01x10 - Delft

[bunniefuu]

The Jaffna Peninsula
is surrounded by tidal sand flats.

So the local fishermen have
come up with an ingenious method

of catching their daily seafood.

But they still need a little bit
of luck and help from above.

As we head out of the harbour,

there's a shrine here
to Saint Anthony

who's there to protect the fishermen.

It looks amazing.

The sun's coming up,
we're being protected.

And we're going fishing.
What more can you ask for?

A giant 'V' for a net -
the fish swim in,

get stuck in this little maze here

and then on either side
is this long tube.

What I have to do is go there
and see what's in the tube.

Apparently there's prawns,
crabs and all kinds of stuff.

Perfect for a dish
I'm going to do later.

Basically, it's a self-contained net,

so once everything swims in there,

he's tying both ends.

There's a lot of things
flapping around in there.

Heaps of prawns.
That's a good catch.

Whoa! Whoa! [LAUGHS]

That's a beautiful
little tiger prawn.

I was expecting more crabs.
There's a few blue swimmer crabs.

You've got to watch blue swimmers
'cause they hurt.

That's a little one.

If you hold them any other way
he's gonna bite you.

See, he can't get me now because
I'm holding him by the back flippers

and that's the way to hold him.

If you don't hold him like that
he'll turn around and smash you.

And those little pincers, I reckon,
are nearly worse than a mud crab.

Not as strong, but hurt.

I don't know whether they'll
keep them, better not throw it away,

but I wouldn't keep this one.

Small. Small, no good?

Yeah.

Well, I've had
a wonderful morning fishing.

I've brought back all that
great seafood that I caught

and I'm going to cook a dish
which is all about Jaffna.

It's called Jaffna Kool

and it's basically Jaffna's version
of bouillabaisse.

Start off with lots of boiling water

and add some rice.

Samba rice.

And also some jackfruit.

It's this great big fruit,
grows on the trunk of a tree

rather than off the branches,
probably 'cause it's so heavy.

This is actually quite a small one.

I'm going to use the seeds
as well as the flesh.

The flesh is held together...

..with a really sticky gum.

But I've pulled it all out already,

so what I'll do
is add the jackseeds in now.

The things that take
the longest to cook go in first.

And one real unique ingredient
that I'm using

that's unique to this area -
palmyra.

It's a palm, and I'm using
the tender roots.

They've been dried and ground up
to make a flour.

But to get the best out of it,
you soak it first.

I've soaked it for an hour,
it's become a paste

and that will be my thickening agent.

And it also adds a really nice
flavour to it as well.

So all I have to do on the next step
is prepare all my seafood,

starting off with
these beautiful blue swimmer crabs.

I'm going to use two of them.

My next piece of seafood -

these beautiful prawns.

Just pop the head off.

Just quickly peel them,
grab it underneath the legs

and just turn the skin around
and it comes off very, very simply.

Now, this is an amazing thing.

A whiting.

Who would have thought,
all the way here in Jaffna

I would have found a whiting?

Now, this guy is super fresh.

I'm going to leave the skin on

but I'll have to remove
all the fine bones.

And then I'm going to cut it
into probably

four or five pieces, each fillet.

That way there'll be nice big chunks
of fish going through that as well.

And then, more surprises.

A wonderful cuttlefish.

They still have the colour on them.
They're so fresh and beautiful.

To take the skin off is simple.

You just put your finger
underneath the wing

and the whole lot of skin
should come off.

Again, nice big chunks. Try and keep
everything the same size.

Now, I'm just going to check

my rice and jackseeds.

The jackseeds are starting to float,
meaning that they're ready as well.

So then the next part is
the flesh of the jackfruit

which goes in there as well.

The first one
I'm going to add is the crab.

Because it's the largest,
it takes a little bit of time to cook

and it'll also cool down the water.

I found this lady

who had these clams

and they were cleaned.


and she's even cooked them all,

so just poached them
and then cleaned them.

There's no sand in them at all

and they have a great sweetness.

So this is my addition to Kool.

I can't see why
you wouldn't use them.

One of the most important things
to add to this dish

is tamarind,
which will sour everything.

So, a little bit of water.

Make sure there's no seeds in there.

It's a thick paste.

It's coming up to the boil.

So now I'm going to layer
my fish in there.

A few more minutes like that

and then we add the next one.

Alrighty.

The fish has gone white.

Now I can add my squid,
which takes no time at all to cook.

And also the prawns,

which probably take the same time
to cook together.

And now very, very gently

agitate this

so that everything gets mixed up.

Time to season. A little bit of salt.

A little bit of pepper.

My snake beans,
which are going to add colour.

And my chilli paste.

Needs about three minutes for
all of this now to boil up together.

Everything's nearly perfectly cooked

and I'm just going to remove them all
very gently...

..so that I can finish the sauce.

Now I wait for this
to come back to the boil.

The tamarind goes in.

And now, my palmyra flour.

As soon as the heat has hit it,
it's thickened up and gone glossy

so it's very much like cornflour.

It's come to the boil.

Final touches. These clams.

One last thing.

A drumstick leaf

which is sour.

The drumstick itself
is called moringa.

My Kool is pretty much done.

I'm paying homage
to this wonderful place,

the fishermen and the seafood,

and a dish that is so Jaffna -

Jaffna Kool, with crusty bread.

The central markets of Jaffna are the
usual collection of hustle and bustle

that you find all over Sri Lanka.

But I'm here to talk about the plant
they call the symbol of Jaffna,

the palmyra palm.

Palmyra - the most versatile thing
I've seen in a long time.

I'm make string hoppers later.

So these things here,
string hopper moulds.

Large and small.

This is woven palmyra
to put your hot pots on.

This is a string hopper press,

which is an ingenious little thing

carved out of a single piece of wood

with a little copper plate
on the bottom.

Different shapes if you like.

Push it down.

So here is the palmyra palm.

It's a drought-resistant palm
that has hundreds of uses,

from construction to food and grog,

and, of course,
the cooking implements

that I just bought at the markets.

Today I'm going to cook one of
Sri Lanka's favourite breakfasts.

It's called string hoppers,
which is basically rice noodles.

I'm serving it with coconut sambol

and something called 'kiri hoddi',
which is milk gravy.

First, what I'm going to do is
red rice flour string hoppers.

Now, to that I have to add some salt.

And then hot water.

What you're after
is something like playdough.

Massage it all together.

And it's becoming
a really nice pliable ball.

Now, it also passes the ball test...

..where it's picking up everything
off my fingers,

sticking to the dough.

It's not too dry.

Now comes the fun part.

Using two very unique
kitchen utensils

which would be great to have
at home as well.

This is my implement.

And it's basically a tube,
like a piping bag,

that you can just push
the mixture through

onto my string hopper mats, which I'm
going to steam the string hoppers on.

So you just lay them out.

These were new,
so I've just rinsed them off.

And there's one other thing
I like to do.

I don't want to be caught out with
string hoppers sticking on anything

so I just put a little bit of oil
on them, just for the first ones.

So, making a nice sized ball,
just shove it into the mould.

So then you just put them together,

join your fingers

and listen for the noise.

[SIZZLING]

Give them a nice good coating.
You don't want them too thick.

And just a round and round motion.

There you go. Into my steamer.

Takes about four minutes.

While that's happening, I'm going
to make kiri hoddi, or milk gravy.

And you start with some red onions.

Chop them really finely
if you want to,

but I prefer just really thin slices.

I like a lot of onion in this.

Next is a little bit of Maldive fish.

If you're a vegetarian,
you don't need to put this in.

I believe it adds a wonderful flavour
so I like it.

Some turmeric for colour.

Some salt.

Green chillies.

Some garlic.

Fenugreek seeds,
and they've been roasted.

When you roast them, the flavour's
a lot nicer. Just a few.

And a stick of cinnamon.

And then turn on the fire.

And add some coconut cream.

And finally, some curry leaves.

I want it to come to the boil,
and then turn it down to simmer

so everything gets cooked nicely
and becomes nice and pulpy

and all the flavours are combined.

Next one, the coconut sambol.

So, crushing up my onions first.

After the onions,
I'm adding black peppercorns.

Next, Maldive fish.

And some salt.

And I really want to make
a nice paste here.

Now, I've got a combination here
of chilli flakes and chilli powder.

The chilli powder will add colour,
the flakes add nice flavour.

So I like this hot.

This sambol has to have
a nice red colour.

The last thing I'm adding to this
is some lime,

making sure no seeds go into it.

This will now go into my coconut.

And stir around.

And I guess at this stage
you have to use your hands.

You know, you can feel the oils
and the milk coming out of it.

They're nicely steamed.

And remember, take them away
from the boiling water

because putting your hand into a pot
full of steam is very dangerous.

And then each one of them
should just peel off the mat.

And I'm very glad
I put oil on the mat.

Nice, pliable, bouncy,

not...not at all brittle.

The string hoppers are done,
the kiri hoddi's looking beautiful.

It's come up to the boil,
I've simmered it.

Everything's cooked
and nice and pulpy.

Now I need to add life to it.

A little bit of salt.

You'll be so surprised how much life
this lime juice puts into it.

But there's one other thing
the squeeze of lime does -

it helps to congeal and thicken it

so you have a really beautiful
thick sauce to go with it.

Tiffin box.

This is how I used to take my lunch
to school.

So...

In the bottom, the gravy.

And it's gone nice and thick.

And then string hoppers, half and
half, jam them in as many as I can.

And then on top...

..a nice big dollop of sambol...

And I'm off.

And here's my breakfast,
full of memories.

String hoppers, both red and white,

kiri hoddi and pol sambol.

Another very popular use
for the palmyra

is to make toddy,
or the local alcohol.

This gentleman is a toddy tapper.

He's going up a palmyra palm

to split the leaf,

cut the frond off, split the leaf,

and what happens is the sap
gets drawn out of the branch

and then that little pot
that he had on his waist,

fills it with, from what I remember,

quite a milky, frothy sort of
interestingly flavoured concoction

which I'll have to try, I guess.

See what's inside.

Drink?
Mmm.

Alright.

When my head went in there,
I was filled with the vapours of it.

It assaults you a little bit
at first, it's quite sour,

but the leftover flavour's good.

It's very nice.

It's probably slightly alcoholic now,

but I'd say it will ferment
a little bit more.

I'll have one more shot. One more.

When it's hot like this
on this beautiful island

with the beaches that they have,

I could drink a few of these,
I think.

I have too much, and I'll be
all over the place. [LAUGHS]

Just off the north-west tip
of Sri Lanka

are a number of remote islands.

During the civil w*r, these islands
were virtually impossible to get to.

Delft Island is over there,
that's where I'm heading.

You know, no film crew
has been here for 30 years.

So I feel very privileged.

It's about a 1.5-hour ferry ride
out to Delft Island.

I can tell you, we had to pull
a few favours to get permission

but I can't wait to see this place,

especially because it's been
virtually untouched for so long.

Delft Island is halfway
between India and Sri Lanka,

so it has a fascinating history

because both the Dutch
and the Portuguese realised

controlling it
was a strategic advantage

during their periods
of colonisations.

I'm here to meet
Mr and Mrs Poola Kasianca,

whose family have lived on Delft
for generations.

During the w*r
they moved to the mainland

and have only very recently
considered it safe to return.

Thank you very much.
Hi. Nice to meet you.

So I'm going to cook up
a homecoming feast.

I've got some great mud crabs here.

If you're at home and have a freezer,
put him in the freezer.

But one of the things
that you'll find with a crab

is that if you hurt it
when you try and k*ll it,

what will happen is
he'll drop his claws.

From the tip of the tail,

aiming to get a hole
all the way through the crab

right to the end of the shell.

It should die instantly.

Cut it a little bit
and then twist the meat out

to get rid of all the insides
from the crab,

shake it, gone.

Never wash it. Never add water to it.

And then, basically, cut it into
three segments between the legs.

Now, I'm getting some help
from the ladies of the house.

We're cooking up a curried mud crab,
Delft style.

Get this pan on.

I don't want to make any mistakes
in front of your grandmother.

Firstly, coconut, cumin,
black pepper -

that's roasted to start off with and
that's going to be made into a paste.

WOMAN: Some oil.
Oil.

Uh-uh.
[font color = #00FFFF]Enough.

Right. Yes, chef.

[CHUCKLES]
[LAUGHS] She's liking this.

Popping the mustard seeds is next.

So, all the aromatics basically -

garlic, onion, chilli,
mustard seeds, fennel seeds.

So just adding curry leaves as well.

Flavour, but also good
for digestion, right?

Yep. Curry leaves are very good.

Now the crab.

Oh, it's going to be
such a nice curry.

Lots of salt,
and it's really coarse rock salt.

Adding some water now.

I was getting
a little bit worried there.

But that's going to slow it down.

And now the flame's being
brought down just to ash

so that it's like a simmer, I guess.

It takes about, you know,


Always let the steam pop out first.

Ooh.

See these little beads here
of protein?

And there's another one there.

Pretty much when that comes out,

you know that the crab, the meat
inside, is now perfectly cooked.

Look at that!

Yum.

And now coconut cream.

The Jaffna chilli powder.

This is actually a curry powder,
so it has other spices in it too.

Now, I don't know how hot this is.
Very hot?

It's not hot, like...
Not hot.

And now tamarind water.

All the seeds have been taken out,
squeezed up, made into a pulp.

It's just a nice souring agent.

Now I'll stir it,
get all that curry powder through.

That mix that I talked about before -

the coconut, the black pepper,
the roasted cumin -

has also had garlic added to it,
lots of garlic.

And that's ready now?

OK.

Oh, yeah.

This paste is really good.

Such a nice smell and flavour.

The last ingredient
is moringa leaves.

Sprinkled with love over the top.

So it's a dish that has everything -

flavour, opulence, colour

and it's damn tasty.

Taste time.

Well, that's it.

The end of my Sri Lankan adventure.

Tomorrow I fly home to Australia.

I can't wait to see my wife and kids.

And I can't wait to try out all these
new recipes in my restaurant.

But I know it won't be long
before I start missing Sri Lanka.

After all,
this is my childhood home.

The memories of this place probably
mean more to me than anything.

Check this out.

It doesn't taste
like I remember, actually. [LAUGHS]

Cashew curry for the priest.

[font color = #00FFFF]Very delicious.
[LAUGHS] Thank you. I hope so.

Hello, elephant.

There's no-one with him. Help me!

Ha!

You know, surrounded by
these beautiful ladies.

They speak good English.
I'd better be careful what I say.

Don't laugh! Hey!
[font color = #00FFFF][LAUGHTER]

[LAUGHS] The wind, the wind!

Yeah, baby.

Oh! [LAUGHS]

Nah!

I just need one fish.

[LAUGHS]

We're in the tea fields

so I'm going to do a little bit
of tea sprinkling.

Yum!

Whoo!

Amazing. I'm supposed to have a go
as well, but there's no bloody way.

Sri Lanka.

Don't you love it?