BIG WEEKENDS WITH GREGG WALLACE WAS FILMED BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. DO YOU FEEL NOSTALGIC WATCHING IT?
VERY! And it's made me realise how much we took for granted – the simple things of just wandering streets without any real plan.
The thing I'm really, really keen to do is the cheapest thing; it's sitting down in a cafe, in a square or a piazza, having a drink and a bowl of nibbles, and people-watching. Early evening, have a shave, put some aftershave on, clean shirt, and go out into a town. I'm really missing it.
THERE ARE A LOT OF TRAVEL SHOWS AROUND. WHAT DO YOU THINK SETS THIS ONE APART?
We've deliberately not hit the five-star experience – and, if you do that, you properly submerge yourself in the culture. If you go to a five-star hotel, they're going to be international hotels, and you actually could be anywhere in the world.
We've deliberately not eaten at Michelin-star restaurants, and we've stayed at places that are reasonable.
TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR TIME IN BARCELONA...
I think it may be the food capital of Europe. And I don't judge a city or a country by how good its high-end food is – and Barcelona most certainly has that – I judge a food culture by how good its cheapest food is. That's when a country or a city has a food culture, when its cheapest food is brilliant. Wandering around with a paper cone with ham – that's lovely.
IN TERMS OF FOOD, WHAT WAS THE STAND-OUT MOMENT FOR YOU?
Funnily enough, it was Berlin, and it was a Black Forest gateau. You think you know it… You have no idea how it really should be. It is light as a feather, it's absolutely beautiful. I was really surprised. It was almost like you got the flavour of it without actually eating it, it was just dissolving on my tongue.
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF DUTCH CUISINE?
It is, without a doubt, the worst food in Europe. It really is. But there's a couple of things that stand out; a stroopwafel is a marvellous thing. That is like two waffles with syrup in the middle. You've got to get hold of one of them if you've got a sweet tooth. The smoked fish is lovely. And stamppot is good as well; it's like mashed potato and roasted meats and some veg on it.
DID YOU GO SOMEWHERE YOU'D BEEN DESPERATE TO VISIT?
I'd never been to Berlin, so that was fascinating. I did a Cold War tour in a 1970s campervan with a guy who lived through it and that was great, to get that experience.
The best kebab I've ever, ever had is in Berlin. Did you know they originated in Berlin? Neither did I! A lot of Turkish people came over to Germany, and so they set up stalls and cheap shops selling their kebabs, but they served them with rice.
No-one in Europe had much of a clue about rice, so they put the kebabs inside their pitta breads. That was it – the perfect, after-beer meal was born! And you ain't had a kebab until you've had a proper, proper Berlin kebab.
WHERE WILL YOU GO WHEN WE ARE ALLOWED TO TRAVEL AGAIN?
I spent January 2020 in South Africa. I really want to go there with my wife Anna, who's never been. I want to go on safari and I want to go to the Winelands.
:: Big Weekends With Gregg Wallace airs on Channel 5 on Fridays
