After a season of short weekend getaways, Justin Bonello and the Cooked team are back on the road for the long haul. In the first episode they’re going all the way to Lesotho and the highest pub in Africa which can only be reached in a 4x4 over a treacherous mountain pass. But first, they acquire some Karoo oysters in Colesberg. Hint: female sheep don’t have them. At their overnight stop at Maluti Mountain Lodge Justin makes pizzas – in a dustbin of all things. 

Cooked is all about celebrating South Africa and that includes our music – everything you hear playing in the background is homegrown. Members of the band Lark are on this leg of the journey from Lesotho to Splashy Fen music festival in Underberg, but first the simplicity of bread baked in a potjie in a hut high in the mountains leaves Justin humbled. Down at the festival, everyone feasts on roast guinea fowl pasta in a rich creamy sauce before heading into the crowd for Lark’s gig.

Over the next month, the Cooked team will travel thousands of kilometres over land and water, so a two-day train trip from Cape Town to Egoli is a good way to ease into it. Justin cooks meatballs and spaghetti on the train, and a three-course feast of baked camembert, slow roasted warthog ribs, and yin yang crème brulee at their overnight stop at Thadaku River Camp.

Leaving the lodge more as friends than guests, it’s time to face the challenge of getting 18 people in five vehicles, plus all their luggage and equipment, across the border into Mozambique. From here on, Justin will be cooking mainly with what they can source in local markets or catch from the ocean. Crab wraps aren’t a bad place to start, especially on a pristine white river beach. The fishing is a non-event but there are oysters a-plenty to collect. Justin tries five experiments with differing levels of success. 

In some episodes a lot happens, in others not so much. This is one of the latter. Unless you count a lot of fishing, kite-flying and drinking. After a week on the road and nearly 3000km, the crew arrives at Barra Lodge. There’s still no luck for Justin on the fishing front, but he does make Mozambican-style subs with king mackerel, grilled tomato and the fiery peri peri devil sauce bought at the roadside. You should know by now that Justin digs his hot stuff. That, and garlic. Oh yes. 

A proposed potjie cook-off against someone called Mad Rob has Justin trawling the markets for ingredients. Along the way he stops at some local restaurants, ecstatically eating what he declares to be the best garlic prawns ever, prego rolls, and drinking slightly scary palm wine down a back alley somewhere in Inhambane. Mad Rob doesn’t stand a chance when Justin makes the potjie bread he learned about in Lesotho.

Justin is finding the daily exercise of finding food at the markets quite challenging; it’s fresh and organic but unfamiliar. On the menu is green peanut hummus and potted chicken livers. The promised crab fails to materialise so there’s nothing to do but drink more wine. As a result, sunglasses are required the following morning for the kayak trip across to the Isle of Pigs. There they receive a warm welcome from local children and playing soccer with them on the beach is one of Justin’s all-time Cooked highlights. They eat a no-frills lunch of steamed crab, tomato salad, rice and bread at a local restaurant. “Just superb,” says Justin. “Days like today make me realise my heart is in Africa and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Swimming, diving, snorkeling, fishing and for a change of pace, a golf day…the kind without balls but definitely with designated drivers. A somewhat complicated drinking game, it gets a bit messy before they have to go home to feed the kids. Hangovers are quickly forgotten when they take a boat to Isle de Magaruque on the Bazaruto archipelago. Calamari lunch is cooked on the dhow, and Gareth and Andrew’s fishing efforts finally pay off. The catch of the day is smoked right there on the dhow, sucked down with lemon juice. “One of the top 10 days in my life,” says Justin.

Cooked becomes Hooked as the episode is offishally (sorry) declared a fishing one. Justin finally catches something on camera but it’s not edible. He’s getting a bit dejected but a deep sea fishing expedition guarantees results – sashimi and ceviche on the beach. “I’ve got my mojo back,” says a relieved Justin. It’s almost time to leave Mozambique and head down to one of Justin’s all-time favourite places but not before making a herby buttery baked chicken at the Bazaruto Island Lodge. Not everything on Cooked is a success but the friends know the right things to say.

It’s a long haul down to the Wild Coast, retracing their steps in cars and boats, packing and unpacking, breaking down, getting fixed. The mood is mixed as everyone is glad to be heading back but the trip is taking its toll. After weeks of fish and seafood, a breakfast bomb with bacon and sausages is welcomed. The first day of maintenance at the secret spot in the Transkei is rewarded with hearty oxtail served with samp and beans.

It’s relaxation time on the Wild Coast, where the simple pleasures take precedence. Several fresh elf (the fish, not the fairies) caught the previous day form the basis for lunch. It is, in Justin’s opinion, the best eating fish in the world and he doesn’t want to overwhelm its delicate flavour. Simply baked with tomato, garlic, onion and olive oil, the fish is then flaked into a giant bowl of pasta. An afternoon siesta goes horribly wrong, and later Patricia shows Justin how to make “ou mense onder komberse” which translates to “old people under blankets” which translates to cabbage leaves stuffed with mince. Very traditional. 

Justin and Garth finally get some rest as the others split themselves into two teams for a cook-off - the Gringos led by Darren (aka Dad) and The Librarians led by James (aka Mom) - narrated and filmed by Danny the cameraman. The inside team makes olive tapenade and Wes’s sticky chicken, while Dad’s outside team makes spicy mince with potato skins, Mexican style. With tequila. Lots of it. Things rapidly get festive and just a bit messy, and the judges have to be diplomatic about the result.

Homeward bound and what could be more fitting that to finish this journey with a hike along Hoerikwaggo, in Table Mountain National Park? The season finale begins at Groot Constantia wine estate where Garth is sous chef at Jonkershuis restaurant. He makes bobotie, a traditional south African dish with sweet and spicy mince and egg custard for Justin to take on the trip. The two-day hike takes them through some ups and downs – literally and figuratively, and culminates with the best view in the world.