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7 Episodes 2009 - 2019
Episode 1
58 mins
English chef Rick Stein embarks on his culinary tour of the Far East in Cambodia. It has an extremely rich and varied cuisine as a result of 1500 years of foreign domination, ending with the French domination, symbolized by baguette bakeries, but the strongest influence, like in most of Asia, remains Chinese. Like their Vietnamese neighbors, next on Rick's route, Cambodians mainly love seafood with rice and spices, but fresh and in pastes or curry, specialties including a pepper.
Episode 2
59 mins
In Vietnam, Rick and a friend, former pupil Tom Kime, enjoy the varied, healthy cuisine. Besides seafood, lots of which is bred in small ponds, there is rather more beef, pork, fowl and loads of vegetables as well as herbs. Rick starts his visit of Thailand in bustling Bangkok, the paradise of street vending.
Episode 3
59 mins
English chef Rick Stein further enjoys Thai cooking in Bangkok, with Australian specialist David Thompson, enjoying a 'choose and see it wok-prepared mall', and elsewhere in Thailand. It has an extremely rich and varied cuisine, with bitter as full-fledged fifth main taste. Food is great at stalls and hotel restaurants, and in homes. In Malaysia, Indian and Arabic Muslim cuisine strongly contribute sweet, especially from palm sugar, but the strongest influence, like in most of Asia, remains Chinese* mainly love seafood with rice and spices, but fresh and is pastes or curry, specialties including comprehensive seafood salads.
Episode 4
59 mins
Still in Malaysia, Rick visits the islands of Penang (formerly the British colonial settlement Wellington) and Langkawi, then returns to Melaca. he greatly enjoys the varied cuisine, which consists mainly in traditions imported form India and China, with some Malay elements mixed in, since the spice trade, which also strongly influenced Europe, especially the successive Portuguese, Dutch and British rulers. Yet even the precursor of fusion cuisine is in danger of extinction as such, due to hasty modern life, like manual jobs such as egg-roll shell baking. Next he moves to the blessed island of Sri Lanka, where the civil war is settling down. He stays in a fishery village, where seafood still comes from open sea and is usually eaten fresh, except excesses dried for the inner regions.
Episode 5
59 mins
Still in Sri Lanka, still suffering some Tamil revolt violence, Rick enjoys the abundance of spices, especially fresh ones, in dishes from various cultural and socio-economic contexts, from a colonial luxury villa on a private island to capital Colombo's ethnic groups, even including Japanese. Next to Bali, the Hindu enclave in Muslim Indonesia. It's very pacific and religious, with food and ritual constantly mixed. the rich dishes are often specific to groups and occasions, such as succulent roast pig, starring the aromatic pandan leaf and many more spices.
Episode 6
59 mins
Rick finishes his journey in Bangladesh, a terribly poor Muslim state bordering India. It's hard for most just to earn little more than food cost with endless toil and hostile elements. First capital Dhaka, where he delights in the semi-industrial, yet refined preparation of the legendary 'biryani' stew. Then by bus to the countryside, enjoying more dishes with curry and spices, even in the ethnic Kashi minority's region.
Episode 7
Having returned from his exploits in the Far East, Rick Stein begins his Christmas odyssey by what he'd like to cook with all that left-over turkey. From Vietnam, he is inspired to make a Vietnamese turkey salad and further down on the i land of Bali he makes the ultimate Nasi Goreng. As a festive treat, , Rick creates a delicious cashew nut curry. He also visits his local Thai spices shop owner who cooks left-over Turkey with prawns and flat noodles.