[upbeat music] Bienvenue a France.

That's welcome to France to you and me.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'm traveling throughout this beautiful country to explore the very best in French cuisine.

Bon appetit.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): It's a personal journey.

It's where I learned to cook.

Magical times.

Magical times.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And it was the home and inspiration for one of my biggest food heroes, Keith Floyd.

And what's more, I've bought his motor.

This was Keith Floyd's very own car for 16 years.

And it's now mine.

Gives me goosebumps.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): So join me as I rediscover the food destination that has it all.

This is really, really delicious.

Mm, mm, mm!

[theme music] ♪ ♪ [quirky music] Today, I'm in the South of France, and it's one of my favorite places.

It's hot, it's sunny, and it's packed full of amazing food.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Yes, my French adventure has brought me to Provence, but not glitzy Saint-Tropez or glamorous Cannes.

This is the real deal, Marseille.

France's second-largest city, Marseille sits in the middle of the country's Mediterranean coastline, just off the shoulder of the stunning French Riviera, but not quite in it.

Settled by the Greeks around 600 BC, for much of its history, Marseille was a major European trading hub, exporting food and wine across the Mediterranean Sea.

Those glory days may be gone, but the influence of the sea still looms large in the form of pleasure boats of all sizes, and best of all, in an abundance of magnificent cuisine.

And it's that influence and diversity you can see in Marseille, by visiting the busy shops, amazing selection of bars and fantastic food this place has to offer.

There's some superb dishes, some very famous ones, in fact, that originate from this area.

But first, I'm going to do breakfast, South of France style.

It's tough life, innit?

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): But if you want to see what really makes Marseille tick, bolt down your croissants and get yourself down to le Quai des Belges at the old port at 8:00 AM sharp for the daily fish market.

It's a proper Marseille institution.

Every morning, huge hauls of fresh seafood are brought in from the Med and sold right here on the quai.

[chuckles] [speaking french] There's some amazing fish on here.

This is called límon.

It's often called slip soles or megrim soles.

And then we've got some mackerel in there, some monkfish.

And the mackerel is probably one of the best things on this stall, to be honest.

People are buying it by the bucket loads.

You don't get any fresher than that.

Look-- sea, boat, stall, restaurant.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And it's not just fish the tourists are interested in.

It seems some want photos of a Yorkshireman they've seen with the TV crew.

You don't have any of the cooking badges anymore.

Where's the-- where's the food badges?

Oh, they're not on our tops.

They're not-- Oh, come on!

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I really don't get the obsession with snapping some bloke off the TV.

This is more my kind of thing-- sardines.

[speaking french] VENDOR: Voila.

He's saying they're very good.

It's a chef's thing-- taking a picture of a box of sardines.

[speaking french] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): What can I say?

We're an odd lot, but this is a chef's paradise.

It's like a fish lottery.

You never know what's coming off next.

It's amazing, though.

You don't get any-- any fresher than that.

Look at that.

You're buying it actually from the boat.

This place is fantastic.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Having said that, it's also kind of like you're wrestling with half of Marseille.

Now, this is quite interesting.

Already there's a queue.

The boat's arriving.

So clearly, these guys know something I don't.

[upbeat music] This lady's before me.

I know what I want.

I can see it.

But I'm hoping, where I am in the queue, it's still there by the time I get there.

♪ ♪ It's still there.

[speaking french] I couldn't resist.

Right?

This is skate, one of the most underrated fish out there, and very, very simple to cook.

[laughs] No, I-- I understand a little bit of French, though.

[laughs] You see, a lesson learned.

If there's a queue of ladies, it's not always for the toilet.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Now, what I've really come here for is to find the best local ingredient for my first dish.

- This one.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And luckily, it looks like I've got in there before the mob.

[speaking french].

I have to take this.

This is-- this is, to me, the king of all round fish-- sea bass, or bar, they call it over here.

VENDOR: [speaking french].

Oui.

[speaking french]?

JAMES MARTIN: Oui.

That means, do I want it filleted and gutted, which is exactly what I want out here.

Basically, what they're doing really is just removing the scales for me and gutting it.

Now, while they're doing that, I'm just going to explain the reason why I've chosen this.

Because when you look at this piece of fish, look, you can tell it's fresh.

Look, color, doesn't smell, the eyes, the gills, [french].

Gills should be nice and red.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Nothing like a bit of market hustle to work up an appetite.

But my brilliant crew have managed to nab a more peaceful spot along the harbor to cook up my first dish.

JAMES: Beautiful sea bass-- absolutely delicious, line-caught as well.

The smaller bass that you have in the UK is generally farmed, so anything that's big like this is usually line-caught.

It's a fantastic piece of fish, and you've got to cook it whole on the bone.

That's the way you're gonna get all the moisture into that.

And I thought, what we're gonna use is use the sea bass, but also salt from the area of Camargue as well, and incorporate those two together.

Salt-baked sea bass-- really simple.

All you need, first of all, is eggs, fundamentally.

So we're just gonna take six eggs with the whites.

Don't worry about the yolks.

We take six egg whites.

And then, with a whisk, whisk these up.

I'm not making a meringue with this.

All I'm doing is breaking down the egg whites.

And this is gonna form a crust with the fantastic salt from the area.

And this is what's great about this-- combination of two ingredients-- great fish from there, great salt from over there.

That's really the key to great food-- is-- I often say to young chefs, what's the secret?

The key to great cooking is, to me, great ingredients and the application of heat-- apart from sushi, steak tartare, gazpacho soup, that kind of stuff.

But look.

Now, once you've got to that stage, we can then chop some dill.

Just a little bit of dill.

You can actually just cook this just in the salt and the egg white, but this just makes it look really nice as well.

So take the dill.

Keep the remaining stalks as well.

We're gonna use that as a stuffing for our sea bass as well.

Throw in the dill.

And then I've got a few more ingredients-- pink peppercorns, few of those.

I wouldn't normally put them in at home, but the producers here like to use them.

And then this-- herbes de Provence.

Now in here, you've got a selection of herbs-- oregano, savory, rosemary, thyme, basil.

That's what it says on the back.

But you've got a selection of different herbs, dried.

They go in.

Now, look at that.

Now it looks like Christmas.

Looks like Christmas, look.

And then, the salt.

Now, you may appear a bit weird if you go to the supermarket and just buy this much salt.

Look a bit odd.

But trust me, it's worth it.

There's one, there's two, there's three, and there's four.

Mix it all together.

What I'm creating is like a crust, really.

And the egg whites combine.

That's the cement of the crust.

But you take probably one more.

So just a small amount of salt.

Now, I first tasted this dish not in France-- in Italy, which is kind of out there, past Saint-Tropez, Monaco, around a bit and down a bit.

And there's a restaurant there called the Quattro Pazzi, which is the Four Steps.

And it's a fantastic restaurant.

They don't give you a menu.

They just give you what the chef wants.

You do need to remortgage your house if you go and eat there.

And all you do with this is we can take our fish.

Now, I, at home, would leave the head and the tail on this fish.

However, because we get letters, we've got to take the head and the tail off.

But I would leave it whole normally.

What you want to do is take your knife straight through.

And then just trim off the fins, because sea bass have quite sharp fins.

So just trim those off.

Get rid of the tail, because that tends to overcook.

Now, for just a few aromats, we just take a few wedges of lemon.

We can stuff that in the cavity in here, just a few.

Little bit of leftover-- the dill with the stalks.

And then, once you've got your fish ready, take your tray.

And then what you do is you build a little house, Rob.

That's what you do.

You start with the base.

You do the groundwork, you see.

And then you build your house.

Place your fish on the top.

And then, you build the walls and the roof.

This is such a great way of cooking-- fish in a salt crust.

And when you get a fish as fresh as this, this is what it deserves, really.

Just delicious way of cooking it.

What's great about this-- you can serve this as a whole piece like this.

Take it to the table and just whack it and open it up.

And this goes in the oven.

Now, a kind chef in a restaurant, which is just there, has let me use his.

20 minutes in the oven.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ You see, how good does that look?

And then the key to this is, take it to the table like this as well and just crack it.

And open it up.

And what you have with this-- it's one of the simplest ways to cook a whole piece of fish, but I actually think one of the most tasty.

It's just delicious.

And all you do is you just grab the flesh, palette knife underneath, and just lift it off-- big chunks of flesh like this.

Now, this dish doesn't need anything else, just a wedge of lemon and the fish.

Serve it with nothing else, because that tastes amazing.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Simple and scrumptious, seafood simplicity on a plate.

Just a squeeze of lemon is all this needs.

♪ ♪ Now, normally, I'd give some of this to the crew.

Not this time.

This is just delicious.

You would think the salt would just overpower it.

As soon as you've made it, get it in the oven.

Otherwise, it starts to cure.

But the skin protects it.

You don't need anything else.

A bit of salad if you need to.

Just this.

But the secret is really, really fresh fish.

Oh, it's so good.

I could get used to this.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'm on a foodie adventure in Marseille.

It may seem a little rougher around the gills than some of its more fancy Provencal neighbors.

But just like the old fish market, it's got bags of character.

But do you know what?

It's not just about the seafood around here.

Now, just a short walk away from the port is this place, the oldest bakery in Marseille.

And they've been making a speciality biscuit here for over 200 years.

That biscuit is the navette, a long, sweet cookie infused with orange blossom, thought to commemorate the arrival of St.

Martha and St.

Mary Magdalene over 2,000 years ago.

It's a signature of Marseille, practically a religious icon, and it's the star of this historic family-run bakery, Four Des Navettes.

Just ask the supervisor, Sandrine Sinapi.

[speaking french].

Sandrine, so tell me about the biscuit.

Navettes with orange flower.

- Orange flower?

- Yes.

And you can eat the biscuit during one year.

- One year?

- Yes.

OK.

Where the-- where does the shape-- what is it-- what is it supposed to look like?

Like a boat.

OK.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): This shape actually represents the boat the saints arrived in, so it's kind of a holy biscuit.

It even gets its very own blessing.

So every February, the priest blesses the biscuits.

[orchestral music] And then basically, they take-- [speaking french].

- Mary?

- Yes.

Take the statue of Mary down to the front, into the water, and that blesses the biscuits.

And these biscuits can last one year.

And it's-- is it a lucky charm?

Oui.

[speaking french] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'm right on the edge of my conversational French here, but I think I've got it.

So basically what she's saying-- every year, people buy these.

And then once they're blessed, they then keep them-- keep them as a lucky charm, keep them-- it's supposed to bring them good luck, prosperity.

They've been making these here since 1781.

And this is a real speciality of Marseille.

And the recipe-- no change?

- Yes.

The recipe is exactly the same that it has been all these years.

You see, I've got to get these right, really.

If I get this wrong in French, I'm going to order 120 of these.

So, uh-- [speaking french]?

[speaking french].

Oui.

That's 24, hopefully.

Would you like-- Not four-- I don't want 432.

No?

No.

[laughs] She tried to sell me 432 biscuits.

SANDRINE: Only 25?

Only 24.

24, yeah.

In a paper bag, in a metal box?

Uh-- Paper bag, yes.

Trying to flog me bucketloads.

Merci.

Oh.

[speaking french].

[speaking french].

I like this.

Look.

[speaking french] Yeah, yeah, things I do for TV.

Au revoir.

SANDRINE: Au revoir!

The true test, I suppose, is in the tasting.

[dramatic music] ♪ ♪ [record scratch] It's quite dry.

It's very dry.

Not too sure they're gonna get better after a year.

An acquired taste.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Well, what do you expect from a 200-year-old biscuit?

I think I'll stick to shortbread.

Still, it's an inspiration to see gastronomic traditions preserved.

And I've got a fantastic shellfish recipe that does just that.

Marseille is famous for so many different types of food, but I wanted to create a fantastic classic French dish.

And what better than Coquilles Saint-Jacques, scallops cooked in the shell?

Now, I'm gonna serve it with a sauce made out of champagne.

But first of all, it's all in the preparation of these little fellas here-- hand-dived king scallops.

First of all, when you're looking at them, they're quite difficult to open, but they're actually quite straightforward.

The key to it is using one of these-- a table knife, a knife that's not too sharp.

And the easiest way to do it is remove it off the flat shell first.

So all you do is find a little hole, a little gap, insert the knife in, and wiggle and follow the flat side of this shell.

So the knife that I've got in here is rubbing along the top of the shell.

And as it rubs along the top, all of a sudden, the scallop will come free.

Bang, like that, just opens up.

Now, to remove it from the bottom part of the shell is, you use the same knife.

You just scrape the bottom of the shell like that.

And the entire scallop comes out in one.

It's not the most appetizing thing in the world, is it, looking at it like that?

But all you do is just pull this part of the scallop away.

It almost comes off in one go, really, like that.

This is called a skirt.

Get rid of that bit.

It's starting to look like a familiar scallop that people are so used to.

Now, just trim it off with a knife, so you just end up with the white meat.

Give it a quick wash.

And there you have your classic scallop, that nugget of meat with this lovely bit of coral.

We'll leave that to one side.

And now, I'm gonna take you back to school.

This is julienne.

Nice, thin julienne.

This is baton, thicker.

This is macedoine.

And then this is brunoise.

Now, it may look like I wasted a week of my life doing this, but it is crucial.

Because when you come to do dishes like this, it's so much quicker if you know how to chop stuff properly.

Because you want everything quite small, really, for this because you're using the veg as a base.

That's just roughly chopped.

Next, fire up the stove, a little bit of butter to get this started, and we're gonna sweat the shallots in the pan.

In we go with the carrots.

Throw in some celery.

In we go with a leek.

Right.

Once you've got it sweated down nicely, you can throw in a touch of the stock, a little bit of cream.

And what you're doing is creating a lovely little sauce that the scallops can poach in.

Just a little bit of champagne.

A bit more.

Season this up-- black pepper, pinch of salt.

And then just grab your scallops, and we'll sit these in there as well.

We just want to gently poach these for about two or three minutes.

While that's happening, we can prepare our different types of herbs.

What you can use is chervil.

I love the stuff-- and a little bit of chive.

We're just gonna roughly chop the chervil.

If you can't find chervil, tarragon will do really nicely as well.

Then we'll flip these scallops over.

Now, we can grab our herbs.

Now finally, I'm gonna put some of these in.

These are little tomato concasse, which is deseeded and de-skinned tomatoes, just to add a nice little bit of color.

Quick taste.

I think it needs a bit more champagne to touch.

What we can do now is get our scallops ready.

And for that, you want piles of salt.

And then you can place the scallop and the garnish inside the shell.

And what the salt does is hold it together.

It's a good idea to cook the scallops, I think, before you put them under the grill.

Because generally, they won't cook.

The grill happens quite quickly.

I mean, they look just beautiful as they are, just like that.

But we're gonna finish this off classically, and that's using pommes duchesse.

Pommes duchesse is always baked potato, egg yolks, salt and pepper.

We put a tiny bit of cream in.

This is not classical, but just a touch of cream.

And mix this together.

And then you get yourself a piping bag.

And then what you do is you pipe this all the way around the edge.

Now, you can be as fancy as you want.

You can pattern this if you wish.

And what it's doing is creating a little border, a little frame to hold that sauce in.

And then finally, use a combination of breadcrumbs and cheese.

And I'm using conté.

You can use Emmental, Gruyere-- it's entirely up to you, but not cheddar.

And then we pop these under a hot grill for about a couple of minutes.

Now, how good do they look?

To simply serve them, you repeat the process with the salt.

Please don't forget to tell the guests not to eat that.

But you just lift these off.

Look delicious.

Coquilles Saint-Jacques.

Now you know.

Cheers.

[quirky music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): My French adventure in Marseille has shown me a place whose gastronomy revels in its connection to the sea.

Even its signature biscuits are shaped like boats, apparently.

So it should come as no surprise that the city's most famous dish should be about fish, fish, and more fish.

It's called bouillabaisse, a kind of hearty fish stew.

Everyone has their own way of cooking it.

And here's Marseille's Clément Renault, head chef at Chez Fonfon, to show us how he does it.

So here's a [speaking french], red mullets, river fish, and a [french].

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): See?

I told you it was a lot of fish.

But there's veg, too.

Got some fennel, dried and fresh, garlic and onions.

That's it.

A terragon spice mix, saffron, paprika, and cumin, some salt, and some tomato.

That's it.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): First, a little olive oil goes into the pan, then the fennel and the garlic.

Give it a stir, Chef.

That's it.

Then in go the spices, the salt-- Some salt.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): --and the tomato.

These ingredients are the base of the rich soup at the heart of this dish.

And now, after adding plenty of water, it's time to get the fish into stew.

Looks great.

Now, when's it ready, Chef?

Just have to cook it during five hours before service.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Five hours?

Well, what's a few hours more for a dish that's been part of Marseille heritage for centuries?

An old fisherman's favorite that was stewed up by their wives using leftover fish-- it's now entered the realms of fine dining, but it's still a cherished part of Marseille life.

It's a part of my family.

It's a part of Marseille.

This is a bouillabaisse.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): But what makes it really special is that it's a two-course meal in itself.

You've got a broth for your first course, and then the fish and potatoes to follow.

Bouillabaisse is Marseille's most famous dish.

It uses everything from the local surrounding area from the land and the sea, and dotted around the old port are restaurants all claiming to have one of the best.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And here's my favorite place to have it, Le Miramar.

And the old bouillabaisse is going down really well with these lot.

So let's get stuck in.

[speaking french] ♪ ♪ It even comes with its own instructions.

Very simply, you've got the crostini, a bit of garlic, and some of the aioli, the saffron, garlic mayonnaise, and then just dunk it in the soup.

♪ ♪ Delicious.

You see, the key to a good bouillabaisse is balance, balance of flavor-- the right amount of fennel seed, but most of all, the right fish.

But it's this restaurant right here that I think serves one of the best.

Because not only does it taste amazing, but while you're eating it, you can see where it comes from.

♪ ♪ You see?

Delicious.

Now, my director thinks that it's just this.

It's actually not.

It's this and all the fish and all the potatoes.

So I'll have another bottle of wine, and I'll see you in three hours.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): The truth is, they usually serve bouillabaisse to share.

Not this time.

Right.

Next up, I've got a Marseille-inspired idea that's perfect for sharing with friends.

I'm gonna do a wonderful dish now using wreckfish with a bisque.

This is kind of like the shellfish equivalent to bouillabaisse, using the leftover bits of lobster, crab, crayfish, langoustines, whatever you want.

There's so much flavor still in there, and I'm gonna show you how much flavor in a second.

But the first thing we're going to do is grab our shallot.

This is a great way to use leftover shells, and there's so much flavor still in the shells as well.

A little bit of fennel.

Fennel is a wonderful sort of veg that goes great in fish soups.

A little bit of butter in the pan, and we'll start to sweat down the shallot and the fennel.

Now, we can add a touch of tomato puree.

This adds a nice bit of flavor and color to this.

♪ ♪ And then I think the secret ingredient is a bit of armagnac or brandy.

Just a touch.

And what you want to do is flame off the alcohol.

Because you want the flavor of the armagnac or brandy or cognac.

It's entirely up to what you put in.

And then we can add some stock.

And then this is the unusual bit.

You grab the shells, all these shells.

Throw them in.

A little bit of parsley, some double cream.

Now, we bring this to the boil.

Gently simmer this for about 10, 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, we can cook this stuff.

This is buckwheat.

It's produced in the Himalayas and around India.

It's a fantastic ingredient to use, this.

And what you need to do is just get a pan of boiling water, throw it in.

This is going to take about 5, 10 minutes to cook.

That's all.

In the meantime, we can concentrate on our bisque.

You see, this is one of the great things about cooking with a team.

That's what it is, a team.

Part of the team is, most of them don't believe me when I'm trying to explain what this dish is.

And they didn't believe me you can make a sauce out the shells.

But I'm gonna prove 'em wrong.

Because what you do is you take a machine, quite a strong machine, and you took the whole lot into your machine-- shells, everything.

Then we stick the lid on, switch it on, and hold on to your machine.

Because if you don't hold on to it, you and the machine will be outside.

[machine whirring, crunching] [laughs] Now, for our soup, the bit that they didn't believe me.

What you end up with is a pot of loveliness.

Look at that.

Make sure you pass it through a sieve.

Bits of shell in between your teeth are not good.

You just get a beautiful soup out of it.

Remember, this is just from the shells.

You can see in here.

Look, just get this delicious sauce.

It's wonderful.

Now, I'm gonna finish that off in a minute.

But now, it's all about the fish that we're gonna serve it with.

Check this fella out.

Look at that.

It's called a wreckfish.

I love this fish.

It's often confused.

It's like a poor man's sea bass.

But that wouldn't be doing it justice, because it's absolutely beautiful.

You can see this.

I've got here-- slightly, I think, meatier than sea bass, but the texture and the flavor is kind of similar to red mullet.

What you can do is just cut it.

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna cook this quite simply, a little bit of oil and a touch of butter.

And we're gonna pan fry this.

So first of all, whenever you pan fry in fish like mullet or sea bass, what you have to do is quite a low heat to start off with, and then hold it.

Because what will happen if you don't hold it-- it'll curl up.

Black pepper.

And now, you can start to crank up the heat a little bit.

Then we're gonna grab another pan.

I don't normally use this many pans, to be brutally honest with you, and it's probably confusing to our producer.

But I like to test them now and then to, you know, keep them on the toes.

So we're going to boil up our samphire.

So this stuff is called sea asparagus.

It's wonderful stuff.

You get it in two types.

You get it either fresh like this or pickled in jars, which is revolting.

Go for this stuff.

It's much nicer.

Right.

Now, with your fish, you can see it's not curling now.

It's just cooking away nicely.

And you can see the fish cook halfway up the side.

Now, as it's cooking halfway up the side, we can then tell when's the right time to turn it over.

So just at this moment in time, you can see it cooking halfway up the piece of fish like that.

Now we turn it over.

[sizzling] Drain off our samphire now.

This is delicious stuff, this, you know.

Really is.

Slightly salty.

It's just wonderful stuff.

So we'll lift off our bit of fish.

[gentle music] We need to leave it to rest.

Right.

We're gonna finish this off now, because we'll then grab a little bit of butter.

And what we're gonna do is create, like, a beurre noisette to go with our buckwheat.

So for that, we brown it off into our pan.

Now, while that's happening, we can grab a little bit of parsley that's left over.

The color is really, really important.

That's what gives it its flavor.

And it's what's gonna give this its flavor as well.

So we can throw in our buckwheat.

At the same time, a little bit of lemon-- squeeze in there.

Black pepper.

The parsley is going in.

In we go with the samphire.

In we go with a bit of lobster.

You can use crab.

You can use prawns.

A bit more lemon juice.

And then we'll just saute this lot together.

You can see it got, slightly, this nutty sort of texture to it, which is brilliant.

That's exactly what we want.

And then basically, we can serve it, really.

It's as easy as that.

Pour this on the top.

Look at that.

It's just good enough to eat as it is.

And then, of course, you've got your fish.

But then, not forgetting, we've made our sauce, and it is a sauce.

If you want to put a few croutons in, you can call this a soup, but generally, it's a sauce.

We'll have a little taste.

You won't believe how much flavor comes out of just a few lobster shells.

Heat this up.

Do you know what?

It just needs a tiny little bit of butter.

And then we put some of this wonderful sauce with it as well.

You see, there you have it.

It's a bit chefy for me, that.

But you've got to admit, it's pretty impressive.

[quirky music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'm nearing the end of my gastronomic ramble through Marseille.

But those who know me know I have another obsession aside from food.

And that's cars.

So when I remembered that the Circuit Paul Ricard was just down the road, well, I couldn't resist paying a visit.

Paul Ricard is perhaps most famous as the creator of the Pastis liqueur brand named after him.

But a fellow car nut, Paul also built this world-class racetrack back in 1970, and it's gone on to host French F1, MotoGP, GT championships, and now me-- cooking egg and sausages.

Now, the guys here promised me that if I cook this dish within 15 minutes, I'll be allowed out there.

So here we go.

Now, I'm gonna do a variant of piperade, because the last time I was here, I was in one of those garages, and I cooked a similar dish to this for breakfast for my bunch of spanners.

That's mechanics.

Now, this dish originates-- if you go down the pit straight, go right the way across until you hit Spain more or less, that's the Basque Country.

This is from Northern Basque in France.

So the first thing we're gonna do is chop the onions.

You can do this with chicken.

You can do this with-- I've seen it done with fish before as well.

But I'm gonna use these amazing merguez sausages, which I'll get onto in a minute.

So a good drizzle of oil.

I'm gonna use a couple of onions for this, because this is kind of like a fantastic breakfast dish, I think.

Because it's got eggs.

It's got sausages in it.

It's wonderful.

In we go with the onions.

A bit of garlic.

Now, the reason for the noise is twofold.

Not only are we by a race circuit, there's an airport over there.

And there's some quite lucky guy practicing landing and taking off in a very expensive helicopter over there.

But in we go with the garlic.

Now, I say this is a variant of sort of piperade.

And I say a variant because I'm going to use these.

These are merguez sausages, and the French absolutely love these.

Originate from Northern Africa, but they're sometimes made out of mutton, sometimes beef.

But if you can buy them in the UK, these are absolutely amazing-- called merguez.

It's brilliant.

And all you're gonna do is just stick these in here.

They're quite a spicy sausage, rich in paprika.

But they just taste amazing.

And now, for the red pepper.

The base of a piperade really is peppers, red peppers and tomatoes.

You don't have to be too fussy with this.

This is a rustic dish.

It's classed as a peasant dish, really.

But nowadays, chefs have sort of fancied this up.

But at its heart, it's really quite a simple dish, and one that's perfect to do for something like this for a group of people, because you can almost just put it on the stove and forget about it.

So pepper's in.

And now, for the tomatoes.

Now, I do love it here, but I had quite a surreal experience this morning, and not what you think.

I had to go out to the car and get my passport, because the lady in the supermarket, when I bought the tomatoes, wanted to see my passport.

♪ ♪ So just to spice this up, a little bit of chili.

♪ ♪ Now, I'm gonna use some dry vermouth.

You can use sherry for this, and I guess that's where some of this Northern Spanish, Southern French influence comes in.

So each to their own.

There are certain rules that you've got to adhere to, one of which is this stuff-- espelette pepper.

And it basically comes from the Basque Country.

It's a type of chili, type of pepper, not a hot and spicy one.

But when they dry it all out, it's very fragrant, particularly [sniffs] important for this dish.

You can get away using paprika and stuff like that, but it never tastes the same.

So just a little bit of this.

Hmm, did I mention it's a bit windy around here?

Sorry, Rob.

[laughs] The key to this-- don't get it in the cameraman's eye.

[laughs] Because it is quite hot.

[laughs] Right.

Bit of water on it.

We're nearly there, Rob.

Am I still in focus?

Bit of Black pepper.

We put the lid on.

And we leave it for 10 minutes.

Rob, you want to sort your eye out?

I was promised motorbikes or cars going round.

Painting pink stripes.

Now, what this needs is some chopped parsley.

You chop it really quickly.

Now, check this out.

Rob, look at that.

Mm!

Smells fantastic.

In we go with the parsley.

Now, it's a good idea now just to check the seasoning.

Try and get the black pepper in there.

Some salt.

Give this a quick stir.

Grab the eggs.

Just crack them.

♪ ♪ There's another helicopter.

See, this is my idea of heaven, innit it, really?

Food, motorsport, aeroplanes and helicopters.

Well, there you have it.

It's as simple as that.

Once the eggs are cooked, you serve it.

Better get changed.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): That's it, my own special take on piperade, with merguez sausages, poached eggs, parsley, tomatoes, and espelette pepper.

Mm-mm.

Right, I've served up the grub for my crew.

Now, if the chaps behind me have finished painting the track, it's time for me to get racing.

Oh, yes!

[jolly music] ♪ ♪ This is not what I had in mind.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Yeah, they were still painting the track, but luckily, I love a good roundabout.

Well, there you go.

What a fabulous day in Marseille.

And to end it, what better than a glass of Pastis?

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): This is a city where the traditions of the sea are showcased perfectly on the plate-- Delicious.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): --where food is practically a religion, even if it can take a little getting used to.

An acquired taste.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And it's a great place for a chef to catch up on his fish-spotting hobby.

[camera snaps] It's a chef's thing-- taking a picture of a box of sardines.

Sardines, check.

Anyone seen the sea bream?

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Now, whilst Marseille may not be glamorous, it's certainly got style and its fair share of chef photo hunters.

But next time, I'm going incognito.

What do you reckon?

[theme music] ♪ ♪ I could get used to this.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Coming up on my French adventure in Marseille, I meet the city's sharpest biscuit seller.

Would you like?

JAMES MARTIN: Not for-- I don't want 432-- No?

No.

[laughs] She tried to sell me 432 biscuits.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And I cook up a classic shellfish treat back in my home kitchen.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'm on a foodie adventure in Marseille.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Coming up on my culinary trip to Marseille-- for once, I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew.

So I'll have another bottle of wine, and I'll see you in three hours.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And I'll be cooking up my own homage to Marseille cuisine in my home kitchen.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): My French adventure in Marseille has shown me a place whose-- --cheffy for me, that.

But you've got to admit, it's pretty impressive.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Still to come on my French adventure in Marseille-- I cook up my final dish in a petrolhead's paradise.

Mm, smells fantastic.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And I get to take Floyd's 2CV out for some high-octane action.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'm nearing the end of my gastronomic ramble through--