Jamie Oliver hits the road, gets taste of local cultures on TLC's new series

CEBU, Philippines - Forget the usual tourist traps and well-trodden paths - when on holiday, Jamie Oliver reckons that you can learn a lot more about a place from how its locals cook and eat. In TLC's new series JAMIE'S FOOD ESCAPES, Jamie meets local families, cooks and farmers, tastes delicious indigenous dishes and gets inspired to cook up his own. From truffle and boar hunting in the French Pyrenees to spear fishing off an island near Athens, Jamie attempts to uncover the freshest, most authentic dishes. Join the intrepid chef as he discovers the treasured individuality of world cuisines on JAMIE'S FOOD ESCAPES. Premieres every Thursday at 9:00 pm, starting September 22. Encores Tuesdays at 10:00 am, Thursdays at 3:00 pm and on Sundays at 4:00 pm and 10:00 pm.

After an American road trip and great Italian escape, Jamie Oliver is back on the road for a culinary expedition across Europe and North Africa. On this brand new series, Jamie visits six places - Marrakech, Athens, Andalucia, Stockholm, Venice and the Midi Pyrenees in France - and discovers outlets that would soon become his regular weekend break favourites. As ever with Jamie, expect the unexpected as this unconventional chef ventures off the main tourist track to get to the heart of each place through its food. In each episode, Jamie also immerses himself in the unique cultures of each destination, explores markets, and learns traditional cooking practices from the locals.

From dodging snake charmers in Morocco in search of its famed street food, to training with bullfighters and making paella to feed a whole village in Spain, to sampling reindeer heart and fermented herring in Sweden, JAMIE'S FOOD ESCAPES will introduce you to fantastic new recipes and flavours - with a healthy dose of adventure! You might even rediscover some of the amazing cuisine you enjoyed on your own holidays but just never knew how to make.

Jamie's Food Escapes episode descriptions: Marrakesh

Jamie is in Morocco, dodging snake charmers to try out the street food of Marrakesh such as slow-roasted lamb in cumin, and almond and rose water cakes. Later he joins a family for some Moroccan home cooking, and makes his own versions of chicken and lemon tagine, Moroccan roast lamb, and a 'snakey cake' made of filo pastry, almonds and rose petals.

Andalucia

Jamie travels to Andalucia where he trains with some young bullfighters in Spain's oldest bull ring, makes paella for a whole village, and cooks rabbit stew with some hunters. He also prepares an authentic gazpacho, pork chops with Spanish beans, salt-roasted fish, an amazing tomato salad with chorizo and a quail's egg breakfast with black pudding.

Stockholm

Jamie is in Stockholm where he samples reindeer heart, a fermented herring that smells like a stink bomb, and picks wild mushrooms and blueberries on the islands nearby. Here Jamie indulges in the Swede life by making pike perch, gravadlax and roasted beetroot salad.

Venice

When in Venice, Jamie bounces off tourist traps and experiences delicious authentic tastes the real Venice has to offer. Jamie tries his hand at fishing and cooks up spaghetti vongole. He also learns the secret to making the best risotto in the world, beef carpaccio and the perfect Venetian tiramisu.

French Pyrenees

In the French Pyrenees, locals dine on rich food fit for kings yet they have the highest life expectancy in France. Here, Jamie goes truffle-hunting with a pig and boar-hunting with dogs. He is then knighted into an order of serious bread makers and makes sausages with a professional

Athens

In Athens, Jamie goes spear fishing off a Mama Mia-style island, meets bee keepers who produce the most amazing honey and are full of even more amazing stories about bee sex. He makes goat cheese with a Greek Orthodox monk, and prepares a Greek salad, and pistachio and honey cake.

Biography By Jamie Oliver

I was born in May 1975 and straight into the business, really. My dad runs a lovely pub-restaurant, The Cricketers, in Clavering, Essex, where I grew up. I remember being fascinated by what went on in the kitchen. It just seemed such a cool place, everyone working together to make this lovely stuff and having a laugh doing it.

When I was about seven or eight, they let me peel the potatoes and pod peas, that kind of thing. By the time I was 11, I wasn't half bad at veg prep and I could chop like a demon! A lot of the boys at school thought that cooking was a girlie thing. I didn't really care, especially as I could buy the coolest trainers with what I'd earned from working at the weekend.

When I was 16, I didn't really have the results to stay on at school - besides, I knew by then that I wanted to be a chef. So I went to Westminster Catering College and then did some time in France, learning as much as I could, before coming back to London to work as head pastry chef for Antonio Carluccio at The Neal Street Restaurant. I was really fortunate to have the chance to work at such a renowned restaurant so early on in my career and I made the most of it.

After The Neal Street Restaurant, I worked for Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers at the River Café for three and a half years - what an amazing experience that was. Those two ladies taught me all about the time and effort that goes into creating the freshest, most honest, totally delicious food.

It was there that I first got in front of a TV camera. A documentary about the restaurant was being filmed and the editors decided to show a lot of this cheeky kid who was so into the cooking that he'd answer back to the crew. The day after the programme was shown, I got calls from five production companies all wanting to talk about a possible show. I couldn't believe it and thought it was my mates winding me up!

The result was THE NAKED CHEF and that's where it all kicked off I guess. Right now I've never been busier in my life! It's a complete whirlwind - and the only thing I wish I had more time for is my family - my lovely girls Jools, Poppy, Daisy and Petal. Although we now have a place in the country to spend our weekends at, so I really look forward to Friday nights when we can pack up and spend the weekends together. That's what it's all about!

Source: The Jamie Oliver website