French Food Safari

Tour of the world's largest wholesale produce market Rungis on the outskirts of Paris. Guillaume shares his recipe for the classic Marseilles seafood dish bouillabaisse. Sneak peak at one of the world's great commercial kitchens - Alain Ducasse's restaurant in the Plaza Athenee in Paris. We meet Alain Ducasse - the world's greatest French chef who owns 27 restaurants in 8 countries and holds 19 Michelin stars. Shannon Bennett - owner of Vue Du Monde restaurant in Melbourne and 4 cafes makes a Chicken Grenobloise. Pastry chef Vincent Gadan shares the secrets of a perfect raspberry and rose-petal souffle.

We visit one of the great Parisian bakers - Jean-Luc Poujaran, who supplies all the top restaurants in Paris. Guillaume Brahimi whips up the world's best croque monsieur. We travel to Lyon to meet charcutiere queen Madame Colette Sibilia. Guillaume shows how to put a charcuterie plate together. Romeo Baudouin brought his charcuterie skills to Australia and shows how to make a rabbit terrine. Pastry chef Jean-Francois Perron makes choux pastry into profiteroles and creates an exquisite croquembouche.

We spend time in the kitchen of St Germain bistro chef Yves Camdeborde whose bistro Le Comptoir is booked 6 months in advance. Guillaume shows how to make steak tartare. We explore the number one ingredient in France - butter, and meet artisan butter maker Jean-Yves Bordier. Acclaimed Melbourne chef Philippe Mouchel from pm24 in Melbourne, shows how to cook a delicious John Dory, Normandy style with cider. Bistro Moncur's chef Damian Pignolet shows how to make Salad Nicoise. Guillaume makes a classic Clafoutis, and his restaurant's pastry chef Kirsty Solomon makes wicked vanilla ice cream.

Maeve and Guillaume travel to the mountainous Ardeche region of France to meet artisan goat cheese maker Jerome Herphelin. We meet Laurent Dubois, whose work with cheese has been so appreciated he was awarded a medal of honour from the President of France. Back in Australia, Will Studd shows us the art of putting together a cheese plate. Maeve visits one of Australia's snail farms. Acclaimed local chef Robert Molines from Bistro Molines at Tallavera Grove cooks a snail vol au vent. Warren Turnbull (Assiette and District Dining in Sydney) slow-cooks beef cheeks to their unctuous best. Guillaume Brahimi reveals how to make raspberry tarts.

We travel to Lyon and visit the local bouchons - the relaxed eating houses which have existed for hundreds of years. Guillaume makes his own version of a favourite bouchon dish, lentil salad. We explore the many great food stalls at the Le Halles de Lyon Market. North of Lyon we visit the area famous for the best chickens in all the world. Visionary French chef Jacques Reymond (Jacques Reymond Cuisine du Temps, Melbourne) shows how to make coq au vin. In Champagne, we visit one of the great champagne makers at the House of Mumm. One of Australia's pioneering French cooks Dany Chouet prepares a lovely prune tart.

We spend a delightful day in a small French village in the Ardeche with top selling cookbook author Stephane Reynaud. We receive a lesson in how puff pastry is made with Guillaume's pastry chef Kirsty Solomon - it takes a staggering 3 days to make. Respected Sydney chef Serge Dansereau (Bather's Pavillion) uses puff pastry to prepare one of the marvelous French dishes - Boeuf en croute. Chef Chui Lee Luk from the acclaimed modern French restaurant, Claude's creates a wonderful salad that plays on the traditional boudin blanc (or white sausage). We join baker Fabrice le Bourdat in the pre-dawn hours to see his pretty bakery filling up with baguettes and croissants, madeleines and petits fours ready for his adoring public. Guillaume shows how to make madeleines.