Rick Stein's Long Weekends

Rick's series of culinary city breaks continues with a trip to the historic city of Cadiz in southern Spain. Rick is captivated by its narrow winding streets as he walks in the footsteps of Phoenician and Arab traders who made a lasting impression on the city. Tavernas offer tantalising tapas including chickpea stews, cured pork lardons, freshly grilled mackerel and rice dishes flavoured with garlic, saffron and parsley. Rick times his visit perfectly to enjoy the city's two most revered culinary stars - fresh tuna and manzanilla. At home, Rick cooks arroz verde - green rice - and flamenco eggs, a dish of eggs with tomatoes and vegetables.

Rick's series of culinary city breaks continues with a trip to the north-eastern Greek city of Thessaloniki nestling on the northern shores of the Aegean Sea. The city is revered as the gourmet capital of Greece and birthplace to possibly the greatest warrior general that ever lived, Alexander. Rick explores a city of many identities, a time warp of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman structures surprisingly teeming with a very young student population hungry for dishes that reflect the freshest of seafood, vibrant mezzes flavoured with cinnamon, paprika and saffron and sweet syrupy pastries. A true blend of west meeting east. Rick arrives just in time for harvesting peaches on land and mussels out at sea. At home he cooks veal and aubergine stew after meeting the doyenne of Greek cooking Vafa Alexiadou.

To round off his ten-part series, Rick Stein visits the fascinating city of Palermo in northern Sicily. Like a vibrant carpet, the city is patterned with echoes of Arab, north African, French, Spanish and Italian influences making its cuisine unique and irresistible. Pine nuts, raisins, almonds and golden breadcrumbs are combined with flavours of local sun-ripened tomatoes, lemons and the finest olive oil to create unforgettable dishes that just have to be replicated at back home. Palermo is a grand city with rough edges synonymous with Garibaldi and the setting for one of Rick's favourite novels of all time - The Leopard. He arrives just in time to see locals celebrating a festival in honour of Palermo's patron saint, Rosalia, and even gets a cookery lesson from a real life dutchess. At home, he cooks marsala chicken.