Jamie's American Road Trip (2009–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - New York - full transcript

Southend-on-Sea
is not like this at all.

Like many Brits,
my first taste of America

was being taken
to Disney World as a kid.

Twenty years on,

I want to get
a real taste of a country

that's fascinated me ever since.

Don't, don't laugh at me, Fay.

And the only way I know how...

--...is by cooking.

Look at that.

Tasting.



What's it like? Viagra?

And getting stuck
into everything Stateside.

It's a bit more exciting
than the Norfolk Broads.

Raw and uncut,
and without a guidebook.

Oh wow, this is like a trophy
cabinet of all your dinners.

-Well, this too, but--

I'll be
on a one man food quest...

...to be reborn in the US of A.

This ain't the America
I've ever seen.

My first stop, New York.

And I'm heading
for uncharted territory.

I'm going to an illegal
restaurant today.

Yeah, it kind of feels like 007.

Don't film the location.



In search
of the hottest tastes in town...

...from the freshest
immigrants...

...for better...

35DD, she's definitely coming.

Do you want some cake, brother?

...and for worse.

So you work in the day,
and then at night time,

you feed how many people
that are homeless?

Seventy-eight.

-What a man.

There's not many of him around.

New York's food culture

is built on wave
after wave of immigration.

You can literally get
the world on your plate.

The first time
I came to New York

I was about 22 years old,

so that was 11 years ago.

And it's one of the most
iconic cities in the world,

and there is such an incredible
ethnic mix of different people

from different places,
different religions.

It's a gateway to a wonderland
of different flavours,

dishes and techniques,

but it's really easy
to play it safe.

I've never really eaten
outside of Manhattan,

and I've always
stayed in a hotel,

and it does, basically,
turn you into a tourist,

whether you like it or not.

I want to experience
the immigrant food

that this city is founded on,

so I'm avoiding all
the fancy hotels, cocktail bars,

and I'm getting
my own apartment.

Hi darling. Hello mate.

I'm heading
to the neighbourhood restaurants

and into people's homes,
where for a change,

I can be just another
face in the crowd.

I'd never be able to do
anything naughty, would I?

Half an hour on the subway,

and I'm in one of New York's
immigrant hotspots, Astoria.

And it's not just
the weather that's changed.

I've arranged to meet a bloke,

who pioneered home cooked food
from his country of origin.

This area, once home
to New York's German settlers,

is now a Middle Eastern enclave.

This geezer is supposed
to be the Mack Daddy,

he's like Yoda
of Egyptian cooking.

- Ali.
- Hey, Jamie, how are you?

- Such a pleasure to meet you.
- Thank you for coming over.

- You have a reputation of being,
- thank you sir.

- an incredible cook.
- Yeah, we try to do our best.

- Thank you.
- Yes, yes.

Back in Egypt,
Ali El Sayed studied chemistry.

But as a new immigrant
in the Big Apple it was cooking,

not chemicals, that gave
him the ticket to survival.

How long have you
been in New York?

Well, we've been
here for 34 years.

- Oh right, so a long time now.
- Yes.

Enough to get
the New Jersey accent down?

Oh yeah, exactly, I lived
in New Jersey for a while.

- Yeah, I can tell.
- I lived in Jersey for a while,

I lived there for almost
10 years, we've been here--

Can you do
the "Are you talking to me?"

Oh yeah, you can,
you're talking to me,

-like Brooklyn accent.

- Wow!
- Check that, eh?

Well, oh really,
it's an appetizer

is where we come from,
which is hawawshi,

-and we use it---Hawawshi?

Hawawshi, yeah,
like how was she doing?

Egyptian cooking
is pretty new to me,

but Ali's flat bread
is absolutely fantastic,

stuffed with delicious,
melt-in-your-mouth duck,

onions, pepper, garlic,
and it smells out of this world,

and the real alchemy
of this simple dish

is its blend of spices.

This is zaatar, zaatar is this--

Zaatar, which one's zaatar?

-The zaatar...-Can I taste this?

Ya, please.

Zaatar is this desert thyme
mixed with sesame,

some cumin and sea salt.

- What is it?
- Desert thyme.

- Desert thyme, salt.
- Sesame, salt and with cumin.

- And just coriander, cumin.
- Cumin.

That's amazing.

Oh my god.

New York especially,
of course, is the capital

of food in the world.
Not France, not Italy.

What you feel like having
in an area like Astoria?

With 265 different backgrounds,

most of them,
they hate each other,

where they come from,
and they come here

and be married,
they own a business,

they are together,
they're loving each other.

So what you're saying
is, the heart of America

is obviously around
a group of different people

from different nationalities,

that possibly may have
been fighting each other,

killing each other,
hating each other.

They are, look at India
and Pakistan and Bangla--

- Turkey and Greece.
- Turkey and Greece,

- look, Egyptian and Israeli.
- Irish and English.

You know, Irish and English,

Egyptian and Israeli,
you know what I'm talking about?

And you know what gets
them together Jamie?

You wouldn't
believe it: a table.

Food.

Let me give you
some tea with this.

- Give me anything, I--
- I'll give you some

hibiscus tea, because hibiscus
tea is for the Pharonic time.

It smells...

- Oh my, ah.
- Ah. Eh?

- Anyway,
- Just a minute.

When I was four years old,

someone gave me that,

when I was
on the Norfolk broads on a boat,

and I've been searching
for that flavour ever since,

- and I couldn't find it.
- Try that.

That is a great soup.

Look at the colours,
look at the...

It's, it's got an element

of minestrone
about it, hasn't it?

I love how Europeans
manipulate things,

and say like Italian.
What is Italian cuisine?

If it was as simple as this,
I would often have no underwear.

-See, look.

He said he was competitive, eh?

You would compare Egyptian
with the French and the Italian?

I think it's degrading
when you call ours.

- No, no, no, no...
- I'm just joking Jamie,

don't take it serious,
don't be English, stuck up.

We don't give a shit about it.

You really did come
through Brooklyn, didn't you?

-Talking to me?

When in New York do
as the New Yorkers do.

I'm going to have a go
at my very own version

of an Egyptian dish.

First stop, Ali's local butcher.

- Here's the rabbit.
- It's all alive.

- Of course, sir.
- I never expected to see, er,

- I never expected to see this
- Now we're talking about--

in the middle
of Astoria in Queens.

We're talking about fresh meat.

There's 81 live slaughter
houses in New York City,

and I can't believe
that this one is only four miles

from the Empire State building.

I would have never
imagined to have seen this

like a mile away from the hotels

I've been staying
in for 10, 15 years.

This is proper old school.

You want it cut
or you want it whole?

-Whole please.

Wow, this is my first time
in a halal slaughterhouse,

but the locals really
do get their meat here.

- This is a goat?
- A goat.

- A large goat.
- That one's a lamb.

Goat and lamb,

that's the stomach
and the intestines in there,

um, and then put the feet
and the head there.

And a couple of stray turkeys.

I think, you know,
I think this would appear, um,

er, quite crude, er,
because people never see

where their meat comes from,
in a lot of cultures, so, um.

Look at this, almost done.

Now it looks like meat
all of a sudden. Thank you.

Let's go.

Now it's time for my first
go at Egyptian cooking,

New York styling.

On all my previous
trips to New York,

I've never eaten or cooked

outside the high-end
restaurants.

But all over the city,
different immigrant communities

have made New York their home.

Freddie, you got a little spoon?

Yeah.

I'm about to try my first
stab at Egyptian cooking

with the help
of Ali's kitchen hand, Freddie.

Now basically, look,
this is an opportunity for me

to use some of this inspiration
in a constructive way.

I've got
one and a half kilo duck,

but I'm going to flavour
it with Egyptian, er, spices,

so I've got the zaatar, nice,
big pinch of that sumac,

then I've got the cumin,
and then the chilli,

and then a good pinch of salt.

Rub it all over, getting
into all the nooks and crannies,

and then slow roast that baby.

And Freddie, will you whack
that in the oven, brother?

Now, in here I've just
cooked for about 20 minutes,

about four plums.

I've put some of that hibiscus

that I tasted this morning,
put that in there as well,

and then I've just put like
a big handful of sugar in there.

Then grab some fresh
coriander and whiz it up.

More lime, brother.

For a tasty garnish,

finely slice
some onion and some radish

and give it a hit of salt
and a good squeeze of lime.

And the thing
about acid and salt,

is it starts
to cook things, okay,

so that really
harsh, er, oniony hum,

that onion breath thing, goes.

Freddie, can you get my duck
out for me, brother?

So have a look at this.

This is what happens after
about two and a half hours.

You'll want the skin
nice and crispy to chop up,

and then the leg meat
should slide away from the bone,

ready to be shredded.

I can feel this, um.
This is what I'm like at home.

This is what my wife's
got to put up with.

At this moment,
she's talking to me,

going, "Oh, the kids tomorrow,
you've got to pick them up

from stagecoach
and take them to ballet."

And I'm going,
"It's got to be a bit crispier."

And I don't hear
a word she's saying.

"Could you listen to me?"
"Oh, okay."

Now, I never use
iceberg for nothing,

but it's actually quite good
as a receptacle to eat from,

it's quite crunchy.

Smear the leaf with a dollop
of that sweet, plum sauce.

Crispy.

Add the shredded meat,
and a bit of that crispy skin,

then add the onion
and radish mix.

And then sex it up with
a little bit of pomegranate,

some mint, coriander,
squeeze of lime, delicious.

The whole point of it
is you pick it up and you get it

and then you
roll it up like this.

And then you eat it.

Delicious, really good,
really lively, very fresh.

I hope Ali likes it.

- He's here, I'm hungry.
- Yeah, come on!

I've named the dishEda Manyana,

which means "a handful of Ali".

Does that sound rude?

Ali must have liked it,

because he's asked me
to share a hookah with him.

- Exactly.
- And do you inhale it, or?

Do it like a cigar.

- Right.
- You smoke like a cigar,

but start from the beginning.

Right? It's good, huh?

Yeah it's lovely,
and that's what life's all

about really, isn't it,
at the end of the day.

- That's what New York--
- Trying different things.

Yeah, New York, New York.

On this trip, I'm going native.

And renting
an apartment is helping me feel

like a proper New Yorker.

This kitchen looks
like a scene out of a film.

Isn't it?

The word on the street
is this city's latest subculture

is underground restaurants,

a rebellion against
high-class dining.

I'm going
to an illegal restaurant today,

which is really quite exciting.

So I've got an address,

they know I'm coming,
they know you lot are coming,

and they're like "look,
you know, keep it to close",

and I love it, it's so exciting!

So I'm like yeah,
it kind of feels like a bit 007.

The address is just east
of Ali's neighbourhood,

in New York's Peruvian hub,
Jackson Heights.

It's quite interesting
like, you know, obviously,

you can see nationalities,
their faces have changed,

all the shops have changed.

I don't know
what this looks like,

it really doesn't feel
like New York.

I hope my map reading
skills are up to scratch,

because my Spanish
only stretches to beer

and train ticket.

That looks like a dive.

It's got barbed wire on it,
why've they put up barbed wire?

Gordon Bennet,

I've been to some restaurants,

but I've never quite
been to one like that.

I can see the kitchen.

Hey, how you doing?

Is this the Peruvian
place to eat?

- Yeah.
- I come in here?

Thank you. Hello.

What've we got here?

This is really exciting.

- Do you mind if I join you?
- Sure.

So, this is pretty cool,

I've never done
nothing like this before.

What's she got? A little
plate of nuts and stuff?

That's fried corn.

- Are you Peruvian?
- Yes.

Yeah. How did you
find out about place?

Because my friend, she works
around here, and I like.

Yeah. It looks good.

So what is this,
a family that run this place?

- Uh huh.
- Is this a house?

This is a house,
I think they live--

- right, so they live upstairs.
- I think so.

So this would be normally
their front room.

This would be their front room.

It's completely bonkers.

So, when they say
it's an illegal restaurant,

illegal as in not registered,

- off, doesn't exist as far as,
- off the grid yeah.

- Yeah.
- Definitely.

You know
the Department of Health,

which is
the New York City agency--

This would close in a second.

Yeah, they wouldn't
allow it, no.

I love it,
it's like the underdog.

Here's your meal, sir.

Oh my god. Thank you.

They've brought me
the house special.

A Peruvian national treasure, ceviche.

Oh my god, your octopus,
prawns, some white fish.

Ceviche's kind of like sushi,
it requires the freshest fish.

Except it's cooked, not by heat,

but with the natural
acid of citrus fruit.

Excellent flavour.

I just love the whole fact
that this place exists.

It's like humans
relentless ability

to have Mum and Dad's food,

somewhere, anywhere. Brilliant.

Who would have thought
this stuff was in New York?

We had a beautiful lunch,
thank you. It was delicious.

Peru is a beautiful
country, huh?

Why, why would you want
to come to America?

Yep, so do you work just here?

- I do an accountant.
- You're an accountant?

- Yes.
- Perfect.

Everyone needs an accountant
in the business, eh?

-Definitely yes.

Mind you, you don't need
to do accounts here eh?

-Yes, definitely.

So can you talk me
through who these people are?

This is my aunt, Isabel. Isabel.

Isabel? Aunty Isabel.

-Nice to meet you, my darling.

- This is Deborah.
- This is your cousin?

Yes, Deborah.

I grew up living above
my mum and dad's pub,

and all the family got stuck in.

So I guess
it's not that different,

except we weren't living in fear
of being closed down every day.

Would your aunty let me
have a go at making a ceviche?

Okay.

Yes, tiger. Aunty Isabel
be gentle with me.

So this is lemon juice,
say when, tiger.

- Yes.
- Finished?

-Sí.-Okay.

-Cilantro.-Sí.

-Grande, or...?

Poquito.

- All right tiger, this is good.
- Yes.

She's saying
calm down, Mr Oliver.

Okay, so it's a fairly
large amount of salt there,

but you're not going
to drink all of that,

so a teaspoon of salt.

Not mucking about
there, are they?

Er, and the chillies.

Just one, oh, incredible, um,
incredible chillies.

Have a taste, Isabel.

Go on girl. Buona, or not buona?

-Yeah good? Fish.

And then for two minutes, yeah?

I'm speaking...
I don't speak Spanish.

And then how do
we serve this, Isabel?

- The whole lot? Everything?
- Yeah.

-You happy?

Now it's all fine.

Oh man, so exciting.

Proper Peruvian food, delicious,

I would definitely come back
here, it's getting freezing now.

Daytime restaurant,
in someone's house, brilliant.

It's, um, grounding,
humbling, you know,

the last restaurant
that I fitted out

cost a million quid,

you know, nice bogs,
nice floorboards, nice windows,

nice etching, nice printing,
nice branding, you know,

look, just look,
it's the grubbiest little,

I mean, it looks like
in Louisiana after a hurricane,

I mean, like, you know,
the place is not smart,

but all the value
is on the plate.

Where did you come from?

- Sorry.
- That's all right.

Yeah. Very cool. What next?

Don't film my location.

I'm heading even further
into New York's most

multicultural borough, Queens,

where it's not just
the restaurants

that are unlicensed.

It's home to many
of the city's illegal immigrants

and I'm meeting a Colombian
who's offering a taste of home

and a lifeline to those
who are new to the city.

- Hello. George?
- Yes.

- Hey James.
- It's Jamie.

- How are you?
- How are you doing, man?

- Come on inside.
- Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.
How is everything?

Yeah good, good,
lovely to meet you.

I'm just trying to do the pie,
so you can give me a hand too.

Yeah, of course, yeah,
yeah, no worries.

Let me just take my jacket off.

What are you doing?
How can I help?

Can you help to peel
the sweet potatoes please?

Of course, absolutely.

Every day,
for the last four years,

George and his mum
have cooked for homeless,

illegal immigrants, for free.

What kind of food do you cook

for these homeless
people every day?

It's more of the Spanish food,

- Colombian food.
- Comfort food from home?

Yeah, most of it
is Colombian stuff.

George left Colombia
when he was just 17,

to join his mum who was already
working here as a cleaner,

sending her wages home.

When you first came to America,
were you legal or illegal?

I was illegal,
I was illegal, yes.

How did you get here then?

Actually to New York?
How did you get here?

Crossing the border,
crossing the Mexican border.

- So--
- like everybody does,

I wasn't brave, I was running,
not running, walking,

but I was afraid,
because it was all new for me,

otherwise be, you know, like
get in a plane and landing here

and I'd say no,
it was a little bit hard.

So, how did you
become a legal from illegal?

There was an amnesty
in 1986, 1987.

- Right, an amnesty, yeah.
- Yeah and then we applied,

all of my mum, my sister,
all the members of my family.

Yep, what do you do for a job?

- I'm a school bus driver.
- Right,

so you work in the day
and then at night time you feed

how many people
that are homeless?

- Okay, last night there were 78.
- Seventy eight?

- Yes.
- They must love you, uh?

-Er, I hope,

when they smile at me
I think so, they do, yes.

Obviously, if you're
out there every night,

feeding homeless people,

you must have seen
some pretty hard things.

Yes, yes.
There were six guys sleeping

under the bridge
and in the morning,

four guys went out to find a job
and there were two guys stayed

right up to sleep,
sleep a little bit more.

Then there was somebody
who came with gasoline,

and threw it, the gasoline
on top and then set it on fire.

Set fire to him.

-Wow.

No, it's okay, it's okay.

-What a man.

There's not many of him around.

Every single night
at nine o'clock,

George drives
half an hour to Jackson Heights.

The illegal immigrants wait
here, touting for casual work.

This will be their
one meal of the day.

All these people here
are waiting for you?

Yes.

- Right behind this.
- I bet they look pleased

when they see you.

Can I shove
this light on or not?

Yeah, go on.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

George knows all
the men personally,

they call him
the chicken and rice man.

So you get food off
George every day?

- Yeah, every day.
- Yeah.

Every day the same number.

So he looks after you, huh?

It's so cold,
but I daren't complain,

because these guys are going
to be sleeping out here,

bloody horrible.

Do you want some cake, brother?

And it, no, go on, take
the one you were touching.

This one, bravo, this one
here, take this. Go on.

I think some of them
are a bit drunk.

Yeah, you take it from
me, brother, all right?

Who's going to have that there?

You know, there'll be enough.

- There you go.
- So the people,

um, yeah, they come, you know,
some, most of them are sober,

some of them are drunk,
but you can't knock them

for being drunk,

because who would
want to be sober in this,

it's so cold.

All these people,
they're coming here to America,

obviously for opportunity,

for a new beginning
and for a fresh start,

but this looks
pretty tough, I mean,

Right yes, it is,
they were looking for job,

but it's going
to be a tough thing to find it.

- Can you wait for a moment?
- Yeah, of course.

- I want, Jim, this bird just,
- No!

- Right on top.
- No. That's typical.

Of all the people to shit
on and they shit on him,

- Oh my God!
- No respect.

Sometimes life
can be cruel, huh?

New York doesn't have
any prisoners that's for sure,

and if it does it'll be the ones
queuing up waiting

for George's food.

I think the reason he's doing it
is because he was an immigrant,

he was an illegal immigrant,

and he knows
how bloody hard it is,

so that's why he
can't stop doing it.

People don't do what he does,

because they won't allow
themselves to get hooked in.

I think once you're hooked in
you're bloody hooked in,

and it was the same
for me in the 15,

once you have
that responsibility,

you've got that responsibility,

but when I see George,

he's got personal, physical
relationships with these people

and he really, really cares,

and that's a wonderful,
wonderful human trait

that I think that we all have,

you know, if we allow
ourselves to have it.

Starting a new life legally
is getting tougher and tougher,

but New York remains
the biggest magnet

for new immigrants to America.

I want to get out to where
the most recent are settling

and see what dishes
they've brought with them.

I'm in the Big Apple,

and I'm beginning to get
my head around this city

that never sleeps,
in an entirely different way.

Like the immigrant
communities I've spent time in,

I'm entering another
unknown world.

It's the latest arrival
to the New York dining scene.

Okay, so basically
the score is now,

is there's this thing
called a supper club,

it's like a new thing
boiling under the scene,

basically glorified
dinner parties,

and then you charge them,
so it's all cash in hand again.

But I guess, you know,
some people will call them

anti-restaurants, you know,

because they're against
the sort of restaurant scene,

which obviously I'm in.

I'm kind of thinking

that if someone's invited you
around their house

for this guerrilla, anti-restaurant food,

then they must be
a bleeding cook.

Right this is it,
looks like a normal house.

Looks like Ugly Betty's house.

Zora and Tamara,
is who we're after.

- Hey.
- Hello. Zora and Tamara?

- Zora, Tamara.
- What a pleasure,

- nice to meet you.
- Pleasure to meet you.

- Thank you very much.
- Very nice to meet you, hey!

- We're glad to have you.
- Sorry I'm all wrapped up.

Hey. No, not at all, come on in,

we were so sorry
you had to be out there.

Thank you.

Zora and Tamara
run two underground

supper clubs a month.

Would you mind
taking your shoes off?

- Not at all, no.
- Cool.

Within minutes of posting their
secret dinner dates on line,

they're sold out.

Well, how many people are here?

I think we're like 16, 17 today.

- Oh wow.
- So yeah.

- And you put the...
- Yes, we have our menu.

- a menu up here.
- Yeah, grab a glass.

Hey listen,
so you've got glasses,

- these are like jam jars?
- Yeah, yeah.

- Did you marinade it in there?
- Yeah.

I love it.

- Hello.
- How you doing, all right?

Supper clubs are unlicensed,

so these girls can't
officially charge for food.

If you're going to have,
what, three courses,

dessert, drinks?

It's, now it's 35 bucks,
and a bottle of wine.

- Yeah. To get in.
- Is the typical donation.

- So you bring a bottle of wine?
- Yeah, yeah.

You bring your own wine,
because it's illegal

- to sell booze.
- Yeah, we would not be selling

booze to people.

I think you've broken
a few laws already.

- Well you know.
- Let's not worry about it.

-I don't think so.

I mean,
really we hate restaurants,

like Tamara has worked
in restaurants for fucking ever,

and I worked in restaurants
enough to realise

like that's not really the kind
of cooking I want to do.

The problem with
restaurants in New York

is you get kicked out like,
as soon as you're done eating,

- and here people can relax,
- Have a night.

And have a whole night
and there are so few places

- to do that.
- So it is in actual fact

- an anti-restaurant?
- Yes.

- Yeah kind of.
- I would say.

Zora and Tamara just break
even, but there are some perks.

- Do anyone fall in love here?
- Yeah.

Have you been responsible
for any conception of children?

- Well, hm.
- Well, we both hooked up.

I know, we both got married
in the course of these dinners.

- Oh really?
- Yeah. Yeah, we did.

We did. My husband,
it was our third date,

I brought him to a dinner
in my own apartment.

Oh my gosh, so anti-restaurants
has got you hitched?

Yeah, yeah. I know
of two people have gotten laid,

but I don't think it went
any further than that,

but that's good, what a dessert!

Chicken fried lamb chops,
take one and pass them down.

Unlike restaurants,

these chefs get to eat
with their diners too,

and the menu today is a homage
to their Greek neighbourhood.

For the main course,

unbelievable,
crispy-fried lamb chops,

with rosemary,
alongside tender lamb shanks

spiced up
with cumin and saffron.

Is it your first time?

This is your second time,

and how does this one look so
far compared to your other one?

Um, a lot less stuffy.

So the other one
was quite stuffy?

Well, you can't talk to anybody
before you enter or exit.

- What? Really.
- Yes.

This is a lot more sort of
earthy and real and authentic.

- Yeah.
- I think.

I was a bit cynical,
but I totally, totally get it.

Um, when you're in someone's
home it makes you act different,

saying that, I'm already half,
more than half pissed

from a jam jar!

So that is good.

See you later.

Thanks very much all,
see you guys, take care.

Seriously good food.

Can we turn it up?

xxx

Yeah, I like that one,
it's got good bass.

It's a very classic song.

The key to good hair,
is if you go upside down,

I learnt this when I had a flat
top when I was 12 years old,

you know, the hair cut they do
when they have the spirit level.

That's why I only wash my
hair once every five days,

because if I washed
my hair every day,

it goes like a white Afro,

right, and then I have to put
a crash helmet on my head.

You know, the anti-restaurant
supper club was basically,

come here, spend all night,

put an anonymous, anonymous
amount of money in a hat,

or whatever at the back
of the room,

and, um, be fed,
and I just love it.

And most importantly like,
serving some bloody tasty food.

In the spirit of my
underground adventure,

I've decided to host
my very own supper club.

I am just submitting a blog,

to say basically, I'm going
to cook for eight people

in the New York area.

Er, do they want to come
around to the flat I'm in.

It'd be quite nice to get
a nice mixture of people

around the table.

I have to be careful
how I spell things on this,

because last time I did
spell check on pancetta,

it came out as placenta
and I posted it.

I need to decide what to serve,
and I really want to reflect

some of New York's
different cultures.

But before I finalize my menu,

I'm off to where the newest
immigrants are settling.

Flushing
is at the end of the subway,

on the outskirts of New York,
near to the airport.

Ooh.

No surprise then that
it's always been a staging post

for the newest communities.

Irish, Jewish, Italian,
and now it's the place

to get the most authentic,
regional, Chinese cuisine.

I've been to Chinatown
in Manhattan and, you know,

and if you know
which ones to go,

you can eat very, very well,

but I think what's beautiful
about this is, it's just,

it seems to be more
vibrant, a bit cruder,

you know, a lot of these people
don't even speak English at all,

so they're like,
it's like a little microcosm.

I'm going to try my
hand in this food court.

It opened just three weeks ago.

In China,
where do you come from?

- China.
- No, er...

- Whereabouts in China?
- Chengdu.

- Chengdu. Okay.
- Chengdu.

Lee Lin, or Joe as he will
be known in New York,

specializes in these incredible,
fiery dan dan noodles.

And I'm a chilli freak,

so this Szechwan classic
is right up my strata.

Can you explain, er,
what is dandanya?

Dan dan.

I think we're going to,

who's going
to translate, darling?

-Dan dan mian.-Okay, tiger, dandanmayan.

- Dan dan mian.
- Dan dan mian.

So it's like
an assembly at this point.

We've got noodles.

Add some slightly
wilted Chinese cabbage,

a little soy sauce,

and then for the key
ingredient, Szechwan pepper.

It's kind of got, um,

it has an effect like
when you have your mouth numbed

when you go to the dentist.

We've got some
chicken bouillon here.

Finally, add a teaspoon
of chopped, fresh garlic,

a handful of spring onions,

and then for some insanely
hot, homemade chilli oil, oh!

- Is this good? Yeah? Less?
- Okay.

Yeah?

You'll remember
this one tomorrow,

here's the really
interesting bit,

we've got a beef mince,

and I've put probably
a bit too much in there,

judging by his reaction.

Er, look at the way
he uses his chopsticks.

This is a serious,
serious foodies noodle dish.

Beautiful.

Whoo. Ooh. Yeah.

Ooh. Ooh. Oh that is so good.

- Good?
- Yeah good.

Dan dan mian.

In the stall opposite,

they're actually making
the noodles from scratch.

What do you call these noodles?

In Chinese, it's shuogon,
it means handmade.

-Shuogon?-Yeah, a hand means shuo.

Shuo. Ah-ha. Shuogon.

Nineteen year old, Aki,

and her parents
touched down in America

just three months ago.

What do you expect
from your new life in New York?

I think it's very
challenging for us.

My father has never been a cook.

- Oh right?
- Yeah.

What did your
father do in China?

- Businessman.
- Do you think your mum

would let me have a go
at making the noodles?

- Okay.
- Yeah?

Let me have a go, darling.

She's like my mum,
she's a control freak.

- So, Mum, so like this?
- Very good. You are natural.

Very nice, very nice.

How do you say
thank you in Chinese?

- Xiè xiè.
- Xiè xiè.

-Yeah.-Xiè xiè.

This is one of the best dishes
I've tried in a long, long time.

These little parcels
are called sher ping.

- And now I'm showing off.
- Oh yeah, yeah.

I love it.

- Careful yes.
- And then at this point,

we have to flatten
it out and turn it.

- Yeah, turn, turn.
- Um, aww...

- You're strong.
- Yeah, I'm too strong,

-I just bust it.

Yeah, alright,
it's not that funny.

I was getting too cocky.
Thank you, brilliant.

I'll tell you,
that was just brilliant,

that's what
I've come to New York for,

brilliant, beautiful people,
different backgrounds,

different smells,
tastes, techniques,

two hours,
three hours in there, was like,

I was like a kid in a sweet
shop, it was brilliant.

Immigrant's a funny thing,
isn't it? it can be looked at

as a positive or a negative,

"Get those bloody foreigners
out of our country."

Post war, you know,
both of my granddads,

probably like 90% of other
granddads in Great Britain,

not in a bitter, horrible way,
were verbally quite racist.

But one of those granddads
was fifth generation Sudanese,

do you know what I mean?
I'm a sixth,

which no one believes,
because, like, blondie,

well, used to be blondie...
So, I mean, you know,

I think the immigration
thing's quite fascinating.

Look at the Sesame
Streetcharacters, hilarious.

The menu I'm writing
is a bit of a car crash really,

this is a little
celebration of my trip.

I think, you know,
New York's actually helped me

feel differently
about immigration,

not that I was ever
sort of anti-immigrants,

but, um, I don't know,

I feel like I understand
them a bit more.

It's generally trying to escape
with or for your family

um, to have a safer,
better life with more potential

that's really for your kids,

and I can really
sympathize with that.

I'm joining the anti-restaurant
brigade for the night,

and I'm making up my own rules.

I'm going to have
a donations box,

like the two girls did,

but I'm going to dedicate,
um, the donations to George.

Do you remember George
who fed all the homeless people,

um, every day, there's not
many people like George about,

so it'd be nice to do
something appropriate for him.

I've got hundreds
of replies to my blog,

so I need to confirm
my guest list.

I'm just going through them
really, they're quite funny.

I find much Zen
in chopping vegetables.

Hm. Do you want to get
Hispanics, Irish, Russians,

you want to kind of get
a whole cross section

of New York, definitely.
Otherwise, what's the point.

35DD, she's definitely coming.

Hi, is that Dana?

Hello darling,
it's Jamie Oliver,

I'm just responding
to your blog.

Yeah, so are you up for coming?

Great. Basically no one
really knows each other,

but there's people
from all over New York

and then I'm just going
to cook a bunch of stuff,

get some liquor in and have
a little bit of a laugh really.

Alright darling,
take care, all the best.

She was completely freaked
out, she goes, "Oh my god,

I'm really good fun, I promise
you, I will not let you down".

Ah. Good, got a party.

Just need some food.

The whole point of this
menu is it's a bit confused,

a bit mutt-like.

This is like there's
stuff everywhere

and nowhere to put anything.

First up, the starters.

The moment of truth.

Can Mr Oliver replicate that
lovely Chinese lady's pancakes?

Flour and water, mixed together
to make a dough like this

that's soft and elastic,

then I'm going to put
some crab in, instead of pork,

got lemon zest, fennel,
parsley, a little chilli.

Get the speed up now.

I will get it together.

Mix it up with the crab meat.

I'm just going to add
a couple of eggs to the story.

Grate a bit
of lemon zest, mix it up

and then grab a handful
of this zingy filling

and then fold it
up in the parcels.

See how it stretches,
it's like bubble gum.

I'm going to,
can't find anything,

don't know where anything is.

Next, I'm going to do my
version of a Peruvian ceviche.

Sea bass.
Slightly awkward fish to fillet.

Remove the skin and bones,

and then roughly slice
up, ready to season.

This is the fluke
I bought, sushi quality,

so I've got coriander,
got some fennel,

there'll be salt
going on both of them,

probably just a little
bit of Clementine zest

and lemon on the other,
just to get different flavours.

The whole thing aboutceviche
is it's delicious,

it's so fresh and lovely.

The acid in the citrus fruit
will transform the raw fish

in just two minutes,

so I'll leave that
to the last minute.

Got a beef in the oven
here, have a look at this,

it's like a massive rib of beef.

Right, and that's been
rubbed with Egyptian spices,

inspiration from Ali,

and that's been cooked
for about six hours,

at about 275F,
which is about 140, 150C okay,

but you know, we'll slice that,

got some
sweet potatoes with that.

My starters and mains
are all prepped.

Now it's time for the hard
part, sprucing myself up.

Blimey.

Tonight I, Jamie Oliver,

owner of restaurants
around the world,

am joining New York's
anti-restaurant scene.

What a traitor.

Eight New Yorkers,
who I've only met online,

are coming around my gaff
for a supper club.

I mean, I've definitely got
more memories from this trip

than possibly all of my
New York trips put together.

It's the stories
of the people really,

that were really,
really interesting,

you know, let alone the food.

If you can get booze
into someone's hand

within 30 seconds
of them getting in the door,

then you're a very good host.

First one's here.

I've never had a party
where I haven't got a clue.

Right, so get
the first glass ready,

let's get them all drunk.

-Belinda, hello darling.

-Come in. How are you?

- Wonderful.
- Pleasure. Excuse me, darling.

- Hello.
- Ah, how are you?

- Who are you then?
- I'm Carrie.

Nice to meet you.
There you go, sweetheart.

- Thanks so much,
- 25 seconds.

-Wait for it.

-Hello?-Hello, it's Matthew.

What do you want to drink?
Red wine or white wine?

My supper club line up

is a cocktail of New York's
different communities,

Hawaiians, Italians,
and Puerto Ricans.

From firemen to physicians.

Six, seven, eight,
nine, we're all here.

Lovely.

The menu's
on the wall, it's a supper club,

so it's a bit of family
service and a bit DIY,

but that's kind of part
of the charm, I hope.

So you guys chill, come in,
and the food will be coming

- out in about five minutes.
- Oh wow!

- Great service.
- Lovely.

Wind your body, wind your body.

I'm letting my Sudanese
immigrant side of me come out.

♪ Here me now ♪

♪ Warm it up, hear me styling ♪

♪ Hear me now! ♪

Okay.

Need any help?
Anything I can do?

Well, I'll tell you what,
you can be my waitress,

- if you want.
- I can do that.

For starter, I'm going
to serve my ceviche,

and my crab sher pingtopped with salsa.

Cheers, and I hope you enjoy it.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

-Yeah, man.

So how many people
around this table

are like regular
cooks and New Yorkers?

So half of you basically,
and then you guys?

Believe me, there's so
many good places in New York

that you want to try.

For the main event, I'm serving
beef with Egyptian spices

and a side
of New York's classic,

mac and cheese my style.

Guys, can I just,
I want to mention something.

This guy here is, I don't
know if you saw on the menu,

I mean, running it like
a normal supper club,

there's a pot
at the end of the house

and you make
anonymous donations,

but this guy here cooks
for 85 homeless people

every night, and I went
with him and fed the people,

and I thought it'd be nice
to dedicate tonight to him,

and he's a kind of amazing guy,

and I knew
it was going to be sweet,

but I didn't think
it would upset me.

- What's his name?
- George.

- George.
- Colombian George.

- Colombian George.
- And bless him.

I'm really glad
that I came to New York,

because many, many
people know New York,

and hopefully, you know,

maybe if people see
what I've done,

they might be less tempted
to go for the usual.

As soon as I get back
to London I want to know

where my version
of Ali is in Little Egypt,

I want to know more
about some of the things

going on in my city,

so yeah, I think
really good trip.

It's a crazy, crazy city.

Next time, I'm leaving
the bright lights of the city

behind, and I'm heading
to the state of Louisiana,

where I'll be hunting
for my food.

I'm shitting myself.

Hunting in my world
is all about rabbits, hares,

but nothing that could kill you.

Fee fi, fo fum, I smell
the blood of an Englishman.

-I'll be up close...-

...and personal.

Up the, right?
And then it's...

With the Cajun way of life.