Bienvenue en 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 just about the best place I've ever been to.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): It's where I learned to cook.

Now, this is spectacular.

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.

Look at that.

[theme music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Today, my French adventure has brought me to an area that's home to a true gastronomic superstar.

Not a TV chef, not a critic, but this guy.

Only the greatest chicken in the world.

I'm heading to Bresse.

And it's a region of France that I've never been before, but I've heard so much about.

Not just from its produce, but for its amazing chefs.

[jaunty music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Bresse lies at the edge of Eastern France, nudging shoulders with the Alps and the Swiss border.

The area is dominated by its large, expansive plain, sprinkled with small lakes and hundreds of poultry farms where the famous Bresse chickens are bred.

This is a place to escape the chaos of urban life and experience nature unshackled and unrefined.

But if you miss the hustle and bustle, there's always somewhere you can go.

I've been told there's a pretty special market around here, very different to the usual ones I've visited in France.

I'm looking forward to this.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Welcome to market day in the town of Louhans, a tradition that's been going since 1296.

Yes, 1296.

Now we're talking.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And with over 250 traders, it's not just one of France's oldest markets, but one of its biggest and surely most varied.

Whereabouts on a Monday morning at 8 o'clock can you get a bed, a birdhouse, a chainsaw, and a pink budgie?

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I always say you can tell a good market by the people who shop there.

And he looks like he knows his onions and his melons.

See, I'm supposed to be buying food, but what I'm really after, I've got to be honest, is one of these.

How gorgeous are you?

Come here.

Breton Spaniel.

How cute is he?

♪ ♪ Now, there's so much stuff to see in here, and a lot of these are actually pets.

But look at these pheasants.

Beautiful.

Lady Amherst.

And I like these two here-- a pair of breeding ducks.

Absolutely gorgeous.

A deal, 100 quid.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Lovely birds.

But the prince of poultry around these parts is, of course, the Bresse chicken.

Known for their white feathers, blue legs, red crest, and above all, delicious meat, these guys are prized by gourmets the world over.

Now, they may sometimes be sold in cages, but Bresse chickens have been bred in open grassland with at least 10 meters per animal.

They're one cherished chicken.

I couldn't help but notice this in the market.

It's fantastic because this is what this area is all about, chicken.

But what I love about this, all the fat is dripping off.

And cooking the chicken, you've got the thighs underneath and then ham below that.

Half a roast pig.

But also, this is what I'm interested about as well, because on the way here, I passed through the town of Ratte.

This is what these potatoes are called.

They're like a waxy new potato.

We produce them and sell them in the UK as well.

And if you can find them, buy them, because they're delicious.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Right.

It's time to cook up a chicken lunch for my hungry crew.

Now, they tell me they've found the perfect place to do it-- this local chicken farm/chicken museum.

Yes, you heard it right.

We're in France, after all.

Now, I wanted to show you this dish because you can make it with all the ingredients you can get from a market or a supermarket.

It's based on a classic French dish called a blanquette de veau, a veal blanquette, or a white veal stew.

But I'm going to use chicken for this because you can easily replicate this at home.

So the first thing we need to do is prepare our chicken.

And the easiest way to do that is basically do it in stages.

What you do, first of all, is cut through the joints.

So there's one joint from the knuckle.

To remove the legs, just insert the knife either side of the legs.

And then all you do is flip the chicken underneath.

Break its legs.

It's dead.

And then holding the chicken, you see the knuckle in there.

Grab the knife.

Cut through that knuckle.

Now, most people are put off by doing this because they think it's chopping through bones and stuff like that.

All you're just doing is using the knuckles to cut through.

But one thing that's important, you get this bit here.

This is what they call the chef's eye or the chef's oyster, which is this area here.

Insert the knife underneath.

Grab that because that's the best part of the chicken.

We don't want to leave that behind.

So there you have your two pieces of dark meat.

Now you find the knuckle, put your finger in there, find that little knuckle, and cut through.

And there you have a thigh and a leg.

Do exactly the same thing with the other one.

So you've got your two thighs, your two legs.

Now, to get the breast part of the meat, what you need to do is remove, first of all, the wishbone.

Generally with your finger, you'll be able to find this, and you basically just run along the edge of the wishbone.

You can snap that bit off.

That's one part.

It's much easier to carve chicken when the wishbone has been removed like that.

Now, so we've got the chicken.

To portion this up, again, we can take the little winglets off.

Of course, these are tasty as well, so we can use all this.

Now, to get four pieces of white meat out of this, what you do is you grab your chicken like that, 45 degrees through there and 45 degrees through there.

You'll get a little joint in here, and cut through that joint.

And you end up with a piece of white meat.

Do the same thing with the other side.

And then grab your knife and remove the rest of the white meat.

Really simple.

Cut it through, and you've got another piece.

This is one of the things that you learn at college.

It's really simple.

It's essential part of what we do every day in the kitchen, really.

Then you've got basically your carcass that you can use for stock.

And there you have your four pieces of dark meat, four pieces of white meat.

So the first thing we do is use a little bit of white chicken stock.

Now we can add some onions.

We've got these wonderful little baby onions.

And then we can take our chicken.

And all you do is just basically just pop them in, really.

And next we've got a little bouquet garni.

We pop that in there.

It just gives a nice sort of flavor to it.

And now for a touch of cream.

Just a little bit of cream.

Not too much.

Another flavoring that goes really well with chicken, of course, is tarragon.

Now, you wouldn't normally put this in a blanquette, but the last time I cooked this dish was for a very famous French chef, a legend, which is Mr.

Pierre Koffmann, a three-star Michelin chef.

And I actually cooked this dish at my house, and he liked it, apart from the fact that it should have had tarragon in, he said.

So now I'm adding tarragon.

A few mushrooms.

See, Rob.

Come and have a look at this.

See how beautiful that is.

A nice, simple white stew.

You've got a touch of stock.

You've got the mushrooms, you've got the onions.

Little bouquet garni, some tarragon.

Just looks lovely.

Now, if you wanted to be really fancy-- and this is a thing from college.

I used to do this at college-- you take a mushroom like that, and we turn the mushroom.

Quite simple.

It's really easy, this.

But this is what I used to do when I first came to France.

The first fancy restaurant I used to work at, I was put in charge of doing these.

Now, I know what you're thinking.

I can tell.

What is the point?

Well, I'll tell you what the point is.

If you take three of these and serve them with a nice poached Dover sole paupiette, put that on the plate, 56 quid.

That's the point.

And just a little bit of seasoning.

Black pepper.

And then finally pop the lid on.

We're going to cook this now just gently for about 20, 30 minutes.

Now, in the meantime, I'm going to do a classic garnish with this.

And I haven't done this since I was at college.

And this is what-- I wanted to show you this because this is just a great little garnish.

Now normally, this would have rice served with it as well.

But for this one, I'm going to serve it with croutons, heart-shaped croutons.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Look at that, you see?

I'm romantic after all.

[jaunty music] And then unlike the stew, we fry these in a bit of butter, already melted butter, because it's quite hot in here.

And then we fry these croutons.

♪ ♪ Whatever happens, just keep the lid on it and just keep it gently cooking away nicely like that, just to finish it all off.

This is everything that I love about France.

Dishes like this have stood the test of time.

They're classic.

I love the simplicity of it.

So we take the croutons.

And then we've got to finish these with parsley.

And this is how things have changed nowadays, the modern era.

Parsley's already chopped for you.

And all we've got to do now is just wait for this.

It'll be about another 10 minutes.

So all of a sudden, got really busy here.

This was really quiet when I started cooking.

It must be something kicking off.

I say bonjour.

♪ ♪ I don't know.

Now, after about 30 minutes, we end up with this nicely cooked chicken.

What you need to do is lift it out, and you see we get a lovely sauce from it.

Now, I've used stock for this, but traditionally and classically, this would be just water in here and started off with like a roux, really, a mixture of butter, flour, and milk.

But what we can finish it off with is what the French call a liaison.

It's a mixture of egg yolks and cream.

Now, it's the perfect way to finish this.

So we need nice fresh egg yolks.

Now separate the egg yolks with your fingers.

Look, open up your fingers.

Why on Earth do I still watch people do this?

Just take a bit of cream.

Always double cream, really.

Give this a whisk up.

Look, then the egg yolks go inside.

And what you have to do now is put this back on the stove and just concentrate on this.

This is a new way of thickening up this stew.

But what you have to do is just be really careful.

If you overheat this or boil it, it's going to separate, and you're going to end up with what looks like scrambled egg in here.

Now, you can tell when the mixture is ready and nice and thick.

Keep stirring it.

And when all the little elements of fat have disappeared, which they are doing now, the mushrooms and the onions start to coat nicely.

Then take it off the heat and you can see.

Look at that, Rob.

It thickens up.

And now what we do is take our chicken, throw it all back in, mix it all around.

So you coat this in the sauce.

And all we do is grab our croutons now and just pop these around the edge.

I love this dish.

It says everything about France-- classical, simple, tasty food.

In fact, it's so good, I'm going to have a taste of this myself.

♪ ♪ I'm going to do this in the style of Pierre Koffmann when he tried it at my house.

[humming] C'est bon.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): So there you have my chicken blanquette with button mushrooms, baby onions, and hearty croutons.

Do you think my crew liked it?

I'd say that's a yes.

My culinary odyssey through France has brought me to Bresse, a region with an old-fashioned regard for quality ingredients and home to a rather popular poultry.

Now, no visit to Bresse would be complete without a tour of a farm, and particularly one that celebrates France's national ingredient, the chicken.

Now, it's become a bit of an icon around these parts, and they've taken celebrating it to a slightly different level.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Yeah, remember the chicken farm/chicken museum we looked at?

That's the place.

It's a traditional working farm dating back to the 15th century.

Since then, it's become a museum, exploring Bresse's farming history, not to mention a great place for fans of chicken objets d'art.

There's even a party going on here.

I wonder what's on the menu?

Stupid question, really.

But I'm meeting the head of hospitality, Coralie Pertant, to find out exactly why Bresse chicken is such a big deal.

Now, I have to say, I've never been to a chicken museum before.

There's people in the UK that think this is crazy, but-- but why-- why this?

Why are you preserving it like this?

Because in Bresse, there is a tradition about the chicken.

It is very iconic.

And the love affair of France and the chicken go hand in hand Yes, that's it.

Because the-- the Bresse poultry, we said that she wears the national color because there is a white for the-- JAMES MARTIN: Feather.

Yes.

And the red here for the-- JAMES MARTIN: Comb.

CORALIE PERTANT: Yes, that's it.

And the blue legs.

So this is the national color of the flag, the French flag.

Red, white, and blue?

Yes.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): This chicken couldn't be more French if it wore a stripy jumper and a beret.

And we've caught up with chicken farmer Eric to meet his patriotic poultry.

Right.

Now, it's been explained to me, while these hop over the fence, that Eric, the farmer of 15 years, has forgotten his key.

[laughs] Forgot his-- this is-- thank you.

Oh, it could be worse.

It could be like It's a Knockout.

Could be dressed as a chicken.

Oh, it's all right, I see.

He's quite proud of that.

What's interesting about the way that they feed these chickens, in particular, is that they're allowed 10 square meters per chicken.

That's what they have to have by law, but also what they feed them.

It's this white corn, this special white corn, which makes the meat white, if that makes sense.

Normally when you have corn fed chicken at home, it turns it yellow.

But-- but also, they're encouraged to give them less protein, so they actually go hunting for little insects and bits and pieces around the field.

You get a particular flavor and also a particular texture to this chicken.

They're cautious chickens.

Now, every time I do these sort of programs and they get a chef like myself in the middle of a field full of anything that's edible, they just know.

Look, disappeared.

They're actually hidden in the hedge now as well.

There's one left.

[dramatic music] It's kind of looking at me a bit, skeptical.

♪ ♪ JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Yeah, she knows a chef when she sees one.

Anyhow, now you know why Bresse chicken is the world's most famous chicken, even if they're somewhat elusive.

Hm, did anybody see where she went?

And as I couldn't get my hands on a single chicken, it reminded me there are plenty of other things you can make in their absence.

Now, it's not those chickens that I'm going to use for this recipe, but the eggs.

And I thought I'd do a wonderful mushroom tart, and it's using these amazing ceps and it's just such a simple dish.

First of all, we're going to make our pastry.

And for that, I'm going to do it old school because I always like to make the pastry by hand.

And you mix the butter, the flour, the salt together with the ends of your fingers.

[gentle music] Next, we can crack the egg in the center.

And what we can do is just use a little bit of water, start to bring this all together.

My grandparents always used to be the best at making pastry because they didn't have a fancy electric machine.

So you can see this is just coming together now.

♪ ♪ You've got your nice bit of pastry there.

And we're going to wrap it in cling film.

And like all pastries, you need to leave this to rest in the fridge.

Now, basically, what I've done is I've greased a tin, just a loose bottomed bottom tin, really, all the way around, just with a bit of butter, and then we can grab our flour and start to line this.

It's actually quite straightforward to line a tart.

The key to it, really, is keep the pastry moving.

So as you start to roll it, keep turning it, roll, turn, roll, turn.

And then just loosen the pastry, first of all.

You'll allow it to relax a little bit because you've stretched it.

What you don't want to be doing is working with it straight away.

So just let it chill.

It gives me an excuse.

And then we roll it up.

So on your rolling pin, roll it up, lift the tin over, and then ever so carefully over the top.

And then rather than pull the pastry into the corners, what you do is you tuck it in.

The key to this is making sure that it's in the bottom of the tart tin.

So you almost want a defined line in the base.

Now also, another good tip is actually don't trim off the pastry yet.

Trim it off after it's cooked.

You'll find that if you trim it off beforehand, it'll shrink.

Next, you grab some cling film.

And then you take quite a bit of flour.

[bright music] Bring the cling film over.

So you've got your tart or quiche or whatever you like to call it, and we're going to bake this blind now.

This one's about 15 minutes in the oven.

It's basically to cook without color.

Now, for our filling in our tart, I'm going to use the eggs.

So you've just basically got four eggs in here.

A little bit of lemon.

Tiny bit.

And some cream.

Salt and pepper.

So I'm just going to get a little bit of shallot.

Finely dice it.

Look at them.

It's a thing of beauty, the humble fresh cep.

Fantastic thing.

And then rather than just putting them in as they are, I'm basically going to fry them.

So a little bit of butter and get these frying.

And like all mushrooms that require a hot pan, they can go straight in.

So many times people, would make this kind of dish and not cook the mushrooms beforehand.

You'd end up with that plastic ham and button mushrooms sliced on the top.

Blech.

It is one of these ingredients, as chefs, that we just love so much.

So once you've cooked the mushrooms, now we can cook our shallots.

It's a good idea to do this separately.

Just slightly lower heat.

You don't want to color these too much, but you do want to cook them.

[gentle music] Season these up.

♪ ♪ You can see that if you leave the pastry around the edge, it stops it collapsing from inside.

And then you take your flour out.

This is not very good for pastry or bread anymore.

Grab your mushrooms, place them all in there.

And then the filling.

♪ ♪ All we do now is cook it for another 20 minutes.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ OK, this is just about there.

It wants to be what the French call baveuse.

It's just with a bit of a wiggle.

And then what we do is we trim off the pastry now, so while it's still hot.

This isn't cheating.

It's basically making sure that the pastry is all perfect all the way around.

And then we can just grab a bowl and then carefully lift it out of the tin.

And then lift the entire lot onto your serving dish.

So there you have it.

Is it a tart, or is it a quiche?

I'm not going to enter that argument.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I've traveled to Eastern France and Bresse to discover the great food this region has to offer.

Now, its famous chicken may be the undeniable king of ingredients.

But if you're after Bresse royalty of the human variety, then look no further than the three Michelin star chef, a national treasure, Georges Blanc, a member of one of the great culinary dynasties of France.

The man has a list of accolades as long as your arm.

Georges has invited lucky old me to Vonnas, his incredible restaurant complex, which is kind of like a theme park for cheffy types, where I'll be getting a taste of the man's legendary cooking.

Oh, Georges.

Good to see you.

Nice to see you.

Thank you for coming.

That's a pleasure.

It's a pleasure.

OK, so what do we make?

We start with the butter.

JAMES MARTIN: Plenty of butter.

GEORGES BLANC: A lot of butter.

JAMES MARTIN: Now, explain to me about your family, because it was your-- your grandmother.

I succeed-- I succeed my parents in 1968, when I was 25.

Because you were the first-- Yes.

--male chef in the family to cook.

Exactly.

But your grandmother-- Michelin star was invented when?

19-- Yeah, my great-mother, Eliza, got the first star in '29.

1929.

His grandmother got a Michelin star.

She had the first-- the second one in '31.

And there is efficiently because before I got the third one-- George is very modest because-- because literally, you're probably the only restaurant that's had two star Michelin for over half a century and you got three stars when?

1980-- 36 years ago, '81.

So three Michelin stars-- Yes.

--for 36 years.

Put the butter, yes.

Your mother cooked this?

Yes.

My mother, my great-mother, and great-great-mother.

It's a typical recipe from this area.

And when did you first taste this?

What age?

When I was less than 10 years.

The crown, the breast meat, is going in the oven for 20 minutes, basically.

The key to this is the dark meat, the thighs and the legs, cook very differently to the breast meat.

So often when you come to a restaurant and have poulet de Bresse chicken, they give you the breast to eat and then take the legs away and cook it further.

It's very rare to have this.

I mean, there's a lot of times you see-- probably the Roux brothers and the thing like that, you've got generation after generation.

But so, so rare to have Michelin stars for 90 years, nearly.

It's just incredible.

So a little bit of flour.

GEORGES BLANC: OK.

You must-- your grandmother must have been one of the first chefs to get a Michelin star, female chefs?

Yes, I think so.

Yes JAMES MARTIN: Any wine, Chef, or-- GEORGES BLANC: She's a white wine chardonnay from my own vineyard.

I planted almost 30-- almost 40 years ago.

This man is also modest.

He-- he came third in the world's greatest sommeliers in the 1970s.

GEORGES BLANC: A lot of cream.

JAMES MARTIN: So plenty of cream.

Basically, this ticks away nicely for about 30 to 40 minutes, but you get this amazing sauce.

All the while, that's the crown of chicken that's just been basically roasted and allowed to relax.

[speaking french] JAMES MARTIN: So these are the little porcini mushrooms, or ceps.

Just beautiful things, aren't they?

GEORGES BLANC: Check the season.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): It's good to be cooked for every now and then, and I'm watching a true genius at work.

This guy and his family are-- well, they were at the very beginning, the very start of where it all began.

And to see him cook in the kitchen, to be this close up to him in kitchen, is an honor and a pleasure.

A pleasure for me, too No, it's a pleasure.

It's good.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And I'd love to help serve, but I'm not getting in the way.

[jaunty music] ♪ ♪ I've been in this business long enough to know, I think this is my cue to leave.

[speaking french] You're welcome.

Au revoir.

This is where his passion started, right here.

Possibly this dish.

It's so simple, but you've just got the flavor of the chicken.

The sauce is so simple.

Fantastic mushrooms.

Great wine.

And if this doesn't inspire you right here, this dish.

It's a little reminder of what hard work does and pays off.

There's a picture of Georges Blanc's estate, restaurant after restaurant.

You don't get that without being able to cook like this.

Superb.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): You know what?

As I'm here with him, I couldn't resist.

It's not only rock stars, you see.

GEORGES BLANC: [laughs] I feel like a groupie.

Oh, you have many groupie.

More than me.

No, you got more than me.

Merci, Chef.

- Good luck for you.

- Thank you very much.

Thank you.

GEORGES BLANC: My pleasure.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Am I taking it too far?

Come on.

Like Floyd, the man's an icon, not to mention a genuine inspiration.

And he's given me an idea for a restaurant-style dessert you can make at home.

Georges Blanc is an absolute living legend in the chef's world, but the brasserie where we ate was a variety of different desserts.

But I wanted to show you one of them that was on the menu, and it's called a raspberry sliced.

It's really simple dessert done with puff pastry, and it's often referred to as a mille-feuille of raspberries or a sablé of raspberries.

I'm just going to use this ready to roll, all-butter puff pastry.

So what you do is just make sure this is a little bit thinner than normal because what you're trying to achieve is three layers of this biscuit.

And the biscuit is the puff pastry.

And we don't want those layers too thick, but we want the flavor of the puff pastry.

And then what you need is a tray.

And then we need to dock this with a knife.

So just go all over the top.

Now basically, when you get to this stage, it's a good idea to put some grease-proof paper over the top.

And then pop the tray on the top, and just weigh it down a little bit.

Now we just take the entire lot and stick it in the oven.

And this is about 200 degrees centigrade, and this needs to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, we can make our creme pat.

It's a classic filling to go with a mille-feuille or a slice, or whatever you like to call it.

But it all starts off with milk and vanilla.

[gentle music] Now we can separate our eggs because for this, we just need the yolks.

And then we can add some sugar.

Half the sugar goes into the milk and half the sugar into our egg yolks.

And then you can add the cornflour.

Mix this together.

All we need to do now is just wait for our milk.

Now, it's quite interesting that I don't often get star struck, to be honest.

And I did go mad.

I asked for loads of autographs.

I've got signed pictures, signed napkins, signed aprons.

It's just one of those things.

I've always wanted to meet Georges Blanc.

♪ ♪ Right.

So that's your milk and egg yolks added to it.

Now all we do is just heat it up.

And what you end up with is a classic creme patissiere.

Now, as it cools down, it'll set even more.

So what you can do is get yourself a little bit of cling film and allow it to cool.

And this is what we end up with.

It's like this thickened creme pat.

What we're going to do is we're going to serve this with raspberries.

Now, we're going to make a raspberry sauce.

At Georges Blanc's place, it would be a raspberry coulis.

But seeing as we're over here now, it's a raspberry sauce.

To do that, we just blend raspberries.

[bright music] ♪ ♪ Then what we do is take this sauce.

And look at the color of it.

That's what it should be, bright red.

We just pass out all the seeds.

So we've got our raspberry sauce.

Now I'm going to turn my creme patissiere into creme legere.

For that, all we need is double cream.

And whip this up.

We mix this together.

What you'll end up with is a lighter filling than creme patissiere, but a more stable and tastier filling than just whipped cream.

Because the translation of cream legere means actually light cream, which is what this is.

Looking good to me.

Tastes good.

Now.

♪ ♪ That is what we're looking for.

So what we can do is lift this off.

And then really, while it's still warm, because it's much easier to slice, get yourself a serrated knife and then cut it.

I like to have mine slightly oblong, so we'll cut that through there.

So just take our little pieces off.

It actually looks really complicated, but it's actually very easy.

It's just breaking it down into stages.

It's like any sort of pastry dish, really.

And then what we're going to do is then caramelize this.

Bit of icing sugar.

Make sure you cover the whole bit of the pastry.

And then grab a blowtorch.

Now, you can do this under the grill, but you've really got to keep your eye on it.

But this is much easier.

And you caramelize the puff pastry ever so slightly.

[upbeat music] You got to be careful with this.

Otherwise, you get a birthday cake, i.e.

It's on fire.

Now, once we get to that stage, we can then get our creme legere.

We can flavor this with just a touch of lemon.

Now get yourself a piping bag, and then you take your cream.

And now you build it up in layers.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ Now, this is one of the reasons why I loved working on the pastry kitchens in France and in the UK because if you listen, it's quiet.

And get some chefs shouting and screaming at you because he's burnt and split the sauce.

You're in your own little world.

And there you are, just sticking raspberries onto creme legere.

♪ ♪ And then what we do-- clean plate-- is you're gonna assemble this.

So you take your nice bit of pastry, put that on top, then another bit of pastry on the top Then with a steady hand lift it on there.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Was never any doubt.

Never.

And then finally, you've got your raspberry sauce.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'm nearing the end of my food adventure in Bresse, but before I cook up my final dish, I've been invited to a very special event.

Just around the corner from Georges Blanc's fabulous restaurant is a footie tournament with all the stars-- Michelin stars, that is.

You see, every year in France, the staff at Michelin star restaurants team up to play each other for the coveted Michelin Chef's Trophy.

Amongst others, there's Gérald Passedat's team from the three Michelin star Le Petit Nice in Marseille.

Jean-Paul Jeunet's boys are here from his two-star restaurant in Jura.

And Team Christophe Bacquié from Castellet-- they've got two stars.

Oh, straight at the goalie.

And last but not least, Georges Blanc's boys in red.

Get in!

Well, it's a good win for Georges's team, but despite having aced the tournament last year-- [whistle blows] --it's Team Christophe Bacquié.

They get the trophy this time.

[cheering] I would have joined in, you know, but I've got a dodgy knee.

And I need to cook a post-match dinner for my lot, so I'm heading back to yes, you guessed it, the chicken farm/chicken museum to whip up my final dish.

Well, they're very accommodating here.

And what a beautiful place this is.

Stunning, isn't it?

And a fantastic veg garden.

It's full of all manner of different stuff.

Got cardoons over there, some nice chard, beautiful edible flowers, some beautiful, small little baby strawberries.

They taste like sort of wild strawberries.

Wonderful sort of things.

There's so many different things to choose as well.

We've got chickens, ducks around here, so I thought I'd do a dish with trout.

I don't know.

I just thought, why not?

Do a trout with almonds.

Why not?

There's lakes around here.

I'm sure there's some tenuous link.

And you're probably sick of chickens by now, anyway.

So I thought I'd do some wonderful veg from the garden.

So firstly, we've got these beans that I've picked from the garden.

Now, you could, if you wanted to, top and tail them.

But this fresh, I wouldn't bother.

We're just going to blanch these nicely with a little bit of salt.

I say blanch, but more or less cook them all the way through, really, with these.

Now, at the same time, I'm going to cook the piece of fish-- Bear Grylls style-y, with a twig.

Maybe not Bear Grylls.

Ah!

Anyway, take our twigs.

More sticks.

I'm going to do this with my feet.

I know we'll get letters, but-- I've got a file of them.

It's quite a big file, mainly people saying, you haven't washed your hands.

Your trousers look a mess.

Your hair's a mess.

Just go with the rest of the letters.

Look, sticks.

Now I'm cooking.

Water.

Look at that.

It's beautiful.

Then we're going to take our nice pieces of trout here.

Beautiful fresh trout.

You take a little bit of tarragon, and we're going to cook this on the sticks.

Now, our director would like me to tell you a story of how I cooked this dish when I was in the Scouts and the Cubs halfway up a mountainside.

But the reality is, I didn't really like Scouts.

And to be honest, I only went to Cubs because I was told to by my mother.

Lid on.

We're going to gently steam this now, about 5 minutes.

Our beans are ready.

Drain these out.

That'll be another three letters.

Pan back on the heat.

Next, we're going to toast off our almonds.

We've got some nice flaked almonds in here.

Toast these off nicely in a little bit of butter.

See, this place is still full of people.

Rob, look, look, we've got an audience.

Bonjour.

[french] Chicken museum.

It's the way forward, I tell you.

Now here, just-- Rob, just get in to look at this fish.

Look.

Look at that.

Look at that.

Bear Grylls, eat your heart out.

Look at that.

Mm.

And then I've got a selection of herbs.

I've got some chervil.

It's wonderful sort of stuff.

Tarragon-y sort of flavor, more a star anise-y, aniseed-y sort of flavor.

It's delicious.

I don't actually know why this stuff, you can't get it in the supermarkets back in the UK.

It must be quite difficult to grow.

Brilliant sort of stuff.

But I'm going to use a selection of different herbs.

We've got some dill, I've got some tarragon, we've got some chives as well.

It's entirely up to you what you put in here, but what I class as sort of soft herbs like that, not hard herbs, things like rosemary and thyme.

You want soft herbs.

So chop these quite small.

Careful of me nuts.

That'll be another letter.

We can drain these off.

[distant whizzing and revving] What it was to be 17 again.

See, what is it?

Whenever I start cooking, there's just noise everywhere.

Matt, he loves it.

Right, our fish shouldn't be far off.

You can tell.

You just lightly press it.

I'm going to carefully lift out our fish, mainly because we don't want any twigs on it.

Now, you don't have to do this, but what I'm going to do is just remove the skin.

So we'll just peel off the skin like that.

Wonderful stuff.

But nice little bit of fresh trout.

Now, it's all in the sauce, really, with this one.

So you take the butter, so a nice, hot pan.

Now, got some lemon.

All the while, the pan is as hot as you can possibly get it, really.

You kinda got to keep your eye on it for this one.

So I have everything ready.

We've got the beans cooked.

We've got the herbs chopped, the lemons ready.

And all we do now, as soon as you get to that stage, you can turn the heat off, throw the lemon in it.

Now add the herbs.

Bit of black pepper.

Now throw in the almonds, a few beans.

Mix it all together.

It's almost last minute, this.

You take the whole lot, pour it over the top.

Trout with almond and brown butter.

Ladies and gentlemen, my work here is done.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And that's it for me and Bresse.

But this place has certainly left an impression on me.

It's got unbelievable markets-- Now we're talking.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): --and it's home to a true icon of French cooking.

I feel like a groupie.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And of course, it's got the most celebrated chicken in the world-- providing you can find it.

[theme music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Do you think my crew liked it?

I'd say that's a yes.

[theme music] Coming up on my French adventure in Bresse, I get the evil eye from the tastiest chicken on Earth.

It's kind of looking at me a bit skeptical.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And I'll be making this French-inspired beauty back in my home kitchen.

♪ ♪ [theme music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): My culinary odyssey through France has brought me to Bresse.

Or is it a quiche?

I'm not going to enter that argument.

[theme music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Coming up on my gastronomic tour through Bresse, I meet one of my great food heroes.

So, three Michelin stars-- Yes.

--for 36 years.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): And I'll be paying homage to his cooking back in my home kitchen.

♪ ♪ [theme music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I've traveled to Eastern France.

[theme music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): Still to come on my French adventure in Bresse, I'll be watching my very first chef football tournament, and I'll be cooking my delicious final dish at that chicken farm/museum-- fish on twigs-- Look at that.

Bear Grylls, eat your heart out.

JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): --an antidote to poultry overload.

♪ ♪ [theme music] JAMES MARTIN (VOICEOVER): I'm nearing the end of my food adventure in Bresse.