All language subtitles for Chris.Cooks.Cymru.2025.S01E02.WEB-DL

I'm Chris, aka Flamebaster.

I'm a chef and I love cooking with
fire.

Flamebasting, baby!

And one thing it's taught me is that
food

and fire is a great way to bring
people together.

And I've been lucky enough to travel
the world cooking and feasting

at some of the coolest places on the
planet.

- Man, what you got? Oh!

- But, to be honest, I haven't really
explored or cooked much

around my own country, Cymru.

In this series, I'm on a journey
through Cymru to discover

its food past, present and future.

Whoa! Wow!

I'll be hooking up with chefs and
local producers...

Oh!

..showcasing some top foodie
destinations...

Oh!

..and hidden legends who are striving
to protect

our food heritage.

And those taking it to the next level.

This time I'm venturing to Caerffili
in the South Wales Valleys,

and I'm going in hard with some
traditional Welsh classics..

Woo! ..and some trailblazing street
food.
- Roll up, roll up!

- That's how you attack it. Yes!

This is a place steeped in history.

But first, I'm heading straight to the
cutting-edge.

Right here in the heart of Caerffili,
on the banks

of the 13th century castle is a
brand-new

21st century foodie paradise.

Ffos Caerffili is an eco-friendly food
hall

with 28 repurposed shipping container
units

that showcases independent traders
making mouthwatering grub.

These doughnuts are as big as my head.
This is heaven.

From massive Homer Simpson style
doughnuts to Neapolitan pizzas...

Mm! Yes!

..to local steak sandwiches, there's
something pretty much

for any taste here.

That rump is so, so tender.
- It's tender, yeah.

- And a really popular stall is Bao
Selecta,

where Chef Nick makes scrumptious,
meaty bao buns.

But the surprise crowd favourite is a
vegan option made

from something called seitan.

So what's this flour again?

- So people call it vital wheat
gluten, vital wheat gluten,

or more readily available now is just
seitan flour.

- OK, cool, cool.

So seitan flour is basically wheat
flour with the starch rinsed away.

And when cooked, it turns into a
surprisingly meaty texture.

After a short time in the steamer, the
slices are crisped up

in the fryer.

A smothering of sweet glaze, and into
the bun they go,

with a drizzle of hot sauce and all
the trimmings.

So let's see if this seitan lives up
to the hype.

- Is that a good...? Oh, brilliant.

- It's so meaty.

Some next level wizardry going on
there.

- Well, I'm over the moon.

Glad you like it.
- That's amazing.

But who I'm really here to see is
Leyli Homayoonfar.

Her blend of Middle Eastern and
Mexican food called Bab Haus

is legendary in South Wales.

So good to see you.
- Great to see you.

- We've collaborated together at a
food festival in London

in the past, and I'm a massive fan.

- Essentially, at the heart of it, Bab
Haus is fire food.

The inspiration comes from growing up
around barbecue,

uh, kind of Middle Eastern Persian
barbecues.

- Is your dad Persian?
- Yeah.

- And mum Welsh?
- Mum's Welsh. Yeah.

So, um, a bit of a fiery mix.

Do you know what you fancy trying?

- I have heard that your birria is
like God tier,

best birria in the world.

So I've got to try some birria, and
you just hit me

with whatever you want.
- OK. It's coming.

- Birria is Mexican stewed meat,

but here Leyli cooks her beef cheeks

in a smoker for seven hours, before
braising them in loads

of spices for another six.

- And then that's what we have.

And it just...
- Just look at that.

- Just falls apart.

- The leftover liquor, or consomme, is
used as a soup to serve alongside

the meat, which comes nestled in
tacos.

Leyli fries her tacos with a load of
cheese,

and the stunning birria meat is topped
with onion and coriander

before it's served with a consomme and
a zingy pickle.

Drool-worthy food.

- There we go. There are your tacos.

- Wow.
- No pressure now, Chris.
- No pressure.

My friend Jose from Tijuana told me,

"Never dunk. You've got to scoop it so
the consomme stays

"in the taco shell."
- Right.

Stick it in.

Is it all right?

- All right? Leyli, "all right"
doesn't even come close to it.

Oh!

Oh, my God. I could bathe in that
consomme. That is stunning.

O, mam bach!

- Thanks, Chris.

- Leyli's skillset is immense, and I
want to collaborate again

with her to create a new dish to
celebrate this cool hang-out,

Ffos Caerffili.

But I'm not ready yet.

I need to baste myself in some local
food traditions.

Now, there's two things I know
Caerffili is famous for -

its big round castle and its big round
cheese.

Traditional Caerphilly cheese is a
Welsh success story -

a beautiful, crumbly, salty cheese
that was very popular

with coal miners back in the day.

Cheese!

I've got a little confession to make.

I'm a Welsh chef that's never cooked
with Caerphilly cheese before,

so it's about time I set the record
straight.

Forget your French bries and your
Dutch goudas.

If you want amazing cheese, Wales is
where it's at.

And this local cheese shop sells over
80 different Welsh wonders...

- Hey, how are you doing?

- ..chosen by cheesemonger Tim Pinder.

Cheese heaven.

I'm specifically after local
Caerphilly.

- There's some great Caerphillys made
in Wales,

but none made in Caerffili itself

at the moment sadly.
- Whoa, whoa. No Caerphilly made in
Caerffili?

- Yeah, it is surprising.
- Wow.

Well, can we taste some?
- Of course we can. Yeah.

This is a Caerfai Caerphilly. Um, so
this is made, St David's,

so we're kind of right across in West
Wales.

- A lot of Caerphilly cheese is made
in factories in England by now.

But Tim reckons the best stuff is
still made

by artisan producers.

Wow. Crunchy.

- Mm.
- Crystal crunch.
- Yeah, yeah.
- I love the crystal crunch.

This Gorwydd Caerphilly is a
multi-award winning cheese

and is a lot funkier

since it's allowed to mature for
longer.

That one's crazy. The first hit I get
is like mushroomy.

- You get a lot of that in the rind,
in particular, I think.

And in between, it's kind of got

almost like a fudgy kind of texture to
it.

- Not only one of the best Caerphillys
I've ever had, it's one of the best

cheeses I've tasted. I think that's
phenomenal.

- Yeah. World-class, isn't it? It
really is world-class.
- I think,

for my recipe, I'm just going to use a
blend.

- Good idea.
- Yeah.
- Get the best of all of them.

- Just a celebration of Caerphilly.

- Perfect.
- Yeah.

I get overexcited and can't resist
buying four different ones.

Diolch.
- Thank you for coming in.
- How are you so trim?!

And with my massive haul of Caerphilly
cheeses in the bag,

I'm buzzing to get my cook on.

So I'm going to cook a classic Welsh
dish,

a loaded Welsh rarebit.

A lot of people think it's merely
cheese on toast.

But Welsh rarebit is so much more,

and it's our national dish,

and I'm very proud of it.

And what a belter of a kitchen to cook
on today,

on the summit of Caerffili Mountain.

Let's go, Caerphilly rarebit.

First up, a roux.

Just melted butter with plain flour.

Then for a umami hit I add a long dash
of Worcestershire sauce.

And for a little turbo-charged Welsh
kick - Welsh mustard.

It's very similar to English mustard,
but better.

I cook out the flour till the mixture
smells

toasty and biscuity.

Then gradually stir in some lovely
rich Welsh stout.

More love in the oven.

Yeah.

And once it's come together, it's time
for the cheese.

No need to grate.

I just crumple plenty in the pan

before melting it down...

..mixing the gorgeous gooeyness as I
go.

Woohoo!

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

We've got a crazy Caerphilly molten
lava cheesy caramel.

You know we've nailed it.

This massive slab of white bread
should be strong enough to handle

what's coming.

And when it's time to slap on the
rarebit mix,

I'm definitely not shy.

And when you think you've put enough
on,

put some more on.

I want my rarebit to cover the whole
piece of bread.

Kind of like putting a super
king-sized duvet

over a single bed.

Back into the fire.

Now you want to take this rarebit mix
to the limit.

You want that nice, dark golden-brown
bubbles dancing.

Yeah, dark bubbles on top.

And it kind of looks like a cheesy
Caerffili mountain.

Let's plate it up.

Ooh-ooh-hoo!

As it cools down, I hit it with some
crisscross action

because you want a beautiful canal of
flowing Worcestershire sauce

on every bite.

Wow. And just look at that.

That's fire. That is fire!

Woo! Let's tuck in.

Straight away, you've got the salty
cheese hit

balanced with the creamy richness of
the Welsh stout.

An uppercut punch of Welsh mustard

fieriness, and the four cheese

Caerphilly blend has worked a treat.

It's just beautiful. Beautiful.

So the Welsh rarebit is deservedly
known all over the world,

but on an industrial estate back in
town, there's a Portuguese guy

that's pleasing the Caerffili locals.

And this time it's all about prize
pies.

Hola, Alex.
- Hola!

- Muito bom!
- You OK?

- Owner Alexandre is a pie master,

and in four years, Hancox's Pies have
won 17 awards.

Come and show me some of the pies.
- No problem.

So most popular has got to be the
chicken and chorizo.

And then we go for the corned beef
that everyone likes here.

- Do you like corned beef?
- I hate corned beef.

- I love corned beef.

- But we've got to make it because
it's what the customer wants.

- Alex's pie empire makes around 6,000
pies a week.

Inspired by his mother's Portuguese
recipes, he's adapted them

to suit his customers.

And even though he hates it, that
corned beef

looks good to me.

I heard back in the day the miners
loved a corned beef pie

or a corned beef oggie,

a pasty type.
- Yes, so they have the potatoes,

so proper filling food.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Food that will let you work all day

without being hungry.

Um, easy to carry as well.

- Yep. Perfect.

They're sealed by pinching the top.

And after an egg wash, they're baked
to perfection.

Oh!

He's made me another couple of pies as
well.

Ooh, yes.

The first one's got a traditional
Welsh filling of lamb and mint.

Mm. Mm!

My favourite.

That pastry is so light.

- Very light.

- Next, the salty, meaty and acquired
British filling.

Yes, that's what I'm talking about.

Coast to coast of corned beef.

Alex, you're missing out here, mate.

And I'm sure that Alex's mother would
be a lot happier

with a Portuguese filling of chicken
and chorizo.

I've never been to Portugal, but this
is like a bite of Portugal

in a pie.
- Now, I tell you what you told me

with the corned beef. You're missing
out.

- OK. I feel like I need to embrace
the Pie Master.

- Glad you enjoyed.
- Obrigado.

I am going to eat all of these, but
not on camera,

so can you maybe put them in a box?
- Of course I can.
- Awesome.

As Alex suggested, pies were
apparently very popular

with miners in the collieries that
surrounded Caerffili.

And the king of the pie in these
valleys was the oggie.

Similar to a huge Cornish pasty,

they were a perfect all-in-one meal
for the miners.

Traditionally, an oggie was filled
with whatever was available,

and I'm inspired to try and make one.

So I've come up to Penrhiw Farm to
source a very old school

ingredient for my oggie.

Wow. Penrhiw Farm. What a stunning
part of the world.

- Yes. You've come on the right day
when the sun is shining.

- And I've heard this is the place to
be for some next level Welsh mutton.

- Yes. We could sort you out with some
of that.

- Show me the ewes.
- Come on, then.

- John and Celia rear their sheep and
cows on lush organic grass

up here, above the valley.

And surprisingly, one of their best
sellers is mutton,

the mature meat of sheep that are past
the reproductive age.

So many people connect Wales with
Welsh lamb.

But tell me, why mutton?

- Lots of our customers actually say
they will happily eat mutton

than lamb, because they feel the
mutton ewes have had a life,

whereas the lambs have had a shorter
life. And some of our mutton ewes

are five, six, seven years old.

- As you see here, these mutton on the
meadow, not just eating grass.

It's the flowers, the clovers, the
wild herbs.
- Yep.
- And all that's

just going to shine through in the
taste.

- I mean, we were... Or I certainly
was sceptical

when we started producing mutton.

I thought, "Oh, this is not going to
be very nice.

But it's a real surprise when you
taste it,

you know, slow-cooked on the bone.

A half leg of mutton is...
- Oh, got to have it on the bone.

- ..a bit difficult to...
- The flavour of the bone.

- There's nothing to beat it, really,
is there?

- Yep, I totally agree.

Mutton has a deeper taste than lamb,
and like anything that's aged well,

it's richer and more complex.

So for my take on the South Wales
oggie...

Thank you!

..Celia and John kindly give me some
mutton mince.

Have a nice day, ta!

And I can't wait to fire up the oven.

Yeah!

Time to make a super-sized oggie.

As a tribute to Caerffili's mining
past,

I'm going to cook a massive pasty.

And pretty much every country on earth
has their own take.

Empanadas of Spain and South America.

The calzones of Italy.

The list goes on and on and on.

But today is traditional Welsh old
school oggies

with mutton, pimped up with a few
tricks up my sleeve.

I love it.

So let's get rocking on the pastry.

This pastry starts off with half a
block of lard,

a good sprinkle of sea salt.

Melt away.

Lard is better than butter for a
crispier, flakier crust.

Once it melts, I cool it down in water
before adding twice

as much flour.

I mix it all up, then knead it for a
good five to ten minutes.

It needs to chill before I work with
it,

so I wrap it in clingfilm and set it
to one side.

While the pastry's chilling, let's
rock on with the filling.

I melt some butter, not lard this
time,

and add chopped carrots,

celery, Welsh leeks and garlic.

These need to be sweated down and
softened for a few minutes

before adding the stunning mountain
mutton mince.

A sprinkle of sea salt, and I whack it
in the oven.

TINKLING MUSIC

Oh, ideal. It's a hot day.

It's very hot by the fire.

Ice cream man is here.

I'm definitely going to have one
later.

Woo!

After about five minutes, we've
already got some nice big

juicy bits of mutton.

So now in with some rosemary...

..and some thyme.

A bit of cracked pepper.

And my special ingredients -
laverbread.

And this Welsh laver seaweed is full
of umami hit.

Salty, savoury. It goes so well with
this mountain mutton.

Bara lawr is the Welsh name.

I love the Welsh name. Bara lawr.

Look who's come for a nosy!

I don't even know what that is. Is it
like a goose or something?

Back on the heat now and it needs some
liquid. And beef stock

works well to keep it juicy as all the
flavours infuse together.

Yeah, that's what I'm looking for.

Nice deep caramelisation on the
mutton.

The perfect filling for my giant
oggie.

Now, it's essential we let this cool
down again.

So just let it chill.

I'll enjoy the view for a bit.

Is the ice cream guy in the van?

What a beautiful spot on a hot sunny
day.

And I can't resist a cheeky lemonade
lollipop.

But back to the cooking,

and a mix of sugar, vinegar and mint
leaves

pounded and grinded together make a
simple but stunning mint sauce.

Let's build this oggie up.

Pastry.

A dusting of flour.

Start rolling.

The pastry needs to be about a half a
centimetre thick,

and it needs to be big,

so I can pack it with loads of the
gorgeous mutton mix.

Just fill it up to get a nice

mountain of mutton.

I fold the pastry over and shape a
hefty crust.

This was used by miners as a handle
for dirty hands when eating

the lovely filling.

Ingenious.

And use whatever you've got to hand to
seal the deal.

That is one massive oggie.

I make a hole on top to stop the steam

from making it a soggy oggie,

and let the heat do its magic.

This isn't a super hot and fast cook
like a pizza.

It'll take around ten minutes to cook
through.

You could cook this easily in an oven
at home, but a wood oven

gives it more depth and character

with these beautiful charred bubbles.

Yes!

And that's why you fully load your
oggie.

Packed to the max.

Beautiful leopard spots on the
undercarriage.

CHUCKLING

Before I eat...

..in with a mint sauce.

Woo!

And instantly I get hit by an old
school Sunday mutton roast

dinner smell, taste, vibe.

But that infusion with the laverbread
just takes

it to a whole 'nother dimension.

That mint sauce is banging.

IN WELSH:

An oggie each for my guests at Ffos
later

would probably go down really well...

..but I haven't got an oven big enough

to cook more than one at a time.

And I also want to use some flavour
tricks used by Leyli from Bab Haus

who I saw earlier.

- It's wonderful. Lovely Welsh
weather.

- So to have a deeper taste of her
Persian heritage,

I've been invited for dinner at the
family home.

And in the back garden at the grill,

braving the rain, is big bro Alex.

Oh, it smells amazing.

- Yeah. Yeah.
- What have we got here?
- Looking good.

We've got some Persian chicken kebab
known as Jujeh kebab in Farsi.

And some koobideh, which is minced
lamb, onion, salt, pepper and sumac.

- This is our typical family barbecue.

Any time of year, any weather.

So instead of a Sunday roast, we have
this.
- A Sunday smoke.

- A Sunday smoke. Yeah.
- Love it!

Sorry, can I help with anything? I'm
just drinking beer.

- No, no, no.
- In the kitchen,

it's Leyli's mother who's busy making
traditional dishes

like this crusty rice called Tahdig.

Oh, wow. I bet that's the bit all the
family fight for.

- Yeah, yeah.

It's Maggie's rice there.
- I have to take a photo.

- That's gold.
- That is gold!

Dinner is served.

Where's this one going?
- Where's it going, Mum?

- And there's so many beautiful,
vibrant plates.

This mirza ghassemi is made from
charred aubergine.

And the yoghurt and cucumber salad
called mast-o-khiar is topped

with rose petals.

- OK.
- So double thumbs up.

- Double thumbs up.
- Wow!

This feast is a stunner.

- Yes!

- Every ravishing bite is an
inspiration.

And as we gorge on the flavours, the
chat naturally turns

towards what we're going to cook at
Ffos Caerffili.

- Have you got an idea of what you'd
like to do?

- I was thinking like Alex style with
the skewers, but maybe

with some ox hearts.
- Oh, yeah.
- Like the cheap, cheap cut.

But once you trim all the fats and the
ventricles and stuff away,

you've just got lean, amazing steak
meat.

- Amazing. I love ox heart.

It's one of my... It's such an
underrated cut

and so many people don't know how
delicious it is.

- So next up, a local butchers, run by
husband and wife team Paul

and Cath, to buy some humongous ox
tickers.

Yeah. Show me the heart!

Just look how clean and how lean that
meat is. Wow.

- Yeah, we've got a few customers.

We've got people who like them minced
up

and make burgers out of them.
- Spice them.
- People buy them for

their dogs, raw and cooked.
- The dogs at Caerffili are eating
good, yeah?

- Yeah.
- They do.

- So maybe I'll go for ten hearts?

- Yeah.
- Ten.
- No problem.
- No problem.
- Nice one!

- No problem.

- Here we go, then.

Grilled with Persian spices,

this is a Bab Haus inspired ox heart
flatbread.

I'm back at Ffos Caerffili. Got my
kitchen set up.

The barbecues are getting hot.

We've got an epic feast tonight.
Invited loads of guests.

And as they start to arrive, Leyli and
her team are giving out

taco starters while I'm prepping the
meat.

Take a look at this heart.

Doesn't look very appealing,

but trust me, this is an amazing cut.

Slice it open.

Open it up like a book.

You need to trim off all the
ventricles and the capillaries.

They're edible, but when they heat up,
they contract

and make the meat rubbery and tough.

This is just one little steak from the
heart.

Look at that now. It just looks like
an amazing, very lean,

very healthy steak.

How much did these cost me? Like
£7-£8.

Do four steaks. Feed the family of
four easy.

These steaks get a generous

rub made from some blended grilled
peppers, plenty of garlic,

a mix of Persian spices like cinnamon,
cloves,

cumin and rose petals,

a big pinch of the tangy spice sumac,

sea salt and olive oil.

Give everything a good mix.

It smells so good.

So prep done. Just need to get the
grills up to temp now.

And as people are getting hungry for
the main course,

I'm a little worried that some
appetites might be turned off

by the idea of ox heart.

Yo, you OK?

So I want to ramp up the buzz about
it.

Big up Bab Haus, big up Leyli and the
team.
- Thank you.

Thanks, everyone.

- So onto the Persian vibe barbecue.

Bit of ox heart.

Yeah, you don't sound too keen there.
Ox heart. But trust me,

it'll be just like really nice steak.

Yeah, it's a vibe. Thank you for
coming.

Caerffili's a vibe, I love it. Yo,
back to the fire!

Time to start on the flatbreads.

Leyli's persuaded the pizzeria on site
to donate some

super soft dough.

And I'm using it to make a Persian
style bread,

using black and white sesame seeds and
some olive oil

so they crisp up nicely once they're
slapped on the fire.

I love grilled breads.

- Yeah.
- Probably takes a good 5 minutes, 2.5
minutes each side.

- You can start to see it actually
bubble up a bit.

That looks... Oh, that looks amazing.

- So shall I start grilling some ox
hearts?
- Yeah.

- You can treat this as you would a
minute steak.

I think if it goes past medium, it
gets a bit too chewy.
- Yeah.

- These steaks don't need much more
than a couple

of minutes each side.
- Oh, wow. Look at that.

- And a baste of melted butter using
my bay leaf branch keeps them

moist and juicy.

Leyli also uses the branch to baste
the breads, and after resting them

for a few minutes, I get to slice up
the first batch of the heart.

Look at that and it's just...
- Oh, wow.

- It's just like a beautiful,
rare-ish, medium-ish steak.

- It's like super tender steak.
- Yeah, super tender.

It's got a strong, rich flavour.

Slightly gamey like venison.

So to cut through it, zingy pickled
red onions,

green chilli pickle, yoghurt and
Leyli's special hot sauce.

And I bet you can't guess what these
are.

These are dried limes.

Another Persian ingredient.

How do you...? How do you pronounce
it?

- Well, just Persian dried limes.
- Persian dried limes.

And we've ground it up in the pestle
and mortar

with just a tiny sprinkle on the
yoghurt.

- I'm just so impressed at how you've,
like, put these flavours together.

You totally get it.

- Presentation not so great.
- I think that looks banging.

- Does it?
- I think that looks perfect,
actually.

- Oh, that bread is so good, Leyli.
- Look at that.

Mm-hm!
- Oh, the flavours in that!

- Honestly, there are so many
different, like, notes

coming through. That's so well
balanced.

I might have to steal this.

- Yeah. Go for it.
- You might see this on...
- Yeah.

Just remember. Just remember. 25%.

- Yeah. Wow. Thank you, Chef.

Wow.

- So the Persian queen is happy.

Next up the Caerffili foodie crowd.

- Roll up, roll up.

- The turnout is off the scale and the
pressure is on.

- Diolch!

- And big bro Alex is sniffing around
checking

on my grilling skills.

Yes, that's how you attack it!

That's how you attack it.

Fire!
- Superb.

- That's really good.
- Spot-on, really good, diolch!
- Yes!

- Thank you. Diolch.

- The people of this town have been
especially amazing.

- Thank you.
- Everyone is so kind and so positive

about sharing their awesome produce
and banging food.

Sorry, I will cook some more. Give me
two minutes.

And for me, this is what it's all
about.

Food, fire, Leyli, Caerffili, Ffos,
bringing people together.

It's been amazing and I've loved every
second.

- Thanks. Thanks, Chef. Thank you so
much.

My pleasure. Right.
- Right, then.

Back to it. We've got more mouths to
feed.

Oh, diolch, diolch, diolch!

- Thank you.

Right.
- Woo!