'The Hairy Bikers are back on the road...'
Hey-hey!
'.. doing what we love most.
'Biking and cooking.'
Oh-ho-ho-ho!
Look at that!
'And it's going to be epic.
'This time, we're heading the furthest north we've ever been...'
We're in the Arctic Circle!
'.. in search of exciting food
'and some of the most unexplored places in Europe.'
Oh, it's glorious!
'Our route will take us 2,500 miles round the Baltic Sea...
'.. kicking off in Poland,
'then travelling through the trio of Baltic States to Russia.
'Russia!
'Then across to Finland, and north to south through Sweden.
'To understand the food, we must EXPOSE ourselves
'to the elements,
'experience life on the wild side...'
I am a Viking!
'.. and test our mettle to the max.'
- Hey, it's cold. - It's the Baltic, isn't it?
'I'm expecting vast forests,
'sparkling lakes...'
Aw...
'.. and incredible biking roads.'
Look at that!
'There will be hearty home cooking
'as well as cutting-edge cuisine.'
That's spot on.
'And hopefully a warm welcome.'
'After all, these people are our northern neighbours.
'And it's time we got to know them better.'
Our lives are never going to be the same again
- after we taste this sausage. - Cheers, mate.
We're in the Baltic States and, here,
we've got three for the price of one.
That's right, mate -- Lithuania, Latvia...
.. and Estonia.
They used to be part of the Soviet Union
and weren't on the holiday radar for us Brits.
Oh, mate, it's gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.
Now, they're free, but we still don't know them like we should.
You only think of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
as part of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Yeah, that and stag parties.
So, let's crack on and find out what they're all about.
Starting on the beaches of Lithuania,
we'll be biking through its rural heartland...
.. before crossing into Latvia and heading up to Riga.
Then it's nearly 200 miles north to the Estonian island of Muhu,
a foodie's paradise...
.. before ending in the capital, Tallinn.
I've got high hopes for this road trip.
Flipping heck, Dave, look at this!
'From lunch in old-school Communist canteens...'
- That's not potato?! - It's pork! - Oh, get in!
'.. to meeting the next generation of world-class chefs.
'We unearth the best of Baltic food...'
It doesn't get any better, does it?
'We hit the highway to freedom...'
There's more testosterone on this beach than a rutting bull. Rrr-rr!
'And lose our hearts...'
Do you like motorcycles?
'.. to this beguiling trio of Baltic countries.'
I keep having to pinch myself that I'm in Estonia.
Oh, it's glorious!
We're starting our trip on the Curonian Spit,
a 60-mile-long sand dune.
The bottom part is the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
And the top part's Lithuanian. That's where we are!
It's not what I expected from a great Eastern Bloc country.
You could be in the Mediterranean in the spring, couldn't you?
I mean, look at it, it's beautiful.
Do you know it's a UNESCO World Heritage site?
I'm not surprised, it's gorgeous.
What a great day to start our adventure.
This is the Parnidzio Dune.
From here, you can see the sun rising over the Curonian Lagoon
and setting in the Baltic Sea.
Whoo-hoo!
Let's get down to my two favourite pastimes --
planning and pastries!
Aye, I'm ready for me first taste of Lithuania!
- Baltic buns... - Ooh. - .. from the bakery down the road.
I got a surprise.
Oh, I got the shock of my life, there!
I just ripped me bun up and found a sausage!
Bread surprise!
Eat it!
I was going to point with it!
Oh, well, we're here.
We're literally just on the Russian border.
- Yeah, look, you see that spit over there, Dave? - Aye.
That is Russia.
- There's all sorts of little treasures here. - There is.
What a road trip.
It's doesn't get much better than this.
I think the food could get a bit better than this,
if I'm perfectly frank and honest.
It's got a sense of humour, if nothing else!
It's made me laugh!
Enough, Kingy, let's get serious about Lithuanian food.
We're meeting a couple of locals
who are more than qualified to fill us in.
- Oh, there they are. - Where? They're in the water
Man! Oh, you're joking!
Shh-shh!
Watch that log, you'll trip.
'Einaras and his mate Saulis run a hotel and campsite,
'and like most guys here, spend their spare time fishing.
'I hope they're fishing for lunch.'
I wonder if they've got anything.
- Come on, Kingy, are you a man or a mouse? - Mouse.
Right, let's go get the cheese.
Oh, man.
- Give us a pull. - What's happened? - Me boots. - Oh.
'I never expected this to be the first challenge of the trip.
'I mean, we're hardly dressed for the beach, are we?'
- Agh! - Oh, sorry!
- Go on. - Thank you.
- Right, come on, let's be bold, let's be Lithuanian! - Right.
Not look like a pair of effeminate Northerners.
Hey, it's cold.
Well, it's the Baltic, isn't it?!
- Come in, lads, let's have a chat. - Let's have a cup of tea.
- I can't feel anything I'm supposed to feel. - Ohh.
'We've been invited to meet Einaras's parents
'and sample some traditional Lithuanian fare.
'I'll race you back to theirs, Dave.
'Save some for me, Kingy.
'Lunch is the perfect time to pick their brains about Lithuanian food.
'Good idea, but remember, less talking, more eating!'
Well, how beautiful is this?
Lithuanian table with a lovely Lithuanian family,
oh, it's marvellous.
- It's a world of smoky fish. - It is.
So what fish is that?
- It's a halibut. - That's a halibut.
- And that's... - Perch. - A perch? - Ah! - And this is a bream.
What else can we expect from Lithuania?
Cepelinai, saltibarsciai...
- A lot of potatoes. - A lot of potatoes.
So we can expect to eat potatoes.
So fish sometimes changes our potatoes to the better way.
That's true, actually.
I don't mean to be rude, but can we eat? I'm starving.
Of course, no problem, let's eat.
'Lithuania became independent in 1990.
'Before then, under Soviet rule,
'food was scarce but people living on the spit
'were lucky to have a plentiful supply of fish.
'And it's obviously still a favourite.'
That is perfectly smoked but still moist, Dave.
It's lovely, isn't it?
- This is the halibut. - Yes.
- My father said that this is the best fish. - It's less bones.
- Yes. Less bones. - Thank you. - For a lazybones, it's easier to eat.
A lazybones fish!
A lazybones fish.
It's very different food, isn't it?
It's different to what we're used to.
'Another staple in this part of the world is black bread,
'which is eaten with every meal.'
'Aye, Si, what a baguette is to a Frenchman,
'black bread is to a Lithuanian!'
Black bread is very, very important to us, it came from ancient times.
- Yes? - We usually call it, like, a daily bread.
If you drop it, you've got to pick it up and... kiss it?
- That's right. - Is it? - Yeah.
'Sitting here so relaxed with these folk,
'it's easy to forget the tense times
'the people of the Baltic States have endured.
'But in 1989, they rebelled against the Soviet regime
'in a remarkable show of resistance
'that became known as the Baltic Chain.'
How did the Chain, the Baltic Chain,
where everybody joined hands to hands, how did that come about?
- I've got a clip on me phone, Si. - Have you?
- You get an idea of the scale of it, look. - Oh, wonderful!
'It's exactly 50 years
'since the treaty that led to the once-sovereign Baltic States
'being taken over by the Soviet Union,
'and here, that means a day of mourning.'
'During World War II, a secret pact between Hitler and Stalin
'handed Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to the Russians.'
'.. they held hands and sang...'
'Two million people stretched over almost 400 miles
'crossing the border from Lithuania into Latvia,
'and from Latvia into Estonia.'
'Every one of our hosts today took part in this show of unity,
'aimed at bringing the world's attention
'to their fight for independence.'
- Have you got any photographs? - Yes. - Oh, you have?
You have hair!
Same face, different hair.
Same face, same face.
Did it feel like an important thing to do at the time?
During that time, not just a couple or small group of people
wanted to live life in a different way,
but everybody wanted to do that
and they wanted to see another life, to feel freedom,
and actually they didn't know what is this freedom, but they wanted it.
So, really, the Second World War didn't end for you guys
- until the early '90s? - You didn't get your freedom until the '90s?
But now we can tell a lot of jokes about that time.
Do you know, this has been a wonderful first feast
in Lithuania. Do you know, if the food carries on like this,
- I think we have found something very special, Si. - So do I, mate,
in the hope that we find much more to come.
Thank you so much for your hospitality.
- Thank you. - You're welcome. - Thank you very much. - Thank you.
Bye! Thank you!
Thanks a lot! Bye! Thank you. Bye!
What lovely folk, weren't they?
Fab. Absolutely fab.
That fish was delicious.
It's a proper road trip, this one, isn't it?
It is, it's lush.
We're not just travelling through a trio of countries.
We're going to be riding parts of the Baltic Chain.
I've got tingles all over!
I know, dude. Can you imagine it? Riding a revolution!
To get a full picture of the food here,
we're starting with the past
and heading inland to the heartland of Lithuania.
This is an old-style Communist workers' canteen, or valgykla.
They're a dying breed, but worth hunting out.
- Well, it looks quite austere. - Doesn't it?
'But with freedom comes choice,
'so the valgyklas are not as busy as they used to be.'
Oh, it's lush!
Look! Hello!
This has to be real old-school traditional Lithuanian grub.
Well, I think, as well,
it kind of harks back to that Communist thing, as well,
- doesn't it? - Yeah. - You know, big collectives, big workforce,
need fed -- here we go!
What a treat. Kingy, take your plastic tray.
Oh, get in. You see, this is proper, this.
- What colour pop do you want, pink or red? - Red.
Communist!
It's like jelly pop.
Ooh.
'Right, mate, let's fill our boots.
'Right-o.'
Black bread.
- I've got to have that. Do you want a bit? - Of course I do.
Oh, looks good.
- Is that potato? - Yes.
- Yes? Is that potato? - Yes.
- Is that potato? - Yes. - Yes.
- That's potato soup! - Potato(?)
I sense a theme coming along here, Kingy.
I do! Do you think this is one of those...
Potato sausage!
Ooh!
Oh, what are they? Is that meat?
Is that...
It's not potato?!
- It's pork! - Oh, get in, it's not potato!
Ah, I see!
It would be nothing without potato.
Eee, brilliant.
'Oh, we've hit the potato mother lode!
'It's clear that years of food shortages have made people
'really resourceful in what they do with the humble spud.'
Eight euro...
That's £5.50, £6 for all that food.
Listen to this, Kingy. Lithuanian.
Aciu!
- Prasom. Prasom. - Aciu!
- What, have you caught a cold, or something? - No, aciu!
It's like... It's not a sneeze, it's "thank you" in Lithuanian.
- Is it? Well, that's easy to remember, isn't it? - 'Tis.
- Aciu! - Aciu!
Prasom.
- Prasom. - That means "welcome".
- This is brilliant. - Fantastic. - We're fluent!
I can't even lift this up, it's so heavy.
- I'll tell you what, this is a lunch to build tractors after. - It is!
'The Communist idea of workers taking lunch breaks together
'wasn't just a means of feeding people
'but of bringing a collective mind-set to the workplace.'
It's quite important for people to sit down together that work together.
- Yes. - Because a workforce that communicates together
is going to be a successful workforce, I guess.
- People need a break. - Mm-hm.
Maybe the Communist idea of being able to feed the workforce
and giving everybody a break was kind of better in a way
than the so-called freedom that we have.
Exactly. And is that freedom?
- Hmm. - Oh, I don't know. - Hmm.
- Do you know what you could call this place? - What?
The spud-you-like-a-very-much!
Hey!
I hope the suspension can take the weight of our lunch, Kingy.
I feel like a sack of tatties.
We're heading northwards towards Latvia
but first, we want to stop at a place we've heard a lot about.
It's a monument to Lithuania's predominantly Catholic faith
and a powerful symbol of the people's resistance to oppression.
And in the battle against Communist rule,
rebellion comes in, well, all shapes and sizes.
How many crosses do you think there are here?
There's got to be hundreds and hundreds of thousands.
There's got to be way over 100,000, Kingy.
'This is the Hill of Crosses.
'The first crosses were erected in the days of Imperial Russia
'to commemorate those killed in a bloody uprising against the Tsar.'
The scale, some of the crosses are gigantic,
some are tiny, like little crucifixes from people's necks.
I mean, look at this one, so simple.
All the bikers' ones. Made out of motorcycle chains!
'When the Communists outlawed religion,
'this place became a visible symbol of resistance.
'The KGB even sent in bulldozers to flatten the site -- twice.'
- But people would come and hide in the woods... - Aye.
.. and every night, they'd get past the guards
- and they'd put their crosses up. - Yeah, and by the 1960s,
there was up to 2,500 crosses here.
I just think that's amazing.
It's a revolution, isn't it? It's a revolution of the heart.
It is a revolution of the heart, mate.
The thing is, where are we going to put our crosses?
I'm not entirely sure, dude.
What about down there? There's little places down there.
Let's go this way, man, see what this is like, down here.
'After independence,
'the site was visited by Pope John Paul II, no less.'
What about this spot down here, Si?
Kind of nice and humble and...
- Oh, yes, this is nice, mate. Yeah. - It is, isn't it?
Nice lovely flowers and nice colours.
Go on, mate. Who's yours for?
- For me mam. - Aye.
- From the family. - Well, your mum was a proud Catholic, wasn't she?
She was a very proud Catholic, yes.
She nearly sent you off to a seminary to be a priest, didn't she?
- Cos I was blessed by Pope John Paul... - Aye.
.. at the Youth Rally at Ninian Park,
and that was it for me mam.
She thought it was a sign, so...
I was sent off to retreats
and all sorts of stuff!
So this is for you, Stell, and we miss you.
It's not easy to get it in, mate.
She always was awkward when she was alive.
Right, I'm going there.
Yay! Yeah, all right, Mam. Now I know where you want to be.
That's smashing. There you are, Stell.
Right...
Well, don't say I forget you, cos I don't.
Who's yours for, mate?
It seems quite appropriate here to give a little nod to Eastern Europe,
because if it wasn't for the collapse of Communism,
I wouldn't have a family, you know, which I'm so lucky to have.
And also just a little thing of remembrance for all those...
and there's been a lot over the years that we've lost, you know,
just show they're not forgotten.
Well, that's very fitting.
Eh...
Look after them, Stell.
'Today, the Hill of Crosses carries the hopes,
'dreams and prayers of visitors from all over the world,
'and now it's got two more crosses to bear.'
We've a long trip ahead of us, Dave,
so how about we knock up a classic Lithuanian soup?
Excellent idea, Mr King.
♪ Ah one, two, three, four
♪ We have gone insania
♪ We love Lithuania
- ♪ Ooh, ta-da-da-da! ♪ - Hey!
Right, do you see what we've done with the bikes? Look.
Isn't it brilliant? We've put the table on the bikes!
We have now morphed into the bikes.
We are a cooking, motorcycling creating machine,
- and we are going to create for you... - Oh, yes.
.. bing-bang-banging Hairy Bikers' Baltic beetroot broth borscht.
- Beetroot soup... - Yup.
- .. is a very, very serious thing here. - It is. We want to do it justice.
- We do. - It's not just some eejit in a headscarf
throwing some beetroot on the fire,
and then it comes out the colour of your head.
Everything happens in here.
Into our pot of joy goes butter and oil,
then the foundations for a great soup --
diced carrots, onions and celery.
This is like the holy trinity, isn't it?
And now the star of the show -- beetroot.
Don't try and make it at home with the pickled beetroot,
because that would be bad.
And of course you can buy the beetroot at home.
Boil it in the skin, then peel it and chop it.
You will look like Jack the Ripper.
We put that in to sweat.
And pretty soon that's sweating like Vladimir Putin
in a Baltic chain gang.
I'll take care of the garlic, dude. Have you got the spuds?
Let's face it, we're in Lithuania, everything's got a potato in it!
That's the sound of happy cooking, Kingy --
dicing and slicing, and the smell of sizzling onions in the pan.
- You cannae whack it, can you? - No.
Chuck in the garlic and the spuds and saute for a couple of minutes
before adding a litre-and-a-half of beef stock.
- Have you seen this, dude? - Yeah. - It's like a lava lamp.
- It is, innit? - Innit? Look at that.
Trippy stock.
I said trippy stock, not Woodstock!
- Let's get another local staple in, my mucker! - Cabbage.
This is it, mate.
Half should do, finely chopped. On your marks...
And chop!
Right, done.
Fine.
Fine. About the same, innit?
- It is. - I declare this a draw.
They always do that on telly, don't they? Get over yourself.
In with a couple of tomatoes, skinned, cored and chopped.
Or you could just open a tin.
That just needs bringing to a right royal boil
and left to simmer down.
To go with the borsht, we've knocked up some rye bread rolls,
which I'm painting with garlic butter.
The sun's got out to kiss me garlic buns.
Let's have a look.
- Ready? - I hope it's red!
- It's red. - Yes!
Some pan-fried pork medallions
are like a little secret in the bottom of the bowl.
Then we'll top off the soup with a dollop of sour cream.
And in honour of our host country,
we're going to decorate the soup
with the colours of the Lithuanian flag.
Kingy, you've got them in the wrong order, man.
There's a blooming big clue on the table.
Get in!
I can honestly say it's the first time
that we have colour co-ordinated us to the food.
There is always a first, as we say, for everything, mate.
Yes! That looks an absolute perfect picture.
In fact, it looks almost too good to eat.
Don't be ridiculous.
- I know. - Come on. - Yes!
I'll tell you what,
touch of genius with the garlic butter on the buns.
I've seen that happen quite a lot round here, actually.
Hmm. Really good.
Well, mate, I think we've treated that dish
with the reverence it deserves.
It's not like we've dressed up and messed about a bit.
Have you seen the state of the pair of us?
Lithuanian's been a great start to our Baltic trilogy.
We'd like to have seen more,
but Latvia beckons,
and we've an appointment to keep.
Next stop, the Latvian capital of Riga,
and a chance to hook up with a very special bunch of lads.
Crossing the border from Lithuania into Latvia these days is a breeze,
but we've got two hours in the saddle
before we hit the capital
and it's raining "kaki un suni" --
that's cats and dogs, to you and me.
Over to you for navigation, Kingy.
I'm just concentrating on keeping this thing upright this morning.
Whoa... I did not expect this, Dave.
It's stunning, man.
Breathtaking.
Riga has the biggest and best collection
of Art Nouveau architecture in Europe.
'And this is the Freedom Monument where independence activists
'used to stage illegal gatherings in the 1980s -- and in its shadow...'
.. is a small but very significant monument
because this is to say that Riga was part of that Baltic Chain,
that movement of freedom and independence.
You do begin to realise just how massive that Baltic Chain was
- when you start to ride it. - Yes.
Can you imagine how many people it takes?
I mean, it's hundreds and hundreds of miles.
♪ Oh, well, I'm the type of guy who will never settle down... ♪
Thank you.
♪ Where pretty girls are, well, you know that I'm around
♪ I kiss 'em and I love 'em cos to me they're all the same... ♪
And what precisely are you doing?
Well, this is Riga's dating clock tower, mate,
and what you do, if you have a date, you see,
you stand here with a bunch of flowers
in the hope that your date is going to turn up.
- However, you see the tram? - Aye.
What happens is, you see the ladies in the tram, they drive past,
and if you're a bit of a minger,
and you're stood here with flowers, they just keep going.
If you're not, they'll get off the tram.
Well, I better go, then, I won't cramp your style.
Well, who could resist a big Hairy Biker like you, mate?
Well, by the looks of it, everyone!
Never mind, Kingy -- I've read there's an amazing market
here in Latvia's capital.
Well, dude, what are we waiting for?
Riga Central Market fills five old Zeppelin hangers
and 100,000 people a day shop here.
Wow!
It's gargantuan.
This is epic! There are over 3,000 stalls.
Which is good, because we've promised to cook for a bunch of fellow bikers
and we need inspiration!
"Privitais Seka... Sektors".
- That means, like, small supplier, small farm. - Beautiful.
- That looks like beautiful butter, Kingy. - It does.
- Can we have two "lauku sviests", please? - Yes. - Thank you.
Everywhere we look, stalls are piled high with fantastic local produce.
I can't see anything imported!
- Hello. - Hello. - Oh -- spring onions.
- Oh, mate, look at the garlic, man. - Ooh!
- That's just out of the ground. - Lovely, isn't it?
Shall we have some of that? I'm sure we can use it.
Yeah, definitely.
This is a classic, really, of Eastern European food, isn't it?
Dill. Beautiful.
The range of produce is phenomenal.
And they're very resourceful,
when it comes to preserving and pickling food --
everything from apples to garlic.
Oh, Kingy, look at that -- piles of sauerkraut like giant haystacks.
Oh, get in.
Just like in Lithuania,
black bread's a popular Latvian staple.
It's massive. Could we have that, please?
This is brilliant. I love this gaff.
Don't get carried away, Si -- I can't keep topping your wardrobe up!
Flipping heck, Dave, look at this!
This is a fish lover's paradise.
There are dozens of fish stalls. Latvians can't get enough of it!
They've over 100 recipes just for smoked mackerel --
I think that says it all, Si!
Take that off, cos I think they're going to charge us double.
- Do you know what I mean? - Did I not suit it?
Oh, you suit it all right.
- Oh, she's giving us a taste, Dave. - It might be what we call butterfish.
- Ohh... - Thank you.
Mate...
- That is fantastic. - Ohh...
- And we want the herring. - Yes.
Is this, er... fish sausage?
- Yeah. - Is it? - Salmon. - Salmon. - Salmon.
- Salmon sausage. - Yes. - Oh!
I never thought anything could top the Lithuanian potato sausage!
I'm blown away by the food in this market.
We've got classic Latvian ingredients for our next cook-up
but we'd better get it right or there'll be hell to pay.
They can't turn nasty, not with what we're doing for them.
Well, we'll find out soon enough.
Mate, we're in for a barn-stormer of a day!
It's always great to meet fellow bikers
and find out about the best local rides.
Today should be special, though.
We're hooking up with the Brothers of the Wind,
Latvia's very first motorcycle club.
It's been a long time since we've ridden in a pack!
Aye, and we've got a great meal planned.
I hope they like it!
Glad to meet you. Nice to meet you, man, how are you?
Thanks for turning out. Hey, dude.
How many of you are there in the club?
In the club, we are almost 25.
- We were the first. - We were the first club.
- Nowadays, they are some 30, 40 MC clubs in Latvia. - Is there?
Yes, there are many clubs.
It works very well altogether.
We are not big and we don't expect to become big clubs.
- The main role is the friendship. - Yes. Yes. - And we are friends.
And you know, if you want to get somebody in the club,
he has to be friendly with everybody.
He has to get from every club member, sign.
That's what it is about motorcyclists and motorcycle communities, isn't it?
It's all that, you know...
You meet up, you have a party,
you have a chat... it's just brilliant.
- It's democratic. - It is democratic, yeah, it is.
Bike gangs were outlawed in the Soviet era.
Doesn't freedom taste good, dude?
I don't know -- I can only smell exhaust fumes.
It's half an hour ride from Riga
to Saulkrasti Beach on the Latvian coast.
And the perfect place to pay the lads back for a great day out
is this ten-mile stretch of golden sand.
We're cooking something for the lads just to say thank you
for that awesome bike ride.
You'd think we'd be doing stuff like pulled pork, you know,
briskets, a rack of ribs the size of a dinosaur's backbone,
but no -- we're doing...
Chicken liver pate and two salads.
Now, look, guys, it's not as daft as it sounds --
they are traditional Latvian fare.
I mean, the Latvians pate anything.
There's even recipes for mackerel liver pate,
but... eugh!
Let's cook something you want to cook at home.
I hope the lads like it, cos, you know,
there's more testosterone on this beach
than a rutting bull -- huuuh!
- Should we get on? - Yes. - Honestly!
- Look at that. - Oh, hey.
That butter's bubbling like a good 'un.
- Dave, there's the thyme. - Thank you.
Crumbs -- you see the size of this spoon?
We've got some onion there, really finely chopped.
It's about 1½ small onions
to about a kilo and a bit of chicken livers.
They go in, and we sweat those off until they are translucent,
which means you can see through them.
I want about three teaspoons of fresh thyme.
- Isn't that beautiful? - Gorgeous, man.
That is chopped finer than the hair on a butterfly's armpit.
Should I grind me spices?
- Aye, go on, while I'm manning the pan, man. - Man.
- Man. Hingy, pet, man, hingy... - Right...
He passes me allspice berries.
Seven, eight, nine.
Next, white peppercorns -- about three teaspoons.
Sometimes, freshly ground white pepper can, I believe, be nicer.
Allspice berries and white pepper.
Right, sprinkle that in and just let it cook.
So there's about 1.2 kilos of chicken livers.
- Are you ready, Kingy? - I'm ready.
Into that ethereal broth.
The livers are only going to take about three minutes to cook.
We want it cooked and browned on the outside
and on the inside, still a little bit pink.
Because there is nothing worse than an overcooked, dry, tasteless liver.
- They're doing lovely, Kingy. - Smashing, aren't they?
- Still a bit of bounce. - Excellent.
- So decant your livers into a bowl. - Cheers.
Now comes the fun part -- we need to add the booze.
If the vicar's coming for tea, we could do this with sherry,
but we're in Latvia, so we found this --
brandy with plums.
We want about 150ml of this, quite a lot.
Carefully take it off the heat.
Woof... it's off.
It's funny, you can't see the flames.
It's definitely there!
Reduce by half...
It'll be all right, Dave, don't worry. It's reducing quicker.
Pour it onto the chicken livers.
Oh-ho-ho! As you step back!
"Pour it onto the chicken livers, Kingy."
While you've got some left...
Beautiful.
- Now, that needs to be processed into a fine puree. - What?
Over to you, mate.
Oh!
Luckily for me, Latvian beaches
have plug points dotted along them.
Well, they have when you've put them there.
So what we do now is puree it.
Now, we want this pureed quite fine,
so... I'm going to give this a little bit of effort.
♪ Smooth operator
♪ Smooth operator... ♪
Ooh -- smooth operator.
That's like the inside of Sade's head.
♪ Coast to coast, LA to Chi... ♪
- What's it like? - Ooh...
Needs salt but it's beautiful.
- Is it? Nice texture? - Oh, yeah, texture's fab.
Now I reckon about a teaspoon and a half of salt
should do it nicely.
This is lovely.
I mean, Kingy, once it's cooled, the butter's going to set it anyway.
Exactly.
- Now, because they're quite delicate boys... - Oh, yes.
.. we'll pass the pate through a sieve
to make sure it's super-smooth for them.
This is quite hot, still -- if you were at home,
you would leave it to cool so you don't burn your little Dick Dandies.
However, we're men.
Get a good sieve and it'll take the strain.
And that goes into a pate dish.
Now, what we're going to do
is tamper it down a little bit...
.. to get rid of those air bubbles,
so it's a nice cut,
and then just smooth it out.
But what I would do,
If it was going to be a day or two before you ate it,
I'd float some melted butter on the top --
that would set and that's going to preserve the pate
so it's going to stop it discolouring on the top.
Oh, you're just wasting THYME now.
Beautiful, nice work.
There we are -- the chicken liver pate.
- A couple of salads and it's time for tea. - Marvellous.
We've gone and made a couple of bad boy salads.
Did you just call a salad "bad boy"?
I might have.
Anyway, I've gone with a layer of salad leaves
covered with green beans, radishes and beetroot,
sprinkled with a hint of mint, dill and parsley,
and a genius touch of barley, pomegranate, walnuts and cheese.
Ooh, fancy-pants -- I'll see yours
and raise you a layered salad with herrings and pickles.
Now that's proper Latvian grub.
Line your bowl with salad leaves,
and top with a layer of creamy potato salad,
laced with tangy fresh horseradish,
and add some chopped-up Baltic herring.
If you can't get these, a tin of anchovies will do,
but let's face it, we're by the Baltic
and nothing is going to replace a beautiful Baltic herring.
Then layer up some blanched carrots, cooked beetroot and fresh cucumber.
And just carry on building. It's like a Latvian Viennetta.
No Latvian salad would be complete without hard-boiled eggs.
Scatter them on separately, though -- it's got to look pretty.
And finally, dress it with dill.
There you are -- my homage to a traditional Latvian salad.
And no meal in this part of the world would be complete without...
Black bread!
Apparently, you can tell if your marriages are going to be successful
by the way your wife cooks the bread --
in the first week of marriage,
if the bread that she bakes is cracked and bad,
your marriage is bad.
Is this true?
I've been married for more than 30 years.
It's OK, I think.
So would you say this was a Latvian-style feast?
Are you happy with this?
- This is really a Latvian style of food. - Yeah?
- With a very, very small touch of England. - Thank you.
'Get in!
'That's music to my ears, mate, and a big thumbs-up from the lads.'
'Aye, looks like we've got a table full of happy customers.
'And, I think we've made some friends for life here in Latvia.'
It's been an absolute privilege to ride with you
and we hope that the food is, in some way,
to say a very big thank you because it's been a great day.
- Thank you all very much. - It's been wonderful to meet you all.
You can say by yourself, "liels paldies".
- Liels paldies. - Liels paldies.
And if you find yourself in England,
either in Newcastle or Barrow-in-Furness,
come riding with us.
Thanks. Let's keep in touch.
Lovely to meet you, hope to see you again.
Hope to see you again. Thank you.
'Dude, it's sad to see the Brothers leave.'
'Aye, Si.'
- See you again. Thank you. - Bye-bye. Thank you.
Ride like the wind, brothers.
We've had some amazing food so far.
I feel that Lithuania and Latvia
are very much in tune with each other
and both pretty resourceful.
Agreed. But the final country in our Baltic trilogy is Estonia,
where, I hear, we can expect an entirely different experience.
We've travelled nearly 200 miles
along the Latvian coast to Estonia,
heading for the island of Muhu,
before hitting the capital Tallinn.
We've heard there's a place that's taking ancient ingredients
and transforming them into the food of the future.
- It's very beautiful. - It is, isn't it?
And now Muhu, Muhu beckons.
Are we going to a nudist camp?
No, we're just going to Muhu, not Nude Hu.
During the Soviet era,
this island was a strategic military site for the Russians
and was isolated from mainland Estonia for over 50 years.
Which might explain why they got used to using what's around them
and have become so creative with their food.
Muhu is a conundrum.
It's like stepping back in time,
but is also at the cutting edge of Baltic cuisine.
It's a bit off the beaten track,
but there's a restaurant here we shouldn't miss.
The food on this trip has just got better and better.
Kingy, welcome to Padaste Manor.
- Hey, it's fab, isn't it? - It is, innit?
There's a chef here called Yves Le Lay.
- Apparently his food's amazing. - Oh, wow.
He's taken the past and taking it well and truly into the future.
I knew you'd have a plan, dude.
Kingy, we're going to have a lick of the future.
I like licking the future.
'Chef Yves and his trusty side-kick Anna-Liisa
'gather many of their ingredients from the wild,
'and they've agreed to let us in on some of their secrets.'
You have herbs out here
that actually has these exotic flavours to them, you know?
You have the woodruff or you have now,
where we're going down to get the sea arrowgrass, for example.
It's very diverse, there are so many plants that are edible
and we don't normally eat in our everyday palate, say.
90% of great cheffing is great shopping, or foraging.
- Should we? - Let's do it! - Yeah. - Brilliant.
'Yves and Anna-Liisa are a talented pair,
'one seeking out ingredients,
'the other turning them into world-class dishes.'
This is beautiful.
So this is part of your garden?
Yes, it is, it's part of my foraging grounds.
- Cor, this is good for the soul. What a great job! - Yes, it is.
So what are we looking for, Anna-Liisa?
- So today, we are looking for sea arrowgrass. - Right.
- It's a plant that looks like chives. - Yes.
But tastes of a different herb, so...
- So, there is one for you. - Thank you.
And when you taste it,
you should guess what kind of herb it tastes like,
it has a very distinctive...
- It tastes like coriander. - Yes. - Yes, it does. - That is true.
And it's funny, because coriander,
you would normally associate with Asian cuisine.
- That's fantastic. - That is really good, yeah.
I have to keep pinching myself that I'm in Estonia.
- It's just mind-blowing, isn't it? - Yeah.
Right, that's all good, but get to work, yeah?
Oooh(!)
'Chef's got a plan and we've got to work for our supper, Si.
'I'm on it, dude. If he's cooking, I'm pickin'!'
- Do you think? Yeah? - Yeah.
We need to get onto the other side of the island, now.
- There's some more stuff waiting for you. - Oh, OK, great. - Lead on.
'As well as foraging for Chef,
'we've got to gather a special ingredient for our own recipe.
'Muhu was once a wool-producing island
'where the sheep ate everything, except for...'
- We have a juniper tree. - Ah, juniper berries.
Is there a lot of juniper on Muhu?
- Yes, there is -- this is the most common tree or bush here. - Really?
We need some juniper berries, as it happens, for the next recipe.
- OK. - Can we have some? - Yeah, sure. - Go on, you know what to cut.
Oh, this is beautiful.
Yes -- this is the north coast now.
It's gorgeous, isn't it?
I'm chuffed with me juniper berries.
- What are we going to look for next? - We have one more great plant.
- And there we have it. - You see? - Oh, wow! - Wow!
It's kale!
That is remarkable.
- You can eat the young leaves, and also these florets. - Gosh, yes.
When you look at this one, it looks like a broccoli.
It does, it's like purple sprouting broccoli.
You should taste it, it tastes really, really delicious.
It's fab.
Oh, it's a bit peppery as well, like mustard.
When I started out, everybody wanted to get produce from France.
Now you look towards what do you have here,
what you have near the sea, in the meadows and in the forests,
and be proud of that because it has so much flavour.
- This is wonderful stuff. - Yes, it is.
There's also a plentiful bounty to be had from the sea.
All right, so what do we have here?
There's a pike, the perch, the white fish, and burbot,
and it's really slippery...
'It's a varied catch, but I think something's tickled Chef's fancy.'
True to his philosophy of using fresh, local ingredients,
Yves is ready to deliver the unique taste of Muhu.
We can see the ingredients that obviously you're so passionate about.
Now you get to turn it into art,
and I think probably we get to eat it.
I think the last point is probably the most important.
It's the tasting part of it.
So visual -- number two, tasting -- number one.
- So we have a beautiful needlefish here. - Yeah.
That we have sliced off the fillets,
and just covered in a little bit of oil.
With that, we have our... the sea kale that we went down...
The wonder of the beach.
That, we will poach in some buttery salted water.
In the garden, we got some sorrel that we have blended into a puree,
that we will put in our sauce,
and then we'll garnish the whole dish
with some chive flowers, some bronze fennel,
and the sea arrowgrass that we went down to pick at the beach.
The ingredients are speaking for themselves. Dead simple.
Yeah, man, there is no hocus-pocus here.
- There's no... - No, there's not, no.
It's really about finding the nice, local, fresh ingredients
and try to carefully cook them
so that they retain their flavour.
Heat up the buttery water.
We're going to take some of the florets,
some of the leaves and drop them in there.
At the same time, we will gently cook these --
we've coated them in oil and just put them under the salamander
and just, like, slowly cook it.
If it gets too hard heat, it will immediately fall apart and dry out.
It's exciting, isn't it?
With that, we have a sauce. In this sauce,
there is some mussel stock that we have reduced a little bit,
butter, and a little bit of creme fraiche.
It's velvety, it has a little bit of acidity, taste of the sea.
It's...
- Oh, that is fantastic. - Now it will get better, because...
- Whoa! - .. when we pour in some of the sorrel puree,
give it a little blend...
When you turned your back then, do you know what he said to me?
He said, he went, "Do you know, it's... awesome!"
Well, taste it now.
You put in some of this fresh sorrel, freshly picked.
Oh, you can smell it, man.
And it gives it a nice acidity and it completes it, completely.
And you have to put it in in the end,
because if you put it in too early, it will just die out.
Right now, we have to use it now, or else it will die out.
It looks simple but it takes a brave chef and a great palate
to put together a dish like this.
First up, the sea kale, needlefish and sea arrowgrass...
- The bronze fennel. - The bronze fennel.
... and, last but not least, chive flowers.
This will spice up the dish a little bit
and, all of a sudden, makes the plate more vibrant.
Put on the sauce...
And that's it.
That looks fabulous.
- Have a taste. - Definitely! - Ooh, yes, please!
- And the sauce, the sauce... - The sauce.
Good?
It just makes you giggle.
What is that like?
- Doesn't get any better, does it? - No, absolutely not.
That is absolutely fantastic.
You get that citrus note first, and then you get the oil of the fish,
and then you get that little float,
just a little float of that wonderful onion flavour
from the flowers of the chives.
It's... it's...
And then earthy notes as well, with the kale, the sea kale.
Oh, man.
That's spot-on. It's magical.
If I wasn't, like, a 48-year-old bloke,
I'd kiss you for that.
- Hey! - Absolutely excellent, thanks. Totally superb food.
I can't get over the range of food we've found
on our travels through the Baltic states
but, I must admit, I am a little bit in love with Muhu.
Well, that's not a bad thing, because I've another treat in store.
You know I was on Strictly Come Dancing?
Oh, who doesn't? They've probably heard you bragging about it out here!
Well, we've been invited to a traditional Muhu dance!
Oh, here we go...
- Hello, boys, you're welcome! - Hello! - Yeah! - In our house.
Yes, OK -- hello.
- Thank you. - Very nice to meet you. - Hello, yes.
How are you? Yes, no, great.
But we're not going to be watching. Oh, no -- we're going native.
Oh, great(!)
Yee-haa!
Boys...!
'These excitable ladies are celebrating 30 years
'of dancing together.'
'The Grand Ladies troupe are going to teach us
'to shake our thing -- Muhu-style.'
- We are going to dance. - OK. Yes.
- It's an old island Muhu Dance. - Muhu dance. - Muhu dance.
Muhu dance, and its name is Oira.
- Oira, Muhu dance. - Like Moira but with an "Oi".
You take a girl -- you take one girl and you take one girl.
Hop, hop, and then...
Hop, hop.
- And you take... - Hop, hop. - Boys, boys, it's not many hop-hop.
Hop-ah! Simple!
'We're the only blokes dancing, man!'
'Well, traditionally, men don't dance here.
'Because in the past, while the men were away fishing,
'the women worked the land and socialised with a spot of dancing.'
Kingy, I'm getting the hang of this!
Dude, I love it, I'm think I'm going to move --
I'm going to live here and go Hoopla-Hoopla.
How they do this all the time -- it's murder, I'm pooped!
After hoop-a, it's time for soup-a!
A traditional meaty broth
that puts the bounce back into the ladies' step.
'We've earned this, Dave, and it'd be nowt without customary sour cream
'and, of course, you can't be in the Baltics without being offered...'
- Bread. - Bread, oh, thank you very much.
And you know what it's like when you've had a dance and a bit of soup --
the truth soon comes out.
Our men is too lazy.
Oh, your men are too lazy.
- Yes. - Ahh! - Only women rules here.
That's all right, then...
Dude, can you imagine it? An island ruled by women.
It's bringing out the devil in me, dude, it's bringing out the devil.
Do you have to be single to be in the club, dancing?
- Yes. - Do you? - Yes.
Is this your soup, then?
Make good soup, single...
- And dancing. - And dancing. - And you dance.
Do you like motorcycles?
Rrrr...! Yeah!
- He's got a spare helmet. - OK.
You know that when a girl
revs an imaginary motorcycle at you on Muhu...
I'll stop you there, Myers.
Welcome to the island -- Muhu man!
Hey-hey!
Aw, Dave, man. This is fab.
It's proper friendly people here, aren't they?
Talking about mixing it with the locals,
I'm not quite ready to leave.
- Oh, I feel manly, man. - I feel I belong to Muhu.
I'm not sure about me red crash helmet with this orange jumper.
The food on the island and the new wave of Estonian cuisine
has got our creative cooking juices flowing.
Before we move onto our final destination, Tallinn,
we're going to cook up a feast for our new friends
and give 'em a taste of Estonian cuisine --
Hairy Biker-stylee.
♪ Estonia, Estonia forever
♪ Riding these noble roads in our leather
♪ We are the men of Muhu making up our woo-woo
♪ Estonia, Estonia, forever. ♪
- We're going to cook lamb shanks, aren't we? - Yeah.
It's kind of traditional,
but it's kind of something you want to cook at home --
we love a good lamb shank.
Listen, there's nothing better.
- I'll shank. - I'll chop onions.
For the shanks, very simple process here --
what we're going to do, basically, we're using seasoned flour.
We're going to toss the lamb shanks in them
and then we're going to brown them off in a frying pan
ready for the casserole pot.
So, look, we're just tossing...
See? Look, perfectly formed. That's what we're after.
A little oil goes in there.
- And the onions go in and they're going to sweat. - I'm sizzling.
I'm going to prepare my little mise en place for all the additions.
First up, I take my sprig of juniper,
which I did gather from the woodland.
Into the mortar go the foraged juniper berries.
You just want to crush them to release that flavour.
Add the zest of two lemons.
- Me onions, keep an eye on me onions. - I am, I am keeping an eye on them. - I don't want them browning.
Well, they... you... uh...
Are they brown?
No, no, they're just... bits of them are brown, like...
A curl of orange peel, bay leaves and fresh parsley.
And that is me pot of aromatics.
Look at these carrots, -- all odd shapes and sizes,
especially the one to the right.
I'll let you chop the top of that one off.
- Yeah! - Aiiieee!
Potatoes into quite a chunky dice.
Result -- perfection.
Now the aromatics go in,
and gently sweat down those aromatics.
- Oh... - It's good, isn't it?
That's kind of ready to rock and roll.
A shroud of potatoes and me carrots.
De-glaze your pan with a bit of stock
to make sure all those lovely meat juices aren't wasted
and add them to the pot.
Beautiful.
And then that lovely beef stock.
And a squeeze of orange takes this dish to another level.
Right, that needs to go into a moderate oven,
about 160 degrees Celsius, for about two hours.
It's one of those dishes, the longer the better.
You want those lamb shanks to fall apart.
- Come on. - Uh... oh...
'It's worth the wait, you know it is.
'You know there's something special going on.'
♪ Estonia... ♪
They smell amazing!
Ohh...
- Oh, yes. - Oh, yes. - Oh, very yes! - Oh-ho-ho!
Don't forget to fish out the bay leaves, parsley,
and the orange zest.
- It's lovely, but we're not finished yet. - No.
It's almost obligatory to put sour cream in recipes in the Baltics.
And who are we to argue with tradition?
Now, it's looking a bit sludgy brown, isn't it?
So we're going to lift it with loads of flat leaf parsley
to give it a splash of flavour and colour.
Oh, man, it just brings it alive, doesn't it? Look at that!
Then, let those shanks bathe in that succulent sauce.
Put the lid on that. It's ready to serve.
That's the dish done.
Hey, Kingy, we've got to triple the recipe
for our "Farewell to Muhu" feast.
Oh, man, you know what this means.
'I'll break out the industrial-sized orange pot. Make way!'
Oh!
These are our Estonian lamb shanks. So are you ready?
Wahey!
Madame...
Chef! Make sure it's a good one!
It's a corker, Dave, it's a corker!
- It looks wonderful! - A bit of colour.
- Yves? - Beautiful, thank you!
So, ladies and gentlemen,
- thank you for the most wonderful time in Estonia. - Yes!
So may we say, "Head isu"!
That's "bon appetit" in Estonian.
Dig in.
Hmmmmm!
- Mmm... - You got the juniper?
Juniper has a very distinctive taste.
I think we need to improve our presentation to be up to Yves' standard, though.
Not at all. It looks great. I love all the colours.
Just not all necessarily in the right order.
- It's beautiful. - Aw.
When you look at it, it looks like something you really want to eat.
Well, that's the main thing.
There's no need to re-invent everything, you know?
Good taste will never go out of fashion.
What a lovely way to finish our time in Muhu.
We've got to ride to Tallinn this afternoon.
That's the end of our journey, at Tallinn,
and it's going to be very interesting --
it's the end of that Chain, and what a great journey.
- Yeah. - Thank you.
- Thank you very much. - It was great having you.
But alas, Davey, me mucker,
it's time to saddle up and head off on the highway...
Looking for adventure...
And whatever comes our way!
♪ Born to be wild... ♪
We're riding three and a half hours north to our journey's end
and the final part of the Baltic Chain --
to Tallinn, the historic capital of this fair country of Estonia.
We've actually travelled along the Chain backwards, as it were,
because the first link in the chain was actually here
at Pikk Hermann Tower.
- Boom! - We've done it. - We've done it. - Yes! - We've ridden the Baltic Chain.
Oh -- and this is where the first hand of that chain started.
Oh, it's brilliant.
From Tallinn to Riga to Vilnius, everybody joined hands.
- The equivalent of Newcastle to Brighton holding hands. - Yeah.
- Shall we? - Oh, absolutely!
The 215 steps of this lovely 14th century tower
will burn off a few calories.
Not enough, I fear.
Oh, would you look at that?
I feel as though I'm on top of the Baltics.
- It's fantastic, isn't it? - It is, isn't it?
Cor blimey, this calls for a celebration.
This is the end of the Baltic Chain.
- You've always had a sense of occasion. What have we got? - It's cocktail time, Kingy!
Half a glass of local Tallinn liquor
'and half Russian fizz.'
Now top it up -- the locals call this a Hammer & Sickle,
the hammer hits you on the head,
the sickle cuts your feet from under you.
- Marvellous. - I know, we're not biking any more tonight,
so we've earned this.
You know, Kingy, this trip has been a real eye opener. I've loved it,
I mean, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia.
Where was the austerity and greyness that I expected or you expected?
It was just the most incredible palate of food for a cook.
When we went to the Curonian Spit, right at the beginning,
you could have been... where?
'Mediterranean, it was remarkable.'
Oh, it's glorious!
'And the fisherman and his family, that was such warm hospitality,
'and that dried fish,
'it was dried fish like we've never seen before.'
That is perfectly smoked, but still moist, Dave.
It's lovely, isn't it?
'And the Hill of Crosses, Kingy --
'how moving was that, to see such a display of passion?'
There's got to be way over 100,000, Kingy.
- Latvia. - Latvia -- oh, it was fab.
'The Brothers of the Wind.'
'They were a good bunch of lads, weren't they?'
'I think we made some pals there, and that food was good.'
We took a risk serving up a picnic, though.
'The soup that the Muhu ladies made us when they were dancing.'
'And that was a good laugh, wasn't it?
'There was a complete joy in Estonia that I really wasn't expecting.'
But I wonder what lies next in Russia.
I really don't know what to expect, except that it's there!
Top of the world.
Cheers, mate -- the Baltic Chain.
'Next time... we're in Russia...'
Oh!
'.. meeting its people...'
'.. tasting the high life...'
It's the most expensive caviar in the world.
'.. in the Jewel of the Baltic...'
'.. St Petersburg.'
Za zdorovie!