Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted

And, oh, oh, here he is.

That's a massive barracuda.

Come on.

Come on. Come on, baby.

Drop it, drop it, drop it, drop it,

drop it, drop it, drop it. Let him eat it.

Take it.

Now he's on. He's got it.

Come on.

Come on.

Oh!

Right now, I'm between

mainland Florida and Cuba.

And trust me, the waters here are so shallow,

and they're filled with coral reefs.

Now, over the past few centuries,

they've claimed over 1,000 boats.

I just hope I don't add to that list today.

I'm in the Florida Keys,

a series of 1,700 islands that extend over

100 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico.

This area is so removed from the mainland that locals have

their own name for it, the Conch Republic.

I'm here to meet Chef Paul Menta.

Now, according to my GPS,

he wanted to meet me right here.

But honestly, it seems like we're in the middle of nowhere.

Where is this guy?

Seriously?

no.

That's not him. No, surely not.

. What the?

hell. You're crazy!

Standing in the middle of the Florida Keys and all of a

sudden this bird flies over me.

What in the heck is going on?

This guy means business, let me tell you.

He is not messing around.

Trust me, he's the real deal.

I mean, if he can show off like that to meet me, that man,

he's got some balls, let me tell you.

Paul!

Hey, hey.

What was that flying over me?

Can I bring it in?

Yeah, just let it glide in, man.

It's really shallow in here.

Man. Geez. Good to see you, bud.

Good to see you.

- That was crazy. - Yeah.

Paul Menta is a true Keys culinary connoisseur.

In his 30 years living in the Keys,

he has served as a chef at several of the finest

establishments in the Conch Republic.

Co-founded three local eateries and opened up

a sustainable fish market and a rum distillery.

The only thing Paul hasn't done is learn how to execute

the subtle arrival.

What a place.

Crazy, right?

The tides are crazy like the people here.

That bloody jump was crazy.

What the hell's going on here with the barrels?

Doing a little bit of work, too.

Salt curing some barrels.

Bring them back to the distillery later and

fill them up with some rum.

You're actually salting rum.

Yeah. Think about it like we do as a chef, right?

Sure.

Put salt water in here, let that cure,

bring out all that flavor.

I love that.

We got to get them up on the beach.

We can roll these up.

- Just roll them. - Let's get, yeah.

Let's get these smaller ones up here.

Once I got that brine in there, I know the wood's all opened up.

All that vanilla and all those things are exposed

inside the wood.

And then we get the high proof in there.

Wow.

What a great technique, by the way.

Paul tells me that when he started salt-curing

his rum barrels, people thought he was crazy.

You're not bad, man, you're not bad.

You're getting it right up there.

I'll tell you, these are not light, are they?

Bloody hell.

Luckily, he stuck to his guns.

Because it's now rated one of the top 10 craft distilleries

in the United States.

The salt lowers the pH in there.

- Right. - Makes it smoother.

Mm-hmm. It is good.

I'm so happy to go back down to the Keys because

these things are sparse, aren't they?

They're spread out for hundreds of miles.

Well, and it's little islands everywhere,

but there's more ocean than there is land.

Yeah.

So that's what makes it great.

That's why you have to go around the Keys in a boat.

That's how we get around,

because we farm, you know, stone crab, lobster, fish,

the ocean is our farm.

We're so close to the Bahamas.

The Bahamians, they came here.

They brought their food culture with them.

You have all these generations down here and everything.

You know what?

If you want to put in the hat, man.

I know you're not used to the heat down here and stuff.

I am struggling like there's no tomorrow.

This plethora of ocean specialties,

it must be a dream come true.

I've done fine dining and done the thing

with the stars.

And I've also done things down here where I do $5, okay?

$5 is a lot harder to do because that's what everybody wants.

They want a sandwich or something,

but they expect it to be incredible.

Right.

That's the tough thing about people that live

down here in the Keys.

You give them something to eat,

and it could be piled up on the plate and

looking all sorts of fancy and everything.

The, mm, sorry, sorry, Bubba.

I'm not eating that.

It's the simplicity.

They want quality.

And who's Bubba?

Bubba is everybody around.

Bubba and Cuz.

When somebody's calling you Bubba,

you hope it's with a smile.

You know, our locals are colorful.

At the end of the week,

we're gonna be cooking off for the locals that you

go out and meet.

And those Bubbas are gonna be particular.

But we have, like, a real special guest.

He's been here.

His family has been here for generations.

Pastor Kerry.

Pastor Kerry.

Pastor Kerry, yeah.

He's the real deal.

And his family, his lineage goes far and wide.

And, like, he's gonna tell you if you're,

you're cooking with soul or you're cooking with coal, man.

Impress the pastor.

That's gonna be a tough audience to please,

let me tell you.

And Bubba.

I mean, I don't know what Bubbas are,

but I think I'm about to find out.

Phenomenal chef, great reputation but, come on,

how competitive are you?

Well, I kite surfed from here to Cuba

for a world record.

And then, I made the world's largest key lime pie.

So super competitive. I like that, though.

Yeah. You know, I mean, it's got to be.

That man is on it, let me tell you.

I mean, he's fit as a fiddle.

He holds records for kitesurfing.

I don't get jealous much in life but, man,

that guy is oozing talent.

Mate, I'll see you in a week.

Yeah.

Hey, do you want a lift back?

- No, I'm taking this. - You sure?

So, it's time to start building my menu,

which Paul says should taste five-star but feel like $5.

Bring it on.

Now, if I've got any chance of keeping the pastor happy,

I've got to get my hands on some of the best ingredients

the Keys have to offer, and that is stone crab.

Now, come on, let's be honest.

My food's got to be twice as good as Paul's if I stand a

chance of beating him.

But I've got not one but two secret weapons up my sleeve.

Where in the hell are they?

What the hell?

It seems that meetups in the Keys come with a time

but not necessarily an address.

There he is.

There he is.

Ladies! Seriously?

Good morning. Go to the bottom.

Oh my God. You guys are crazy.

You're mad.

We got to be quick.

Quick. Yeah, quick.

- Come. - My secret weapons.

Twins Emily and Amanda Gale are

accomplished local boat captains.

These ladies have an endless knowledge of Florida fishing,