Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Peru's Sacred Valley - full transcript
Gordon Ramsay embarks on a motorcycle to the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Peru to learn the secrets of high-altitude cooking.
the
views are amazing but
where's the delicacy?
HARESH: D'you see
that spiny plant?
GORDON: The cactus on
the edge of the cliff?
HARESH: Yeah,
right off that cliff.
It grows in really
dangerous places.
GORDON: This is crazy.
Why aren't you coming Haresh?
HARESH: I'm
afraid of heights man.
GORDON: You're
afraid of heights.
HARESH: Be careful.
GORDON: Bloody hell.
GORDON: Yes we can.
HARESH: Lean back.
Don't lean forward.
GORDON: (bleep).
I'm Gordon Ramsay and
I'm on an epic adventure.
Taxi.
Traveling to the
ends of the earth.
Ditching the chef
whites and getting hands on.
The things I do for food.
Slow it down. Slow it down.
Where do we start?
VIRGILIO: We're
gonna start up there.
GORDON: Are you
trying to kill me?
In search of
culinary inspiration.
Let's go.
Look at that beauty.
Absolutely delicious.
It's like a crispy cockroach.
I've learned more in
the last week than I have
in the last ten years.
This is definitely
unchartered territory for me.
It doesn't get any better
than that, does it?
This is Peru's Sacred Valley.
At towering heights of up
to 3 miles above sea level.
It's a unique Andean ecosystem
whose staggering biodiversity
once fed the mighty Incan
empire and now it's gonna feed
a British chef
with a motorbike.
To unlock this
valley's secrets,
I'm meeting up with one of
South America's finest chefs
on the side of a
mountain obviously.
Virgilio.
VIRGILIO: Hey how you doing?
GORDON: Finally.
VIRGILIO: How are you.
GORDON: Michelin starred
Virgilio Martinez is
famous for his modern
twist on traditional
high-altitude cuisine.
He's cooking up a storm
in the food world and is
basically a younger,
better looking Peruvian
version of me. Damn him.
Good to see you man.
VIRGILIO: Good to see you.
GORDON: I'm so
happy to be here.
VIRGILIO: Yeah?
GORDON: Seriously.
I am here to learn,
discover, where do we start
and where are we gonna go?
VIRGILIO: We're
gonna start up there.
GORDON: Stop it.
VIRGILIO: Over there
we get the best view
of the Sacred Valley.
GORDON: Right.
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
I mean you wanna feel
this extreme altitude,
it's totally another world.
GORDON: Wow I'm out
of breath already.
VIRGILIO: Let's go. Vamos.
GORDON: Of course, the best
view of the Sacred Valley
would have to be a 1300 foot
climb up a sheer rock face.
For a challenge like
this, you need balance,
courage and above all
comprehensive insurance.
6 foot 2, 210 pound chefs
should not be scaling
400 meter cliffs.
I mean normally
chefs bond over dinner,
I can't believe we're bonding
on a cliff edge on a mountain.
GORDON: Breath is very short.
We're now close to
10,000 feet above sea level.
Here there's 30%
less oxygen in the air.
Virgilio, how come
you're not out of breath?
You're running up here like
a guinea pig chasing dinner.
Experts recommend taking
six days to acclimatize
to the altitude,
I've had almost six minutes.
Man.
There's a loose
rock here by the way.
(bleep) (bleep) (bleep).
Are you trying to kill me?
My trousers have turned brown.
(bleep) (bleep).
I get the view.
The view is incredible.
Amazing.
VIRGILIO: Yes?
GORDON: I'm out of
breath but I get it.
GORDON: Shall we eat?
GORDON: Oh Lord.
GORDON: No.
VIRGILIO: No.
GORDON: No. Never.
So it's like a jerky?
VIRGILIO: Beef jerky yeah.
It's like a beef
jerky of course.
Yeah. We dry this for 34 hours.
GORDON: Wow that's delicious.
Does the altitude make a
massive difference on taste?
VIRGILIO: Taste is deep.
GORDON: Right.
VIRGILIO: Intense,
concentrate, the conditions
are very extreme,
so these ingredients has to
be protected by themselves,
so they are then full
of proteins and they are
concentrated by
flavor and taste.
One of the main things
is that food is
protected by altitudes.
GORDON: It's pure I suppose.
VIRGILIO: It's very pure.
We don't have to say
we have organic things,
I mean that word
doesn't have a meaning here.
GORDON: Really good.
I mean it puts jerky on a
completely different level.
VIRGILIO: So now you have time
to study the Sacred Valley.
GORDON: Right.
GORDON: Yeah.
Cook together.
VIRGILIO: Yeah?
Cook together.
GORDON: A cook off at
the end of the week.
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
End of the week.
GORDON: I'm
gonna kick your ass.
GORDON: That was quite
the climb and we've now
established two things,
Peruvians look better than
Brits in plastic
climbing helmets.
And I've just got five days
to uncover the secrets of
the Sacred Valley,
to devise a feast that
shows that handsome devil
Virgilio who's boss.
So lungs screaming I'm
heading 5000 feet further up
for a lesson in the ancient
art of Andean cooking.
Wow, come on.
Look at this.
Oh my Lord.
This is incredible.
Now this is to start, one
of the highest parts of the
Sacred Valley and I'm here
to meet some farmers that are
still farming from this
land but using techniques
dating back to the Incas.
Because my Spanish is as
good as my rock climbing,
the family I'm meeting has
asked a friend to translate.
Celine.
CELINE: Hi.
GORDON: How are you darling?
CELINE: I'm good
how you doing?
GORDON: Yeah good to see you.
Oh my Lord. Come on seriously.
CELINE: I know, I know.
GORDON: Amazing.
Are the family here?
CELINE: Yeah they're here.
Mario, Maxima!
GORDON: Buenas Tardes.
GORDON: Mario, nice
to see you. Please.
ELANCHIO: Elanchio.
GORDON: Elanchio.
GORDON: And this is Marina.
Oh hello. This is?
Sebastian and this is.
Hello.
Congratulations, having the
most gorgeous back garden
anywhere in the world.
Sebastian. Ah.
The family has
invited me to dinner,
a classic Andean dish made
from local ingredients
and it looks like I'm
playing sous chef.
GORDON: De chuno
okay, great, thank you.
Lawa de Chuno is a soup with
an amazing special recipe.
So these are,
they're dried potatoes.
GORDON: Right.
It's amazing how
hard they are.
They're solid,
they're like pebbles.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: So clean it.
CELINE: Now we're
gonna make chuno flour.
GORDON: Oh sorry Sebastian,
I don't know why I keep on
getting you like that.
This is the largest
pestle and mortar I've
seen in my entire life,
so literally...
CELINE: You gotta do
it stronger and faster.
GORDON: (bleep).
How do you stop the
potatoes from falling out?
Sorry.
This reminds me of a Fred
Flintstone outside kitchen.
Wow.
How come nobody else is
out of breath? (bleep).
GORDON: My back (bleep)
that's hard, really.
GORDON: The next ingredient
in our soup is a herb that
thrives at 14000 feet.
With this recipe I
can definitely cancel
my gym membership.
So he does this every day?
CELINE: Uh yeah.
GORDON: He's as fit
as a butcher's dog.
Wait Mario two secs.
Yeah, it's amazing how easy
it is to get out of breath.
CELINE: Let's go.
GORDON: Let's go.
GORDON: Wow.
CELINE: Thank you.
CELINE: That's the kunuka.
GORDON: It's down there.
That's the kunuka.
Oh man.
CELINE: Mario wants
you to go get it.
GORDON: Go get it?
CELINE: Yeah.
GORDON: (bleep).
GORDON: (bleep).
These rocks are slippy.
(bleep).
GORDON: It is
literally breathtaking.
Slippy.
GORDON: There's
nothing to grab onto.
Newsflash.
In the Andes, high altitude
herb gardens are a little
different to those back home.
At least I've
still got my dignity.
(bleep) Mario honestly.
I'm glad you're having
a fun time up there.
Kunuka yes.
GORDON: Boom, look at this.
So it looks a
little bit like thyme.
Very floral. Very
fragrant. It's lovely.
How much do we need?
CELINE: Yeah,
that's good he says.
GORDON: That's it. Wow.
That smells
amazing and it's free.
With a fistful of herbs
and a leg full of bruises,
it's off to the family
kitchen to get cooking.
Beautiful.
Boy oh boy.
That's extraordinary.
Look at this
place and that there,
that's obviously the
stove, oh what's that.
Guinea pigs.
Hey. Look at them.
In the Andes, guinea pigs
are known by a different name.
Dinner.
Wow. Look at that.
It actually looks
delicious, I mean seriously.
The fact is the live ones
are running down there,
the bald ones are hanging
off the wall and guess
who's next in line.
That furry (bleep)
over there at 9:00.
While the guinea pig
roasts, a sentence I
thought I'd never say,
prep continues for the
ancient Andean soup.
Lawa de Chuno.
We have the herb,
this smells amazing.
GORDON: So it's a
leg of lamb right?
WOMAN: Yep.
GORDON: And is this your lamb.
WOMAN: Si.
GORDON: So in many ways,
the whole family is
self-sufficient from the land.
GORDON: That is incredible.
I love snooping
round kitchens,
what's all that up there, the
top of the the big white stuff.
CELINE: Cow manure.
GORDON: Cow manure.
For the stove.
CELINE: For the stove.
GORDON: And that
'cause it burns good fuel.
WOMAN: Yeah.
GORDON: I just love
the fact that none of
you waste anything.
GORDON: Potatoes in.
CELINE: All of it yeah.
GORDON: What is that?
Oh you're turning the gas up.
Gotcha my love. Ready.
(bleep).
Cheese.
I'd never have thought about
finishing a lamb and potato soup
with cheese.
Amazing and look at
that baby, beautiful.
We should open a
restaurant together.
Mama, this deserves champagne.
Napkins. Let's go babies.
CELINE: Before we eat, Mario's
going to make an offering to
the mountain gods.
(speaking gibberish).
GORDON: My apologies.
My apologies.
I'm dying to taste this.
CELINE: Okay,
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Okay. Guinea pig.
It's just hard eating
this now when we've just
been sat there with them.
I don't know about the head.
I'll go for the loin.
The loin, the loin, the loin.
Pretty good.
It's like a suckling pig.
WOMAN: Si.
GORDON: Excellent.
The soup.
Ooh it's good.
It's like a traditional
British old fashioned stew
but this things got more depth.
Because it's a high altitude
sort of cooking every ounce of
flavor you taste individually.
Really delicious.
Mucho gracias.
MARIO: Mucho gracias.
GORDON: Thank you. Gracias.
That was extraordinary because
that is a proper insight,
something as basic as
the huts could produce
a dish like that.
That's highlighting high
altitude cooking at its best.
Ow.
Already I'm starting
to think, you know,
how I would use that.
You, little...
What an amazing family
and what an amazing dish.
No don't pull
hair, don't pull hair.
I need that. Ah!
Oh no, come on.
Maybe it's the incredible
hospitality shown by my new
Andean family or the
fresh guinea pig coursing
through my veins,
but I'm even more determined
to win the battle with Virgilio.
Man, are you out of breath?
HARESH: No.
GORDON: I am.
So I've enlisted
the help of Haresh.
A restaurant supplier
with culinary contacts
all over the valley.
He's told me about a local
delicacy that tastes like
shrimp crossed with calamari.
You're telling me that this
delicacy is sought after and
is only found at this height.
HARESH: Yeah and there's the
man that knows how to find them.
Mamerdo.
GORDON: Hola.
Good to see you.
I am keen to see
this delicacy.
HARESH: We've gotta
go this way he says.
GORDON: Let's go.
MAMERDO: Vamos.
GORDON: The cactus?
MAMERDO: Si.
GORDON: That's
the delicacy there?
MAMERDO: Si.
GORDON: On the
edge of the cliff.
GORDON: Captain let's go.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
GORDON: Oh man.
HARESH: Good luck.
GORDON: Yes.
GORDON: Is that a rock there?
GORDON: All this
for a (bleep) worm?
Seriously? Oh man.
Okay lasso..
Over 30 years of working
as a chef has all been
leading to this moment,
catching a Peruvian
cactus worm with a lasso.
MAMERDO: Una, dos, tres.
Oh.
GORDON: Haresh,
I'm gonna kill you.
HARESH: You gotta
get up here first.
GORDON: Oh man.
'Scuse. That is not funny.
HARESH: Be careful.
GORDON: This is
super dangerous.
GORDON: Si, si, si, si.
Wahay.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Good job.
High five. Look at that.
GORDON: Seriously? (bleep).
HARESH: It's
gonna be delicious.
I'm proud of you.
GORDON: Ay-ay-ay
GORDON: They're like
giant caterpillars.
How did he first
learn about these?
GORDON: Excellent.
And how old were you when you
first started dangling off the
side of a cliff with
your dad looking for worms?
GORDON: Six or seven. Amazing.
I'm just gonna get
them a little bit dry.
Just so it doesn't crackle.
Okay go.
(bleep).
HARESH: Are you okay there?
MAMERDO: Oh bravo.
GORDON: Thank you.
GORDON: Stop it.
GORDON: It's like a crispy...
uhhh...like a crispy...
cockroach.
The taste was crispy to begin
with, fine, however the inside.
No. No bueno.
But this is how they
survived so remotely.
Protein growing
literally in a cactus.
So an amazing secret
and a big eye opener.
I'm blown away by the
ingenious ways Andean people
get their ingredients,
it's the first time
I've ever taken a lasso
to go food shopping.
But with just three days
left, one thing is certain,
I won't beat Chef Virgilio
serving a plate of worms.
So, it's time to ditch
the motorbike and get
my head in the clouds.
Are absolutely
(bleep) gigantic.
Coming in to land.
You beauty.
This is the Cajabamba jungle.
Said to be home to the
best fruit in the world.
Look at these trees. Amazing.
And I'm heading to a family
farm packed with the biggest
mango trees I've ever seen.
Finally.
GORDON: How are you?
WOMAN: I'm okay thank you.
GORDON: Good to see you.
GORDON: Oh my Lord,
um, so happy to be here.
Virgilio said that you
had the best exotic fruit.
WOMAN: Yes we do indeed.
GORDON: What's so
special about the fruit here?
GORDON: A lot more sugary.
WOMAN: Yes indeed.
GORDON: So more
in depth flavor.
WOMAN: More flavor.
Yes because of the altitude.
GORDON: Amazing. Amazing.
Okay. How do we get them?
MAN: Okay.
GORDON: You can go
on my shoulders.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: The
mangoes are 100 feet up.
Only the youngest,
fittest, locals pick them.
GORDON: Until now.
Wow. Am I getting a harness?
WOMAN: Yes you are.
GORDON: Okay good. Good.
Thank God for that.
Don't let me drop. Okay.
DAVID: Promise.
GORDON: If I drop, the
food world is (bleep).
You ready?
David you good?
Let's go.
Okay, oh my Lord.
WOMAN: Go to your left.
GORDON: We're going to
the rope now or not?
GORDON: Gotcha. So he's
going round the outside.
WOMAN: Yes and you
need to follow him.
GORDON: Let's go daddy.
GORDON: Okay
David here I come.
(bleep).
I've never made love to a tree.
WOMAN: You can do it.
WOMAN: Try to push yourself
up with your left elbow.
GORDON: I'm stuck.
Fricking hell.
I need you to get the mangoes
from here because there's
no way those branches are
gonna take my weight, please?
Let's go Tarzan.
I haven't climbed a
tree for decades and um,
I mean decades you know I
was worried I'd snap those
branches then we'd all come
down so the last thing I wanna
do is go into this incredible
jungle and damage an amazing
tree that's been
there for centuries.
Oh boy. Look at that.
Wow. That is delicious.
It's so juicy.
The difference in the flavor
is extraordinary because it's
highly concentrated so it
just bursts with flavor.
An amazing discovery.
It's been a real eye-opener
to see how much the strong sun
and low humidity enhance
the fruit's sweetness.
That amazing mango
will definitely be on
my cook off feast menu
and if Virgilio asks, trust me
I've picked it myself okay?
Now this country's famous
for its incredible fish
and this lake produces them.
Come on look at this place,
honestly if you thought
Scotland was beautiful,
this beats it hands down.
At 11,000 feet Lake Huaypo is
one of the highest in the world
and it's the breeding ground
for Peruvian silverside,
a sacred valley staple.
I'm down to meet an
amazing fisherman, Domingo,
who is a dab hand at fishing
and like all good Scotsman,
trust me, I grew up
with a rod and reel
so hey capitan how are you?
GORDON: Good to see you.
We good?
GORDON: I'm so
happy to be here.
Now the fish locally
are small, big.
GORDON: Big fish.
Excellent and
we're gonna use a fly.
GORDON: What is that?
GORDON: That's it?
GORDON: No.
Oh my Lord.
And where have you
parked the boat?
GORDON: This is the boat?
DOMINGO: Si, botes.
GORDON: Really?
What the (bleep).
GORDON: What's
the boat made of?
What? Inner tubes.
DOMINGO: Si.
GORDON: And bottles
and bits of float.
Incredibly Andean fishing
boats are often made of trash.
Okay. Oh my Lordie.
For the locals these ingenious
low cost crafts are
light weight and maneuverable.
But for me not so much.
(bleep).
Holy mackerel.
Domingo, I think this thing's
gonna (bleep) burst any minute.
GORDON: Oh my Lord. Gracias.
If we sink, how
deep is it in there?
GORDON: (bleep).
Domingo. Fish. Jump.
Domingo's teaching me
his highly technical
style of line fishing.
So let's take some bait.
Be good.
Show me.
GORDON: What the (bleep).
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Bollocks.
GORDON: Oh (bleep).
Trust me.
You think this looks easy.
It's way harder than it
looks I'm telling you.
Well, I've been fishing
for a thousand hours.
We never give up.
Come on fishes.
Okay. Got the fish.
So hey, trust me,
I'll take it after all that
(bleep) hard work, honestly.
Okay I'll take the scales off.
To prepare our pint sized
Peruvian silverside
Domingo has a paste.
What's in here?
What is that? Chili?
GORDON: Delicious.
Smells good.
GORDON: Thank you.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Beautiful.
Look at that.
Tiny fish for two grown men.
So we're gonna
eat this slowly.
On this lunch, the good news
is we're not gonna get fat.
Delicious.
GORDON: And your boating
technique is incredible.
Excellent.
That was amazing.
The fish was almost
like a cross between
a catfish and a trout,
very sweet, very flaky, and
it was really, really good.
He had the chili paste
marinating the fish in,
that paste with that
chili and those herbs,
you know, it's got
me thinking big time.
Peru is famous for its pastes.
But I have an idea for a high
altitude twist that might just
help me kick Virgilio's arse.
And with 24 hours
till the cook off,
I wanna get my hands on a food
Andeans were the first people
on earth to cultivate.
Now this farmer produces
the most amazing potatoes,
in fact, he's actually known
as the mad potato scientist.
Also, he's known for producing
the most amazing beer,
so I can't wait to meet
this guy and Haresh is
gonna introduce me to him.
HARESH: Absolutely and
there he actually is.
Manuel. Manuel.
GORDON: Good to
see you Manuel.
The mad potato scientist.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Everybody's going on
about these amazing potatoes,
what's so special about them?
GORDON: Wow.
GORDON: Stop it. Blue?
Have you been drinking?
MANUEL: No.
GORDON: Let's cook it
and see if it's blue.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: With his
mad science skills,
Manuel cross pollinates
high altitude potato strains
once used by the Incas,
and for lunch his proud
parents have prepared
some of the results.
HARESH: I wanna show you
what our potatoes look like.
GORDON: Oh boy. Man.
That is amazing.
HARESH: Look at that.
GORDON: Oh my God,
it's like a beetroot.
It does not look
like a potato.
You are a crazy scientist.
Oh boy.
You can just see that
starch coming out there.
So how do you cook them?
(speaking Spanish).
HARESH: They're baked
in an oven. Roasted.
GORDON: Baked in the oven.
I'm dying to taste these.
Wow. Even the skin's delicious.
HARESH: Yeah, the whole
thing it's almost meaty.
GORDON: Man.
GORDON: Wow.
GORDON: Apparently
these stunning pigments
protect the potatoes
from the intense ultraviolet
light here at altitude,
what a gift for
the mountain gods.
HARESH: This one's gonna
surprise you even more.
GORDON: That's incredible.
How the hell d'you
peel something like that,
I mean literally.
GORDON: And no wonder he's
still single at the age of 30
he's got no fricking chance.
Who's gonna peel that.
Business complete it's
time for some booze.
HARESH: Beer made out of corn.
GORDON: Gracias.
HARESH: This is unique
to the Andean highlands.
GORDON: Tastes like a
strawberry champagne.
GORDON: You could give the
French a kick up the arse.
And the sweetness from
those wild strawberries
is delicious.
MANUEL: Si.
GORDON: Mucho gracias.
Mama papa gracias.
HARESH: Thank you bravo.
GORDON: This is
very dangerous for me.
High altitudes, alcohol
and something that's
incredibly moreish.
This is the kind of discovery
that sends me straight back to
my kitchen because
I've just tasted the
most amazing potatoes.
I mean extraordinary.
The different colors,
the different flavor,
the diversity's mind blowing.
And then the Chicha, I mean
that will wipe the smile off
any Frenchman's, uh, vineyard.
Let me tell you, sod
their (bleep) pink
champagne from now on in.
Toast.
HARESH: Thank you.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Salud.
Excellent. Thank you.
It's the day of the cook off,
so me and my hangover are
hitting Urubamba.
The Sacred Valley's largest
town on a last minute mission
to find culinary inspiration
and maybe some aspirin.
Wow. Oh my Lord.
Now that is what
I call a market.
Look at the colors and
you know damn well that
everything's been hand grown,
hand-picked and literally
hours ago plucked straight
from the Sacred Valley.
Right time to dive in.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Seis, por favor.
Six. Seis. Gracias.
Uh this one.
What is this?
GORDON: To eat no?
GORDON: Good luck.
I won't be needing that.
But just in case.
Yes. Gracias.
GORDON: Potatoes.
Extraordinary. Salt.
GORDON: Si. From the
local salt mines.
Look at the way that glistens.
It's almost like little
rough cut diamonds.
Beautiful.
I'm hoping these diamonds
are a chef's best friend.
Oh my Lord. Amazing.
Six avocado please.
Couple of bulbs of garlic.
And I've just spotted a big fan
of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
GORDON: Wow.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: You want
me to bite it?
WOMAN: Si.
GORDON: At 7:00
in the morning?
GORDON: Si.
That's hot.
You eat this for breakfast?
Man. Ay, ay, ay.
My mouth is on fire.
Madam, madam.
WOMAN: Thank you, thank you.
GORDON: Thank you, thank you.
Oh my Lord.
Armed with a chili from
my Peruvian Spice Girl,
I'm ready to face
my culinary foe.
So I'm heading to Mil, a
Sacred Valley restaurant
11 and a half thousand feet up
for my cook off with the
Prince of Peruvian
cuisine Virgilio Martinez.
Virgilio. Man look
at this place.
VIRGILIO: Hey, how are you?
GORDON: You good,
good to see you.
VIRGILIO: How's it going?
GORDON: Uh, first of all,
that is a spot for a
restaurant honestly.
You're a lucky boy.
So, uh, what a week.
I have been everywhere.
I understand the Sacred Valley
like it's the back of my hand.
You crazy man.
VIRGILIO: Are you sure. Really?
GORDON: I'm hoping so.
VIRGILIO: You
did your homework.
GORDON: I did do my
homework so I'm dying
to get into the kitchen
because I wanna show you
what I've understood and
got up to speed with.
VIRGILIO: Oy, no kitchen,
we're gonna cook outdoors.
You see the fire, and
this is your stove,
you know, this is
our technology.
GORDON: Seriously?
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
GORDON: Oh stop it.
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
GORDON: Bloody hell.
VIRGILIO: I'm gonna
show you your kitchen.
GORDON: Fricking hell.
I've never cooked on
a stove like that.
VIRGILIO: Yeah, you
know, we call it huatia,
uh, yeah okay.
GORDON: Huatia, this technique
how far does this go back?
VIRGILIO: This is very
traditional. This is very Inca.
GORDON: And it's
stuck together with mud.
VIRGILIO: Yep.
GORDON: Wow.
Cooking with a mud oven
is not what I had planned.
I'm the outsider so
I've gotta put my game
face on and get dirty.
This is my pestle and mortar.
VIRGILIO: Your station,
your pestle mortar.
This is my, my stove.
GORDON: I've invited
the farmers I met this
week to the feast,
so I need to show them their
lessons haven't gone to waste.
VIRGILIO: That's it man.
Let's make is simple.
GORDON: Now I'm
gonna kick your ass.
I first tasted this meat
five days ago and no,
it's not a giant guinea pig.
Look at this thing.
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
GORDON: The alpaca's
bigger than him.
MAN: Gracias.
GORDON: Right.
VIRGILIO: Choose your cut.
GORDON: I'm gonna
go for the saddle.
VIRGILIO: Oh,
the easy one, huh?
GORDON: No it's not easy, no.
'Cause there's no fat on there.
VIRGILIO: I'll,
I'll pick the neck.
I'm gonna use
some of the tongue.
GORDON: The easy part,
oh, the braised tongue.
There you go.
VIRGILIO: What
about the heart.
GORDON: I love heart.
Which one are
you gonna go for?
VIRGILIO: It's gonna be
difficult you know these guys,
the farmers they...
GORDON: I was cooking
before you were born.
Okay. Yeah.
VIRGILIO: They but these
farmers, they eat,
I mean they are very
used to eating heart.
So it's gonna be tough for you.
GORDON: Okay so
saddle, heart for me.
You're gonna go for
the most delicious part.
VIRGILIO: I'll take
the neck, let's go.
GORDON: I'm excited.
Nervous at the same time.
This cook is serious and I've
gotta draw on everything that
I've learnt all week,
understood, searched for,
dug for, fished for, climbed
for and been out of breath for.
The Sacred Valley,
it's like this oasis,
at high altitude.
Now it's time to
put it on the plate.
So there's no
fat on this loin,
so I just want to make sure
these already have alpaca fat
rendered down almost like
we'd do traditional goose fat.
The alpaca
hearts hit the stove.
But it's me that's
feeling the heat.
What you doing
there with that paste?
VIRGILIO: I'm
doing my marinade.
GORDON: Marinade.
VIRGILIO: Lot of green herbs.
A little bit of huacatay.
The level of
expectations are huge.
GORDON: You may be a
greyhound up the mountainside,
but trust me I do have an
advantage in the kitchen,
which you're gonna taste.
Virgilio might sense victory
with his neck marinade but
I'm about to unleash
my secret weapon.
Right, I'm gonna start my
paste using those amazing
mangoes and some chili.
VIRGILIO: How d'you feel?
GORDON: Yeah. D'you
have any oxygen masks?
From my lungs to the alpaca
hearts to Virgilio's tongue,
it's all happening.
VIRGILIO: Right these
tongues are beautiful.
GORDON: This is like a little
gastric which is done with the
natural sugar and the alpaca's
like a mature sort of almost
like a mature lamb with a
little hint of sweetness,
so I'm gonna glaze
that as they cook.
Virgilio's now cooking
his final alpaca dish.
What's wrong with you?
Here come our farmers.
Ay, ay, ay.
The pressure's on.
Corn. (bleep) (bleep).
Cover that in embers.
My corn on the cob's on fire.
If they survive the stove,
I'll be serving the corn with
Manuel's incredible
multicolored spuds.
VIRGILIO: How is your heart?
GORDON: Pounding right
now, oh those hearts, yeah,
they're a lot more relaxed
than my heart right now.
Okay Virgilio, heart's done.
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
GORDON: They're happy
with the yoke pink right?
VIRGILIO: Yeah. Yeah.
GORDON: Brilliant.
VIRGILIO: Beautiful.
GORDON: And now
it's time to plate up.
VIRGILIO: I mean let me
know when you're ready yeah?
GORDON: I'll be one minute.
VIRGILIO: Come on.
GORDON: I'm hoping next
time he cooks them my way.
He's gonna get married.
VIRGILIO: How are you?
GORDON: Just gimme 30 seconds.
Finally my feast is finished.
I've added my mango paste to
the loins plus Manuel's spuds,
and I'm hoping the heart
are cooked to perfection.
This looks beautiful (bleep).
Really beautiful.
But the competition is fierce.
Quinoa and tongue salad,
alpaca brain omelets
and a neck stew.
Okay, you good.
VIRGILIO: Yeah. Let's go.
GORDON: Hola.
GUESTS: Hola.
GORDON: I'm the pink
man from Great Britain.
Mm smell.
GUESTS: Mm.
GORDON: Beautiful
braised heart. Mm.
GUESTS: Mm.
GORDON: Now, who's
gonna say grace?
GORDON: Bravo.
Tough gig, a stove I've
never cooked on before,
a pile of bricks,
with a furnace inside.
I just wanna pay
respect to what I've learnt,
you know, you've got
the best ingredients,
look from this valley.
So it's sacred for a reason.
These farmers are the
hardest customers of
anyone on the planet.
Why?
Salt of the earth.
There's nothing to do now
except wait for the verdict.
This is not about winning,
it's about pleasing.
And it's also about not
losing face with the locals
in front of one of
Peru's culinary legends.
GORDON: D'you think
they're enjoying it?
VIRGILIO: I've no idea man,
they speak in Quechua.
That was Quechua.
GORDON: Quechua (bleep).
Quechua serious.
GORDON: So here we go.
Fingers crossed.
We're good?
Happy faces?
MAN: Si.
MAN: Si.
GORDON: Si, si. Okay.
GORDON: Ah look see.
HARESH: Okay, so that
one won the popular vote,
the potatoes with
the cheese sauce.
VIRGILIO: Your potatoes.
GORDON: Amazing.
HARESH: But they don't
actually like everything.
That dish she
first pointed to.
GORDON: The heart.
HARESH: The heart she says it's
undercooked that's why they
haven't eaten so much of that.
GORDON: Right.
VIRGILIO: Okay. Good.
Thank you guys.
GORDON: Uh okay. How was
the loin of the alpaca?
HARESH: Si, they loved it.
They said it was
the best dish.
GORDON: Sorry just, just
say that again please?
WOMAN: And the potato.
GORDON: Potatoes and the loin.
(speaking Spanish).
HARESH: And they liked
that, I think that's
the brain dish right?
Okay.
GORDON: It sounds
like it's sort of 50/50.
VIRGILIO: Okay.
GORDON: Mucho gracias
for an amazing week in
the Sacred Valley
and thank you for making
me feel so welcome.
(applause).
Cheers. Cheers.
GUESTS: Bravo, Bravo.
GORDON: Bravo. Salud. Salud.
Capitan. Amazing. Amazing.
VIRGILIO: Have fun, yeah.
GORDON: What an amazing
week and a dream come true.
Why?
Because here in
the Sacred Valley,
I've uncovered a truly mind
blowing culinary culture
using the secrets of the Incas.
Amazing Andean ingenuity
and stunning altitude
enriched ingredients,
the food here kicks the arse
of any fancy restaurant.
Breathtaking.
I don't know all but I've
definitely got a taste and now
more importantly, I'm
on to my next adventure.
Take care. Gracias.
Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.
views are amazing but
where's the delicacy?
HARESH: D'you see
that spiny plant?
GORDON: The cactus on
the edge of the cliff?
HARESH: Yeah,
right off that cliff.
It grows in really
dangerous places.
GORDON: This is crazy.
Why aren't you coming Haresh?
HARESH: I'm
afraid of heights man.
GORDON: You're
afraid of heights.
HARESH: Be careful.
GORDON: Bloody hell.
GORDON: Yes we can.
HARESH: Lean back.
Don't lean forward.
GORDON: (bleep).
I'm Gordon Ramsay and
I'm on an epic adventure.
Taxi.
Traveling to the
ends of the earth.
Ditching the chef
whites and getting hands on.
The things I do for food.
Slow it down. Slow it down.
Where do we start?
VIRGILIO: We're
gonna start up there.
GORDON: Are you
trying to kill me?
In search of
culinary inspiration.
Let's go.
Look at that beauty.
Absolutely delicious.
It's like a crispy cockroach.
I've learned more in
the last week than I have
in the last ten years.
This is definitely
unchartered territory for me.
It doesn't get any better
than that, does it?
This is Peru's Sacred Valley.
At towering heights of up
to 3 miles above sea level.
It's a unique Andean ecosystem
whose staggering biodiversity
once fed the mighty Incan
empire and now it's gonna feed
a British chef
with a motorbike.
To unlock this
valley's secrets,
I'm meeting up with one of
South America's finest chefs
on the side of a
mountain obviously.
Virgilio.
VIRGILIO: Hey how you doing?
GORDON: Finally.
VIRGILIO: How are you.
GORDON: Michelin starred
Virgilio Martinez is
famous for his modern
twist on traditional
high-altitude cuisine.
He's cooking up a storm
in the food world and is
basically a younger,
better looking Peruvian
version of me. Damn him.
Good to see you man.
VIRGILIO: Good to see you.
GORDON: I'm so
happy to be here.
VIRGILIO: Yeah?
GORDON: Seriously.
I am here to learn,
discover, where do we start
and where are we gonna go?
VIRGILIO: We're
gonna start up there.
GORDON: Stop it.
VIRGILIO: Over there
we get the best view
of the Sacred Valley.
GORDON: Right.
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
I mean you wanna feel
this extreme altitude,
it's totally another world.
GORDON: Wow I'm out
of breath already.
VIRGILIO: Let's go. Vamos.
GORDON: Of course, the best
view of the Sacred Valley
would have to be a 1300 foot
climb up a sheer rock face.
For a challenge like
this, you need balance,
courage and above all
comprehensive insurance.
6 foot 2, 210 pound chefs
should not be scaling
400 meter cliffs.
I mean normally
chefs bond over dinner,
I can't believe we're bonding
on a cliff edge on a mountain.
GORDON: Breath is very short.
We're now close to
10,000 feet above sea level.
Here there's 30%
less oxygen in the air.
Virgilio, how come
you're not out of breath?
You're running up here like
a guinea pig chasing dinner.
Experts recommend taking
six days to acclimatize
to the altitude,
I've had almost six minutes.
Man.
There's a loose
rock here by the way.
(bleep) (bleep) (bleep).
Are you trying to kill me?
My trousers have turned brown.
(bleep) (bleep).
I get the view.
The view is incredible.
Amazing.
VIRGILIO: Yes?
GORDON: I'm out of
breath but I get it.
GORDON: Shall we eat?
GORDON: Oh Lord.
GORDON: No.
VIRGILIO: No.
GORDON: No. Never.
So it's like a jerky?
VIRGILIO: Beef jerky yeah.
It's like a beef
jerky of course.
Yeah. We dry this for 34 hours.
GORDON: Wow that's delicious.
Does the altitude make a
massive difference on taste?
VIRGILIO: Taste is deep.
GORDON: Right.
VIRGILIO: Intense,
concentrate, the conditions
are very extreme,
so these ingredients has to
be protected by themselves,
so they are then full
of proteins and they are
concentrated by
flavor and taste.
One of the main things
is that food is
protected by altitudes.
GORDON: It's pure I suppose.
VIRGILIO: It's very pure.
We don't have to say
we have organic things,
I mean that word
doesn't have a meaning here.
GORDON: Really good.
I mean it puts jerky on a
completely different level.
VIRGILIO: So now you have time
to study the Sacred Valley.
GORDON: Right.
GORDON: Yeah.
Cook together.
VIRGILIO: Yeah?
Cook together.
GORDON: A cook off at
the end of the week.
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
End of the week.
GORDON: I'm
gonna kick your ass.
GORDON: That was quite
the climb and we've now
established two things,
Peruvians look better than
Brits in plastic
climbing helmets.
And I've just got five days
to uncover the secrets of
the Sacred Valley,
to devise a feast that
shows that handsome devil
Virgilio who's boss.
So lungs screaming I'm
heading 5000 feet further up
for a lesson in the ancient
art of Andean cooking.
Wow, come on.
Look at this.
Oh my Lord.
This is incredible.
Now this is to start, one
of the highest parts of the
Sacred Valley and I'm here
to meet some farmers that are
still farming from this
land but using techniques
dating back to the Incas.
Because my Spanish is as
good as my rock climbing,
the family I'm meeting has
asked a friend to translate.
Celine.
CELINE: Hi.
GORDON: How are you darling?
CELINE: I'm good
how you doing?
GORDON: Yeah good to see you.
Oh my Lord. Come on seriously.
CELINE: I know, I know.
GORDON: Amazing.
Are the family here?
CELINE: Yeah they're here.
Mario, Maxima!
GORDON: Buenas Tardes.
GORDON: Mario, nice
to see you. Please.
ELANCHIO: Elanchio.
GORDON: Elanchio.
GORDON: And this is Marina.
Oh hello. This is?
Sebastian and this is.
Hello.
Congratulations, having the
most gorgeous back garden
anywhere in the world.
Sebastian. Ah.
The family has
invited me to dinner,
a classic Andean dish made
from local ingredients
and it looks like I'm
playing sous chef.
GORDON: De chuno
okay, great, thank you.
Lawa de Chuno is a soup with
an amazing special recipe.
So these are,
they're dried potatoes.
GORDON: Right.
It's amazing how
hard they are.
They're solid,
they're like pebbles.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: So clean it.
CELINE: Now we're
gonna make chuno flour.
GORDON: Oh sorry Sebastian,
I don't know why I keep on
getting you like that.
This is the largest
pestle and mortar I've
seen in my entire life,
so literally...
CELINE: You gotta do
it stronger and faster.
GORDON: (bleep).
How do you stop the
potatoes from falling out?
Sorry.
This reminds me of a Fred
Flintstone outside kitchen.
Wow.
How come nobody else is
out of breath? (bleep).
GORDON: My back (bleep)
that's hard, really.
GORDON: The next ingredient
in our soup is a herb that
thrives at 14000 feet.
With this recipe I
can definitely cancel
my gym membership.
So he does this every day?
CELINE: Uh yeah.
GORDON: He's as fit
as a butcher's dog.
Wait Mario two secs.
Yeah, it's amazing how easy
it is to get out of breath.
CELINE: Let's go.
GORDON: Let's go.
GORDON: Wow.
CELINE: Thank you.
CELINE: That's the kunuka.
GORDON: It's down there.
That's the kunuka.
Oh man.
CELINE: Mario wants
you to go get it.
GORDON: Go get it?
CELINE: Yeah.
GORDON: (bleep).
GORDON: (bleep).
These rocks are slippy.
(bleep).
GORDON: It is
literally breathtaking.
Slippy.
GORDON: There's
nothing to grab onto.
Newsflash.
In the Andes, high altitude
herb gardens are a little
different to those back home.
At least I've
still got my dignity.
(bleep) Mario honestly.
I'm glad you're having
a fun time up there.
Kunuka yes.
GORDON: Boom, look at this.
So it looks a
little bit like thyme.
Very floral. Very
fragrant. It's lovely.
How much do we need?
CELINE: Yeah,
that's good he says.
GORDON: That's it. Wow.
That smells
amazing and it's free.
With a fistful of herbs
and a leg full of bruises,
it's off to the family
kitchen to get cooking.
Beautiful.
Boy oh boy.
That's extraordinary.
Look at this
place and that there,
that's obviously the
stove, oh what's that.
Guinea pigs.
Hey. Look at them.
In the Andes, guinea pigs
are known by a different name.
Dinner.
Wow. Look at that.
It actually looks
delicious, I mean seriously.
The fact is the live ones
are running down there,
the bald ones are hanging
off the wall and guess
who's next in line.
That furry (bleep)
over there at 9:00.
While the guinea pig
roasts, a sentence I
thought I'd never say,
prep continues for the
ancient Andean soup.
Lawa de Chuno.
We have the herb,
this smells amazing.
GORDON: So it's a
leg of lamb right?
WOMAN: Yep.
GORDON: And is this your lamb.
WOMAN: Si.
GORDON: So in many ways,
the whole family is
self-sufficient from the land.
GORDON: That is incredible.
I love snooping
round kitchens,
what's all that up there, the
top of the the big white stuff.
CELINE: Cow manure.
GORDON: Cow manure.
For the stove.
CELINE: For the stove.
GORDON: And that
'cause it burns good fuel.
WOMAN: Yeah.
GORDON: I just love
the fact that none of
you waste anything.
GORDON: Potatoes in.
CELINE: All of it yeah.
GORDON: What is that?
Oh you're turning the gas up.
Gotcha my love. Ready.
(bleep).
Cheese.
I'd never have thought about
finishing a lamb and potato soup
with cheese.
Amazing and look at
that baby, beautiful.
We should open a
restaurant together.
Mama, this deserves champagne.
Napkins. Let's go babies.
CELINE: Before we eat, Mario's
going to make an offering to
the mountain gods.
(speaking gibberish).
GORDON: My apologies.
My apologies.
I'm dying to taste this.
CELINE: Okay,
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Okay. Guinea pig.
It's just hard eating
this now when we've just
been sat there with them.
I don't know about the head.
I'll go for the loin.
The loin, the loin, the loin.
Pretty good.
It's like a suckling pig.
WOMAN: Si.
GORDON: Excellent.
The soup.
Ooh it's good.
It's like a traditional
British old fashioned stew
but this things got more depth.
Because it's a high altitude
sort of cooking every ounce of
flavor you taste individually.
Really delicious.
Mucho gracias.
MARIO: Mucho gracias.
GORDON: Thank you. Gracias.
That was extraordinary because
that is a proper insight,
something as basic as
the huts could produce
a dish like that.
That's highlighting high
altitude cooking at its best.
Ow.
Already I'm starting
to think, you know,
how I would use that.
You, little...
What an amazing family
and what an amazing dish.
No don't pull
hair, don't pull hair.
I need that. Ah!
Oh no, come on.
Maybe it's the incredible
hospitality shown by my new
Andean family or the
fresh guinea pig coursing
through my veins,
but I'm even more determined
to win the battle with Virgilio.
Man, are you out of breath?
HARESH: No.
GORDON: I am.
So I've enlisted
the help of Haresh.
A restaurant supplier
with culinary contacts
all over the valley.
He's told me about a local
delicacy that tastes like
shrimp crossed with calamari.
You're telling me that this
delicacy is sought after and
is only found at this height.
HARESH: Yeah and there's the
man that knows how to find them.
Mamerdo.
GORDON: Hola.
Good to see you.
I am keen to see
this delicacy.
HARESH: We've gotta
go this way he says.
GORDON: Let's go.
MAMERDO: Vamos.
GORDON: The cactus?
MAMERDO: Si.
GORDON: That's
the delicacy there?
MAMERDO: Si.
GORDON: On the
edge of the cliff.
GORDON: Captain let's go.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
GORDON: Oh man.
HARESH: Good luck.
GORDON: Yes.
GORDON: Is that a rock there?
GORDON: All this
for a (bleep) worm?
Seriously? Oh man.
Okay lasso..
Over 30 years of working
as a chef has all been
leading to this moment,
catching a Peruvian
cactus worm with a lasso.
MAMERDO: Una, dos, tres.
Oh.
GORDON: Haresh,
I'm gonna kill you.
HARESH: You gotta
get up here first.
GORDON: Oh man.
'Scuse. That is not funny.
HARESH: Be careful.
GORDON: This is
super dangerous.
GORDON: Si, si, si, si.
Wahay.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Good job.
High five. Look at that.
GORDON: Seriously? (bleep).
HARESH: It's
gonna be delicious.
I'm proud of you.
GORDON: Ay-ay-ay
GORDON: They're like
giant caterpillars.
How did he first
learn about these?
GORDON: Excellent.
And how old were you when you
first started dangling off the
side of a cliff with
your dad looking for worms?
GORDON: Six or seven. Amazing.
I'm just gonna get
them a little bit dry.
Just so it doesn't crackle.
Okay go.
(bleep).
HARESH: Are you okay there?
MAMERDO: Oh bravo.
GORDON: Thank you.
GORDON: Stop it.
GORDON: It's like a crispy...
uhhh...like a crispy...
cockroach.
The taste was crispy to begin
with, fine, however the inside.
No. No bueno.
But this is how they
survived so remotely.
Protein growing
literally in a cactus.
So an amazing secret
and a big eye opener.
I'm blown away by the
ingenious ways Andean people
get their ingredients,
it's the first time
I've ever taken a lasso
to go food shopping.
But with just three days
left, one thing is certain,
I won't beat Chef Virgilio
serving a plate of worms.
So, it's time to ditch
the motorbike and get
my head in the clouds.
Are absolutely
(bleep) gigantic.
Coming in to land.
You beauty.
This is the Cajabamba jungle.
Said to be home to the
best fruit in the world.
Look at these trees. Amazing.
And I'm heading to a family
farm packed with the biggest
mango trees I've ever seen.
Finally.
GORDON: How are you?
WOMAN: I'm okay thank you.
GORDON: Good to see you.
GORDON: Oh my Lord,
um, so happy to be here.
Virgilio said that you
had the best exotic fruit.
WOMAN: Yes we do indeed.
GORDON: What's so
special about the fruit here?
GORDON: A lot more sugary.
WOMAN: Yes indeed.
GORDON: So more
in depth flavor.
WOMAN: More flavor.
Yes because of the altitude.
GORDON: Amazing. Amazing.
Okay. How do we get them?
MAN: Okay.
GORDON: You can go
on my shoulders.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: The
mangoes are 100 feet up.
Only the youngest,
fittest, locals pick them.
GORDON: Until now.
Wow. Am I getting a harness?
WOMAN: Yes you are.
GORDON: Okay good. Good.
Thank God for that.
Don't let me drop. Okay.
DAVID: Promise.
GORDON: If I drop, the
food world is (bleep).
You ready?
David you good?
Let's go.
Okay, oh my Lord.
WOMAN: Go to your left.
GORDON: We're going to
the rope now or not?
GORDON: Gotcha. So he's
going round the outside.
WOMAN: Yes and you
need to follow him.
GORDON: Let's go daddy.
GORDON: Okay
David here I come.
(bleep).
I've never made love to a tree.
WOMAN: You can do it.
WOMAN: Try to push yourself
up with your left elbow.
GORDON: I'm stuck.
Fricking hell.
I need you to get the mangoes
from here because there's
no way those branches are
gonna take my weight, please?
Let's go Tarzan.
I haven't climbed a
tree for decades and um,
I mean decades you know I
was worried I'd snap those
branches then we'd all come
down so the last thing I wanna
do is go into this incredible
jungle and damage an amazing
tree that's been
there for centuries.
Oh boy. Look at that.
Wow. That is delicious.
It's so juicy.
The difference in the flavor
is extraordinary because it's
highly concentrated so it
just bursts with flavor.
An amazing discovery.
It's been a real eye-opener
to see how much the strong sun
and low humidity enhance
the fruit's sweetness.
That amazing mango
will definitely be on
my cook off feast menu
and if Virgilio asks, trust me
I've picked it myself okay?
Now this country's famous
for its incredible fish
and this lake produces them.
Come on look at this place,
honestly if you thought
Scotland was beautiful,
this beats it hands down.
At 11,000 feet Lake Huaypo is
one of the highest in the world
and it's the breeding ground
for Peruvian silverside,
a sacred valley staple.
I'm down to meet an
amazing fisherman, Domingo,
who is a dab hand at fishing
and like all good Scotsman,
trust me, I grew up
with a rod and reel
so hey capitan how are you?
GORDON: Good to see you.
We good?
GORDON: I'm so
happy to be here.
Now the fish locally
are small, big.
GORDON: Big fish.
Excellent and
we're gonna use a fly.
GORDON: What is that?
GORDON: That's it?
GORDON: No.
Oh my Lord.
And where have you
parked the boat?
GORDON: This is the boat?
DOMINGO: Si, botes.
GORDON: Really?
What the (bleep).
GORDON: What's
the boat made of?
What? Inner tubes.
DOMINGO: Si.
GORDON: And bottles
and bits of float.
Incredibly Andean fishing
boats are often made of trash.
Okay. Oh my Lordie.
For the locals these ingenious
low cost crafts are
light weight and maneuverable.
But for me not so much.
(bleep).
Holy mackerel.
Domingo, I think this thing's
gonna (bleep) burst any minute.
GORDON: Oh my Lord. Gracias.
If we sink, how
deep is it in there?
GORDON: (bleep).
Domingo. Fish. Jump.
Domingo's teaching me
his highly technical
style of line fishing.
So let's take some bait.
Be good.
Show me.
GORDON: What the (bleep).
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Bollocks.
GORDON: Oh (bleep).
Trust me.
You think this looks easy.
It's way harder than it
looks I'm telling you.
Well, I've been fishing
for a thousand hours.
We never give up.
Come on fishes.
Okay. Got the fish.
So hey, trust me,
I'll take it after all that
(bleep) hard work, honestly.
Okay I'll take the scales off.
To prepare our pint sized
Peruvian silverside
Domingo has a paste.
What's in here?
What is that? Chili?
GORDON: Delicious.
Smells good.
GORDON: Thank you.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Beautiful.
Look at that.
Tiny fish for two grown men.
So we're gonna
eat this slowly.
On this lunch, the good news
is we're not gonna get fat.
Delicious.
GORDON: And your boating
technique is incredible.
Excellent.
That was amazing.
The fish was almost
like a cross between
a catfish and a trout,
very sweet, very flaky, and
it was really, really good.
He had the chili paste
marinating the fish in,
that paste with that
chili and those herbs,
you know, it's got
me thinking big time.
Peru is famous for its pastes.
But I have an idea for a high
altitude twist that might just
help me kick Virgilio's arse.
And with 24 hours
till the cook off,
I wanna get my hands on a food
Andeans were the first people
on earth to cultivate.
Now this farmer produces
the most amazing potatoes,
in fact, he's actually known
as the mad potato scientist.
Also, he's known for producing
the most amazing beer,
so I can't wait to meet
this guy and Haresh is
gonna introduce me to him.
HARESH: Absolutely and
there he actually is.
Manuel. Manuel.
GORDON: Good to
see you Manuel.
The mad potato scientist.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Everybody's going on
about these amazing potatoes,
what's so special about them?
GORDON: Wow.
GORDON: Stop it. Blue?
Have you been drinking?
MANUEL: No.
GORDON: Let's cook it
and see if it's blue.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: With his
mad science skills,
Manuel cross pollinates
high altitude potato strains
once used by the Incas,
and for lunch his proud
parents have prepared
some of the results.
HARESH: I wanna show you
what our potatoes look like.
GORDON: Oh boy. Man.
That is amazing.
HARESH: Look at that.
GORDON: Oh my God,
it's like a beetroot.
It does not look
like a potato.
You are a crazy scientist.
Oh boy.
You can just see that
starch coming out there.
So how do you cook them?
(speaking Spanish).
HARESH: They're baked
in an oven. Roasted.
GORDON: Baked in the oven.
I'm dying to taste these.
Wow. Even the skin's delicious.
HARESH: Yeah, the whole
thing it's almost meaty.
GORDON: Man.
GORDON: Wow.
GORDON: Apparently
these stunning pigments
protect the potatoes
from the intense ultraviolet
light here at altitude,
what a gift for
the mountain gods.
HARESH: This one's gonna
surprise you even more.
GORDON: That's incredible.
How the hell d'you
peel something like that,
I mean literally.
GORDON: And no wonder he's
still single at the age of 30
he's got no fricking chance.
Who's gonna peel that.
Business complete it's
time for some booze.
HARESH: Beer made out of corn.
GORDON: Gracias.
HARESH: This is unique
to the Andean highlands.
GORDON: Tastes like a
strawberry champagne.
GORDON: You could give the
French a kick up the arse.
And the sweetness from
those wild strawberries
is delicious.
MANUEL: Si.
GORDON: Mucho gracias.
Mama papa gracias.
HARESH: Thank you bravo.
GORDON: This is
very dangerous for me.
High altitudes, alcohol
and something that's
incredibly moreish.
This is the kind of discovery
that sends me straight back to
my kitchen because
I've just tasted the
most amazing potatoes.
I mean extraordinary.
The different colors,
the different flavor,
the diversity's mind blowing.
And then the Chicha, I mean
that will wipe the smile off
any Frenchman's, uh, vineyard.
Let me tell you, sod
their (bleep) pink
champagne from now on in.
Toast.
HARESH: Thank you.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Salud.
Excellent. Thank you.
It's the day of the cook off,
so me and my hangover are
hitting Urubamba.
The Sacred Valley's largest
town on a last minute mission
to find culinary inspiration
and maybe some aspirin.
Wow. Oh my Lord.
Now that is what
I call a market.
Look at the colors and
you know damn well that
everything's been hand grown,
hand-picked and literally
hours ago plucked straight
from the Sacred Valley.
Right time to dive in.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: Seis, por favor.
Six. Seis. Gracias.
Uh this one.
What is this?
GORDON: To eat no?
GORDON: Good luck.
I won't be needing that.
But just in case.
Yes. Gracias.
GORDON: Potatoes.
Extraordinary. Salt.
GORDON: Si. From the
local salt mines.
Look at the way that glistens.
It's almost like little
rough cut diamonds.
Beautiful.
I'm hoping these diamonds
are a chef's best friend.
Oh my Lord. Amazing.
Six avocado please.
Couple of bulbs of garlic.
And I've just spotted a big fan
of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
GORDON: Wow.
(speaking Spanish).
GORDON: You want
me to bite it?
WOMAN: Si.
GORDON: At 7:00
in the morning?
GORDON: Si.
That's hot.
You eat this for breakfast?
Man. Ay, ay, ay.
My mouth is on fire.
Madam, madam.
WOMAN: Thank you, thank you.
GORDON: Thank you, thank you.
Oh my Lord.
Armed with a chili from
my Peruvian Spice Girl,
I'm ready to face
my culinary foe.
So I'm heading to Mil, a
Sacred Valley restaurant
11 and a half thousand feet up
for my cook off with the
Prince of Peruvian
cuisine Virgilio Martinez.
Virgilio. Man look
at this place.
VIRGILIO: Hey, how are you?
GORDON: You good,
good to see you.
VIRGILIO: How's it going?
GORDON: Uh, first of all,
that is a spot for a
restaurant honestly.
You're a lucky boy.
So, uh, what a week.
I have been everywhere.
I understand the Sacred Valley
like it's the back of my hand.
You crazy man.
VIRGILIO: Are you sure. Really?
GORDON: I'm hoping so.
VIRGILIO: You
did your homework.
GORDON: I did do my
homework so I'm dying
to get into the kitchen
because I wanna show you
what I've understood and
got up to speed with.
VIRGILIO: Oy, no kitchen,
we're gonna cook outdoors.
You see the fire, and
this is your stove,
you know, this is
our technology.
GORDON: Seriously?
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
GORDON: Oh stop it.
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
GORDON: Bloody hell.
VIRGILIO: I'm gonna
show you your kitchen.
GORDON: Fricking hell.
I've never cooked on
a stove like that.
VIRGILIO: Yeah, you
know, we call it huatia,
uh, yeah okay.
GORDON: Huatia, this technique
how far does this go back?
VIRGILIO: This is very
traditional. This is very Inca.
GORDON: And it's
stuck together with mud.
VIRGILIO: Yep.
GORDON: Wow.
Cooking with a mud oven
is not what I had planned.
I'm the outsider so
I've gotta put my game
face on and get dirty.
This is my pestle and mortar.
VIRGILIO: Your station,
your pestle mortar.
This is my, my stove.
GORDON: I've invited
the farmers I met this
week to the feast,
so I need to show them their
lessons haven't gone to waste.
VIRGILIO: That's it man.
Let's make is simple.
GORDON: Now I'm
gonna kick your ass.
I first tasted this meat
five days ago and no,
it's not a giant guinea pig.
Look at this thing.
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
GORDON: The alpaca's
bigger than him.
MAN: Gracias.
GORDON: Right.
VIRGILIO: Choose your cut.
GORDON: I'm gonna
go for the saddle.
VIRGILIO: Oh,
the easy one, huh?
GORDON: No it's not easy, no.
'Cause there's no fat on there.
VIRGILIO: I'll,
I'll pick the neck.
I'm gonna use
some of the tongue.
GORDON: The easy part,
oh, the braised tongue.
There you go.
VIRGILIO: What
about the heart.
GORDON: I love heart.
Which one are
you gonna go for?
VIRGILIO: It's gonna be
difficult you know these guys,
the farmers they...
GORDON: I was cooking
before you were born.
Okay. Yeah.
VIRGILIO: They but these
farmers, they eat,
I mean they are very
used to eating heart.
So it's gonna be tough for you.
GORDON: Okay so
saddle, heart for me.
You're gonna go for
the most delicious part.
VIRGILIO: I'll take
the neck, let's go.
GORDON: I'm excited.
Nervous at the same time.
This cook is serious and I've
gotta draw on everything that
I've learnt all week,
understood, searched for,
dug for, fished for, climbed
for and been out of breath for.
The Sacred Valley,
it's like this oasis,
at high altitude.
Now it's time to
put it on the plate.
So there's no
fat on this loin,
so I just want to make sure
these already have alpaca fat
rendered down almost like
we'd do traditional goose fat.
The alpaca
hearts hit the stove.
But it's me that's
feeling the heat.
What you doing
there with that paste?
VIRGILIO: I'm
doing my marinade.
GORDON: Marinade.
VIRGILIO: Lot of green herbs.
A little bit of huacatay.
The level of
expectations are huge.
GORDON: You may be a
greyhound up the mountainside,
but trust me I do have an
advantage in the kitchen,
which you're gonna taste.
Virgilio might sense victory
with his neck marinade but
I'm about to unleash
my secret weapon.
Right, I'm gonna start my
paste using those amazing
mangoes and some chili.
VIRGILIO: How d'you feel?
GORDON: Yeah. D'you
have any oxygen masks?
From my lungs to the alpaca
hearts to Virgilio's tongue,
it's all happening.
VIRGILIO: Right these
tongues are beautiful.
GORDON: This is like a little
gastric which is done with the
natural sugar and the alpaca's
like a mature sort of almost
like a mature lamb with a
little hint of sweetness,
so I'm gonna glaze
that as they cook.
Virgilio's now cooking
his final alpaca dish.
What's wrong with you?
Here come our farmers.
Ay, ay, ay.
The pressure's on.
Corn. (bleep) (bleep).
Cover that in embers.
My corn on the cob's on fire.
If they survive the stove,
I'll be serving the corn with
Manuel's incredible
multicolored spuds.
VIRGILIO: How is your heart?
GORDON: Pounding right
now, oh those hearts, yeah,
they're a lot more relaxed
than my heart right now.
Okay Virgilio, heart's done.
VIRGILIO: Yeah.
GORDON: They're happy
with the yoke pink right?
VIRGILIO: Yeah. Yeah.
GORDON: Brilliant.
VIRGILIO: Beautiful.
GORDON: And now
it's time to plate up.
VIRGILIO: I mean let me
know when you're ready yeah?
GORDON: I'll be one minute.
VIRGILIO: Come on.
GORDON: I'm hoping next
time he cooks them my way.
He's gonna get married.
VIRGILIO: How are you?
GORDON: Just gimme 30 seconds.
Finally my feast is finished.
I've added my mango paste to
the loins plus Manuel's spuds,
and I'm hoping the heart
are cooked to perfection.
This looks beautiful (bleep).
Really beautiful.
But the competition is fierce.
Quinoa and tongue salad,
alpaca brain omelets
and a neck stew.
Okay, you good.
VIRGILIO: Yeah. Let's go.
GORDON: Hola.
GUESTS: Hola.
GORDON: I'm the pink
man from Great Britain.
Mm smell.
GUESTS: Mm.
GORDON: Beautiful
braised heart. Mm.
GUESTS: Mm.
GORDON: Now, who's
gonna say grace?
GORDON: Bravo.
Tough gig, a stove I've
never cooked on before,
a pile of bricks,
with a furnace inside.
I just wanna pay
respect to what I've learnt,
you know, you've got
the best ingredients,
look from this valley.
So it's sacred for a reason.
These farmers are the
hardest customers of
anyone on the planet.
Why?
Salt of the earth.
There's nothing to do now
except wait for the verdict.
This is not about winning,
it's about pleasing.
And it's also about not
losing face with the locals
in front of one of
Peru's culinary legends.
GORDON: D'you think
they're enjoying it?
VIRGILIO: I've no idea man,
they speak in Quechua.
That was Quechua.
GORDON: Quechua (bleep).
Quechua serious.
GORDON: So here we go.
Fingers crossed.
We're good?
Happy faces?
MAN: Si.
MAN: Si.
GORDON: Si, si. Okay.
GORDON: Ah look see.
HARESH: Okay, so that
one won the popular vote,
the potatoes with
the cheese sauce.
VIRGILIO: Your potatoes.
GORDON: Amazing.
HARESH: But they don't
actually like everything.
That dish she
first pointed to.
GORDON: The heart.
HARESH: The heart she says it's
undercooked that's why they
haven't eaten so much of that.
GORDON: Right.
VIRGILIO: Okay. Good.
Thank you guys.
GORDON: Uh okay. How was
the loin of the alpaca?
HARESH: Si, they loved it.
They said it was
the best dish.
GORDON: Sorry just, just
say that again please?
WOMAN: And the potato.
GORDON: Potatoes and the loin.
(speaking Spanish).
HARESH: And they liked
that, I think that's
the brain dish right?
Okay.
GORDON: It sounds
like it's sort of 50/50.
VIRGILIO: Okay.
GORDON: Mucho gracias
for an amazing week in
the Sacred Valley
and thank you for making
me feel so welcome.
(applause).
Cheers. Cheers.
GUESTS: Bravo, Bravo.
GORDON: Bravo. Salud. Salud.
Capitan. Amazing. Amazing.
VIRGILIO: Have fun, yeah.
GORDON: What an amazing
week and a dream come true.
Why?
Because here in
the Sacred Valley,
I've uncovered a truly mind
blowing culinary culture
using the secrets of the Incas.
Amazing Andean ingenuity
and stunning altitude
enriched ingredients,
the food here kicks the arse
of any fancy restaurant.
Breathtaking.
I don't know all but I've
definitely got a taste and now
more importantly, I'm
on to my next adventure.
Take care. Gracias.
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