Jamie's American Road Trip (2009–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Georgia to Florida - full transcript

Woo!

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.

It's so exciting!

20 years on

I wanna get
a real taste of a country

that's fascinated me ever since.

Ooh.

And the only way I know how

is by cooking.



Come on, the gumbo!

Gumbo, Essex style!

Tasting.

It's like really
posh cheese on toast.

And getting stuck
into everything Stateside.

Come on!

Raw and uncut...

I might do some rodeo tomorrow.

...and without a guide book.

I've never cooked
with it in my life.

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

Let's go get those gators!

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

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



On my next stop

I'm searching for the best
cheap cuts in the deep South.

All you can do is
to trust the man with the axe.

- Steve.
- Hey there!

Enjoy traditional
Southern high society

- This is Anne.
- Hello, Anne.

Was this a McCain area,
or an Obama area?

- McCain.
- McCain.

Take on the barbecue rednecks.

Lord, let us
kick some barbecue butt.

- Yeah!
- Woo!

And I'm shocked by some
of the local conversation.

That's the first time
I've ever heard it said

truly and meaningfully.

You know in reality
this is still the South.

I'm entering Georgia

in the heart of the Deep South

as America, like Britain,

plunges into recession.

Yesterday when I arrived,

in all the news and newspapers

they'd named yesterday,
which was Monday,

Bloody Monday.

You know, 70,000 jobs
were lost yesterday.

And...

And Obama did a speech

and sort of said, you know,
America's at a crossroads.

Obviously, recession has
a massive impact on food

what people eat, how they eat,
how much they spend.

Yeah, I just think
the recession's very, very real

very real here.

On this trip,
I'm traveling and sleeping

in a motor-home

and I'm looking
for the best quality food

that doesn't cost the earth.

That's what I'm here for,

to learn about what
the people in this area

how do they eat?

You know,
what are their big dishes?

How do they celebrate food?

My first stop is
a traditional Southern lunch

with a local hunter,
Lonnie Smith, and his family.

- Hey, Jamie?
- Lonnie?

- Yeah! Welcome, man!
- How you doing, bro?

- Good trip?
- Yeah, really good.

You haven't eaten yet, have you?

- No.
- Your timing is impeccable.

Mama's fixed
a nice Southern lunch.

- Would you like to join us?
- Yeah, to--

- All right.
- Well, I'd never say no.

Have to slip your shoes off.

- That's all right.
- It's a family rule.

We don't wear the shoes inside.

That's all right. Your family
must have trained my wife.

Okay, this would be

greens from the garden
that were freshly picked.

Yeah.

Home-made biscuits
and corn bread.

This is,
you would call it stuffing

with a giblet gravy
that we serve over it.

This is turkey.

This is venison
wrapped in bacon and marinated

- and grilled--
- This is your own venison?

This is our own venison.

Proud to be rednecks

Lonnie's family have
always lived off their land

and as a result,
they're really well-equipped

to survive
the economic down-turn.

Such a long way from home, but

what a lovely spread
this is. God.

You doing good.

- Are they good?
- That turkey dumplings

is exceptional, yeah.

I feel like I'm in a time warp.

I don't think this spread
would have looked any different

two generations ago.

It's brilliant.

How do you describe
the local food here?

None of this
is really expensive food.

We, we forget that the recession

of the 1930s or the Depression.

My mother's parents
were people of the Depression

so a lot of the things
that she learned to do

making the, the corn bread

is just
a little flour, cornmeal,

- water, salt and pepper.
- Is pennies.

A family together...

- Yeah.
- It just means a lot

that you can sit here

good times or bad times...

- Yeah.
- And be together.

Each flavour
of this is so delicious

so all credit to you.

And Jamie, me and her,
we do it fifty-fifty.

She cooks, and I eat.

I grew up

watching my mother
and my grandmother

prepare these types of meals.

And this is just as much about

the heritage and...

When my parents are gone

some of these things
will go away, too.

My wife's a wonderful cook

but she does it
differently than my mother

- you know what I mean?
- Yeah. Yeah.

If I have a passion
for anything other than just

plain old eating, it's barbecue.

Normally, we go south

down to Lakeland
this time of year, and...

What's Lakeland?

It's called the Pigfest.

It's this largest
barbecue contest

on the south-eastern
United States.

- Right.
- It's 165 teams, 30,000 people.

Sadly, we're not gonna get
together this year.

You know, diesel prices
in the United States are just

at an all-time record high.

- We had to choose not to go--
- Were you gonna go?

We were. This, we went
the last five years in a row and

you know, I mean,
people that I...

Can you not go? I would love

I would just love
to see something like that.

- Well...
- If it was the diesel prices

I mean, I'd love to
divvy up on the diesel.

And if I, and I mean,
if I could join your team

that would be incredible.

So what do you think,
brother-in-law?

- I think he's in.
- I think we're in, right.

-All right! We're... it's on!

Yeah. Brilliant.
Well, I'm a bad loser.

-You'll fit right in.

Oh, wow.

So the, these are all deer
that you've eaten the meat of?

- Right.
- Yeah.

So really this

this is like a trophy cabinet
of all your dinners.

- Well, this too, but...
- Yeah.

And you've got your guns here.

Obviously you're hunters

but, I mean, do you think
that it's too easy to get a gun

as far as
town folk are concerned?

No. No.

It...

But when they
do away with all the guns

- all the crooks will have guns.
- Yeah.

'Cause honest people
buy their guns

- crooks steal theirs.
- Right.

And no, everybody
needs a gun in the home.

- Yeah. Well--
- But I know a--

I tell you what,
if I was a crook

-I wouldn't come in here.

And these are pine trees, yeah?

- This is so lovely.
- Yes.

What, what's this,
an old workout bike?

Yeah, it's an old unicycle bike.

Don't you wanna try it?

- Does it work?
- Yes, sir.

Oh, let me go around
and plug it in for you, Pop.

- Get it plugged in.
- What do I do with it?

- What does it--
- Are you ready?

Yeah?

Oh my God! Ah, my God!

Oh!

What, what, what

just a minute

-what if I wanna stop?

Well, let's, let's slow it down.

Yeah, please do slow it down.
I feel vulnerable.

Okay. All right. All right.

That was getting
too close to something.

-There we go.

After working off lunch

I'm making my own version
of a Southern classic:

venison with creamed vegetables.

Every ingredient in this dish

I've raided
from Miss Betty's larder.

An onion,
carrots, celery goes in.

So I'm gonna use some

a little bit of thyme.

Really getting that
sweetness out of it.

It's got
a wonderful aroma to it.

- Mm, it does.
- Yeah.

I'm using a couple of handfuls

of home-grown lima beans.

They're a bit like broad beans.

Now we don't
have these back home

so this is new territory for me.

Pour on enough
chicken stock to cover the veg

and then add some
sweetcorn and a little cream.

Good, good.
I'll bring that to boil

then I'll turn that right down.

Okay.

Simmer on
a low heat for about 20 minutes.

Yeah, what,
what does a redneck mean?

I'm sorry to be
completely ignorant.

Oh, it's okay. The...

The original term of a redneck

was how you identified someone

who stayed bent over
in the field working

because as they were
bent over in the field working

the back of
their neck become blistered.

Nothing wrong with
a good hard day's labour.

So when you hear the term
Bubba or redneck and all

I, I take
a lot of pride in that.

I'm using venison shot by Lonnie

marinated in bay,
thyme, vinegar, oil and salt.

Oh!

We don't worry about that.

Pan-fry for four minutes

then slice thinly
and serve rare.

Look at that.
Look at the colour of that.

Such an incredible meat.

Completely underrated,
venison, I think.

All right, fingers crossed
you'll like this.

I mean, to be honest

nothing's gonna beat
Mom's lunch today.

Creamed beans.

And I'm just, I think
I'm just gonna put a pile of it

and just let people dig in.

- Thank you, Jamie.
- Mm.

For fixing that
and sharing it with us

- It's really tender for what--
- That's right.

No, more than what,
what you've done to it is great.

Hey, it's all good.

I will be cooking this dish.

- Great.
- Very good.

The Smith family's
hunting and storing

has prepared
them well for the recession

but even they've
been hit by the down-turn.

I mean all this,
all this talk about recession

I mean, it's such
doom and gloom, isn't it?

Recession's just a word.

It is, but what it is
is a lack of faith in anything.

You, you know whether it's
the bank lending you money

It's all the way down the chain,

everyone's
losing their bollocks.

And you need that spunk to
kind of come back, you know?

You need that...
Spunk's probably not the word.

That's, that's an American word.

I wanna see how tough times

are affecting local restaurants

but first, I'm bedding down
in my home on wheels.

Oh no!

We've got mice.

There is mice poo, in my bed.

That's disgusting.

I'm on a journey
through America's Deep South

searching for the best food
to eat during the recession.

I'm gonna be competing

in one of America's biggest
barbecue competitions

so for inspiration
I've come after service

to a barbecue joint which
specializes in the whole hog.

Wow, this is a proper shack.

Oh, you can see
the smoke coming out.

It's nose-to-tail cooking

where nothing goes to waste.

Look at this.

Hey!

Are you, are you Lyn?

I'm Lyn.

- What a pleasure.
- Nice to meet you.

Thanks for letting
me come round.

I hear you wanna
cook hogs with us?

Yeah. Is that all right?

Before Lyn hands over
all her barbecue secrets,

I wanna sit down
with her and find out

how this 50-year
old family business

is faring in today's
economic climate.

This is a very slow time,

and the sad thing is

I don't see it really getting
much better any time soon.

And even in the times

that we have gotten very slow,

-we, knock on wood...

...we have never let
anybody go.

We took the loss
out of our own pocket.

- And--
- So you've always

made it your first priority
to look after your staff?

Right.

And my daughter
has cerebral palsy.

She's in a wheelchair, she has
to have things that she needs.

- Uh-uh.
- But it's just like healthcare.

Here, we couldn't afford it.

Just for me and my husband

you know, it was $1,000 a month.

Wow.

See, that...
as an English person

we have free healthcare.

Free medicine, free healthcare.

And so that's unreal.

- That's just unreal.
- Mm. Yeah.

So I guess
the government have got it

to a point where
you have to be critical

to be able to get free aid?

Then you're
not gonna get free aid.

- Right.
- You know you'll lose

everything you've got.

You're gonna lose whatever,
your home, whatever.

They'll take
whatever you've got.

- Oh, they'll bill you for it?
- Oh, yes.

Huge bills.

Huge, huge bills.

England's kind of looking
like quite a nice place to be

- in a recession.
- Yeah.

Yeah, it is.

But, I mean, thank God, you've
got a good, great reputation.

The reputation
and all that's fine, but

the man upstairs
takes care of everything

and that's exactly
who I rely on.

But, I'm going to get
the boys ready

- and tell them that you're--
- Great.

- Ready to cook.
- I'll finish up, darl.

And got your coveralls

- so that you can cook in style.
- Oh, an overall. Okay.

Yeah, brilliant.
Thanks, darling.

Here in the States,
if you lose your job,

the implications
and the impact on your life

and your family's life
is much, much more immense.

You know, England actually
is quite lucky in comparison.

Do you know
what I mean, it's like...

Never thought about it.

Behind the restaurant

are the prep rooms
and the barbecue pits

where I'll be part
of the team cooking hogs

under pit master Barry.

- Yeah, all right.
- Nice to meet you.

There you go.

- Right there.
- Yeah.

One, two, three.

There you go.

Now push.

And how long have you...

- You've been here 31 years?
- Thirty-three.

- 33 years.
- Yeah.

So

you were a boy
when you started this.

Yeah.

So, listen...

You know that big barbecue
competition down in Florida?

- Uh-uh.
- I'm joining a team.

Uh-uh.

Man, you'll probably
bring back first place.

Well, I don't know about me,
brother. Maybe me and you.

It's like half-mechanic,
half-butcher.

That's it,
that's all you gotta do.

Bit of basic seasoning.

Any rubs,
any flavourings, any herbs?

- Just salt, and smoke.
- Just, just salt.

- We'll take it to the pit.
- Take it to the pit.

Pit barbecuing is
nothing like how us Brits do it.

Here, the whole hog is cooked
over wood through the night.

This 400-year old method
was originally used by slaves.

No surprise, then

that many of the great
Southern pit masters

are African-American.

And the next process

that'll be wiring it.

This is to

hold the meat on

while it's cooking.

It won't, when it get done,
it won't fall in the pit.

Okay, so basically,
'cause you're slow-cooking

it's getting really tender
and juicy and it'll fall off.

- Okay.
- Right.

It's very primal, isn't it?

I mean, this is about
as basic as cooking

- gets, isn't it? Wood.
- That's it.

What do you use, charcoal, wood?

- Oak wood.
- It's oak wood.

What is it about the pig

that you love?

Cooking them slow.

- That's your passion?
- That's it, cooking them slow.

And that's where
the taste come from.

Do the head properly.

All the leftover parts are used

to make a thick gravy of
pork, vinegar and tomatoes

called hash.

Even the head's thrown in.

Put the nose flat down.

So you want me to hold that
while you axe his nose off?

Yes, sir, I do.

Just remember, I've got
a pregnant wife and two kids.

All you can do is
trust the man with the axe.

So what's in here?

It's pork trimmings,
the heads, the belly meat,

- and also the knuckles.
- Right.

This is like,
it's like a witch's cauldron.

Go ahead
and stir it up for us real good

make sure we hit the bottom.

Get everything going around.

So do you cover those pigs?

No.

You don't?

They're cooked just like that.

And that's it.

So do you sleep here?

Well, I sit
pretty much right there.

I don't go to sleep.

I gotta watch those.

If you go to sleep,

you're gonna burn the meat.

My bed's
in the trailer out the front

so I'm leaving
the cooking to Barry.

I didn't realize
you had to babysit the pork.

What an experience. Great!

I mean, what's amazing is like

you know, I've spent years

looking round Europe
at these kind of

funky artisan types

and...

honestly, I think that

these guys are about
as artisan as you get.

I mean this is
proper effort, proper care.

So, yeah, really good to see it.

Night-night, guys.

It's 6:00 a.m.

and after only
a few hours' kip I'm back on it.

How's it going, brother?

Check them out now.

What do you think about them?

Look at that crackling.

You headed right.

Up here?

Exactly. Right there.

- So--
- That's it, now.

Just take it and pull them off.

Pick them up.

Crunch it.

- Oh, man.
- And just...

that's the favourite part
right there.

That's the best meat in the hog.

- The fillet?
- No fat, all lean.

- So--
- My, my favourite bit

just here, in the shoulder.

- That cut there.
- Yeah.

- And I don't know--
- Yeah. That's tender meat, too.

And that...

- Yeah, that's good.
- Look at that baby.

I know there's cool people here,

I know there's people
who do great stuff,

but America
always feels like this,

this big commercial kind of

brilliant sort of factory
that knocks stuff out.

We're really
off the beaten track here

and this is as
artisanal as anything

I've seen in the mountains
of Spain or Italy...

or England.

You know what I mean?
It's old school, I love it.

It's a bit random,
but I'd love to ask Barry

if he'd come
and join me as my guest

in the team.

Savannah. Okay, baby.

Thankfully, I have
no idea what it feels like

to be on the breadline.

But what Lyn and I
do have in common

is restaurants to run.

My memories
of the recession in the '80s

was like, quite bleak
and quite tough and a lot...

and my dad was stressed.

But I do remember him telling me

it wasn't about
making money for himself

it was about keeping
all the staff employed

first and foremost.

And, and I get that now.

You know, I don't wanna make...

loads of redundancies.
That's 900 people that I employ.

That's 900 mortgages.

It's a lot, ain't it?

But...

if you think like that

I don't think I've ever really

you try not to
think about it like that.

Oh yeah!

I like this one.

My next stop is Savannah.

It's one of
America's oldest cities

famous for its
beautiful architecture

and its wealth.

I've come here
to see if tough times

are hitting every
level of U.S. society.

It's Georgia's
first British settlement

and it still
retains its tradition

-of afternoon tea and cakes.-

Cakes

and, you know, cake-making

even throughout
the times of slavery

was still largely left

to the white ladies
of the house.

So I'm gonna meet up
with some cake-making ladies

for a spot of high tea.

- Y'all, this is Jamie.
- Hello, ladies.

- Hi there.
- Hello. How are you?

What a pleasure to meet you.
Nice to meet you.

- This is Anne.
- Hello, Anne.

- Nice to meet you.
- Would you like a glass of wine

- glass of champagne?
- I'll go for some bubbles

- to get things going--
- Oh, right.

- If you've got one opened.
- Oh, it's, oh yes.

Susan Mason is
an expert in cakes and desserts

and for 22 years
has been the must-have chef

at Savannah's finest events.

Was this a McCain area
or an Obama area?

- McCain.
- Right.

Was the town split?

I mean, was...

I, I would say there are
a lot more Republicans

- in this town--
- Right.

But it's not something
you would discuss

at dinner
or at a cocktail party.

- Oh, really?
- Oh, no.

- No. No.
- No politics and no religion.

I thought Americans
were a bit more open

- about that sort of thing?
- No.

- No politics and no religion.
- Not in a social situation.

What about religion then,
is that the same sort of...

Don't talk about that
at cocktail parties either.

- Really?
- Mmm.

What shall we talk about, then?

Okay, we've got
a red velvet cake

which is wonderful.

This is

my coconut...

- Pound cake.
- Pound cake, which is wonderful.

And, of course,
sweet potato pie.

Sweet potato pie, yeah.

Fantastic baking, my God.

Let me fill up...

So, are you girls
feeling the recession here?

- Does it mean, I mean--
- Well, we're feeling it

- we just don't talk about it.
- Right.

- But we are feeling it.
- I don't know, I went to Target

and bought a slow cooker.

I did, too.
Did you buy the one I bought?

- I bought the red one.
- Yeah, the red one.

But you're supposed
to be saving money,

not spending money.

-No.

That was a great laugh.

Going to see the
Sex in Savannah girls.

Brilliant.

I mean, you know.

I mean, that girl can cook,
those cakes were incredible.

But...

yeah, it's like,
'we don't talk about religion

we don't talk about
recession, ' so I did.

America has the biggest gap

between rich and poor in any
advanced nation in the world

and Savannah's no exception.

Just ten minutes
from Susan's house

is a local trailer park, where
I'm pitching up for the night.

I'm going from
the area's richest

to its poorest residents.

- How you doing, mate?
- Hey, how you doing, my friend?

- Jamie Oliver.
- My name's Gill. How you doing?

- Gill, what a pleasure. Hello.
- It's nice to meet you.

- Welcome to America.
- Hi.

- I'm Jamie, nice to meet you.
- Jaycee.

Who are you, anyway?

I, I'm, well,
I'm just Jamie. Simple, simple.

That's cool, I'm just Gill, dog!

Do you guys all live here?

We're all friends.

The old recession's
having a big impact here.

Yeah, we all work construction.

Last year,
there was a lot of money

lot of money, lot of money.

She works construction,
I work construction. Last year--

- So do I.
- There was all new

houses being built.

Now nothing. The houses
that were built last year...

- Haven't been sold.
- Are still sitting there for

you know.

Yeah, I was working with
a multi-million dollar company.

I got laid off.

Is it affecting the way
you eat and the way you, you--

Depending on
how you live, well, yeah.

So what about seafood? Is, is--

Oh, seafood.
Who even thinks about it?

But it, you're on the,
you're on the water here?

- Yeah, but it's...
- But, you know,

friends help friends out,
regardless.

- Yeah.
- You know, we're

we're all like a family
all up in here.

Yeah, we take care
of them. Listen to this--

We're all family.

So, when, when,
when Obama got in

was it like, party time?

Was everyone in the streets
going crazy or...?

- No.
- I like him.

- No?
- What?

You're, you're in the South.

- The little local bar I go to--
- Obama? Yes.

They're not happy
with him being there

because they're South,
very anti...

they're gonna say
the N word here right now.

- N word?
- Maybe one will.

- Well, of course, him.
- Ah, you know...

They got a queen,
we got a nigger.

There you go.

Say it again, Gill.

I'm completely shocked

and unsure how to react

so I get away as soon as I can.

I know that drinks often lead

often make people bloody stupid,

but it's the first time
I've heard the N word,

you know.

That's the first time
I've ever heard it said

truly and meaningfully.

At the end of the day, there's
280 million people in America

and you're gonna get

some good cooking,
you're gonna get shit cooking.

You're gonna get
beautiful people,

and you're gonna get crap people

just the same as
in any other country,

so, you know,

I guess it was a bit of a shock
to the system, really.

But...

Not good, really, is it?

But there you go.

I don't think
he voted for Obama.

I'm travelling over 600 miles

across the Deep South

to compete
in a barbecue competition

but some teams travel thousands.

Look at those coppers, though.

Come on, look at those coppers.

Harley-Davidsons,
Ray-Bans as standard

How cool is that?

In search of America's

best recession-busting food

I've eaten with rednecks

artisans,
and high-society ladies.

But there's a missing piece
of my Southern food jigsaw.

You know the black hands
really influenced in a big way

the flavour of the food

here in America now

how it's put together.
It's like a real fusion.

I'm really excited.
I mean, soul food

you know, it's black-inspired

I mean,
I know all the cliché stuff

like the chicken
fried this and that

but I really don't know
what I'm talking about, and that

that is why I'm here.

I'm meeting one of the area's

best-known soul food
cooks, Nikki Bush.

How are you? You all right?

- Hi, how are you?
- Nice to meet you.

I do hugs,
I don't do handshakes.

Ah, come on, let's hug, babe.

- How are you?
- How's it going?

Nikki's restaurant
has become a hub

for Savannah's
African-American community.

Pretty much with soul food,
it dates back to slavery.

And when slaves were brought over

they ended up being given
the meat that was not wanted

more or less the meat
that was thrown out for trash.

And what they did, when you
have no money for your family

- you put your soul into it.
- And it tastes good. Yeah.

And that's pretty much
how it originated.

Ah.

I'm going to be
competing against the experts

in just a few days' time

so as a newcomer
to Southern cooking

I'm looking for as much
inspiration as I can get.

- So we have corn on the cob.
- Yeah.

Southern tradition.

- Collard greens.
- Yeah.

Here, which is definitely
a soul food traditional

- would be pig feet.
- Yeah.

We have a lot of
people that are just so

used to sucking on
the bones as well.

- And that's part of it?
- That's part of it.

-Suck on those bones, baby.

Jamie Oliver, this is
my dad, Pastor George Bush.

Glad to meet you, Mr Jamie.

Very nice to meet you.

And you must have,
I mean, had a fair bit of grief

- being called George Bush.
- Oh, yes.

As, as a black Reverend?

Oh yes, I went through it.

- Yeah?
- Through the channels.

After what
I heard in the trailer park

I asked Nikki about how it feels

to be an African-American
in Georgia.

When I was at
one of the companies

that I use for products

and when I pulled in there was
a red truck right in front of me

- that had the Confederate flag.
- Oh my lordy.

Banners and flags
all on the truck

and he had
one bumper sticker that said

"Nigger,
Abraham Lincoln lied to you.

We don't owe you
40 acres and a mule."

I've... obviously you hear

Snoop Doggy Dog's
giving it all that

on in the tunes and stuff,

but yesterday, last night,

I heard it in a sentence
for the first time in my life.

- Seriously.
- Uh-uh.

And that was surprising.

You know, Jamie

you may want to,
not you personally

but people may
want to sugar-coat things

but, you know, in reality
this is still the South.

Really shocking to me now.

And she said
"It's still the South."

But basically, she's saying
"it's still racist", you know.

To think what
the black community

the black food

it's doing so well at the moment

you've got a black president
now, and yet

the Klu Klux Klan still exists.

You know, she still, she met one

like, a month ago.

And, I always
thought of soul food

as in being like,
it's got soul, man

you know,
it's sort of like, funky.

But I never realized
it went right back to sort of

the days of slavery and it

and soul food means
survival food, you know.

You've got to put
everything into it

to get flavour
and niceness out of

nothing.
And this food is delicious.

I'm gonna try
a funky twist on soul food

with a surf and turf dish.

So I wanna get
a good local sausage, okay?

I'm gonna squeeze it out

'cause they make
good sausage around here,

and this is the quickest way
to make good little meatballs.

Some bacon from
the fridge that I nicked.

Add them
to a pan with some bacon

and cayenne pepper.

And then as soon as
this bacon and meatballs

gets like dark

and delicious

I'm gonna bang in the

beautiful shrimp.

From blue to pink

in a matter of seconds.

I'm serving it
with the famous grits

a corn-based food
which is a bit like porridge.

Cheese goes in.

The cheese
and the butter obviously

is going to enrichen it
and make it lovely.

It's Georgia's
official state dish

but I've got
a surprise for Nikki.

I'm taking collard greens

a Southern staple brought
to America by the slaves

and I'm blending them
into a pulp.

This will definitely
seem strange to them

but I'm just hoping
they're gonna like it.

Right, this is not usual, huh?

No, it's not usual.

What are you thinking
about this at this point?

I think it's gonna,
it can still work.

Okay.

Look at that.

Look at the colour.

And what I do
at this stage is I take a little

knob of butter.

I put that into the pan.

Soon as that
hits the pan, I put my

parsley on top, off the heat

and then
I hit it with lemon juice

and just let
the butter do its work

with all those lovely flavours.

Collard greened grits.

I know, I know. Bear with me.

You wait 'til you put it
in your mouth, though, Tiger.

Right, at the moment,

I'm wondering
what it's gonna taste like

with the greens
and with the grits.

It's actually good.

I probably would have put

a pinch of salt in it.

- Is it not salty enough?
- No.

Which, which bit?
The grits, or the...?

I'm tasting it, sure, but
one thing about soul food is

it's always seasoned.

Here you go, it's grits
with sausage and shrimp.

I've put my soul into it,

but what does Nikki's
81-year old mom think of it?

Who cooked?

Jamie did.

Well, Mr Jamie...

you'll have to come a little
bit tighter with your salt.

- Just add salt to it.
- Well, that's not bad.

Just make sure
it's got a bit more salt in it.

Thank you, ma'am. Bless you.

♪ Everybody clap your hands ♪

♪ Everybody clap your hands... ♪

When they say
"God bless America"

in Georgia they really mean it.

You can't visit the Bible Belt

without putting on
your Sunday best

and going to church.

♪ We praise the Lord ♪

When you seek Him,

He will say hello!

That's good news!

That's good news!

And so...

in order to really,
truly have hope for the time,

every Christian
needs a hope recipe.

- Amen?
- Amen!

The recipe for hope is

you need the juice
of confidence.

Amen.

Then we need
one clove of perseverance.

- Yes.
- Oh, I left off the sea salt.

You can tell I ain't a cook.

When you and I put

our joblessness,

our homelessness,

our lack of food,

when we put it

in the oven of Jesus Christ,

He prepares a wonderful meal.

Yeah!

He prepares a wonderful meal.

♪ We praise the Lord ♪

♪ We praise You by Your name ♪

♪ We worship You, oh Lord ♪

♪ We praise... ♪

And so more and more people
will need food,

more and more people
will need shelter,

more and more people will need

their rent paid,
paying utility bills.

- You do that?
- Yes!

Oh yes, yeah, yeah.

But there's
someone actually here...

- Yeah.
- ...that got laid off today.

- Yeah.
- From Home Depot, so.

So it's...

- This is trying times?
- Very.

- Yeah.
- Very, very.

So we just try to be

- a beacon of hope.
- Uh-uh.

And inspiration,
and help people.

I thought
that was absolutely wonderful.

If church was like that
back home, I'd go every week.

I tell you what,
the noise, the singing

was so loud, it almost like
you could feel the air move.

It was amazing.

But I loved the things
he was saying, honestly.

You know, keep up the spirit,
keep trying,

don't let anyone knock you down.

Really...

yeah, taken
by the energy, really.

♪ Clap your hands ♪

♪ Lord, we praise You ♪

What I wanna do is
sort of get my head together now

'cause we've got the competition
and I'm driving tonight

pretty much
through the night, actually.

I've got to come up with
an Anything But category

which is basically anything
but the meat categories.

It'll be nice
to come up with something

that represents
some of the stuff

that that vicar was saying

you know, a recipe of hope.

You know, and I think that's
got to be something that's cheap

something that makes
you feel good, comfort food

and something that's damn tasty

and something that really
relies on effort and love

more than expensive ingredients.

The one thing
I'm under-firing on

every time I cook here

is not enough salt.

So...

you know,
kind of professional note

whatever I'm doing,
over-season it.

and I'll do all right.

It's time to leave
for the barbecue competition.

Barry, the pit master,
has accepted my invitation

to help with the barbecue pork

and Nikki has agreed
to give me a hand

with the Anything But category.

The rest of Team Bubba Grills

Lonnie and his family

have gone ahead to set-up.

He-hey!

How you doing?
You all right, brother?

Oh yeah.

It's 300 miles
to the competition

so Nikki and I
have plenty of time

to plan our recipe of hope.

Is that like a potato topping?

Yeah, we'll have, like,
ground beef on the bottom

you do the, the sweet peas

and then you do the potatoes

and then you do
the cheese on top.

And then pastry on top like a

you know, like a cherry pie,
but savoury?

Do you do,
do you do that in the South?

Well, do you
reckon that would work?

It should.

It should, I mean, let's, let's,
let's think about it and...

Four hours later

and we finally cross
the state border,

but we still haven't decided
on our recipe of hope.

Here we are, kids!

Over 200 teams from 17 states

have competed at Pigfest.

It's like Glastonbury,
but for barbecue experts.

There's $10,000
of prize money at stake.

A win could be
life-changing for my team.

- Are you well?
- I'm doing well.

- How was your drive?
- Good.

I wanna introduce you
to some special friends.

- This is Nikki.
- Hiya, Nikki. I'm Lonnie.

- Hi there, how are you?
- How are ya? We hug around here.

- Nice to meet you.
- So do I, so I like that.

- I'm Bubba.
- Barry, man.

- How ya doing? Nice to meet you.
- This is Barry.

Man, I've been
hearing about your barbecue.

I can't wait to taste it.

Whole hog

soul food cook extraordinaire...

- Oh, I'm in love already.
- So...

There are
seven cooking categories

and team leader Lonnie
has put me in charge of two

Anything But, and Barbecue Pork.

God, man.

Everyone takes this
very seriously.

I've never seen so much kit.

They're strict here.

Before we get cooking

every competitor has to attend
a run-through of the rules.

It's all very serious, isn't it?

Don't forget that
there's big money here

and there's points on the line
for Team of the Year.

Time tolerances

is five minutes before

until five minutes
after the turn-in window

and this is
a zero tolerance policy.

He's tough. Jesus Christ.

It is a...

I wish we had
something like this in England.

Wouldn't it be awesome?

There's nothing like
as tough as this in England.

One o'clock for chicken,

one-thirty for ribs,

two o'clock for pork shoulder.

The pork doesn't have
to be in until tomorrow,

but I've only got four hours
to get my Anything But done.

Our recipe of hope is gonna be

a Southern version
of stew and dumplings.

Can you put some salt in that
so it'll have, it'll taste.

- Salt?
- A little bit of salt.

- It needs to be, it's just--
- Mate, your mom

she, she got me right yesterday.

You're seasoning,
because my palate

is, is not
up to scratch out here.

What have we
got going on here, brother?

To our stew base of garlic,
onions, celery and carrots,

we add the barbecue cheap cuts

of ham hock,
oxtail and chicken legs.

We'll put it in
with like, skin, bone and all

you know, 'cause that's
where a lot of the flavour is.

We've got some
venison going in as well.

We add
a couple of tins of tomatoes

and some fresh herbs.

And the one thing that
we're gonna put into this

that you can't bottle?

- Love.
- Love, baby.

Our stew
needs three hours to simmer.

Once it's done,
we're gonna debone the meat

and then stick it
back on the heat.

What's that, honey?

This is a seafood seasoning

that you would use for
like shrimps or crabs.

- Celery salt?
- Uh-uh.

- Salt.
- Black pepper.

A little bit of cayenne pepper.

Cayenne pepper.

A little bit of salt.

Lonnie!
What's the time, brother?

- It's 7:20.
- Yeah, twenty after.

--We've got ten minutes

to plate it up
and get it to the judges.

I accept my duty.

I accept my duty.

To be a 2009 Lakeland Florida

Pigfest Culinary Judge.

The stew is plated on

Georgia's ultimate
peasant food, grits.

Oh-ho-ho-ho.

Look at the grits, brother!

Come on, let's go,
let's go, let's go!

Can I have
that sausage, big boy?

The cheap,
tasty cuts of the stew

are a nod
to Georgia's soul food.

Dumplings go in.

The dumplings
are retro and comforting

just like most Southern food.

Seven twenty-three.

And the barbecue
sausage is in homage to Barry

and that beautiful
simple smoked flavour.

Time's running,
Jamie, you gotta run.

- I love you.
- Hold still.

The KCBS
scoring system is two to nine.

A three means that
the product went in your mouth

and you spit it out immediately.

That way, honey, to your right.
We're going in here, yeah?

A four

means that you put
it in your mouth

and you swallow it

and it comes up.

Yeah, I do want some liquor now.

Can I say,
I feel like a proud mama.

I don't know
if we cooked the right thing.

I'll find out tomorrow

how the Anything But places

but for now,
I've got a long night

of cooking pork ahead of me.

Let's have some meat!

My recession
road trip has taken me

to Florida's biggest
barbecue competition.

Over two days

40,000 people
come to Lakeland's Pigfest.

With over 60 pork entries

I need my meat
to stand out from the crowd.

The whole thing's
completely bonkers.

It's good, though.

It's like a...

It's like a cross
between a fairground

and a gastronomic extravaganza.

I've got to get
my pork shoulders in soon.

We gotta cook all night.

Barry and I have come up

with a punchy
and fancy concoction

to inject into
our pork shoulder.

In here is a secret mixture

of water

salt...

cider vinegar

apple juice.

And you stick it in

squeeze, stick it in
down there, squeeze.

I pumped about a litre

into the pork.

So look, this is
a secret spice rub.

I mean, I've got layers
of fennel seed, clove,

bay, thyme,

coriander seed, nutmeg.

Once we put it in the oven

this is gonna create
what they call a bark.

Massage it.

Just slap it.

- Well, cook it slow.
- Does that sound

remind you of anything?

That's right.
Nearly got me in trouble.

I bet, I bet your slap
sounds a bit bigger than mine.

The pork's not due in
until tomorrow.

But if Barry's
taught me anything,

it's to do it long and slow,

and he reckons
12 hours will do the job.

Every half hour

we spray the meat
to keep it moist.

At three a.m.

we glaze the meat with
butter, brown sugar and honey.

Then we settle in for the night.

This time, I'll be
the one staying up.

At 6:00 a.m.
team captain Lonnie checks in

and the conversation
turns philosophical.

It doesn't always
have to be about money.

You don't have to have a lot
of money to have a great time.

- Uh-uh.
- Be with people you care about

people you look forward
to seeing again.

It's about family and friends
pulling together, isn't it?

After everything's gone

as long as you got
your family and friends...

- Start over, right.
- That's still a lot.

You know, that's like
all that counts, really. But...

I always plan ahead.

And I think that's

I think that's the key
to getting through anything.

I mean

the U.S.A.'s been
through tough times

before, you know

recession in the '80s,
depression in the '30s.

What don't kill you
makes you stronger.

Bubba Grills Team,
come here a minute!

Hold hands, y'all.

We're gonna say us
a little prayer for a win today.

- Yeah, yeah.
- All right. Ready?

Dear Heavenly Father,
we thank you

for this gathering
of family and new friends, Lord

for you bless us
every day relentlessly.

Lord, new friends
from across the pond

will be family members for life.

And, Lord,
let us kick some barbecue butt

in your son's name we ask.
Amen!

Yeah!

We cooked it all night slow

off and on, so it should
be tender and real good.

- Team effort, man.
- Team effort.

How do you think I've cooked it?

I think it's wonderful, Jamie.

Oh, okay. Just pin it
to it right there, Jamie.

Jamie, go!

- Come with me.
- On the barbecue, first place!

- How are you?
- Oh, you know.

For me, this barbecue
competition's been brilliant

and I've actually learnt a lot,
a real lot.

'Cause I'd love out
of all these professionals

to come in the top ten ranking.

I've never won
anything in cooking, ever.

If we did win anything

I'll be quite,
I think I'd be quite touched.

Deserved second place.

Smokers Wild Florida!

Smokers Wild Florida,
make your way to the stage.

Bubba Grills
didn't win anything for chicken.

First place,
Chicken Swine Bovine Barbecue!

Chicken Swine Bovine!

We didn't place well
in the sauces.

Now third place sauce,
Hot By Choice!

For mine and Barry's pork...

Hat's Off To Dining!

Despite being up all night

Bubba Grills
came 29th out of 62.

But there's one
more category to go

and it's our last
chance of a prize.

Okay, we're gonna do
Anything But. Anything But.

Anything But, Anything But.

First place...

Big Knuckle Barbecue!

Big Knuckle Barbecue!

And second place

Anything But

Bubba Grills with Jamie Oliver!

What did I say, Jamie?

You did it!

I'm ending my Southern road trip

with a different take
on the recession back home.

What I've seen here in America

is that when times are tough
and there is recession

people have to choose between

really everyday essentials

and their own health.

Aren't we lucky in England

that at our lowest ebb

we don't have to decide

between the health of our child

and if we have
a bowl of Frosties or not.

Well, all the people I've met

say that getting
the family around the table

and coming together

that is the, that is
the most effective way

of riding out the recession.

But beautiful people.

The people on the Bible Belt
are good people.

One, two, three, Bubba Grills!

Next time,
I go to the Wild West.

Covered in shit.

I'll be getting a taste

of what it's really like
to live like a cowboy.

Are there lots
of bears around here?

It's good.

With no seasoning at all,
it's still delicious.

-Bad...-

...and downright ugly.

Now that's making me wince.