oven in a bakery off the Campo Di Fiore in Rome

Feature: A wide and wild variety of ingredients at Quimet and Quimet, a unique, 4th-generation tapas bar in Barcelona

Feature: Beef Anna, a Portuguese style steak and onions sandwhich from The Eagle, Britain's first "gastropup"

Feature: Slow cooked, fast food burritos from made in an outdoor oven in a backyard in Denver

Feature: Mario Batali's 3 ingredient dessert vs. Bitty's 4 ingredients

#108 - Sexy Vegetables

Some people like to get away from it all and immerse themselves in nature; others migrate to the beach, it has an attraction for them like no other place. But for Bitty, his pilgrimages are to the world's great food markets and in this episode, he goes produce shopping at La Boqueria in Barcelona, the Campo di Fiori in Rome, and the first and perhaps most famous farmers market in America in Sonoma.

Feature: Visit to see the vegetables at La Bocqueria in Barcelona, one of Europe's most famous grand scale markets

Feature: Visit to Campo di Fiore, Rome's amazing outdoor market

Feature: Visit to Sonoma Farmer's market, one of America's fist and still on of America's best

Feature: Grilled mixed vegetables with gazpacho dressing from Chef Gary Danko

Feature: Bitty's goat cheese stuffed figs wrapped in grape leaves and grilled on the barbecue

#109 - The Cutting Edge

To call one restaurant the "best in the world" seems ridiculous, arbitrary and totally subjective. But Bitty believes, in the case of El Bulli, that it is true. This entire episode is dedicated to the genius of Chef Ferran Adria. But to truly explain a genius, sometimes you have to look at the work of another so Bitty visits the architecture of Santiago Calatrava to find out why Spain seems nowadays at the cutting edge of so many different forms of art.

Feature: The Culture and Science Center in Valencia, Spain by architect Santiago Calatrava

Feature: Ferran's recipe for liquid olives

Feature: Ferran's recipe for an olive oil spring

Feature: Ferran's recipe for Parmesan air

Feature: Alberto Adria's recipe for yogurt shells with Jack Daniels Ice Cream

#110 - Pure Porcine Pleasures II

Bittman continues his crusade to find pork with flavor and to advocate for a humane way to raise pigs. He favors a return to the farm where the hogs ate what was leftover and in return where the farmer could live off the pigs he didn't sell. Nowadays, Bitty notes, pigs are raised to never see the sun light and in cruel confinement and the net result is pork without any fat and even worse, without any flavor.

Feature: Tour of pigs raised conventionally and their cousins who live one step from the wild

Feature: Bittman and Batali sample Italian hams and salami

Feature: Bittman samples Jabugo

Feature: The "best sandwich in the world" from Barcelona's Café Viena

Feature: Recipe for Prosciutto broth with pork belly and vegetables from Frasca Restaurant in Boulder, Colorado

#111 - The Shell Game

In this episode Bitty plays the shell game – the seashell game that is, and come out the winner. This show begins in the Tamales Bay in Northern California at the Hog Island Oyster Co. There, in the parking lot, a mano a mano battle is schedule between Mike, the oyster guy who is literally steeped in oyster juices; our curmudgeonly New York Times journalist who is armed with nothing more than a fresh horseradish root and some butter; and SF demi-god Gary Danko who manages to incorporate a champagne sauce into his barbecued oysters.

Feature: The European style of grilling on a griddle vs. American barbecue

Feature: Motor boat tour of Tamales Bay and Hog Island oyster farm

Feature: Mike's garlic butter and chipotle barbecued oysters

Feature: Bittman's grilled oysters with fresh horseradish, lemon and butter

Feature: Gary Danko's poached oysters in champagne sauce

Feature: Point Payton's crab and lobster featuring the South Devon Cock Crab

Feature: Recipe for crab stuffed tortellini in crab, ginger and coriander broth from Brit superstar, John Burton Race.

#112 - Never Basta Pasta

This episode is dedicated to the ultimate comfort food – pasta and begins in a farm house in Tuscany where Mario Batali and Mark learn how to make Pinci, a local pasta that Olga Pitri has been making for over 65 years.

Feature: Mark's treatise on why pasta is so loved by all generations

Feature: Mark and Mario receive a pasta lesson from Olga Petri who has been making pinci, a pasta found only in Tuscany, for 60 years plus

Feature: Mark and Mario make three pasta dishes in 15 minutes

(with the help of the staff of Del Posto in New York city)

Feature: Potato gnocchi with fresh horseradish and beets from Frasca restaurant in Boulder, Colorado

#113 - Sunday Dinner in Europe

Sunday dinner is one of those feel good, family and friends experiences that keeps Bitty sane in a sometimes insane world and nobody does Sunday dinner better than they do in Europe. From the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain to the Pope's vineyards and summer residence on the outside of Rome, it’s Sunday dinner at its best.

Feature: Visit to Mont Clar – tiny village in the mountains that dates back to Roman days

Feature: Sunday barbecue, Catalan style including aioli, pan con Tomate, grilled sausages

Feature: Paula di Mauro, reigning matriarch of Roman home ciijubg

Feature: Recipe for handmade ravioli stuffed with ricotta and Parmesan cheese with fresh tomato and basil sauce

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