(upbeat music)
- Hi, we are Sorted.
- And we've been eating and traveling together
for well over eight years
and we reckon we've worked out a formula
or a set of rules to help us uncover
unique, incredible experiences on just
at the top of a web search.
- [Jamie] We have 48 hours in Puerto Rico,
so we need to make it count.
- [Mike] And to make things interesting,
at the end of our trip,
Jamie and Baz will go up against Ben
in a beat the chef Puerto Rican cooking challenge.
- [Ben] So we need to learn as much as possible
about Puerto Rican food and culture beforehand.
And we'll be using our lost and hungry rules
along the way to try and find those experiences
we'll remember forever.
(upbeat music)
- Shall I do the honors?
- I love this bit.
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- Jay and I started the day talking to locals
but it turns out, Puerto Ricans are really friendly.
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- Small places like these, I would say pastry and coffee.
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- From the Torningo with the really sweet,
really smooth cream cheese in the middle,
two different cassitos, one with guava in,
which is this amazing sweet fruit,
but it's almost like a jam or a jelly.
Every single one of them is absolutely sensational.
- [Ben] So let's explain about this here.
In order to help us research, we've compiled a list
of suggestions some of you said we have to try
in Puerto Rico and then, obviously, we made it competitive.
Mike and I on one team, Baz and Jay on the other.
One point for each item.
So Jay and Baz had three already.
- [Barry] Are you doing anything for the rest of today?
'Cause you can come with us.
- [Jamie] As we explore the area, each colorful
cobbled street had yet another surprise at the end.
This is the Park of Umbrellas,
or if you're in Puerto Rico, (foreign language).
- [Barry] You sure?
- [Jamie] Yes.
- [Mike] Meanwhile, I decided to book Ebbers
on a tour of San Juan with a difference.
(motorcycle engine revving)
(upbeat music)
- Woo!
(laughing) - Oh, wait a minute.
Have you seen "Wallace and Gromit"?
The build up to that,
I thought it was gonna be the coolest thing ever.
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- Have you ever seen so many colors?
Apparently there's a song in the popular culture Des.
- Despacito. - Despacito.
- Oh, you're ridiculous. - That.
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- Your thinking's worse than mine.
(laughing)
- [Mike] As we stopped to admire the view, our guide Caesar,
told us why food was so important to Puerto Ricans.
- Food gives us our cultural identity.
So we've got some influences from African cultures here,
some influences from old colonial Spanish Americans,
also our Tiano heritage.
So you mix that all up,
you have this original heritage as well.
So it became the Puerto Rican heritage.
- [Jamie] So while Ben and Mike were busy not getting
any points, Baz and I were already at another
of Maritza and Kat's recommendations.
(upbeat music)
You don't get avocados like this at home.
That is so creamy.
This is why you follow recommendations.
And as for Barry's birthday, can we buy him a present?
(upbeat music)
- The next place we're going to is called Chocobar.
Massive recommendation from you guys
because they put chocolate in dishes
where you wouldn't usually expect to find chocolate.
Ugh, this is hurting my head, Baz.
But how about a grilled cheese sandwich
with chocolate butter?
- [Mike] Was that actually nice?
- That was actually really nice.
It had a really interesting flavor to it.
I don't know if I should like this, but I do.
We're at Raices, that is how you pronounce it
'cause I just asked that man over there.
They have, apparently, the most amazing biggest pork chop
you've ever seen in your life.
(upbeat music)
Apparently a really traditional Puerto Rican dish.
I don't know where to start.
(crunching)
It's full on pork flavor,
there is nothing else going on.
There's no spices or anything like that.
That is full on pork.
- I get it, I get why this is famous.
- [Ben] But, was it Mofongo famous?
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- So what do you want, shrimp, chicken?
- [Mike] Shrimp.
- (laughs) Look how happy he is, I'm so happy.
Food as colorful as the city we're in.
It looks and smells amazing.
So we obviously got the mofongo and we went for shrimp.
It looks like a cross between a steamed dough
and mashed potato.
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- [Mike] Ah, it's delicious.
- So garlicky isn't it? - It's creamy and garlicky.
- Look at the size of the shrimp.
- Incredible, and it's like nothing
I've eaten texture-wise ever.
(upbeat music)
Our waiter has just given us a mofongo masterclass.
The one we've got here is classic mofongo,
fried plantains, garlic, butter, mushed together, that's it.
- [Barry] I think they should smell the garlic on you now.
After that, fried plantains or tostones,
bam, surullitos, bam.
- [Mike] Well, we also order Puerto Rican rice, bam.
- Bam. (laughing)
- The flavor's a bit like a kind of Spanish rice.
Like it takes on all of the flavor you cook it in.
And an empanada of carnitas.
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- [Mike] This is the easiest way of getting points ever.
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So, successful morning.
But would our success continue into the next task,
which was to win at lunch?
So we've met back up with the other guys at Lote 23,
which is a really cool street food market.
And seeing as there's so many options for what to eat,
we're gonna get a little bit competitive.
Hello, Baz versus Ben, street food market face-off.
Person to buy the best food wins.
Tres, dos, uno, vamos, andale, andale.
- I wanted something authentic, something new,
and knowing Jamie's appetite, something big.
Croqueteria, a selection of six different croquettes,
each with a different sauce.
All we have to do is decipher the Spanish.
- [Barry] Whereas I played to another
of Jamie's love is meat.
And having experienced how good the pork was in Puerto Rico,
I went for a national specialty,
a slow cooked pernil sandwich.
- So we specialize in Puerto Rican south pork shoulder.
We take pork shoulder pixmix, rub it, and then roast it,
the total process ends up being like 10 hours.
So once we've roasted it, we take it apart
and put it in sandwiches with a little bit
of the crispy skin.
Pretty simple, but pretty yummy,
very classic Puerto Rican flavor.
- Baz, have you just bought one thing for the table?
- Ebbers, I've beaten you once before,
this one is gonna be easy.
- And who better to judge this momentous occasion
than the king of lunch himself?
(upbeat music)
- Okay, my choice is, well I went to the Croqueteria
and I chose six of their finest croquettes.
- Oh no. (ripping)
- Bang, this is a pernil sandwich, a pulled pork sandwich.
You've got some juicy pulled pork and crispy porkings,
cilantro, carrots, radishes, plantain, it's got the lot.
And you don't stand a chance.
- [Barry] You realize we've already had four meals today?
- None of them have been lunch.
That is a mighty fine sandwich.
There's so many different elements to that sandwich.
- Whoa! - I've never had crispy
plantain in a sandwich before and now I think cheese
and pickle will never be the same again.
- Everything makes the sandwich, but you could quite
happily just eat that pork because it has got so many levels
of spice and herb just in that alone.
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- I'm going to go with this one, spinach.
That is an overwhelming taste of spinach.
I wanna dip my life in that Parmesan dip.
I'm gonna try another one, so this is suckling pig.
- Ajilimojili, ah, we'll put it on screen.
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- That is special.
I've got to make a decision.
- You there?
- I think I'm there.
My winner has taken something that I absolutely love
to a completely different place, to a whole new level
using local flavors, local ingredients, local techniques
to make something so so special,
but I couldn't have got it anywhere else.
My winner today is Barry.
(upbeat music)
It's not Barry, it's the person
that made that sandwich. - I'm taking that.
I'm taking it, I'm taking the win and I don't care.
- As much as I'm a fan of the croquette roulette,
the sandwich, fair play.
- [Mike] And with that, we split off again
for more food, learning, and points.
Ebbers and I had an ice cream first and I let him choose
because he lost the challenge and I'm a lovely friend.
- Mike, do you want queso guava or guanabana?
- [Mike] I have no idea what either of those were.
You choose, I'll have the other one.
- Oh, so good.
(upbeat music)
- So here's a first, Mavi, a kind of fermented
drink made from tree bark, sugar, and ginger.
It's super traditional all around the Caribbean
and here in particular, and well, that's it.
The warmth from ginger but no heat.
Brown sugar, treacley sweetness, but then that kind of
savory, almost cinnamony, botanically flavor of tree bark.
- Oh so I've nailed this now.
- [Ben] You can have the rest of it,
'cause it's slightly boozy and I'm driving.
- Hey hey.
(upbeat music)
- We've come to a rainforest.
- I forgot we did this.
(laughing)
- I haven't, I'm still recovering.
(laughing)
It's not a cafe, it's an actual real rainforest.
The only rainforest in the US National Forest Parks scheme.
Earlier in the day, Kat had told us about a trail
she does with her friends which wasn't on one
of the tourist routes and it was a lot better.
- [Barry] And it wasn't just the gems that were hidden.
Your outfit choice today is perfect.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
(upbeat music)
- I'm still here.
(laughing)
So this is the trail that we were
recommended to come up to.
We're going to the top of Mount Britain.
- It's really, really soggy.
My shirt is soaking and my avocados are wet.
- [Jamie] What?
- My avocados on my shirt, not my.
♪ Hello sunshine ♪
♪ Hello blue skies ♪
- While Barry and Jamie have their own tropical trek
in the rainforest, Mike and I thought
we'd have our own tropical adventure too.
Dos pina colado por favor.
(upbeat music)
- Cheers. - Cheers.
- I'm with Ebbers so obviously
there's a historical reason why we're here also.
This is the birthplace of the pina colada.
Now there are many places in Puerto Rico
that claim to have invented the pina colada,
but none of them have a plaque.
So we're going with this place.
Can we have the same again, please?
- You see it?
- [Jamie] Wait, do we need to do
one of those Instagram posts?
- Oh boy.
- [Jamie] Yeah, yeah.
(upbeat music)
- That's epic. - That looks amazing.
It's unbelievable, but I'm worried that the camera
doesn't show it off well enough.
See the east coast of Puerto Rico over there.
We are in a cloud and actually, I think,
made better by the fact we had to work for it.
- [Barry] I hadn't really appreciated
how just epically beautiful this place was.
- I know, but you think about all the people we've met,
how generous they've been with their time, the love
that they have for this island, all the food
that we've had, and we've managed to do this.
- [Mike] Something we'd all noticed throughout the day
was the presence of music everywhere and we had one absolute
gem of a recommendation left, which I found out now.
(foreign language singing)
- This is where we end up at the end of the night.
(upbeat music)
- [Jamie] I feel like this is an absolute hidden gem.
Everyone is here.
- [Barry] They're just getting started.
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- Does anything beat live music?
And quesadilla and rum, I mean!
- [Barry] I think this proves rule one.
- [Jamie] How would we have found this place
without a local recommendation?
- Never because there's literally nothing else around.
I love our formula and I think it's working.
(laughing)
- Our main rule is that we can go anywhere
with a recommendation.
Puerto Rico, really easy, 'cause people
just volunteer recommendations without even asking.
- Yeah, so friendly.
From start to finish, I just really feel like that whole day
contained everything that I would want from a trip.
Like if you could condense a whole trip
into 24 hours, that was it for me.
(upbeat music)
♪ Quesadilla, hey, quesadilla ♪
♪ Oh, quesadilla ♪
♪ Hey quesadilla, oh, quesadilla ♪