Jamie Oliver Together

>> JAMIE: Hey!

People everywhere are finally coming back together.

So it's time to celebrate some of the love, friendships, and amazing moments that we've all missed out on.

And what better way to show people that you care than to bring them around a table for some delicious food?

So I've created easy-to-follow menus that will turn incredible dishes into epic feasts.

>> Life is about memories.

And today we made a memory.

>> JAMIE: And to make the most of the precious time with those that we love, it's all about getting ahead.

I want to prepare a meal which is nearly all done, so when my friends and family get here, I can be spending more time with them.

Cheers, everybody!

>> Cheers!

These are impressive menus made easy because I'll take you through them step by step, making them for my family and friends, so you can make them for yours.

This is saying, "I love you," through food.

>> All together >> JAMIE: Now is the time to celebrate the power that food has to bring people closer.

>> Ah, can't wait to see everyone.

>> JAMIE: And more than anything, cherish those memories with the ones that you love.

>> Cheers, guys!

>> Cheers.

>> JAMIE: It's all about that simple thing of just sitting at the table with someone you care about.

>> This is seriously good.

>> JAMIE: Sharing food and enjoying the moment.

(laughing) Tomorrow, I've invited some great mates over for a super-chilled feast celebrating Mexican flavors.

>> Dad, that is so nice.

>> JAMIE: At the heart of it is the most incredible, slow-roasted pork tacos.

>> Amazing.

>> JAMIE: You love it?

Two epic salsas, a stunning slaw, and brilliant baked black beans.

For a super-cool dessert, my chocolate semifreddo.

Here's to friends.

>> Yes, chin-chin.

>> JAMIE: To being together.

I'm pulling out all the stops to make some amazing memories.

And so that I get to spend more time with my mates, I'm starting the main event the day before.

Hello, little boy!

Come and give... (River exclaiming) Give me a little hug.

(Juliette speaks softly) So, I've got a very large family, which means that dinner times are very chaotic, and tomorrow night, we've got friends coming round.

We've got friends, family, with kids, coming around with their own kids.

So we're gonna have a taco party, and it's gonna be such a good... >> I wanna have a party.

>> JAMIE: Yeah, we are gonna have a party.

>> River, I've got something, I've got a surprise for you.

>> JAMIE: Jools, I love you.

(River exclaiming) (Jamie laughing) Okay, so we're gonna have a taco party.

Come on!

Who doesn't love a taco?

That beautiful, gorgeous little wrap with the salsas, the color, the contrast.

I've got some amazing pork, cracklings, cocktails, beers, desserts, come on!

That's what it's all about.

Gorgeous, slow-cooked pork belly will be the hero of our tacos.

It's cooked twice to give it more flavor and juiciness, and it's even better when prepared in advance.

It all starts here with a beautiful cut of pork, a belly of pork, about one-and-a-half kilos.

I've asked my butcher to remove the skin, which makes life really easy.

So the pork belly is one of my favorite cuts.

It really takes on flavors fantastically well, and it cooks tender, and it goes crisp, and that's what I want: a little bit of that in my taco as I build it with the salsa and all the things.

So let's just talk about flavor.

We've got four incredible spices that make the most amazing rub for this pork.

So, we got one teaspoon of smoked paprika.

Sweet, smoky, with a light chili sort of hit.

Here we've got ground coriander seeds, which are really savory and fragrant, gorgeous.

Then we've got allspice, and that's from the pimento berry.

Really nice, it's that classic flavor of jerk, really, really good.

Ground down, it's amazing, and then cinnamon.

Really floral and a beautiful spice.

Then, very importantly, we've got bay leaves.

So there's four bay leaves here that, I'm just gonna remove the stalk.

And they smell so good, and when you bash them up, they're absolutely amazing.

And the five things together, with a little bit of salt, pepper, and olive oil, over that is gonna be dreamy.

So, twist them like that.

Put some salt in there, right?

This is gonna give you the most amazing base of the rub.

So just smash this up.

When you smash 'em up like this, the smell and perfume is already phenomenal.

So let's go in with the smoked paprika and that coriander powder, the allspice.

(knock at door) Hello, come in.

And the cinnamon goes in.

>> Good night!

>> JAMIE: You coming to give me a little hug good night?

Ooh, you've been well washed.

(grunts) >> Hug.

>> JAMIE: Yeah.

>> Kiss.

>> JAMIE: Okay, night-night, off you go.

Love you!

>> Love you!

>> JAMIE: So we got some olive oil just to mix it all up and loosen.

This is gonna give you the most amazing rub for the meat.

Really, really nice.

Particularly good with pork and chicken, this one.

Look at the color of it, really amazing.

So I'm doing this the day before, and the benefit of that is, we're gonna cook this pork without any color.

You're not gonna get golden color, but you'll get absolutely gorgeous, tasty tenderness.

Then we'll let it get cold, put it in the fridge and it'll get better overnight, then tomorrow, when it's the taco party, I'll get it really crispy.

So two roasting trays.

One is for the skin, so put a little olive oil like that, just to rub it on the bottom.

A little bit of salt and pepper, and I'll put the skin on there, and that'll just go straight into the fridge-- easy, done.

Tomorrow, we'll roast that.

It'll poof up and crackle beautifully.

With the pork belly here, just put that amazing spice mix on here.

Just push it all out.

Look at the color!

It's dark and it's mysterious, and wonderful.

Ooh, beautiful!

Absolutely gorgeous.

So really rub it into the pork belly.

This is a lovely, free-range pork.

What is lovely about pork belly is, it's more affordable than pork chops, but more than anything, the way you cook it nice and slowly, it gets so tender.

Let me just wash my hands and get these bits away.

So, I wanna cover this tightly in tinfoil.

We're gonna cook this in the oven at about 180 degrees Celsius, which is 350 Fahrenheit, for two hours.

Then I'm gonna let it cool down, and I'll leave it overnight, and then overnight, it will firm up, and then in the morning, I'll make the most beautiful thin slices, and then we can get that crispy later on in the day.

So this is a fantastic way of getting ahead, maximizing and guaranteeing flavor, and also just getting organized.

So really, really nice.

So that will go in the oven now.

Two hours.

Happy days.

I'll put a bit of foil on the crackling.

This will just simply go into the fridge.

Then tomorrow, I'll roast it up, get it really crackling, and then I'll smash it into pieces and sprinkle it over the taco, really, really nice.

Also, last thought, if you've got any vegetarian guests, simply get a lovely butternut squash, cut it in half, take the seeds out, put the same paste all over it, and roast it for, like, an hour and a half to two hours, and it will be amazing in a taco with all the salsas.

It will be gorgeous.

Now for a hot red pepper salsa, which will be a match made in heaven with my crispy pork.

It's great to do the day before, and it's the best dip, sauce, or spread to have in your fridge.

So let's talk salsa.

This one, I think, is a little bit different.

I saw this technique in Mexico, where they would blacken tomatoes, blacken peppers, and then once they've done that, they would, like, pound them all up in a pestle and mortar.

Really dynamic in flavors, char and smokiness, and I love that.

I love that.

So I'm gonna go with that vibe, and I've got four peppers, four onions, and I've got a bulb of garlic, and I've got four chilies.

And really simply, just pull out the seeds, just tear it all in.

Rough and rustic.

We're gonna roast this in the oven for an hour, so in that time, you're gonna get a really incredible development of the sweet flavors.

It'll catch and burn a little bit.

We love that.

So we got the peppers in there.

Then chilies.

I'm just gonna take the little stalks off, run my knife down the length, and just take out those little seeds again, just to remove some of that fierce heat.

So what I'm looking for by roasting all of this is more kind of rounded, sort of comforting, big flavors.

Smoke and char.

This, as a little whizzed-up salsa, is gonna be amazing with our tacos.

Chilies are in.

With the onions, I'm using red onions, but use whatever you like.

Simply quarter those and throw them in, as well.

And you're gonna get a lot of salsa out of this, and you'll probably have leftovers, so that's cool, because it's the best leftover to have in the fridge.

It's, like, it's so good, it will last quite a while, and it'll be so nice to dip things in.

Really, really good.

And then with the bulb of garlic, I'm gonna use the whole thing.

Just put your weight on it, and just break it up into little cloves, and just remove the skins.

Just season this up with basic salt and pepper, and hit it up with some olive oil.

So give that a nice little toss-up, and this will be the base for one of the best salsas you've ever had, I promise you.

So, it doesn't stop there, 'cause there's a massive curveball, and that's over here, with Mr. Pineapple.

So, look, pineapple is incredible, and it's used in Mexico in some pretty cool ways.

I've seen it, like, cooked over fire, you know, cooked over rotisserie meats when they have little kebabs and tacos, and stuff like that-- amazing.

So, let me show you what I'm gonna do to prepare it.

Grab yourself a little bread knife.

That's a key for preparing a pineapple.

Also, when you're buying it... (sniffs): Smell it.

It should smell sweet.

(sniffs): A good one.

Also, if you grab a little leaf and it comes out nice and easy, that's a good sign, as well.

If you take the end off, that's no good to you, and this end.

Just remove that tough outer skin like that, and use your knife to go with the shape of the pineapple.

Use that lovely, serrated knife.

It makes really easy work of prepping a pineapple.

That can go to the composter.

So once we've peeled that pineapple, instead of seeing these black bits going in straight lines this way, you'll see them going across in a diagonal.

What you do is take a knife and run it down that line, like that, and then you can start just chiseling it out, right?

And you get this, basically, little gully.

Look at that.

And what I love about this is, it creates some pretty immense surface area.

You're gonna get burned bits, jammy bits, juicy bits, and that's what we're after.

I think the interesting thing for me as a British boy is, I didn't really grow up knowing anything about Mexican food.

It was very, very sort of, almost Tex-Mex, really.

Nothing really very authentic around.

And then as I started traveling and seeing the sort of dynamics of colors and the use of vegetables and salads and herbs and flatbreads.

But for me, the salsa, or the concept of salsa, was about texture and flavor, and kind of, like, waking up your taste buds.

I will never get over that-- the simple things would just be brought to life by salsa.

So, a fantastic cuisine that I'm still trying to learn much, much more about, but what's really nice is, we can re-enact some of those flavors at home, with your own family and friends.

It's so nice, and it's a really sociable food, great with beers, great with cocktails.

So, at this point in the game, I'm gonna cut this in half, just like that, and then lay it on our tray.

Just kiss it with a little olive oil and a little seasoning.

And then get that in with the pork.

So of course, as they're cooking together, that's 180 degrees Celsius, which is 350 Fahrenheit, so that's just gonna cook away for about an hour, until soft and tender and gorgeous.

So I'm gonna have a little clean down now, and imagine that salsa roasting away with that pineapple on top, and then having that lovely taco with the gnarly pork.

It's gonna be an amazing combination of pork and fruit.

It's gonna be so good.

(birds twittering) Right, this salsa is smelling absolutely insane.

Look at that!

Absolutely incredible.

So look, you can see how the peppers and the onions, they've just kind of, like, shrunk, and that's more flavor, that's more concentration.

The pineapple looks absolutely epic, and there's juices in there, as well, look.

Can you see that?

So let me tell you how to turn this into one of the most amazing salsas.

So, first up, we're not gonna put the pineapple in the salsa.

It's already given juices to the salsa, but we're gonna keep those pineapples, and tomorrow, just like the pork, we're gonna reheat it and get it darker and more gnarly, and a little flick of that will go in the taco.

It's gonna be joyful.

And I just kiss it with a little bit of that juice.

(quietly): Look at that, that is stunning.

So let that cool down.

Job done.

Then in here, all of those peppers and onions, we're gonna get in here.

Give it a whizz up.

(blender whirring) (blender stops) Smells amazing.

Let's have a little try.

So it's delicious.

I'm happy, but it ain't seasoned, right?

So we'll hit it up with a bit of pepper and a nice pinch of salt.

White wine vinegar, about a tablespoon, and I wanna get that... (smacks lips) Sort of tang.

So let's just give it one last whazz.

(blender whirring) (blender stops) Mm!

That's where I want it.

The spice is really controlled.

The chili is classy.

It's not aggressive in any way, it's warm, it's sort of comforting, it's like a cozy chili taste.

Absolutely stunning, and if there's leftovers from this, from taco night, use it, keep it.

It's so good for putting roasted fish, grilled meats.

Oh, my God!

It's so flippin' tasty!

So look, this can go in the fridge, that can go in the fridge.

The pork is done, and I know that two hours covered, right, is gonna be perfect.

That will now cool down for an hour, hour and a half out here.

It'll go in the fridge, it'll get nice and firm overnight, and then tomorrow, I'll slice it up, and remember, we're gonna cook it again, okay?

What I'm gonna do now is clear down, and then we can make dessert.

Yes!

>> All together (birds twittering) >> JAMIE: Now I'm gonna whip up a super-easy frozen dessert, and it's gonna be a total crowd-pleaser.

So, I'm really excited, because tomorrow, I've got some friends and family coming around that I haven't seen for a long, long time.

It's gonna be so nice to get everyone together, and I'm gonna do a beautiful menu which is super-relaxed, casual.

I've done my pork.

I've got the cracklings ready to go.

I've got an amazing salsa done with those beautiful pineapples, and now it's time for an incredible dessert.

Now, if you think about it, the pork, the flavors, the salsa, the chili, the freshness, it's gonna be really nice after that to have something cooling and refreshing.

So, think ice cream, but we're gonna go to Italy, and we're gonna go semifreddo.

Semifreddo means semi-frozen, and it's basically a homemade ice cream that you can do yourself.

It's my chocolate semifreddo with crunchy caramel and a dusting of spices.

And as it's kept in the freezer, it can be ready whenever you want it.

First up, I'm gonna do the basic part of the semifreddo.

We're gonna flavor it with chocolate, right?

So I've got 100 grams of chocolate, but I'm also gonna introduce something that we all grow up with: rice pudding.

And before you think I've gone mad, when I've been in Italy, on multiple occasions, I've had rice pudding ice cream, made with risotto rice-- really, really good.

And this makes sense.

Vanilla-y rice pudding, chocolate, 100 grams, goes in a little bowl over some simmering water.

We'll melt that down.

I've got some cocoa, as well, so super-chocolaty.

Little pops of vanilla-y rice.

And then what happens here is the air.

When you make ice cream, you have a churner, and that churner freezes and it beats air into the ice cream, okay?

So we haven't got that machine, but what I love about this recipe is, we can all do it.

All you need is three bowls, and a whisk, and a bit of this, a bit of elbow grease.

So we've got four eggs.

I'll just crack the eggs, gently, into the bowl, and then I wanna take out the lovely yolk.

So just egg whites.

Now, to get perfectly stiff egg whites, you need a clean bowl, not wet at all, and a clean whisk, not wet at all.

So, egg whites.

Just four.

And then a pinch of salt, because it brings the chocolate flavor up.

Also, it helps the egg white stiffen and hold the air.

So, first job, as that chocolate's melting, is beat the egg whites.

So I go from a shaking action like this to a little kind of tossing one like this, and the reason I have the two actions is 'cause I get tired.

(laughs) So keep going.

Can you see how that's just absorbing the air beautifully?

As it gets thicker, you can angle it until it's stiff.

And that is stiff egg whites.

Happy days.

You know when they're good when you can do that.

Hallelujah!

So, air part one, done.

Air part two is the cream-- beautiful, 200 milliliters in there.

And then add 100 grams of sugar to my double cream.

We're gonna just whisk, and whisk, and what we wanna achieve from this is soft peaks.

So, if we go stiff, the elegance has gone.

That is soft peaks.

Happy.

So, in this bowl here, we have our chocolate.

Let's just have a little look what's going on here.

So the chocolate has melted beautifully.

Then I'm gonna go in with a regular tin of gorgeous vanilla rice pudding.

Okay?

So we put all of that in.

Literally, every last bit.

Fold that in, and then we can go in with the egg yolks.

Silky and smooth, and very enriching, right?

Followed by two tablespoons of cocoa, and it's good to use a nice, quality cocoa powder, not sweetened.

So that gets folded through.

Look at the depth of color!

What we wanna do now is go from being a little bit, I don't know, kind of aggressive with the stirring, and we're gonna start folding.

Put the cream in.

Lovely.

And the egg whites, as well.

And then we're just gonna spin the bowl and fold, from the outside to the inside, gently, gently.

We wanna retain as much of this gorgeous air as possible.

If you rough it up, it won't have the air, it won't have the elegance.

Go from the outside to the inside, from the bottom to the top.

Look at that.

The kids will love this.

The adults will love this.

It's gonna be incredible.

So look, here, I've got a terrine mold.

About one-and-a-half liters.

So, in here with that amazing semifreddo.

The great thing about this dessert is, you can do it a day before, a week before, a month before.

You just have to take it out of the freezer, put it in the fridge, leave it for two, three hours until semi-frozen, semifreddo.

And let's get that in the freezer as quickly as possible, because it's gonna grab hold of those air bubbles and keep that lovely texture that we want.

So, that, as a dessert, is delicious with raspberries, strawberries, some cherries-- yum!

But I wanna link it to the beautiful taco party.

So two things I'm gonna do.

First is a praline, a caramel, and I know many people love it.

I wanna show you how to make it because it's so easy.

Get yourself a little pan on a high heat there.

I've got 200 grams of golden caster sugar.

Put that into the pan, right?

And we're gonna put around 50 mils of water into here, and that will start to dissolve, the water will just kind of go into the sugar, and it'll start turning into a light syrup, then a golden syrup, then dark caramel, right?

At that point, we're going to add this: 200 grams of hazelnuts.

Now, F.Y.I., if you wanted to swap that out for almonds, you could.

It could be pistachio, it could be sesame seeds.

You can have fun with mixed nuts.

I'm just sticking to hazelnuts because I love 'em.

So let that come up, and as that's doing its business, I wanna show you how to make a little spiced dust.

And this I will shake, just like icing sugar, over our semifreddo, and it's gonna give it sweetness and a delicious range of flavors.

So what I've got here is two heaped teaspoons of icing sugar, four heaped teaspoons of cocoa powder.

Then I've got the same spices as on the pork: a teaspoon of the allspice, cinnamon, and coriander seeds.

But the other curveball is chili.

We're gonna get some chili in there, and that with chili is simply genius.

So, I'm gonna put it into a little spice grinder, a liquidizer, right?

Just get all of that in there, and in a matter of seconds, you're gonna have a spiced dust.

And it puts that kind of question mark of flavors, like, "What is it?

How, when, why, what?

I love it, I love it!"

So chili goes in.

The little coriander seeds go in.

Beautiful.

Whizz it up.

And in seconds, spice dust.

(grinder whirring) (grinder stops) So that... That's done.

Oh, it smells amazing.

That will be shaken through a little sieve over the semifreddo.

And then this here, after about four, five minutes, see what we've got?

A light golden caramel.

I can start to turn things up a little bit now.

Be very careful with caramel.

No kids, no fingers, not even yours.

Don't go in there, that's very hot.

Very hot.

So, what you do wanna do is get a little... (pans clattering) ...tray, non-stick tray.

Let's give it a little kiss of oil, to be double-sure nothing's gonna stick.

And what I will do is rub this across, and I'll pour my praline into that.

And it will cool down, it will go hard, and then I will hide it, 'cause my children will eat it.

And then tomorrow, I'll smash it up, and that will get thrown and put over the semifreddo.

So you get the chocolate, the rice, the kind of ice-creamy vibe, the spice hit, and then the crunchy praline.

I mean, come on, it's gonna be amazing.

(laughing): It's, like, a couple of beers and cocktails, whoopee!

That is what it's all about.

So now that caramel's nice and dark, let's put those hazelnuts in, nice and carefully-- don't touch it.

Just to move that lovely praline around, and then we're gonna pour this onto that tray.

That will be the most amazing, amazing flavor.

So look, that's already starting to firm up.

Look at that.

So that's your homemade caramel.

It's that simple.

And then tomorrow, I'll smash that up into a beautiful praline and caramel powder, and that on the semifreddo with that is gonna be amazing.

So pork, salsa, and dessert done and dusted.

Now I can go and chill out a little bit, and maybe I'll cook something nice for the missus.

Happy days.

>> All together (talking in background) >> JAMIE: I've got mates arriving tonight for my taco party, and I've got a couple of jobs I need to crack on with this morning.

I'm gonna make a slaw and a salsa, crisp up that gorgeous pork crackling, and make some dark and delicious baked black beans.

So I'm super-happy.

We're gonna have a taco party, come on!

And it's gonna be super-relaxed.

The weather's looking good, we'll get outside, the kids'll be having fun, and the great thing about this taco menu is, there's something for everyone, right?

I've done most of the important jobs yesterday, so dessert in the freezer, semifreddo, it's looking amazing.

So, look, here is the pork skin.

I'm just gonna put a little bit of salt on that.

And we're gonna roast that in the oven until it's just puffed up, gone mega-crispy, and I'm then gonna smash that up to have as a little sprinkle on my taco, okay?

So this goes in the oven.

That'll be nice and hot, about 200 degrees Celsius, which is 400 Fahrenheit.

But basically, when it looks like crackling, we're good to go.

Then the pork.

We've got the beautiful pork belly that's slow-cooked, and now it's cold-- it's been in the fridge overnight-- I can slice it up thinly, and later on, we'll get that crispy, crispy, gnarly, gorgeous.

And that in a taco, with all the bits and pieces, is gonna be heavenly.

So I'm just gonna take that out of the tray.

Just get a large, sharp knife and just take the end off the pork like that.

And as we slice it, a tiny bit of oil on the tray, and just rub that in.

So, nice and thin, about just under a centimeter thick.

We're just gonna lay the pork like that on the tray.

And probably one of those big slices will be enough to do two tacos.

When we cook that again later, that will go so tender and so crisp.

You can see now, if you look at this, that pork belly, that's the same cut that you would recognize from your streaky smoked bacon.

All marbled with lovely fat.

And then, what we're gonna do later is just make it gnarly and crispy and let the fat dance.

And then, when that sizzling piece of joy goes in your humble little taco, hit up with, like, the chunks of pineapple and the bits of salsa, that is the joy of taco: juicy, dripping, gorgeous, messy, finger-licking gorgeousness.

I think you can see I'm quite excited about this.

(laughs) I'm inclined just to give it a tiny kiss of oil.

Just, I wanna protect it-- I don't want it to dry out.

And although not classic, I'm gonna give it another kiss of lime, just to keep it fresh, okay?

And I'm just gonna cover it with the same tinfoil that I cooked it in, and that'll go in the fridge until I need it later.

Okay, so beans.

We're gonna use the same tray that we cooked the pork, with the benefit of all those drippings.

That is, like, mega-pure essence flavor and spice.

So we're gonna save on the washing up and we're gonna maximize flavor for those beans.

Really, really good.

And it allows us to turn everyday things like beans, from a tin, into something truly extraordinary.

My brilliant baked black beans with chunks of cheese, amazing with the pork tacos, and a beautiful dish on its own.

So, you could use any bean you like-- borlotti beans, cannellini beans, mixed beans.

I really don't mind.

I'm using the black beans.

I'm gonna use this tray almost like a little pan.

I'm gonna get the sticky bits off of that pan with something very, very important.

It's an ingredient that I've learnt to love and respect over the years.

Tequila So, a nice little slug in there will just help us clean the tray and get the gorgeous sticky bits off the bottom.

And for me, you know, if you look at French cooking, we call it deglazing, right?

You go to a roasting tray like this, and you put wine in, okay?

So, you know, why wouldn't I just put a swig of tequila, right?

I'm gonna be having it today anyway, so use that to scrape all the goodness off the bottom.

Just turn the heat up a little bit now.

You can smell that tequila.

You can see it's almost made, like, a gravy, okay?

I'm gonna use spring onions.

Of course, you could use onion or leeks if you wanted to.

I'm gonna use two or three, finely sliced.

Just get those in the tray.

Like that.

(laughing): Oh, it, it smells amazing!

I don't have to add anything else much, really, 'cause the spices are there from the pork, so it's like the gift that keeps on giving.

I'm gonna put in some coriander.

About half a bunch.

I'm gonna go stalks and all, and then the leaves, just go chunkier.

And if you think about it, you've got the coriander seeds in the marinade for the pork, and then we're gonna add the fresh coriander, you know, so you've got the full spectrum of coriander in there.

Now in with the beans.

Juice and all-- look at the color!

And color is like, it's like a secret code in cooking and nutrition, right?

We're gonna have that beautiful salsa I made yesterday that was, like, luminous orange-red.

We've got the pineapple yellow.

Then you got the black beans.

Like, on the table, that's gonna look amazing.

I'm gonna give that a light seasoning.

Not too much, 'cause you've got seasoning from the drippings.

And I'm gonna add a little bit of feta cheese, which of course is not Mexican, but I haven't got any Mexican cheese, and I think it's really important that you just use what you've got around you.

So, as that comes to the boil, I'll take just a little chunk of feta.

It's really tangy, it pops, and it cooks beautifully well.

And that will be a thing of joy.

I'm just gonna put that in the same oven as the pork cracklings for about 20 to 30 minutes, at 200 degrees Celsius, 400 Fahrenheit.

Beautiful.

So, I'll let that cook, I'll let the cracklings go, and then I'll have a little clean down, and I've got a few more jobs to do.

Here's my thinking.

So I've got a little bar area.

So refreshing cocktails and bits and pieces going on here.

And then out here, I'll do a little fire pit, I'll get some seating sorted.

You know, a little drink, and then we go into here, under the tree, so it's like an umbrella, but it's a tree.

Open table, just a really rugged tablecloth.

I'm not gonna have napkins.

I'm gonna have tea towels, 'cause it's quite messy.

Simple glasses, and then just go bonkers on fruits, flowers, chilies on the table.

The food's really colorful, as well.

And keep things kind of loose.

I've got random chairs there.

Then I've got an old bench here.

And I'm just keeping it really, like, casual, relaxed.

You know, bit of lighting, Bob's your uncle.

Basically, it should be a lot of fun, so I'm very excited.

Nice outfit.

Yeah, I'm, I'm feeling you're in the Mexican vibe.

So are you okay to dress up that area a little bit?

I've started.

>> Yeah.

>> JAMIE: Can you ask Buds if he can come and help me a little bit?

>> Now?

>> JAMIE: Yeah.

(slapping thighs rhythmically) Yay!

My best friend, ooh, my best friend Come on, come on Hello.

What have you done to your head?

You hurt yourself?

>> What?

>> JAMIE: What's that?

>> Probably chocolate?

>> JAMIE: Oh.

(laughs) Let's just clean that up.

How did you get that on... You're that-- you having... >> I had hot chocolate.

>> JAMIE: Hot chocolate, you lucky boy.

Buds, wash your hands.

There is a great opportunity for a chief chopper, yeah?

>> Yeah.

>> JAMIE: We're gonna do a little kind of slaw and a little salsa.

>> (gasps): I love coleslaw.

>> JAMIE: Red cabbage.

So, you can help me with this one, big boy.

This is gonna be the most delightful, colorful, crunchy salad.

To give our tacos a great crunch, I'm doing a beautiful slaw which celebrates the majestic red cabbage.

So, what I'm gonna do is cut a red cabbage in half.

Look at that.

That is just genius!

I always think how clever nature is when I look at that.

I think red cabbage is super-underrated, and definitely amazing to cook with, to roast, to grill, to dress, to use in slaws or salads.

You can use a box grater and grate it if you wish.

If you're patient, you can use, like, a little speed peeler, which is great.

You don't have to be a chef to get cheffy results.

If your knife skills aren't quite up to scratch, um... >> Hi, River!

>> JAMIE: I started using a knife when I was Buddy's age, a bit younger.

So Buds, if you put that red cabbage in that bowl... Actually, look, before we do that-- hello.

Is that for me?

Wow!

Thanks, mate.

So, Buds, what I would love from you, 'cause I've done the bulk of it, I've got you a nice flat edge, so just line it up with your little finger here, and then just push it through.

So line it up, push it through.

Line it up, push it through.

And it's absolutely fine to take your time.

Go on, Buds.

>> Okay.

>> JAMIE: Beautiful.

Really nice.

So, what we're gonna do now is create a little bit of a dressing.

We definitely need sourness.

So for that I'm gonna use a little curveball.

We're gonna use orange juice and lime.

And if we just roll this, Buds, to get the juices going.

So you roll the orange like that.

This will just help get all the capsules broken and get the juice out.

So, I'll cut this in half.

Let me take that one, darling.

Right, so you squeeze the juice into there for me.

Nice job, son.

We'll be fairly generous on the salt.

>> Shall I throw these away?

>> JAMIE: Yeah, in the composter, great.

And then we'll go in-- go on, you grab some, Buds-- we'll go in with the red cabbage.

Go on.

>> Should I mix it together?

>> JAMIE: Go on, yeah, yeah, bottom to top, top to bottom.

Try not to make some mess.

I'm actually gonna scrunch it.

So almost try and break it.

So I'm almost breaking and massaging the dressing into the cabbage, and that's gonna change its structure, release more of the natural sugars.

The salt and the acid goes in, and then you take that everyday red cabbage and it kind of just goes to this different place.

>> It looks so nice.

>> JAMIE: It goes a different color, different flavor.

I'm gonna use mint.

I quite like the idea of the different salsas and salads having different accents, right?

So orange and lime and mint.

This is like the safe... >> Can I wash my hands?

>> JAMIE: Yeah, you go wash your hands.

I love that, all this washing you're doing, Buddy.

It's really nice to see you wash so much.

>> (laughs) >> JAMIE: So, if you can show everyone how to do the safest chopping, cross chopping.

So, this is safe because both his hands are out of the way of the blade, and it means that you can chop veggies, spring onions, you know, chilies, herbs.

It smells amazing.

So, I'm gonna be really brave with the mint, 'cause I don't wanna use it as, like, a herb or a garnish.

Like, I wanna use it as a flavor, be pungent and be bold.

So... >> A refresher.

>> JAMIE: So, Buds, if you can put all of that mint into that salad for me, sweetheart.

Good job.

Stunning job.

>> Okay?

>> JAMIE: In you go, boy, yep.

So we got salt, we've got orange, we've got lime, we've got mint.

It's the simplest little salad.

Buddy is gonna put it in and keep massaging that now.

Go on, son.

There you go.

Scrunch it when you-- yeah.

That's it, yeah, yeah, be, be mean to it.

>> (laughs) >> JAMIE: What I love about cooking is, we've taken a frumpy old cabbage, and with a little bit of thought and love, we've transformed it into something-- look at that!

And actually, I just need a little pinch like that on a taco.

You know, hot, like, fatty, crispy, salsa and that, and that is just gonna give it the most amazing flavor.

Mm!

So, Buddy?

>> Yup.

>> JAMIE: Put that in there in a nice, neat way.

And then just a little drizzle of olive oil.

Well done, Buds.

You're the man.

>> I am the man.

>> JAMIE: Good boy.

Great job.

So, let's have a little clean down.

Now I'm gonna knock up a green tomato salsa that's super-simple.

Like the slaw, it's a great little side that'll go with loads of different dishes.

So, I've got here some spring onions, for that kind of hum and fragrance that onions give us.

We've got green peppers.

Green chilies-- Buddy loves chilies.

And then green tomatoes-- look at those.

>> Wow.

>> JAMIE: They're actually green tomatoes, not unripe tomatoes.

>> Lime?

>> JAMIE: Definitely some lime.

With the pepper, this has had a wash, but I'm just gonna take the sides off like this.

If you just push the skin like that, you've got that little white bit of flesh.

I just wanna get rid of that.

I'm gonna finely slice these peppers one way, and then I'll just gather 'em up, and I'll just then do it that way.

I quite enjoy chopping.

Don't you, Buds?

>> Yeah.

Especially when you do it into, like, these little cubes.

They look really nice.

>> JAMIE: I'm gonna give you that bowl.

>> Yup.

>> JAMIE: If I cut these limes in half... >> Citrus.

>> JAMIE: Yeah, and you just start basically... >> Should I squeeze them in there?

>> JAMIE: Yeah.

So I'm using the coriander.

Leaves and stalks go in.

Finely slice the spring onions.

So one or two chilies, depending on how hot they are.

I think I want this one to be a little bit hotter, this salsa.

Bit more attitude.

I'm gonna slice this lovely green tomato.

These are really fantastic in salsa, but you can use any tomato you can get your hands on.

You know, when you go shopping, look out for those different- colored tomatoes, right?

Because they're not just red.

>> Shall I put, start to put these in?

>> JAMIE: Yeah, whack it all in there.

You don't wanna rub your eyes after picking up that chili, big boy.

What do you reckon?

Good job?

>> Mm-hmm.

>> JAMIE: Happy with that?

>> Yup.

>> JAMIE: Nice.

Right, seasoning.

Go on, give that a nice little mix-up, little one.

So, the thing I love about this lovely salsa is, it's fresh, it's green, it's crunchy.

It's the complete opposite of this one that we made yesterday by blistering and roasting the gorgeous onions and chilies, right?

They visually look very different.

And look at these little thing as a collaboration.

Bing-bing-bing-bing-bing >> (chuckles) >> JAMIE: Taco, pork, whoo!

Beans, yes!

>> (chuckling) >> JAMIE: Okay, let's have a try.

So good.

So fresh, so crunchy.

Lime, the chili's perfect.

So, very, very happy with that.

Buds, have a little clean-up.

>> Yup.

>> JAMIE: Into the, into your hand, nothing on the floor.

So we got two beautiful salsas, a lovely red cabbage slaw.

You excited?

>> Yeah.

>> JAMIE: Excited to see your friends?

>> Yup.

>> JAMIE: Let's go and sort the table out.

(birds twittering) So look at that.

Amazing black beans.

Just look at them, blipping away.

I love it.

You can see how it's cooked down, and that'll be really moreish, really intense and delicious.

Let's have a little try, just a little sneak peek.

Let's go to the middle and get a little bit of that cheese in there, as well.

(blows) Oh, wow!

Oh!

(chortles) The flavor, oh, my Lord!

From, it's the drippings of the pork, right?

So it's got that gravy-like taste.

So, so good.

And then we got the cracklings.

So I'll let that cool down, and then I'll just chop it all up, so it's a nice crunchy little sprinkle to go in the taco.

So, look, we're doing really well.

Now is the time to get our lovely semifreddo out of the freezer.

It's rock-solid right now, but if we put that in the fridge, slowly, slowly, over two to three hours, that's gonna become semifreddo, semi-frozen, and then we can slice it or scoop it, and it's more of an ice cream consistency.

So we're doing great, really great.

Gonna get out there, check on things.

I'm so excited to see my friends.

And with the feast almost ready, I can't wait to get it all on the table.

>> All together (birds twittering) >> JAMIE: I've been preparing the perfect get-ahead menu, and all that's left to do is crisp up the pork while I make some cheeky tacos and get that bar going.

So, I am very excited to see my friends.

I love that little bit of excitement before they arrive.

This is the best bit for me, when everything comes together.

It's that final little bit of detail.

I'm gonna rattle out my own homemade tortillas so that everyone can get stuck in and make tacos with my crispy pork belly, slaw, and salsa.

Yes, you can buy the big ones, small ones, wheat ones, corn ones, and even the crunchy ones in the supermarkets, and that's super-convenient.

I wanna show you how the original ones are made, and the important thing is the flour.

This is white masa harina.

And this is made from a special kind of corn.

You can get this in good supermarkets, or you can get it online really easily.

This is the original flour of Mexico, and when you dip it in sauce and salsa, it clings onto the flavors more, and it's a totally different experience.

So, this is way more authentic than a wheat tortilla, for sure, and it's so easy to do.

So, 500 grams goes in a bowl.

Make a well in the middle of your masa harina, and then I'm gonna pour in 700 milliliters of hot water.

Now, this was boiling about, say, four minutes ago, so it's probably about 90 degrees.

You don't wanna put it in boiling, 'cause that's too hot, but you don't want it to be lukewarm, either.

So we're just gonna use a little fork, just to slowly bring this together, and it'll change the texture of this dough immediately.

A little bit of salt to season.

Couple of good pinches.

And I'm just gonna use my hands to sort of bring it together, like that, and just get that dough out.

If I just get rid of this...

So, if you've made pasta or bread before, it won't feel anything like that, because there's no gluten in here, so it's not gonna be elastic and bendy, right?

But it's a dough nonetheless, and it feels lovely.

That heat really does kind of seem to open out that lovely masa harina flour.

The smell is very different.

(sniffs) It really is quite a perfumed smell, almost sweet-smelling.

And that's it.

There's no need for loads and loads of kneading.

It's a really simple, humble flatbread.

This is an ancient, ancient style of bread, and I wanna turn this into 36 lovely, little, small tacos.

My very technical way of doing that is to just roll this out like that.

You can see it's pretty well-behaved.

In my bad kind of dividing maths way, I'm just gonna roll it out into a sausage.

I wanna whack it roughly in half, and then roughly into three.

So, six piles like that, and then each one of these I'll roll into a little kind of smaller sausage.

In half, in three.

So, give or take, these represent a lovely taco.

Now, this dough absorbs moisture fairly quickly, so I've got a wet cloth here, and I'll just lay that over our lovely tacos.

That humidity will just look after it and keep it sweet.

And then we'll pull this back and we'll start loading these up.

What I love about keeping it rustic is, when I was in Mexico eating amazing tacos in all different shapes and sizes, they weren't cylindrical, they weren't perfect, they weren't the same size every time.

They were handmade, right?

And I love that; I love that.

So, we're just gonna carry that on, and there you go, in no time at all, you've got your cheeky little 36.

So let's start rolling these out.

There's a few different ways to do it, but what I'm gonna do is roll it out and cook it at the same time, like a little production line, okay?

So, roll it into a little ball.

I'm gonna just try the greaseproof paper method, 'cause I find that it's really, really helpful, and that acts almost like a non-stick, and you wanna try and keep it round.

Mine are often wonky.

So, roll that out nice and thin.

You want it to be about the size of a saucer, okay?

Roll it out about two millimeters thick and then you flip it like that, into there.

Now, another way is to roll it out in between the greaseproof paper like this, so you literally push it down like that.

As one is done, the next one is done.

So what I'm gonna do is be moving it from here to here, into here, and as they all stack up on top of each other, they keep each other nice and warm, and moist and humid.

So that's really, really nice.

So this has had its little time there.

You can see, look, it's quite pale.

Then this one comes out.

Try and cook two at once.

Another one done.

Lovely.

Look at that, I got a nice little stack building up.

So it's probably a good time to put my pork in the oven, and that just needs to be got crispy.

So whether it's a hot oven, under a grill, or on a barbecue, it doesn't matter, right?

We just wanna get it sizzling and golden.

So I wanna put that in the oven now, and that will be amazing.

So, that oven's probably around 200 degrees Celsius, 400 Fahrenheit.

This is one of those jobs that I actually really, really enjoy.

I find it quite therapeutic.

You kind of get into a little groove.

That one's a good one.

Now I'm giving myself marks out of ten.

(laughs) So look, you can see the pork, like a sea of sizzling gorgeousness.

That's what it's all about.

Look at that.

And imagine that in a taco, with all those garnishes.

It's gonna be amazing.

So I've got the pork, I've got the taco, last one done.

Here we go.

I'll take these out now.

I think it's a little cocktail time.

And we are ready and raring to go.

So I'm just gonna leave that pork in the mouth of the wood oven, that's beautiful.

Let's get the tacos out there and let's make some cocktails.

(birds twittering) So this is my favorite bit, right?

It's like the calm before the storm, it's like the day before Christmas, it's exciting.

Everyone's gonna turn up, everything's looking beautiful.

I'm really excited.

The family have dressed up.

Look at the colors, everyone's gone for the colors.

Now I feel like I may have let the side down with my lumberjack look, but don't worry about that.

The food is what it's all about.

But cocktail.

This is something I had in Mexico, and it blew my mind, but I didn't know what it was.

I thought it was some kind of Bloody Mary, it's not.

It's got tomato juice in it, but it's called a Tequila Michelada, and it's really, really good, it's very refreshing.

There's nothing like a cocktail to get the party started, and this one is a Mexican-inspired delight.

So we're gonna do it in a long glass, and we're gonna take that glass, we're gonna get a bit of lime, and put it around the rim.

And then go into some nice, smoked sea salt, and that little bit of salt around the edge just gets the taste buds going.

So top it up with ice.

We're gonna go in with about four tablespoons of fresh tomato juice.

Now, you could use the bottled stuff, but the fresh stuff is much better if you can just do it.

Just grate it on a box grater, put it through a sieve-- delicious, right?

That's what that is.

Then we're gonna go in with the juice of half a lime, okay?

That gives it more of a zing.

With the tequila, 30 milliliters goes in, like that.

And then a little shake of chili sauce.

Any chili sauce of your choice.

At that point, just give it a nice little mix, to mix it all up.

Fresh, seasoned.

You can check the salt on the tomato juice, that's nice.

And then top up with a nice, fresh lager, and the bubbles from that just help to mix everything up again, and you could put a little bit of lime on the side.

So that, my friends, is a Tequila Michelada.

Right.

Let's have a try.

Cor!

It's such a good drink.

Really refreshing.

>> Hey!

>> Yay!

>> Hi, Petal.

>> Hi!.

>> Good to see you.

>> JAMIE: So nice to see you.

You okay?

>> Yeah.

How are you?

>> JAMIE: Yeah, really, really good.

Thank you so much for coming.

Come on, bro!

>> Thanks for having us.

>> JAMIE: Yeah, lovely.

Would you like a drink?

>> Love one.

>> JAMIE: Beer, wine, or a little Michelada?

>> Yes, let's do it.

Cheers.

>> Cheers, guys.

>> JAMIE: Come on, Santi!

What do you fancy?

>> Anything with tequila will be good.

>> JAMIE: Anything with tequila, okay.

Well, then, you've come to the right place, Santi.

>> Ooh!

>> JAMIE: Let me give you a cuddle and a kiss.

Come on, man.

>> What is it, J?

>> It's nice.

>> JAMIE: Okay, so this is, like, a tequila, beer, and tomato, and chili and lime.

>> It's strong.

>> JAMIE: Ah!

Get it down ya!

(laughing) >> And you'll be able to dance.

You might have a bit of rhythm.

>> Oh, yeah.

>> JAMIE: Guys, do you like my ceiling of lights?

>> Nice.

>> Yeah, looks beautiful.

>> JAMIE: Do you wanna sit down and I'll sort the kids out?

>> Really, Dad means, "Go away, children."

(laughing) >> Jamie, I saw... >> JAMIE: Yes, my darling.

(crackling crunches) Oh, listen to that crackle.

>> Mm!

(crunching) >> JAMIE: So, this is how we roll.

Taco, black beans, the pork, the two salsas.

That, my friend, is a thing of beauty.

Do you want a taco?

It'll be the nicest thing you've ever had.

Look how juicy that is.

(laughing, exclaiming) >> Amazing.

>> JAMIE: You love it?

>> Oh!

>> Mm!

>> This is seriously good.

>> JAMIE: With the crackling, oh, my God, with the crackling.

It's the juiciness, that's what I like.

>> Dad, are there seconds?

>> JAMIE: Oh, my Lord!

It is going so well.

This is literally my perfect day, perfect people.

It's just beautiful.

So it's dessert time.

The great thing about a semifreddo is, you can do it in advance, right?

And it's been thawing out slowly in the fridge, and then we can turn that out, in here, on a nice little platter, like that.

Looks gorgeous, and of course, when we cut through it, you're gonna get those little pops of vanilla rice-- amazing.

So, it doesn't stop there.

We've got this caramel.

Now, look, you can do a less dark caramel, but this is a proper caramel.

And when you do a proper caramel, of course it's darker, but you get sweetness and this amazing depth of kind of slight bitterness, which is gorgeous.

So I'm gonna crack this on here.

I'm just gonna kink this tin.

(crunches) And you'll hear it just kind of go.

(crunches) And then I'll be able to take this off, as a kind of massive little chunk, like that-- look at that, just break it up.

You can see, if you look, the light through it.

So this, you can either smash up in a pestle and mortar or whack it in a machine.

So... (processor whirring) So this is when you start to see the benefit of taking that a little bit darker.

You can really... (processor whirring) ...get the extra, toasty, praline flavor.

A few little bits, little bit more.

(processor whirring) So, what we're gonna do is now sprinkle this with our lovely spice dust.

That's gonna be, like, extreme flavor.

I like the way, by the way, that it's kind of melting.

That's cool.

I like that-- it's a semifreddo.

And then we're gonna get our praline.

Oh, my Lord, it smells so terrific.

I'll just serve it onto a little dish first.

And then what we can do is just sprinkle this on top a little bit.

And then, you know, present it to your guests and then you can have a little bit on the side, just to load people's portion, 'cause the praline's pretty special.

I, I think, like, hazelnuts are a really exciting, special thing.

Absolutely gorgeous.

So I've got my praline.

You can finish it with just a few raspberries, strawberries, stuff like that.

With the raspberries, just lay a few cut ones there, as well.

And that, my friends, is the semifreddo!

Let's get it out there.

Semifreddo!

Who wants some semifreddo?

(all cheering) >> Oh, my God.

>> Mm!

>> How do you put the rice in it?

>> What rice, Sal?

>> Rice?

>> There is rice.

>> JAMIE: Uh-huh.

>> There's no rice.

>> JAMIE: No, there is.

>> Really?

>> Dad, that is so nice.

>> Delicious.

>> Mm, delicious.

(laughing) >> JAMIE: Tequila >> I think it was very nice to, to be together.

Lovely table, lovely weather.

Good people.

>> Guys, cheers to that.

Come on.

>> Cheers!

Cheers, everyone.

>> Cheers, everybody.

>> Back together.

>> All together >> JAMIE: For more information about this episode, recipes, and behind-the-scenes fun, make sure you go to jamieoliver.com/together.

To order my companion cookbook, "Jamie Oliver Together," visit shopPBS.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

(talking indistinctly) >> Lovely weather.

Good people.

It's good to have friends together.

>> JAMIE: Guys, here's to you.

Cheers.

>> Cheers.

>> JAMIE: Bless you all.

(laughing) It's the simple things in life that give us the happiest memories.

>> That pork's amazing.

>> JAMIE: It's tender but crispy.

>> It's amazing.

(laughing) >> JAMIE: It's laughing, talking, sharing, and eating.

We can hug tonight!

We are hugging!

You ain't going without a hug.

(laughing) Seriously.