Eddie's mum is Italian and has taught him how to make a traditional Italian pizza. Eddie makes a delicious cheese and olive pizza using homemade dough and a tasty tomato sauce. His friends are in for a real treat when they see that Eddie's mum cooks the pizza in their traditional pizza oven. He tops his pizza with black olives, but some of Eddie's friends aren't too sure about olives when they taste them on their own. Eddie hopes to change their minds when they try them on his pizza. He even teaches them a little bit of Italian to really get them into the spirit of things.
On the menu is delicious tandoori chicken cooked in a traditional clay oven called a tandoor. Ria and Rohan use their grandma's special oven to make their version of this classic Indian dish. They cook chicken coated in a yoghurt sauce, which is spiced and full of flavour. They serve it to their friends alongside naan bread and yoghurt mint sauce. Plus learn about India, the land of spices, and find out some interesting facts about garlic, which is the special ingredient in this recipe. Will Ria and Rohan's friends like the taste of garlic in their chicken, and how will they feel about eating with their hands?
Connor lives in Scotland. He makes a delicious vegetarian haggis, to share with his friends. He serves his tasty haggis with freshly mashed neeps and tatties. As an extra special surprise, Connor has arranged for a special guest to play the Scottish bagpipes as the haggis is served, and his friends have no idea about this special surprise! They are all looking forward to trying the food, but they were not very keen on fresh coriander, which is one of the ingredients. Connor hopes to change their minds when they taste his vegetarian haggis.
Je'nae is cooking her favourite meal of Jamaican saltfish and cabbage. Her family are Jamaican, and in Jamaica saltfish and cabbage is a very popular meal. Lots of people eat it for their breakfast, but Je'nae is cooking it as a very special dinner for her friends. She is using saltfish, fresh cabbage and colourful peppers in her meal. Je'nae's friends have mixed opinions about the taste of fresh green pepper. She hopes that they will like it cooked in her recipe. Her mum has cooked some tasty Jamaican dumplings and rice to eat with the fish, and Je'nae is really looking forward to seeing if her friends will like it as much as she does.
Orson is cooking a special version of bakewell tart. To make things more exciting, he is throwing his friends an afternoon tea party with fancy dress.
Naima is cooking Algerian borek. Borek is made from pastry, potato, meat, cheese and you can even add olives. She can't wait for her friends to taste it!
Molly brings the flavours of the Caribbean to her home by cooking up a Saint Lucian-themed meal for her friends. She makes a feast of jerk sea bass, spiced potato wedges and a tangy avocado and pineapple salsa. Molly loves cooking and has learnt to make this flavourful feast from her dad, who is originally from St Lucia. Her friends taste some raw spring onions and tell us what they think. Spring onions add lots of flavour to her recipe and Molly hopes that her friends will enjoy the taste of them in her meal. Molly sets up a special table in her garden and hopes that her friends will like it when they see all the effort she has gone to.
Larry's family come from China. China is famous for its wonderful food, so Larry's friends are very excited to come over for his Chinese-themed meal. Larry's steamed tofu, egg and prawn recipe is cooked in his mum's special steamer but it can be made in an ordinary oven too. Larry's mum has even made some vegetable fried rice to serve with his dish. His friends try tofu for the first time and their reactions are very mixed. Let's see if they like tofu when it's cooked and eaten with the rest of the food. Larry even teaches them how to eat with chopsticks and they have lots of fun learning!
Chocolate challah bread is on the menu today. Lewis's family come from Israel, where challah bread is cooked and eaten on special occasions. It's a dish he really likes to eat, so he has decided to make it for his friends to enjoy too. The chocolate Lewis uses is dark chocolate and might be a little bit different to the type of chocolate that his friends are used to eating, so let's see if they like it in his recipe. Lewis goes to lots of effort to set up a special table for them in his garden so they can all enjoy the bread together. He serves his bread with grape juice to make it taste even better.
Charlotte's dad is Irish and he has shown Charlotte how to make Irish boxty for her friends. Ireland is an interesting place and we learn all about it as Charlotte cooks her meal. She uses mashed and grated potatoes to make her boxty, and she flavours the potato mixture with lots of delicious ingredients including fresh rosemary. Charlotte thinks that rosemary smells like fresh air but some of her friends are not so keen and don't really like the taste of rosemary on its own. Charlotte tops her boxty with a cooked egg and serves it alongside some sliced tomatoes. She hopes her friends will really like it.
Cassava cake is a very popular dessert in the Philippines, so Reese is making a very special version for her friends to try when they come to visit. Reese's family come from the Philippines and this recipe is a family favourite. This is a cake that has lots of savoury ingredients such as cheddar cheese and cassava but also includes sweet flavours such as condensed milk and coconut cream. Cassava is a root vegetable and tastes very different when it is eaten on its own, so Reese is hoping her friends will like the taste of it when they taste it in her cake. She's even preparing some delicious fruit to serve alongside it.
Valentina is making a Greek vegetarian moussaka for her friends because her family is from Greece. Her delicious recipe is loaded with fresh vegetables such as courgettes and aubergines and topped with green lentils packed with goodness. She finishes it off by making a yoghurt topping and covering everything with grated cheese. Some of Valentina's friends don't like the taste of cooked aubergine on its own. As aubergine is one of the main ingredients in vegetarian moussaka, let's see if Valentina can change their minds when she serves the cooked meal to them.
Malika shows us how to make her family recipe for fish ball tagine. Malika's dad is Moroccan and he has taught Malika to cook this tasty dish for her friends. She uses fresh fish poached in a range of spices and flavours including saffron, which makes the food turn a lovely yellow colour. Malika cooks the fish in a traditional Moroccan tagine, which has a cone shaped lid and a round pot. It's perfect for slow cooking fish, vegetables and even meat. Malika goes to lots of effort to decorate her living room in a Moroccan style before her friends arrive for dinner. Will they enjoy the delicious food? Let's find out and also see how they get on eating the meal straight out of the pot because that's how the food would traditionally be eaten in Morocco.
Today's talented chef takes us to Mexico, cooking a traditional dish called enchiladas. Marina's dad has shown her how to make the recipe, which she really loves to eat. Marina grates, mixes and wraps up all her ingredients in tortilla bread and finishes with a squeeze of lime. Marina's friends taste the lime before they arrive, but they think it is a bit sour. Hopefully they will be impressed by her cooking and her special guest musicians: a traditional mariachi band.
Today it is the turn of talented young cook Mason, who is making a traditional recipe from Yorkshire. Mason's recipe, yorkshire pudding, is named after the place it comes from, and he hopes all his friends will like it as much as he does. Mason serves his recipe with broccoli, parsley and traditional Yorkshire gravy. One of his ingredients is horseradish, which none of his friends like the taste of at first. Let's hope it tastes different when they try it in his yorkshire puddings with sausages.
Annabel's mum has shown her a special way to make a traditional Austrian desert called Kaiserschmarren, which she serves with blueberries and raspberries. Austria is famous for wonderful cakes, pastries and puddings, so let's hope that Annabel's friends like it as much as she does. Annabel dresses in traditional clothing and invites her friends to eat in her wooden Austrian chalet. One of the most important ingredients is vanilla, but when they first taste it, her friends aren't too sure they like it. Will they change their minds when they taste the finished Kaiserschmarren?
Naomi's mum has taught her a very special way to make a special Senegalese seafood dish called mafe fish. Naomi prepares all the ingredients for her friends, including her one very special vegetable, savoy cabbage. When they taste the savoy cabbage for the first time, Naomi's friends don't like it, so let's hope she can change their minds once it is cooked. Naomi's mum has cooked some white fluffy rice to serve with the recipe, and Naomi gets her friends to try a traditional, colourful drink from Senegal. Will they all like the taste?
Today, Gabriel is making a famous dish from Cornwall that his mum has taught him. Cornish pasties are a traditional lunchtime meal where meat, vegetables or both are wrapped in a pastry case. Gabriel is using the vegetable swede, but his friends don't like the taste of it on its own. Hopefully they'll prefer it when they taste it in the finished pasties. Gabriel shows us a really clever way to crimp the pastry case and serves the pasties to his friends in a traditional way.
Indigo is showing us how to make a desert from New Zealand called pavlova. She works hard whisking the egg whites to make crispy nests called meringues. These are filled with kiwi fruit, a fruit that is named after a bird from New Zealand! Indigo also adds strawberries and whipped cream to her meringues. When her friends arrive, Indigo greets them with a traditional New Zealand greeting. Let's hope Indigo's friends like the taste of kiwi fruit when they eat it in her pavlova!
Kay has invited his friends to taste his Polish dill pickle soup, which his mum has shown him how to cook all by himself. Dill pickle is a popular Polish ingredient and Kay gets his friends to taste it before they eat the soup. Not all of his friends like the taste at first, but Kay hopes they will all enjoy the finished soup. As well as dill pickle, he uses spring onions, potatoes and carrot in his soup. He then serves the delicious, hot soup in baked bread rolls with whipping cream on top.
Hanna is cooking a very popular Japanese dish called sushi. Her recipe uses rice, which is one of the main crops from Japan. Hanna's special ingredient is Japanese seaweed called nori, which she uses to wrap up all of her colourful ingredients. Hanna and her friends eat the sushi with soy sauce after cleaning their hands with traditional hot towels. Hanna's friends didn't really like the taste of nori seaweed at first, but hopefully they'll change their minds when they taste it in Hanna's Japanese sushi.
Lexi and her family are from Wales and she is cooking Glamorgan sausages using two very special Welsh ingredients. Lexi uses Caerphilly cheese in her recipe, but her most important ingredient is leek, the Welsh national vegetable. She cuts, crumbles, rolls and cooks all the ingredients together into sausage shapes before serving them to her friends on her Welsh-themed table. Lexi's friends really like the leek badges she gives them, but will they like the taste of the leek when they try her Welsh Glamorgan sausages?
Balthazar is in the kitchen today cooking a traditional Turkish revani cake, helped by his sister Serena and brother Ted. Coconut is a really important ingredient in his recipe, as it is put in the cake as well as on top. Balthazar invites his friends to taste the coconut before he cooks it, but they don't like it very much. He thinks he'll change their minds when they taste his finished cake. Balthazar also impresses them with his gold-themed table, Turkish apple juice and dried fruit to eat with their meal.
Scarlet is cooking a colourful French vegetarian ratatouille, which her mum has taught her to make. The recipe is full of lovely fresh vegetables that Scarlet chops up and cooks for her friends. Scarlet's friends taste one of the main ingredients before they come round, but aren't too sure about courgettes at first. Hopefully Scarlet's recipe can change their minds. She serves it with french bread and creates a beautiful floral table setting. She even teaches us the French phrase for 'enjoy your meal': bon appetit!
Ryan's mum is Vietnamese and he is cooking a dish from Vietnam that she has taught him. He works hard in the kitchen mixing lots of ingredients together, including pork, prawns and fresh mint. He even finds time to teach us the Vietnamese word for egg! One of Ryan's ingredients is fresh mint, but not all of Ryan's friends like the taste or smell of it at first. Some of them even think it smells like toothpaste! Let's hope they like the taste of the fresh mint once it is cooked in the food. Ryan also decorates a beautiful Vietnamese style table and treats his friends to sweet fruit after the meal.
Talib is cooking a recipe that his mum has taught him - a colourful Tanzanian banana curry. After lots of chopping and mixing in the kitchen, Talib decorates a beautiful Tanzanian-themed table complete with gold animals. He also greets his friends with a greeting spoken in Swahili, a language spoken in Tanzania. Unripened bananas are an important ingredient in his curry, but not all of his friends are keen on the taste when they try it at first. Will they like the cooked dish?
Catfish is a popular fish in Thailand and today Pearlina is serving it with sticky rice. She works hard in the kitchen, combining lots of ingredients to make a special Thai dressing to brush all over the fish. Before they come over, Pearlina's friends taste one of her important ingredients - lemongrass. They're not too keen on it at first, but Pearlina hopes they will like the taste of lemongrass when they taste it in her finished recipe. Pearlina's friends love her beautiful Thai-themed table, and she even finds time to teach them some Thai.
Okai has invited his friends over for a traditional Ghanaian meal. Before they arrive, they have a taste of a very special ingredient, okra, which is also known as ladies fingers! Okai's friends don't really like the taste or texture very much, so he has to work very hard in the kitchen to make a tasty, colourful stew for them to enjoy. Okai also impresses his friends by wearing a brightly coloured Ghanaian shirt that matches his beautiful Ghanaian table decorations.
Elsa is using salt fish to make her Guyanese fishcake recipe. When her friends arrive, she greets them with a special pineapple drink served in pineapple-shaped cups.
Sonny-Mac has invited his friends to dress up for a tea party where he serves banoffi pie. Thought to have been invented in Sussex, it is made using banana, biscuits, cream and dates.
Marian works hard on his traditional gyuveche, layering peppers, tomatoes and feta in beautiful Bulgarian pots and putting an egg on top of each one before it cooks in the oven
Pippa’s tasty nyama uses a young cabbage leaf called spring greens, along with lots of other delicious ingredients. Pippa’s table is animal themed, using zebra prints and a toy giraffe!
Brunsli biscuits are a traditional Swiss recipe that taste and smell very Christmassy. Tilly adds spices such as ground nutmeg to her chocolate biscuit dough, before cutting it into snowflake shapes. With the help of her sister, Tilly decorates her biscuits with a beautiful white icing. Tilly's table has lots of Christmas decorations on it as well as the traditional flower of Switzerland, edelweiss. Let's hope Tilly's friends enjoy the taste of the biscuits!
Lola's family are from Spain, a country in southern Europe. She is making a traditional Spanish dish called empanadas for her and her friends. Lola begins by rolling out two pieces of pizza dough into big circles. She cooks one in the oven. Lola adds tomato puree to passata to make the filling. She also adds some canned tuna, green olives, and boiled egg. She seasons the mixture with paprika, black pepper and her special ingredient, oregano. Then Lola spreads the filling over the dough, which has been in the oven. She finishes the recipe by adding the last piece of dough on top and then putting it back in the oven to cook. Will Lola's friends find the empanadas tasty? Will they guess her special ingredient? There's a very exciting Spanish surprise waiting for her friends while they enjoy their meal!
Vinnie's family is English and they come from a city called Bristol, which is located in the west of England. Bristol is famous for hot-air balloons and pirates! Vinnie makes his tarts by mixing the leaves from parsley and thyme into cream cheese. Then, he makes rectangles out of pastry and spreads the cream cheese mixture on top. To finish off his recipe, Vinnie lays chopped asparagus on top of the cream cheese, before it goes in the oven to cook. Vinnie's special ingredient is asparagus. Do you think his friends will like it in his tarts? With his meal, Vinnie also has a brilliant pirate-themed party planned for his friends. Arrr!
Zahra-Rose's family is from Somalia, a country situated on the east coast of Africa. In Somalia, they have the traditional dish of nafaqo, which is boiled egg wrapped in mashed potato. This is what Zahra-Rose has chosen to make for her friends. To begin with, Zahra-Rose seasons mashed potato with salt, black pepper, flour, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric powder and fresh coriander. She then wraps the potato mixture around her special ingredient, hard-boiled eggs, rolls them in breadcrumbs and puts them in the oven to be cooked. Zahra-Rose also serves a fresh chilli sauce, so her friends can use it for dipping. Not only does Zahra-Rose have beautiful decorations, she also has a surprise picnic planned. Will her friends realise what her special ingredient is?To finish off his recipe, Vinnie lays chopped asparagus on top of the cream cheese, before it goes in the oven to cook. Vinnie's special ingredient is asparagus. Do you think his friends will like it in his tarts? With his meal, Vinnie also has a brilliant pirate-themed party planned for his friends. Arrr!
Emilio's family are from Cyprus, an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea. Emilio is making two Cypriot recipes for his friends to enjoy. The first is pitta bread! The dough is formed and rolled into ovals and placed on a baking tray. The second is made up of red peppers and his special ingredient, halloumi. They are put onto skewers with an oil, oregano, honey and lemon marinade and put into the oven with his pitta bread. Emilio has made a Cypriot wishing tree for his friends to tie their wishes to. But will they like his recipe when they try it?
Hannah's family is from South Korea, and she will be making a Korean salmon marinade, which is a popular recipe used there. She starts by adding garlic puree, Korean chilli paste, soy sauce, honey, toasted sesame oil and her special ingredient, sesame seeds, into a jug and mixing them all up. Next, Hannah puts pieces of her salmon onto individual baking sheets and spoons the marinade on. She garnishes them with freshly chopped spring onions, and then her salmon is ready to be cooked in the oven. Hannah wears a colourful Korean outfit and treats her friends to some local Korean kimchi, but will her pals be able to guess her special ingredient?
Febo's family are from America, where they celebrate Thanksgiving. As it is traditional on Thanksgiving to prepare and serve pumpkin pie as a dessert, Febo is making this for his friends. He starts by making a pastry case and fitting it into a pie dish. For the pumpkin filling, he pours melted butter and buttermilk into a bowl of brown sugar, along with whisked egg, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Febo adds his special ingredient, pumpkin puree, and then mixes them all together. When it is mixed, he spoons it into the empty pastry case and puts it in the oven to cook. Febo's friends all help to decorate his American-themed table before they taste his pumpkin pie.
Aleisha's family comes from Uganda. Today, she is cooking the traditional meal of rolex, which is a Ugandan omelette. Aleisha uses tasty fresh vegetables such as baby tomatoes, cabbage, red onion and her special ingredient, mild green chilli, for her omelettes. She pours whisked eggs into baking tins and puts her vegetables on top. Then her recipe is ready to be cooked for her friends to enjoy. To top off the occasion, Aleisha wears a wonderful Ugandan outfit and has a musical surprise planned for her pals. Will Aleisha's friends guess her secret ingredient?
Sebastiaan's making a South African bobotie, which is a local dish his family have shared with him. He starts by putting chopped spring onions, grated courgette, turmeric powder, ground coriander and torn red pepper into a casserole dish and cooking them. He then adds garlic puree, ginger puree, chutney and chopped tomatoes to cooked beef mince. Sebastiaan then carefully makes powder out of his special ingredient, cumin seeds, and adds the powder to the beef mixture. Sebastiaan mixes both the vegetables and the beef in an oven dish and flattens them before adding two bay leaves. He adds a topping of milk and egg and then places it in the oven. Sebastiaan has a wonderfully decorated table, and he has another traditional treat to go with his bobotie. Will his friends figure out what his special ingredient is?
Holly comes from the English city, Liverpool. She will be making two tasty recipes. The first is a local Merseyside stew called scouse, made with chopped and cooked carrots, potatoes and onions with gravy, cooked beef, bay leaves and her special ingredient: celery. The second is a side of crusty bread. Holly makes a dough and stirs in yoghurt and honey. Then it is topped with more yoghurt and pumpkin seeds and placed in the oven. Holly also serves pickled beetroot and cabbage, a traditional side to scouse. Will Holly's friends enjoy her delicious food, and will they enjoy the celery once it is cooked in her recipe?
Leo's family is from Russia, and they have shown him how to make a special sharlotka, a simple Russian apple cake. Leo starts by separating the eggs. He then adds sugar and flour to the yolks and mixes them together until the mixture is smooth. He whisks the egg whites until they are stiff and stirs them into the yolk mix. After this, Leo cuts apples into small chunks and places half of them in a cake tin, pours over the egg mixture and puts the rest of the apples on top. Then the sharlotka is ready to be baked in the oven. Leo even has an extra special Russian-themed surprise for his friends while they eat! Can they work out what his special ingredient is?
Suri's family are from Iran, a large country in the Middle East in the continent of Asia. She makes the traditional Iranian dish of chicken joojeh. Suri begins by marinating the chicken in natural yoghurt, spring onions, turmeric powder and lemon juice. She then takes her special ingredient of saffron, grinds it down to a powder and adds salt and natural yoghurt before she mixes it in with the rest of the marinade. Suri serves her chicken joojeh with tomatoes. They enjoy the meal while sitting on the floor, a traditional Iranian custom on special occasions. Will her friends like the special ingredient when it is cooked in her joojeh?
Diellza's family comes from Kosovo. She makes a traditional recipe of stuffed peppers. Diellza has lovely colourful ingredients for her stuffed peppers, such as spring onions, sweetcorn and grated carrot. She also uses cooked rice, chopped tomatoes, parsley, garlic puree and paprika for seasoning. This yummy filling is stuffed into her peppers and placed in the oven to be cooked for her friends. To accompany her meal, Diellza serves her friends a traditional Kosovan drink made of yoghurt and water called kos. Will they enjoy her drink, and will they guess what the special ingredient is?
Disa's family comes from the Scandinavian country Sweden. She is baking kardemummabullar, which is a Swedish recipe for cardamom buns. Disa makes a milk mixture, sweetened with honey, and mixes it into flour to make a dough. She then grinds her special ingredient, cardamom, into a powder and adds some into the dough and the rest of it into brown sugar. The dough is flattened, the brown sugar and cardamom mix is spread onto the dough and folded in. The dough is then cut into strips and twisted and wrapped into a bun ready to be baked. Will her friends like the cardamom when it's baked in her kardemummabullar?
Dougie is from Essex, a county in the south east of England, and he is making a Christmas yule log, a festive classic known for being rolled up and having lavish decorations. Dougie starts by separating eggs. Caster sugar and cocoa powder is added and mixed into the egg yolks, then the egg whites are whisked until they are light and fluffy. They are added to the chocolate mixture. Once baked, whipped cream is spread over the cake and his special ingredient, red currants, are sprinkled over. The cake is then rolled and decorated. Dougie has a Christmas gift for all his friends, but will they like the taste of the redcurrants inside his yule log?