Original subtitles

I'm Chris, aka Flamebaster.

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

Flame-basting, 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...

Boom!

..present and future.

Whoa! Wow!

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

Nick!

Whoa!

..showcasing some top foodie destinations...

Whoa!

..and hidden legends who are striving to protect our food heritage.

And those taking it to the next level.

This time I'm in the city of Abertawe, aka Swansea.

It has an incredible food history...

- Wow! - Wow!

- ..and some stunning, innovative cooking.

Tell them to stop. This is too much food!

I've lived in Cymru my whole life and, believe it or not,

I've never set foot in this city before until now.

Abertawe is Wales' second largest city,

and it has the country's largest indoor market,

so this is the perfect place to get those taste buds tingling.

Oh, those Welsh cakes look good.

You can get pretty much any type of food you can think of,

but what I'm really interested in today is one of Swansea's

greatest food traditions.

Here at Abrahams, they've been selling faggots since 1921.

Yo, Lynda and Stuart. - Well, hello! - How are you?

- So nice to meet you.

- You too, Chris. - Nice to meet you. - Hello, Lynda.

Nice to meet you. - You too.

- Welcome. - Yeah.

You guys have been here for a long time.

- Oh, one or two years. - Yes.

- How many years? - 103.

- Wow. - Altogether.

Not that I'm that old, you understand?

- She's looking good for that age. - She's looking good.

Looking good. - I wasn't here when it started.

- THEY LAUGH

Are these the family photos? - They are, yes.

And it's always gone through the generations to the daughters,

but Stuart now has broken with tradition. - I've broken the mould.

- Someone's got to. Yeah.

You've grown up with market life, then?

- This is my playground. - Yeah. - You know,

running through here playing touch and with our water pistols

and people screaming at us.

And I always found it great.

- Amazing, amazing.

So you guys sell a very old Swansea traditional food staple,

the faggots. - We do. We do indeed. - I see some here.

- This is our faggot. - Wow.

Beautiful caramelisation on it too. - Yeah.

- You need that crust on the outside. - Yes.

Yes.

- Essentially, faggots are meatballs,

but this Welsh take on them includes offal offcuts like heart and liver.

A cheap, meaty treat back in the day.

- Some people like them cold,

but the traditional way

would be mashed potatoes, peas, the faggots and the gravy.

- What's your favourite way to eat them?

- Erm, my favourite way is slightly warmed

and smashed between two slices of bread. - Oh!

- I love it like that. - That sounds like a next level sandwich.

- 100% sandwich. Faggot sandwich is stunning.

- I really want to try some in the market.

- Yes. - Where's the best spot? Where's your recommendation?

- If I were you, you would go over to Janet's Cafe,

which is just there, because she has them from us.

- Oh! - So you will be able to try the faggots.

- Meant to be. Diolch, Lynda. - Very nice to meet you.

- Diolch, Stuart. - A pleasure. Thank you, Chris.

- Big love, big love.

- Thank you. - Take care. - Thank you. - See you soon. - Take care.

- Janet's Caf is right at the heart of Swansea Market,

and it's a popular place to meet and mingle.

The food is as famous as Janet's warm welcome...

Hey, Janet! - Hello!

- ..but I'm here for one reason, and I can smell them already.

I'm very excited to try the faggots you get from the Abrahams.

- Yes, yes, they are very, very famous in here.

We can have the mash or boiled potato.

- Mash, please. - Mashed potato? - Yeah. - And gravy?

- Yeah, fully loaded on the gravy.

- OK.

All right. - Diolch, Janet. - All right. - Thank you.

I'm absolutely starving,

and I can't wait to tuck into this all-Welsh delicacy.

- There we go. Faggot and peas.

- Yes, Janet.

- There you go. - Wow, diolch.

- Thank you.

- Oh, that smell is beautiful.

Nice caramelisation on the outside.

Nice, soft and juicy on the inside.

Mm!

Beautiful, rich, meaty.

All that rendered fat and flavour from the faggots is in the gravy.

Wow!

And I love the texture. It's just really soft.

You squash it down, it's kind of like a pate.

This is Swansea soul food on a plate.

Later, I'll try cooking my own take on the faggot,

but after that meaty treat, I'm craving another local delicacy.

The coast here is home to some of the world's finest seafood,

including tiny shellfish that are steeped in Swansea history -

the cockle.

Love them or hate them, they're sold in their millions

and exported all over Europe,

and there's one place turning this humble little mollusc

into something scrumptious.

I'm on my way to The Shed, a top restaurant on the waterfront here.

It's the brainchild of Swansea-born chef Jonathan Woolway,

and I can't flippin' wait!

Yeah!

After 16 years working at the prestigious St John Restaurant

in London, one of my favourite places to eat,

the prodigal son's returned home to open his own place.

Yes, Jonathan. - Hi, Chris.

- How are you, Chef? - Very well. How are you?

- I'm so excited. Can I come to the kitchen?

- Yeah, come on in. - Yes!

Jonathan was born and bred here,

and his pride in the area shines through

in his constantly changing menu.

Regional produce in their seasonal prime is the centre of attention

on every plate,

and I'm here to try one of his bestsellers.

Woo! I am the luckiest man in Swansea today.

A one-on-one masterclass.

- The cockle croquette. - Cockle croquettes. - Yeah.

- The croquette originated in France,

croquer meaning crunch,

and these golden deep-fried nuggets can be filled with anything

from meat to mushrooms.

But here, cockles are the star of the show.

So here are the golden little nuggets of love.

- Yeah, that's it. - Ooh! Smell good.

- Straight from the market this morning. - Nice.

- And they're the perfect size for the, erm, for a croquette.

- Yeah. - Yeah, they're lovely in there.

I'm just going to get our butter going here.

We're going to sweat our leeks in there.

- So have you grown up eating cockles in Swansea, Jonathan?

- Oh, yeah, yeah. - Yeah? - Walking round the market

and, yeah, you get your... ..get your tub, your wooden fork.

It's sort of like my childhood in breadcrumbs, really.

- I love it. - One bite of my youth.

- To the fried leeks,

Jonathan adds salt and plenty of white pepper,

before adding flour, and a mix of milk and cream

to make a thick bechamel sauce.

Wow, and if you could smell what I'm smelling now, you'd love it,

and the cockles aren't even in yet.

CHRIS CHUCKLES

It's a very healthy cockle to bechamel ratio.

- You can see we're not... - It's fully loaded.

- ..we're not tight with the cockles.

- He rolls them to shape and dips them in breadcrumbs,

before a quick bathe in hot oil turns them into scrumptious treats.

Look at those beauties.

Wow, Jonathan. - All yours.

- Whoa!

They are beautiful.

Beautiful!

Mm. Oh!

Mm! - Simple, but nostalgic.

- Jonathan!

Light, crispy, crunchy crumb.

That bechamel is, like, the most velvety, smooth bechamel

I've ever had.

And then the meaty, salty cockles just popping, exploding.

- Thank you. Thank you.

We're very proud of them.

- But Jonathan won't let me go without sampling

some more locally-sourced dishes.

Yes, Chef.

Lamb's heart salad,

a very underrated and super tasty cut of meat.

It's so tender.

Oh, thank you.

Potted crab with a home-made grilled flatbread...

Stunning. Stunning dish.

..and traditional Welsh cakes cooked on a griddle

made by his grandfather when he worked down the coal mine.

Jonathan, big love. Amazing.

- Thank you. Thank you.

- It's just the best Welsh cake I've ever had, mate.

HE LAUGHS

After that stunning taste of Swansea,

I'm itching to get my cook on,

and later, I'll be preparing something special

for a really special Welshman.

Local hero and rugby legend Alun Wyn Jones was waiting for me.

But before I fire up the barbecue,

a quick pit stop to pick up some of the best beef in Wales.

- Oh, mate!

- On the outskirts of Swansea,

Olly Woolnough's aged beef sells out in minutes online each morning,

so he's let me come in early to get first dibs on a steak for Alun.

But this privilege does come with some conditions attached.

Looking sharp, looking sharp.

It's like a waistcoat or something! HE LAUGHS

Yeah!

Woohoo-hoo!

Olly, it's like opening the door to beef Narnia.

Wow!

Here in his ageing chamber, the beef is matured

with Himalayan salt blocks that intensifies the flavour

and tenderises the meat.

- We don't go for vanity ageing, like 90, 100, 120 days.

We don't feel the beef needs it.

We do it when it's ready.

- Yeah. - Because... - I love it. - ..like me and you, like everybody,

we're all different. - Yeah. - You know?

Like, that loin there's got more fat than this loin here. - Yeah.

Olly prides himself in using old ex-dairy cows for his beef,

which is quite unusual here in the UK.

- I think the flavour has more character, more depth of flavour,

and the fat tends to have so much more taste to it as well.

- Big up for you for taking their produce to the next level

with your love and care. - It's all about nurturing.

- These are your babies, are they? - They are my babies, dude.

And I've got one of your babies here.

- Oh, this one? - This one's your baby. - Woohoo-hoo!

Wow. - That is for you, sir.

- Wow!

This huge ribeye will be fitting for big man Alun Wyn Jones.

He is in for a treat.

Now looks like I'm holding up a trophy.

OLLY LAUGHS - I think she's done Wales justice.

- Yeah, yeah. I hope I do you justice when I cook it.

- CHRIS LAUGHS

Olly... - All love. - Big love, big love.

With my mighty cut of steak,

I'm heading to the other side of Swansea,

to the Pier at the Mumbles,

where Alun grew up and still lives.

Yo, Alun!

- Here he is. - How's it going, mate?

- Very nice to see you.

- This sporting legend not only captained the Swansea-based Ospreys,

the Welsh national team and the British Lions,

but he's the world's most capped player of all time.

He's passionate about food, and since retiring from rugby,

he's only gone and started his own rum-making business.

How cool is that?

So I've come up with a smoking rib-eye recipe

with a supercharged rum sauce.

I hope he's brought his appetite with him.

Yes, Alun!

Oystermouth Castle, the perfect venue for a cookout. - Yeah.

Thanks for coming down.

- Look at that big boy. - Yeah.

Couldn't find a bigger one, could you?

- CHRIS LAUGHS So, Al, I know you like to barbecue.

- Yeah, yeah. - We've been chatting a bit online of recipes and methods.

- Yeah, I've tried a few low and slows

that haven't been quite successful.

- So, yeah, this is a massive steak,

and I'm just going to keep it very, very simple.

- Yeah. - Bit of oil. Just veg oil. - Yeah.

- And then sea salt. - The more the better, the more the better?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know it looks like a lot,

but it's a big chunk of meat.

The best way to cook a massive steak like this is a reverse sear,

where I slowly bring the steak up to temperature

on the coldest side of the barbecue

before searing it on the hot side afterwards.

So the steak's been in now for about 20 minutes.

- Yeah. - And already in that 20 minutes,

you see a transformation. - Mm-hm.

- I can set this aside to rest now

and finish it off with a sear just before we eat.

This gives me a chance to barbecue some pre-boiled potatoes

that I bought earlier at Swansea Market.

Ooh! Watch the beard, Christopher.

And using my home-made herb brush, I smother them in butter.

Now, I love a peppercorn sauce with steak, but instead of brandy,

I'm going to use a tipple that Alun's mad about.

- Rum. - Rum. - Rum. Do we want some now or...?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He loves rum so much, he started making his own to celebrate

the early Welsh settlers in the faraway land of Patagonia.

So the name Mimosa, the ship that sailed to Patagonia,

was it in 1865?

- That is... You've done your homework. Well done. - Yeah.

- Yeah, and a lot of people have asked, "What's the link to me?"

Well, my first cap was in Patagonia in 2006. - Whoa!

- And we launched in 2023,

which was 158 years after they set sail,

and I finished on 158 test caps.

- That's meant to be. - So it all happens for a reason.

But let's have a have a dram before you... - Yes!

- ..you set it on fire.

- Iechyd da. - Iechyd da.

- Iechyd da.

Oh-oh-oh-oh! - I'm a fan.

- That's stunning. - Over to you.

- Diolch. - It's no problem.

Right, shall I do the dishes now? - Yeah, diolch.

Not only does Alun offer to do the dishes,

he also shows off his chopping skills.

Oh, now you've got it down! - Oh, come on now. - Yes!

In with the chopped shallots go some beef trim

that will release a supercharged beef flavour.

They don't need to be in there for long.

Next up, green peppercorns and Alun's special ingredient.

Let's go for the flambe.

- Let's have a go.

- Ooh!

Ooh! - There you go.

- CHRIS LAUGHS

Come in and have a smell. - Can you smell that with it?

- Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh!

That's awesome.

To finish off the sauce, beef stock and a good splash of cream.

And the steak gets a ferocious sear with my herb brush

and a load of butter.

Wow, now look at that.

Wow.

And that steak is done.

And what I love about the reverse sear method,

because the steak is rested while we're doing the potatoes

and the sauce, we can kind of just slice into it right now. - Yeah.

Come on, then.

Look at that. - Whoa!

I serve it on a platter with a rum-infused peppercorn sauce...

- CHRIS LAUGHS

..the smoky and charred local potatoes...

..and, to finish off, it's fitting that I use my trusted flame-baster.

Get these beef pieces in.

Get them flaming up.

And we're just flame-basting, Alun.

- There you go. That's what I've been waiting for.

- These beautiful golden drips of rendered fats

will give an extra beefy hit.

Chives on the 'tatoes. - Yeah.

Amazing. - And there you have it -

a smoked ex-dairy ribeye on the bone.

Nine-year-old Welsh cow from Pembrokeshire.

Smoked 'tatoes from the market.

Peppercorn sauce, turbo-charged by your rum.

And that's it. For me, a celebration of Abertawe.

- Yeah. If it tastes as good as it looks,

you've smashed it, so...

- Just go, just go.

- Oh, I'm going to have to, like...

Can you see that? Can you see that?

Look at that, man.

- Got it in focus? - The bit with the salt. Is that in there now?

You got that? - Oh-oh-oh! - Right.

- Is it good? - Erm...

It's, erm...

- Oh, wow!

- It wasn't like yours, cos I was in the moment.

- Oh! - Look at that, like.

- Yes!

I love it.

- Well, they say silence speaks a thousand words. - Yeah, yeah.

- That's amazing. - Diolch, diolch.

I've eaten lots of steaks in my life,

and that's up there with the best.

I'm quite gutted that Alun ate most of it,

but, luckily for me, there's a tiny shop

selling massive New York-style sandwiches

that's taking Swansea by storm.

Yo, Chef Chris! - Hello, mate.

- Chris Hardie used to own and run a fine dining restaurant in Carmarthen,

but since last year, he's focused all his energy

on this funky sandwich shack.

Tell me, tell me the journey, how you got to this point.

- So I've been a chef most of my life,

but I've got a five-year-old.

I just wanted that life-work balance.

I can't not cook and I can't not be a dad,

so I wanted something in between, and sandwiches is that, so...

Nice little team, good sandwiches.

- It's a vibe, it's a vibe. - It is a vibe. That's it.

- And what are the top sellers? - Beef and pickle.

Beef and pickle's an amazing little sandwich.

You've got the cheese.

You've got our magic sauce that we make.

You've got the pickles.

It's got a eight-hour cherry beef pastrami... - Oh!

- ..then we toast it and it's... Yeah, it's amazing.

- Well, when you say pastrami, mate, that's my weakness.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Fully loaded to the max.

- Always. - I want a sandwich so big, I don't want it to fit in my mouth.

THEY LAUGH

There's a place for fine dining and top restaurant dishes,

but, for me, you can't beat a filthy, sexy sandwich

made with love and generosity.

Now that's what I call a sandwich.

Amazing. Let's go in.

Beautiful smoky pastrami.

The pickles, the magic sauce.

I love the cheese ratio, too.

There's loads of melted Swiss cheese in it.

So delicious.

Amazing.

I really need to up my sandwich game.

Mm!

Here in Swansea, there's one final twist when it comes to Welsh cuisine,

a really exciting foodie fusion where East meets Welsh.

Gigi Gao's has become something of an institution here in Swansea

over the last decade, serving up authentic northern Chinese cuisine,

and the flavours bang hard.

Yeah!

Ni hao, Gigi! - Ni hao, Chris.

- Wow, I'm so happy to be here.

- Thank you so much for coming. - Shall we go in?

- Yes, please. Thank you.

- Xie xie. - Xie xie, xie xie. - Xie xie. - Xie xie.

- Wow, Gigi.

- Yeah. - Ha-ha!

This is the most vibrant, colourful, amazing restaurant I've ever seen.

- Thank you.

- So where did your journey in food begin?

- Actually, I came to UK for study, and after I graduate,

I started practise as a lawyer. - OK, wow. - Yeah.

But very difficult to have real Chinese food,

so I had an idea.

I have to let people know what's real Chinese food,

healthy Chinese food, so based on Chinese cultures. - Wow.

- Yeah. So our customers, they enjoy not only food,

but the whole experience.

- I'm really excited to go and see your kitchen.

- Not a problem. Let's go. - And see some food. Yes!

- Thank you, thank you.

- Whoa! Wow! - Wow!

Yeah, yeah.

- Most of the food cooked here are dishes from the Shanxi province.

Being close to the northern Chinese border,

there are strong influences

from the Asian nomadic tribes of Inner Mongolia.

How do you say fire?

- Huo. - Huo! - Huo, yeah. Huo.

- We say tan in Welsh. Tan.

- Tan, OK, yeah. - Tan. - Tan. Yeah, OK. - Ooh!

This is called lazy chicken, where dried hot red chillies

pump out strong, stunning aromatics.

Wow, Gigi!

- Yeah. Peanut.

- Attagirl, amazing.

- So all these ones going to the table.

- Wow, all for me? - Yeah, all for you.

Yeah, yeah. - All for me? - I don't think enough.

Not enough, yeah. - No, that's enough, that's enough!

- We cook more for you. - No more, no more, no more!

Oh, saucy ribs! - Yeah, saucy ribs.

Let's enjoy the food. - Let's go eat. - Let's go eat. Let's go.

- Yep, excited is an understatement.

And the steaming, gorgeous, colourful plates just keep on coming.

Oh, hot, hot, hot! - Spicy fish.

- CHRIS CHUCKLES

- Yes, please. Thank you.

- No more room for no more food.

- Oh, no more room? Make more room.

We can get another table.

OK. - Mm!

- You can try this. - Yeah, I'd love to try one.

- We call it saucing ribs.

- Mm!

- Good, good. This is garlic broccoli.

Stewed pork.

Thank you. Try this one, please.

- It's almost overwhelming.

Mm! - Good. Excellent.

- Almost.

I am so excited.

I've heard so much about these potatoes.

- Yeah, we call it the griddled potato.

We deep-fry and stir-fry with black bean.

- Oh, black bean, black bean. - It's black bean.

And this one is one kind of... - Gigi, Gigi, tell them to stop.

This is too much food!

- We come back for them later, OK?

This is a sweet and sour pork.

- Oh! - So, OK, we continue with this one.

- Yeah. - OK? You try it, please. And some... - Yes. - OK.

- They're crunchy... - Mm-hm. - ..yet still soft.

- Yeah, yeah. - Amazing spice.

I'm blown away.

Your passion, your love... - Yes, yes.

- ..shines through in every bite. - Yeah, yeah.

- And you're inspiring me.

You really are inspiring me. - Thank you.

- Yeah. - Thank you.

OK, after sweet and sour, we come back to a spicy one.

There's more!

- More, yes, more. - I need a break, I need a break.

- Yeah. - Is it healthy to eat this much food?

- Definitely. - Yeah! - The more you eat, the more healthy.

- OK, OK, yeah. Load me up, load me up. - So this one is the lazy chicken.

- Oh, yeah.

I'm so full right now, but so happy.

What an experience that was, eating at Gigi Gao's,

and Gigi, I love her.

What a powerful, inspirational woman.

Authentic northern Chinese food, flavours I've never tried before,

in Swansea, of all places.

I love it.

Right, I've got a killer idea for a brand-new dish that's local,

traditional, and modern all rolled into one,

and I know the perfect place to cook it.

I'm still on a massive high after eating Gigi's food,

and I'm inspired to make my own Swansea faggot,

but turbo-charged with a Gigi kick,

right here on the beach by the Swansea Observatory.

It's a beautiful day. Beautiful kitchen, beautiful view.

Let's get to it.

So, first off, pork mince,

and it's essential you have fatty pork, OK?

Lean pork, you can end up with a very dry meatball.

And this might turn a few people off, you know,

but diced heart, diced liver, in we go.

You can get it really cheap. This is cheap food, OK?

And if it's just pork mince, it's a meatball, OK?

For it to be a faggot, you have to have the offal in.

Now let's add some more flavour.

First, some grated ginger.

Then chopped garlic.

In with some spring onions.

A pinch of windblown five-spice. HE LAUGHS

Then dark soy sauce.

A trickle of sesame oil.

And to act as a sponge, a load of breadcrumbs.

I don't want that fat escaping and rendering out into the barbecue.

The breadcrumbs will just soak that fat up.

A dash of rice wine vinegar,

and get your hands in for the mix,

cos you want to feel it.

Don't overwork it or your faggots will be too dense.

Oh, and they already smell off the hook.

If something smells good when it's still raw,

you know it's next level.

Now they're all done, look what I've got here.

Caul fat.

Now, this is what keeps the organs of the pig in its place

inside its body. I know it sounds a bit disgusting, but trust me,

it's going to hug the meatball like a jacket of love.

And once that hits the barbecue, it becomes a self-lubricating faggot.

I'm going to smoke these on the barbecue,

and cherrywood goes great with pork.

Close the lid.

Make sure the top vent is open,

draws the smoke.

I'm going for about half an hour, 45 minutes on these.

Yeah!

I'm going to check them after about 20 minutes just to see

that glorious brown colour developing,

so time to make a banging barbecue sauce.

For this simple recipe,

I use some oyster sauce as a base and then just add rice wine vinegar,

dark soy sauce, and sesame oil.

Mix it all up for a silky Chinese barbecue gravy

to coat those faggots.

Another quarter of an hour and we're ready to rock!

I can't wait to taste these faggots.

And here to taste with me

and to rate my new variation on this old Swansea staple,

I've invited three of my local food heroes.

Yo-ho! Hiya, Janet.

On a promise of something special,

I've enticed Janet from her homely caf at Swansea Market...

Big man! Hello, Stu.

..Stu from behind his meat counter...

Gigi, Gigi, Gigi! - Hello!

- ..and Gigi from her authentic Chinese kitchen.

THEY LAUGH

I'm very nervous now.

I'll show you my faggots.

- Wow! - Wow!

- So you three have been a part of my journey here in Swansea.

- Excellent. - Yeah.

- Yeah. So these are your versions?

- Yeah, my version, but inspired by Gigi Gao's. - Ooh!

- So it's faggots with Swansea ingredients,

turbo-charged by a Gigi kick.

I serve the faggots on some sticky rice and garnish them

with spring onions and some freshly chopped coriander.

There you go.

- Thank you so much. Thank you, xie xie.

- Diolch. Diolch, xie xie.

- Oh, thank you very much. - Diolch. Diolch, thank you.

- It really does look superb. - Thank you.

Ooh! - Thank you.

- Mm! - Mm, I got some more barbecue.

- Yeah. - Hubba-hubba!

- Haochi. - Haochi? - Haochi means delicious.

- Oh, Gigi!

I just want to thank you all for making my first time ever

in Swansea city just a beautiful experience,

and getting to spend some time with you and learn a bit

more about your history, your family,

your heritage, your culture.

Janet's knocking out amazing faggots in the markets.

- Oh, thank you.

- If you want to use me as a guinea pig

in sampling anything else, feel free.

OK. - Feel free.

- How cool was that? I think they loved it.

And that's what it's all about, yeah?

Food bringing people together.

Big smiles, big hugs.

I love Swansea.

Traditional foods, different cultures coming together.

Abertawe, with character.

I love Swansea. Beautiful place.